Chapter 524 — Nine-Headed Hydra

The Gods of the Blood Forest Realm were a strange type of creature.

Having killed the God of Hunting and obtained his Godhead, Liora had studied his structure, realizing that he was a truly peculiar creature.

Part human, part demon, part God.

These creatures appeared to be a strange fusion of several different things, piquing her interest and making her curious about their existence.

Her initial plan had been to capture a few more Gods and try to study them.

However, she ultimately restrained herself, unwilling to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Yet she now had the chance to come face-to-face with another deity.

And a very powerful one at that.

The instant she stepped into the demi-plane, Liora did her best to conceal her traces while on guard for a sneak attack.

The latter proved meaningless, though the former was actually extremely useful.

That was because a nine-headed serpent rested within the demi-plane.

The mouths of each of its nine heads were wide open and inhaling sharply, like nine black holes breaking down all matter and devouring it.

Liora identified the massive creature.

Nine-Headed Hydra—the deity revered by the Hydra Tribe and a God that surpassed the God of Hunting in every aspect.

Its strength was enough to strike fear into the hearts of Rank 7 World Lords, while its majesty would make ordinary Awakeners want to kneel down and worship it.

Yet, Liora’s attention did not linger on the Nine-Headed Hydra for long.

Only moments later, her eyes shifted to the "object" in front of it.

It was a colossal corpse, more than one kilometer in height and hundreds of meters wide.

Countless golden scales covered the entirety of its body, forging an impenetrable wall of defense that even Rank 7 Awakeners could not pierce through.

It was a giant dragon. More precisely, it was its remains.

The corpse was relatively intact. Only a single one of its scales was broken.

Golden blood flowed out of the wound and writhed eerily, merging back into the corpse before flowing back out.

This was exactly the spot where the Nine-Headed Hydra was currently standing.

It didn’t devour the blood, let alone the entire corpse. It merely bathed in its divine brilliance, growing stronger with each breath.

Such a sight confirmed the elderly Devil’s discovery.

This underground cave was indeed the tomb of the Divine Dragon—one of the demon race’s ancestors in the Blood Forest Realm, and a creature suspected of having reached the Ancient Devil level.

In the past, Liora had doubted whether his memories were to be trusted.

However, when she personally witnessed the other party’s majestic appearance and sensed its overwhelming aura, she had to believe this theory.

"Rumor has it that demons used to rule the entire Blood Forest Realm for thousands of years."

"It was only after the Human Emperor, a powerful human Awakener, was born that this situation suddenly changed."

"Most of the powerful demons fell at his hands. Under his rule, several ’Gods’ surrendered to the human race, thus putting an end to the era of chaos and starting the tribal era."

The Human Temple in today’s world was the power created by the Human Emperor.

Though the other party had disappeared long ago, this force’s influence remained pervasive throughout the continent.

Recalling this ancient history, which seemed more like a legend than real events, Liora’s face couldn’t help but become stern.

She focused on the Divine Dragon’s wound.

"To be able to kill it in a single strike, the power of the Human Emperor is truly unfathomable.", she couldn’t help but sigh.

"It seems that the secret realms contain their own mysteries."

"It’s not for no reason that the Blood Forest Realm has surrendered to the Human Federation."

Liora had always wondered why the human race’s higher-ups hadn’t taken action to bring these realms under their control.

Now, it seemed that she had found the real reason.

Although these worlds were relatively weak, unfathomable powerhouses existed within them.

Even if the Human Federation could suppress them, it would end up being a long and bitter process.

With enemies still in the outside universe, they could not afford to engage in such meaningless wars.

Countless thoughts raced through Liora’s mind, though only moments passed.

After organizing her thoughts, she snapped back to reality.

Her gaze focused briefly on the Divine Dragon before settling on the Nine-Headed Hydra.

She understood that if she wished to obtain the Divine Dragon’s remains and the benefits that came with it, this massive creature would be her biggest obstacle.

From a preliminary observation, Liora judged its power to be immense.

It was by far the strongest creature she had faced since her arrival in this world.

Rank 8? Perhaps even Rank 9.

It could already wield strength beyond that of ordinary Archdevils, reaching the Throne and even Anchoring stages.

Moreover, Liora guessed that this was not its full strength.

Recalling how the God of Hunting had been able to burst out with power beyond its Rank, she could almost be certain that the Nine-Headed Hydra would also possess similar methods.

To go against it, Liora had to be prepared to face an Ascension stage creature.

This realization made her tremble.

Not out of fear, but of excitement.

It had been a long time since she last had a hearty battle.

At the very least, she hadn’t had one since her arrival in the Cosmic World.

Although she had participated in the Blood Arena and had hunted down demons, these weren’t enough to satisfy the battle intent in her heart.

Her World of Heart had ensured that she would be safe no matter what. In her view, such battles were no different than an ordinary spar.

It was only now, when she faced a creature like the Nine-Headed Hydra, that her battle intent surged once again.

Liora observed it for several more minutes. In her body, the talent genes were activated one by one.

The Cosmic Energy within their illusory spaces rioted, providing her with near-limitless physical strength.