Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Like vines growing on a wall, they soon wrapped around its bloody, body riddled with holes, and their tip extended into its open wounds.

The branches' surface flashed crimson as they began devouring the warm, fresh blood.

With each mouthful, the Snake Beast's aura grew weaker while its body became smaller, as if a giant mosquito was sucking its blood out of it.

The snake didn't realize what was happening at first. Subconsciously, it dismissed the branches surrounding it.

Considering its massive frame, such a "weak" attack would not bring it any harm.

However, as time passed, it discovered that its movements were getting slower.

By the time it was about to reach Liora and launch its attack, its movements had completely halted.

It remained still, like a stone statue frozen in time.

The red color in its eyes disappeared, and, soon after, the intelligent luster in them also vanished.

With a bang, the Snake Beast's body collapsed to the ground, causing dust and rubble to rise up.

From start to finish, it had been unable to strike at Liora, much less cause her any harm.

It died cleanly and powerlessly, as if it were not the beast that had brought fear to humans for decades, but a mere fly that could easily be slapped to death.

Watching the snake die, Liora didn't rush to make a move.

The battle that had just taken place replayed in her mind, images constantly replaying in her field of vision.

Although the battle had only lasted for a brief amount of time and the beast had been forced to defend throughout this time, Liora felt that she had gained a lot.

Her familiarity with the Knight skills had improved, as had her control over her own Life Force.

"Fighting is indeed the easiest and most straightforward way for one to improve. This holds true no matter the world...", Liora whispered.

A few minutes later, once she was finished analyzing the battle, she stepped forward.

Picking up the snake's two separated parts that still squirmed eerily, she placed them into the Space Orb.

These two could assist in her Knight training.

With the snake's strength, its essence was probably more beneficial than the essence of hundreds of True Knight beasts.

After Liora collected everything and erased the evidence of the battle, she was about to go deeper into the wilderness and search for her next prey.

But just when she was about to take a step forward, her body suddenly froze.

Overlapping whispers echoed directly in her mind, as her ability—Void Whisper—was activated.

At the same time, Liora felt a shiver run down her spine, as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown on her.

Her intuition immediately warned her—there was danger!

If she didn't leave soon, her life might end here!

Feeling all of these, Liora didn't hesitate.

Without pausing for even a second, she merged with the shadows and quickly shuttled through them, leaving this place as fast as possible.

Just a split second later, she had teleported hundreds of meters away from this place. Still, she didn't stop there.

She continued her escape without ever turning back.

--

Only a couple of minutes after Liora's departure, a creature arrived at the place where she had slain the Snake Beast.

The creature's shape resembled that of a human, but it had certain differences that were obvious to the naked eye.

At the same time, blurry lights surrounded its body, making it impossible to see its true appearance.

Standing silently, the creature lowered its head and surveyed its surroundings, as if it were investigating something.

If Liora were here, she would have realized that the creature's eyes mostly stayed at the place where the snake had died, as if it could peek into the past and glimpse into their battle.

The creature then shook its head.

After casting a glance towards the place that Liora had escaped to—the human territory—it turned around and walked deeper into the forest.

From the very beginning, no one had sensed its arrival.

The beasts living nearby continued their lives as per usual, never detecting the unknown creature.

--

Liora didn't stop shuttling through the darkness until she returned to the human territory.

It was only when she leapt over the wall and jumped into the city that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, the danger that her intuition had constantly been warning her about finally faded away, allowing her tense body to relax.

Raising her head, she wiped the sweat that had formed on her forehead, while she fell into thought.

Although she couldn't possibly know about the unknown creature's arrival after her departure, she was able to guess a few things with her intelligence.

"Who is it that can make me feel such intense danger? Is it a beast or a human?"

Liora knew that with her current strength, only beings at the level of Lesser Devils—meaning King of Knights—could possibly make her feel danger.

Moreover, for all her abilities to activate and warn her of their threat, it was clear that the one who targeted her was not an ordinary King of Knights.

After all, Liora was a Lesser Devil and understood the power that such beings possessed.

In her opinion, her ranked Young Devil stage, her Great Knight rank, and her many abilities and skills would allow her to escape from the hands of such a being, even if she were to be defeated.

Only a being that had reached the peak of the rank could possibly threaten her life.

"I originally thought that the beasts' riot was caused by the confrontation between the Holy Church and the Necronomicon Sect. But it seems that I was mistaken."

"I'm afraid that the person targeting me must have played a certain role in what's happening. The only question is:"

"Are they a human or a beast? Moreover, what is their true purpose in causing the beasts to riot? Is it to achieve a certain purpose of theirs?"