Seeing the elderly Devil leave, Liora didn't try to keep him here.
She understood that although she would likely kill him if she tried, doing so was bound to attract attention.
It was fine if someone like the Armored Devil noticed—she could simply silence him—but if the battle caught the attention of someone like the City Lord, she'd end up in real trouble.
After confirming that there was no one else following her, Liora finally headed toward the city's center, returning to her residence.
The city was shrouded in silence. But as Liora neared her mansion, faint sounds of battle reached her ears.
As she got closer, these noises became increasingly obvious and intense.
Yet, she showed no intention of speeding up. Step by step, she made her way toward the mansion.
A few minutes later, when she arrived, she hopped onto the mansion's stone fence and lowered her head, observing the courtyard below.
She noticed immediately that the once-beautiful garden had been ravaged, now covered in holes, craters, and blood.
The culprits behind these changes were obvious, as many corpses lay among the debris.
At the same time, Devils were scattered across the garden and rooftops, besieged by golems who relentlessly hunted them down.
In the back, Liora saw Alpha's aloof figure standing amid a sea of Devil Runes, controlling the Arrays and golems to slaughter the invaders.
Liora wasn't surprised by the scene in front of her.
She had already guessed that the Devils who had been wandering around the mansion would be unable to hold back once she left, and that they would most likely attack.
As such, she had engraved a variety of formations all over the mansion before leaving, ensuring that at the very least, Alpha could hold them back until she returned.
What did catch Liora off guard, however, was the ease with which Alpha dealt with the intruders, which far surpassed her original expectations.
"It seems that although Alpha's strength is weak, her talent in controlling Arrays is quite high. Perhaps it's her lack of emotion that makes her suitable for performing high-end, precise tasks.", Liora pondered.
Though she was thinking, her actions didn't pause.
Standing on top of the wall, shadows squirmed within both of her hands. In one of them, the shadows transformed into a bow, while in the other, into elegant arrows.
The items felt cold to the touch as Liora held the bow with her right hand and placed an arrow on the bowstring before pulling it back.
Although she was relatively unfamiliar with bows, her practice with the Dusk Armament and her Combat Instinct—an ability that made every Devil a genius in combat—allowed her to use it without issue.
Closing her left eye, she adjusted her posture and aimed at one of the many Devils in the courtyard.
Then, she let the bowstring loose.
"Phoebus Catastrop—cough... cough...", she stopped her words midway, suppressing her urge to show off.
Despite her momentary embarrassment, her aim was not compromised.
The black arrow whistled through the air with incomparable speed, and as if it possessed a will of its own, followed the figure of a small Devil.
Before the Devil could react, the arrow penetrated right through its abdomen, nailing it to the ground.
The next moment, the arrow disappeared, dispersing back into shadows.
However, this didn't resolve the Devil's pain in the slightest. Once the arrow vanished, the wound on its abdomen lost its "plug", and the injury tore open completely, worsening instead of healing.
Only a moment later, the Devil lost consciousness. Until its death, it didn't know what happened or where the mysterious arrow came from.
Standing on the wall, Liora didn't pay attention to the small Devil's final moments. After seeing her attack land, she placed another arrow on the bowstring and shot again.
Whooshing sounds echoed throughout the courtyard as arrows rained down on the unsuspecting Devils.
Liora's strength was already far beyond that of these Devils, and working together with Alpha, who manipulated the Arrays and golems, killing them was effortless.
Quickly, the number of Devils dwindled until, a few moments later, the final intruder fell to the ground, marking the end of this "invasion".
Feeling the last traces of demonic energy fade away, Liora flicked her wrist, and the bow and arrows dissolved into shadows.
Clasping her hands behind her back, she leaped down from the wall and landed in the garden.
"Lord, you've returned."
The Arrays around the mansion deactivated, and the Devil Runes slowly retreated, as Alpha approached Liora and saluted respectfully.
Looking at her spotless appearance and still-indifferent expression, Liora couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Although she understood that Alpha was—after all—a mechanical creation, she would still have preferred if she showed even a hint of emotion.
Of course, she conveniently ignored the fact that the only reason she trusted Alpha was exactly because she was a mechanical creation.
Otherwise, getting her to trust a real person in the Demon World would be like getting a rabbit to trust a wolf.
"Indeed, I'm back.", Liora nodded her head. Stretching out her hand, she patted Alpha lightly on the shoulder and asked:
"Have you taken count of the invaders? Did anyone escape?"
Even though she already knew the answer, she felt that it didn't hurt to ask.
"According to my calculations, forty-three Devils entered the mansion.", Alpha reported and continued:
"Of those, thirteen were eliminated before the Lord's return. Overall, all forty-three intruders were eliminated. None escaped."
"Unfortunately, the mansion sustained damage during the battle. To fully repair it, three souls will be required."
Ignoring the latter part, Liora focused on the numbers.
Forty-three Devils might sound like a lot, but in fact, the threat they posed was not very large.
The vast majority of the Devils who entered the mansion were quite weak, much weaker than Liora was when she arrived at the Crucible.
Even if they cooperated, these Devils would be no match for any famous Devil in the city.
Still, it was quite impressive that Alpha held them off without losing ground. Granted, this was partly thanks to Liora herself, who had unknowingly turned the mansion into a fortress as a result of her experiments.
"Clean this up. Collect the souls and bring them to me. Also, plant new flowers while you are at it. How can we live in such a place?", Liora ordered, earning a nod from her subordinate.
"Understood.", Alpha replied, her voice as indifferent as ever.