Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 272

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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272. What Heaven Desires

The archer presented a shocking prediction that Priest Rihua would not live long.

Everyone except the priests, including Serena, were surprised, but the priests were different.

The servants of the great ones dwelling in heaven seemed to have inwardly suspected this, as they lowered their heads with sad eyes.

“It’s not wrong. Though not completely rotten, Priest Muffin properly corrupted the traitor’s limbs. Instantly healing such rotted limbs is beyond Priest Rihua’s capabilities.”p>

“She probably received additional power when receiving the new oracle. If Priest Rihua is a vessel capable of handling it, it would be fine, but…”

“Sometimes even effort becomes overwhelming. Ordinary effort won’t be enough to withstand the newly received power.”

“Tsk.”

Though he had betrayed them, he was still a comrade who had shared life and death in the labyrinth. The talkative knight found it difficult to mention the fate that had befallen Priest Rihua and closed his mouth.

“He received power he cannot handle. He will soon face destruction.”

Ying revealed another bitter prediction and focused on wrapping bandages. The black bandages, having lost their purpose, wound around the archer’s left arm, spiraling up to claim his left shoulder.

‘I see. A priest’s rank depends on the power given by gods, but there’s a limit to how much power a priest (vessel) can handle.’

Priest Rihua’s limit was 3-star. But the God of Light gave Priest Rihua power he couldn’t handle in order to change the situation as desired.

Whether the vessel receiving the power cracked or shattered was not considered at all.

“This is too much! Priest Rihua didn’t even want to betray, yet his life is in danger too? That’s strange!”

“Shh! Count Hanson, watch your words!”

This world was one where gods truly existed in heaven. Insulting and resenting gods could bring down real divine punishment. Count Alpha quickly covered the justice-loving knight’s mouth.

The Priest of Corruption bravely picked up the young knight’s words.

“Count Ralph is right. The Light did wrong in this. Priest Rihua even betrayed against his will to follow the Light’s will, yet received punishment instead of reward.”

When Muffin spoke up, Seraph agreed as if he had spoken well.

“Right. Light is bad. It’s all because of Light.”

“Lord Seraph! How can you criticize gods when you don’t even serve one!”

“You did it too.”

“Ugh! I believe in Corruption!”

If the heavenly Light tried to bring divine punishment down on Muffin in anger, Corruption, also a heavenly being, would block it.

The Priest of Corruption replied with a shameless face.

Blasphemy was the exclusive privilege of priests with backing in heaven.

“Everyone, please calm down. Earthly beings shouldn’t debate heavenly matters.”

High Priest Hazel spoke to calm people down, but unlike usual, his voice lacked strength.

The High Priest’s voice was drowned out by the sounds of people expressing their thoughts and arguing.

“Even if the Light’s intentions differ from Effort’s, earthly beings cannot criticize this. Everyone please calm down.”

The High Priest of Effort also raised his voice, but it was useless.

Serena also wanted to calm people down, but her head was complicated and organizing her thoughts came first.

The one who calmed the confused people was someone with a good head who finished organizing thoughts quickly – Count Randy.

Count Randy’s eyes shone intelligently as he spoke.

“The great ones dwelling in heaven may also have different intentions. Why did the Light do that? No matter how curious and frustrated we get, Priest Rihua has already left. There’s no one to give us answers. So rather than clinging to unanswerable questions, organizing the oracle contents we already know would be wiser.”

When the intelligent human spoke logically, it overflowed with persuasiveness. People who had been falling into chaos while each saying a word closed their mouths and focused on the alchemist’s words.

“First, let me state my opinion. After combining the oracles received by the priests, I discovered one common point.”

“What is that?”

If he stayed quiet, he would naturally speak anyway. The impatient prince interrupted the alchemist’s words. Half the gazes that had been watching the alchemist’s mouth glared at the prince.

“If this humble earthly human dares guess heaven’s will. Some of the great ones in heaven do not wish for Duke Oren’s death.”

“What?”

Shocked that the gods he thought were on his side wanted Richard not to die, Seraph’s eyes flashed with anger. Count Randy calmly presented his reasoning to the prince.

“Rather than rotting limbs, it’s easier to kill by corrupting vital points. But the God of Corruption gave Miss Muffin an oracle to rot ‘limbs.’ And to Knight Marin, an oracle to set sacred fire to the rotted limbs, taking measures so the worsened wounds wouldn’t cause death. Finally, the oracle High Priest Hazel received is more blatant. Restrain the traitor until the labyrinth is conquered.”

“The gods want that unfilial murderer to stay alive?”

“Furthermore, Effort demanded Duke Oren give up. I don’t know what Duke Oren’s purpose is, but if he just gives that up, heaven has no intention of punishing Duke Oren.”

