[Salvos] 765. Soul Of The Primordial Demon

[Salvos] 765. Soul Of The Primordial Demon

765. Soul Of The Primordial Demon

***

[Soul Of The Primordial Demon].

It was supposed to be a Grand Skill, which was supposed to be more powerful than an ordinary Skill by orders of magnitudes. And getting it after what I had accomplished by killing a Primordial Demon? I thought it would be an ability that transcended even my [My Flames Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends], which I considered my most powerful Grand Skill, since it essentially gave me invulnerability, whilst having an incredibly short cooldown between its uses.

But as I focused on casting [Soul Of The Primordial Demon], all that emerged was a tiny ball of crimson flame. It floated there, just ahead of the palm of my clawed hand. It was not even the size of my head— perhaps only twice as large as my fist.

I stared at it for a moment, expecting something else to happen. Because why would this even be a Grand Skill? I could create a ball of fire a hundred times its size with my ordinary Skill! 

So there had to be something more to it, right?

And sure enough, the crimson flame began to shift as my eyes went wide. I leaned forward excitedly, watching as it began to float forward as a surge of power deep inside me began to pool into the palm of my hand once again.

“Oh, something’s happening!”

I watched with anticipation as a silver spark flickered into existence at the palm of my hand. And that was when a second ball of fire conjured into existence, floating right next to where the first one was.

I stared at the two balls of flame, hovering right before me. I lowered my hand and pursed my lips. There was no discernible difference between the two, apart from their colors. One was crimson, and the other was silver.

“Is that really it?”

I blinked a few times. But nothing else happened. 

“Um, I mean, looks can be deceiving?”

I tried to convince myself that there could still be something more to this Grand Skill. After all, it was a Grand Skill, and it had a pretty cool name. So I shook my head and turned to a patch of tall grass a few feet away from me.

“Maybe it looks small and weak, but it’s actually more powerful than an ordinary fire— maybe it’s like a stronger version of my [Sacred Hellfire]!”

I snapped my fingers at the thought. That was right— that could be it. That had to be it. So I directed the twin balls of flames towards the patch of tall grass, hoping to light it aflame. But not only did they move at such a sluggishly slow speed, when they reached the grass…

They just phased through it like it wasn’t there.

Or rather, like they weren’t there.

I scratched the back of my head as I watched the twin balls of flame dance around, doing no damage to [The World Of My Mind]. Even if I directed it into the earth, the trees, or the rocks, they just phased through everything without causing any damage.

“Wait, maybe they can only hurt living beings— things with a soul! That’s why it has ‘soul’ in the name!”

I formed the hypothesis, before taking off in the direction of the corrupted section of my world. I landed right before the Corrupted Boulder that was just milling about, inspecting some corrupted flowers. It turned to me with excitement as I held up the balls of flame that was following me around.

“Hey, I haven’t come up with a name. But can I test something on you real quickly?”

I asked, and the Corrupted Boulder just bobbed its body up and down like it was nodding.

“Alright, so stand still and just let this touch you…”

The Corrupted Boulder peered at me curiously, but it didn't move as I directed my twin balls of flame at it. However, just like with everything else, they just phased through, doing nothing.

“Maybe it’s because you don’t have a soul. I mean, do you have a soul?”

I tapped a finger on my chin as I stared at the Corrupted Boulder up and down. Of course, it gave me no response. I tilted my head back as I sighed.

“Maybe I’ll have to test it on someone else. But wait, won’t it possibly kill them if it’s actually as strong as my other Grand Skills?”

I had the sudden realization. And as it dawned on me, I slowly turned to my Corrupted Boulder. I pursed my lips, staring at it as it innocently looked back at me.

“Hm, perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to test it on you if it actually worked… because it could’ve killed you, and I don’t know if I can even bring you back to life. Sorry!”

I bowed my head apologetically. But my Corrupted Boulder just tilted its body curiously, unsure what I was talking about. I drew back, spreading my wings wide behind me as it watched me.

“I’ll be back— and when I’m back, I’ll give you a name! But for now, I just have to figure some things out!”

I waved at it, and the Corrupted Boulder just raised a small tendril of corruption back at me, mimicking my gesture. Then I flew up into the sky, opening a rift back to the Netherworld. Right now, there was nothing I could really do to test out this Grand Skill.

At least, not without endangering the lives of others.

Perhaps I could find some wild Demons. In fact, I knew the location of one wild Demon at the moment— my clones were busy trying to figure out how to reel it in to do what I wanted with it. But it was… a bit too powerful for me to dare risk my life even approaching.

I had to talk with someone who could be knowledgeable with how Grand Skills worked. Especially at the higher levels. And the only person who I thought that could perhaps hold the answers to my questions was Manos.

Once I exited the rift, I found myself back in the cave, a few dozen feet away from Bertrugil and Sicar. The two of them were still chatting— well, it was mostly the former comforting the latter who seemed to be at his wit’s end for whatever reason. I flew down to the both of them with my twin fireballs circling me as they looked up towards me.

“Hey!” 

I called out, and Bertrugil and Sicar looked up towards me. 

“You—”

Sicar blinked at me, and Bertrugil rose to his feet.

“Salvos, is something wrong?”

I landed before them as I shook my head.

“Nope. I was just wondering if you guys have seen Manos by any chance? I need him to help check out these fireballs for me.”

I gestured at the twin balls of flame that were hovering just above me. Bertrugil and Sicar exchanged a quizzical glance.

“Uh, we haven’t seen Manos. But…”

Sicar spoke up first, before Bertrugil continued, scratching his cheek.

“Salvos… what fireballs are you talking about?”

And I blinked when I heard that.

“Wait, you can’t see it?”

The two of them shook their heads as I just paused.

“Huh.”

***

It was never ending. No matter how many of them died, more always came. Each of them was a difficult fight— tough to put down. But as replaceable as a common footsoldier in the battlefield.

Daniel Song yelled as he slashed another [Fallen Worshiper Of Hark-Oth The Old God Of Undeath] in half, killing it and halting its screeching. He panted, nearly doubling over as he watched the wraith’s body disintegrate into smoke. 

“They just keep coming… and the tunnel just keeps going…”

He gritted his teeth as he looked down further into the darkness up ahead. He could hear the wailings and screeching coming from down below. Then he took a look at himself. He was covered in wounds— in blighted spots that covered parts of his skin. He had been fighting for hours, trying to traverse to the very bottom. But even until now, it didn’t look like he was even close to his goal.

Shaking his head, he sheathed his sword— the Sword of Alexander.

“I need to take a break…”

He told himself as he took a step back. 

“Otherwise, I’m going to die down here.”

And with that decided, he headed back up to reconvene with the Watcher.

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the delays, I've been really busy with irl stuff. Hopefully by the start of June I'll be able to post 2-3x a week again.

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