Liora wasn't the only one ambushed.
Throughout the room, many Devils suddenly sneak-attacked their companions, all at once.
Most of them failed, but a few succeeded, instantly thinning the total number of Devils.
The Horse-Faced Devil, now weakened, looked at this scene and seemed to have realized something.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to change it.
Soon after the demonic energy provided by Liora withdrew, the Soul Devil's strike arrived.
Dense silver mist coiled around her fingers like snakes as she slashed forward, leaving behind a long, blood-gushing wound.
At the same time, the Soul Devil opened her mouth and spoke:
"Have you forgotten? Am I known as the Formation Devil? No! I'm the Soul Devil!", she taunted.
"Soul attacks? Illusions? Neither! My most powerful ability is Soul Slavery.", the Soul Devil's voice was filled with pride.
The Horse-Faced Devil didn't reply, doing her best to defend against the incoming attacks.
On the other hand, while the battle between the Soul Devil and the Horse-Faced Devil was taking place, chaos spread throughout the room.
The Devils were divided into two different groups—those who had been enslaved by the Soul Devil and those who had not.
Not surprisingly, Eshara was the former.
A silver pattern flashed on her forehead, and an aloof voice echoed in her mind.
"Kill those connected to the formation!", came the Soul Devil's cold command. Though unwilling, Eshara obeyed her orders.
Soon, the noises of battle and loud cries filled the entire room as the bodies of Devils slowly fell to the ground.
However, neither side noticed that a certain corpse lying on the ground had quietly vanished.
--
Below the room where the battle raged lay a vast, open underground space.
Its rugged walls were covered in white Devil Runes that climbed upward, making it clear that the Heaven Devouring Array carved by the Soul Devil was anything but simple.
Aside from these runes, there was no sign of life in this place, except for a single figure—Liora.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Liora, who should have perished at Eshara's hands, was not only alive but was completely unharmed.
There was not a single injury on her body, as if Eshara's sneak-attack had never happened at all.
In fact, this was partly true—the Liora that Eshara had killed had not been her real body, but merely a phantom she left behind to deceive people.
--
[Shadow Assimilation: Grants the user the ability to travel through shadows, leaving a phantom behind that can both attack and defend against attacks. This phantom's duration is two seconds.]
--
Glancing at the ability's brief description in her vision, Liora had to admit that it was worth the two hundred Evolution Points she spent to upgrade it.
Although this upgrade had not improved the ability much—only slightly increasing the speed of travel—its new effect had already paid off.
"Thankfully, I've always been cautious. Upgrading this ability before leaving the City of Embers was absolutely worth it."
"Otherwise, even if I had known of Eshara's conspiracy, I might have ended up suffering."
That's right. Since the two met at the inn, Liora had known that Eshara had malicious intentions towards her.
This was partly because her intuition, strengthened by the Void Instinct ability, had warned her, and partly because she never trusted anyone from the very beginning.
From the start, her plan was to let Eshara lead the way, then find an opportunity to fake her death at the most opportune time.
"Still, I never imagined that she had actually been enslaved. Is this how the Soul Devil spread news of her injury and set up this scheme?", Liora whispered, but there was no one to answer her doubts.
Shaking her head, she set this matter aside for the time being and turned her attention to her surroundings.
She had noticed this place the moment she entered the coffin room, and after some thinking, she decided to hide here.
"But I didn't expect that the Soul Devil would hide the core of the Heaven Devouring Formation here.", Liora thought, her crimson eyes reflecting a circle of shining white Devil Runes.
The runes converged together to form a six-pointed star, within which many drops of an unknown black liquid were floating.
Seeing these droplets, Liora recognized them as the essence of Devils, the ones that the Soul Devil had previously devoured to recover.
Compared to those that the Soul Devil had swallowed, the droplets here were several times more.
"Is the essence of everyone who died in the room, and in the maze outside, guided here?", Liora guessed.
But she had no time to dwell on the thought.
The trembling of the ceiling and the fluctuating auras coming from above let her know that the fight was still going, and that she didn't have much time.
"Given all the preparations that the Soul Devil has made, she's most likely to win. And when she does, she'll surely come here to collect the essence—find me."
After a brief moment of hesitation, Liora stepped closer to the six-pointed star—the core of the formation.
Her steps were cautious, and she remained alert, fully expecting that someone or something would jump out of nowhere and attack her.
But even until she stood before the six-pointed star, none of that happened.
Although surprised by this result, Liora didn't pause. Leaning forward, she reached into the core of the formation and lifted a single drop of black liquid.
The droplet danced around her palm like a fairy before splitting into two—a red and a white half.
The red part seeped into her body and merged with the Myriad Devils Armor, while the white one vanished into her mouth.
Liora sensed that the Myriad Devils Armor was becoming stronger as a result, while the Evolution Points at the bottom of the System Panel surged.
A single droplet had given her more benefits than she would obtain by killing tens of Young Devils.
Realizing this, Liora's eyes flashed with desire as she stared at the many black droplets sitting silently within the six-pointed star.
Without hesitation, she reached in again, scooping another handful of essence and dividing it into flesh, blood, and soul before devouring it.
Liora instantly felt her defense skyrocket while the points on the System Panel flickered continuously.
This only served to make her actions even more urgent.
"Is this what cheating feels like?", she couldn't help but mutter in between the devouring.