Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Chapter 404: Third Trial: Crimson Annihilation Technique

The seven-colored light gradually retreated upon Liora’s making of choice, revealing the items hidden beneath it.

Liora was only able to take a glance at them briefly. Then, just like before, two of the three treasures vanished, merging onto the barren planet.

The only remaining treasure shot towards her.

She barely had the time to put it away before the familiar force arrived.

Following the explosion of the planet beneath her feet, the inheritance palace acted once again.

Having deemed her second trial completed, it moved her onto the next one.

The third trial, responsible for testing the strength of one’s will.

At the same time, it was the most difficult and perhaps most important trial within the inheritance palace.

As long as Liora passed it, she would be able to obtain the full inheritance of its mysterious owner.

—

“Third trial begins.”

“Highest difficulty trial has been selected.”

“The challenger is tasked with mastering the required technique within a century.”

The emotionless voice of the palace echoed in Liora’s mind, as she found herself teleported in front of a small stone tablet.

Countless unknown patterns wriggled across its pitch-black surface, symbols which Liora could not make out, much less recognize.

Although she had these symbols in the previous two trials, and even in the maze outside the palace, Liora had yet to understand their meaning.

Fortunately, there was no need for it. The third trial wasn’t created to test her language skills.

The owner of the inheritance palace had perhaps expected such a situation. Although it was unknown whether they knew that outsiders would eventually arrive here, or if they simply feared that their civilization’s traces would be erased by time and their language would disappear.

Either way, the owner of the palace had been prepared.

The moment Liora’s eyes fell on these peculiar patterns, their meaning was deciphered and a large amount of knowledge poured into her mind.

Similar inexplicable symbols formed within her soul space and danced around her.

After they merged together, they fell onto her soul.

A name instantly emerged in Liora’s mind, coupled with the accompanying knowledge.

“Crimson Annihilation Technique.”, she muttered almost subconsciously, as she closed her eyes and worked to digest the information.

Soon, she understood what the goal of this trial was.

Just like the voice had previously said, she was required to master the technique revealed by the tablet within a century.

However, unlike what one would expect from a trial testing the challenger’s will, the Crimson Annihilation Technique had nothing to do with the practitioner’s soul or their consciousness.

Instead, it was a technique created solely for the purpose of strengthening the user’s physical body.

As long as one mastered it, they would be able to contend with weaker Archdevils based solely on their physical strength.

The owner of the inheritance palace was obviously not a Devil.

As such, this technique was different from any other that Liora had encountered before.

“In fact, practicing this technique is quite simple.”

“There is no requirement to consume resources like Devil Techniques, nor is there a need to comprehend anything.”

“As long as one obtains it, even someone who has never practiced can give it a go.”, Liora judged.

“However, practicing it also has its own difficulties.”

“The most important one is that the practitioner has to go through an unimaginable amount of pain.”

This was mentioned repeatedly in the Crimson Annihilation Technique’s introduction.

According to the information, one should not attempt to practice this technique if they did not possess a powerful will nor had someone to guide them.

Liora obviously lacked the second. The inheritance palace didn’t seem as kind as to provide her with a guide.

As for the first part, this was the thing that she was currently being tested on.

“Interesting…”, Liora couldn’t help but whisper, feeling that this trial was also different from the ones she had experienced before.

“Moreover, there was no mention of such a way of judgment in Assira’s explanation.

The requirements to pass were simpler than even the second trial.

Yet, the difficulty had also increased dramatically.

Liora did not contemplate for long.

The trial had given her a time limit, and as such, she had to hurry up.

Thinking of this, she went through the Crimson Annihilation Technique several times in her mind, as she approached the stone tablet and sat in front of it.

She instantly felt the world around her speed up.

Because of her ownership of the Snake of Time and having come into contact with related powers, Liora immediately noticed that time around the statue was passing a hundred times faster than the world beyond it.

This meant that the one hundred years’ time she had been given were not actually one hundred. In fact, she only had one year to master the technique.

It was only because of the power of the stone tablet that she could spend one hundred years.

Of course, this didn’t make much of a difference for her.

As she took her seat before the tablet and closed her eyes, Liora ignored the time difference around her and began to practice.

“The Crimson Annihilation Technique is quite easy to practice. If one had to say its cost, then it’s nothing more than time. ”

“It is divided into ten levels. The first level requires one year to practice, the second level two years, the third level three, etc.”

This meant that one could master this technique within 55 years if they devoted themselves to it.

Unfortunately, things were not that simple. Because of the intense pain one had to go through during the practice, the practitioner was bound to take breaks in order to recover.

At the same time, the pain intensified significantly with each level mastered.

If one’s will was not up to the standard, practicing the next level would have severe side effects.

If they were lucky, they would go insane. If they were not, their consciousness would be wiped out.

Countless thoughts raced through Liora’s mind. She gradually unveiled the technique’s dangers and understood what was at stake.

However, she wasn’t planning to back down.

Not only because she wished to test her own will and take advantage of this free technique, but also because she simply couldn’t.

The third trial was the same as the second one. If Liora failed to pass it, she wouldn’t have the chance to get out like the other Greater Devils.

Instead, she would be directly obliterated.