Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Glancing at Eleanor and seeing her aura grow stronger as time passed, she couldn't help but sigh.

Moreover, when she caught a glimpse of the sword hanging at her waist—the one that the woman had presented to her not long ago—she felt that the world often worked in mysterious ways.

She could see that this weapon was not an ordinary item, but a weapon that had been blessed by the Holy Church.

With it and her own strength, Eleanor's safety was guaranteed while at the border.

Even if she were to meet a Great Knight beast, she might be able to escape.

"Reality is often stranger than fiction. Stories have to at least follow some logic. Reality doesn't. Inexplicable things happen all the time..."

Seeing Liora's silence and lack of response, Eleanor didn't complain.

Instead, she continued telling her grievances as if she wanted to let out everything before it was too late.

--

It was unknown how much time had passed, but Liora felt that she had listened to Eleanor complaining for many hours.

It was only when Eleanor's eyes became red from exhaustion, and she could no longer remain awake, that she finally stopped speaking, returning to her room and soon falling asleep.

Liora didn't follow her.

After she gave a couple of instructions to Alpha and told her to be cautious, she left the building assigned to the Black Tulip family and began wandering in the city.

The sound of fierce battle was still coming from the city's walls, though it had now grown quieter.

Liora was not surprised.

She knew that beasts would not be kind enough to give time to the humans to rest.

No matter what time of the day it was, beasts would still emerge continuously and charge as if wishing to submerge the city.

The only thing changing was their number and strength rather than their existence.

As Liora walked through the city's streets silently, she saw many injured soldiers carried towards the doctors stationed nearby.

At the same time, she saw the corpses of the fallen brought to their relatives, whose faces immediately turned pale.

Hearing their sorrowful cries, Liora couldn't help but recall the information she had gathered during her stay on the battlefield.

"Legend has it that this city was personally founded by the Founding Emperor more than a century ago. Originally, the city was located at the center of the Ancient Beast Wilderness and served as the human race's spearhead into the beasts' habitat."

"Humans gathered here and continuously wiped out beasts from within."

"But as years passed and the human race captured more of the continent's land, the city ended up in the humans' territory."

"Since then, the city has served as the Iron Armor Empire's 'shield', an outpost guarding against the beasts and protecting the human race."

"Thus, the city was given the name Hope City. A city that shoulders the hope of the human race to exterminate the beasts and achieve long-lasting peace."

This seemed like a fairytale at worst and ancient history at best, but Liora could see that the soldiers were infected by this story.

Besides their wish to protect their compatriots and the fame of Duchess Lobelia, this story was the main reason why soldiers fought so bravely, choosing to never step down in front of danger.

Of course, Liora didn't have much of an emotional reaction when she heard this wonderful story.

Although she had faint goodwill towards the people who chose to die to protect their homes, she was still a Devil at the end of the day.

Bravery, sacrifice, and loyalty went against her very nature.

Shaking her head, Liora stopped thinking about it.

Her footsteps resumed, and she quickly approached the city's center.

The building given to the Black Tulip family was close to her destinations, and thus it didn't take her long.

Only a couple of minutes later, she arrived at one of them.

Stopping in front of a building and hearing several voices coming from inside, Liora's mind moved.

Instantly, her field of vision changed as her figure blended into the surrounding darkness.

She quickly shuttled through it, soon landing on the building's stone rooftop.

As soon as she stepped out of the shadows and her feet touched the solid surface, two hushed, whispered voices reached her ears.

"Is the Duchess really so kind as to let us stay in the city? Could it be that she has some great conspiracy?"

"Shush! Keep your voice low. Do you want to get arrested for treason?"

"Moreover, there's no reason to complain. Could it be that you really want to fight against the beasts and risk your life to protect those stupid commoners?"

The voices were full of majesty despite their low tone, while their words made their identities clear.

These two people had to be members of a noble family.

Sensing their True Knight aura, Liora guessed that they were high-level members of an Earl family.

Most likely, one of them was an Earl, while the other one was his right-hand man, just like Earl Black Tulip and Uncle Roger.

However, Liora didn't care to investigate and confirm her guess.

Knowing that she had come to the right place, she didn't linger and immediately took action.

With a leap, she jumped off the rooftop, and, by twisting her body mid-air, she adjusted her trajectory and jumped into the building through the open window.

Before the two men could see her, much less react, she flashed behind one of them and reached out.

At the same time, she controlled the shadows behind the other man and transformed them into a hand, which also reached out.

The next second, Liora's hand and the hand made of darkness struck.

They each hit the back of a man's head, knocking them unconscious.

Throughout the process, the two men didn't notice the intruder.

"Sure enough, this style of 'fighting' fits me the most. Why should I fight against equal opponents when I can deal with weaklings instead? Isn't this far more exciting?", Liora sighed as she stepped forward and leaned towards one of the two men.