In the back of a Gothic castle, two figures faced each other in the middle of a training ground, while two other figures stood on the side.

The ones fighting were Alpha and the Owl Devil, while the people observing them were Liora and Scurry.

As the Owl Devil stared at Alpha, his eyes flashed with utmost seriousness.

And from the beginning, he didn't hold back in the slightest.

Opening his old book, he flapped his wings, causing ink to emerge from it and float in the air.

With another wave of his wings, the ink merged, quickly transforming into an arsenal of different weapons.

Swords, spears, arrows, axes...

Every single piece of weaponry could be seen among them.

Following the Owl Devil's commands, the weapons shot toward Alpha like arrows leaving their bowstring.

Reality itself seemed to bend around those weapons.

In just a split second, they had moved from their original positions, teleporting before Alpha.

Alpha's expression remained the same, aloof and indifferent.

Facing the countless weapons, she didn't choose to dodge or defend but instead stayed still.

Just as a sword of ink looked about to pass through her neck and decapitate her, a faint click spread throughout the ground.

Alpha's head ejected upwards as if it were pushed by a spring, and by a mere few centimeters, it dodged the sword's sharp edge, allowing it to pass in between the head and her neck.

The moment the sword flashed behind her, the head fell down, seamlessly reattaching to the rest of her body.

Having successfully dodged the previous sword strike, Alpha didn't wait for the rest of the weapons to attack.

Reaching out with her hand, her palm split open and, from within the dark space, a thin thread emerged.

The thread whistled through the air and landed on the ink sword before drilling straight into its body.

In just a moment, the connection between it and Alpha had been established.

Sensing this, Alpha had a thought and began controlling it with her mind, wielding it to meet the incoming weapons.

Continuous banging sounds echoed as the sword collided with the many weapons.

Even though Alpha only controlled a single weapon—and her opponent many—she was easily able to ward off the Owl Devil's ruthless attacks.

This was not because the sword was stronger than the other weapons, but because Alpha's control over it was way more accurate than the Owl Devil's.

If the Owl Devil's attacks were akin to throwing snowballs blindly and hoping that they would hit the target, then Alpha possessed telekinesis, being able to adjust the snowballs' trajectory as she wished.

Watching from the outside, both Liora and Scurry could see that the two battling parties were evenly matched, with no one being able to suppress the other.

"How did that mere servant get so strong?", Scurry almost screamed in disbelief, his shock apparent in his voice.

In fact, if anyone were to take a closer look at him at this point in time, they would discover that his entire body was covered in small and large injuries, ranging from scratches and bruises to broken bones.

This was not because Scurry had suddenly awakened a strange hobby, but because before the Owl Devil, he had "sparred" against Alpha.

Yet, within a few moves, he had found himself utterly defeated.

If that was enough to surprise him and make him envious, then the scene in front of him was more than enough to leave him stunned.

How could Alpha, whose strength barely equaled that of a Little Devil, suddenly become so strong?

As soon as this question appeared in his mind, Scurry had the answer.

Turning his head, he secretly glanced at Liora, and a trace of heat flashed across his green eyes.

In his opinion, the only way that Alpha could have gotten so strong was because she received Liora's gift.

Especially when he thought of the fight that took place not long ago, Scurry felt that he had understood everything.

"I didn't expect that servant to be so insidious and secretly ask for the Lord's favor. I was almost fooled by her seemingly simple-minded appearance!", he cursed inwardly, worried that his status in Liora's eyes might have unknowingly plummeted.

While Scurry's mind was racing, the fight between the two parties did not pause.

The Owl Devil continued launching attacks, while Alpha kept defending.

Just when it seemed that the fight was going to inevitably end in a draw, Alpha's expression changed, and she took action once again.

While manipulating the ink sword to fend off the incoming blows, she stretched her left hand out, and a thread shot out.

Instantly, the thread arrived before a spear on the opposite side and integrated into its body.

"It's over.", Alpha's cold but confident voice spread throughout the ground, and her moves suddenly changed.

Now wielding both a sword and a spear, she no longer remained in defense but took the initiative and began to attack.

The Own Devil tried to defend against her advances, but unfortunately, it was already too late.

With the spear falling under Alpha's control, the thin balance of the fight was shattered.

In just a few minutes, the scale of victory tilted in Alpha's direction.

Controlling the sword, she knocked away the shield standing before the Owl Devil, as a fierce and murderous glint flashed in her amber eyes.

Without any hesitation, she manipulated the spear, having it pass through the gap in Owl Devil's defense and strike at him.

The spear's rugged tip shone with a sharp light as it whistled through the air, leaving the Owl Devil stunned.

With no weapon near him, there was nothing he could do to defend himself.

As the spear's light reflected in his eyes, he understood that he was going to die if it were to strike him.

And unfortunately, it was clear to him that Alpha was not planning to hold back.

"It's over!", the Owl Devil couldn't help but think, repeating Alpha's earlier words.

Fortunately, just when he was about to be nailed to the ground, a person arrived before him.

Stretching her hand casually, she brought her palm in front of the spear, blocking its path with her index finger.

There was no fierce fight between the two.

The moment the spear touched her skin, it seemed to have suffered unimaginable damage, cracking before breaking into countless fragments.

"Okay, that's enough.", Liora said as she watched the spear crumble with a calm expression.

"Yes, Lord.", Alpha nodded upon hearing her command, releasing her control over the ink sword.

On the other hand, seeing Liora's seemingly majestic figure, the Owl Devil breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

He never expected that one day, he would actually be full of gratitude for the person who enslaved him.

Recalling the previous fight, the Owl Devil took a peek at Alpha with dread.

Especially when he noticed that Alpha's expression remained absolutely calm⁠—as if nothing had happened⁠—his fear of her grew even more intense.

Standing in between the two, Liora noticed the strange atmosphere filling the air.

However, she didn't care about the two people's relationship.

As long as it didn't damage her interests, she wouldn't mind whether her subordinates were friends, strangers, or even sworn enemies.

After her gaze wandered, inspecting each of her three subordinates, Liora's eyes finally locked on Alpha.

"I'm planning to enter a closed-door retreat for a while. Alpha, you'll be in charge. Unless it is necessary, you don't need to ask for my opinion.", she spoke, and noticing everyone's doubts, she explained:

"Now that both the Blasphemer and the Unknown are dead, there's nothing left for me to do in the Crucible."

"I'm planning to enter the Life and Death Arena and try to see if I can reach a thousand consecutive victories."

As soon as these words fell, all three people showed varying degrees of surprise.

But upon further consideration, they felt that it all made sense.

Indeed, with Liora's current strength and status, there was almost nothing worthy of her attention in the entire Crucible.

The only goal she could have at the moment was to complete one of the Demon World's two conditions, receive its blessing, and finally enter the real Demon World.

Thinking of this, whether it was Scurry, the Owl Devil, or even the always-nonchalant Alpha, a trace of excitement arose within them.

Perhaps, it wouldn't take long for them to witness someone receive the Demon World's reward and leave the Crucible.

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