Chapter 471 — True Balance & Weight
5 min read ·
As soon as the three landed onto the weights, the others around them began to fade away.
Soon enough, only three remained, each acting as a support for a Devil.
Liora, the Hollow Ancestor, and the Four Elements Devil faced each other, though the latter could hardly take in what was happening.
"This is a treasure I obtained by chance in the Origin Sea. I like to call it ’True Balance’.", the Hollow Ancestor stated.
"This could be considered a ceremony."
"The weight of all the participants in this ceremony is counted. Then, the one with the greatest ’weight’ can make requests to the other party, until they reach a true equilibrium."
As if to demonstrate, the Hollow Ancestor calmly pointed at the Four Elements Devil’s side.
Instantly, the weights they were standing on lit up. The Will of the Demon World descended and washed over them, as if investigating everything about them.
Then, a deafening crash!
The side of the Hollow Ancestor hit down, while the Four Elements Devil rose up.
Clearly, the "weight" of the Four Elements Devil had been judged to be far less than that of the Hollow Ancestor.
"Though there is a gap in strength between us, your identity as an Ancient Devil should have been enough for you to resist. Unfortunately...", the Hollow Ancestor shook his head with pity.
"You’re stupid enough to devour my clone. In a certain sense, I’m now a part of you. Your weight is my weight, but my weight is not yours."
The moment his words fell, Liora saw him point at the Four Elements Devil once more.
"I request the concept of the Four Elements.", he stated, and his opponent instantly trembled.
The Four Elements Devil’s face grew pale as if he were experiencing a soul-tearing pain, while a four-colored light emerged from his body.
It shot towards the Hollow Ancestor and settled onto his side, combining with his part of the weight. The scale slightly tilted.
However, this was far from enough for the two to reach a "true equilibrium".
Thus, Liora witnessed the Hollow Ancestor point again.
"I request the concept of the World..."
"...your timeline..."
"...your status as the source of your bloodline..."
Liora watched as item after item was stripped away from the Four Elements Devil and was guided towards the Hollow Ancestor.
The scale’s function seemed quite similar to her own Devil Empress’s Furnace, except its power was far more overbearing.
Liora understood that the Devil Empress’s Furnace lacked the status to extract items from an Ancient Devil. Even if it did, she would have to defeat and suppress the opponent first.
On the other hand, the Hollow Ancestor’s True Balance required no such thing. As long as one stepped onto it, they would have to "fight" using its rules!
"Of course, this power is not necessarily of the scale itself. Rather, this treasure simply has a way to communicate with the Will of the Demon World."
"It is the Demon World that holds such overwhelming power..."
Liora remained strangely calm despite the danger of the situation. A flicker of emotion flashed in her eyes as she watched the Hollow Ancestor obtain item after item from the Four Elements Devil.
By the time the two seemed close to reaching an equilibrium, the Four Elements Devil’s Throne was shaking violently.
Countless cracks could be seen on its surface, making his situation far more severe than when he had just woken up.
The pressure he emanated dropped dramatically. His aura now barely reached the threshold of the Archdevil stage.
The next moment... Bang!
The Four Elements Devil exploded, his existence wiped out by an inexplicable power.
Unable to raise any resistance, he lost everything he possessed.
He died—this time, for good.
No matter how many backups he had or how much he had prepared for his eventual revival, he was now completely dead.
He indirectly died at the hands of the Demon World.
Although an Ancient Devil was powerful indeed, they were nothing in front of this apex-level world. Let alone Ancient Devil, even if the Four Elements Devil was a Prince of the Demon World, he would have met the same fate.
As the opponent disintegrated, the Hollow Ancestor’s aura surged.
He fused with everything he had plundered from the Four Elements Devil, growing even more unfathomable.
However, he wasn’t satisfied with just that. His gaze immediately fell toward Liora, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
"Haven’t you wondered why I went through all this trouble just to explain the process to you?"
"I forgot to tell you, but True Balance also takes causality connections into account. You brought my clone into the Demon Layer and helped me release the Four Elements Devil. Thus, I owed you a debt."
"My explanation, including my current words, is merely to offset that debt."
The Hollow Ancestor seemed to have sensed something, and his smile deepened.
"This is a sign that we’re even.", he said and stretched his hand.
The Hollow Ancestor pointed once more—this time not at the Four Elements Devil, but at Liora.
Instantly, the Will of the Demon World descended upon her.
Liora sensed it drill into her body and scan everything about her.
Her abilities, concepts, Devil Techniques, and her bloodline...
Even something deeper seemed to have been discovered by the Demon World and taken into account.
The sound of turning gears immediately rang out.
Metal creaked as the scale began to tilt slowly.
The weights of one woman and one man were measured.
One was a mere Archdevil, while the other had reached the Ancient Devil stage, having traced a large part of past history.
The result went as expected.
One side indeed held an overwhelming advantage over the other. The gap was even more obvious than when the Hollow Ancestor and the Four Elements Devil were pitted against each other.
One weight of the scale slammed down, nearly breaking from the immense weight.
Yet, the side emerging victorious went against everyone’s expectations.
Shockingly, the one with the greatest "weight" was not the mastermind behind everything, the Hollow Ancestor, but Liora!
"Impossible...!", a gasp escaped the Hollow Ancestor’s lips, his tone full of disbelief.