In a dark cave somewhere in the Crucible, an old man—the elderly Devil—was sitting silently on the ground, continuously forging various types of body parts before assembling them into real people.

Or rather, into realistic puppets.

Just when he was finished creating another puppet and was about to move on to the next one, though, his movements paused, his expression changing into one of fury.

"Who?! Who dares?!", he couldn't help but speak, staring at the text flashing on the bottom left of his field of vision with resentment.

"Unknown. Slaughter Points: 6,159,105. 2nd."

Looking at this information, the elderly Devil found it difficult to contain his anger.

He had worked hard for years in order to accumulate Slaughter Points safely, and it was only about a year ago that he managed to reach first place.

Originally, if nothing unexpected occurred within the next month, he would be able to accomplish the conditions set by the Demon World and thus obtain its blessings and leave the Crucible.

But now, it seemed as if the fruits of his hard labor had been picked off right in front of him.

"Who is it? The Blasphemer?", the elderly Devil rose to his feet and began pacing around the dark cave, his eyes flashing coldly as his gaze fell on the figures around him.

"But why would he? Did he change his mind? Has he finally decided to abandon his people and his ideals of 'restoring' order?", he couldn't help but mutter, while trying his best to suppress his igniting rage.

But before he could succeed in doing so, his expression suddenly took a turn for the worse.

He had just noticed that his connection with one of his many bodies had been severed, as if it had died.

Originally, such a situation would not have caught his attention.

Over his long life, hundreds if not thousands of his puppets had been destroyed, and he had long become apathetic to it.

But now, considering the strange timing of his body's death, he guessed that something important was happening, something he had to know about.

"Do 'I' want to give myself a message? Do 'I' know what happened?", the elderly Devil guessed and hesitated for a brief moment.

However, after he gave it a bit more thought, he made a decision. Waving his hand, he collected all the puppets in the cave before exiting it and soaring into the sky.

His target was clear—the closest major city.

--

With the elderly Devil's extraordinary speed, it didn't take long for him to arrive in the closest city—the City of Frozen.

The entire city was quite impressive, made entirely out of semi-transparent ice. This was true whether it was its walls, the buildings, or even the streets.

But the elderly Devil was not in the mood to admire these beautiful constructions.

Not caring that doing so would offend the city's ruler, he flew straight toward the center of the city.

Only a few seconds later, he stood before the ancient stone tablet, looking down at his own name, as well as the one right above it.

"Crimson Maiden. Slaughter Points: 6,562,409."

"Unknown. Slaughter Points: 6,159,105."

Staring at this unfamiliar title, the elderly Devil was filled with doubts.

Just like the other Devils who first heard of Liora's name, he was also surprised.

He didn't understand how someone he had never heard about had entered the Crucible Ranking, much less how she had managed to reach first place, overtaking him.

But when he thought that it was not the Blasphemer who did it but an unknown Devil, the elderly Devil breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the sudden rise of this Devil was obviously a result of them killing the Blasphemer, he didn't hold much fear.

Compared to Blasphemer and his strange means, the strength that this Devil was proud of was way less threatening.

After all, his countless bodies allowed him to be less afraid of actual combat power and more fearful of unusual abilities.

"If so... things are easy to say...", the elderly Devil muttered as he turned to look at the Frozen Devil, who had seemingly noticed an intruder and rushed to get here.

"Who are you? Why are you invading my City?", the Frozen Devil questioned with a stern face.

Unfortunately for him, his questions didn't receive any answer.

Facing him, the elderly Devil let out a bizarre chuckle, and with a wave of his hands, many puppets emerged from his body.

Some of them rushed forward and besieged the Frozen Lord, while many of them landed on the ground and began slaughtering the city's citizens.

"Just as I was looking for a suitable source of Slaughter Points, you happened to come. You can only blame your bad luck.", the elderly Devil smiled coldly before joining the siege.

Soon after, the screams of the Frozen Devil spread throughout the city.

--

Less than half an hour later, the elderly Devil stood again before the Crucible Ranking, looking at his title that had jumped again to first place with pride.

However, this pride was destined not to last long.

Just as he was admiring this scene, the title in second place suddenly flashed and rushed up, overtaking him and pushing him back to the second place.

"How dare you?!"

This time, the elderly Devil found it truly difficult to control his temper.

Although he couldn't see the owner of the title, he had the illusion that he could see her mocking eyes, as if she was toying with him.

This image, coupled with the fact that his years of planning had gone to waste, infuriated the elderly Devil.

Seething with rage, he soared into the air and disappeared into the distant sky.

--

Since the emergence of the Crimson Maiden, Devils all over the Crucible had been paying attention to her movements.

They wanted to see what she was going to do, but most importantly, how the struggle between the top three Devils would end and who among them would emerge victorious.

And the Crimson Maiden didn't disappoint these curious Devils.

Shortly after her initial appearance, she rose to first place, having obviously slain the Blasphemer and obtained his Slaughter Points.

Then, the real fight between the top two began.

In just half a day, the Devils who stood before the Crucible Ranking had watched the titles of the two people—the Crimson Maiden and the Unknown—constantly alternate between the first two places.

Each time one overtook the other, the other one would soon catch up and surpass them, pushing them down.

Neither of the two top ranked Devils seemed willing to back down, as if they would not rest until their opponent was completely defeated.

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