Chapter 242 — Archdevil

Everything was going well until suddenly, Liora’s hand reached the exact place where she had previously sensed the array.

Immediately, a soft clang echoed in her ears as her hand bounced off and shot back.

Her situation was like a mortal trying to walk through a wall—a truly impossible thing to achieve.

Instantly, Liora’s eyebrows furrowed. But she didn’t choose to give up.

She removed her hand and chose to activate one of her abilities.

Immediately, the power of Nothingness formed around her and struck the wall like the waves of a tsunami, trying to submerge it completely and drive it to extinction.

Unfortunately, this infamous power of Nothingness that had never failed before now faced a fierce resistance.

The moment it touched the invisible wall, it was instantly bounced off like Liora’s and forced to retreat.

No matter how much Liora controlled it to attack the array, she found it impossible to break it.

In fact, let alone dissolving it, she could not even sense the array still, much less leave any traces of damage behind.

"The rumors are indeed true."

"If I am unable to cause any damage to this thing, it should also be impossible for a Greater Devil to break it. I’m afraid that only Archdevils can possibly bypass it.", she judged.

Granted, this was merely a guess of hers.

Although she could roughly estimate the power that a Greater Devil should reasonably wield based on her current state, she had never come into contact with an Archdevil before.

Though her bloodline memories granted her some information regarding them, it was difficult for her to truly know their power without witnessing it in person.

Liora mulled over this information.

In the end, she shook her head and decided to continue her research.

She stretched her hand out and was about to activate the Spear of Divine Punishment to test its effect on the array when countless overlapping, shrill murmurs rang directly in her mind.

At the same moment, a chill ran down her spine as her entire body went cold.

"An enemy!", she realized and hastily investigated her surroundings.

Initially, she didn’t find anything noteworthy.

But soon, the source of the danger she was feeling revealed itself on its own.

An extremely powerful aura emerged from the very center of the Inferno Valley and rose at an incredible speed, as if a powerful being was awakening.

Seeing this, Liora instantly understood. This should be a member of the Fire Elemental race.

And if she was not wrong, the reason they woke up was because of her.

Considering the situation and the coincidental timing of its awakening, she couldn’t help but wonder:

"Could it be that they sensed my attempts to ’leave’ the Inferno Valley? Is it related to the invisible array itself?"

Although she was filled with doubts, Liora’s movements were not slow at all.

The moment she sensed the danger, she had already taken the piece of Hellstone out.

Feeling that the invisible wall was still there, but she could now pass through it without any resistance, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She might have chosen to test it at any other time. But due to the constraints of time, she now didn’t think twice about it.

With a shove against the ground, her legs pushed against the earth, and she launched herself forward.

As she reached the invisible wall, the gray rune on the Hellstone’s surface glowed brightly and twisted, as if communicating with it.

Surprisingly, the invisible wall was then rendered ineffective at a moment’s notice and allowed Liora to pass straight through it.

Seeing this, Liora somewhat relaxed.

Feeling the dense fire elements being left behind and sensing the ever-increasing, dense demonic energy around her, she understood that she had finally achieved her goal and entered the real Demon World.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time to immerse herself in any feelings, nor outwardly express her inner thoughts.

Although she had left the Inferno Valley, she had yet to feel any sense of safety. The danger was still there.

Without any hesitation, Liora continued urging her demonic energy and soared into the sky at full speed, soon disappearing into the horizon.

Not long after she left, the space inside the array where she had just stood suddenly froze.

Time itself seemed to have paused as an unknown being had descended upon this location.

The term unknown was used because their appearance was impossible to describe in simple words.

They seemed to exist in a different dimension compared to the world around them, with the only visible thing being that they were made out of fire.

As soon as this being descended, it stared silently at Liora’s departing back.

It stretched its hand out and wanted to grab her figure through the space, but its hand reached the array and was suddenly bounced off.

"Damn it! For how long are you going to keep us locked in here?!", the unknown being roared as it began launching several attacks on the array.

Their momentum was earth-shattering, but they ultimately failed to cause any damage.

Similar to the earlier attacks of Liora, all the blows of this being were invalidated, erased from existence.

This person obviously knew of this characteristic and was not surprised.

After it launched a few more attacks and took its anger out, it cast one final glance at Liora and walked back.

"Soon... Soon! That day will soon come...", its voice echoed, becoming increasingly low until it finally disappeared.

--

Liora didn’t know how far away she had run before she came to a stop.

All she knew was that the Inferno Valley had long disappeared from both her vision and the range of her consciousness.

However, she didn’t calm down just yet.

Recalling the fierce gaze that had fallen on her not long after she left that forbidden area, her whole being couldn’t help but tremble.

"An Archdevil! That person must at least be an Archdevil!", she muttered, finding it difficult to keep her composure.

Liora had not even met a Greater Devil so far. The strongest beings she had come into contact with were the Zerg Hive and the True Heart Devil.

Yet, she had unexpectedly encountered an Archdevil out of nowhere.

Thinking of the undisguised malice she had sensed in the opponent’s gaze and considering the earlier situation, she could make some inferences.

"Is that person a high-level member of the Fire Elemental race? Perhaps their leader, or an ancestor-like figure..."

Many doubts flashed in Liora’s mind as she gently landed on the ground. After confirming that there were no signs of any being near this place, she swiftly engraved a relatively ordinary array and entered its interior.

Although the array could hardly provide her with any protection, Liora couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of safety as it began operating around her.

As she took her seat on the ground, her mind wandered, analyzing the previous scene.

"I didn’t expect that the Fire Elementals possessed some method to observe what occurred at the end of the Inferno Valley."

"Is it through some kind of ability, or by utilizing the power of the array?"

If it were the former, everything would make sense and would be understandable.

But if the latter were true instead, then things would become quite complicated.