What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

"But I think there's still one thing: you only passed some condition of the Astartes test. Maybe that condition was just to make sure you killed Queen Alice's clone and prevented her from getting the labyrinth."

So when you ignited her with the flames of red mercury, you fulfilled the condition and passed the test. But that doesn't mean you'll survive after that point in time.

If Queen Iris had any remaining strength after being ignited, she would surely have killed you in your petrified state. Perhaps, for Astartes, the perfect ending would have been for you and the Queen's avatar to perish together?

Fred presented her ideas very meticulously.

“You think the same way I do.” Leon was pleased that Fred had caught up with his train of thought so quickly. “So, this is where we need you.”

“Me?” Fred raised an eyebrow.

“I need you to protect me back then. Are you interested in dealing with the Witch Queen’s clone yourself?” Leon asked, looking at Frey.

Leon guessed that Freyd's sacred land should at least be able to withstand the desolate domain released by Queen Alice for a while, otherwise the Queen would not have gone to the trouble of breaking Freyd's domain and then releasing that one-time power.

If he can find a way to ensure that Frey survives the blessing in the end, he can let Frey clean up the mess when he and Queen Alice are both injured!

Therefore, at the crucial moment, he deliberately broke away from Freyd's protection. He believed that Queen Alice's only target was him and that she would completely ignore the weak Freyd and focus her attention on him first. And that's exactly what he expected.

"I'm sorry, Queen of Moyland, but it's you who should end this here, not us!"

Freyde thrust out her rapier again, a white light piercing Queen Alice's wing, then her leg.

The charred body quickly collapsed. Queen Alice realized that she no longer had the chance to control the remains and simply stopped moving, thus withdrawing her consciousness from the clone.

Through her vision distorted by the flames, she could only vaguely make out Leon's petrified outline.

In this way, the blood of Moirai will ultimately fall into this man's hands.

Given the favor he received during the blessing of Moirai, his talent was probably no less than that of Princess Isis, and becoming a saint would likely not be difficult for him.

She should have been extremely uneasy about this, even feeling like the sky was falling.

But to her own surprise, she felt very calm.

With a will to transcend herself like a moth drawn to a flame, she finally began to understand Fenrir's thoughts a little.

Can he really do it?

A thought she had never had before flashed through her mind.

But soon, she regained her normal thinking, and the inherited memories went through her mind again, making her realize once again the mission she carried.

She carries the weight of a nation on her shoulders, so she can't just trust anyone.

At the same time, Freyd watched as Queen Alice's body turned to ashes and collapsed, and the red mercury flames that were wrapped around the queen's remains also went out.

She didn't let her guard down, staring at the embers for a long time before finally letting out a sigh of relief. The rapier slipped from her hand; she could barely hold it anymore.

Fred wanted to lie down and rest, but the ground, scorched by the red mercury, was still incredibly hot. She could only turn to the petrified Leon and carefully check on his condition.

Leon is probably not dead yet. With the disappearance of Queen Alice, the curse has stopped its further erosion.

Normally, the petrification symptoms that have already formed will not disappear with the death of the person who released the cursed blood, but they will not worsen further.

Fortunately, Lamia's regenerative blood was still working within Leon's body. The erosion stopped, and the healing effect of the regenerative blood also broke the balance and became apparent.

Just as Freyd had expected, the grayish-white color on Leon's body gradually began to fade, revealing blood color. The burned parts turned into wounds, and his stiff body trembled slightly, gradually returning to the soft state that flesh and blood should have.

Fred stared at Leon with great interest, when suddenly a strange thought popped into her head.

She tried to get closer to Leon's face, then hesitated for a moment, and stopped in her tracks, seriously considering whether it was appropriate.

Just then, Leon's eyes, which had turned gray from petrification, regained their luster, and his vibrant pupils reflected Frey's face.

At this distance, Fred could still clearly feel Leon's resuming breathing.

"What are you doing?" Leon frowned immediately.

He frowned, partly out of doubt and partly out of pain. His petrified body was more resistant to high temperatures than flesh and blood, but the high temperature of the red mercury still melted part of it, causing serious damage to the front of his body.

"You're recovering pretty quickly." Fred quickly distanced herself and casually smoothed her hair.

"What are you doing?" Leon didn't let the topic be changed; the distance between Fred's face and his had just been unnaturally close.

"Is this how you talk to your savior? I had the chance to kill you just now." Fred smiled slyly. "You really entrusted your life to me like that? I'm amazed you dared to trust me."

“Since you’re willing to risk your life with me, it would be unreasonable for me not to make some equal concessions. Besides, you probably wouldn’t do something so stupid as to kill me; you wouldn’t be able to leave here alive anyway,” Leon replied calmly.

If Fred had attacked him just now, Johnny and the others would have noticed something amiss. At that point, it would have been questionable whether Fred could have left the Grand Parish controlled by his forces alive. At the very least, he was certain that Lena and Johnny would avenge him.

