Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Chapter 90: Descent [6] - Loophole

Glancing faintly at Liora’s back—who seemed to be her last pillar of hope—the blonde woman hesitated for a brief moment before finally asking:

”Lord, can—can you save them?”, she requested, and her blue eyes grew increasingly teary as she spoke.

Coupled with her overall messy appearance, the woman looked extremely pitiful.

Just a mere glance at her would have been more than enough to charm any hero in the stories that the bards sang about.

Unfortunately for her, she was not facing a hero at the moment.

Facing her request, Liora didn’t even turn around.

She shook her head indifferently and, with her hands still clasped behind her back, answered:

”No, there are far more important things to do.”

Although the woman wanted to continue pleading, she soon thought of something—or rather someone—and swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

Seeing this, Liora was quite pleased.

If this woman had the illusion that she was going to complete every one of her requests just because she had summoned her to this world, Liora wouldn’t hesitate to send her to meet her Creator.

--

While Liora and the woman made their way through the mansion, passing by the intricate side buildings and through the once-colorful garden, a few knights who didn’t know any better tried to stop them.

Unfortunately, not only was their strength and equipment worse than the ones she had met in the underground room, but their numbers were also far fewer.

Thus, Liora easily dealt with them, tearing their bodies apart with a mere strike and devouring their essence to heal from her injuries.

The woman behind her remained silent. Watching this scene, she hesitated whether she should say something, but in the end, she kept her mouth shut.

Time quickly went by.

Although Liora’s route seemed to be chosen at random, it was, in fact, not.

Since the very beginning, her goal had always been to get to the location where the two most powerful auras had gathered, the place she believed to be the heart of the battlefield.

And soon, Liora reached her destination.

Staring at the two figures not far away who were fiercely colliding with each other, Liora’s eyes turned a little solemn.

Both of those figures wore thick metal armor and wielded sharp, long swords, but their fighting style and temperament were completely different.

On one side was a knight with long golden hair whose every action seemed to be accompanied by holy light, while on the other side was a murderous man wearing black metal armor who had become one with the shadows beside him.

Yet, no matter which one of them it was, Liora could sense that their unassuming bodies contained boundless power, power that was far beyond what ordinary humans could possess.

Although she didn’t understand the power system of this world and couldn’t possibly know their rank, just based on their destructive power and aura, Liora judged that they possessed the strength of an ordinary Young Devil.

As if she had sensed her doubts, the woman behind her exhaled softly and wiped off the sweat that had formed on her forehead before she took the initiative to explain:

”The black-armored man is Uncle Roger. He is a famous True Knight and the closest companion of my father. According to rumors, he was quite famous when he was young, earning the title ’Wolf Knight’.”

As the woman spoke, the admiration she held toward the murderous knight was obvious. But when she turned towards the holy knight, that admiration turned into undisguised disgust.

”As for him, I don’t know his identity, but judging from his fighting style and the words that the knights uttered earlier, he seems to be related to the Holy Church.”, the woman spoke of her guess.

”I know that this is presumptuous of me, but I hope that you can assist Uncle Roger. If Your Excellency agrees to save him, I’m willing to do anything in my power to repay your favor.”

Hearing another request coming out of the blonde woman’s mouth, Liora frowned slightly.

However, this time, she didn’t rush to refuse her request. Instead, she thought of something she wished to confirm.

While part of her mind continued watching the battle between the two Knights, another part secretly summoned the System.

...

[True Name: Liora Veythalis Dranthera Vexira...]

[Rank: Lesser Devil (Sealed)]

[Race: Unknown Bloodline]

[Strength: 5 (135)], [Agility: 5 (140)], [Vitality: 5 (150)], [Mana: 5 (145)]

[Abilities: Myriad Devils Body (Partially Unsealed), Shadow Manipulation (Sealed)...]

[Evolution Points: 7900]

[Current Absorption Efficiency: 25x (Normal Devil = 1x)]

...

Glancing at her displayed information—which had not looked this bad since her early days back at the River of Oblivion—Liora was not too surprised.

She didn’t admire the panel for long but instead turned her focus to something that she had not cared about in a very long time—her Base Stats.

As her eyes hovered over the Strength column, a small (+) button appeared right beside it and flashed as if it were tempting her to press on it.

Seeing this, Liora didn’t hesitate to click on it, not because of the panel’s behavior but because she wished to confirm something.

The moment she clicked on the button, Liora immediately sensed a tiny warm current coursing through her body, slightly improving her physical condition as it seeped into her muscles.

The number ”5” on the Strength column blurred briefly before it cleared up, having now turned into a ”6”.

As a price, Liora’s Evolution Points decreased, not by six, as one would have expected, but by sixty.

Though caught off guard by this staggering amount of Evolution Points, Liora didn’t show any disappointment.

Instead, a faint excitement flashed across her crimson eyes.

”It’s true!”, she whispered, confirming the guess she had made while still in the Demon World.

For a very long time, the System’s function to enhance her base stats had been useless.

In fact, since Liora left the River of Oblivion and entered the Crucible, she had never used her Evolution Points to enhance her base stats.

Yet, when she learned of the suppression that Devils faced when invading other worlds, a question inevitably arose within her mind:

Could she consume Evolution Points to enhance her base stats in other worlds, thus using a loophole to bypass the suppression that she would have otherwise faced?

This question had lingered in her mind for quite some time.

And now that she finally had the free time and the suitable conditions to test it, she could confirm her earlier guess.

”Although judging from the situation, enhancing my base stats in other worlds consumes far more points than in the Demon World, it’s still absolutely worth it.”, Liora thought silently.

As her eyes glanced at the remaining Evolution Points at the bottom of the panel—Evolution Points that she had obtained through hunting Fire Elementals in the Inferno Valley—Liora instantly made a decision.

Without any hesitation, she began clicking on the (+) button beside her base stats, enhancing them as much as she could.

Immediately, four similar yet distinct warm currents emerged out of nowhere and traveled through her body, improving her strength, agility, vitality, and Mana in the process.

A second later, a very noticeable click came from her body.

As each of her base stats reached the number twenty, it seemed as if she had broken through a certain limit.

However, she didn’t continue ”adding points”.

Not because she was unwilling to spend any more Evolution Points, but because she simply couldn’t.

Her points had finally run out.