"Demons really can evolve after all."
Ligeia, still bleeding from the face, murmured in surprise, "I thought that was only a legend."
"It's practically a legend by now."
Yanis sighed. "I haven't seen a demon complete an evolution in my entire life. You can forget about it even more."
In theory, demons could certainly evolve. After all, the power system of the Great Sin Imprint was right there, and remaining unchanged was inherently incompatible with the nature of change in the Path of Transcendence.
"Demon evolution usually requires accumulating a huge amount of Path Power. That means devouring countless souls and gathering power over an extremely long period."
Iver heard their discussion and answered from the side while treating himself. "If you stretch the time span to five hundred years, demons that complete their evolution independently do exist."
After all, in this world, even harvesting the souls of ordinary mortals was quite dangerous.
According to the rules of this world, after any ensouled life died, its soul entered the Dream Realm. Based on its strongest Path affinity, it flowed into one of the nine rivers there.
After being screened twice by the Nine Pillar Gods and the many Fallen Angels, souls unwanted by any deity would reintegrate into the world and become material for the souls of newborns across all races. As personalities matured and intellect increased, souls would gradually grow stronger. One old person's death could provide enough material for nine infants. This cycle continued endlessly, and the number of living beings in the world steadily increased.
In other words, every soul in this world was accounted for. They could not be diverted at will.
Creating an apostle required giving up part of one's own power, while all nine rivers needed to be supplied with souls. Otherwise, the world