[Salvos 625. Sparring Match (Patreon)

625. Sparring Match

***

It was going to be a duel.

Well, it was actually just going to be a sparring match. It was not going to be serious. Or at least, that was what Taburas told herself as she took in a deep breath to steel herself. She was nervous, to say the least.

She wasn’t even going to be either one of the combatants. All Taburas was was a spectator standing to the side alongside Bertrugil and Aemula. They were watching from a distance— standing as far away as they possibly could from Salvos and Haec.

But the pocket space they were occupying wasn’t a massive plane. Taburas couldn’t back away as far as she wanted. After all, she was about to watch two Primeval Demons duke it out in a fight.

For whatever reason, her nervousness was limited only to herself. Everyone else seemed quite relaxed about what was going to take place. Bertrugil just yawned as he leant back against the walls of the pocket space.

“This better not be boring…”

Taburas bit her lower lip. She glanced towards Aemula, but the [Fiend] actually looked excited.

“I wonder who will win?”

That was… a stupid question. At least, to Taburas. She admired Haec. She really did. But he was much lower-leveled than Salvos.

The [Succubus] wasn’t delusional. She knew that there was a 15 level difference between Haec and Salvos. Perhaps at the same level, Haec would win. But as it was right now, Taburas knew the answer.

She ground her teeth together as she glanced between the two Primeval Demons. Her uneasiness must have been obvious because Salvos waved a hand and spoke cheerfully,

“Don’t worry, Taburas! We’re going to take it easy, right Haec?”

“We are.”

The [Devil] nodded. Taburas glanced towards him hesitantly. It was strange to her to perceive him by his new Subspecies. For all her life, she had known him just as a [Fiend]. But now he was something else. He even looked different.

For the first time ever after an evolution, he had grown shorter rather than taller!

Taburas wasn’t sure why, but she felt off seeing him like this. He didn’t feel like he was him anymore. It didn’t feel like he was… her leader anymore.

She shook her head and dismissed the thought. He is Haec. It doesn’t matter what evolution he undergoes. He is my leader.

The [Succubus] steeled herself as she raised her gaze. She pursed her lips, watching as the two Primeval Demons faced off. And she waited for the duel to begin.

***

I grinned at Haec as I flexed an arm, revealing my claws. I looked him up and down, bouncing on my toes. I ensured that [The World Of My Mind] was as reinforced as possible, then I posed the simple question to him as I took a step forward.

“Are you ready?”

Haec nodded with a small smile plastered on his own face.

“I am. You can start whenever you want, Salvos.”

“Huh.”

I stared at him— I saw the confident look on his face. And that made me bare my teeth as I took on a wide stance.

“Are you sure about that? Because I don’t want this to last too short.”

“I’m positive.”

Haec replied, and I shook my head. From the side, Taburas, Bertrugil, and Aemula waited in anticipation for the duel to begin. I laughed.

“Alright. Here we—”

I appeared behind him with a claw already raised, burning with [The Holy Flames].

“Go!”

I swung down at the [Devil] before he could even react. I aimed for the back of his head, hoping to knock him out with just one strike. But before my fist could land, a white object sprouted from his back.

I watched with wide eyes as a spike-like protrusion shot up towards me, nearly impaling my arm. I flipped out of the way just in time as Haec pivoted to face me. He wore a devilish grin on his face as the spike poked out of his back like a massive horn.

“What do you think?

“What is that?”

I gaped, staring at the bone-like spike. Haec placed a hand on it as he shook his head.

“[Greater Reapershell]. I didn’t exactly know what it did, but I knew it would protect me the moment you got close. It’s pretty nifty, huh?”

He strode up towards me as I narrowed my eyes. I heard a whistle coming from the side. It was Bertrugil. He looked impressed as he placed his hand on his chin.

“Interesting. That’s similar to a [Hellreaper]’s natural defenses.”

Aemula glanced between Bertrugil and Haec. Her eyes went wide.

“Wait, are you saying that Haec is a [Hellreaper] now?”

“What? No— are you an idiot?”

Bertrugil sputtered and began to reprimand her, but I ignored them. I cast my gaze back to Haec with an amused look on my face.

“Huh. That is impressive. But I wonder… how fast can it react?”

I snickered as I dashed forward, sprinting straight at my first companion. Once again, my claws were enveloped by [The Holy Flames]. I leapt forward at Haec, laughing as I swung down at him. He didn’t even brace himself. Another spoke shot out from him once again, this time jutting out of his shoulder and curving around his chest.