Fred had no reason to do so, since without him, she would eventually lose to Aaron in the ensuing struggle and be eliminated by the Eastern nobles.

Leon's intuition also led him to believe that Fred wouldn't do that. In the past, he would have been extremely wary of Fred, but after experiencing the rehearsed future, he changed his mind.

Since Fred was willing to entrust his life to him, he was also willing to give her an equal amount of trust.

Chapter 709 The New Master of the Great Labyrinth

"It's really not easy to finally get you to believe me a little bit," Fred said, looking into Leon's eyes with a smile.

"So what exactly were you doing just now?" Leon brought up the question again.

"..." Fred fell silent for a moment.

Is this never going to end?

However, she quickly found an excuse without changing her expression: "I'm just checking your injuries a little. After all, your face is quite badly burned, isn't it?"

"I've already adjusted the fire; I won't die," Leon replied, enduring the pain.

During the rehearsal last time, he impulsively mixed all the red mercury and pure magic essence samples he had hidden on his body, catching Queen Alice off guard.

The result was that the burst of red mercury flames burned him badly, even melting parts of his petrified body. When he returned to normal, it was as if a layer of skin had been peeled off his skin, which exhausted Lamia's life force.

In fact, he didn't need to create such a strong flame. The red mercury's flames only needed to touch a little bit of Queen Alice's re-incubated body to completely burn that clone.

Therefore, after devising the tactics, he adjusted the required amount of red mercury and magic essence in advance, and then took the initiative to engage in close combat with Queen Alice, giving Freyd the opportunity to create distance and avoid being drawn in, while also controlling his own damage.

Fortunately, ever since his battle with Alexia, he had used the materials from the sacred relic to create a suit with some fire-resistant properties. Although it couldn't completely protect him from the high temperature of the red mercury, it at least allowed him to keep his outer clothes and trousers intact in such situations, preventing him from looking too embarrassed.

“Then I think you should be able to move now, after all, we don’t have much time left.” Frey said, her gaze shifting to the Fountain of Youth, which was still burning slowly, with steam constantly escaping from it. “I wonder how far it’s burned inside. Maybe what you’re looking for has already been destroyed.”

In the Fountain of Youth, the red mercury's igniting effect on magic is slowly spreading downwards, like a lit candle.

If the red mercury ignites the blood of Moirai, even if the blood of Moirai is not destroyed, Leon will have no way to access it.

“Even so, I have to see it before I can give up. Can you handle it?” Leon asked Fred to confirm.

They need to dive into the Fountain of Youth, which is ignited by the flames of red mercury, and whether they are diving or trying to stay afloat, they will need Freyd's blessing to sustain them.

"It's alright. I feel much better after dealing with that Queen. Let's give it a try," Fred said.

Leon nodded and tossed a Shadow Amulet to Freyd.

This is a safety net; if they can't hold out down there, they can use this to teleport outside the spring.

Leon had just taken a step when the pain from his wound made him stumble. Seeing this, Fred quickly stepped forward and supported his arm.

"Looks like you're not fully recovered yet. Do you need me to carry you?" Fred teased.

“It’s nothing serious, let’s go.” Leon said, and was about to push Fred away.

But Fred held onto his arm tightly: "We'll be sticking together in the water anyway, so there's nothing to be shy about."

Being able to be the one to bestow favors when Leon is so weak has a strange sense of novelty for her.

Leon said nothing more, and with Freyd by his side, they approached the burning Fountain of Youth. When they reached a certain distance, he felt a burning sensation from the flames and signaled Freyd to activate the blessing.

The sacred ground enveloped the two once more, allowing them to approach the spring, while a barrier kept the campfire-like red mercury flames at bay.

They jumped into the spring, and the surrounding water reflected the vibrant colors of the sunset. Red light danced in the water, slowly spreading downwards like ink dripping from above.

That was the energy of the red mercury spreading along the magic in the lake. Even without flames as a carrier, the energy of the red mercury could slowly devour Moirai's magic, just like in the era of the gods beyond time, when the four gods joined forces to seal Moirai.

Leon clung tightly to Freyd, now completely dependent on her in this spring. Without Freyd's protection, he would be instantly ignited by the red mercury, and even in the deeper parts, he wouldn't be able to breathe underwater.

He is now like the prince in the story who fell into the water and can only be saved by this mermaid.

Fred took out her albatross compass and was about to manipulate Leon when he reached out and took it. With just a glance, Fred understood. She needed to conserve her power to maintain the domain as much as possible. Leon still had the power to manipulate the water flow.

Under the influence of the albatross compass, the water flow began to concentrate and push the barrier enveloping the two people, propelling them straight downwards.

A moment later, the two finally crossed the water area shrouded in the red glow of the sunset. The surrounding spring water turned a slightly darker red again, and then became lighter and lighter.

