Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

It took a few hours for the dust to settle.

Before long, the once populous fortress was left in ruins, completely barren.

The walls had been demolished. The buildings had been destroyed. Only the blood remained running along the ground, as every single trace of life had vanished.

No Devil or human could be seen.

Silence shrouded the fortress, only to be broken by the sound of footsteps.

A creaking sound echoed as Liora’s feet stepped onto a piece of Devil bone and crushed it to dust.

She showed a look of disgust, but her movements did not stop.

With her hands clasped behind her back, she continued her walk, wandering through the ruins with a calm expression.

Although her movements never stopped, part of her consciousness was not here.

It was focused on the illusory map flashing within her mind, coordinating everything.

The map depicted the Blood Forest Realm continent.

Millions of crimson spots were scattered across it, seemingly at random.

Some of these lights were gathered together around certain checkpoints and landscapes, with hundreds of them fading away with every passing second.

Liora’s mind concentrated on the points that faced the highest casualties.

Under her thoughts, thousands of those crimson spots fused together. They shone more brilliantly than ever before, then rapidly disappeared.

Slowly but surely, the crimson territory expanded.

Shortly afterward, one of the continent’s five regions had been completely dyed bloody red under her watch.

The changes were almost immediate.

Although she was currently at the border of the eastern region, she could clearly sense that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly more ferocious and chaotic.

A familiar aura erupted.

As Liora stretched her hand, she subconsciously grabbed a handful of this surging energy.

A drop of red liquid resembling blood materialized in her hand.

It was demonic energy.

After the Devils had succeeded in taking over the eastern region, their influence—and her own—had grown even deeper. It had begun to affect the secret realm itself.

Clearly, the ability she had once created in Hollow City had finally proven useful.

Profane Offering. Devil Empress’s Furnace. Progenitor’s Edict.

These were the three abilities Liora had once created in hopes of dealing with the Leader of the Universe Chamber of Commerce.

The first two had been utilized several times.

In particular, the Devil Empress’s Furnace had greatly enhanced her combat power and was one of the reasons behind the awakening of her Predation talent.

On the other hand, Progenitor’s Edict had not displayed its value so far.

This ability, which allowed Liora to summon the Gates of Hell and call upon her bloodline descendants from all over the Origin Sea, had almost been forgotten.

That was, until now.

Noticing the benefits hidden within the Blood Forest Realm, but also knowing that this continent was far from as simple as it seemed, Liora chose against showing up in person.

Until she confirmed that there was no person who could threaten her, she decided to take the backseat and wait for any changes.

Aaron could play a role in achieving this, as could her bloodline descendants.

"However, it is somewhat expected that I can benefit from this...", Liora whispered, glancing down at her own arm.

As the influence of the Devils spread and they devoured more and more matter and spread more and more destruction, Liora could sense her own nature ascending in dimensions.

Her strength did not change whatsoever, nor did she awaken any new abilities.

However, just like the Snake of Time had previously done, she felt herself slowly transcending.

"Archdevils are the source of their bloodline. Especially for Devils like me, who personally created their bloodline on their own, this holds especially true."

"In a sense, my bloodline and I are one and the same."

"Just like the World Devourer Ancestor, who died and could still attempt to revive through me, I also possess a similar influence over my own bloodline descendants."

The stronger the bloodline, the more powerful the Archdevil would be.

This was something that Liora had always known.

However, having encountered several unexpected events during her stay in the Demon World and having only just now recovered her Devil identity, she hadn’t had the time or the will to pay attention to this aspect before.

It was only now that she was inadvertently reminded of it.

Sensing that the overall number of her bloodline descendants was decreasing, but the strength of the survivors increased dramatically, she nodded her head in satisfaction.

Although not much time had passed since she created her bloodline and spread its "seeds" throughout the Demon World, many powerful beings had emerged among her descendants.

No Archdevil had been born among them, but their combat prowess was extraordinary due to their bloodline abilities.

Coupled with Liora’s own help, using the second effect of Progenitor’s Edict and sacrificing a part of them to deal with any Rank 7 and above enemies, few people could stop the Devil army’s advance.

Thinking of this, Liora abruptly halted in place.

By now, she had reached the very center of the former fortress, where a giant plaza was situated.

Looking at the mountain of bones all around her, she calmly stretched out her hand to the side.

Crimson patterns flowed out of her palm, soon transforming into a giant gate.

As she placed her hand on it and muttered a low incantation, the gate slowly opened.

The growls and bloodthirsty screams of millions of beings echoed from the other side of it.

Liora poured her demonic energy into the gate’s surface, and these bloodthirsty beings began to walk out one by one.

One. One hundred. A thousand.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of Devils had appeared, of varying forms and different levels of strength.

Yet no matter what their identity was, they all fell on their knees upon seeing Liora.

"Ancestor!", they all conveyed their thoughts mentally, their overlapping voices being loud enough to shatter the souls of even Greater Devils.

Liora showed no reaction to this, however.

Her eyes settled on the giant army composed of grotesque monsters.

Then, she calmly looked into the distance and waved her hand.

"Go.", she stated coldly, without speaking a single further word.

But that alone was more than enough. The Devils rushed away under her command, entering the central region and going towards the north.

In the intelligence gathered by the human forces, another Devil army had emerged out of nowhere.

Under their own eyes, the situation of the Blood Forest Realm became even worse.