Chapter 450 — Underground Journey

Liora moved underground, using a thin layer of Demonforce to protect herself during her descent.

The brown ore below and around her quickly shattered, allowing her to pass through it.

Of course, she wouldn’t let this ore escape.

With a move of her hands, she collected the crumbled Earth Spirit Ore pieces and placed them in her space ring for later use.

She had already decided that she would return here after she had investigated the situation underground. She was never going to let such a large amount of precious resources escape her clutches.

But this was all for later.

At the moment, she had something far more important to deal with.

Her figure quickly descended.

She didn’t know how deep underground she had traversed, only knowing that she had traveled for several kilometers but had yet to reach her destination.

If it were not for Diana’s increasingly maniacal outbursts, Liora would have thought that she was mistaken and that there was nothing there.

Minutes passed.

Just when she thought that this situation would go on for quite a while, Liora’s eyes suddenly lit up.

The Throne within her soul space lit up as she raised her hand and delivered a punch into the space beneath her.

The depths of the Earth Spirit Mine began to tremble, affected by the aftermath of her blow.

Countless quantities of ore below her body crumbled, opening a hole hundreds of meters in diameter.

With nothing to support her weight, Liora rapidly fell down. She soon passed through that hole and arrived at another, completely different space.

--

Following a deafening crash, Liora slammed onto the ground, forming a deep crater at her landing location.

She didn’t pay much attention to this.

Brushing her shoulders to wipe away the Earth Spirit Ore dust accumulated on her body, she raised her head and scanned the place around her.

She was in a vast underground cave. Stalactites made from the familiar brown ore grew along the ceiling, hanging down as if she were in a prison of falling ice.

Ores, even more brownish in color, covered the ground, and the pure demonic energy within them caught Liora off guard.

She could recognize that this was the Earth Spirit Ore that was nearly everywhere.

Yet, compared to the ore she had collected before and the one right above her head, the one she was standing on felt far more precious.

The demonic energy in it was far purer. Part of it dissolved into the air, making the cave look like a paradise for Devils.

Liora could see that if a non-Devil were to arrive here, they would be unable to withstand the demonic energy’s impact and would gradually transform into Devil-adjacent creatures.

For Devils, such an environment was great.

Liora instantly had the urge to lean down and mine this ore out.

However, she quickly restrained that impulse.

Now was not the time. First, she had to find the source of the looming aura and investigate this place further.

"Of course, the two are interconnected. I don’t believe that the mine and that aura are unrelated.", Liora thought as she raised her hand to smash the surrounding stalactites, opening a wide path through the cave.

At the same time, her consciousness connected to the Space Orb, and based on Diana’s reactions, she judged the direction and walked deeper into the cave.

--

Diana’s reaction became increasingly violent.

Though separated by the Space Orb’s membrane, the clanging of chains and shrill screeches reached Liora’s ears, letting her know that she was approaching her target.

She hastened her steps, destroying more and more stalactites blocking her way.

The underground cave was surprisingly massive, seemingly a demi-plane of its own.

Besides the stalactites, which would require the full effort of Greater Devils to break, there seemed to be no other danger lurking within it.

Or at least, this was how it seemed at first.

But before Liora had fully let her guard down, she came to realize that this assumption was incorrect.

The overlapping buzz of hundreds of insects suddenly rang out, reaching Liora’s ears.

This seemed to be a signal for something, as the Earth Spirit Ore she was currently standing on began to transform.

Hundreds of razor-sharp teeth grew on the originally smooth surface, and its brownish color became pitch-black.

A mouth opened wide, revealing a bottomless stomach inside, and looked ready to devour her.

Within just a moment, the floor beneath her feet had turned into a worm-like insect with the will to swallow her whole.

Worst of all, Liora was oblivious to its presence until it launched its sudden attack.

For a moment, it seemed that her fate was sealed and she would become the insect’s meal.

Thankfully, Liora reacted quickly.

Though caught in a sneak attack, she didn’t panic, and her body moved on its own.

Shoving her right foot down, she smashed it onto the insectoid’s sharp teeth and crushed them to pieces.

Then, using the remaining force of that kick, she leaped into the air.

Turning around, she raised her hand and delivered a punch below.

Flames coiled around her arm from the fist to her shoulder, as the temperature around her rose at a terrifying speed.

Within a moment, the flames had arrived before the enemy.

Its black skin became even darker as the flames quickly spread from its mouth to the rest of its body, appearing ready to burn it alive.

Clearly, although the insect had extraordinary camouflage abilities and could sneak up on her, its actual combat power was far from impressive.

At least, it had not reached the Archdevil stage. And that alone was enough for Liora.

The chirping of insects spread through the cave as the body of the snake-like insect wriggled continuously and struggled to escape.

It attempted to put out the flames and drill back into the earth, but to no avail.

In the end, it could only watch helplessly as the flames quickly devoured it, burning it from within.

By the time Liora’s feet touched the ground again, the insect was already on the verge of death.

Just as it was about to let out its final, mourning cry, though, Liora suddenly remembered something.

Recalling the earlier confrontation between the Earth Elementals and the insect’s companions, as well as their strange ability to transform into demonic energy, she couldn’t help but try something.

She didn’t hesitate.

With a thought, the flames binding the insect faded away. But before the opponent had time to celebrate, a giant furnace materialized above her head.

Following a tap of her fingers against its surface, its lid shot out, and a powerful devouring force emanated from its open mouth.

The insect could not resist that force.

Unable to even let out a call for help, it entered the Devil Empress’s Furnace and fell onto the world inside.

Liora instantly poured her demonic energy into the furnace and activated one of its many functions.

The patterns on its surface lit up with a horrifying light.

A few moments later, soul-tearing screams sounded from its interior.

Though merely an insect, its cries would have made anyone who heard them horrified, making them mourn for its death.

However, Liora did not care. She maintained a calm expression through the process, pushing Absolute Extraction to its fullest.