What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

However, Leon himself knew very well that he did not have a second Red Mercury Incendiary Bomb, and he would have to think of another way.

Knowing that Queen Alice had this trump card was a valuable lesson. Now that the magic of the labyrinth was almost completely burned out, the magic of Queen Alice's clone could not be replenished, and that small body probably wouldn't be able to hatch a second time.

If we escape now, we can rethink our strategy and revitalize the situation.

However, he had already sensed a killing intent several times stronger than before in Queen Alice's eyes. After confirming that he could launch an attack with the Red Mercury Incendiary Bomb, Queen Alice was determined to kill him. She had just used up the power of blessing by activating the Red Mercury, and Leon was not sure if he could still escape from Queen Alice's grasp.

If he could get Fred to stall him for a while, there would be more hope, but Leon didn't think Fred would be willing to die for him in this situation.

Leon foresaw Queen Alice taking flight, soaring over the still-burning Fountain of Youth towards them, her eyes flashing with an evil, cursed gaze.

He realized he could no longer hesitate. He drew his pistol, ready to provide cover fire to escape the cave, when, in a premonition, Princess Freyde moved again, raising her rapier and thrusting it at Queen Alice.

Leon was taken aback and paused for a moment. Then Queen Alice took flight, and Princess Fred thrust out her rapier. The white light pierced straight at the queen's head, but Queen Alice alertly dodged in mid-air, avoiding Fred's thrust. She spun around and rushed to a rock wall to the side, hanging herself on it with her claws.

“She dodged Leon; it seems she can’t take any more of this.” Frey turned to Leon, a slightly gleeful smile playing on her lips. “We’ve driven her to the brink!”

Before she could finish speaking, Freyd's body gradually stiffened. Queen Alice stared at her, her cursed gaze relentlessly draining Freyd of her life force even without eye contact.

Leon activated time acceleration, creating a clone that simultaneously loaded bullets and fired a barrage of mithril bullets at Queen Alice. Queen Alice was caught off guard and hit by several bullets, but she was not seriously injured.

She flapped her wings again, spraying blood from her wounds, and a poisonous mist spread, exuding the aura of death.

The scattered blood transformed into various strange and small monsters, which flew around Leon and Frey. These monsters, formed from the blood of the curse, could cause fatal damage if any one of them bit them.

Freyd was already showing signs of weakness from overexertion, but she still managed to maintain the barrier of the sacred land once again to protect the two from fatal damage.

"Aren't you being a little too optimistic? It seems like we're the ones who've been driven to the brink!" Leon shielded Fred behind him, but in his mind, he was already planning when to abandon her and run away.

"Isn't this what you've always been doing? Finding a way to survive in dire straits? I'm just learning from you," Princess Freda laughed. "Weren't we all prepared to die here together? Tell me, what are we going to do next?"

Leon suddenly had a thought.

That's right, he came prepared to die because of this, but why has he been thinking about abandoning Freyd and escaping alone since just now?

Is it because this is just a drill?

Because he was under the blessing of Astartes, he felt he had a way out and forgot how he had risked his life to get here.

Freyd was actually right. Queen Alice had been greatly depleted and could no longer use her newly regenerated healing abilities to withstand damage indefinitely. Moreover, the labyrinth's magic was exhausted, and the Fountain of Youth was still burning, so she could no longer summon those exaggerated high-level monsters. She could only use her own blood to create some small monsters to participate in the battle.

As for the counter to the Queen's Red Mercury, he actually has a second one on hand.

Chapter 701 The Queen's Instant Kill

“How long can your blessing last? I need you to buy me some time!” Leon shouted to Fred.

At the same time, his clone was constantly loading bullets into his pistol, while another clone kept firing at Queen Alice, who was using the monsters as cover to dodge.

He could tell that Fred was not in good condition, but the death of Fred in this rehearsal would not affect Fred in the normal timeline.

But if Fred falls easily, he will be the next to die.

Having chosen to stay and fight to the end, he had no choice but to win.

"Does your tactic require sacrificing me?" Fred suddenly asked.

