[Salvos] 785. Chaotic Battlefield (Patreon)

785. Chaotic Battlefield

***

All across the Netherworld, chaos ensued as the Demon King’s ritual finally began to put an end to the cycle of Advent for millennia to come. 

The Demon King stood by the ritual circle, accompanied only by both Oracli and a chained figure by his side. His vanguard stood behind him in formation, ready to begin their invasion of the Mortal Realm. None of them seemed to care about the reactions to the ritual rippling across the plane.

These reactions spread far and wide, from within the Demon King’s Domain itself to the wilderness of the Netherworld.

For example, in the Fortress of Glory, both Haec and Hartia stared in shock as Safra somehow came back to life. Or perhaps she hadn’t even died at all. Whatever it was, she was back. And both the Fairy and the former Heir of the Netherworld realized that this battle was going to take everything they got to overcome.

Meanwhile, not too far away, right by the Encampments, Aliq gave chase to Ultis and Taburas as they both fled to the main bulk of the rebellion. But unfortunately for the [Succubus] her vision was fading, and she wasn’t even sure if she could see this battle through to the very end…

Even further along in the Expanse, the corruption was brewing. The rifts that had opened up in all around the Demon King’s Domain had failed to spawn any corrupted creatures. Instead, they were drawn together to a single location— a battlefield where a voice echoed, brimming with the desire for vengeance.

And deep into the wild, [The Great Agarus] looked up from the base of a broken mountain where it had been resting, its gaze drawn by the crimson pillar that pierced the sky in the far distance. It started forward, not drawn by anything more than pure instinct. Perhaps curiosity, maybe confusion. But that was the extent of the reasoning behind its actions.

Whether it was at the very peak of the spire that was the Echelon where Manos the Executioner was culling the Deathsquad Hunters who were loyal to Regnorex’s cause, or perhaps it was at the bottom of a crater where the Beast had gone to rest, only to be awakened by the immense shift in mana, before spotting the annoying flaming flies that were flying nearby it— which it quickly extinguished…

…all parts of the Netherworld reacted to the Demon King’s ritual.

Even the deepest depths of what was left of it— at the end of the world, down below the first layer. The Devil and his lover watched as the unending wall of corruption somehow… grew in size.

But back up on the surface, there was a battle that was unfolding that was somehow even more chaotic than anything else in the Netherworld…

***

I was sent flying back as the [Hellevil] struck me again and again, unable to even defend myself. There was nothing I could even do to give myself a moment of reprieve. But fortunately, I wasn’t the only one here in this battle.

The Corrupted Hellsky sent a blast of corruption down at the [Hellevil], causing it to stumble. In that moment, I took my opportunity and flew off to the side, away from the Primordial Demon. Unfortunately for me, I flew straight towards the [Cerberus Of Hell].

It tackled me with its flaming body, knocking me to the sky as the world spun around me for a moment. Fortunately, it didn’t continue with a follow-up attack, instead blasting the [Hellevil] with a plume of black flames.

But even though the [Hellevil] was being attacked from two powerful beings, it just smirked and held both its hands out, creating a barrier of white flames around it. 

Flames? No— that wasn't right. 

After taking another brief look at the barrier it had conjured up, I realized it was a barrier of space— it just so happened to be burning with white flames at the same time.

I landed back on the ground and steadied myself. Now was my chance to escape. It was slightly annoying how the [Cerberus Of Hell] kept targeting me, but right now, its focus was on the [Hellevil]. Which was a good thing.

At the very least, the corruption was ignoring me. But that didn’t mean there were no other threats here to myself either. As I flew into the air, trying to create a new rift to my pocket space, a group of [Vampyr Chiroptera] got in my way,  trying to snatch up the Infant Demon from my hands.

“Shoo—”

I started, dodging around them and waving my hands. One of them flew straight past me and into the Corrupted Hellsky. It was nothing more than a minor inconvenience— it barely disrupted the Corrupted Hellsky’s attack.

But it was still a disruption.

And the [Hellevil] immediately took notice of its opportunity to counter attack. It clapped its hands together as a sphere of white flames engulfed everything around it once again. The [Cerberus Of Hell] leapt back, managing to barely avoid the blast due to its currently enhanced speed.

But that was nothing more than a distraction. The [Hellevil] leapt up to the sky and conjured up a giant fireball, before hurling it at the Corrupted Hellsky. The explosion shook space itself and destroyed a large chunk of the Corrupted Hellsky’s body, while my half-opened rift rippled, disrupted from the attack.

“You’ve got to be—”

And then the [Hellevil] was on me again in a second. It didn’t care about the [Cerberus Of Hell] that was giving chase to it, running through the air. All it cared about was stopping me from escaping.

It grabbed me by the face even as my divine flames burned it in return while protecting me, before shooting forward and shredding through the flying Demons swarming around me using my body. 

I held onto its forearm with one hand and desperately clawed at it with a flurry of attacks with my free hand. But nothing seemed to work. [Barrage Of Cinders], [Corrupted Draconic Fury], [Faux Limbs] wielding fiery weapons I had constructed.

It all bounced off the [Hellevil].

Even [Divine Radiant Slash] barely had an effect on the Primordial Demon.

But I had expected that. That was why I had been preparing another Skill as I distracted it with those attacks, blocking its vision. I unhinged my jaw as I brought all my limbs to grab onto its forearm and it blinked, taken aback for the first time.

