What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

Several departments within the Privy Council, including the courtroom, have access to this location.

The diocese in charge of this diocese also bears the heavy responsibility of guarding this ruin. Diocese Chief Zevin actually has the authority to open the passage here to explore the ruin area, but judging from Lena's interrogation, Cardinal Zevin has almost never opened this door.

The Great Labyrinth has never had any problems since it was sealed, and the parish chief Zevin was afraid that unauthorized entry would cause problems that would require him to take responsibility. Unlike the three high-ranking members of the Church of the Prophets, he had no interest in the resting place of Astartes.

Leon took out the three keys he had received from Cardinal Zevin and unlocked the locks one by one. With a loosening sound, a narrow gap opened in the door, just wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

Leon carefully squeezed through with his lantern and arrived at the ruins area on the other side of the gate.

Upon entering this area, Leon immediately felt an indescribable sensation, as if the power of blessing had involuntarily activated, and two blessings were reacting simultaneously.

In the active labyrinth, Moirai's magic will also respond, but for the witch to feel it so clearly, the concentration of magic must reach a considerable level, generally quite close to the center of the labyrinth.

The concentration of magic in the labyrinth gradually increases as you approach the center, but Leon felt this way instantly when he passed through the mithril gate.

With the Mithril Gate as the boundary, there is almost no maze magic between the Ossuary and the ground area, but once you cross this dividing line, the magic suddenly becomes so strong that it feels like being in the center of a maze.

Leon sensed his surroundings alertly. Areas with such dense magic would generally be teeming with monsters, but there was no movement around him. Everything was quiet, except for an underground tunnel that stretched forward like a mine. It was pitch black ahead, and there was no sign of any living creature.

Saint Astartes' seal did not seem to have eliminated the magic of the labyrinth, but rather confined it to this area.

This was the first time the divine power of the Supreme God's blessing had appeared so unexpectedly. Leon believed that this must be the effect of Astartes' seal, and perhaps the flow of time in this place was different from that in the outside world.

Leon transformed into his werewolf form, enhancing his night vision and reaction speed, while simultaneously activating the precognitive state blessed by the Supreme God to deal with any unexpected situations that might arise.

The tunnel seemed to have no end. Leon patiently continued forward, but after a long time, there was still no sign of him coming out. For a moment, Leon couldn't help but wonder if the tunnel was infinitely long and if he had fallen into some kind of trap.

However, at that moment, a series of indistinct voices came from all directions. Leon alertly drew his gun and pointed it forward, but suddenly froze.

In that instant, he sensed that something was wrong, and a lot of things were wrong.

First of all, his hands were not those of a werewolf. At some point, his werewolf transformation was reversed, and he returned to normal. Even the clothes he was wearing seemed different.

Secondly, the gun in his hand was not the oversized revolver he had customized, but an old flintlock gun, the kind of equipment that ordinary soldiers and lower-ranking inquisitors were often issued.

Then he realized that the sound he was hearing was not coming from the front, but from all directions.

Finally, he couldn't remember for a moment why he had come there.

He had this feeling occasionally before: he would be about to do something, but when he got to the destination, he would suddenly forget what he was supposed to do. After thinking about it for a while, he would deal with other things and then suddenly remember it when he got back.

But ever since he received the blessing of the Supreme God, nothing like this has happened again. The flawless memories bestowed upon him by the Supreme God allow him to recall at any time how many things he needs to do...

But now he has suddenly become forgetful again, as if he has suddenly lost the power to bestow blessings.

Wait, what blessing power? Isn't that the superpower he's always wanted but never had the chance to obtain?

That's right, this has always been his problem. As a transmigrator who came to this world, he didn't gain any immediate cheat codes or powers.

So it turns out that dealing with a few gangsters here is such a hassle...

Okay, he finally remembered. He was here on a mission to take care of those gangsters who were illegally reselling potions!

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, several men dressed as inquisitors rushed past him.

"Hurry up! No slacking off, anyone who dares to back down will have half their salary deducted this quarter!" The captain's urging voice rang out at the opportune moment.

Leon felt a little dizzy, but he still followed along subconsciously.

The deduction of half his salary for the next three months wouldn't necessarily cause him financial hardship, but he would likely have to fall behind on rent for at least a month. Melissa and Mrs. Hersh couldn't afford any delays. Melissa's current earnings from her part-time job weren't even enough to buy medicine, and if he didn't pay the rent on time, she didn't know where she would have to borrow money to get through the crisis.

The terrain had somehow changed from a closed underground tunnel to a narrow alley. Their team was chasing two young gangsters who were fleeing in a panic, and there was a dead end ahead.

But at that moment, two thugs rushed into a house in a dead-end alley, and then people appeared on the rooftops on both sides of the alley carrying crossbows and flintlock pistols.

