Salvos

488. Wrath

“Keep the Demons back!”

Jaakko shouted as he hurled his kusarigama into the sky. With a tug of its chains, he yanked down a [Vampyr Bat] and stomped it beneath his feet. He looked up, panting. The hordes of Demons didn’t stop. The crimson pillar tearing through the sky continuously poured out these creatures of the Netherworld.

The Cyclops was getting tired. His injuries were flaring up. But still, he was motivated. He rallied the adventurers and soldiers around him, forming a perimeter to protect the refugees from Lunaris. After all, why should he falter now? He was getting close to Level 100. Soon, he would reach his next Class advancement. That only emboldened him to fight on.

“Jaakko!”

A pair of voices cried out amidst the fighting. The Cyclops kicked a [Hellhound] back and blinked. He turned to face his two teammates as they ran towards him.

“Zack, Helen.”

He harrumphed, nodding at them.

“I’m glad to see the both of you are alive.”

“We were in trouble, but Salvos saved us.”

Helena spoke as she cut down a [Hellbeast] with her short sword. She came to a halt next to the Cyclops as Zack backed up behind the two of them for cover.

“She really has a knack for timing.”

The [Mage] sighed. Jaakko shook his head.

“It is good that she saved you, however we need to focus on surviving. Zack, I need you to support those [Barrier Mages]—

The Cyclops started. Then his single eye blinked as he looked up. There was a powerful flash of golden light. An overwhelming blast in the distance that shook the earth. He stumbled back, and as did Zack and Helen. The trio looked in the distance as the flames vanished, leaving behind a giant column of smoke.

“That’s…”

Zack pursed his lips. Jaakko nodded simply.

“Salvos.”

Helen looked up. Her eyes flickered as she spoke.

“She is fighting someone. I can’t tell if she’s winning. It must be a powerful enemy if all her clones have died to it.”

The Cyclops grunted.

“And that’s why we need to carry out our part. Come on.”

With that, the other two adventurers nodded and got to work. They continued fighting off the hordes of wild Demons as a high-leveled battle continued to rage on ahead.
I looked on as the golden flames dissipated. My clone’s fire vanished, leaving behind nothing but a gray curtain that extended to the sky. The smoke slowly vanished, and I saw the shadow of a figure beneath the veil.

Ira floated there, panting and bleeding. His entire right arm had been ripped off, and his shoulder was bleeding, pouring with blood. The right side of his face was burned and scarred. His body was injured too, but less so than his face. He slowly descended from the sky, having survived the explosion.

I expected as much. I didn’t hear any notification resound in my head. And this was a Primeval Demon. He had to be strong. A single explosion from my clone wouldn’t have been enough to finish him off.

That was why I was already there, flying towards him.

His head snapped up, eyes growing wide as I swung down with my Divine Nebular Scythe. He was no longer holding onto his blood-spear. The arm that held it had been burned off. This was my only opportunity to finish him off. My weapon flickered as a black flame burned at its edge. I aimed straight for his neck.

“Die— [Radiant Slash]!”

I screamed as I swung down at him. His eyes bulged from their sockets. I had him this time. I was certain it was over. The blade drew closer. The scythe was just about to reach his neck. But at the very last moment, blood exploded from his burned skin. Black blood. Demon’s blood. It spurted out like a giant hand, catching my scythe.

I blinked as the [Radiant Slash] was stopped entirely in its tracks. Ira glared up at me as he raised his remaining arm and struck out.

“Nice try—”

It was a simple punch, but it hit hard. I couldn’t move out of the way in time, my weapon caught by the giant blood-hand. The single attack broke through my Aura of Greater Protection, shattering the invisible barrier and sending me flying.

The Primeval Demon shook his head as I crashed into the earth. He looked down at himself, then at his missing arm. He scowled.

“That will take a while to regenerate.”

He ran his remaining hand over his body, and I looked up. I watched as his burned skin rippled, recovering in mere moments before my very eyes. It was like he was pouring a healing potion over himself. I watched as the wounds stitched up, and my eyes narrowed.

“I remember hearing— well, seeing through my clones— that you had regeneration abilities. But that is quite slow, isn’t it?”

I got to my feet, dusting myself off. Ira raised a brow at me and snorted.

“My blood magic works faster than your Human potions. Belittle it as you may, you will still die here.”

He pointed at me, and a deluge of blood-projectiles shot down my way. I leapt into the air, zipping away from the attacks. They trailed after me, but I quickly lost them, redirecting the attacks to the ground.

Meanwhile, Ira just floated in the same spot, running his hands over his body as his wounds slowly healed. I frowned. I remembered hearing something about Ira’s rapid regeneration being a part of his Grand Skill. If so, that meant he wasn’t using his Grand Skill just yet.