Seraph twisted his pretty face.

“Nonsense! Heaven favors that unfilial traitor so much?”

“Lord Seraph. Please listen to my story with a little patience! I too was curious about heaven’s intention to keep alive a criminal deserving universal condemnation. So I combined the information I knew.”

Since the prince kept interrupting, Count Randy openly told him to be patient and listen. The prince grumbled but closed his mouth.

“At first, I thought about what the High Priest of Effort said. That is, they want to save him because he’s a hero cherished by many in heaven. But then there are many strange points. Of course, Duke Oren’s crime is an unforgivable grave sin, but this is ultimately by earthly standards. From the perspective of the great ones in heaven, it’s not grounds for punishment.”

Seraph’s lips and eyebrows twitched, but the prince endured. If patience had grades, wouldn’t the prince’s patience in the labyrinth have risen from 0-star to 2-star?

“Then another strange point arises. Earth, Fire, Corruption, and even Effort intervene to restrain a human who has no reason to be punished? Furthermore, Light actively protects the human. It’s strange. Really incomprehensible. The key to solving this question can be found in the command the High Priest of Effort received.”

“Hehe. You mean the command Bindo received?”

“I learned for the first time that another name for the great Effort is Giving Up. I didn’t even know there was someone in heaven who governed giving up. So it was easier to connect. The great one who governs Effort and Giving Up demands the traitor give up. Then what heaven is focusing on is not the crime Duke Oren has already committed, but the crime he will commit in the future.”

“Oho.”

“Wow, so that’s how the story goes?”

Count Randy drank water, seeming thirsty. Seraph took the opportunity to mutter.

“That unfilial brat won’t stop at killing grandfather and plans to commit more crimes?”

“Listening to this, it’s strange, Count. Wouldn’t it be most convenient to kill the traitor before he commits crimes to prevent them?”

The Priest of Corruption, who had struggled to interpret the meaning due to the ominous oracle content, asked a question.

According to Count Randy’s words, didn’t the story ultimately return to the very beginning – that the gods have no intention of killing Richard?

The intelligent Count Randy couldn’t have failed to notice such a contradiction. While everyone expressed doubts, Count Randy slapped his knee.

“Here a new god appears. The Minotaur God!”

The current party was all trapped in the labyrinth. At the mention of the god with the greatest influence on people in the current situation, everyone perked up.

“Both Lady Serena and Duke Oren have noble orange eyes, evidence of divine blood flowing from the thousand-year noble Huaim family. And though uncertain, the Huaim family’s ancestor is likely the Minotaur God.”

From here, lacking logic, Count Randy stroked his chin.

“As you all know, some of the great ones in heaven cherish their direct descendants. What if the Minotaur God has such tendencies too? If he deeply favors descendants in whom his blood is strongly manifested? Especially if that descendant is a hero who single-handedly conquered an estimated 7th or 8th grade labyrinth?”

At Count Randy’s question, people fell into thought. Olive lightly answered.

“I’d brag all around the neighborhood that a hero came from my kids.”

“That’s ridiculous! He’d still favor that descendant even after killing another descendant?”

“Lord Seraph. I’m sorry, but that’s by earthly standards.”

Count Randy apologized to Seraph and continued before the prince could explode in anger.

“If everyone in heaven agreed to kill Duke Oren, it might be different. But just looking at what the God of Light did, not everyone agrees. So there’s no need to kill a hero with labyrinth blood and incur the Minotaur’s wrath. Isn’t this the thinking behind keeping Duke Oren alive?”

Having finished speaking, Count Randy removed his hand from his chin.

“This is just my speculation. There will be many wrong parts, so please point them out from now on. The standard is to exchange hypotheses and modify them for improvement.”

The Empire’s genius alchemist took a humble scholar’s stance. People shook their heads and cast votes of approval for Count Randy’s hypothesis.

“Eh. Everything the Count said seems right?”

“Amazing! My confused head has been organized!”

“As expected of Count Randy. Hearing your logical hypothesis, I feel my reason has returned too.”

“Don’t want to fight the Minotaur God. Ugh. It seems right. Corruption is a coward.”

“Earth also dislikes conflict and is a generous being who tries to embrace all existence if possible. I think the Count’s idea is correct.”

“Mm. The gentle Fire is literally a gentle being.”

“Hehe, Bindo’s master originally cherished that hero. Not wanting to kill him must be sincere.”

“What’s that.”

Seraph, who had been happy thinking the gods endorsed revenge, scowled. Moisture gathered in the prince’s amethyst eyes.

