As she stood among the countless eggs, Liora also became one of the Devils' targets.
Not only did her superior aura fail to help her, but it also marked her as a public enemy, drawing attacks from all sides.
Unlike other creatures, Little Devils, driven by bloodlust and primal instinct, were not intimidated by powerful foes. Instead, it excited them.
They knew that killing a strong enemy and devouring their soul would significantly accelerate both their evolution and advancement.
Only after a Devil reached the Young Devil stage would this instinct slowly fade away.
Of course, at the moment, this fearlessness was an advantage, one that could determine the winners of this Trial.
Facing the attacks from every direction, Liora didn't panic, her expression unshaken.
She sidestepped a claw strike and waved her hand, slashing at the attacker's neck and decapitating them. Their soul rushed into her mouth as she simultaneously fended off the others.
Blood, flesh, and broken limbs soon scattered around her, staining her arms crimson.
This blood was not her own, but her enemies'.
Liora's ruthless actions shocked even the mindless Little Devils. They could not understand why a Devil that was born alongside them could possibly be so strong.
Yet, they didn't stop, but kept swarming her. Their numbers did not dwindle.
The carnage attracted more and more Devils, who rushed there wishing to take part.
Under such conditions, even Liora felt the pressure mounting.
Especially when the Devils, who had devoured their opponent and grown stronger, arrived, that pressure doubled.
"Things can't go on like this.", she whispered and summoned the System Panel amidst the ongoing battle.
At its bottom, the [Evolution Points] column flickered rapidly, the number beside it rising rapidly.
"In such chaos, creating new Abilities is useless. The Shadow Claws are already more than enough."
"Rather than wasting points on Abilities that may or may not be useful, I'd rather enhance my base stats."
Liora instantly did as she thought.
With her right hand, she grabbed the head of a goat-looking Devil and crushed it to pieces, while she allocated the Evolution Points with her mind.
The points were distributed evenly among the [Strength], [Agility], [Vitality], and [Mana] stats.
The entire System Panel flickered, her strength rising at a tremendous rate.
Outside, her body changed as well. Her frame lengthened into a more human silhouette, while every movement carried a new fluidity, grace, and lethal weight.
The surrounding Devils sensed her transformation, yet they pressed forward relentlessly, as if the death of their own kind was not enough to scare them.
One Devil stood out among the swarm.
It was tall, with blood-red skin and a long jaw filled with serrated, razor-sharp teeth. Its eyes gleamed with a spark of intelligence, and its mouth twitched as it launched itself forward.
In a blur, the Split-Jaw Devil vanished.
Half a heartbeat later, Liora felt a sharp pain in her forearm, and when she looked down, she discovered that a deep gash had unknowingly appeared there.
"So fast!"
Another strike followed before she could think any further, slicing toward her abdomen.
But this time, Liora didn't remain still. She caught a glimpse of its movement before it struck, a red light flashing at the edge of her vision.
Immediately, shadow energy rippled across her arms.
When the Split-Jaw Devil's blow was about to land, its claws did not meet flesh but a strange dark mist.
Liora intercepted the strike mid-air, causing dark sparks to scatter upon the collision.
Then, she fought back.
The two Devils moved like reflections of each other — strike, counter, dodge.
In the eyes of the other Devils, it seemed like two comets were flashing all over the place, tearing through everything that dared block their way.
Suddenly, the Split-Jaw Devil vanished and flashed behind Liora once again, its jaw opening unnaturally wide. It looked like it was about to bite her head off.
But Liora had anticipated this.
She turned and, without hesitation, thrust a claw straight into its mouth.
The claw shattered its sharp teeth and reached the back of its throat, piercing through its flesh as if it were made of paper.
The Split-Jaw Devil froze. Its body twitched as it hung in the air, only supported by Liora's arm.
The next second, the liveliness in its eyes disappeared, and it went completely limp.
"Too weak! Too weak!", Liora spat coldly and withdrew her hand, letting the body fall to the ground.
She grabbed the soul of the Split-Jaw Devil and devoured it, drops of saliva dripping from her mouth.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Turning to the remaining Devils, her expression twisted, and the crimson in her eyes deepened.
A strange grin spread across her face, making her look like a monster that had not eaten for months.
Liora didn't give the Devils time to react. Instead, she rushed forward.
She tore, devoured, and destroyed everything and everyone she met along the way, bathing her body in their warm blood.
Time ceased to exist amid this mindless slaughter. Only the blood and painful screams remained, silent witnesses to the bloodbath.
Then suddenly, the chaos stopped.
The air seemed to tremble, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
A strange power locked onto Liora, sealing her and preventing her from moving.
Only then did Liora have the time to pay attention to the state of the battlefield.
A sea of corpses had unknowingly formed around her, while in the distance, even more corpses lay on the ground.
In the entire riverbank, only a hundred figures—a hundred Devils— remained standing.
Compared to when they were first born, these Devils had changed dramatically, whether it was in shape, aura, or, more importantly, in power.
"Is it over?", Liora whispered, having a faint guess about what was happening.
A mere second later, this guess was confirmed.
A vast Will that seemed to have existed since the Universe's creation descended on the River of Oblivion, dripping with bloodlust, madness, and chaos.
The Will "looked down" upon them before a voice echoed inside every Devil's soul.
"You have survived the Trial. Teleportation begins in 3...2...1..."
The world twisted. The sky shattered. The souls in the River of Oblivion screamed toward the crimson moon.
As the countdown ended, Liora felt reality itself spiral around her.