I considered activating my Grand Skill right now to try and take him down. If I struck him with a good blast of Divine Essence, he might not be able to use his own Grand Skill in time to recover. Or maybe he couldn’t use his Grand Skill at all yet. How long had it been since he fought Orgaf? It was possible Ira had a super long cooldown period, after all.

I shook my head. It was too much of a risk. If I used my Grand Skill, then the Primeval Demon used his, it would only become a battle of attrition. And I didn’t think I was going to win that fight. I didn’t want to goad him into using his Grand Skill. Killing him as he was right now was my best chance of winning this fight.

I flew straight up into the sky as the blood-projectiles exploded beneath me. I swerved back, heading straight for Ira as he stopped healing his wounds. He raised his left hand, pointing a finger at me.

“[Blood Bath].”

My eyes flickered. I recognized this attack. I’d fought two [Changelings] who’d used this as a Combined Skill before during that Greater Vampire Families meeting. A black beam shot out from Ira’s fingertips as I gritted my teeth.

I teleported to the side at the very last moment, zipping away from the Primeval Demon. He aimed at me, and the beam followed. I watched as the attack completely ravaged the landscape around us, exploding and destroying a chunk of the city. I flew off as Ira laughed.

“You have no clones to play your tricks with now, Human.”

I could feel the intensity of the attack even from a distance. If he caught me once with one of his proper Skills, I was pretty much dead. The black beam dissipated. I watched as he unleashed another volley of blood-projectiles my way. I quickly circled around the Primeval Demon, trying to avoid his onslaught of blood magic. And while I was preoccupied, he began to mend his right arm.

I saw the way his blood rippled in the stump on his right shoulder. Strands of black blood formed like… they were being sewn back together? No— like they were veins taking shape. It was a slow process. At least, compared to using a Potion of Regeneration. But still, if this kept up, he’d soon be fully healed from all the damage he’d taken. I couldn’t allow that.

I quickly flicked a wrist, and my Divine Nebular Scythe vanished. Instead, a massive arrow replaced the weapon. The Giant Killer Arrow. I created a bow made from fire as I dipped down, avoiding the blood-projectiles passing overhead.

“Just because I don’t have my clones doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you!”

I yelled as I loosed the Epic Grade Weapon at the [Hellprince]. He raised his head, blinking. He smirked, continuing to regenerate his right arm uncaringly. The blood barrier surrounding him shifted, moving to protect him as usual.

“Do you really think that would—”

And the Giant Killer Arrow tore straight through the sphere. Ira’s eyes grew wide as the large projectile went straight for his head. He ducked, barely dodging the attack in time. He spun around, watching it vanish.

“What was that?”

“The Giant Killer Arrow. It deals a lot of piercing damage, apparently.”

I smirked as I twirled it in my hand. A volley of blood-projectiles rushed me from behind, and I easily flitted out of the way. I nocked the Giant Killer Arrow onto my flaming bow once again as I aimed at the Primeval Demon.

“You can’t hit me, Ira. You’re hurt. You’re too slow.”

I loosed the Giant Killer Arrow at him. He cursed bringing his left hand up as he created another blood-spear. He parried the large arrow, but it quickly vanished, reappearing already-nocked on my bow. Ira pointed at me, sending another salvo of blood-projectiles, and I simply sped away.

I circled around the Primeval Demon as he spun around, his gaze barely keeping up with me. I fired the Giant Killer Arrow again and again, tearing through his blood barrier as he narrowly deflected or avoided the attacks. In return, he sent blood-projectiles my way. But I always dodged his magic with ease.

He gritted his teeth as he ascended, the blood platform carrying him higher and higher. I followed the Primeval Demon, grinning at him.

“Give up? I’m not going to let you escape.”

I pulled back the Giant Killer Arrow as he panted. He fixed a glare at me, before shaking his head.

“No. I am not escaping. I will kill you here, Human. But I realized— you are right.”

“Huh?”

I cocked my head at him. He shook his head, raising his blood-spear. He pointed at me.

“It is as you said. I cannot touch you. Not in this state. Perhaps if I fully recovered I could. But even if that is the case, I can still harm…”

Slowly, he shifted the blood-spear so it was pointing past me. I blinked, not even turning around. I could already see what he was aiming at. After all, part of my gaze had been focused on these three figures the entire time, even in combat.

“Them.”

The baby Wyverns. Novis, Bellum, and Oriur. The three of them were still banging against the invisible wall of my partial [Fragmented Pocket Dimension]. Unbeknownst to them, they were in grave danger. They were still just trying to get to me. I gaped, staring at Ira in shock.

“How did you…?”

The Primeval Demon just scoffed.

