Novel Full Chapter 453: Secretly Speechless
The mantis’ attacks had yet to land before the black hole had engulfed it.
Its body immediately shattered upon contact, turning back into pure demonic energy. The latter shook and wished to rejoin to form its body again.
Unfortunately, Liora was not going to give it a chance.
Part of her Demonforce stopped confronting the impact of the Zerg Queen’s pressure and worked to empower one of her abilities.
Within a moment, a giant weapon could be seen hovering above the mantis.
Devil Empress’s Furnace.
Countless colorful flames fired out of its mouth as soon as its lid was removed, dripping down like molten lava.
As if they were a waterfall, the flames wrapped around the mantis and the demonic energy and pulled them inside the furnace’s world.
The mantis wanted to struggle.
It let out a piercing screech, and a sword force shot out of its body, spreading throughout the clearing.
Unfortunately, its strength remained the same despite its desperate actions.
A Throne Stage Devil could suppress one at the Creation Stage with relative ease.
Although Liora’s strength had not completely reached that level, she was only a sliver away from it.
At the same time, the mantis was not a real Devil after all.
It possessed no Indestructible Matter and could not recover in an instant. This gave Liora enough time to act.
It only took a few moments before the mantis was suppressed.
The Devil Empress’s Furnace shook violently for a brief second, as if someone was struggling inside, before it returned to calm.
With a wave of Liora’s hand, this weapon flew back into her palm, and the patterns on its surface lit up.
Absolute Extraction was activated, and the mantis was stripped away from its “possessions”.
That’s right.
Although she was currently facing an Ascension Stage Zerg Queen and was far from being safe, Liora did not forget to perform Absolute Extraction on her opponent.
Not because she had suddenly turned greedy, but because she knew that every bit of enhanced strength could mean the difference between life and death.
Liora’s eyes only shut for a brief moment before they opened wide again.
If anyone were to take a look within her soul space, they would realize that her Throne had been strengthened even more.
If before, fifty percent of it was illusory, then now, the illusory part only occupied about forty percent.
“Sure enough, devouring stronger opponents is the easiest way for me to improve.”
“No matter how many cannon fodder I swallow, it’s just that. Only by targeting equal or stronger opponents can I enhance my strength the fastest.”, Liora whispered, though her attention did not linger on this matter for long.
She raised her head and stared at the Zerg Queen, only unfurrowing her eyebrows when she confirmed that the other party had not awakened.
Yet, this also made her puzzled.
“Logically, a person of such strength would not die completely, especially when their intact corpse was left behind.”
“Judging by the formation of the Earth Spirit Ore and the accumulation of insectoids, this Zerg Queen must have been dead for thousands of years, at least.”
“How come she has not revived during this time?”
Liora could recover from “death” while she was still a Lesser Devil.
Those at higher stages were even more terrifying, evidenced by how a dead World Devourer Ancestor was enough to threaten her life.
Yet, the Zerg Queen showed no signs of recovering, only putting up a subconscious defense based on her instincts.
“There is only one thing that can prevent an Ascension Stage Zerg Queen from recovering…”
A higher-level being! Or to be more accurate, an Ancient Devil!
This realization, combined with the place itself—a demi-plane attached to the 173rd Demon Layer—let Liora form a guess regarding the culprit’s identity: Hollow Ancestor!
Only this being could have killed the Zerg Queen and left her corpse here with seemingly no particular reason.
Thinking that this mine and the Zerg Queen might be part of the plan of this person, Liora had the urge to turn around and flee.
But soon, she gritted her teeth and took another step forward.
The corpse of the Zerg Queen was extremely valuable, especially for someone like Liora.
As long as she got her hands on it, she could advance several substages.
Though there were accompanying risks, there was no reason not to take such a gamble!
Liora had always been cautious, but she knew when to be reckless. Given sufficient benefits, there was no reason not to risk her life.
With that thought, Liora stopped hesitating.
She operated the World of Heart and slowly approached the slumbering Zerg Queen.
—
The influence of the Zerg Queen was vividly displayed.
Though the other party had been dead for who knows how many years and possessed no consciousness, her corpse alone caused Liora enough trouble.
In the end, it took her nearly an hour to arrive before the corpse.
Not only because of the increasingly more powerful aura emanating from it, but also because of the insectoids constantly born out of her body.
Dozens of Archdevils, three of them close to the Throne Stage.
These were the enemies that Liora faced, and if it had not been for her devouring the former, even she would have trouble dealing with the last three opponents.
But at last…
“I’m here!”, Liora sighed as a glimmer of emotion flashed across her eyes.
She stared at the Zerg Queen before her.
She hadn’t realized it in the past, but once she got closer to the opponent, she couldn’t help but admire the other party’s giant size.
From afar, the Zerg Queen only looked to be the size of an ordinary human.
Yet, as she got near her body, Liora realized that this woman was hundreds of meters tall, and the previous images were just an illusion.
A strange scene couldn’t help but emerge in Liora’s mind, of her placing the Zerg Queen on her shoulders and pulling it away, like a Titan carrying the sky.
But she soon shook her head, suppressing these inexplicable thoughts.
She had already thought of a way to deal with the Zerg Queen.
With a move of her mind, the Devil Empress’s Furnace materialized above her head.
Its mouth opened wide, and a devouring force arrived, acting on the Zerg Queen and trying to capture her whole.
But the result left Liora speechless.
The moment the powerful devouring force, enough to swallow even Throne Stage Devils, arrived near the Zerg Queen, it instantly dissipated, as if an invisible wall had divided the world into two.
Liora keenly noticed that it was not that the devouring force was unable to act on the Zerg Queen.
Rather, the two never came into contact with each other.
It was as if the Zerg Queen’s presence alone was enough to invalidate the devouring force.
Liora had a headache.
She knew that “picking up” the corpse and leaving was impossible, even if one assumed that she could support the opponent’s weight.
It took her a few seconds to think of another method.
Approaching the Zerg Queen, she moved near her upper body as a blade of Nothingness materialized in her palm.
Then, utilizing her Demonforce to its utmost, she swung the blade down, aiming at the Zerg Queen’s left shoulder.
Clearly, she had made a decision.
Since she could not take away the entire corpse, she would separate it into pieces and carry it that way.
She didn’t believe that this would fail to work!
“No matter how powerful you are, you’re just a mere corpse after all. I was able to transport a droplet of Ancient Devil blood while I was still a Young Devil, let alone now!”, Liora thought as her face grew ruthless.