Chapter 205 — True Form

As the eyes of the Founding Emperor opened, a vast, earth-shattering aura came from him as the center, spreading throughout the capital and its surroundings.

At the same time, the sound of buzzing echoed, similar to what had been heard during the Duke’s earlier attacks.

It was just that this time, the buzzing was many times louder and more intense.

Even Liora was stunned, feeling her ears hurt and her vision go blurry.

Fortunately, her demonic energy sensed its master’s predicament and surged on its own, jolting her awake.

Seeing the situation and noticing that Duke Dandelion was still immersed in the deafening noise, she stretched her hand and slapped him, waking him up.

Under her "gentle" method, the Duke quickly recovered.

His eyes were filled with fear, terror, and most importantly, unwillingness.

"I don’t believe it! I have suffered so much to get to this point! I have worked so hard!"

"How can I still be so powerless against you?!", he couldn’t help but scream.

Determination flashed across his terrifying face as he gritted his teeth and chose to attack.

Countless insects emerged from his shadow and followed his command to submerge the Founding Emperor and eat him alive.

However, when they entered a radius of a few tens of meters around him, the insects collapsed like dead flies, just as they had done after the mausoleum’s destruction.

The Duke suffered an even more severe backlash this time.

His face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, while his aura fluctuated violently.

"What’s this suppression?! Why?! Why?!", his crazy voice echoed throughout the capital as if he had been driven insane.

Looking at the reaction of the infamous Cult Leader, Liora couldn’t help but click her tongue.

Unlike the Duke, she understood what was happening.

"The Zerg Hives have absolute control over their Zerg Servants. Through some method, the Founding Emperor has obtained this same ability but for Knights.", she realized.

"Although the Duke claims not to have accommodated a Bloodline Seed, the method he used to become a King of Knights is also affected by his suppression."

In fact, Liora could sense that her own strength was also being suppressed. This was the result of her practicing the Knight power system and becoming a Great Knight.

While Liora was in thought, time didn’t stop to wait for her.

The Founding Emperor’s eyes were lifeless and empty, but he seemed able to take in what was happening around him.

The moment after the Duke’s attack failed, his figure turned into a blurry afterimage.

When he reappeared, he had arrived in front of the Duke, who had yet to recover from his shock.

The claws that had replaced the Founding Emperor’s hands were thrust forward, aiming at Duke Dandelion’s abdomen.

The Duke wanted to dodge. But when he attempted to move to the side, he discovered that his body had been locked in place.

Clearly, the suppression of the Founding Emperor was not limited to abilities.

Duke Dandelion was horrified. He had worked all his life and had committed countless sins all for this very moment.

But when the opportunity arrived, and he wanted to break free from his shackles, he was powerless to resist, much less put up a worthwhile fight.

Fortunately, just when he was about to resign and accept his fate, Liora took action from the side.

Though her relationship with the Duke was nonexistent, she wasn’t going to let the Founding Emperor do as he wished.

She waved her hand, and the shadows beneath the Duke grew upwards, wrapping around his limbs and pulling him back.

Then, while the Founding Emperor was still mid-attack, she teleported behind him.

A golden spear appeared in her hand, and she thrust it forward, aiming at the left side of his chest—at his heart.

Her movements were incredibly fast, and most of all, unexpected.

Thus, the Founding Emperor had no time to react.

With a bang, the spear’s tip struck his chest.

However, though her sneak attack succeeded, Liora found it impossible to be happy.

Judging from the amount of force impacting her hand, she understood that the Spear of the Blighted Sun had not caused much damage.

Sure enough, when the spear’s tip retreated, and the dust had settled, she discovered that only a small crack had appeared in the black carapace, which was recovering at an astonishing speed.

"What a powerful defense.", she couldn’t help but mutter. She knew the power of her blow the best.

In her opinion, even if the Beast Emperor were to face the Spear of the Blighted Sun, it would suffer great harm. But the Founding Emperor was hardly injured.

Her attack only served to draw his attention away from the Duke and onto her.

A high-pitched, shrill scream came out of his mouth.

With movements that went against common sense, he turned around and waved his black claws at Liora.

It was only when she faced it in person that Liora discovered the reason why the Duke had been unable to defend before.

Although the Founding Emperor’s attack looked simple, like the blow of an ordinary man, it contained inexplicable power, as if it had transcended the material world and become a concept by itself.

Most importantly, Liora felt her body go out of control.

The Life Force and her Life Seed began to disobey her orders, seemingly going berserk.

"Sure enough..."

Liora’s eyes narrowed. Under the current circumstances, it would indeed be difficult for others to defend.

Fortunately, she had her own methods.

Ignoring the raging Life Force, she controlled the shadows behind her back, transforming them into thousands of tentacles made of pure darkness.

As if they were vines, they wrapped around the space in front of her, creating a wall of pitch-black ink.

But Liora felt that this was not enough.

With a move of her mind, her Shroud Form dispersed.

Immediately, her Devil characteristics began showing up in the outside world.

Two Devil horns emerged from her temples as the crimson color in her hair and eyes grew deeper, seemingly dripping with blood.

Most importantly, a black armor with pulsating veins covered her skin.

Feeling the safety brought by the further enhanced defenses, Liora thrust the Spear of the Blighted Sun forward, ready to meet the incoming attack.