Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

With each mouthful the mouths took, the blood would grow slightly stronger, while its total volume would increase, albeit by a tiny amount.

Though Liora had seen it before, she was still surprised by such a strange appearance.

"The beasts of this world are equally as strange as Knights, if not even more. The blood of the Chimera, in particular, is very, very interesting."

Following her earlier experiments, Liora had discovered that the blood of the Chimera constantly swallowed everything around it, all in order to multiply.

The higher the quality of the item it devoured, the faster it would grow.

If given enough time and materials, this blood could cover a city, an Empire, and perhaps even an entire world.

Most importantly, Liora had sensed a newborn consciousness being born within that blood.

As the blood grew, the consciousness also became stronger.

It seemed that consciousness would completely awaken, and a creature would be born as long as the blood reached a certain state.

"It remains to be seen if that creature is a new one, though. More likely, it will be the revived Chimera."

"Or, to be more accurate, a clone of the dead Chimera."

Either way, Liora was quite interested in it.

She couldn't help but sigh that other worlds were indeed full of treasures.

It was no wonder that many True Devils chose to leave the Demon World and descend into other worlds.

This was not because they wished to have fun, but because coming in contact with the ecosystem of other worlds and their power systems was the fastest way for them to improve their strength.

Liora believed that her strength would undergo a massive transformation as long as she fully digested her gains in this world.

And that without considering becoming a King of Knights.

For example, in just a short period of time, Liora had thought of countless methods to enhance her combat power through the use of this blood.

Some of these methods required the use of the blood itself as a material, while others were simply using its concept and improving her existing abilities.

--

A knock on the door suddenly interrupted Liora's thinking.

After she put the research instruments back in their places and carefully placed the vials containing the precious blood away, she walked to the door and opened it.

A familiar face immediately came into view.

With long flowing golden hair and a pair of shining blue, gem-like eyes, the visitor was none other than Eleanor.

She was all alone, with no Black Tulip family member accompanying her on the visit.

"Lady Liora, I finally found you.", Eleanor exclaimed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I previously visited your residence, but found that you were missing. It was only after I asked Mrs. Alpha that she pointed me to this place.", she explained.

Though only a short period of time had passed since their arrival in Hope City, Eleanor's lively personality seemed to have recovered.

The gloom she subconsciously exuded after killing Alex and Uncle Roger had been wiped away, and she had regained her valiant but eerily soothing aura.

Seeing the happy smile on her face, Liora nodded her head and invited her to come in.

But Eleanor immediately shook her head.

"No, there's no need. I came today just to say goodbye.", she said, and, perhaps afraid that Liora would misunderstand, she explained.

"Duchess Lobelia was right that day. Although there have been some skirmishes outside Hope City, no beast has dared to attack it over the last few days."

Saying this, she paused.

"But the other cities across the border are not as lucky. The beasts' riot is still going on. Thousands of people are dying every single day, becoming food for the beasts."

"That's why I've decided to go and help. I'll take a team of soldiers with me and will try to calm down the riot."

As Eleanor spoke, a sharp glint flashed in her blue eyes.

Liora keenly sensed that an invisible power gathered around her and seemed to affect the world itself.

She didn't point this out, nor did she comment on her grand plans.

She simply nodded her head to show that she understood.

In fact, she had already guessed that something like this would happen.

Although it should have been impossible for a mere True Knight like Eleanor to affect the outcome of the war, her bizarre abilities, which even she—the person involved—was oblivious about, made Liora have some trust in her.

"That's good.", she praised:

"I hope that very soon, your story will spread throughout the Iron Armor Empire. After all, you're already one of the protagonists in Hope City's fairytale."

Liora's teasing words made Eleanor embarrassed.

After she exchanged a couple more words, she hastily left this place with a red face, planning to leave the city as soon as possible.

Unlike the time that they came to Hope City, Liora was not planning to follow her this time.

She had already observed Eleanor enough to know that her initial guess was true, and she was truly special.

"Is it luck? The favor of the world? Or Eleanor's innate special ability?", she couldn't help but wonder.

Liora had long noticed that Eleanor was different from other people.

This became particularly obvious during the meeting of the Black Tulip family and was also apparent during the subsequent events.

Her handling of Baron Bloodshield's case, her actions against Alex and Uncle Roger, and her encounter with the woman chased by bandits, which resulted in her obtaining a blessed sword.

All of these pointed to the fact that Eleanor was truly special.

"No.", Liora suddenly shook her head:

"The most interesting thing is that she, a mere Knight Apprentice, was able to summon me to this world."

Even Liora's previous decision to take action against the Chimera and defend the city might have also been a result of Eleanor's particularity.

Liora understood this at the time, too, but still chose to take action to limit the potential variables.