"Die, you lackeys!" the gang thugs yelled as they attacked them.

Chapter 692 Death Nodes in Past Lives

"Damn it, these rats dare to ambush us?"

Seeing his captain yelling and cursing, Leon awkwardly ducked down and lunged at a few abandoned wooden crates in the alley, using them as makeshift cover.

Leon also lowered his body. These flintlock muskets had a very low hit rate, and at most only two shots were allowed, so the probability of being hit was still very small.

However, at that moment, a gangster jumped down from a nearby rooftop and aimed a gun at him, seemingly preparing to suddenly close the distance and shoot him.

"Get ahead of him!"

The idea inexplicably popped into Leon's mind. He wasn't intimidated by the opponent's momentum. Instead, he made a risky move, raising the muzzle of his gun and pulling the trigger to engage in a sniper duel.

Leon's gun fired first, and the other man cried out and fell backward in mid-air, landing on the ground in a very undignified manner, unable to get up.

The next instant, Leon felt a lingering fear. If he had been a step slower in firing, or if he had missed due to nervousness and had stood still without dodging, he would have been shot and might have lost his life.

At that time, he really didn't know where he got the courage to do such a risky thing, as if he had some kind of confidence deep in his heart that he could shoot before the other party.

But he himself didn't know where this confidence came from; his marksmanship was really not that good.

He didn't know why, but now that he thought back, when he saw that person jump down, he suddenly had a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this somewhere before...

A chill ran down his spine along with the thought, and he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left upper arm without warning.

Leon acted before he could think; without looking behind him, he twisted his body sharply to the right. A crossbow bolt flew past him, missing him completely without even a scratch.

Leon turned his head and saw a young-looking gang member holding a crossbow, ambushing him from behind.

Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, the young gangster simply threw away his crossbow, grabbed a short sword, and lunged at him. The short sword gleamed with a wet sheen, as if it had been coated with something.

Leon immediately realized that the short sword, like the crossbow bolt from before, had been poisoned—he was inexplicably certain that the crossbow bolt that had almost grazed him was poisoned.

Using a dagger or short sword for close combat would be too dangerous, but the gun had already been fired, so Leon didn't hesitate and simply threw the empty gun in his hand.

The other party was clearly not expected to do this. Before he could react, the iron block thrown by Leon hit him squarely between the eyebrows. He only saw a flash of golden light.

At that moment, Leon lunged forward and stabbed the man in the throat with a dagger.

Before he could even experience the feel of it, the scene before him suddenly changed, transforming back into the seemingly endless tunnel.

Leon awoke as if from a dream, realizing what he had just experienced.

That was... a mission I gave out when I was still a junior judge!

Is this what Dorothy meant by Saint Astartes’s ability to grant blessings that allow people to relive the past?

The replay... it actually started from this point!?

During that mission, he was grazed on the upper arm by a crossbow bolt coated with demonic poison. From then on, he was plagued by worries about old injuries and medical expenses, which completely changed his enthusiasm for the job and made him despise the laws and order established by the church.

If I had to say, this was indeed one of the most important turning points in his life in this world. At that time, he was only one step away from death. If the crossbow bolt had hit his torso near his heart, the poison on the bolt would have been enough to kill him.

Leon's expression turned serious. After experiencing it once, he realized that he had been thinking too simply.

There is indeed a possibility of surviving the recurring event, and his power will regress to that point. However, the problem is that his memory will also regress, making him unable to recall that he was experiencing a hallucination. This means that he cannot immediately solve the problem based on his experience.

However, his memories and current personality have not completely disappeared. He can sense déjà vu from these experiences and then react instinctively.

However, this is not entirely a good thing. His lingering habitual thinking might sometimes harm him. In the memory he just experienced, he did not snipe at the first attacker, but dodged and was grazed by the second person's crossbow bolt.

He risked raising his gun and firing ahead of the other side at that time because of the lingering habit of time acceleration, but he didn't have that power then, and there was a possibility that he would not be able to adapt.

At that moment, a thought naturally came to his mind:

“If we go back now, there won’t be any problems.”

This idea was like a self-proclaimed rule, imprinted in his consciousness.

Leon had no doubt that this was probably one of the principles behind Saint Astartes' seal: only by trying to delve deeper into the labyrinth could the seal's rejection be triggered, and once you went back, the illusions you had experienced would not reappear.

Without giving it much thought, Leon continued walking along the tunnel while quickly retrieving memories from his mind.

If he remembers correctly, the next node that can be selected should be...

He suddenly stopped walking, and the surrounding environment changed accordingly.

The endless tunnel transformed into a dimly lit stone chamber, containing a simple experimental table and a flickering campfire for illumination.