Frey smiled at Leon and raised an eyebrow. This was a good sign; the red mercury hadn't burned to the bottom yet, and the blood of Moirai was most likely still intact.

However, she didn't say it aloud; everything was conveyed through unspoken understanding in their eyes. The barrier of the sacred land could only preserve a limited volume of air, and the two of them consumed it at twice the rate. They didn't actually have much time to dive, so it was best to avoid talking as much as possible.

They ventured deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, where the Fountain of Youth was the source of its magic. Theoretically, it was connected to the Moirai deity deep underground, and its waters should also be connected to a fairly deep underground water vein.

At this moment, Frey noticed some physical outlines appearing in the spring and tried to perceive them using the power of her blessing.

The magic-rich spring water affected her senses, but she could still recognize the bones—the bones of various monsters, not just aquatic monsters, but also large terrestrial monsters resembling beasts and dragons.

At first, she thought these were all corpses, but she soon realized that they were just half-formed monster bodies, floating in the spring water like ordinary corpses.

These are the monster bodies that Queen Alice rapidly formed from the source of the maze when she took over the awakened maze after Leon unsealed it.

The great labyrinth of the past, now fully activated and constantly expanding outwards, is teeming with monsters that render even the empire's army, capable of conquering a nation, helpless.

Just then, Fred suddenly became confused.

Although they dealt with the clone of Queen Alice, who was the master of the labyrinth, the Great Labyrinth of Erland did not have a master at that time.

Even though the Great Labyrinth is activated, it will continue to produce monsters. The Red Mercury hasn't burned here yet, so why aren't monsters forming here?

Logically speaking, after sinking to this point, they should be besieged by these constantly spawning monsters, making it very difficult for them to get close to the Blood of Moirai.

They will not be allowed to approach unless a new will takes over the labyrinth and the new master of the labyrinth stops its operation.

Thinking of this, Freyd subconsciously looked at Leon.

Chapter 710 Fusion of the Blood of Moirai

Frey had long suspected that Leon possessed the same ability as Queen Isis to become the master of the labyrinth, and Alicia's forced entry into the labyrinth of Arend Island was a case in point.

The moment Queen Alice's clone was destroyed, the Great Labyrinth should have chosen a new Labyrinth Lord.

Upon thinking of this, Freyd suddenly felt a tremor in her heart.

If Leon could truly control this great labyrinth, wouldn't that mean he could recreate the expansion of the labyrinth from years ago at any time, allowing countless monsters to ravage the area permeated with magic, bringing a massive natural disaster to the empire?

And her guess was partly right—although Leon couldn't do that level yet, he had indeed obtained the authority of the Labyrinth Master.

Leon did not respond to Freyd's attention, but instead shifted his consciousness to the depths.

After defeating Queen Alice's clone, the title of Labyrinth Lord immediately fell to him. He now had the authority to control the labyrinth, enough to stop the continuous generation of monsters in the labyrinth's core.

Even so, he could still feel a powerful force beneath him ignoring his will and forcibly activating the labyrinth.

That was undoubtedly the blood of Moirai that had caused this great labyrinth to spiral out of control, which is why he could sense the location of the blood of Moirai.

He personally maneuvered the albatross compass straight in that direction, and the color of the surrounding spring water changed again, from pale red to bright red, and then to a deep dark red.

Freyd suddenly sensed a small figure, but it had no physical form. Its texture seemed to be composed of liquid, yet it did not dissolve in the spring water. It simply floated quietly in the water, like a ghost.

Leon, however, sensed something else entirely: an unprecedentedly dense aura of magic, as if the figure were composed of magic elements of unparalleled purity.

As Leon approached, the figure also moved, moving closer to them.

The surrounding water was glowing, allowing the two to see the strange object floating in the water—it was bright red, with the outline of a woman, like a mass of blood that had spontaneously transformed into the shape of a woman in the water; simply put, it was a little fairy made of blood.

The blood fairy hovered around the outer edge of the barrier, reaching out to touch the barrier of the sacred land, seemingly wanting to enter.

"This is... the blood of Moirai?" Freyd couldn't help but break the taboo against speaking too much and asked.

The blood of Moirai is indeed a pool of blood, but it takes the form of a living thing, and has the outline of a female human, which seems to confirm the connection between human origins and Moirai.

Leon didn't answer her, he just stared at her.

He felt an instinctive calling, and Moirai's blood sensed him and yearned to merge with him.

The moment he became the master of the labyrinth, the blood of Moirai sensed the most suitable host. Rather than becoming the core of the labyrinth, the blood of Moirai preferred to merge with this life form without original sin who had now become the master of the labyrinth.

"Let her in," Leon ordered Fred.

"..." Fred thought for a moment, and without much questioning, prepared to do as instructed.

However, before she could grant access, the blood of Moirai actually managed to penetrate the barrier on its own!