Chapter 226 — Advancement: True Devil
6 min read ·
When Liora stepped out of the crack, she had returned to the world of Knights.
She was still in the dimly lit room, still not far away from the cluster of World Origin.
But compared to not long ago, the World Origin had declined significantly.
If there were one hundred "portions" of World Origin at the start, then there was now less than half a portion.
Glancing at this World Origin and sensing that she could devour it as long as she wanted to, Liora showed some faint hesitation.
But in the end, she shook her head. There was no reason.
Devouring it would hardly benefit her.
With that in mind, her consciousness expanded and spread to the rest of the world of Knights, examining the results of the World Origin’s depletion.
Many earthquakes were occurring at the same time, volcanoes had risen up, while the elements continued wreaking havoc.
Liora estimated that not much time had passed since she left based on this sight.
Less than half an hour, if not even less.
Yet, during this otherwise short period of time, an unknown number of creatures had died in this world.
Liora didn’t rush to leave the room. She instead took her seat on the cold floor, choosing to take a look at the changes brought by her bloodline’s transformation and her subsequent advancement.
And, of course, the best way to do so was by summoning the System Panel.
Without hesitation, Liora did so.
...
[True Name: Liora Veythalis Dranthera Vexira...]
[Rank: True Devil]
[Race: World Devourer]
[Strength: 230], [Agility: 245], [Vitality: 240], [Mana: 220]
[Abilities: Myriad Devils Body, Nothingness Manipulation, Abyssal Maw, Spear of Divine Punishment, Null Step, Devil’s Dominion, Eclipse, ...]
[Evolution Points: 385,455]
[Current Absorption Efficiency: 40x (Normal Devil = 1x)]
...
The changes were significant.
Some of them were far more apparent, while others were more subtle yet equally important.
Perhaps the most drastic change was the one that had occurred in the Race column.
Where "Unknown Bloodline" was previously written, now stood another, new set of words.
"World Devourer...", Liora couldn’t help but mutter.
To be honest, she had never heard of this term before. It was not mentioned in her bloodline memories, nor had she ever heard it mentioned before.
Fortunately, it didn’t require one to be a genius to get a rough understanding of its meaning. Just the words "World" and "Devourer" were already self-explanatory.
"A race of Devils that feasts on other worlds to strengthen themselves? Or a race that feasts on World Origin?", Liora couldn’t help but wonder.
The difference seemed small, but was in fact quite big.
Liora pondered for a few seconds.
But after a bit of thinking, she shook her head and pushed that matter aside. Either way, it didn’t matter to her for the time being.
For the current Liora, perhaps the most important and significant enhancement was her newly awakened abilities.
It had been quite some time since she last obtained one.
Yes, she had learned some Knight skills in this world and could use them through the use of demonic energy, but for Liora, these were not true abilities.
Only those brought by her bloodline or created by the System were truly valued by her.
"Nothingness Manipulation, Abyssal Maw, Spear of Divine Punishment, Null Step, Devil’s Dominion, Eclipse...", Liora muttered the names of the abilities one after another.
There were six of them in total, some brand new, while others were upgraded forms of abilities she already possessed.
With faint curiosity and excitement that only experienced gacha players possessed, Liora’s eyes focused on each of these abilities.
Immediately, a window containing a brief description of each of them appeared in her field of vision.
...
[Shadow Manipulation-> Nothingness Manipulation:
The user retains their original control over darkness, but at the same time, they now possess faint control over the power of Nothingness.
By establishing a connection with Nothingness itself, the user can now summon Nothingness to descend to the real world.]
...
[Abyssal Maw: The user can manipulate space to form a giant maw. This maw possesses extreme penetrating power and can be used to directly attack enemies. It possesses devouring properties, having the ability to swallow everything, including attacks, objects, and even other creatures.
The swallowed matter is transformed into demonic energy, which can be used to restore the user’s energy or used to strengthen itself.]
...
[Null Step: The user can fold space to teleport. The teleportation’s distance depends on the user’s strength and their familiarity with this ability.]
...
[Spear of the Blighted Sun -> Spear of the Divine Punishment:
An upgraded form of Spear of the Blighted Sun. It retains all the effects of the original spear.
At the same time, the spear now carries part of the world’s power, making each blow seem like an attack of the world itself. It is accompanied by effects such as: sealing, suppression, and soul-locking.]
...
[Devil’s Dominion: The user subconsciously affects the creatures in the surrounding area. Each glance towards the user is now accompanied by a soul attack.
Depending on the strength of their will, those affected will suffer side effects, ranging from injuries to death.]
...
[Eclipse: The user can shape a sphere made of Nothingness. The sphere instinctively devours everything in its surroundings, including but not limited to: energy, light, matter, and other creatures.
This sphere can be controlled to descend and strike directly at the user’s enemies or broken apart and used to perform attacks.
The more energy Eclipse has devoured, the more damage the aforementioned effects will cause.]
...
Liora went carefully through the descriptions.
Part of her mind remained on her body, confirming that each piece of information was true.
When she finally read the final part, she couldn’t help but nod her head in satisfaction.
Although the abilities’ descriptions were brief and didn’t include all their uses, Liora was already happy with those.
She could be certain that, coupled with her strong Base Stats, her current strength was quite powerful even among True Devils.
At the very least, she could be certain that she was stronger than the Zerg Hive she had previously met. This was true even if she regained her full power.
"Advancement is indeed the best way for a Devil to enhance their strength. Unlike other power systems, where things like knowledge and ’accumulation’ have to be taken into account, the ability to obtain strength through one’s bloodline is supreme."
"It’s truly addicting...", Liora sighed.
Feeling that she could cast her abilities with just a mere thought, she had the impulse to test them out.
But she stopped herself just in time.
With her current strength, even a casual blow of hers would cause great harm to this world, much less her new, upgraded abilities.
"Is this the price of invincibility? Sure enough, it feels lonely at the top...", Liora shook her head and sighed, clasping her hands behind her back as if she were a true master.
Unfortunately, she soon realized that there was no one else in the room but her.
Not knowing whether she should be happy or sad that no one was here to witness her antics, Liora stopped showing off.
Her face regained its calmness as she raised her head and looked outside the room, taking a glimpse at the many cataclysmic events.