Leon suddenly felt incredibly nostalgic. This was the laboratory he and Lena had built in the Hamel Town maze to produce magic essence; it was the starting point of their career.

Then he felt a little confused. Why should he feel nostalgic? Isn't he in that stage right now?

And because he did that, he's now getting himself into trouble.

A sense of tension washed over him again as he realized he was in the midst of a crisis. Suddenly, the smell of tobacco wafted over, and a burly figure appeared before him.

"Alright, don't be so serious." The person directly in front of him took a puff of his pipe, then smiled at Leon. "You'll definitely get your share of the benefits, we can discuss that later, but before that... why don't you go out for a bit?"

Leon blinked and recognized the person in front of him.

Caron Esso, his superior, is the head of the Hamelin Inquisition!

Leon looked again at the distance, where Lena, who looked younger than he remembered, was staring at him with a desperate gaze.

Oh right, he remembered now. Their business had been caught red-handed by Caron, who was planning to steal his business!

This is the kind of trash? This insignificant guy thinks he can trample him underfoot?

At that moment, Leon was suddenly filled with rage and contempt for the man in front of him, Caron.

"What kind of look is that?" Caron frowned at Leon.

Chapter 693 Who Do You Think You're Talking To?

“There’s nothing there.” Leon quickly looked away, his mind instantly calming down.

He suddenly seemed to wake up a little from a dream, realizing that he was now experiencing things he had experienced before, that everything in front of him was not real, but that he could not afford to make any mistakes.

If I die here, everything will be over.

The Caron Esso before him will be nothing more than an insignificant insect to him in the future, but to him now, he is a huge threat.

"Then get out of here." Caron stared at Leon for a while and ordered impatiently.

Leon's gaze earlier had deeply displeased him, and he had also lost his temper.

However, at this moment he still maintained his condescending contempt for Leon. As a superhuman with a body of steel and the blessing of the God of War, he could kill even fierce beasts like tigers and grizzly bears with his bare hands, and could even deal with some third-tier monsters that other superhumans could not handle.

Why should an ordinary person be on guard?

"As you command, sir." Leon saluted, placing his hand on his body, and as he remembered, reached for the small pistol hidden on his person.

Yes, he vaguely remembered killing Caron with this gun. Although he didn't know where this vague memory came from, this sense of déjà vu was like a divine revelation, guiding him in the direction he could choose.

But at the same time, he was also very clear that this was risky, and any mistake would mean death. In that blurry sense of déjà vu, he had also experienced a considerable degree of risk. If he were to do it again, he would be killed by Kalon if he was not careful.

At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind: "Then all we have to do is do nothing!"

Nothing he's experiencing now is real, and neither is the Lena here. The only real person is himself in this time and space. If he dies, he will truly die. So, as long as he chooses the option that guarantees his survival, he can safely get through this ordeal.

But a strong feeling of nausea immediately made him dismiss the idea. Even if it was a virtual game where you could reload your save file, he would never want to experience the subsequent storyline of this option.

If he had chosen a different path here, he would undoubtedly have despised himself, and was a mere Caron worth avoiding?

Leon placed the church's dagger and flintlock pistol on the table, took the opportunity to steal the test tubes from the table, and then left.

Everything gradually began to awaken his memory. Lena pleaded with him to tug at his clothes, and he said sorry before continuing on his way.

Then Caron stopped him and asked him to explain what he had taken away and was hiding on his person. Leon skillfully took out the magic element and deceived Caron.

"Magic essence? You think you can sneak out with just this little bit?" Just like Leon thought, Caron laughed out loud, stepped forward, snatched the test tube, and shook it, his expression even more contemptuous as he mocked.

“I promise it won’t happen again,” Leon replied, bowing his head.

"Get out of here," Caron cursed.

Leon turned around, silently took out venom and magic essence, coated the muzzle of his gun with poison, glanced back at Caron who had his back to him, and then fired a shot.

That's right, that's it!

He suddenly felt like he had regained his touch.

As he had expected, Caron was shot in the back of the head, his body jolted, and then, in a fit of rage, he drew his gun and fired at him.

Last time, Leon didn't expect Caron's swift movements and was shot in the shoulder while dodging in a panic, but this time Leon was prepared and dodged the bullet by ducking down.

Leon didn't stop, continuing to pounce and roll at the right moment. Just as he expected, Caron roared and charged like a bull, drawing his sword and cleaving the ground in a leaping slash.

This time, Leon was not intimidated by the opponent's overwhelming power. He kicked over the desk and shouted at Lena, "Send all the monsters at me!"

Caught off guard by Leon's sudden action, Lena was about to pick up the flintlock pistol when Leon's shout made her realize what she should do. She quickly released the monster and blew her whistle.