Diana had a strange dream.

In that dream, she chose to infiltrate the Necronomicon Sect's stronghold in order to find out their secrets, only to be discovered by the Great Knight stationed in it.

Though she made a quick decision and managed to flee, a series of unfortunate events caused the Otherworld Invader to cast his projection onto the world and fight her.

During their subsequent battle, Diana was forced to use her ultimate trump card and escape before hiding underground.

Then... darkness.

That was all that Diana could remember seeing before losing consciousness.

As her mind began working again, her eyelids lightly fluttered.

Diana felt that her mind was dizzy while her limbs were heavy, as if metal chains bound them tightly.

Still, she opened her eyes with difficulty.

But once she did, she didn't find herself in her room as she had originally been expecting.

Instead, she found that she was currently in a small demi-plane covered with floating clouds and packed with items.

When she checked her own state out of curiosity, she discovered that her limbs were indeed wrapped with metal chains, fully restricting her movements.

Coupled with her many injuries and the familiar back of the woman sitting not far away, Diana understood.

"So, everything was not a dream. It indeed happened...", she smiled bitterly.

Although the worst had not happened and she had not fallen into the hands of the Necronomicon Sect, the current situation was not much better.

A hostage was still a hostage after all, no matter in whose hands they were.

"So, you're finally awake..."

Just when Diana was taking in everything that happened, a discordant voice suddenly interrupted her.

The moment Diana woke up, Liora had already discovered it.

In fact, the reason she had even been able to wake up was because of her. Otherwise, with Diana's grave injuries, it would have taken her weeks if not months to regain consciousness, much less recover.

As Liora's words fell, she turned around and cast a glance at the robed woman.

Immediately, Diana's appearance was revealed before her.

With long black hair and a pair of black eyes, she looked totally unassuming, albeit slightly beautiful.

Still, her beauty was far from breathtaking. One would be able to find hundreds, if not thousands, of women similar to her in a small city, much less in the Iron Armor Empire.

Yet, Liora noticed that the woman possessed a peculiar aura.

She recognized it. It was the aura that only people in positions of power possessed.

Baron Bloodshield and Marquis Lavender both possessed it, and even she, having ruled the Crucible for quite some time, did too.

However, Liora didn't pay much attention to the robed woman's appearance, nor would she be enamored by this aura.

Staring at her hostage, she didn't choose to engage in any small talk but went straight to the topic.

"Do you know what the function of these Bloodline Seeds is?", she questioned.

As she spoke, her demonic energy wrapped up the two drops of blood and brought them in front of Diana.

Initially, Liora believed that she would have to summon Alpha if she wanted to get something useful out of her.

But surprisingly, Diana didn't refuse to speak.

Instead, her lips curved into a sneer before she spoke up:

"Bloodline Seed? Is this what the Necronomicon Sect calls these things? It seems that this cult has truly lost most of its ancient records.", she chuckled, her voice filled with contempt and disdain towards the Sect.

Liora keenly captured this, but she didn't reply. She calmly waited for Diana to resume her speech.

Indeed, after pausing for a few seconds, Diana continued talking:

"Only those heretics would dare to refer to the holy items as Bloodline Seeds. These are clearly the Godheads bestowed to humans by the Gods."

"As long as a Great Knight is strong enough, they can integrate it into their body and advance further. However, they must possess a suitable method to do so... Cough, cough..."

Suddenly, Diana stopped speaking, as if she had said something that she shouldn't.

Her cheeks turned red as she lowered her head, seemingly to hide her embarrassment.

However, such tricks would not work on Liora.

She could guess that everything Diana had just said was on purpose, all in order to tempt her or at least make her curious.

After all, in Diana's opinion, she—who was able to defeat the unknown Devil's clone—must have reached the peak of the Great Knight rank long ago.

Thus, her seemingly unintentional words should have been enough to pique her interest.

Indeed, only a few moments later, Diana's next words confirmed Liora's suspicion:

"To call them Bloodline Seeds and ask for their function, it seems that you do not belong to the Royal Family. You've already made an enemy of the Necronomicon Sect. Why don't you join us, the Holy Church?"

"I'm certain that a Great Knight like you will be greatly valued. Perhaps, the Pope can immediately bestow upon you the method to use the Bloodline Seed to advance further.", Diana made an offer, her tone filled with sincerity.

In fact, Diana's offer was not a total lie.

A Knight with the strength of Liora would be valued no matter which faction she chose to join, including the Holy Church.

If she managed to convince her, not only would Diana solve her current predicament, but she would get a powerful ally.

Unfortunately for her, Liora remained noncommittal.

She neither agreed nor refused, but instead asked another, simple but pointed question:

"Is the scepter you used earlier related to the so-called Godhead?"

Perhaps it was because such information was widely spread within the Holy Church, or perhaps Diana truly valued Liora and wanted to bring her to her side, but she didn't hesitate to reply.

"Indeed. This is a creation developed by successive generations of the Holy Church's Popes. Using the Godhead, the Holy Church can bless ordinary items and grant them unimaginable power and abilities."

"At the same time, through special methods, one can consume the Godhead as material to forge Divine Artifacts. The scepter you speak of is exactly one of those Artifacts."

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