Compared to the buildings, shops, and inns located at the outer perimeter of the City of Embers, those near its center were not only much larger but also far more luxurious.
But even among these structures, one mansion stood out.
Unlike the others around it, which were built from rugged materials and gave off a horrifying aura, this mansion looked less like a building of the Demon World and more like something belonging to the human world.
It was grand, with a spacious garden filled with beautiful flowers—and even a large pool within it.
At that moment, a young woman sat beside the pool, trailing her feet through the water and splashing it everywhere.
Not surprisingly, she was Liora, who had finally returned to the city.
It had been half a month since the Soul Devil's death, and with the end of the event, she had come back to the City of Embers.
With the large amounts of souls she had collected during this whole ordeal, she moved out of the inn, purchasing this mansion with a portion of them.
This was partly because she wished to have some privacy, but most importantly, because there was no reason not to.
After all, there was no person who didn't enjoy luxury and a life of comfort.
Taking advantage of the quiet moment in the garden, Liora focused on the crimson rune floating on her left palm, while her right hand traced Devil Runes across the ground beside her.
Suddenly, her index finger lightly tapped upon the earth.
The Devil Runes flickered with a glow before merging together and transforming into a small humanoid golem.
The golem was formed from molten rock and lava, and if anyone were to take a closer look at it, they would discover that it looked very similar to the ones that Liora had met in the underground maze.
It's just that it was smaller and its aura was many times weaker.
After staring at it for a little while, Liora waved her hand, causing it to turn back into runes and dissolve into the air.
"Mastering Devil Runes is more difficult than I thought. I may have underestimated the Soul Devil and the Horse-Faced Devil.", she whispered.
Despite having obtained the Devil Rune Legacy—following the Horse-Faced Devil's instructions—her understanding of it over the past two weeks fell short of her expectations.
Of course, Liora didn't know that her progress had actually been rapid.
Both the Soul Devil and the Horse-Faced Devil had spent years studying Devil Runes, if not decades.
Compared to the time they'd invested, two weeks was barely a fraction. The progress she had made in such a short time was quite impressive.
"Still, it's worth studying.", muttered Liora, unaware of how much she had achieved.
The Devil Rune Legacy she had acquired was very extensive, encompassing Devil Runes and Arrays of all kinds.
Among them, she recognized a few: the Golem Summoning Array, the Heaven Devouring Array, and the Heart Array.
The first two were obvious, while the latter was a defensive array she had indirectly come into contact with before.
It was the pendant that the Soul Devil wore, which had allowed her to survive for a long time under the high temperatures of the depths of the Demon World.
After her fingers drew a few more arrays and she confirmed her progress, Liora carefully put away the Devil Rune Legacy.
Then, she summoned the System Panel.
--
[True Name: Liora Veythalis Dranthera Vexira...]
[Rank: Young Devil]
[Race: Unknown(Prototype)]
[Strength: 45], [Agility: 60], [Vitality: 90(+50)], [Mana: 50]
[Abilities: Myriad Devils Armor, Shadow Assimilation, Soul Tear, Void Instinct, Shadow Claws, Combat Instinct, Soul Devouring, Low-Level Regeneration]
[Evolution Points: 1365]
[Current Absorption Efficiency: 15x (Normal Devil = 1x)]
--
With the creation of the Myriad Devils Armor and its subsequent upgrade, Liora's [Vitality] had greatly increased. By now, it had far surpassed any other of her base stats, including agility.
Of course, such an increase was to be expected.
"The potential of the Myriad Devils Armor has reached the Lesser Devil stage. Although my strength is far below that of a Lesser Devil, my defense should be roughly equivalent."
This meant that most Young Devils would have trouble penetrating her defense.
Only powerful Devils like the Soul Devil could injure her, and only those who had entered the Crucible Ranking had the power to deal fatal wounds.
Aside from the increase in her [Vitality], another change in the System Panel was her Evolution Points.
Her points, which had nearly dropped to zero after upgrading the Myriad Devils Armor, had now soared back to about 1500.
This gave Liora plenty of options.
"My current combat power relies mostly on my high defense. Shadow Assimilation compensates for my lack of speed, while Void Instinct keeps my senses and perception sharp."
"All in all, only my attacking power is lagging behind.", Liora analyzed.
This was not surprising.
Shadow Claws was an ability she had created shortly after she was born, using the limited resources she possessed at the time.
No matter how much it had evolved and how well it worked with Soul Tear, it was still fairly weak and was starting to become her weakness.
Liora decided to change this.
She didn't choose to create a new ability, knowing full well that upgrading existing abilities was more efficient, but instead chose to upgrade Shadow Claws.
With a thought, the Ability Creation Panel flashed in front of her. After a few adjustments, a new ability—born from Shadow Claws—appeared.
...
[Shadow Claws] -> [Dusk Armament] Cost: 1050 Evolution Points.[1]
[Effects:]
[Retains the original Shadow Claws ability.]
[Allows the user to condense shadows into tangible weapons of various forms.]
[Damage dealt is significantly increased and scales depending on the weapon created.]
...
Having had two weeks to think, Liora didn't hesitate.
Once she was certain that this ability was what she had envisioned, she confirmed its creation.
Immediately, the shadows across the garden rippled, shooting toward her and coiling around her body.
In her arms, sharp claws made of darkness automatically appeared before transforming into weapons.
Swords, daggers, knives, axes...
The shadows shifted into a variety of weapons in mere moments, as if an entire arsenal lay within them.
The pool beside Liora darkened as her shadow stretched across it, like a drop of black dye spreading through the water.
Countless low whispers and murmurs rose from the shadows, turning the entire garden into a kingdom of darkness.
But just a few moments later, everything stopped abruptly.
The weapons, shadows, and murmurs vanished, as if they had been nothing more than illusions.
Only Liora remained in the garden, her expression the same as before.
Although the previous scene had been impressive, it paled in comparison to what she had witnessed during the upgrade of the Myriad Devils Armor.
As a result, she neither panicked nor grew overly excited.
Once she confirmed that everything was settled, Liora calmly examined her own condition, observing the effects of the Dusk Armament ability.
As she did, her shadow surged toward her right hand, and with a flash of black light, it solidified into a long whip.
The whip coiled around like a living snake, its tip sharp and glinting like fine metal wire.
Instinctively, Liora raised her hand and lashed the whip toward the ground beside her.
A loud bang echoed throughout the garden as a deep crater formed where the whip struck. Cracks spread across the ground like a spiderweb as dust billowed into the air.
Observing the damage caused by the whip, Liora nodded her head, satisfied.
"I could have dealt this much damage before, but it would have been far more difficult. And this is merely one of the weapons I can create."
Her gaze swept over the garden, and she subconsciously imagined how each weapon would perform.
"Compared to swords or sabers, whips are far less destructive.", she thought.
With a single thought, the whip in her hand dissolved, reforming into a dagger. Then, a sword, an axe, a saber...
Each weapon felt perfectly real, yet Liora could tell that they were entirely under her control.
[1] If anyone has a better name, please leave a comment.