“I can’t explain it clearly. Perhaps I will have to sacrifice you here, but I will still do my best to keep you alive,” Leon said very quickly.

Although he used Freyd as a expendable object to test the waters during the rehearsal, Leon actually had no intention of sacrificing Freyd.

Regardless of Freyd's value to him, Freyd is now considered a comrade, and he doesn't like sacrificing his teammates.

He might still sacrifice himself here, but in the end he will try his best to find a way for both him and Fred to survive this battle. However, this is not a way to explain to this Fred who is not from the real timeline.

The small monsters that Queen Alice summoned this time were mostly bird-shaped monsters, each with a different appearance. They were all types that Leon and his companions had never seen before. They flew at an astonishing speed and made a piercing, teeth-grinding cry.

The combined screams were enough to give anyone a splitting headache, but fortunately, Freyd's sacred ground shielded them from the noise.

However, with a wave of the queen's hand, these monsters suddenly accelerated to their maximum speed, converging on a single point of the sacred land's barrier, frantically ramming that spot with their hard beaks with reckless abandon.

Each monster's body would disintegrate upon impact, turning into a poisonous mist of cursed blood.

Freyd watched in astonishment as the monsters crashed to their deaths against her barrier, making a sound like hail falling on a crystal dome. The deep purple poisonous mist quickly filled their vision.

Leon's expression changed, for he sensed the impending collapse of the sacred land's barrier; the beaks of these bird-like monsters seemed as hard as dragon fangs.

Although the impact was not strong, the repeated impacts over a hundred times, coupled with the corrosive power of the cursed blood magic, would inevitably cause the mere second-tier sacred land to collapse.

Freyd was still trying to maintain the blessing, but her body, weakened by the Cursed Gaze, could not hold on for much longer.

Just as the last monster crashed into the barrier, Leon suddenly accelerated and slammed backward, sending Frey flying.

The weakened Frey was caught off guard and flew backward, her consciousness went blank for a moment, and the barrier of the sacred land disappeared.

A deep purple poisonous mist rushed towards Leon, but a ferocious dragon claw pierced through the mist and struck Leon first.

Leon foresaw that Queen Alice would personally deliver the final blow with her dragon claw after the monsters' horde attack, and that even if Freyd's blessing wasn't interrupted by him, the sacred land would still be destroyed at that moment.

Leon did not dodge, but instead activated Acceleration and Cursed Blood at the same time. He raised the longsword he had drawn and thrust it at Queen Alice's dragon claw. At the same time, he raised his other hand and put his forearm on his shoulder, letting the thrusting blade cut open his wound and stain it with his own Cursed Blood.

With the aid of time acceleration, his movements and reaction speed surpassed that of the Queen. The Blazing Holy Sword, reinforced with mithril from the gauntlets given to him by Aaron, was powerful enough to pierce dragon scales with the power of the werewolf.

The sword pierced through Queen Alice's dragon claw and disappeared into her palm, cutting all the way down her forearm.

Queen Alice opened her claws in excruciating pain, then snapped them shut, gripping the sword tightly with her claw-like fingers while attempting to release more cursed blood from her wounds.

However, at this moment, Leon had already released the hilt of his sword and accelerated his retreat, leaving only a clone of himself holding the sword and releasing the flames of the holy sword to dry the blood from Queen Alice's wounds with high temperature and prevent the poisonous fog from erupting.

Leon stepped back and shielded Frey behind him, trying his best not to meet Queen Alice's gaze. He couldn't actually withstand the cursed blood and gaze of Queen Alice's clone either, but at least he could withstand it more than Frey, who only had a second-tier blessing.

The pervasive poisonous fog quickly thinned out, and Leon noticed that as soon as the fog approached the Fountain of Youth, the crimson flames burning within it were dispelled as if purified.

The magic hidden in the Fountain of Youth slowly and steadily ignites the flames of the red mercury. Those flames still carry the characteristics of the red mercury, which can nullify the witch's blessing power.

Queen Alice's left hand and forearm were pierced by the sword left by Leon, and flames burned along her arm to her shoulder. At the same time, Leon's cursed blood invaded her body, trying to erode her.