“Did you really think you’re the only one who has any battlesense? I have been observing you since the very beginning, Salvos. Since I got here.”

He rocked back, raising the blood-spear like a javelin. I moved to stop him.

“I won’t—”

I started, but a tendril of black blood lashed out, knocking me back. And Ira hurled the blood-spear forward. It shot out, speeding through the plains. It exploded out of Lunaris, moving at the same incredible speed that could even intercept my clones.

I was half-way tumbling to the ground when I vanished, taken by [Greater Teleportation. Ira just sneered, using this brief reprieve to continue healing his right arm.
“Mama! Mama! Mama!”

Oriur looked on as his brother and sister continued trying to break through the invisible barrier mama had put up. But they failed. Of course they would. Unfortunately, Novis and Bellum weren’t thinking. The two were too anxious from being separated from their mama. Not only that, they were worried.

All of them were. Despite the fact that they were still baby Wyverns, they understood what was going on. They knew the severity of the situation they were in. They might not speak the same language as the Humans, but they could sense the tension in every room they were in. And for the last few weeks, they’d observed their mama throw herself into precarious situation after precarious situation.

So they were concerned for her. They didn’t want anything bad to befall their mama. If they could, they would protect her. But right now, they were too weak. All of them were. Even if Novis and Bellum tried their hardest to level and grow, they couldn’t reach mama’s level anytime soon. That was why Oriur focused less on becoming stronger, but more on learning. Understanding things— even if he sometimes had an odd way of studying, such as suckling on a rock to understand it better.

Still, he was smarter than he looked. He was more intelligent than he acted. And, right now, Oriur deduced that it was not the time to pester mama anymore. He’d seen the last of mama’s clones exploding in the distance, which meant mama was in a lot of trouble. He walked up to Novis and Bellum, pulling the two back.

They glanced at him, confused and angry.

“Why pull?”

Bellum snapped. Novis narrowed his eyes too.

“Mama there— mama in danger!”

“No.”

Oriur shook his head as he stopped them from pushing past him. He crossed his stubby wing-arms together in a Human-like gesture.

“Mama needs us safe. Mama cannot fight if protect us.”

He gestured back towards the city in the distance. Novis growled.

“Can help.”

“Can’t.”

Oriur snorted. Bellum shook her head, agreeing with Novis.

“Mama in danger. Uncle Willy not here. Need our help!”

“If Mama need help, don’t need our help. Only get in her way.”

Oriur might’ve been the youngest of the three, but he was putting his foot down here. He tried to push Novis and Bellum back, but they easily shoved past him. He fell to the ground, blinking and looking up. Novis and Bellum walked towards the invisible barrier created by mama again, trying to break through once more.

“Mama! Mama! Mama!”

They started again. And there was a flicker in the distance. Oriur’s eyes grew wide as he got to his feet. He barely even registered what it was. All he knew was that he could barely speak before it arrived.

“That’s—”

The barrier shattered. Oriur could hear the crash of broken glass. A blood-black object had smashed straight through the protection, shooting straight for Novis and Bellum. The two baby Wyverns couldn’t react in time. They looked on as the blood-spear came for their heads as if the world was moving in slow motion.

Oriur closed his eyes. He flinched, waiting for the screams of his brother and sister. His heart jumped in fear. But even as he waited, he heard nothing of the sort. Instead, he heard a cry.

“Mama!”

He opened his eyes, looking up as mama stood before them. An aura of flame coated her, and the blood-spear was caught in-place in her hands. Novis and Bellum clung to her feet, and Oriur exclaimed, relief washing over him as he ran her way.

“Mama—”

But he paused right as he reached her. His eyes grew wide as he saw mama’s face. He looked on as the wisping fire grew in intensity. The edges of the flame sharpened. It shifted in color as she took a step forward. First, the blue flames became red. Then green, purple, yellow…

An iridescent flame radiated from her. There was a wet splat. Red blood dripped from her chest as Oriur looked up. The blood-spear had partially dug into mama’s chest. Not too deep, but she was still bleeding. She pulled the blood-spear off, before looking down at the baby Wyverns reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, mama is here.”

She smiled at them, and Oriur blinked. Novis and Bellum froze. They stared up at Salvos as she smiled. Then her eyes burned in fury. She spun around, crushing the blood-spear in her hands. Wings made from rainbow-colored flames beat from her back as she rose into the air. Her gaze fixed only on a crimson figure far ahead in the city.

“How dare you try to threaten my… BABIES!”

And Salvos exploded forward with a burst of iridescent flames. Divine flames. She charged straight for Ira, screaming in a rage.

“[Divine Essence of the Daeva Cambion]— I WILL KILL YOU!”