[Salvos] 762. Corrupted Regeneration

[Salvos] 762. Corrupted Regeneration

762. Corrupted Regeneration

***

After killing Chordus and returning to the Netherworld, I helped Manos talk down most of the remaining Primeval Demons that were in charge of the legions. As expected, many of them didn’t even fully believe in the Demon King’s cause— or even if they did, they valued their life more than creating some sort of paradise world for Demonkind— so most of them surrendered.

However, a few of them had still resisted, refusing to betray Regnorex. Manos dealt with them quickly. It had surprised me how easily he was able to finish them off. He hadn’t even needed my help. But he was somehow able to easily single them out and kill them before they could regroup and form a plan.

Then when chaos broke out and they tried to flee, he easily intercepted them.

I finally understood why he was called the Executioner— why he had been chosen to be the leader of the Deathsquad Hunters. I highly doubted that anyone would ever be able to escape him, based on the Skills he had demonstrated in that brief incursion.

Anyway, after that was over, we spoke with the rest of the remaining legions. Many of them had been unconvinced that they were actually freed, thinking this was a trap by Manos. However, after much talking, I at least managed to convince them to follow us to where the rest of the rebellion was waiting.

Of course, transporting them took a while, since a large majority of them were mere Lesser Demons, and they couldn’t move too quickly. But eventually, we arrived back at the base of our little rebellion.

Haec and Taburas had been the first ones to greet us. And they could only gape in awe at the size of the army we had brought back with us.

“You really did it, huh?”

My first companion said to me as he smiled my way. 

“You’ve already become far stronger than me, too. At this rate, you’re going to become a Primordial Demon before Manos!”

He laughed, and the Executioner scowled behind me.

“Hey— that’s definitely not going to happen.”

“Now I’m going to take that as a challenge.”

I grinned back at Manos. He just harrumphed and crossed his arms. Meanwhile, Haec swept over the new army that we had brought him.

“Alright, that’s enough joking around for now—”

He started, and I pouted.

“But I really think I’ll become a Primordial Demon soon…”

After all, I was already level 183 in my Subspecies. And while that was still technically a ways off from my evolution, I could theoretically be given my evolution earlier at Level 195. So that was only 12 levels away!

And ordinarily, if I was offered this hypothetical early evolution, I would have waited to see what other evolution options I’d be given when I reached a higher level. That was only the smart thing to do.

Once again, that was in normal situations. However, right now, I was at war with the Demon King. And he was a Primordial Demon. Even if I reached Level 199 and challenged him with Manos by my side, we would both get slaughtered.

The only chance I stood against Regnorex was if I became a Primordial Demon myself.

Or at the very least, enlisted the help of a Primordial Demon… I thought as my mind flickered to what my clones were doing.

But for now, I put the thought to the side. Instead, I looked up and focused on the conversation at hand.

“Taburas, inform the others that Salvos and Manos are back— and that they’ve brought backup with them. I’ll stay out here and begin organizing the legions that just arrived.”

“Got it.”

Taburas nodded, and I stepped forward, raising a hand.

“Wait, let me go with you. I need to find Hartia.”

“Hartia?”

The [Succubus] raised a brow at me, before looking towards the still-collared army of Demons waiting in the background.

“Ah, right.”

She nodded understandingly, then shook her head as she eyed my arm.

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe Hartia wants to… see you. Especially right now.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine. Just take me to him.”

I waved a hand dismissively— my corrupted hand. Taburas pursed her lips, but just nodded and gestured me to follow along. And so, we both headed back into the cavern as Haec and Manos remained outside to deal with the army we brought back with us.

—--

According to Taburas, Hartia was trying to hide from me, and he had even told her to let him know whenever I returned so he could disappear into his pocket space or whatever. Unfortunately for him, I convinced her to bring me to him before he could escape.

She brought me to the back of the cavern towards an area where there were a bunch of stalagmites and stalactites poking out of the ceiling and the ground. On the way there, we passed by both Bertrugil and Sicar who were just chatting with each other.

“...I really don’t get it. My boss makes no sense. He’s supposed to be one of the deadliest Demons in the Netherworld, but he’s just an idiot!”

“There, there. Everything will be alright.”