[̶͙̌C̸͍̆ǒ̷̲r̴͍̈́ȑ̷̙u̴̻̍p̷̓ͅt̵̺̐ę̵̾ḑ̵͌ ̵̝̾D̶̡̛ḯ̸̡ṽ̵̳i̸͖͛n̵̘͂ě̵͓ ̶̡͊D̶̗̔r̸̖͗a̸̜͑g̷͔̕o̸̰͂n̶͇̽’̸̲̅s̸̜̀ ̸͓̾B̷̺̉r̴͍͝e̵̱̾a̵͖͗t̴̬̕h̷̪̃]̸͓̀!̴̖̃ 

It was my first time properly using it, but I intuitively knew it would be strong. Not only was it a Unique Skill, it was no ordinary Unique Skill. Even just thinking about it, I sensed the power it radiated. It had the potential to rival even my strongest Grand Skills. And it proved its worth.

The [Hellevil] was blasted back as it yelped for the first time. The mix of flames and corruption burned everything— including space itself.

An attack that was quite similar to the [Hellevil]’s in how it targeted space. Except this attack actually left something behind instead of just ashes.

I stared at the residual corruption left in the conical shape of space that I had carved out with my attack. Then I quickly manipulated it to flow into the Corrupted Hellsky, effectively healing a portion of its wounds.

“Come on, deal with the [Hellevil] for me, will you?”

I knew that the Corrupted Hellsky wouldn’t actually listen to me. But it did turn its attention to the [Hellevil] which had of course survived my [Corrupted Divine Dragon’s Breath]. Not without a scratch, though.

The [Hellevil] stood there atop at the edge of a ravine. Its smirk was gone, replaced by a glare which was fixed upon me. A trickle of black blood ran down its lip, while minor burn marks marred its left arm. It wiped away the blood from its lips, before it leapt out of the way of a tendril from the Corrupted Hellsky.

Honestly, I was slightly surprised by the amount of damage my attack had done to the [Hellevil]. But I didn’t have time to bask in my first minor victory in this battle because the Primordial Demon was already glancing my way, even as it dodged the [Cerberus Of Hell] flanking it from behind.

I quickly continued reopening my rift as the [Hellevil] flipped over another tendril from the Corrupted Hellsky before the [Cerberus Of Hell] charged at it again. This time, it didn’t dodge. Instead, it caught the [Cerberus Of Hell] and held it over its head, before hurling the Primeval Demon straight at me.

Blinking, I instinctively ducked under the Primeval Demon as it caught itself mid-air. It immediately snapped its gaze at me and growled, before swiping its claws my way. I clicked my tongue as I dismissed the half-formed rift and sent a flurry of flaming projectiles its way.

“Why are you so annoying—”

But it easily brushed off the attacks and rammed straight at me, catching me in its jaws. [My Flames Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends] should’ve burned it in retaliation. But its own coat of black flames seemed to protect it from my divine fire.

And it continued to try to mangle me in its many mouths, switching from biting me with one head to the other, preventing me from getting away from this battlefield.

“Fine, if you really want to keep messing with me—”

I let its futile attempts to break through my divine flames as I held out a clawed hand. I knew I wasn’t going to easily bypass its flames of protection— it was likely nearly as potent as my own flames of protection. So I needed to use an attack I knew that could bypass [My Flames Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends].

[Claw Of Corruption].

My strongest offensive Grand Skill. It took a long time to cast, but fortunately the [Cerberus Of Hell] was leaving itself completely unguarded as it tried to break through to me. The space around the Primeval Demon began to twist and contort, grabbing hold of it in the vague shape of a distorted claw.

The [Cerberus Of Hell] must’ve realized I was doing something, because it started to disengage from me— but I immediately activated [The Devil’s Grace].

Time began to rewind for the both of us. We both returned to the exact same position we were moments ago, with the [Cerberus Of Hell] attempt to shred through my divine flames of protection with its maw. And ordinarily, this would’ve undone the casting of any Skill I was using.

Unfortunately for the [Cerberus Of Hell], my [Claw Of Corruption] was completely unaffected. The corruption it radiated completely nullified any reversal of time with its shearing of space itself.

And then the Grand Skill engulfed the [Cerberus Of Hell] as it let out a terrible howl, flying back into the air. Its black flames coating its body began to flicker out of existence as its bones crunched together.

But it was strong. It was still trying to resist the crushing force of my [Claw Of Corruption]. Fortunately, I had predicted this thanks to [Angelic Premonition], and was already casting a follow-up attack.

[Worldbreak].

As the [Cerberus Of Hell] was being crushed under the weight of my Grand Skill, the space around its body began to twist and distort as well. It was no longer howling, instead it was yelping and whining, desperately trying to break free from the complete and total grip of corruption I had over it with both [Worldbreak] and [Claw Of Corruption].

Unfortunately, it couldn’t escape. And there was a crunch.

The [Cerberus Of Hell] collapsed into a tiny mangled mess ball of what it once had been, before disintegrating into motes of corruption. 

And then a few notifications resounded in my head as I let out a sigh of relief.

Defeated [Cerberus Of Hell - Lvl. 195]

More experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 10 levels above you!

Subspecies [Angelic Devil Princess] Level Up!

[Angelic Devil Princess - Lvl. 183] -> [Angelic Devil Princess - Lvl. 184]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points

Subspecies [Angelic Devil Princess] Level Up!

[Angelic Devil Princess - Lvl. 184] -> [Angelic Devil Princess - Lvl. 185]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points

Gained 1 Grand Skill Point!

Class [Corrupted Apprentice] Level Up! 

[Corrupted Apprentice - Lvl. 171] -> [Corrupted Apprentice - Lvl. 172] 

Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points! 

Class [Corrupted Apprentice] Level Up! 

[Corrupted Apprentice - Lvl. 172] -> [Corrupted Apprentice - Lvl. 173] 

Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter again. Been busy because it's my gf's birthday yesterday.

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