A witch blessed with the blood of the Cursed One has no effect on herself when she wields a life-stripping curse, but she can affect others, even other witches who also possess the blood of the Cursed One.

However, there is still a gap in the level of blessing between Leon and Queen Alice's clones, not to mention that the latter has a higher level of rebirth blessing to resist this corruption.

Alice drew her sword without batting an eye, then clenched her claws into her chest, tearing out her own heart.

Leon was stunned. The scene was just like when Queen Alice evolved the earth dragon in the labyrinth of Arend Island. However, the heart she took out back then was bright red, but this heart... was grayish-white and bloodless, exuding an aura of death and decay.

Leon shuddered. The mere sight of that heart instilled in him an instinctive fear, even stronger than witnessing Queen Alice's cursed blood.

"It's over." Queen Alice said casually as she crushed her own heart.

An invisible force erupted from the shattered heart, and Leon and Frey suddenly felt their blood freeze and become blocked. The intense feeling of suffocation made them instinctively grab their throats, but they couldn't find the invisible hand that seemed to be choking them.

Queen Alice can unleash a blessing close to that of her original self by using the heart of her clone. After consuming such a large amount of magic power, she will lose control of the labyrinth for a period of time and will no longer be able to create clones within it.

But that power was completely overwhelming for Leon and the others. The blessing of rebirth could allow a level four monster to evolve directly to level five, while the cursed blood could release a desolate domain that could unconditionally annihilate all living beings around it, without needing blood or sight as a medium.

The weakened Frey lost consciousness and began to petrify before she could release her blessing again. Leon tried to activate his acceleration, but found that his joints were rusty and his body was numb as if it didn't belong to him.

The moment the sacred land shattered, the outcome was already decided. Unless Leon started to flee beforehand, Queen Alice had the ability to annihilate them instantly.

"No matter why you gained Moirai's favor, it all ends here now. You shouldn't have such ambitions." The young-looking Queen Alice stepped forward slowly, raised her claws and pointed at Leon's heart, preparing to rip it out.

Why did my favorability suddenly increase in Chapter 702?

Leon could only helplessly watch as his body gradually turned into grayish-white blocks of salt, starting from his limbs. The terror of impending death made him gasp, but the suffocating feeling made it impossible for him to breathe.

"Are you planning to rip my heart out and take it with you?" Leon asked in a barely audible voice.

Queen Alice did not respond; she had no reason to answer a dead man.

The magic of the Fountain of Youth exists in the water and burns very slowly, like a candle. This means that although the labyrinth was drained of most of its magic by the explosion of the red mercury, the source was not completely blocked.

Thanks to the power of the labyrinth, she still maintains a connection with her original body. She can retrieve a sample of information from Leon's heart through the labyrinth, and then, with the help of another great witch, Melfison, who has the ability to split and replicate, create a replica of Leon's body for research.

Fenrir's intention to taint the blood of Moirai has brought her to the point where she must be eliminated. However, the special blessing bestowed upon Fenrir is still worth studying.

“It seems you’re not so devout to Moirai after all. To you, the power of the gods is nothing more than a tool,” Leon said.

"Isn't that the case for you?" Queen Alice looked up at Leon, whose height difference was still quite obvious at this moment.

“But I don’t have your clear purpose. You’re willing to sacrifice not only the power of the gods, but also the lives of your loved ones. Is it worth it for a revenge that is destined to be meaningless?” Leon asked with difficulty.

Queen Alice glared at Leon, her eyes flashing with a fierce dragon's might.

But Leon merely wore a mocking smile. The fact that his words could make the other party react defensively meant that his verbal attacks were effective.

But that smile vanished in an instant. He regained his serious expression and said, "I know my own uniqueness; you can't replicate it. If you insist on pursuing the power of revenge, your sister won't survive."

He could tell that Queen Alice wanted to study the source of his power and reacted to his provocation, which showed that Lamia was not an insignificant figure to her.

Dorothy's previous advice led Queen Alice to seriously consider studying the secret of the blessed talent from Leon. If she could copy or possess it, then perhaps she wouldn't need to sacrifice Lamia.