“Seriously, he acts without thinking— and he does things at random without ever telling me what he plans to do beforehand. I swear, he’s going to get me killed one day—”

“Here he is.”

Taburas said as she came to a halt before a large stalagmite jutting out of the ground. I raised a brow curiously, seeing nothing here.

“Where is he?”

I asked, and Taburas ignored me. Instead, she cupped her hands over her mouth and called out.

“Hey, Hartia! Salvos is back, and she’s here to see you!”

And right as she spoke, I saw it. A distortion that was in space. It was not like the distortion that was from the corruption— rather, it was only visible to me because of my own mastery over space magic. I was certain that nobody else would see it if they weren’t capable of using space magic to the degree I was able to use it.

At the very least, they’d only be able to see a small knot in the strands of mana in the air. However, even that was subtle.

I narrowed my eyes and leant forward to inspect the distortion. Then I heard a voice echo around me as a figure suddenly shot out and the distortion faded away. 

“Shit—”

Hartia’s tiny figure zipped through the air, flying up and away to hide amongst the stalactites. I perked up when I saw him, before shooting up his way. He barely even flew a hundred feet before I reached him and snatched him out of the air.

“Hey, Hartia!”

I exclaimed as I smiled at him, holding him in my non-corrupted hand. He cursed and tried to break free to no avail. I descended back down next to Taburas as he waved a tiny angry fist at the [Succubus].

“Taburas, how could you do this? You traitor—”

She gave him an apologetic look, but crossed her arms firmly.

“I am not a traitor. I did as you asked— I told you when Salvos got back. That’s exactly what I did.”

With a shrug, the [Succubus] turned and walked away as Hartia grumbled something inaudibly to himself. I held the Fairy up and turned him to face me once she was gone.

“What do you want?”

He demanded as he scowled, and I just nodded at him.

“So I need your help. First of all, Manos and I are back with the rest of the legions, and we need your help de-collaring them.”

“Of course, of course. Just let me go and I’ll get right on that.”

Hartia said as he tried to wriggle free from my hand. I shook my head as I lifted my other hand.

“Nope— because the second thing I need you to do is take a look at this.”

And as I spoke, I flexed my corrupted arm. Hartia’s eyes went wide when he saw that.

“What… is that? No— what is wrong with you?”

He exclaimed as he gaped at my corrupted arm. I tilted my head back at him.

“Well, I lost my arm during my fight with Chordus. And then thanks to [Corrupted Regeneration], I grew this back.”

I looked down at myself. It was strange. Because right now, my arm was no longer made out of skin and scales. Instead, it was made from rock and dirt, held together by the corruption. And yet, it felt just like a normal arm. Like nothing had even happened to it.

“And since you’re a lot more well-versed in space magic than me, I was wondering if you know if this would have any negative side effects?”

“You’re asking me if this would have any negative side effects?!”

Hartia stared at me, and I just nodded.

“Yep.”

He tried to work his jaw, before shaking his head.

“That’s like asking me if I stabbed you in the chest, whether you’d bleed— of course there would be negative side effects!”

“Well, what kind of negative side effects will there be?”

I asked, eyeing him curiously. He crossed his arms and raised his head.

“I won’t tell you unless you let me go.”

“Fine.”

I sighed and weakened my grip. He flew back away from me, before dusting himself off. He looked like he was a noble who had just been touched by a beggar— he was checking his entire body like I somehow contaminated him with my corruption. 

When he was certain he was fine, he turned to me and scoffed. he pointed my way.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s called the corruption. It’s going to take over your body, and you’re going to die. That’s what's going to happen!”

“Wait, but how do you know that for sure—”

I started, and Hartia flew away, heading in the direction of the exit of the cave.

“If you don’t believe me? Go ahead and risk your own life! For now, I have to de-collar an army! Bye!”

And I pursed my lips, watching him go.

“Will that really happen?”

I wondered as I looked down at myself, before shaking my head. Right now, [Corrupted Regeneration] was helping me— if it was going to kill me, it would be slowly, over time. But if I fought the Demon King one-handed, even as a Primordial Demon, I was going to die that instant.

I’d need to find a way to stop this [Corrupted Regeneration] from causing more harm to me in the future. For now, there were other matters I had to attend to.