“What do you mean! Heaven wants to keep Richard alive so don’t kill him? Don’t take revenge? Just because he conquered some labyrinth alone makes him a hero? Don’t talk nonsense! I won’t accept it!”

Seraph squeezed his eyes shut and shouted his anger at a world that wouldn’t acknowledge his revenge.

The prince opened his eyes and looked around for someone to be angry with him.

The first person the amethyst eyes reached was Muffin, who was close by. The Baker Count family was a major force in the Crown Prince’s faction, and Muffin was also a candidate for Seraph’s fiancé.

But Muffin’s lovely pink eyes avoided the prince. Seraph trembled with betrayal and examined the others’ faces before finally staring at his sister.

“Serena. Say something.”

Serena bit her lips.

“You’re the labyrinth’s apostle. You received all sorts of strange things like bread trees, toilets, and stars, and can use teleportation rooms. You communicate with gods too!”

Seraph’s voice, which had been getting louder, suddenly became small.

“Don’t tell me you. Already knew? Is that why you kept saying strange things?”

Count Randy had excellently derived a hypothesis from limited information. The only one who could correct his hypothesis was Serena.

‘It’s not that he shouldn’t be killed. He can’t be killed in the labyrinth.’

But Serena couldn’t correct the Count’s hypothesis.

‘I can never reveal the fact about my regression. If I reveal that, I’ll die first.’

That said, while she wouldn’t just shed tears, she couldn’t ignore her sibling who was pleading so sadly either.

‘What should I say? Think, Serena! Use your brain! Even if you’re stupid, think! Come up with an incredibly stupid idea to convince a genius!’

The Princess desperately wracked her sluggish brain and finally produced a plausible lie.

“There’s one flaw in the Count’s hypothesis. The Labyrinth God doesn’t wish for Richard’s survival. He wants Richard to die outside the labyrinth.”

It was a combination of the Count’s hypothesis and Richard’s situation of being unable to die inside the labyrinth.

“Outside the labyrinth….”

Whether Serena’s lie stimulated his brain, Count Randy began rubbing his chin again.

Seraph glared, seemingly displeased with his sister’s answer.

“If he wishes for death, then he wishes for death. What do you mean he wants him to die outside the labyrinth? Answer properly so it’s easy to understand!”

“Ah, I think I know! Me! Me!”

Olive raised her hand like a student who knew the right answer.

“Because if you die in the labyrinth, you become a sacrifice. Right? Even a god wouldn’t want to receive his descendant as a sacrifice.”

“What? If you die in the labyrinth, you become a sacrifice to the Labyrinth God? But I serve Corruption.”

“Hehe, didn’t you know? This is perfectly the Labyrinth God’s domain. Even if you serve someone else, your body and soul are offered to the Labyrinth.”

“Ugh. My posthumous wish is to rot well. Will I rot well even if I become a sacrifice?”

“Given the labyrinth’s nature, wouldn’t you become undead?”

“Ugh. I should try not to die.”

“Hehehe, that’s a commendable attitude.”

Not wanting to receive his descendant as a sacrifice, he wants Richard to die outside the labyrinth.

Seraph visibly relaxed at the words that the Labyrinth God wasn’t protecting Richard.

Serena’s lie that the labyrinth didn’t want to receive a direct descendant as a sacrifice and wanted him to die outside seemed to please Seraph greatly.

A smile returned to Seraph’s lips, which had been frowning the entire time. Several people admired the prince’s beauty as he smiled comfortably with relief.

“My! To hide such beauty with personality! Just as terrifying as the Countess!”

“What are you saying? The Countess is scarier.”

“I also think the Countess is scarier. The Countess sometimes sparkles and glows too!”

Seraph, now in a good mood, approached Serena.

“What. So that’s why you kept telling me not to seek revenge and think about leaving the labyrinth first? You should have said so from the beginning. I had a strange misunderstanding.”

Serena corrected her sibling’s words. How dare he try to end his misunderstanding about her having that kind of relationship with Richard with just calling it “strange.” It was outrageous.

“It wasn’t a strange misunderstanding, it was a terrible misunderstanding. And you shouldn’t carelessly reveal the god’s will.”

“That’s true. I see. So from now on, instead of killing Richard, I should capture him. Drag him out of the labyrinth, put him on the judgment platform, and place him on the execution platform. Not bad.”

Seraph’s lips curved up slightly, seeming to like the changed objective.

“Since we failed this time, it will be more difficult from now on. I have no face to show.”

High Priest Hazel apologized while lying down. Since discussing fault would eventually require mentioning Priest Rihua’s betrayal, Serena declared the situation closed.

“We’ve roughly finished sorting things out. Since there are seriously injured people too, let’s return to the lobby now.”

This time, even Seraph couldn’t be stubborn.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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