Chapter 272 — Hidden Gate
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--
The earlier fight between the Violence Lord and Liora did not seem to have impacted Bloodflower City in any way.
The Devils in the city continued on with their lives as per usual, as if nothing had changed.
The only peculiar thing was that the Demon Colosseum was no longer as popular as before, both in terms of challengers and in terms of the audience itself.
Under such circumstances, a few days passed by pretty quickly.
--
The crimson sun shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the land below and plunging it into a tinge of red.
Considering how big each Layer of the Demon World was, it should have been impossible for the sun to illuminate every inch of its land. Yet, this was indeed the case.
According to rumors, this was achieved through the existence of multiple stars working at the same time.
Rather than say that each Layer had its own sun, it would be more accurate to say that each Layer possessed multiple, perhaps thousands in some cases, of suns.
Such information emerged in Liora’s mind as she waited for the Slave Lord to arrive at the place they had agreed beforehand.
Due to the constant fighting, Liora hadn’t had the time to take a deeper look at the Demon World.
Now, although only for a short time, she had the chance to do so.
Time slowly passed as she took in her surroundings.
Liora remained silent as she observed, and Alpha, standing right behind her, did the same.
It was only a few hours later, when the sound of many footsteps reached their ears, that the two reacted.
Turning her head, Liora noticed that the Slave Lord had arrived.
However, she was not alone.
Behind her stood several hundred Lesser Devils, walking in a formation as if they were part of an elite army.
Liora noticed that not all of them were Devils, as some creatures native to the Demon World and even humans could be seen walking among them.
"You’re already here. Sorry to keep you waiting.", the Slave Lord said when she saw Liora waiting for her, and nodded her head in greeting.
Liora reciprocated the favor before her eyes shifted to the army behind her.
Sensing her gaze, the Slave Lord explained:
"Although these people are weak, they will be quite helpful in our journey. After all, it is impossible that we put ourselves in danger every time."
"By using these people as cannon fodder, we can stay safe and retain most of our strength.", she said.
Liora did not comment on this, but such words made her form some guesses regarding these people’s true identity.
In her opinion, these Lesser Devils were most likely not the Slave Lord’s subordinates, but rather her slaves.
"Sure enough, a name may be wrong, but a nickname will rarely be inaccurate.", Liora couldn’t help but think secretly.
The Slave Lord did not know her thoughts. She took one look at Alpha, not showing any surprise about her appearance.
The two had already met in the inn, and from the rest of the information that her subordinates had gathered, Liora had no other person around her.
It made sense that she would choose to bring Alpha here with her.
"If there’s nothing else, we can set out."
"At our speed, we should be able to reach the Hollow within a few hours as long as no accident happens.", she said.
After receiving Liora’s agreement, she turned around and led the way.
Looking at the small army that kept pace with the Slave Lord, Liora exchanged one glance with Alpha and motioned her to follow her.
--
The Demon World was mostly uninhabited—this was something that Liora had discovered during her earlier journey to Bloodflower City, and it was also something she confirmed further right now.
As she and the Slave Lord traversed its lands, they seldom met any other Devil.
The few that they did meet were not very strong, and sensing the aura of hundreds of Lesser Devils at the same place, they immediately turned around and hastily escaped.
Neither Liora nor the Slave Lord cared enough to hunt them down.
Thus, although the Hollow was far away, it didn’t take them many hours to complete their journey.
Just like the Slave Lord had said, in a few hours, they had reached their destination.
Or at least, this was the case according to the Slave Lord.
However, as Liora landed on the ground and investigated her surroundings, she began to doubt whether she had been tricked.
An empty plain.
This was where the Slave Lord had led her, and if it were not for the fact that the two had signed a Devil Contract, Liora would have thought that she was fooling her.
The Slave Lord noticed her doubts.
Slightly proud, she lowered her head, gazed at the ground, and explained.
"I found this Hollow a few years ago..."
"I had just come out of the Inferno Valley at the time and was prepared to return to Bloodflower City. But along the way, I sensed some strange fluctuations."
"Curious, I came to this place, only to find that a gate to a Hollow had unknowingly appeared.", the Slave Lord told her story.
"Other people had also sensed the fluctuations, but luckily, they were all weak."
"After I killed them, I hid the gate of the Hollow and began making preparations to venture into it."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Slave Lord glanced at the four slaves closest to her.
She did not need to speak.
The moment they sensed her gaze, these four people immediately began working. They walked to the center of the empty plain and broke apart, forming a large square in the space between them.
Then, they raised their hands and brought them near their heads.
Several bursting sounds soon echoed as the four people slammed their hands onto their heads, causing them to explode.
With a loud crash, their lifeless corpses collapsed onto the ground, as blood splattered and dyed the earth red.
Coupled with the light of the crimson sun above, a strange mechanism seemed to have activated.
Standing not far away, Liora sensed the earth beneath her tremble as the slaves died.
When she looked at the place where the four slaves previously stood, she discovered that the earth had unknowingly split apart.
A large hole had formed in the ground, and the boundless darkness within it would make one believe that it led to the very center of the Demon World.
The Slave Lord was not surprised.
She gestured with her hand and approached the deep hole.
As Liora stepped near it, she lowered her head and gazed inside.
Immediately, a huge black gate came into her view, with gray specks of dust swirling around it as if defending it.
Though she had never seen one before, considering the Slave Lord’s earlier words, Liora understood that this was the gate to the Hollow.
Obviously, the plain that the Slave Lord had led her to was far from ordinary.
Or rather, it was not a plain at all.
"Transforming the land and conjuring up a plain all in order to hide the Hollow."
"It deserves to be a True Devil. If I hadn’t seen it, I would have never known that this place hid such secrets.", she couldn’t help but sigh, piecing together everything.