My claws clashed with the bone-like spike. I didn’t hold back— I tried to break through it. But his defenses were able to repel my attack. I gritted my teeth as he grinned.

And I teleported behind him.

“How about this?”

This time, I went for a fiery kick. Again, it was blocked. And I circled around him, unleashing a [Barrage of Cinders]. I was relentless. I unleashed an onslaught of attacks from all directions. However, he was able to repel most of it as his body slowly got covered in spikes.

And as I tried to find an opening between his defenses, his eyes glinted. I watched as Haec’s gaze snapped towards me, before he uttered.

“[Hellish Reproach]!”

I blinked, watching as all the spikes receded at once. It happened so fast, I couldn’t even react. Standing there in front of me was Haec in a completely defenseless position. But his fist was raised and glowing with a red aura.

“I’ve got you—”

I started, thinking I finally overwhelmed him. But his fist moved so fast, I couldn’t even dodge out of the way in time. I barely blocked it with my forearms as I felt my scales crack under the strike. However, Haec wasn’t done.

He took a step forward as his arms blurred. I backed away, watching as he moved with a speed that rivaled even my own. He unleashed a flurry of punches my way as I barely managed to avoid each strike. This time, I wasn’t caught off-guard, so I was able to move a step ahead of him.

But that didn’t mean avoiding his barrage of punches was easy. I didn’t expect him to be able to move like he did here. Eventually though, his movements slowed, and I was able to disengage. I hopped away from him as I blinked a few times.

“What was that?”

I stared at Haec with round eyes. He took a step back, surprised by even himself. He stared at his fist as the crimson aura faded away.

“I… did not expect that Skill to do that. I knew it would let me absorb your attacks and redirect it to you. But I thought it was going to be more of a single explosive punch.”

“It was returning my attacks? That’s… like Ira.”

I narrowed my eyes as I looked Haec up and down. That was strange. I hadn’t seen him fight that much beforehand, but I didn’t remember seeing him use Skills that could deflect or reflect attacks thrown his way. That was the kind of a Skill I expected from a Demon of Wrath.

I shook my head as I dusted myself off.

“Well, you just caught me by surprise. And I’m going easy on you. So…”

“You’re wide open.”

Haec interrupted me as he slammed a foot on the ground. All at once, the glass-like floors of my pocket space shook, throwing me off balance. It was like a powerful waved just rippled across the ground, and I was hurled into the air.

Whatever he did, he discombobulated my senses. It didn’t hurt, I was just left in disarray. And before I could regain my bearings, I saw Haec leaping up towards me as the image of a [Hellabomination] echoed behind him.

“[Wrath of the Netherworld]!”

I couldn’t move out of the way. I could only conjure up an aura of flaming armor as Haec punched me with the strength of a [Hellabomination]. I was sent flying back into the ground of my pocket space, and the glass-like floors cracked.

Taburas gasped, Bertrugil winced, and Aemula cooed.

I blankly looked up at Haec as he landed before me with a triumphant grin on his face.

“You shouldn’t let your guard down like that, Salvos.”

“That was— like Zix’s?”

I shook my head as I picked myself up. I stared at my first companion. The normally gentle and soft expression on his face was gone, replaced by a more competitive and battle-hungry smile. He bared his teeth at me as he gestured for me to get up.

I wasn’t hurt. My flaming armor took the brunt of his attack. But I could only stare at him in shock.

“You’re… a lot stronger than I thought you’d be…”

For a moment, I lowered my head as I looked down at myself. Then I smiled as I looked back up at Haec. The flames coating my body flared up as I punched my hand with a laugh.

“Maybe I should start taking this a little bit seriously.”

In response, the newly-evolved Primeval Demon smirked back. And I charged him once again.

Author's Notes:

YO I HAVE BIG NEWS! For the first time ever, Salvos is finally going to have a paperback and hardcover version of its book released!

That's right! After nearly three years, I'm finally going to have a print copy! Unlike most other novels which just publish print books on Amazon, I'm going to be going through Kickstarter with this to ensure that it has the highest quality it can possibly have, rather than the shitty Amazon print on demand quality! I will have more details for it later when the Kickstarter is finally out, but for now, you can follow its pre-release with this link here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1943799137/salvos-book-1-an-epic-litrpg-fantasy-novel

The official launch for the Kickstarter will be the 17th of October, so be on the lookout for it! And even if you're not interested in backing it, I'd really appreciate it if you checked out the pre-release and follow it as it will support me in the Kickstarter algorithm! Seriously, you don't even need to do anything. As long as you have a Kickstarter account and click follow, it'll help me a ton!

What thonk?

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