Near the center of the Inferno Valley, a gigantic Fire Elemental was roaming, navigating through the flaming trees with unexpected precision.

Its footsteps were slow, yet its speed was surprisingly fast.

This was because, unlike the Fire Elemental that Liora had previously captured, this one was completely different, as if the two were not members of the same race.

Standing more than five meters in height, its towering frame exuded a sense of oppression that would have caused most ordinary people to fall unconscious upon meeting it.

Its black, obsidian-like eyes shone with a hint of intelligence, while it was fairly obvious that its movements were not accidental but carefully considered.

It seemed to be searching for something.

"The tribe's Elders have ordered us to search for any unknown Devils within the valley.", the Fire Elemental whispered.

"I don't know why they want us to go through all this trouble. There've been countless Devils that entered the valley throughout its existence. What's so different about that person entering this time?"

Although the words of the Fire Elemental were plain and its voice was low, the meaning hidden behind them was truly shocking.

The words betrayed an intelligence that went against everything that Liora had previously discovered.

Its words did not only reveal that there were Fire Elementals that were fully rational, but also that these elementals possessed a surprising amount of intelligence.

Besides that, and perhaps more importantly, it was revealed that someone had ordered the Fire Elementals to search for something.

Or rather, for someone.

Not knowing the weight that its unintentional words carried, the Fire Elemental continued its journey.

Slowly, it began expanding the scope of its investigation, and the area it traversed grew larger and larger.

From time to time, it would encounter other Fire Elementals.

If these elementals possessed strength at the Lesser Devil stage and above, it would politely nod its head in greeting.

But if they did not, it would instantly pounce at them, tearing apart their bodies and ruthlessly digging out their cores.

In its—and every Fire Elemental's—opinion, these mindless creatures that yearned only for destruction were not their own kind.

As long as they didn't reach the Lesser Devil stage and awaken their intelligence, these things would be nothing more than mere consumables and potential food.

With a pleased expression, the Fire Elemental threw the recently harvested core in its mouth and was prepared to absorb it.

Just when it was about to savor its demonic energy, though, its intuition warned it of danger. At the same time, its eyes captured a faint movement at the left corner of its vision.

Spitting out the elemental core that it was about to swallow, the Fire Elemental instinctively raised its arms and brought them in front of its torso.

The next moment, a black light whistled through the air and arrived before it, striking at the blazing flames that constructed its body.

Suffering the black light's impact, the flames fluttered before they parted to the side, but they quickly recovered and returned to their original appearance.

Throughout this process, the Fire Elemental didn't suffer damage or any pain.

Standing still on its own two feet, it lifted its head and stared at the source of the previous black light, or rather, the black arrow.

The assaulter's appearance was instantly reflected in its pitch-black eyes.

It was a beautiful woman with long crimson hair and scarlet eyes, wearing a thin exoskeleton-like armor that provided defense to her weak spots.

She was holding a bow made of pure darkness in her right hand, and judging from its still-trembling string, it was obviously the tool that she had used to launch the previous attack.

As it stared at this unknown Devil, the Fire Elemental couldn't help but recall the instructions that the tribe's Elders had given earlier.

It didn't know why, but its intuition was telling it that this was most likely the person that everyone in the valley had been searching for.

When it thought of the rewards that the Elders had promised to the one who found them, the Fire Elemental found it almost impossible to contain its excitement.

A predatory, cruel grin flashed across its face as it heavily stepped on the ground and launched itself forward.

Facing its charge, the female Devil—Liora—didn't show any panic.

She didn't choose to defend, nor did she try to dodge. Instead, she decided to meet the incoming blow.

With a move of her mind, the bow in her hand dissolved into shadows. These shadows didn't fade away once they dispersed, but they instead clung tightly to her skin, turning into a pair of majestic black gauntlets.

The gauntlets fitted Liora's hands perfectly.

Not only was the flexibility of her movements not compromised, but it was even faintly enhanced.

Although Liora's movements seemed complicated, they happened very quickly.

In reality, less than a second had passed, and the Fire Elemental's attack had yet to arrive.

Seeing that the elemental was still mid-charge, Liora didn't hesitate. Mirroring its movements, she controlled the shadows to push her forward and lunged at it.

Only a moment later, the two people's fists collided in the air.

One fist was surrounded by blazing flames that seemed to resonate with the power of the entire valley, while the other one seemed unassuming but contained overwhelming power, resembling a falling mountain.

Instantly, the power of their attacks canceled out.

At the point of the collision, the air trembled before rushing in all directions, forming deep cracks on the ground and sending the nearby trees flying.

Liora felt a wave of heat brush against her face.

Although her hand was protected by the gauntlet and had not suffered any damage, the aftermath of their fight had still affected her.

The upper part of her arm became charred as tiny sparks fell on it, sparks that seemed to possess a will of their own and tried to drill into her body.

Fortunately, without Liora needing to do anything, the demonic energy within her body boiled.

The Renewal effect of the upgraded version of Myriad Devils Armor—Myriad Devils Body—activated on its own, and the wounds on her body instantly vanished.

On the other hand, faced with the overwhelming power, the gigantic Fire Elemental was also forced to take a few steps back.

Seeing this, Liora wasn't planning to let this opportunity slip.

Taking advantage of its weakness, she struck again.

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