NOVPUBHe didn’t feel as though he had become weaker or uncomfortable.
Nor did his Spell Resistance seem to diminish.
"Take care of yourself, and if you feel any discomfort, tell me immediately,"
Talia instructed.
"Thank you, Master."
Lanci put his mask back on,
restoring the aura of the Pope.
"So this is the Holy Polante Theocracy of today."
Lanci stood before the wall engraved with the map, hands clasped behind his back, surveying the world’s geography.
Even without deliberate acting, his demeanor naturally changed once he donned these robes.
"Now, I feel like you’re some kind of super puppet master, meow!"
Cat Boss peered out from the shadows, feeling chills down his spine when he saw Lanci like this.
Generally speaking, in tales, a Pope with such a mysterious and supreme power, who appeared noble and righteous on the outside, was definitely nothing good!
"You’re right, you’re not wrong at all, the current territory of the Holy Polante Theocracy has grown to an unimaginable extent, it’s practically the Northern Continent’s version of the Cerryti Empire. Even though it’s not quite at the level of the Huo Ning Empire during its peak war times, which had swallowed up the entire Southern Continent, but now it seems it’s not impossible to fight the Huo Ning Empire head-on."
Lanci murmured to himself as he gazed at the map, lightly drawing with his fingertip in the air.
"What exactly are you thinking, meow!" 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
Cat Boss had assumed that Lanci’s powers in the Shadow World had declined, but to his surprise, they had stabilized and were once again firmly on the rise.
Before Cat Boss could say anything more, the long-delayed information from the Shadow World finally appeared before them.
[Shadow World: Eternal Punishment Undead Fate]
[Level: Eighth-order]
[Challenger Total Number: 8]
The delayed appearance of the Shadow World notification usually meant that challengers from other Void Gate entrances had not yet entered.
Seeing the number of challengers put Lanci’s mind at ease.
Hyperion should have arrived as promised.
[Twelve years ago, you withstood the pressure from the parliament. In the darkest moment of the northern and southern continents, you became the light that illuminated the Polante Empire and ignited the hope and courage of the people, mobilizing the nation to go to war with the Huo Ning Empire.]
[Some old things died, but new things were germinating there. Although the number of crosses in your graveyards greatly increased, although your homeland turned into black ruins, your nation was revived, allowing the Blood Clan to witness an unprecedented power.]
[With your effort and disregard for life and death, you brought about the last glory of the Polante Empire as well as the pivotal moment for the destiny of humanity. The determination to resist from all over the Polante Empire began to turn the tide of defeat on the northern continent. Although you might lose everything, dying out as a nation and a species was still preferable to offering up the land of your forefathers and becoming slaves. The Empire began to stage its last lament and its last performance, its final defiance, and its final splendor.]
As usual,
the information began to appear in his vision.
[After nine years of a brutal fight joined with the northern nations and the Demon World.]
[You won.]
[But at a terrible cost.]
[That’s why this victory is so precious.]
[You have traveled a long and arduous path, shining brightly like the stars, each destiny of the past, even if unknown by others, did not concern you. Compared to those utterly vanished memories that could not be described with beloved words, you fell deeper into a peaceful embrace, a deepening slumber in dreamland.]
[People celebrated and cheered for the hard-won peace, holding onto the illusion of happiness, looking forward to the return of a prosperous age.]
[You · fall · into · perplexity.]
Suddenly,
the font of the Shadow World became dark red and twisted, as if it had shattered.
Cries of agony and moans began to resonate in Lanci’s ears, as unrelenting fires grew, setting off a surging tide that echoed the disaster, with souls collapsing into chaos.
Calamities filled the air, fireworks burned intensely, searing red to the eye.
He instinctively covered his eyes, feeling a stinging pain in his nerves.
"What’s wrong?"
Talia sensed something amiss with Lanci and asked with concern in her heart.
"It’s nothing, just now, it was as if I was struck by an Illusion Technique, it seems to be the negative state inherent to me since I arrived in this Shadow World... It affects me from time to time."
When Lanci blinked again and looked at the information from the Shadow World, the last sentence he had seen before had already disappeared.
He truly must have seen it wrong.
[A lonely soul is needed for a sacrifice, one chosen out of thousands who stands out.]
[Whenever you count the stars in the sky, you ponder why someone has to sacrifice.]
[And why, in the end, it’s you who survives.]
[In the twilight of your life, you are one step away from your dreams, yet it seems miles apart...]
[Objective 1: Read the letter from your old friend Calila. (Incomplete)]
[Objective 2: Understand the mindset of Black Sun Lankros. (Incomplete)]
[Objective 3: All challengers must survive until the end of the 21-day limit.]
