[Salvos] 658. Old Memories (Patreon)

658. Old Memories

***

658

His name was Hartia, and he was known as the Ruler of the Border. But that wasn’t always his Title, let alone his name. He had been called Basil once, and he had called the Knight of Ex. However, that was in the distant past.

Hartia had left it all behind long ago. No— he hadn’t even left it behind. It had been ripped away from him. So, now, he no longer went by either that name nor Title.

But hearing the question that was asked to him, it brought him back to that time that was so long ago. A time that was all but a flicker of a memory in his mind. But it was also a time that he held with scorn and hate.

“What is a Fairy like you doing here, serving the Demon King?”

Salvos asked as she floated just before him. Hartia gritted his teeth, before shaking his head.

“I am no Fairy.”

He replied bitterly.

“I am Hartia the Ruler of the Border, and I am an [Unseelie Lord].”

It was a declaration for all to hear. He flitted higher up into the air, hovering beneath the crimson skies. In the distance, pool black clouds gathered, marking the approaching start of Advent.

He glared down at both Haec and Salvos. The Traitor and the Enemy. Both of them stared back up at him in defiance. And Salvos spoke simply.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

That made Hartia pause for a moment. Tilting her head, her gaze bore into him with curiosity in her eyes.

“But I don’t care about your Subspecies or your levels. What is your Species?”

And her persistent pestering made the [Unseelie Lord] snap. He pointed at her as the world around her shifted. Space bent and turned into itself, forming a vortex where she flew. She blinked a few times as he snarled.

“Silence!”

Haec’s eyes went wide as he saw the forming vortex distorting her body. It threatened to rip her apart. Even as she spread her wings wide and tried to fly off.

“Salvos!”

He called out, rushing forward. And Hartia sneered.

“Dead Demons don’t deserve to talk.”

It was one of Hartia’s strongest offensive Skills. It took time to cast, which made it hard to land on a target. They had to be standing still, otherwise aiming for them was not possible, and it would activate way off in the distance.

But when it did land, it was incredibly lethal. It would crush his enemies and then rip them into thousands of tiny little pieces. It was difficult to escape once caught.

He had been preparing to cast it during the entire conversation, and now it had Salvos trapped. He was certain she was dead.

At least, until he saw her figure distort then vanish. And he blinked.

“What…?”

“That’s an interesting way to kill someone.”

He heard her voice echo from behind. He spun around with wide eyes and stared at her as she wore a smirk on her face. She raised a hand, creating a small vortex in her palm, a smaller and weaker copy of his Skill.

“Very effective to make sure someone is dead. But I feel like it’s a little bit inefficient.”

Salvos spoke casually, before dismissing the spell as Hartia looked on in shock. His mind tried to process what just happened, then he clicked his tongue.

“A teleportation spell, followed by a basic understanding of spatial magic manipulation. Nothing fancy here.”

Hartia shook his head as he scoffed, rationalizing her response to his attack. Truth be told, that did surprise him somewhat. He hadn’t expected her to know any spatial magic. All he saw was that she had a [Mage] Class at Level 149, and he knew that she was some sort of [Changeling].

But it made sense that she was capable of manipulating space. After all, she was the one who ruined the Grand Ritual Regnorex had planned to cross through the planes. Not that it mattered, considering he had plenty of fallbacks in place in the case it failed.

“Well, I wouldn’t really call my understanding of spatial magic basic.”

Salvos replied, feigning offense at Hartia’s statement. She crossed her arms across her chest.

“Sure, I am not a specialist in space magic like you. But at least I know better than to rely on offensive spells that can easily be countered just because they’re highly-effective otherwise. Like, come on. I have some Skills like that too. However, I don’t treat them like they’re a surefire way to win.”

“You really talk too much, don’t you?”

Hartia glared at her as he raised a hand. And large bits of rocks began to float into the air next to him as he aimed at her. She blinked, then bared her teeth back his way.

“Actually, I am talking just enough.”

She spoke casually, and that was when Hartia saw the glint coming from the corner of his eyes. He spun around, but he was too late. Leaping into the air was Haec, wreathed in a crimson aura.

