Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

Chapter 654: A Familiar Figure

654. A Familiar Figure

***

We flew on to the Demon King’s Domain.

I left [The World Of My Mind] behind with Haec, his friends, and my clones. There was no need for me to wait for them. If we traveled together with the pocket space, our pace would be incredibly slow. Also, I’d be endangering them for no reason if Ultis and Aliq decided to lead me into a trap. Once we arrived at our destination, I could teleport my pocket space over to me, so there wasn’t going to be much of an issue.

So for now, I went alone. I wasn’t worried about either Ultis or Aliq betraying me. I still had my [Divine Essence of the Angelic Devil Princess] active. It gave me enough of a power boost to defeat both these Primeval Demons without breaking much of a sweat. Well, actually, I couldn’t say that for certain.

I didn’t know if Ultis had a Grand Skill hidden up her sleeve. So I had to be wary of anything at all times.

That was why I flew on, keeping a small distance behind the two Deathsquad Hunters. Neither of them exchanged a word. They simply navigated their way through the vast terrain of the Netherworld in silence.

We traveled for a while. We passed by very many distinct landmarks. Oddly-shaped mountains and deep valleys. I saw an array of craters that dug into the ground, forming the bed of what was going to be a lake of black once Advent began.

There were dark clouds hanging overhead, blotching the crimson sky black. Like an inky mist that was streaking across the red canvas. They were still sparsely separated. But it looked like they were moving to gather together in the far distance.

And once that happened, that was when it was too late to stop Regnorex. After all, what he wanted to do was sacrifice all of the next generation of Demons to open up a permanent portal to the Mortal Realm.

According to Haec, that was going to cause a ripple effect that would destabilize the natural cycles of the Netherworld for generations of Demons to come. Not only that, but knowing what I knew about the corruption, I wondered whether this plan of Regnorex was going to exacerbate the end of the world.

Either way, all this meant was that I had to stop Regnorex before it was too late. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t really have a plan of action as of right now. And I wasn’t sure if I was going to ever have a plan. But right now, I focused on what I could do, and went over my updated Status.

Salvos (S̶̛̼̗̅ecė̶̺̜͕ly’s S̶̛̼̗̅ė̶̺̜͕ntǐ̶̬nĕ̷̪ͅͅl̵̨̦̗͗̔̃) (The Devil’s Daughter)

Species: [Primeval Demon of Pride]

Secondary Species: [Lesser God]

Subspecies: [Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 167

Class: [Draconic Apprentice] - Lvl. 149

General Skills:

[Advanced Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Corruption Navigation] - Lvl. 2

[Identification] - Lvl. 6

[Racial Skill: True Divinity] - Lvl. 1 (Maxed)

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 2

[Rest] - Lvl. 5

[Wisdom of the Old Gods] - Lvl. 5

[Title Skill: Corruption Camouflage] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: General Status Effect Resistance] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Invoke Wrath] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Protection of the Corruption] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: The Devil’s Grace] - Lvl. 1

[Racial Skill: Divine Essence of the Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 1 (Maxed)

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 265 (+50) (+10) (+100)

[Strength]: 260 (+50) (+10) (+100)

[Endurance]: 260 (+50) (+10) (+3) (+100)

[Wisdom]: 415 (+50) (+10) (+50) (+100)

[Agility]: 450 (+50) (+10) (+5) (+100)

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 0]

[Angel’s Wings] - Lvl. 15

[Barrage of Cinders] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Divine Demon’s Mark] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Divine Haste] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Intimidation] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Faux Limbs] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

[Divine Nebular Construct] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

[Divine Strike] - Lvl. 13

[Divine Radiant Slash] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[Sacred Hellfire] - Lvl. 15

[Salvo of Vanity] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

[The Call of Armageddon] - Lvl. 15

[The Holy Flames] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Passive - Angelic Premonition] - Lvl. 15

[Passive - Weapon Mastery] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Available Grand Skill Points: 0]

[Claw of Corruption] - Lvl. 2

[My Flame Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends] - Lvl. 3 (Maxed)

[Unused Skill Slot] x2

Secondary Skills:

[Available Secondary Skill Points: 8]

[Draconic Fury] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Greater Teleportation] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Manifestation of the Old Gods] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Truth Divination] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Warped Time] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Passive - Dragon Scales] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Passive - Master of Material Manipulation] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[Passive - Weaker Regeneration] - Lvl.10 (Maxed)

[The World of My Mind] - Lvl. 1

[Unused Secondary Skill Slot] x1

I had gained a Grand Skill Point I could spend for a while now, and I had put off what to use it for for quite a while. I had been torn between spending it on [The World Of My Mind] or [Claw Of Corruption]. But I had finally decided before setting off on my own to expend this Grand Skill Point on the latter.

As of right now, [The World Of My Mind] wasn’t that useful for combat purposes. And right now, if I was going to be going against Regnorex and his entire kingdom, I needed as much firepower as possible. That was why I also spent the rest of my Skill Points on [Divine Strike].

I also spent all of my Stat Points on [Wisdom], giving me a little bit more of an edge with all my magical attacks. And while it wasn’t much, that made me as ready as I could be for what was going to be an incredibly difficult battle to save both the Mortal Realm and the Netherworld— even the Nexeus itself.

