[Salvos] 702. Wings (Patreon)

702. Wings

***

“Pathetic.”

Jofis held the flaming apparition in his massive clawed hand. It squirmed, trying to break free. It unleashed a dozen fiery strikes, but the attack simply bounced off the gray armor covering his body. His eyes glinted as a surge of strength washed over him. In an instant, his arm swelled in size, before he crushed the clone of the Enemy with little resistance. 

There was a powerful explosion that engulfed him. A detonation that he didn’t expect. But when the blast cleared, he remained floating in the sky, completely unscathed.

Perhaps he should have seized this opportunity to challenge the Demon King— maybe Jofis should have considered defecting too. However…

His eyes flickered as he looked down at the Twenty-Third Legion as they scattered, fleeing from the sight of the Winged Horror. And Jofis knew that this was a futile attempt at a rebellion. 

That it was all pointless.

“And yet, the slaughter of you traitors will serve a meaning.”

Jofis whispered as he raised a hand. A ball of black flames coalesced in the palm of his hands, and he bared his teeth.

“[Armageddon Unleashed].”

All at once, a powerful explosion erupted down below, wiping out the Twenty-Third Legion in an instant. Jofis cackled wildly as their deaths echoed in his mind, feeding him with the experience needed to reach the next level.

That was right. Jofis was not slaughtering these traitors out of loyalty to Regnorex. No— he knew that they would die anyway, so they were better sacrificed for him to grow stronger. After all, he was once the King of Hell himself.

And he was slowly working his way back to becoming a Primordial Demon. So that he could regain the power he had once lost. So it didn’t matter to him who he had to face— whether it was the Traitor, the Enemy, or even that annoying Fairy.

Jofis was going to kill them all.

Then he was going to kill Regnorex.

***

“Huh, maybe this Jofis guy is actually a threat.”

I placed my hand on my chin in thought. Taburas smacked her forehead, and Haec sighed.

“Salvos…”

My first companion muttered under his breath. 

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you this whole time.”

“I get that, but I didn’t believe you.”

I said simply. Haec pursed his lips. He looked like he wanted to comment. But Taburas was the one to speak up. She stepped forward as she shook her head.

“That’s besides the point. Now that you believe us, do you have a plan?”

The [Succubus] asked me, and I shrugged.

“Why are you asking me? I’m not the leader here.”

I replied. Taburas shifted her feet when she heard that.

“Because you’re the one who usually seems to come up with a plan.”

“But Haec is the leader. And he knows more about Jofis than me. Can’t he come up with a plan for once?”

I pointed at my first companion. He hesitated. A dark shadow washed over his face as she spoke softly.

“Right now, I think our best chance of defeating Jofis is if the strongest of us all coordinate an ambush on him all at once. However, there will be casualties. I cannot guarantee that all of us will survive this.”

Haec spoke grimly, before looking up towards Aliq and Ultis standing to the side with Bertrugil and Aemula. 

“Furthermore, I don’t know if our strongest potential allies will be willing to risk their lives for this.”

“Right…”

I nodded understandingly. I could see where Haec was coming from. After all, even though I had made a deal with the two former Deathsquad Hunters, I was pretty sure they weren’t going to risk their lives fighting against Jofis for me.

That left very few potential candidates to help Haec and I in a battle against the [Disgraced Hellking]. 

My brows snapped together as I recalled someone. I snapped my fingers and looked towards Haec, an idea crossing through my mind. 

“I know— what if we just get Hartia to kill him?”

“Hartia?”

Haec paused, before exchanging a glance with Taburas. She looked just as lost as him. I nodded eagerly.

“Yep! Since Hartia’s on our side, defeating Jofis will be easy!”

“I… guess with Hartia’s Grand Skill, we will have the advantage.”

Haec said as he tapped a finger on his chin.

“However, do we even know if his cooldown period for his Grand Skill has passed yet?”

“No, I’m not talking about Hartia’s Grand Skill. I’m talking about the thing he does, remember?” 

I gestured at my neck emphatically. Haec raised a brow, and Taburas answered for me.

“Salvos is talking about Hartia’s control over the collars.”

“Yep!”

I beamed as Haec and Taburas faced me. 

“If we can just get Hartia to snap Jofis’s neck, the battle will be over even before it begins!”

“That…”

Haec blinked when he heard that. And Taburas sighed as she faced him.

“Should I tell her?”

The [Succubus] pointed at me, and I frowned.

“Tell me what?”

“That that plan will not work.”

She answered simply. I crossed my arms almost defensively.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

I opened up a rift and pulled Hartia out from [The World Of My Mind]. The Fairy was cursing, raising a fist at me as I faced him inside his [Prison Of Isolation].

“Oi— you can’t just treat me like I’m some kind of toy! Don’t you realize how disorienting it is to—”

“Hartia, can you kill Jofis with your collar thing?”

I asked, ignoring the Fairy’s protests. He paused when he heard that, before his lips curled up into a sneer.

“Oh? So you’re starting to get worried about Jofis now, are you? I warned you, did I not? And yet, you didn’t listen.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Answer my question.”

I shook the [Prison Of Isolation], and Hartia yelped. When he regained his bearings, he glared at me.

“I told you: stop treating me like a damn toy!”

“And answer my question already!”

I pressed him impatiently. Hartia scowled, before flitting back in his chamber of corruption. He bumped into a wall of corruption, before cursing. And then he let out a tired sigh.

“Unfortunately for you, I cannot kill Jofis that easily.”

“What? Why not?”

I exclaimed, and Hartia looked away from me.

“For two reasons: the first is that Jofis’s collar is not located around his neck. It’s on his tail.”

“Wait, seriously?”

I narrowed my eyes when I heard that.

