Chapter 373 — Catastrophe Devil’s Information

Shortly after, Liora exited the shop with several new runes sitting within her Space Orb, exchanged for items that were no longer useful to her.

Having obtained what she sought not long after she arrived in the market, Liora couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

Especially when she saw that she had explored only a small part of the overall market, she felt that her choice of coming here was correct.

With a newfound expectation, she resumed her journey, searching for anything that could help her improve her strength.

--

The City Lord’s Mansion was the organization responsible for maintaining Hollow City’s stability. At least nominally, the city was under its rule.

As such, if one wished to purchase a residence in the city, they had to go through them.

Fortunately, the process was not too complicated.

Besides requesting the fee and some basic information, the City Lord’s Mansion did not conduct any in-depth research on the purchaser’s identity.

Coupled with Liora’s power as a Greater Devil, she didn’t face any difficulties along the process.

Within a day of her arriving in Hollow City, she had purchased her own dwelling.

"This is where we’ll stay for the near future.", Liora spoke to Alpha while staring at the large mansion before her.

It was called a mansion, but in fact, it looked more like a small city.

Hundreds of small and big buildings were interconnected, enough to house thousands of people.

Seemingly noticing this, Liora turned to Alpha and spoke up.

"Unless something goes wrong, we will stay in Hollow City for quite a while. You should find a few people to help you take care of the mansion."

"You’re now a Greater Devil, after all. It’s impossible to ask you to keep an entire city clean."

"Who knows? You might think that it’s unworthy of your status and try to rebel.", Liora jokingly said.

Alpha did not laugh at her jokes, though.

She pursed her lips and grumbled audibly, staring at Liora with obvious dissatisfaction in her amber eyes.

Since her identity as an "old woman" had been revealed, Alpha had been pouting, seemingly full of complaints.

Although Liora had the urge to tease her, she also understood that now was not the right time.

She had a hunch that Alpha was on the verge of going crazy. If she were to press any further, Liora was afraid that she would try to fight her.

Thinking of this, she changed the topic of conversation.

"I’m going to practice for the next few days. You will be in charge of the mansion during this time."

"I will set up a formation before I leave. With your strength and its help, you face no danger unless an Archdevil attacks."

Hearing the seriousness in her tone, Alpha’s fierce gaze receded. Her face turned solemn, and she nodded her head, showing that she understood.

"Don’t worry, my Lord. I will keep the mansion safe while you’re in seclusion.", she swore, her tone as reliable as ever.

--

Liora felt safe leaving Alpha in charge of the mansion.

After engraving a few arrays and giving control over them to Alpha, she shut herself deep within the mansion.

Closing her eyes, her consciousness focused on a certain blue star and went through the information contained within it.

"The Astral Pavilion is not to be underestimated..."

"The guide might have been correct. The pavilion’s power and influence are perhaps only lower than that of the four major organizations."

Liora’s eyes narrowed. She had gone through the information about Hollow City and had already memorized it while in the market.

What she digested at this time was the intelligence regarding the Catastrophe Devil.

As the person responsible for its birth, Liora claimed to be the most knowledgeable about the matter.

Yet, as she went through the intelligence given by the Astral Pavilion, she found bits of information that even she was unaware of.

For example... the identity of the creatures that resulted in the Catastrophe Devil’s birth.

"The Catastrophe Devil is the result of the amalgamation of several unique creatures. It’s suspected to be a test experiment gone rogue."

"..."

"Creatures confirmed to be part of the Catastrophe Devil: Blood God Ancestor, Hydra Ancestor, Four Elements Devil, Duke Bloodflower."

"Due to the amalgamation of several different powers, the Catastrophe Devil has awakened the power of Devouring. By swallowing creatures, items, and even concepts, it can rapidly become stronger."

Liora was only familiar with one of the names listed by the Astral Pavilion, while the other ones were completely foreign to her.

Fortunately, a brief description was given to each of these names, as if the person responsible for assembling the information had already expected it.

"Blood God Ancestor. Strength: Ancient Devil (Other Shore). Description: Went missing four million years ago. He was confirmed dead not long after. Powers: Blood."

"Hydra Ancestor. Strength: Ancient Devil (Other Shore). Description: Went missing four million years ago. He was confirmed dead not long after. Powers: Rebirth."

"Four Elements Devil. Strength: Archdevil (Ascension). Description: Went missing two million years ago. Current whereabouts unknown. Suspected of having been imprisoned. Powers: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth."

"Duke Bloodflower. Strength: Greater Devil (Indestructible Body). Description: Perished less than a year ago. Powers: Puppetry."

Duke Bloodflower was the least impressive among the long list of "participants".

This was not because he was weak, but because all the other people were extremely powerful.

Two Ancient Devils and one Archdevil. Moreover, the lone Archdevil was not an ordinary one, but someone who had reached the peak of that stage.

"Sure enough, these people are not simple at all. I was right to get rid of all those things.", Liora sighed, roughly understanding which being represented each item.

The Blood God Ancestor and the Hydra Ancestor were the owners of the pink droplet of blood that had accompanied her from the Crucible to the Demon World.

On the other hand, the Four Elements Devil was the creator of the Four Elements Token, and perhaps the Fire Elemental core.

As for Duke Bloodflower? He was merely an unfortunate bystander whose soul was devoured and coincidentally merged with the rest.

"No wonder no one can stop the Catastrophe Devil. With such a background, most Archdevils would struggle to defeat it, much less slay it."

"Perhaps only Ancient Devils have the absolute confidence to kill it."

As far as Liora knew, the Hollow Ancestor was the only Ancient Devil in the 173rd Demon Layer. Unless he personally took action and chose to hunt it down, the Catastrophe Devil would continue to wreak havoc.

Countless thoughts raced through Liora’s mind, and she went through the information again and again. Her eyes would narrow sometimes and flash with doubts at others, as she gradually digested and analyzed it.

A few hours later, her consciousness retreated from the blue star, and she finally opened her eyes once more.