It was slightly unnerving, knowing that I was going to be going against the Demon King when I was only a Primeval Demon. I had seen what Belphegor and Sal could do. I had seen the destruction the Beast was capable of wrecking. Even [The Great Agarus]— who was significantly lower-leveled than the other three Primordial Demons— I wasn’t even able to harm it.

And chances were that Regnorex was even stronger than [The Greater Agarus]. Not only that, but he had the full might of his army of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of Demons. Our only hope of victory was to convert some of his own unhappy minions to our side, turning them against him. I would leave that part to Haec, since he was the former Heir of the Netherworld.

Right now, I continued to follow the two Deathsquad Hunters leading the way. We continued flying as hours passed. Maybe even a full day came and went. My Grand Skill was going to come to an end soon. I could sense the power boost it gave me beginning to falter.

I narrowed my eyes at Ultis and Aliq as they continued flying on. Were they trying to trap me— hoping to ambush me once my Grand Skill came to an end? That wasn’t possible, right? They didn’t even know about the effects of my Divine Essence, let alone how long it would last. Unless they were taking a gambit, speculating that because of my levels, I was under the temporary effects of an elixir, an artifact, or a Grand Skill.

I was ready to call out the two Deathsquad Hunters for trying to pull something on me when I spotted something moving amidst the quiet white landscape of the Netherworld. I slowed down, and they both came to a halt too.

They turned to me as I frowned, looking down at a familiar figure.

“I recognize you.”

I whispered, and both the Deathsquad Hunters exchanged a glance. It was Ultis who spoke up, before following my gaze.

“Uh, Salvos? What are you doing? We should keep going— we’re going to arrive soon.”

But I ignored her for a moment as I stared at the creature that was making its way between a valley. I knew that from upclose it was massive— although, from this height, it looked tiny. From where I was, it looked like any ordinary wolf. Except with three heads.

However, my clones had battled it before, and I knew it was a dangerous enemy. It was a [Cerberus Of Hell]. The very same one that had tried to breach the Mortal Realm during the grand ritual to merge the planes. And I knew it was the very same wild Primeval Demon because of one reason and one reason only:

It was still on fire.

I had set it ablaze with my [Sacred Hellfire] back when I had first gotten the Skill. And the flames couldn’t be snuffed out until its target was turned to ash. But they weren’t strong enough to kill the [Cerberus of Hell]. So it must have been roaming the Netherworld while still alight even after all this time.

“Huh.”

“That’s a rare [Cerberus]-variant.”

Ultis remarked simply as she eyed the wild Primeval Demon with me. She shook her head and turned to me.

“It’s incredibly dangerous. So it’s best we stay as far away from it as possible. Especially since it’s likely above Level 190.”

I was surprised that she was able to assess the threat-level of the [Cerberus Of Hell] despite the distance. But that should have been expected from a Deathsquad Hunter.

“What is it doing out here? Shouldn’t it be hiding in its birthplace like all the other wild Demons?”

I asked as I turned to face Ultis. She pursed her lips.

“While it’s true that every single Demon craves to return to their birthplace during Reconstruction and Salvation, both intelligent Demons and higher-leveled Demons can resist this urge. So wild Primeval Demons and the occasional wild Archdemons still roam the Netherworld, even now.”

I blinked a few times as I glanced between Aliq and Ultis. The first vestiges of an idea began to form in my mind, and I placed a hand on my chin.

“So… you’re saying that there are Primeval Demons and Primordial Demons still wandering the Netherworld at this moment?”

I said as they both nodded. A smirk spread across my lips.

“Interesting. That is very interesting.”

Ultis and Aliq both just looked confused. I didn’t tell them anything, but instead, I sent a mental command to a handful of my clones. They nodded and suddenly exited my pocket space, much to the surprise of Aemula and Bertrugil.

My clones took off and spread throughout the Netherworld as I turned my attention back to the two Deathsquad Hunters.

“Alright, so where were we?”

I asked as I flew back up to them. Down below, the [Cerberus Of Hell] continued making its way across the valley, not noticing us. Ultis looked to Aliq in confusion, and he harrumphed in response. He continued flying forward as Ultis shrugged and looked back towards me.

“We’re getting close. Let’s keep going.”

She said as she took off. I flew after the two Deathsquad Hunters, keeping a small distance behind, wary of any traps. Eventually, my Grand Skill came to an end. But I was prepared for anything they might have tried.

However, neither of them seemed to realize that I was weaker now. We simply continued flying for ever longer. I didn’t know how much time passed, until finally—

“There it is.”

Ultis whispered as I caught a glimpse of an undulating mountain range in the distance. She pointed up ahead at a spot where no dark clouds touched the sky. My brows snapped together when I saw that. It was such a strange sight, especially since everywhere else I looked always seemed to have a trace of that eddying black mist.

“This mountain range… it is proof of the Expanse.”

Ultis explained as I looked down at the various valleys and peaks rapidly approaching from up ahead. She glanced back at me as she began to slow. Aliq also seemed to hesitate, and I joined them in coming to a halt.

The Deathsquad Hunters both gestured at the mountains as I cocked my head.

“What does that mean? What is the Expanse?”

I asked casually. And Ultis held my gaze as she answered.

“It means we have arrived. It means we have reached the Demon King’s Domain.”

Author's Notes:

What thonk?