Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress - Chapter 221: Meeting
Chapter 221: Meeting
The two women had met many times and were long familiar with each other.
Yet, when Liora stared at Eleanor at this moment, she seemed to meet a completely different person.
The serenity in her blue eyes had vanished, replaced by coldness and aloofness.
At the same time, unlike any of their previous encounters, Eleanor now stared at her with no admiration, fear, or cowardice.
The first person to speak and the person to break the silence was Eleanor. She opened her mouth and spoke up:
“You’ve come.”, she said, her voice low yet penetrating at the same time.
In response, Liora chuckled.
“It looks like you’ve been waiting for me…”, she replied as she took a few steps forward and approached Eleanor.
Eleanor did not seem to notice her joking tone and mocking words. Faced with this statement, she simply nodded her head as if in agreement.
“Indeed.”, she responded. Then, she asked a question:
“Is that person dead?”
Although she did not point out who the person she was speaking of was, Liora, having guessed a lot of things and roughly understood the situation, knew that she was referring to the Beast Emperor.
“Yes. The Beast Emperor died. Under the punishment of the Will of the World, nonetheless.”
Her response caused a trace of fluctuation to flash across Eleanor’s indifferent eyes.
But less than a second later, that fluctuation vanished, and she regained her aloof look.
“It can only blame its bad luck. If it had chosen a different place to hide, you might have been unable to find it. It could have lived for a little longer.”, she shook her head and said.
“Still, it wouldn’t have died without a reason. My remaining power can only react subconsciously. Most likely, it either wanted to betray ’me’ or wished to reveal something that it shouldn’t.”
Eleanor’s words were cold and plain, but they were actually quite meaningful.
As they reached Liora’s ears, they confirmed the guess she had made after hearing the Beast Emperor’s final monologue.
She didn’t comment about Eleanor’s lack of emotion. Instead, as she approached her with her hands clasped behind her back, she spoke up:
“The Beast Emperor claimed that Duke Dandelion was the favored person of this world. The key to opening the Zerg Hive’s cage was how it called him.”
“I was originally a little surprised to hear that.”
“After all, the destruction of the cage did not serve to benefit the Beast Emperor at all. If that were true, why would it suddenly betray me and choose to kill Duke Dandelion?”, Liora asked a question, but she wasn’t really seeking an answer.
She already knew.
“But later, I understood…”
“After the Will of the World discovered the Zerg Hive’s influence in the real world, it understood that it was only a matter of time before this world was destroyed. Thus, it devised a plan.”
Liora’s speech seemed to overlap with that of the Beast Emperor, as she continued telling the story that it had wished to tell in its final moments.
“For the Will of the World, the destruction of the world would be akin to death. Therefore, it made a surprising decision. It believed that it could escape this cruel fate by splitting a part of its consciousness and creating a new, entirely different individual.”
“As long as that clone, incarnation, split soul, or whatever you want to call it, grew up before it was too late, it would be able to escape.”
Towards the end of her words, Liora’s eyes, staring at Eleanor, narrowed.
She was ninety percent certain that this was the truth before she arrived here, and now that she had met this woman, her guess had been fully confirmed.
After all, the familiar aura emanating from Eleanor, closely related to the World Origin she had devoured, could not be mistaken.
This was not an aura that merely a favored of the world could possess.
“But at the same time, I have a lot of doubts. Did the incarnation of the Will of the World know of its true identity? Or did it grow up as a normal human until a certain condition was achieved?”
Liora showed a curious expression.
In fact, this had indeed been her doubt while on the way.
Did Eleanor know of her true identity as the incarnation of the Will of the World, or was she also kept in the dark?
Silence spread throughout the room as Liora stopped speaking and waited for Eleanor to reply.
It took some time to receive an answer, though.
Eleanor seemed to be surprised that Liora had managed to guess this much. It took a few seconds for her to regain her composure and react.
For the first time since Liora stepped into the room, a slight smile appeared on her lips, and she shook her head.
“Sure enough, no Outsider can ever be underestimated. Even you, the weakest among them, was able to discover this much.”
“No.”, she suddenly shook her head in the middle of her speech:
“Since you were able to kill the so-called Zerg Hive and emerge victorious, it is only natural that you are extraordinary.”
“You’re right.”, she nodded her head.
“This had been ’my’ plan from the very start. To grow silently until ’I’ finally possess enough strength to flee this world. As long as ’I’ succeeded before the Zerg Hive escaped her cage, everything would work out well.”
Saying this, Eleanor sighed.
“Unfortunately, the appearance of the second Outsider, the same person as you, destroyed my plans. During the time ’I’ was separating my incarnation, that person arrived and interfered.”
“Although ’I’ controlled the Beast Emperor and managed to fend him off, his interference had already brought great trouble. For example, the incarnation no longer possessed ’my’ memories.”
“For another example, ’my’ incarnation somehow obtained that Outsider’s inheritance and succeeded in summoning you here.”
As she said this, Eleanor finally left the throne and rose to her feet.
She stretched her hand and pushed aside the few strands of hair falling to her forehead, and continued:
“Fortunately, everything worked out fine in the end.”
“No!”, she shook her head:
“It worked out better than originally planned. Although your appearance was ultimately unexpected, through the interference of ’my’ true body, you helped me kill that woman.”
“I don’t know what I should say. Should I be thanking you?”, Eleanor chuckled as she posed that question.
