What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

"Who are you? What do you know to dare to criticize me?" As Lamia spoke, a golden glint suddenly flashed in her amber eyes, and an invisible pressure surged forth.

Even Leon and Freyd, who were standing in the center of the magic circle, noticed something was wrong and turned around to look.

"Oh dear, don't get excited," Dorothy advised. She knew that the pressure Lamia was releasing was the same as Queen Alice's – it was dragon's might.

Lamia's demon form looks like a snake-woman, but it actually possesses many characteristics of a dragon.

Lena, facing Lamia's oppressive aura, instinctively tensed her face, but showed no fear.

"Excuse my bluntness, Miss Lamia, you didn't react like this even when Dorothy provoked you like that. Didn't I just say I was right?" Lena replied calmly. "If you really intend to kill Her Majesty the Queen, you should be determined to do it with all your might from the beginning. She is definitely not an opponent you have the opportunity to consider whether it is necessary. You should understand this. If you understand this but still think this way, it means that you are also hesitant."

"What you're saying sounds a lot like Mr. Fenrir's logic. No wonder you were the first witch to follow him; you're deeply influenced by him," Dorothy commented with a smile.

Lamia was taken aback and subconsciously looked at Weiss. Weiss understood what she meant and introduced her: "Miss Lena is a witch who worked with Leon when he was just starting out."

Lamia let out a long breath, calming herself down a bit, and then replied, "Okay, maybe you're right. She's so inhuman that she can even sever ties with her family. I don't need to become like her, which is why I hesitated."

“The loneliness of severing your only connection with your loved ones is invisible and intangible, sometimes even imperceptible, but it will always appear at some point, weighing heavily on your heart. I think you, who were forced to join the enemy camp to protect yourself, understand this better than anyone else. Perhaps it is because of this loneliness that you were attracted to Leon,” Lena continued.

Lena finds herself able to understand Lamia's feelings to some extent; it was her long-term loneliness that led her to gradually become dependent on Leon.

Lamia was moved by what she heard and nodded subconsciously, but then she realized what she had said and retorted loudly, "No way!"

What do you mean by being attracted to Leon? I was just doing him a favor, asking him to be loyal to me and do his job as a knight!

Dorothy's face immediately lit up with a smile, and she even silently gave Reina a thumbs up.

"Seeing you two getting to know each other so well makes me very happy," Leon said as he walked over and joined the conversation. "That's good, after all, we'll be good partners fighting side by side from now on."

"Are all the preparations done?" Lamia turned to him and asked.

"Almost there, the teleportation array is in place," Leon said.

"You... you prepared that too?" Lamia asked seriously.

"Red Mercury Incendiary Bomb? Yes." Leon nodded.

Lamia's expression turned serious when the topic of red mercury was mentioned; it was probably the most likely thing in the world to kill her sister.

Although during this exploration of the Great Maze, it's likely that only the sister's clone will appear.

But if things continue like this, conflict between Leon and the Witches' Gathering is inevitable, and perhaps one day, Leon will use the red mercury weapon on his sister...

“I actually agree with Lena’s idea. I also think that Lamia, you probably don’t want to kill Queen Alice. You would only do it if necessary, which means you wouldn’t do it on your own initiative,” Leon said.

"Is Aaron someone you would only kill if it were necessary?" Princess Fred asked from behind him.

Leon simply shrugged, ignoring the remark, and continued to say to Lamia, "Anyway, we really don't have much time to consider it. Don't worry, leave this to me."

“Don’t forget our agreement, Mr. Fenrir,” Dorothy reminded him.

One of the clauses in her agreement with Leon was that even if Leon gained power comparable to that of a saint in the future, he could not attempt to take Queen Alice's life, since the queen was still the pillar maintaining the country of Moiland.

“I can only say I’ll do my best,” Leon replied. “However, there is still hope for a proper solution.”

“You’re too optimistic,” Lamia sighed. “I don’t have much hope for that person. Even if she did hesitate back then, allowing me to survive until now, she won’t give up on her goal. In the end, she will still want to kill me and take back her whole self.”

“If it’s a choice between the two, Her Majesty the Queen will eventually have to make a decision, which is indeed a problem,” Dorothy nodded.

