A lush green forest stretched across the land, filled with towering trees, vibrant flowers, and the youthful chirping of colorful birds.
The animals within the forest did not hunt, fight, or chase one another. Instead, they stayed together, calm and harmonious, as if they were a family.
The scene was serene, tranquil, and breathtaking.
Unfortunately, this harmony was destined not to last for long.
Suddenly, without a warning, a comet tore across the sky. It streaked a trail of red light, its trajectory headed straight for the forest.
The next instant, it struck, hitting the ground.
Yet, instead of shattering the earth or leaving a crater, it touched down softly, like a feather descending from the heavens.
When the light surrounding it faded away, the true form of the comet was revealed: a red-haired woman clad in black armor, with a beauty that was more than enough to charm any human being.
But if anyone were to take a look at the woman's temples, they would shudder. A pair of pitch black, curved horns grew from there, betraying her identity.
"Is this the Crucible?", Liora muttered as she opened her eyes, observing the scene around her.
The sight surprised her.
As a Devil, she knew exactly what the Crucibles were.
Each Crucible was an isolated world fragment, a mixture of battlefield, trial ground, and feeding pit, where Young Devils would be teleported upon their promotion.
As such, every Crucible was fierce, horrifying, and steeped in the aura of death.
This forest, however, looked nothing like that. If anything, it was the opposite—a paradise.
Liora stared at the beautiful flowers growing beside her feet, and suddenly discovered something unusual.
"So that's how it is. No wonder...", she whispered, and the next moment, her body turned into dark smoke.
When she reappeared, she stood in another part of the forest, close to its center.
A towering, ancient tree stood in front of her, exuding an aura of life and vitality, as if it were the Elves' World Tree.
But Liora's gaze was able to penetrate its exterior appearance and see its true form.
Its trunk, once smooth and ancient, now vibrated with a strange rhythm, as if veins ran beneath the bark.
Its roots writhed slowly like serpents beneath the earth. They made chewing noises, as if they were devouring something below.
Faces, twisted and eerie, flickered across its bark for a moment before vanishing, replaced by other faces.
A faint whisper brushed Liora's ears. It was not the wind, but the muffled, painful cries of trapped souls.
"What a strange evolution. Something like a Tree Devil?", she murmured.
"It has completely lost its ability to move, but gained the power of domain. This entire forest is under its control..."
There existed countless bloodlines that Devils could awaken.
Most of them were ordinary, like Flame Devils, Shadow Devils, Bone Devils, etc.—possessing average strength but having no immediate drawbacks.
On the other hand, some special bloodlines, while granting immense power, came with severe drawbacks.
The Devil in front of Liora had obviously awakened one of these bloodlines.
Its ability to construct a domain and influence its surroundings was extraordinary, yet it could not move.
"There actually exists such a weak Devil bloodline."
"This Devil must have just arrived at the Crucible. Otherwise, it would have been devoured by other Devils long ago.", Liora guessed.
Of course, now that the Tree Devil had met her, its fate was sealed.
She didn't show any mercy towards its plight and directly activated her Shadow Claws.
Dark energy gathered around her hands, forming a pair of sharp claws, and she struck forward.
Her attack carved deep, claw-shaped marks into the trunk. Blood and an unknown liquid oozed out of the wound, dripping to the ground and corroding it.
"What a powerful defense.", Liora murmured in surprise.
Even though Shadow Claws was an ability she had created when she was a Little Devil, its power had improved dramatically with her promotion to a Young Devil.
Combined with the increase in her stats, her strike just now carried tremendous force, enough to tear tigers apart.
"Sure enough, no matter how weak a bloodline appears to be, it's bound to possess some outstanding effects."
Yet, Liora didn't panic. Her demonic energy boiled like magma, and she activated one of her newly-awakened abilities—Soul Tear.
A silver shimmer flashed at the edges of the black claws, wrapping them in a silver veil. Then, she struck again.
Though injured, the Tree Devil didn't show any reaction to her previous attack. But this time, the moment the claws touched it, the illusory faces etched in its trunk screamed in agony.
Pain, anger, and hatred flashed in their faces, as if they were cursing life itself.
Liora remained calm, ignoring their cries, and continued her attacks.
Her blows—targeting both the body and the soul—seemed to have grasped the Tree Devil's weakness, bypassing its otherwise formidable defense.
With each of her strikes, the illusory faces became less distinct, and the forest trembled.
Minutes later, a loud, piercing shriek resounded throughout the forest, and the tree decayed rapidly.
In mere moments, it crumbled to ash, blown away by the wind.
Despite its death, the Tree Devil was bound to go down in history, having perished in the most humiliating way possible—without so much as putting up a fight.
Grabbing the fallen soul, Liora put away her Shadow Claws and surveyed her surroundings.
With the Tree Devil's death, the peaceful forest had vanished, unknown if it had been an illusion or simply tied to the Devil's life.
In its place now stood a desolate, scorched red land, devoid of any plants and signs of life, intelligent or not.
The smell of blood and sulfur hung in the air and drifted into Liora's nose.
Faced with this terrifying sight, scary enough to frighten any normal person, Liora didn't feel fear. If anything, excitement surged within her.
"Now this is the Demon World I know.", she whispered as her lips curved upward.