[Salvos] 786. Drastic Measures (Patreon)

786. Drastic Measures

***

I didn’t want to do it, but I had to kill the [Cerberus Of Hell]. Not just because I wanted it to serve as a distraction against the [Hellevil], but because it took all the strongest Skills I had to take it down. Now I had nothing I could use against the Primordial Demon.

Speaking of…

I turned my gaze back down to the [Hellevil]. It was standing over the ruined body of the Corrupted Hellsky. Just like I had made quick work of the [Cerberus Of Hell], the [Hellevil] had made quick work of the Corrupted Hellsky.

But unlike me, it clearly hadn’t even broken a sweat— it definitely didn’t need to use any of its strongest Skills to bring down the Corrupted Hellsky. So it was just sitting there with its leg-crossed, waiting.

When it saw that I was finished, it just smiled and hopped to its feet.

What does it want with me? I pursed my lips as I slowly descended to the ground. It wasn’t attacking me yet, but I knew that if I tried to flee, it would continue its assault. For now, I wanted to wait for some of my Skills to cooldown and buy time, so I spoke up.

“I know you’re not wild.”

It was a simple statement to which the Primordial Demon just tilted its head. Was it playing dumb? I couldn’t quite tell. I simply narrowed my eyes as I held onto the Infant Demon in my arms— well, my [Faux Limbs] arms.

“Why do you want me dead? I have done nothing against you, so you have no reason to attack me.”

The [Hellevil] just snickered as it pointed at itself.

“Reason? Me no need reason. Me strong. Me do what me wants.”

I narrowed my eyes at that. It was a very… wild approach at doing things. And yet, it wasn’t wild.

“That explains nothing. Why do you want to attack me? You can’t possibly want me dead just… because?”

As the two of us spoke, the Corrupted Netherskies above began to converge. Most of the wild Demons in the area had been killed. The rest fled the scene, scattering in the distance. I just ignored this sight as I focused my gaze on the [Hellevil].

It tapped a finger on its chin as if in thought. 

“You make me sick.”

It finally said simply. Rising to its feet, it pointed at me as it smirked.

“So me kill you.”

“That still doesn’t make sense.”

I shook my head as I stepped back.

“If I make you sick, then you should just let me go, shouldn’t you? Then you’ll feel better immediately!”

“No.”

It responded, rolling its eyes. I blinked as it crossed its arms and grinned once again.

“No fun. Kill you fun.”

“Huh.”

I stared at it, processing what it said for a moment. 

Then finally, I understood it. While it was fully intelligent, not needing to rely on its own instincts, it still seemed to be a slave to its instincts nevertheless. 

Was this what it meant to be a Demon?

Beyond being selfish, beyond being wild— to simply whimsically do whatever I felt like at that moment?

I mean, that was what my dad did, was it not?

He was the Devil. He never did anything unless it amused him to a certain extent.

The [Hellevil] was no different.

Manos was no different.

Even Haec was no different.

I was different because of my time in the Mortal Realm. So I had… forgotten what it meant to be a Demon.

I closed my eyes for a moment, before remembering something. I opened my eyes as I looked down at the Infant Demon in my arms. I recalled how I had been back then. When I was so small and so lost.

Before I had discovered what the world was like— how the Netherworld was such a dangerous place.

I had spent hours or days staring at rocks, before following the others. The Infant Demons I had encountered. Not because of any instinctual desire. But because of curiosity.

Because I didn’t know what they were and I wanted to learn more about them.

There was no instinctual desire within me that gave me curiosity. The others weren’t just a monolithic entity either. Some of them just ignored me, others looked at me with some interest. One of them even tried to get me to follow them.

Honestly, looking down at this Infant Demon in my flaming arms, she kinda looked similar to that Infant Demon I had seen back then. Even her eyes were the same color. Although I was sure it was a coincidence.

Anyway, that was not my point.

It wasn’t true that to be a Demon meant to be selfish. 

Because if that was the case, than one of the greatest Demons to ever live— and the first ruler of the Netherworld— would not even be a true Demon.

Because my father, the Devil himself, decided to sacrifice himself to fend off the end of the world.

…well, he wasn’t dead yet. But he was risking his life to protect the Nexeus.

Why? Was it because of love? Because of his regrets? Because he felt like it was his duty?

There had to be plenty of reasons. But the fact of the matter was that he had done it, despite being a Demon.

I wasn’t sure of the reason as to why, but I did know that this [Hellevil] didn’t encapsulate what it meant to be a Demon. So I just raised my head as I internally focused on my Status.

I had leveled up quite a few times from killing the [Cerberus Of Hell]. And thanks to that, I had a brand new Grand Skill Point. I hadn’t yet spent my last few Grand Skill Points, but with this final one, I decided to spend them all at once.

And I knew exactly which Grand Skill I wanted to add all three Grand Skill Points to— and that was my [Divine Essence of the Angelic Devil Princess].

Currently, it was Level 2, and I intuitively could tell that it would max out at Level 5. So that was what I did. I raised it to level 5, maxing it out as I distributed the rest of my other Skill Points, Secondary Skill Points, and Stat Points.

I was able to max out all of my Subspecies Skills, but my Class Skills still had plenty of levels to go before they were all maxed out.