"So isn't the solution obvious? Just defeat Queen Alice, force her to make a choice, and force her to give up. That's the best way to persuade Queen Alice, isn't it?" Leon suddenly clenched his fist.

For those who are so stubborn that they cannot be persuaded by words, the best way is to "persuade" them with fists. If you use overwhelming force to make that queen kneel down, then there will be no need to dwell on these issues.

"To persuade the most powerful queen in the world with fists, what a bold idea!" Dorothy laughed.

“This is not an impossible thing. Isn’t that what we’re striving for?” Leon spread his hands.

The purpose of obtaining the blood of Moirai is to have the opportunity to ascend to sainthood and thus stand on equal footing with Queen Alice.

If there is a chance to gain some power from the remains of Saint Astartes, perhaps there will be a chance to surpass Her Majesty the Queen.

In that case, it would be possible to persuade Her Majesty the Queen with force to abandon the dangerous and unrealistic idea of ​​destroying Noren and accept that Lamia should live.

"Why don't you two make this your goal and help me with all your might?" Leon said, looking at Dorothy and Lamia.

“Okay, when can we set off?” Dorothy asked with a smile.

"Let me double-check Johnny's progress. We'll rest a bit more here, and then we can set off. At the earliest, it should only take another half day. So if there's anything you need to prepare, do it now. If you need to write your will, do it early." Leon's expression was quite serious as he said this.

"I'm going to take a nap. I'm so tired, my nerves have been on edge all this time." Lamia let out a long sigh, and her body relaxed.

“Alright, then we can have a private talk, shall we?” Dorothy smiled meaningfully at Leon. “If you want to know about the Seal of Saint Astartes, then we can discuss our terms.”

Chapter 681 The Power of Saint Astartes

Santa Rosalia Prison, Leon's office.

In the large room, only Leon and Dorothy sat facing each other across a tea table. Leon stared at Dorothy, who wore her usual smile.

“Tell me your terms,” Leon said.

"Look at you, so impatient. Even in business, you don't have to make it sound like a negotiation, do you?" Dorothy raised her eyebrows, seemingly displeased with Leon's directness.

“Do we have time to make tea and chat?” Leon replied.

Southport County and Redwood County are both territories that Leon controls quite well. With his familiar transportation network and the strongholds and combat supplies he has set up in various places for business, the army's advance is as smooth as expected. Johnny's troops have already approached the Grand Parish.

If the Southeastern Diocese reacts to his advance, the best-case scenario is that it will send troops to confront or deal with the situation, thus leaving the diocese's defenses relatively weak.

However, this would require Leon to act immediately, teleporting a group of powerful superhumans to seize control of the parish.

In a worse scenario, the diocese would need to draw reinforcements from the Church of War or other dioceses of other eastern powers to strengthen its defenses.

Alicia had helped him spread some false information and feints to mislead the Church of War, hoping to prevent Aaron and the Eastern forces from realizing his true purpose. As for how effective it was, it was unknown.

In any case, after they seized Santa Rosalia Prison and brought their army close to the Southeastern Archdiocese, they were already on the verge of disaster.

If all goes well, once they control the monasteries of the Southeastern Archdiocese, they will enter the Great Labyrinth of the ancient city of Ireland before the Church can concentrate its efforts to reclaim the archdiocese, break the seal of Saint Astartes, and seize the blood of Moirai from the Fountain of Youth.

Leon has gathered a great deal of information on this matter, but he still doesn't have a complete grasp of the information about the Astartes seal. Lamia has only proposed a plan to activate the Great Labyrinth with a large amount of pure magic essence, but Leon still knows almost nothing about what the Astartes seal is like, and the Church of the Mystic Gods has not obtained any relevant information either.

The three high-ranking members of the Church of the Prophets who knew this information, including the Chief Inquisitor of Stuart, were not so willing to act. They possessed the blessing of omniscience and could foresee dangers in advance. If Leon wanted to take action against them to obtain information, his purpose would be exposed to the four major churches. If the churches concentrated their efforts to defend against him, his chances of success would be almost non-existent.

Therefore, Dorothy claims to possess information related to the seal, which is of paramount importance to him.

“I might need to prepare the conditions you mentioned, so let’s stop beating around the bush and not waste each other’s time,” Leon urged.

