Chapter 203 — Dandelion

"It’s finally time...", the Cult Leader’s voice rang in Liora’s mind.

Surprisingly, as the two landed in the Ancient Beast Wilderness, he didn’t choose to take the opportunity to attack her.

Rather, he landed not far away and put his weapon away.

Then, he lifted his head, revealing the silver mask hidden beneath the hood, and slowly removed it.

A face was revealed. It was that of an ordinary middle-aged man, except that the skin was covered in deep wrinkles.

At the same time, a few black veins squirmed eerily across his cheeks, as if they were breathing snakes living inside of them.

Still, despite this terrifying appearance and the changes that had occurred in this man, Liora was able to recognize him.

Although the two had never met personally, she had heard his name many times before.

The man in front of her, the leader of the Necronomicon Sect, was actually a famous noble of the Iron Armor Empire—Duke Dandelion.

Liora had seen his portrait in the past. At the same time, due to his popularity, she knew many things about him.

Unlike Duchess Lobelia, who was famous among common folk for her bravery and extraordinary combat power, Duke Dandelion was often mocked for his weak temperament and low strength.

But obviously, everything was a lie.

Liora could sense that the person in front of her was a powerful King of Knights, not any weaker than the Pope of the Holy Church.

"How? Is it surprising? Unexpected?", the Duke let out a wild laugh and questioned, seemingly proud of this sudden reveal.

Liora nodded her head in response for a brief moment before shaking her head.

"No. Considering the current situation, such a thing is hardly surprising.", she stated.

She then continued:

"What do you mean by your previous sentence? What does ’it’s time’ mean?"

The Duke choked on his words when he heard Liora’s refusal.

It was as if his dream of unveiling his true identity to the rest of the world had been shattered.

But when he heard Liora’s next words, he quickly regained his composure.

"Long ago, I discovered that there is something wrong with this world. Or rather, there is something wrong with Knights. Through my investigations and the words passed down by my ancestors, I was able to piece together some things."

"From then on, I began suspecting the Founding Emperor and the Royal Family as a whole!", he explained.

"It was around that time that I established the Necronomicon Sect. The goal was simple: to find a way to improve my strength without falling into the Founding Emperor’s conspiracy."

"And I succeeded!", he raised his hands.

"Without integrating the cursed Bloodline Seed, I was still able to become a King of Knights and reach my current strength!", the pride in Duke Dandelion’s voice was apparent.

But Liora restrained her impulse to punch him in the face and allowed him to show off.

She could feel that what he was saying was the truth. She had indeed noticed that the man in front of her had not integrated any Bloodline Seed.

However, at the same time, she also discovered something far more important.

"This person is the same as Eleanor. He also possesses a part of the world’s favor... Is he the previous person favored by the Will of the World?", she couldn’t help but guess, parsing through the information while ignoring Duke Dandelion’s nonsensical words.

After a brief thought, she noted this down and shifted her focus back to the Duke.

"If this is the case, what’s your reason for stopping me? Could it be that you’ve decided to stand on the side of the Founding Emperor after all?", she asked.

"Of course not! How could I possibly give up now?!", Duke Dandelion repeatedly shook his head and denied.

"I stopped you because I know that the Founding Emperor is about to advance. We should take action! If we don’t stop him in time, we will all die!", he added.

Liora remained nonchalant.

She and the Beast Emperor had already guessed this. It came as no surprise that the Duke had also discovered it.

However, Liora didn’t rush to take action.

Her head turned, and she looked outside the capital, where the fight between the Pope and the Beast Emperor was taking place.

The fight was far from over.

Though the Beast Emperor held an advantage and suppressed its opponent, the Pope had come prepared.

The ground beneath him lit up with holy light as he wielded the scepter with his right hand, fighting back using the effects of holy power.

From this sight, it was clear that the battle would not end any time soon.

The Duke misunderstood.

"Don’t think about helping that beast. The Pope must possess a certain trump card. If we want to deal with the Founding Emperor, we have to keep our strength to its highest level.", he said before sneering:

"Tsk, tsk... It seems that my opponent has sided with the Founding Emperor. Hehe, how dare you name yourself a cult leader and yet become someone else’s dog?", he scoffed with disdain.

Ignoring the last part of his speech, his thoughts actually matched Liora’s.

Unless necessary, she didn’t want to involve herself in a meaningless battle.

It would be better to wait for the Beast Emperor to kill the Pope, thus keeping most of her strength.

But just then, her ears suddenly twitched. A familiar, distinct voice rang directly in her mind.

"I can feel that the Founding Emperor is about to complete his transformation! Go! Stop him! I’ll keep this old guy back!"

The owner of this voice was the Beast Emperor. But his words did not receive Liora’s attention.

The moment its voice echoed in her mind, a powerful aura began rising from the capital.

It was the exact same aura as the one that had appeared earlier, except that it now showed no signs of stopping or retreating.

Clearly, the transformation of the Founding Emperor was indeed about to occur.

Instantly, Liora knew that she could no longer stay out of it.

Although she would prefer to enter the fray later, when everything was over, she had to move.

Casting a glance at Duke Dandelion, she confirmed that he was not planning to stop her and soared into the sky.

Her target was clear: the imperial palace located in the capital.

The Duke, however, did not shy away. Similarly to her, he also took flight and began rushing towards the capital.