Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress - Chapter 269: Hollow

Chapter 269: Hollow

Liora’s thoughts did not stay on this issue for long.

At the moment, her main goal was to improve her strength.

No matter whether Duke Bloodflower had the issue or not, it ultimately wouldn’t matter as long as she was powerful enough.

At the end of the day, this was the Demon World.

Although conspiracies, preparations, and intelligent thinking were rewarded, it was one’s strength that truly reigned supreme.

If Liora were an Archdevil or even just a Greater Devil right now, she wouldn’t have been worried about the thoughts and actions of the Duke.

Even if she were to destroy the entire city and devour every soul in it, the Duke would have to smile politely and thank her for sparing his life.

“Just like what happened with those six Lords.”

“If I were not strong enough and chose to stir up trouble, they wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me on the spot.”, Liora thought, and her eyes subconsciously wandered to the Fire Elemental cores and the dense World Origin.

She believed that her strength would take a step forward as long as she digested these two resources, and she would grow even closer to becoming a Greater Devil.

Thinking of this, she stretched her hand and grabbed the three Fire Elemental cores.

The Devour ability activated on its own as she prepared to swallow them and turn them into nourishment for the Four Elements Method practice.

However, before she could do so, a message suddenly appeared in her mind.

It was from Alpha, and its meaning was clear: in this small inn, another True Devil had arrived, one of the six Lords, who Liora had just confronted.

—

A few minutes later, Liora stared at the visitor with clear curiosity in her eyes.

When she first received Alpha’s message, she had several guesses regarding the visitor’s identity.

She expected that it might have been Kazrien, wanting to speak about an alliance again, or even the Violence Lord, who wished to apologize for the previous offenses.

However, she never expected that it would actually be this person.

The Slave Lord—this was the person who was sitting opposite her.

And, unlike the previous stern expression she wore outside the city, the Slave Lord now looked extremely polite.

“I heard from Lord Greedy that Your Excellency is staying in an ordinary inn and I didn’t believe it at first.”

“Sure enough, Your Excellency has truly reached the point where she no longer cares about external possessions.”, the Slave Lord praised her shamelessly.

The Lord Greedy she was talking about was Kazrien, a title that Liora had already learned about.

Seeing that the Slave Lord did not stop there but was preparing to engage in more small talk, Liora waved her hand and interrupted her.

“Just say what you want. No reason to skirt around the subject.”, she said casually, not willing to waste any more of her time.

If it were before today, she might have spoken politely to her as she had done to Kazrien.

But now, having learned of her own strength and understood the gap between them, she no longer cared to keep up the appearances.

Not when there was no benefit in doing so.

Being interrupted in such a manner, a trace of annoyance flashed in the Slave Lord’s eyes. However, she took a deep breath and recovered quickly.

“I came here to invite Your Excellency to explore a Hollow together.”, she finally stated her purpose.

“I’ve recently discovered a Hollow that is rich in fire elements near the Bloodflower City.”

“I was originally planning to look for other people to go in together, but witnessing Your Excellency’s might, I decided to pay you a visit.”

Liora subconsciously disregarded the latter part of her words.

However, the other part had made her quite interested.

Every Layer of the Demon World had its own Ruler.

This Ruler possessed complete control over their territory, and every single creature in it could be considered their subordinate.

Because of this, the Rulers’ strength was bound to be very strong.

At worst, they were Archdevils, while Ancient Devils were also quite common among them.

Perhaps because of such overwhelming strength, or perhaps out of their own volition, the Rulers would change the environment of their Layer, and bring them closer to the concept they represented.

This granted each Layer its own characteristics.

For example, the 173rd Layer had the existence of Hollows—demi-planes attached to the Demon World that contained precious materials and resources that were useful for practice.

The Hollow that the Slave Lord mentioned was obviously one of these, and from her words, it was obvious that it was rich in fire-related items.

As this information resurfaced in Liora’s mind, she couldn’t help but be tempted.

She had heard several rumors of Devils entering a Hollow and coming out as Greater Devils during her brief stay in Bloodflower City.

Although most of them were just that—rumors—there was a tinge of truth contained within them.

At the very least, it was a fact that a Hollow would bring various benefits to anyone who dared to enter it.

However, Liora did not lose her composure.

“I don’t believe in free gifts, especially ones coming from other True Devils.”

“Let alone the fact that I’ve just offended her, even if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to accept such an invitation.”, she thought inwardly.

Thinking of this, she looked at the Slave Lord who was waiting for her words, and clapped her hands.

“Alpha, please see this guest out.”, she said, making her refusal explicit.

The Slave Lord had already expected this to happen.

No True Devil would easily agree to the invitation of another Devil, as doing so would be seeking death.

However, she was shocked by Liora’s directness and decisiveness.

Shouldn’t Liora at least negotiate with her?

That way, the Slave Lord would put forward conditions, while Liora would state her own.

In the end, the two would reach an agreement that would benefit both parties.

For a moment, the Slave Lord was stunned.

It was only when Alpha had walked into the room and gestured for her to follow that she finally recovered.

“Wait.”, she couldn’t help but shift her gaze to Liora and speak.

“Aren’t you curious about the Hollow? At worst, we can sign a Devil Contract.”