Chapter 289 — Complicated Situation

Impossible to fight against, dodge, or even defend!

This was the assessment that Liora made, as the status of Duke Bloodflower in her heart was elevated.

Clearly, the Duke was not an ordinary Greater Devil at all. Just like her, he was also a Devil towering above other beings at the same stage.

Facing his attack, Liora understood that his casual blow was far more powerful than it seemed.

It was not a mere physical attack, but something faintly beyond it.

She could be certain that even if she were to activate Virtualization, the attack would still land and seriously injure her.

"Sure enough, a True Devil ability will never allow one to become invincible. In the face of absolute power, abilities and strange methods become useless.", she realized.

Despite this, Liora was not afraid.

The fact that she had not stopped the Duke from entering such a state made it obvious that she was prepared to deal with his trump card.

Or rather, Liora had been waiting for him to use his trump card.

"If everything goes well, several hidden dangers can be dealt with. All at once...", Liora thought inwardly, as her eyes narrowed.

Facing the incoming attack, she did not defend or try to evade. Instead, she raised her hand, and a translucent thread shot out.

It did not target Duke Bloodflower. It disappeared into the distance.

Within moments, it had reached its target. It was the Archdevil’s lifeless corpse, the "object" that had been lying there since the start of the battle, completely unaffected.

After a human-like hesitation shown by the thread, it finally followed Liora’s orders and entered the dead body.

Instantly, Liora sensed countless amounts of demonic energy flowing out of her and pouring into the thread.

Despite her high strength, it only took mere moments for it to almost suck her dry.

In an instant, less than a quarter of her demonic energy had remained.

Fortunately, since Liora was planning to "play it big", she had already made preparations for such an event.

Her mind connected with Alpha, and she communicated telepathically with her, giving her orders:

"Activate Overdrive!"

The moment her words fell, Alpha took action. Her core, which had been integrated with Liora, trembled, and boundless energy flowed out of it.

Every bit of energy she had absorbed over the past few days was poured into Liora’s body and became part of it.

Under Liora’s deliberate care, this energy was seemingly boundless.

It made up for her earlier consumption and went even further, pouring into the thread and "feeding" it.

The thread seemed to have transformed into a living serpent. It shook violently like an out-of-control tentacle, while the same held true for the lifeless corpse.

Not far away, the Duke noticed her actions and seemed to have guessed something.

His palm, which was falling down, suddenly paused for a brief second, as he opened his mouth and spoke:

"Stop! Are you crazy?!"

"We can talk this out!", he tried to calm Liora down, but it was already too late.

Having made a decision, she wouldn’t stop because of his words.

Not only did she not cease her actions, but she instead stepped up her efforts.

The corpse’s trembling grew even more intense, as if life was being infused into it.

No. To be more accurate, this was indeed somewhat true.

Using Alpha’s Life Infusion, Liora was actually working to awaken the dead Archdevil.

And her efforts soon bore fruit.

Following a final sway of the thread, the body’s intense reaction came to an abrupt end.

However, the connection established between it and Liora let her know that her goal had been achieved!

Sensing the overwhelming power of this being and understanding that she could only control it for a brief second, she didn’t hesitate.

Her mind moved, and following her commands, the corpse rose up. Then, shooting forward like a meteor, it targeted Duke Bloodflower.

Due to the large gap in strength between her and this corpse, Liora found it impossible to activate its abilities.

Fortunately, its physical strength was already more than enough.

After all, this was an Archdevil!

Facing its charge, the Duke had no way to react.

One moment, he was about to plead for mercy and make peace with Liora, and the next, the towering figure of the Archdevil had flashed before him.

Its shadow draped over his body and plunged him into darkness, as it lowered its giant hand, seemingly reenacting the earlier scene.

Now it was the Duke’s turn to feel what Liora had previously felt.

Powerlessness, helplessness, and despair assaulted his mind as he felt that he could never defend against the descending palm.

However, the next second, all of these emotions were wiped out.

Duke Bloodflower’s eyes regained their indifference, and a well-hidden trace of ruthlessness flashed within them.

"Since you’re leaving me with no choice, let’s die together!", he yelled, though his thoughts were somewhat different.

"Perhaps, this is my chance to get rid of its influence!", he muttered secretly.

Regardless, his mind connected with the orange rune in his body, and he stopped suppressing its influence.

Instantly, boundless power began pouring into his body out of nowhere, as fire elements gathered and engulfed his being.

In the outside world, outside the Hollow, one of the four forbidden places in the 173rd Layer suddenly trembled. Several powerful auras surged at its core, as many slumbering beings were awakened and showed joy.

Few people noticed this phenomenon. But those who did all turned their heads in the forbidden area’s direction, their pupils shrinking and flashing with fear.

In the Hollow’s demi-plane, Liora did not know what was taking place outside.

All her attention was on the Duke, who, in her opinion, had been driven insane.

His power was increasing at a terrifying rate, but his body was quickly transforming into flames, as if he were turning into a Fire Elemental.

Seeing this, a frown appeared on her face. But Liora quickly suppressed her doubts, knowing that now was not the time to think about it.

The two auras—of the dead Archdevil and of Duke Bloodflower—were confronting each other in the air, and the two were quickly growing closer in strength.

The moment the two auras became evenly matched, Liora understood that the time had come!

"Now is my opportunity!", she thought inwardly, and immediately several items were taken out of the Space Orb.

A square token, a wooden chest, a bloodthirsty halberd...

Many items appeared beside her. Under the control of her demonic energy, they were all thrown towards the battlefield.

The moment these objects appeared beside the two Devils and faced their respective aura, all of the items sensed the danger and activated on their own.

In particular, the lid of the wooden chest was thrown off, revealing a mysterious, pink droplet of blood inside.