Then I took in a deep breath as I raised my head, meeting the [Hellevil]’s gaze. It tilted its head curiously, seeing a new wave of confidence wash over me. It seemed more amused by it than anything, and I just grinned.

“I really would’ve preferred to save this for later…”

I said as I strode forward towards the [Hellevil], and it just raised a brow at me. 

“But did you know? Maxing out your Grand Skills means that its cooldown is reset…”

The [Hellevil] stared at me like I was an idiot, and I just grinned as I met its gaze, iridescent flames washing over me. But instead of forming a coat of protection over me like before, they burned sharply as I felt power coursing through my body.

Iridescent lines of magic ran through my body, covering me like they were veins. And I bared my teeth at the [Hellevil].

“So now I’m able to use my Divine Essence, and I’m stronger than ever.”

Salvos (The Enemy of the Demon King) (The Devil’s Daughter) (Immortalslayer)

Species: [Primeval Demon of Pride] 

Secondary Species: [Lesser God]

Subspecies: [Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 185

Class: [C-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝rr-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝pt-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝d Appr-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝nt-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝c-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝] - Lvl. 173

General Skills:

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

[Corruption Mastery] - Lvl. 1

[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: Demonic Essence Resistance] - Lvl. 1

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

[Title Skill: Invoke Wrath] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Influence Wild Demons] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Rapid Disengage] - Lvl. 1

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

[Racial Skill: Divine Essence of the Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 5 (Maxed) 

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 335 (+150) (+10) (+50) (+150)

[Strength]: 335 (+10) (+10) (+50) (+150)

[Endurance]: 335 (+10) (+10) (+50) (+3) (+150)

[Wisdom]: 505 (+40) (+10) (+50) (+50) (+150)

[Agility]: 580 (+10) (+10) (+50) (+5) (+150)

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 12]

[Angel’s Wings] - Lvl. 30 (Maxed)

[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. 20 (Maxed)

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

[Sacred Hellfire] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

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

[The Call of Armageddon] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

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

[Passive - Angelic Premonition] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

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

[Available Grand Skill Points: 3]

[Claw of Corruption] - Lvl. 2

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

[Soul Of The Primordial Demon] - Lvl. 1

[Unused Skill Slot] x1

Secondary Skills: 

[Available Secondary Skill Points: 0]

[Corrupted Draconic Fury] - Lvl. 6

[Cluster Time Dilation] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[Greater Teleportation] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

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

[Prison Of Isolation] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Riftwalk] - Lvl. 10

[Truth Divination] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Worldbreak] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Passive - Corrupted Dragon Scales] - Lvl. 1

[Passive - Corrupted Regeneration] - Lvl.1 

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

[The World of My Mind] - Lvl. 5 (Maxed)

[[̶͙̌C̸͍̆ǒ̷̲r̴͍̈́ȑ̷̙u̴̻̍p̷̓ͅt̵̺̐ę̵̾ḑ̵͌ ̵̝̾D̶̡̛ḯ̸̡ṽ̵̳i̸͖͛n̵̘͂ě̵͓ ̶̡͊D̶̗̔r̸̖͗a̸̜͑g̷͔̕o̸̰͂n̶͇̽’̸̲̅s̸̜̀ ̸͓̾B̷̺̉r̴͍͝e̵̱̾a̵͖͗t̴̬̕h̷̪̃]̸͓̀!̴̖̃ - Lvl. N̸̛̟̱̖͈̲͉̯͇̭͉̳͓͋̔̍͛͒̑͑̾͠I̴̧̢͕͈̜̫̪͉̥̹͚̞̖̲͕̟̒̅͂̋̉̀̑͋̆̀̉͘Ľ̸̬̭́̓̈̒͌̀͂̄̂̀͗́͆̌̆̚

I felt the surge of power overcome me— the boost my Divine Essence gave me was far beyond what it gave me before. But more than that, I also felt its cooldown had considerably dropped, while the time it lasted had drastically increased. I wouldn’t be surprised if it would be able to last for three whole days now, while only requiring three days to recover.

Previously, it took about four days to recover, but that was when I still had my corrupted Title which gave me a 50% cooldown decrease. 

Anyway, that was besides the point. The point was I was much stronger now in only a matter of moments. It wasn’t just my Divine Essence’s boost too. I had plenty of Stat Points and Skill Points I hadn’t distributed for a while. Distributing them all at once made me much stronger than I was previously, even before I had activated my newly-maxed out Grand Skill.

And face-to-face with the [Hellevil] now with my newfound strength, I knew what had to be done. 

It narrowed its eyes at me as it watched me take a step forward. No longer was it looking at me with mere amusement. It looked like it was starting to take me seriously, sensing the powerup I had just undergone.

It took on a wide stance, ready to fight. In response, I just moved, taking a step forward as I spread my wings wide. I flew straight at the [Hellevil] as it raised its claw, ready to strike me down—

And I just flew straight past it, flying away from the battlefield as fast as I could.

It blinked at me, watching me go.

Yep, I’m still not fighting that, I’m getting out of here!

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late chapter again. There are some errors in the previous chapter but it's hard for me to edit when I'm writing on my phone. So I will fix them all in a few days' time. Hopefully I'll feel good enough to get on my pc and actually work properly so I can post the RR chapters + the $5 tier chapters because right now it's difficult to do so with my current back problems. But I think I will be able to do so by the end of the week.

Read next chapter here