CHAPTER 109: NECRONOMICON [7] - KIN

The moment the golden orb approached it, the white mist swirling around the statue reacted violently.

It tumbled in the air as if an invisible hand were controlling it, before throwing itself straight into the orb in Liora’s hand, like a thirsty traveler who had finally discovered a source of clean water.

Instantly, the white mist began to pour into the orb, disappearing into it.

In response, a gentle white light flashed across the orb’s broken surface.

Under Liora’s gaze, the crack on it became a little smaller, as filaments of light covered the fracture and wove the broken parts together.

Though she had expected this, Liora was still a little surprised when faced with this change.

However, she quickly recovered and suppressed her thoughts.

She didn’t take back the orb; instead, she brought it even closer, practically touching the stone statue with it.

This action of hers only served to make the mist’s reaction even more intense.

More and more faith flooded into the orb, speeding up its recovery process.

Ten percent... Twenty percent... Fifty percent...

The white mist’s volume decreased at a rapid rate, only slowing down when more than seventy percent of it had been consumed.

This was not because the mist was no longer willing.

Instead, it was because the faith that the golden orb had devoured had been enough for it to fully recover.

A low, gentle hum echoed in Liora’s ears as the small crack that previously ran across its surface gradually vanished.

The next moment, she discovered that a connection had been established between her and the orb, as if it had recognized her as its master.

Countless pieces of information accompanied this connection, regarding this orb and its abilities.

Unfortunately, Liora wasn’t afforded the time to piece together this information—the orb’s recovery seemed to have awakened something hidden within the statue.

As if it had received a signal, the white mist gathered together in the air and combined, taking the form of a humanoid creature.

Though his figure was transparent and his appearance was blurry, it was fairly obvious that his facial features closely resembled those of the stone statue.

The semi-transparent creature didn’t speak. Taking advantage of Liora’s momentary pause, he waved his right hand.

Instantly, the demonic energy that Liora had previously sensed rushed out of the statue and shot in her direction like a tsunami, soon engulfing her entire figure.

The demonic energy possessed no offensive capabilities. Yet, the illusory creature was certain that a mere True Knight could not resist this blow.

"Huh?!",

But soon, an exclamation came out of his mouth, as something he would never have predicted occurred.

The moment the demonic energy approached Liora, it didn’t corrupt her like he was expecting. Instead, it turned docile, drilling into her body like a child throwing itself into its mother’s embrace.

Not only did the wave of demonic energy not bring her any harm, but the creature keenly sensed that she had actually gotten stronger.

Though the improvement of her strength was small and basically inconsequential, it gave the creature an idea of what—or rather who—he was dealing with.

"A Devil?", the creature’s voice echoed in Liora’s ears, who, by now, had shifted her focus to him.

Glancing at the creature’s blurry face and sensing the familiar aura he exuded, she also recognized his identity.

"A Devil...", she whispered, seemingly repeating the words that the unknown Devil had just uttered.

An awkward silence soon shrouded the room as the two Devils speechlessly stared at each other, one sizing the other up.

The one to break this silence was not Liora, though, but the unknown Devil, who took the initiative to speak.

"I didn’t expect that I would meet one of my kin in this foreign place. Judging by your current state, you must have been in this world for a long time. I don’t know how I failed to notice you...", the Devil said.

His voice was hoarse and devoid of emotion, rendering it impossible to make out what he was thinking.

"You should have noticed that this is not my real body but merely one of my many clones. There’s no reason for us to turn into enemies."

"I can forgive you for slaughtering my dependents, provided that you return the faith that you just plundered.", the Devil added.

While speaking, he consciously made his aura even more obvious, showcasing that he possessed the strength of a ranked Young Devil.

Unfortunately for him, Liora neither accepted nor refused his proposal.

Just like the unknown Devil suggested, she indeed realized that this was not his real body, but merely a clone. Or rather, a tiny part of his soul that was dependent on the faith surrounding the statue.

But she was actually quite doubtful regarding the latter part of his speech.

Thinking of this, her right foot struck the floor, and the shadows around her rippled, shooting into the air before transforming into a large number of shiny needles.

With a wave of her hand, the needles shot toward the Devil like a wave of bullets, soon arriving before him.

Continuous clangs echoed in the secret room as the needles struck the unknown Devil, causing his body to tremble violently for a brief second.

But the next moment, his body turned back to normal, having suffered no damage despite facing Liora’s attack head-on.

"What do you think you are doing?", the Devil stared at Liora and questioned.

Despite his hoarse—almost mechanical voice—his fury was now apparent.

"If I weren’t concerned that a fight between us would benefit the natives of this world, I wouldn’t have been so kind to forgive your earlier transgression. How dare you attack me?"

Subconsciously, the Devil tightened his fists, trying to hold himself back from attacking her.

Unfortunately, Liora was not fooled by his antics. Her previous attack had already allowed her to confirm her suspicions.

"I see. No wonder you were willing to compromise so easily...", she spoke, ignoring the unknown Devil’s threats.

"If I’m not wrong, the source of your power is faith."

"If it were before, it might have indeed been possible for you to exert the strength of a Great Knight. But now that I’ve stolen so much of the faith that you’ve accumulated, it would be difficult for you to fight against a True Knight, much less me."

What Liora didn’t say was that the reason she suspected him was because of his initial attitude.

In her opinion, Devils should be arrogant, fierce, and easily angered.

Although it was quite common for them to surrender and beg for mercy if need be, the Devil before her was just a split soul. Therefore, he had no reason to act so cowardly and compromise that easily, especially when he was under absolutely zero pressure.

The moment Liora finished speaking, a cracking sound spread throughout the room, as if to confirm her words.

The body of the unknown Devil shook and became even more transparent, while his aura plummeted.

Watching this happen, Liora no longer stayed still.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, she rushed forward, as a brilliant black light flashed within her right palm.

By the time she arrived in front of the unknown Devil, that black light had materialized into a golden spear, which she thrust forward with all her strength.

With a swoosh, the spear’s tip easily penetrated the Devil’s transparent body, while the demonic flames drilled into him and raged inside, making his figure even more unstable.

But Liora refrained from killing him.

With a move of her mind, the shadows in the room gathered towards its very center, looking ready to engulf the Devil’s split soul.

Unfortunately, this trick—which had worked perfectly against Baron Bloodshield—was simply inadequate against a suspected True Devil.

Guessing that Liora wanted to capture him alive, he showed no panic.

Shaking his head, he spoke:

"It was expected, but it’s still quite disappointing that you weren’t fooled by that performance.", he whispered, and the earlier emotions in his voice faded away, as if everything had been part of an act.

His voice became indifferent and emotionless once again, showing that he did not care whether this split soul would die or not.

Indeed, before the shadows could even touch him, the unknown Devil’s body shattered. Not because of Liora’s attack, but out of his own free will.

Clearly—knowing what fate would await him if he were to be captured—he chose to kill himself.

A faint regret flashed in Liora’s eyes when she saw this happen.

Though she knew that a suspected True Devil would most likely not fall for the same trick as a True Knight, it was inevitable that she was dissatisfied.

However, that dissatisfaction soon vanished as she gazed at the scene before her. The next second, she took action.

One of her hands reached out and grabbed the fragments of the Devil’s split soul, while the other one brought the golden orb closer, letting it devour the little faith that remained after his fall.