“That’s ridiculous! I thought all collars were on your necks!”

“Only for those who aren’t trusted by the Demon King. Those who are trusted have their collars in various other parts of their body. See your friend the Traitor, for example.”

Hartia explained, gesturing at Haec. My first companion nodded.

“Hartia is right.”

“Well… even still, can’t we use that to our advantage?”

I asked as I drew my lips into a thin line. Hartia closed his eyes sas he answered.

“But that’s not all. The second reason why your plan won’t work is because Jofis is stronger than me, that’s all. Even if I tried to break his tail by manipulating the space around his collar, the collar will break first before I can break his tail. That’s just how it is.”

I gaped at the Fairy. That sounded ridiculous to me. But Hartia would not have said it if it wasn’t true. So there was no point saying he was lying. 

My eyes flickered as a grim silence came over us. However, my focus was diverted elsewhere. I looked through the eyes of another one of my clones as Jofis rapidly approached her. She was ready for him this time, so he couldn’t just instantly kill her before she could fight back. 

I watched through her eyes as she unleashed [The Call Of Armageddon] on him. But he flew onwards, unaffected by the falling flames.

“So what do we do? Do we just give up and die?”

I asked as my clone battled Jofis. Hartia nodded.

“I mean, I did tell you rebelling against Regnorex is suicide.”

“No, it isn’t.”

Haec spoke up adamantly. He glared at Hartia, before turning to me.

“Right now, we have no choice but to just fight Jofis and hope we win. That’s the plan.”

The entire time we were speaking, my clone was trying her best to keep a distance between her and the Winged Horror. Unfortunately, her [Divine Haste] ran out, and Jofis caught up to her. She swung out with a [Divine Radiant Slash] which actually slowed him for a moment. But then he grabbed her and crushed her, snuffing out my vision of my clone in an instant.

“I…”

I trailed off, wondering just how exactly were we going to defeat the leader of the First Legion. 

“I understand.”

I finally said, meeting Haec’s gaze. He let a small smile spread across his lips when he saw my demeanor change— my panic was gone, and now I was calm again.

“We’ll defeat Jofis. We’ll come out on top. We always have.”

“A nice sentiment, but that is only a sentiment nonetheless.”

Hartia spoke up from the side as my eyes darted over to face him. The Fairy was sneering my way, his arms crossed across his chest.

“Unfortunately for you, defeating Jofis is the least of your worries. In fact, defeating him quickly should be your main concern. Because if you take too long, then there is definitely no chance this rebellion of ours will amount to anything.”

“Why is that?”

I asked, squinting at the Fairy. Hartia spread his arms wide as he replied simply.

“Because soon, Manos the Executioner will arrive. And when that happens, you will be totally and utterly fucked.”

***

“Sir.”

Manos raised his head from where he sat at the edge of the crater. Rising to his feet, he cracked his back and faced the approaching figure.

“What is it, Sicar?”

“A missive from Chordus of the Second Legion.”

Sicar said as he raised his hands. With a flash of light, magical words began to form in the air just before him, and he showed the message to the Executioner and the leader of the Deathsquad Hunters.

“She needs help dealing with defectors?”

“Defectors? Why is she asking me directly? Can’t you go and deal with it for me? I mean, you’re getting close to Level 190, aren’t you?”

Manos said as he waved a hand dismissively. But Sicar shook his head.

“I am Level 190, sir. I believe I informed you of this a while ago.”

“Wait, you did?”

“But that is not the point. I do not believe this problem is within my jurisdiction.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is more than a handful of defectors. It seems it’s a rebellion.”

That made Manos pause. He blinked a few times as he stared at the [Fiend] standing across from him.

“A rebellion?”

“That’s right.”

Sicar nodded in response.

“It appears both the Enemy and the Traitor have somehow found each other, and they have stirred up a rebellion by freeing many of the legions.”

“Wait, the Traitor and the… what happened to Venas?”

Manos asked with a frown. Sicar shrugged.

“It seems he’s dead.”

“Seriously? But Venas is supposed to be Level 185!”

“Level 188, sir.”

“That makes it even worse! How did he die?”

Manos exclaimed, and Sicar just replied flatly.

“We must have underestimated the power of the Enemy and the Traitor. That is why Venas is dead, Hartia is defeated, and over half the legions have been freed.”

“That is quite the mess.”

Manos rubbed his temples.

“Well, I guess you’re right, Sicar. This is something that is outside of your jurisdiction. Even if it’s a pain, I’ll deal with it myself.”

Sicar stepped to the side as Manos strode forward. The leader of the Deathsquad Hunters paused as he tilted his head towards the sky, seeing the black clouds gathered in the Demon King’s Domain in the far distance.

“A rebellion, huh? I’ve never had to put one down before. I mean, I didn’t think anybody would be stupid enough to rebel against the Demon King. Defect? Sure. Some subterfuge? Sure.  But a full-blown rebellion?”

He glanced back towards the crater, staring at the corpses of a dozen [Hellabominations], their blood pooling at the bottom. Shaking his head, the Executioner looked back in the general direction of the Expanse.

“I wonder how long it’ll take me to crush this rebellion.”

Manos bared his teeth dangerously as he spoke. Then he began to shift his feet uncomfortably., before facing Sicar. The leader of the Deathsquad Hunters cleared his throat.

“Now, Sicar, assume the position.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sicar said as he walked up behind the leader of the Deathsquad Hunters. Manos raised his four arms to the side, waiting with a flushed face as his subordinate grabbed him from the side.

And just like that, Sicar spread his wings and took off to the sky, carrying Manos towards the Expanse.

As they flew together, Manos sighed as he rubbed his shoulders.

“...sometimes, I really wish I had wings.”

Author's Notes:

What thonk?

Read next chapter here