[Salvos] 632. Hole (Patreon)

Haec took in a deep breath as he stood before the war room. The large double doors were held wide open, waiting for him to enter. But the Heir of the Netherworld didn’t move. He just stood there, eyeing the waiting figures from afar.

This was it. The highest council of the Demon King’s Domain. Here, the greatest advisors and followers of Regnorex gathered to discuss their plans for the future. It was the first time ever Haec had been invited to one of these meetings.

And oddly enough, it wasn’t Regnorex himself who called for Haec’s presence. Rather, it was—

“Come on, boy. You’re too slow.”

A face suddenly appeared before Haec, making him jolt back in shock. He blinked a few times as the face retracted behind him, and he turned to face a frail-looking figure. It was Oracli— Haec’s mentor. And supposedly, the Wisest of the Domain.

He stalked past the Heir of the Netherworld, gesturing to enter the room.

“It is time for you to learn of our true purpose. No more mindless obedience. No more following orders without thinking. You shall learn, and you shall grow today.”

“Yes, Oracli.”

Haec nodded as he followed after the frail Demon. They entered the room, and the double doors swung shut behind them.

“You have arrived, Oracli.”

Regnorex’s voice boomed, echoing throughout the room. He craned his neck back and saw Haec standing there.

“I see you have brought my successor.”

“Indeed, I believe that his presence here would serve to be rather… educational, for him.”

Oracli answered simply as he took a seat. Haec simply paused right before the long table. He pursed his lips, sweeping his gaze across the many gathered figures here. He recognized a few of them. For example, he saw Hartia the Ruler of the Border floating there above one of the seats.

Haec didn’t know why the [Unseelie Lord] even needed a chair. But the Heir of the Netherworld didn’t question it.

That wasn’t the only person he recognized, either.

Jofis the Winged Horror sat there. He wore a cloak that obscured his face, only his black feathered wings were visible as he strummed a gloved hand on the table.

Levithus the Lord of Chaos and the Hound of the Demon King wrapped his body around the room. His massive size made it impossible for him to fit in a chair, but his head

Safra the Lady of Glory leant back in her chair, surrounded by her clones who were tending to herself. She fractionally glanced towards Haec, but otherwise paid him no mind as she inspected her long nails.

And lastly, Manos the Executioner. He was the leader of the Deathsquad Hunters. His four arms were crossed across his chest as he sat up straight, waiting patiently for the meeting to begin.

Those were all the Demons Haec had recognized. But that didn’t mean they were all the Demons gathered in the room at present. There were even more, but the Heir of the Netherworld didn’t know their names or their faces. He just knew they were important.

After all, each of these were Primeval Demons on the precipice of evolving into a Primordial Demon. They were the pinnacle of the Demon King’s army. They all exuded a terrifying aura that almost made Haec drop to his knees. As a mere Archdemon standing before them, the Heir of the Netherworld knew that he didn’t belong. Not amongst them.

“Come, sit here if you wish to listen and learn.”

Regnorex spoke simply, gesturing at an empty seat to his right. Haec broke out of stupor and nodded hurriedly. He bowed quickly, before rushing to the Demon King’s side.

“Yes, my King.”

Haec sat down hesitantly, knowing he was drawing a lot of attention from the Primeval Demons gathered here. A few of them eyed him with ill-intent, but he refused to flinch. He just sat there quietly as Oracli spoke up.

“Will we begin?”

“No. We are still waiting for one.”

Regnorex answered simply, and Oracli raised a curious brow. For a moment, the Wisest of the Domain wore a quizzical look on his face. But then, the door swung open, and he mouthed a word.

“Ah.”

Haec watched as a chained figure entered the room, walking sluggishly towards the nearest seat. The figure was wrapped in metallic chains from head to toe. Not a single part of his body was visible. He shuffled his feet as his chains dragged around him as the entire room just watched his slow entrance.

Unlike the other Demons gathered in this room, Haec sensed no oppressive aura emanating from the chained figure. He didn’t feel like averting his gaze, even as he used [Identification] with a raised brow.

But what Haec saw struck fear in his heart— even more so than any aura or presence could have done. Because—

[??? - Lvl. ???]

The Heir of the Netherworld couldn’t see the chained figure’s level. Even with his [Identification] at Level 8, he couldn’t see it. And that only meant one thing.

“A Primordial Demon…?”

Haec whispered. That couldn’t be possible, right? But Haec’s [Identification] didn’t deceive him. While he didn’t have a Skill that could pierce through any obfuscation spell or artifact, he felt like this wasn’t the result of any kind of disguising magic.

The Heir of the Netherworld was certain that this was a Primordial Demon.

“Now, let us begin.”

Oracli spoke casually as he leant back in his chair. Regnorex nodded, rising to his feet. He placed a hand on the table as he addressed the room.

“Salvation.”

Regnorex spoke as he cast his gaze across the table.

“Is that not what we seek? From the moment of our birth, we are thrown into a world of chaos. A world of death and suffering. But we do not wish to perish. We wish for a reprieve. We wish for sanctuary. That is why we have all gathered here. That is why you are all my most loyal followers. Because you believe that I shall lead you all to this dream.”