But Leon himself knew very well that he was able to possess Moirai's blessing because of his special nature as a time traveler. This special nature could not be replicated by ordinary means, at least not after his death.

Faced with the Norn Empire, which has already developed a weapon called Red Mercury, Queen Alice has only one option if she wants to reclaim the complete power of the Saints to fight back: sacrifice Lamia.

"What happens between her and me is none of your business!" Queen Alice said coldly.

“That’s not necessarily true. I have a contract to protect her from you,” Leon replied.

"So, you have her blood in you, but that only delays your death. She trusted the wrong person," Queen Alice said.

She had already noticed that the desolation was slowly eroding Leon, and the curse was still on the surface and had not reached the depths. As for Frey behind Leon, only the outside of her body was petrified, and her brain and other vital organs had not been completely eroded.

This indicates that a sufficiently powerful blessing of rebirth is helping them resist the curse; besides Queen Alice herself, only Lamia could achieve this.

Lamia herself might be able to resist the curse, but by giving her blood to others, they would only die a little slower under Queen Alice's constant curses.

Leon then smiled and said, "At least I... kept my promise. The person she trusted the wrong person... was you!"

"Shut up!!" Queen Alice's eyes flashed with a cursed gaze this time. She intended to remove Leon's heart intact before it petrified. She hadn't planned to let Leon's curse spread too quickly, but this time she was enraged.

Leon's petrification symptoms quickly spread to his head. He could no longer speak, and his expression froze. In the blink of an eye, his entire body turned into a salt-like stone statue, and even his hair turned into a dry salt beard.

Leon's consciousness gradually sank into darkness, and death gradually descended upon him at this moment in the future, soon to be projected onto his body in the normal timeline. In his final moments, he could only silently pray.

……

"what!"

Leon was jolted awake by a sharp pain after his consciousness had been interrupted for an unknown period of time. He then suddenly collapsed to his knees.

"Ha...ha..." He gasped for breath, his whole body trembling with pain. He looked at his arms, but he couldn't see anything clearly, as if he had been blinded by smoke.

In fact, both arms looked as if they had been quenched in a furnace; the skin had been completely burned away, leaving the entire area a bloody mess.

Not only his arms, but his entire front of his body, including his facial features, was burned. The burns were even more severe than when he burned himself to death Alexia, but his clothes remained intact.

Fortunately, Lamia's regenerative blood was still working, and his body was recovering at a visible speed, with his burned eyes gradually regaining their vision.

He struggled to sit up and looked ahead, where he saw the familiar silhouette of the remains of Saint Astartes.

He returned, back to the save point prepared by Saint Astartes.

"Hehe..." Leon couldn't help but tear open the burned face and grin, immediately wincing in pain, but he still continued to grin like that.

At that point, he should have been left only to await death, and should have returned to the save point as a petrified corpse. But since he's alive now, it means his desperate plan worked.

Before his complete death, other conditions triggered the backtracking.

Several minutes passed before Leon finally regained some mobility. He got up and dragged his feet, trying to approach the back of the remains.

Hollow footsteps echoed through the ruins until the silhouette of the robed remains was close at hand. Leon's view remained unchanged, with no further shifts to the future.

Leon also vaguely felt that some inexplicable restraint was gradually dissipating from his body, and at this point, he was certain that he had broken through the blockade blessed by Saint Astartes.

He let out a long breath, patted himself down, and then took out the magic mirror and called out, "Fred."

"I'm in..." Fred's face quickly appeared in the mirror, followed by a confused expression. "You're injured. What happened?"

"I'm sorry, Fred," Leon suddenly apologized.

In the rehearsals, he sacrificed Fred every time, which made him feel somewhat apologetic.

"What are you apologizing for?" Fred asked, completely bewildered.

She didn't think Leon felt any guilt about kidnapping and controlling her, but at this moment, Leon inexplicably apologized to her earnestly.

Leon didn't explain immediately, but continued, "Also, thank you, really."

Now he is certain that Fred's aspirations for him are real. If Fred hadn't reminded him of his proper conduct back then, he probably would have chosen to run away again, and there would have been no way to break the deadlock.