"You're worried I'll ask for too much and make demands you can't keep, aren't you? But don't worry, given our current relationship, you don't need to worry at all. After all, I'm all on your side." Dorothy twirled her finger around Leon and flirtatiously reached out her hand to him.

Leon, expressionless, grabbed Dorothy's fingers and pressed them down: "Don't waste time."

“How unromantic.” Dorothy sighed. “I was prepared to give you a… no, two great perks. First of all, the terms I’m offering will not cost you anything; in fact, they’ll be a benefit.”

"Then say it!" Leon was already getting a little impatient.

But Dorothy continued, "Secondly, I can tell you the information first, and we can discuss the conditions later."

Leon was taken aback. If Dorothy had given him the information first, it would have meant he had gotten what he wanted directly. Whatever conditions Dorothy wanted, she would have to bear the risk of him breaking the agreement. This didn't seem like the shrewd Dorothy's style.

"You're not planning to give me false information, are you?" Leon asked, puzzled.

"I trust you so much, yet you doubt me like this? It's really heartbreaking." Dorothy clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Don't worry, I will only tell you what I know. The reason I made this choice is because I originally planned to ask you to fulfill my conditions later, and I don't think you would refuse."

"Now that you've said that, I'm more curious about your conditions than the intelligence," Leon said, growing increasingly intrigued.

“Hehe, then this topic is more suitable for the grand finale. Let’s talk about the seal of Astartes first, Mr. Fenrir. You must know that Saint Astartes’ blessing ability is ‘omniscience’, right?” Dorothy said.

Leon nodded.

"Have you ever wondered why Saint Astartes, with his almost nonexistent power of omniscience and blessing, poses such a great threat and is capable of sealing the Great Labyrinth?" Dorothy asked.

“I’ve been wondering for a long time, what kind of qualitative change can occur when the blessing of omniscience reaches the level of a saint?” Leon said.

Cardinal Stuart already possesses blessing abilities of level three or higher. His omniscience allows him to forcibly read the memories of others, making him an extremely powerful intelligence-gathering ability. However, this ability itself does not cause harm; it can only slightly interfere with the thoughts of others. Leon has experienced this firsthand, and it is not impossible to break free from it.

In face-to-face combat, this blessing ability is unlikely to be of much use; its main purpose is to help one avoid battles with potentially fatal risks.

However, considering Queen Alice's extraordinary power to manipulate labyrinths around the world and evolve monsters, the difference between the Saint's Blessing and the Third-Order Blessing is clearly incomparable to the previous levels.

Therefore, Leon speculated that the power of omniscience reaching the Saint level could also bring about some kind of qualitative change.

“During the war, Eland sent many powerful individuals to confront Saint Astartes. The power of omniscience allows one to read a person's past at the third level, and at the Saint level, it is said that one can also see the key moments of a person's past and future, and then recreate the possibilities of that person in other timelines within them. It is said that this power can allow a person to encounter dangers they have experienced in their life or will experience in the future, or even their destined death, within their own consciousness,” Dorothy said.

"In the mind? It sounds like this is just an illusion. Does being under an illusion mean you can't move?" Leon said.

“No, this kind of replay is simply grafting other parts of the timeline over, so theoretically it won’t consume any extra time… Actually, I don’t quite understand the principle behind it either. In short, not a single millisecond has passed in reality, but you may have already spent hours or even days in the past or future of the Blessed Replay,” Dorothy said.

“Okay, so if I get injured or die in this illusion, will I suffer corresponding mental damage?” Leon asked.

This sounds somewhat similar to a kind of illusion he'd heard about in other works from his previous life, doesn't it? But if it's not a real threat, it seems there's still a way to deal with it.

“No, when that moment is chosen and takes effect by Astartes, what happened to you in that timeline will be replicated in you at this point in time,” Dorothy said.

“If I die in that illusion…” Leon paused for a moment.

“You really will die,” Dorothy nodded.

Chapter 682 Spending a Wonderful Night Together

"You just mentioned that even predetermined death can occur, so wouldn't being hit by this mean certain death?" Leon immediately began to have doubts.

If being hit by it would mean death, how could anyone have survived during the Eland era to tell others about the Astartes' abilities?

"Having crossed countless death traps, you should know best, right? Fate can be changed, and death can be overcome. What is called destiny is nothing more than what is predetermined on that timeline."

