Chapter 144 — Dandelion [34] - Aftermath

Liora weighed it for a brief moment before launching herself forward.

With a leap, she flashed in the sky, appearing in front of the unknown Devil’s head.

Then, her right hand moved, and she thrust the spear forward.

The Devil wanted to struggle instinctively, but the shadows binding him held him back.

With ease, the spear’s tip whistled through the air and pierced straight through his forehead.

An angry roar escaped the unknown Devil’s mouth. For the first time since his transformation, it seemed that he was about to wake up from his slumber.

But Liora knew better than to allow this.

Reaching into her clothes, she took out the Space Orb and threw it into the hole on the Devil’s forehead.

The next moment, the Space Orb seemed to have been activated.

Its shiny body trembled for a brief moment and, as if a hungry beast had awakened from its deep sleep, it drilled into the Devil’s flesh.

The Devil’s physical body began to dissolve. His flesh, blood, and bones turned from material to illusory, transforming back into faith and pouring towards the Space Orb.

Though the Devil wanted to struggle and prevent the orb from devouring him, he was unable to put up any resistance. Soon, his body grew increasingly illusory until finally, it vanished.

His thunderous howl before his death was the last sign of him having ever existed, coupled with the Space Orb floating silently at the place where he originally stood.

Its golden surface now shone even brighter, like a precious gem that had shed off its mortal nature.

--

Liora stood alone beside the deep crater formed by the Devil’s desperate attack.

Apart from her, the entire demi-plane was empty, shrouding it in absolute silence.

Her current situation looked quite grim.

Her entire body was dripping with blood while her skin was covered with serious burn marks.

The Life Force within her had been exhausted, and even the Life Seed on her abdomen had shrunk, influenced by her continuous use of Life Ignition.

Clearly, though she had survived the unknown Devil’s final strike, she had not remained unscathed and had paid a huge price.

Part of her injuries were the result of the strike itself, but most of them were actually caused by her entering the Holy Knight’s body.

After all, Liora had yet to obtain immunity to holy power. As a Devil, holy power was still deadly to her, arguably her biggest weakness.

The Holy Knight, fueled by the essence of so many cultists, was immensely powerful, and its holy power was even stronger.

Thus, even she—the Holy Knight’s creator—suffered.

But Liora wasn’t too worried.

Her current injuries would have left any Great Knight of this world crippled, if not dead.

But she was not merely a Great Knight, and Life Force was not the only energy that she could use.

In fact, Liora could sense that her demonic energy was currently surging through her body.

The effects of the Myriad Devils Body—Blood Resonance and Renewal—worked tirelessly to help her recover.

Still, due to the nature of holy power, its effects went far beyond that of any other damage that she had ever suffered.

Pure holy power remained around her wounds, squirming like living maggots and attempting to make her injuries even more severe.

"Even with my healing abilities, it’s going to take me quite some time to fully recover from the battle.", Liora whispered.

Fortunately, everything had already been taken care of.

Marquis Lavender had died, the stronghold had been wiped out, and even the clone of the unknown Devil had met his demise, becoming further nourishment for the Space Orb.

Though there was still a person missing from that list.

Thinking of this, Liora turned around and began to walk with difficulty.

Soon, she stood where the stronghold’s central building once stood, right in front of a large, deep hole.

Looking at what little remained of the spiral staircase within it, Liora jumped down.

As she was falling, the dark, rugged walls of the hole were revealed before her, as well as the many pits and dents in them.

Although this place was underground and was not the epicenter of the unknown Devil’s desperate attack, it had still been severely impacted.

Soon, Liora’s free fall stopped, and her feet came in contact with the cold floor.

Looking around, she found herself in the familiar underground facility, though it was now empty.

The corpses of the cultists that she had killed earlier had evaporated, a result of the unknown Devil’s attack.

Liora ignored this for the time being and walked deeper.

Before long, she had arrived at the hall where she and the Marquis had battled and entered it.

The moment she stepped inside, her gaze landed on the person responsible for why everything had turned out like this—the robed woman.

After the robed woman cast the strange ability that made the unknown Devil go crazy, she had used some bizarre method to hide herself.

Let alone the unconscious Devil, even she, Liora, had not been able to detect her.

"Fortunately, this place was also affected. Otherwise, I might have missed her...", Liora muttered as she glanced at the now unconscious robed woman.

Her already serious injuries had grown even worse, while a small pool of blood had formed right beside her.

Liora could sense that the robed woman’s aura was extremely weak, as if she would die the very next second.

Clearly, her plan to make the unknown Devil go crazy and engage in battle with Liora had succeeded. But she had unfortunately failed to make her escape.

Affected by the battle’s aftermath, she had lost consciousness and now lay here powerless.

However, Liora’s eyes didn’t stay on this enemy for long.

Soon, they moved onto the item that the robed woman was currently clutching tightly despite her being completely unconscious.

The item glowed with a golden light that made its appearance blurry.

Yet, Liora could feel a familiar sense of longing originating from her body.

It was the same yearning she had felt while in the hall deeper underground, at the time when she gazed at the item guarded by the Devil’s statue.