“[Consecutive Fatal Blows]!”

The former Heir of the Netherworld yelled as his fist impacted the [Unseelie Lord]. It was a powerful strike. One that was strong enough to send Hartia flying back. And yet, he didn’t even move. Somehow, he remained exactly where he was as Haec’s fists continued to pummel him, dozens of punches with each passing moment. Until, finally, with the last hit, Hartia was sent crashing back into the ground.

He screamed in pain as he coughed up a mouthful of purple blood. He tumbled through the air, then caught a glimpse of Salvos waiting for him at the ground. She had her scythe raised as it was burning with crimson and gray flames.

Hartia spread his arms wide right before he reached her. She swung up at the same time as there was a flash of light.

“[Divine Radiant Slash]!”

“[Fractal Shield]!”

He conjured up a sphere made of glass-like panels, and it blocked the attack right before Salvos could strike him. There was a powerful shockwave that exploded out. A fiery blast that continued forward past the Ruler of the Border. The attack cleaved the ground open, leaving burn marks on the white earth.

But Hartia escaped the attack completely unscathed. He raised his head, glaring back at Salvos. She blinked.

“Huh, that’s a very powerful defense—”

“Begone.”

And she was sent flying back into the air by an invisible force. Haec shouted something as he leapt down at the Ruler of the Border. But Hartia expected the flank this time around.

Spinning around, Hartia flicked a hand to the side, and a giant boulder smashed into the former Heir of the Netherworld. The impact knocked Haec back towards the wall of the mountain, and Hartia rose into the air. All around him, giant bits of rock broke off from the earth, floating higher up as they shimmered with the soft magical glow of his space magic.

Salvos and Haec both looked up at the [Unseelie Lord] as his figure shifted. Space around him distorted, with light reflecting off glass-like panels that appeared out of nothing. And various images of him appeared into existence as though they were clones of himself. A hundred of them, all false projections. Illusions.

And his voice boomed like a cacophony.

“Now you will both die!”

All at once, the giant boulders came crashing down at both the Enemy and the Traitor like falling rain.

***

They saw the blasts in the distance. They heard the booming claps— like thunder. They saw flashes of light, and they watched as a hundred images of Hartia seemed to zip through the air, vanishing and reappearing with each passing moment. A pillar of gray flames ripped into the sky, and a crimson figure bounded from the mountaintop.

And even from afar, they felt the blazing heat. They felt the impact of every punch landed. They sensed the overwhelming magic. The ground shook, and they trembled in fear. Every single Demon in the coliseum had gone out to witness what was going on. But it wasn’t just them. They stood alongside the rest of the Third Legion, only able to watch.

“That is a battle between Primeval Demons…”

A [Fiend] whispered. Another Demon, an [Imp], pointed at the crimson figure leaping through the air.

“I recognize him. Isn’t that Haec?”

An [Incubus] frowned and placed a hand on his chin.

“Wasn’t he one of us?”

“He’s trying to save us!”

Another [Fiend] exclaimed. But a [Succubus] snorted and crossed her arms.

“Save us? He’s going to get us all killed! If we don’t help Hartia, we’ll all be punished. Come on, pick up your weapons—”

But right as the word left her mouth, a black blade swung up towards her neck, and she recoiled. The weapon didn’t behead her. It simply pressed against her skin as she gasped. The nearby Demons paused and looked towards the figure standing next to her.

Tor stood there with his eyes glinting, still facing the battle in the distance. He didn’t even turn to face the others as he spoke simply in a tinny voice.

“No.”

The [Succubus] blinked a few times, and the [Knight Eligos] continued as a [Changeling] joined his side.

“If any of you dare interfere, we will kill you.”

Then a [Fiend] joined him. Followed by an [Jinn]. And a plethora of other high-leveled Demons. All of which were gladiators who had been forced to fight in the arena.

Tor’s eyes glinted as he spoke for all to hear.

“Is that understood?”

And the watching Demons nodded.

Author's Notes:

Merry Christmas! A little bit late, but being sick makes writing hard.

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