"If you were to die in the future due to negligence, and that future suddenly befell you when you were fully alert, you might not be unable to change that future death within the illusion you experienced," Dorothy said.

"Then wouldn't this ability also have a negative effect, allowing the enemy to see their future crises, and once they overcome them, they'll find a way to break through?" Leon said.

“It’s hard to say. Overcoming death is probably not that easy. Among those who are lucky enough to survive the Astartes’ abilities, a considerable number of them died in real-world scenarios similar to the illusions they recorded. In a way, this can be considered a kind of death prophecy. But I think you don’t need to worry about the future; it’s more appropriate to focus on the past,” Dorothy said.

"What do you mean?" Leon asked, somewhat puzzled.

“What you will be facing is not Saint Astartes himself, but Astartes’ remains and his remaining power, which is mostly incomplete. You should know that even Astartes himself could not fully foresee the future, at most he could only grasp a few fragments of the future, otherwise this great prophet should have foreseen that he would die because of this.” Dorothy said with a smile.

When Saint Astartes is mentioned, the Great Witch of Moilland will more or less have a belittling and mocking attitude.

"So, the power of the remains shouldn't be able to let me see the future?" Leon asked.

"I can't guarantee anything, but I can say the possibility is very high. But even so, overcoming the dangers you've experienced in the past won't be easy. Let's make a simple assumption: if you were affected by that ability, then the life-or-death moments you've faced in the past would be recreated."

"For example... when you killed Alexia, if you were to go back to that moment, would you be confident you could kill her again?" Dorothy looked at Leon seriously and said.

"So, does that mean my strength is still at the same level as before?" Leon asked Dorothy for confirmation.

“Of course, in the timeline where Astartes reappears, you will become just like yourself back then, and even your memories after that point in time will become blurred, only your consciousness will remain as you are now.” Dorothy nodded.

"I think it's really difficult," Leon honestly admitted.

When he dealt with Alexios, his blessing power was actually a level below. If he hadn't finally thought of using fire to defeat Alexios, winning in a near-suicidal way, Leon would probably have died long ago.

If he were to fight Alexie again, he felt he might not have the same luck.

"So to be honest, this blessing power might not be quite compatible with someone like you who has climbed up the ranks through fighting and killing," Dorothy said with a regretful expression.

Leon thought the same thing. If the power of Astartes' remains could recreate the things that happened in his past memories, then all the dangers he had experienced in the past would become weapons for the enemy.

"It sounds more like a trial. Someone who hasn't had this experience before is someone who avoids risks and probably won't risk breaking this seal," Leon commented.

It feels like running a dungeon. After defeating the seal of Astartes, you might have to face the wrath of Queen Iris. After dealing with elite units, you still have to deal with the boss. And the reward dropped in the dungeon is the Blood of Moirai.

"Perhaps Astartes intended to set up such a trial?" Dorothy guessed.

“Overcoming one’s past…” Leon thought back for a moment, realizing that dealing with the seal on Astartes was more complicated than he had imagined.

But there seems to be no shortcut to this... No, if Cardinal Stuart and the others really did come into contact with the remains of the saints, then they most likely used their omniscience to find some way to skip this trial.

However, in the end, none of them obtained power comparable to Astartes.

“If you prepare yourself mentally for the past, your chances of winning will increase slightly. Of course, breaking through this trial only fulfills the prerequisites. To break the seal, you still need to implement the follow-up plan: find the center of the great labyrinth, stimulate it with a certain amount of high-purity magic essence, and activate the labyrinth to overpower the saint's sealing power,” Dorothy said.

"After resolving all that, we still have to face Her Majesty the Queen's wrath. It makes me want to back out," Leon shook his head.

"Would you like to hear more bad news?" Dorothy smiled.

"Go on," Leon gestured for Dorothy to continue.

"Regarding Her Majesty the Queen, I've told you almost everything I know. But you must understand that even if I don't hide anything, I can't give you a complete grasp of Her Majesty's power. After all, no one in this world has ever witnessed Her Majesty's full strength. She must have trump cards that none of us have seen. Don't think that just because you have a Red Mercury weapon, you can defeat Her Majesty, even if it's just a clone in the labyrinth," Dorothy warned.

“I know.” Leon nodded. Of course, he wouldn’t dare to think that he could easily defeat Queen Alice just by having the Red Mercury in his hands.