Shortly after, Liora put the Devil Empress’s Furnace away.

The Thousand-Eyed Devil was nowhere to be seen.

Only several floating orbs could be seen where the furnace previously stood, as if serving as evidence of his existence.

Absolute Extraction—The user can strip the imprisoned beings of their abilities, energy, and even their concepts.

This was arguably the Devil Empress’s Furnace’s most impressive effect, and these orbs were exactly the result of the aforementioned process.

Liora first took a look at a red, slightly ethereal orb.

The moment her eyes landed on it, she instinctively gained the knowledge that this represented the demonic energy that the Thousand-Eyed Devil had accumulated.

If she were to choose it, any demonic energy she had consumed would be instantly recovered.

Unfortunately, this was useless at the moment.

"This is only useful during fierce, long-lasting battles. The recovery of demonic energy during such a confrontation might indeed tilt the balance of victory."

"Unfortunately..."

Liora shook her head. She had no such need.

Her eyes moved on to the next orb.

This one was colorful and represented the Devil Techniques that the Thousand-Eyed Devil had practiced throughout his life.

Beside it was a gray orb with hundreds of tiny eyes painted across its surface.

Liora’s earlier guess was proven correct.

The Thousand-Eyed Devil’s main concept was "Gaze", and this orb represented exactly that.

Though it was what she had been aiming for, Liora didn’t rush to make a choice. She continued going through the rest of the extracted items.

Concepts, abilities, and even treasures emerged one after another.

It appeared that as long as she wanted, she could inherit everything that the Thousand-Eyed Devil possessed.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

"The description suggested that the gap between our respective strengths plays a role when activating Absolute Extraction."

"Perhaps because we are both Archdevils at the Creation Stage, I can only choose to inherit two of these items."

The fact that so many "treasures" were right in front of her, but she could not grasp them, made Liora quite annoyed.

However, she knew that this made perfect sense.

The ability to extract two items from an equal opponent was already heaven-defying. Any more and she would have to wonder if the System was truly omnipotent.

Liora pondered for a few seconds.

In the end, her choice was simple but also predictable.

Stretching her hand, she grabbed the orbs representing the concept of Gaze and the Devil Techniques, respectively.

The two instantly rumbled.

The orbs around them cracked before crumbling into pieces and turning into dust.

The remaining orbs flashed brilliantly and entered Liora’s body.

The former flooded her soul space and landed on her Throne.

The latter was divided into two portions. One portion seeped into her physical body, while the other portion transformed into information and flowed into her mind.

At a speed visible to the naked eye, her body began to be altered.

--

While Liora was reaping the benefits of her patience and her efforts to accumulate so many Evolution Points, there was an organization that was not doing as well as she was.

In the part of Hollow City controlled by the Universe Chamber of Commerce, a female Devil ran with panic on her face.

She climbed through several staircases and wandered through the long corridors until she finally reached her destination.

Swinging the door open, she rushed inside the room and, with a pale face, was about to scream something.

But before she could do so, a powerful oppression suddenly descended and shut her mouth.

The young man seated behind a long desk raised his head and looked at her with a cold expression.

"How dare you enter my office without permission? Do you want to die?", he spoke, and the chilling murderous intent in his gaze made it clear that his words were not a joke.

The female Devil’s face grew even more pale, and she couldn’t help but curse at herself for forgetting to knock.

Sweat ran down her forehead as she sensed an invisible hand creep up her body, clutch her neck, and squeeze it.

Within moments, she found herself asphyxiating, and her eyes rolled back.

Her body almost collapsed to the ground. However, her survival instincts forced her to calm down, and she stammered to speak:

"L—Leader! Something... something bad has happened!"

"Tris—Trissa is dead!", she said with her tongue almost falling out of her mouth.

The advance of the invisible hands halted upon hearing these words.

However, the cold atmosphere in the room did not dissipate. If anything, it grew even more overwhelming.

"What do you mean? Are you referring to his body that was captured?", he questioned, though he already had a guess.

"N—No. It’s... It’s both of his bodies!", the female Devil shook her head repeatedly and replied.

The young man had already expected this answer.

However, he couldn’t help but be stunned when it was really confirmed.

The arms holding the female Devil quickly vanished. The young man regained his composure and waved his hand.

"Go and call Yissir! Tell her to come to my office as soon as possible!"

The female Devil seemed to have received amnesty.

Her trembling knees relaxed as she turned around and rushed out of the room.

The young man stared at her departing back without saying a word.

Fury, apprehension, and a well-concealed hint of fear could be seen within his eyes.

--

Another female Devil replaced the young man’s secretary only a few minutes later.

This time, the relationship between the two was far more equal. Though the atmosphere was chilling, the oppressive aura had vanished, and the young man did not intimidate her.

That was because the female Devil was an Archdevil just like the young man.

Although weaker, she was not a pushover.

However, what was more shocking than her strength was the woman’s identity.

If Liora were here to take a look, she would be able to recognize her.

It was the woman she had fought against in the Origin Sea, the Feathered Devil, who had cooperated with the Thousand-Eyed Devil to besiege her.

This woman should have died in her hands, devoured by a black hole.

Yet shockingly, she was still here. Not only alive, but mostly intact.

Besides the weakening of her aura, there was no difference between her and the Feathered Devil whom Liora had faced.

"Yissir, explain to me what happened? How could Trissa have suddenly died?"

"Didn’t you claim that his second body had been captured by that woman? How could both of his forms perish at the same time?"

Since he had summoned her so suddenly, the Feathered Devil knew that the Leader had something important to talk about.

Yet, when she heard his question, she was left stunned.

Had the Thousand-Eyed Devil perished?

Moreover, the Leader suspected that this was the result of his being captured by that woman?

The Feathered Devil knew that powerful beings could trace the connection between a Devil’s different bodies and obliterate them all at once.

But when she thought of that woman’s face and the fact that she was only at the Creation Stage, she strongly doubted that she could achieve this.

Still, she knew very well the seriousness of this matter.

Therefore, her gaze grew solemn, and she began to recount the events of the battle in the Origin Sea.