Evolution: From Little Devil to Devil Empress

Chapter 92: Knights [1] - Iron Throne Empire

Shortly after the holy knight’s death, the noise in the mansion began to wane.

Throughout the mansion’s garden, a shadowy figure could be seen weaving in and out of darkness, flashing beside the murderous knights and harvesting their lives with a single blow.

The servants and other members of the mansion failed to capture the figure’s true identity.

In shock, they could only crumple to the ground, having exhausted themselves during the previous chase.

Only a few minutes later, Liora returned to the center of the battle and stood not far away from the holy knight’s corpse.

Glancing at his body and confirming that it was in pristine condition—with no injuries other than the tiny hole in the middle of his eyebrows—she shifted her gaze to the two other people standing nearby.

One was Wolf Knight Roger, who had collapsed to the ground and had fallen unconscious, while the other one was the blonde woman, who had found a small piece of cloth somewhere and began tending to his wounds.

Yet, the woman’s mind seemed to be preoccupied with something else.

From time to time, she would raise her head and scan her surroundings, as if she were looking for something.

Seeing this, Liora had a guess regarding her target.

As she approached the blonde woman, she casually waved her hand, and her demonic energy extended to a nearby bush, causing its half-broken leaves to part and reveal the unconscious figure lying inside.

”Are you looking for him?”, Liora questioned, and her words immediately attracted the woman’s attention.

With an abrupt turn of her head, she stared straight into the bush, only for her pupils to dilate, shining with both concern and excitement.

Without giving Liora an answer, she rushed toward the unconscious figure with all her might, as if she had forgotten about her seriously injured uncle.

Liora didn’t stop her.

She watched the woman kneel to her knees and inspect the unconscious boy’s condition for some time before her crimson eyes turned to the corpse of the holy knight.

Finally, she cast a glance at Alpha’s seemingly dead head that was casually placed on the side, and an idea of how to make the best use of this corpse slowly formed in her mind.

...

A few hours later, Liora sat alone in a vast library.

A large number of books could be seen neatly placed on the bookshelves around her, while the smell of fresh paper, cut wood, and spilled ink filled the air.

The quiet and serene atmosphere of the library contrasted strongly with the carnage that took place not too long ago, making it seem as if Liora had activated the World-Descending Array and had traveled to another world yet again.

However, this could obviously not be true.

This was still the same world in which the massacre occurred, and this library was located in the exact same mansion where everything had happened.

Seated on a wooden chair and leaning against the desk before her, Liora stared intently at the book in her right hand and slowly flipped through its yellow leather pages.

As her fingers brushed against the pages, the content of the book was revealed before her very eyes.

...

”Since the world’s creation, its lands had been dominated by mindless beasts, beasts that feasted on human blood and flesh, and lacked any sign of actual intelligence.”

”During their reign, humans could only serve as the beasts’ food. Their entire life was spent walking on a tightrope, not knowing when their fragile walls would be ravaged by a beast, and they would be sent straight into its mouth.”

”That held true for centuries. Until around one hundred and eighty years ago, when everything changed...”

”At the time, a then-village chief received the grace of the Gods and obtained their inheritance. Using the inheritance of the Knights that the Gods had bestowed upon him, the village chief managed to obtain superhuman strength.”

”Soon, he and his subjects expelled the gluttonous beasts and established the Iron Throne Empire. ”

”The Iron Throne Empire still stands to this day, and the person who was once village chief is now revered as its Founding Emperor, the King of Knights.”

...

Any person native to this world would become emotional if they happened to chance upon this brief record.

The scene of humans struggling to survive would inevitably arise within their minds, and they would see them rise against all odds.

Unfortunately, Liora was not a native to this world, and perhaps more importantly, she was not a human but a Devil.

Thus, she didn’t lose control of her emotions while going through this world’s history. She was able to accurately analyze the information hidden within it.

As she did, what piqued Liora’s interest was the inheritance of the Gods that was mentioned briefly, as well as the term ”Knights” that she had encountered so many times.

Considering the scenes she had witnessed during her descent, it was not challenging for her to make a few educated guesses about what the term ”Knight” referred to.

”Is this how the ’superhumans’ of this world are called? It’s a little unconventional, but taking into account their attitudes and overall appearance, it makes sense...”, Liora brooded as she recalled the previous battles.

Earlier, she had noticed that the Knights of this world did not use demonic energy nor the common magical energy that could be found in many worlds, but a deeper, more vital energy whose source seemed to be their own bodies.

”But I’m afraid that the history of this world is somewhat distorted, or at the very least, beautified. It’s simply impossible for a true God to have descended to this world.”

”Such a being would not even spare a glance at this weak plane, much less leave behind an inheritance.”

In fact, the most likely explanation as to how the Knight power system had appeared seemed to be that the King of Knights had created it by himself.

But with Liora’s vision, she knew that this was equally as impossible.

”For a power system to be formed, it has to go through countless years of experiments, research, and exploration. It usually requires the effort of millions of people to form a complete power system.”

”Unless one’s strength is far beyond common sense, it’s absolutely impossible for them to create a power system from scratch. Especially in such a short amount of time.”

Although one hundred and eighty years seemed like a lot of time—and indeed it was—in the grand scheme of things, such time was nothing.

For example, the history of the Demon World went back billions, if not trillions of years, having existed since the Heavens’ very beginning.

Thus, Liora strongly doubted that a mortal could create a power system that—judging by her previous explorations—reached at least the Young Devil stage.

Although she was deep in thought, part of Liora’s focus was still on the book before her.

As such, by the time her thoughts were finished, she had already reached the book’s final page.

Seeing this, she didn’t get up from her seat. Instead, she wrapped a nearby book with her demonic energy and brought it closer.

As the book was gently placed on the table, its title was reflected in her eyes.

”... Knight Technique.”