The Demon King closed his eyes, going silent for a moment. Oracli tapped a finger on the table and conjured up an image of a blue world.

“I have shown all of you my dream. I have shown all of you what peace truly appears to be.”

Regnorex continued, and Haec blinked. The Heir of the Netherworld recognized the images that were being projected to the room. He had seen those very same images while under the tutelage of Oracli. And everyone in the room seemed to recognize it as well.

It was the Mortal Realm.

It was a world without death. It was a world without suffering. There were no cycles of rebirth and destruction. It was so… alien, to Haec. But even he thought that it was a wonderful place. He was glad, knowing that this was where Salvos had gone.

But he didn’t linger on the thought for long as he watched the scene of the image change to that of a vast circular chamber. There was a large ritual circle located at the center— a familiar sight to Haec.

It was a summoning circle, and its magic was active. It probably belonged to some random Greater Demon living along the perimeter of the Demon King’s Domain. In fact, Haec spotted a [Fiend] standing there right at the edge of the ritual circle.

She looked like she was evaluating whether she should enter the ritual circle to the Mortal Realm or not, when suddenly a crooked arm pierced through her back, shooting out of her chest. Haec blinked, watching as the [Fiend] dropped dead, and a bulbous figure appeared out of thin air.

“Who is…?”

Haec stared at the strange-looking Archdemon, and Regnorex shook his head.

“Belzu. An annoying fly who thinks he can impede my plans. I have faced many foolish rebellions in the past, but not as bothersome as this.”

The Demon King almost growled, and the room trembled. Haec watched as Belzu grabbed the corpse of the [Fiend] and descended into the ritual circle to the Mortal Realm.

“What is he doing?”

Haec asked, eyeing Belzu with a frown. Oracli was the one who answered.

“Thwarting our plans, of course. Or trying, at the very least.”

That didn’t explain anything to the Heir of the Netherworld. But it seemed obvious to everyone else in the room what it meant. Haec pursed his lips, not wanting to seem like a fool, so he bit his questions back. After all, he seemed to be the only one who was speaking other than Regnorex and Oracli.

Fortunately for Haec, Oracli explained the issue anyway.

“With Belzu’s presence in the Mortal Realm, Humankind will be prepared for our invasion. Whether or not he warns them, I do not know. But they will know, and we cannot allow them to make preparations before we ourselves are ready. And we can’t just drag him back because he left quite a while ago— before the end of Desolation.”

Oracli shook his head as he turned to face Levithus.

“And this is why we shall be left with no choice but to expedite our invasion of the Mortal Realm. Before any Human [Heroes] can be summoned, and before they unify themselves under a single banner. By the end of this cycle of Salvation, we will have to complete the portal.”

Now that made Haec pause. While he wasn’t too knowledgeable about the grand schemes of Regnorex— because only those in this room right now were made privy to the full depth of the Demon King’s plans— the Heir of the Netherworld had always been under the assumption of one thing: that they were going to bring the Demon King’s Domain to the Mortal Realm.

It was what everyone was told. Everyone who wasn’t sent off to die in the Expanse, at least. So what did Oracli mean by… a portal?

Haec gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to speak, but he was also completely flummoxed. And Oracli must have noticed his confusion.

“You’re surprised, aren’t you?”

The frail Demon smiled mischievously. The image he conjured up changed, this time showing a scene from the Mortal Realm, before a rift was forced open in the middle of the blue sky, revealing the Netherworld on the other side.

“You must understand, our King’s goal is not to simply save those who currently live in his kingdom. But to lead all of Demonkind to true salvation. And the only way to achieve that is to create a permanent portal between the planes. So that any future generation of Demons can find safety in the Mortal Realm. So that they can take refuge from the destruction of the Netherworld.”

Haec just stared at the unveiling image of the portal. He thought it was an illusion— he didn’t think it was showing a scene that had happened in reality. But he watched as an army gathered beneath the portal, led by a man clad in an ornate, iridescent armor.

Regnorex clenched a fist at the sight of that man for some reason. The man raised his sword, and the army cheered as they all waved the same banner. They chanted his name as he took in a deep breath.

“Alexander! Alexander! Alex—”

And he swung his weapon up, the blade cleaving through the sky. There was a bright flash as his attack struck the rift. Haec flinched, before the rift closed.

The image vanished.

Haec blinked a few times, before looking back towards Oracli.

“Alas, as you can see, simply creating an ordinary portal has its flaws. It is wasteful, and with enough magic or power, it can be dispelled from the other side. That is why we cannot simply create a portal to the Mortal Realm.”

The Wisest of the Domain sighed as he waved a hand dismissively.

“So instead, we will create a permanent portal by tearing through the walls of the Netherworld and boring a hole through the planes of the Nexeus.”

And that made Haec’s eyes grow wide.

“What…?”

Author's Notes:

This was all supposed to be a single chapter, but it's taking a lot longer to go over than I thought. I've already split it twice with last chapter and now this chapter, and I still have another like 2-3k words to go before it's fully done.  Let's hope I won't have to split it again...

What thonk?

Read next chapter here