For example, I still had some Grand Skill Points to spend.

Salvos (The Enemy of the Demon King) (The Devil’s Daughter) (Immortalslayer)

Species: [Primeval Demon of Pride] 

Secondary Species: [Lesser God]

Subspecies: [Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 183

Class: [C-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝rr-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝pt-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝d Appr-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝nt-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝c-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝] - Lvl. 171

General Skills:

[Advanced Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Corruption Mastery] - Lvl. 1

[Identification] - Lvl. 6

[Racial Skill: True Divinity] - Lvl. 1 (Maxed)

[Racial Skill: Universal Language Comprehension] - Lvl. 2

[Rest] - Lvl. 5

[Wisdom of the Old Gods] - Lvl. 5

[Title Skill: Demonic Essence Resistance] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: General Status Effect Resistance] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Invoke Wrath] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Influence Wild Demons] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: Rapid Disengage] - Lvl. 1

[Title Skill: The Devil’s Grace] - Lvl. 1 

[Racial Skill: Divine Essence of the Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 2 

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 45]

[Vitality]: 330 (+150) (+10) (+50) (+100)

[Strength]: 330 (+10) (+10) (+50) (+100)

[Endurance]: 330 (+10) (+10) (+50) (+3) (+100)

[Wisdom]: 500 (+40) (+10) (+50) (+50) (+100)

[Agility]: 545 (+10) (+10) (+50) (+5) (+100)

Skills:

[Available Skill Points: 33]

[Angel’s Wings] - Lvl. 20

[Barrage of Cinders] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Divine Demon’s Mark] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Divine Haste] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Intimidation] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Faux Limbs] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

[Divine Nebular Construct] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

[Divine Strike] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Divine Radiant Slash] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[Sacred Hellfire] - Lvl. 18

[Salvo of Vanity] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)

[The Call of Armageddon] - Lvl. 15

[The Holy Flames] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Passive - Angelic Premonition] - Lvl. 15

[Passive - Weapon Mastery] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Available Grand Skill Points: 5]

[Claw of Corruption] - Lvl. 2

[My Flame Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends] - Lvl. 3 (Maxed)

[Soul Of The Primordial Demon] - Lvl. 1

[Unused Skill Slot] x1

Secondary Skills: 

[Available Secondary Skill Points: 26]

[Corrupted Draconic Fury] - Lvl. 1

[Cluster Time Dilation] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[Greater Teleportation] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)

[Manifestation of the Old Gods] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Prison Of Isolation] - Lvl. 17

[Riftwalk] - Lvl. 2

[Truth Divination] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)

[Worldbreak] - Lvl. 6

[Passive - Corrupted Dragon Scales] - Lvl. 1

[Passive - Corrupted Regeneration] - Lvl.1 

[Passive - Master of Material Manipulation] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)

[The World of My Mind] - Lvl. 2

[[̶͙̌C̸͍̆ǒ̷̲r̴͍̈́ȑ̷̙u̴̻̍p̷̓ͅt̵̺̐ę̵̾ḑ̵͌ ̵̝̾D̶̡̛ḯ̸̡ṽ̵̳i̸͖͛n̵̘͂ě̵͓ ̶̡͊D̶̗̔r̸̖͗a̸̜͑g̷͔̕o̸̰͂n̶͇̽’̸̲̅s̸̜̀ ̸͓̾B̷̺̉r̴͍͝e̵̱̾a̵͖͗t̴̬̕h̷̪̃]̸͓̀!̴̖̃ - Lvl. N̸̛̟̱̖͈̲͉̯͇̭͉̳͓͋̔̍͛͒̑͑̾͠I̴̧̢͕͈̜̫̪͉̥̹͚̞̖̲͕̟̒̅͂̋̉̀̑͋̆̀̉͘Ľ̸̬̭́̓̈̒͌̀͂̄̂̀͗́͆̌̆̚

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delays. I made a last minute trip to a nearby country to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in nine years because he was going to be in the area.

Also: Salvos book 14 is now up on Amazon, but so free readers can actually read the chapters on RR, it's non-KU for now. Check it out and give it a rating! https://www.amazon.com/Sacrifices-LitRPG-Adventure-Salvos-Book-ebook/dp/B0DNFKQ25Z

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