421. Everywhere
Willy floated over Orgaf’s body, pouring green healing flames into the [Rogue]’s wounds. He lay there, eyes closed, having fallen unconscious after telling Salvos about what happened. The [Will O’ Wisp] would’ve preferred to have followed the silver-haired girl as she went to hunt down the Demons responsible for this, but Orgaf had been close to death.
Salvos did have some drops of a Potion of Regeneration left which helped Orgaf recover to a certain extent. But what Willy was doing was bringing the [Rogue] back to full health— so that Orgaf could fight again. And sure enough, the Elite Ranked adventurer woke up after a few more minutes passed.
Blinking, Orgaf sat up and cast his gaze around his surroundings. They weren’t in the destroyed landscape where Salvos and Willy found the Human lying, half-dead. Rather, they were closer to the city now. Just up ahead, they could see a massive battle play out between an army and two Demons.
Orgaf tensed when he saw the raging black flames, instantly reaching for his daggers.
“That’s—”
And he paused, looking past it at the three figures staring at him curiously. They backed up as Orgaf frowned at them, before glancing over at Willy.
“What are those things?”
He asked, pointing at the three baby Wyverns. At Novis, Bellum, and Oriur. They growled at him in response, slightly nervous of his presence. Willy just sighed.
“Unimportant.”
He floated up to Orgaf and gestured at the [Rogue].
“Can fight?”
“...yes.”
The Human man flexed an army as Willy studied his gaze. Orgaf straightened, his daggers flashing back into the palm of his hands.
“Where’s Salvos?”
“There.”
Willy replied casually. Orgaf narrowed his eyes as the [Will O’ Wisp] didn’t point in any direction in particular. Then the Grand Spirit of Diligence continued.
“There. There. And there…”
“What?”
Orgaf raised a brow, and he finally realized what Willy meant.
“Salvos!”
Edithe called out as she ran up to the silver-haired girl. Salvos blinked, lowering the Sword of Alexander as she turned to face her companions. Daniel and Hadrian were a step behind the redhead, both exhausted and stumbling as they waded through the ruined courtyard.
“Edithe! Daniel! Hadrian! Aman…da?”
The silver-haired girl hesitated as she eyed the former assassin lying unconscious on Daniel’s back.
“Um, is she going to make it?”
Salvos asked, pointing at Amanda. Daniel nodded.
“Amanda will be fine. She was in a dire state earlier, but thanks to my [Hero]’s Skill, she’ll make it.”
He looked back towards the brown-haired woman, shaking his head. Salvos sighed in relief.
“Oh, good. And for a moment there I thought I didn’t make it in time.”
Edithe just smiled in return.
“We knew you would. After all, the moment we blew the Enhanced Horn of the Caller, you showed up as promised.”
The red-haired woman was glad she had a friend she could rely on. There was no jealousy there, only gratitude. But Edithe’s smile and gratitude both slipped as Salvos shifted her feet.
“Um… I didn’t actually get to hear the Horn of the Caller…”
“What?”
Daniel and Edithe blinked at the same time. Salvos scratched the back of her head apprehensively.
“I wasn’t… close enough to hear it. I was, um, kinda far away from Alyras.”
The [Hero] gave her a flat stare.
“So, let me get this straight— you gave us this Enhanced Horn of the Caller, told us to use it to call for your help, then left us completely to fend for ourselves?”
She shrank back, averting her gaze.
“That’s, um…”
He massaged his temples, and Edithe couldn’t help but roll her eyes too. Neither the redhead nor the [Hero] were actually mad at Salvos since she saved them anyhow. But still, that was a very… well, expected thing for her to do.
“Where did you even go, Salvos?”
Edithe asked, shaking her head.
“I was busy, alright? It’s kind of related to the Sword of Alexander and how I got it, but there was this whole thing with [Witches] and the corruption and…”
The silver-haired girl weakly gesticulated before lowering her head.
“Sorry. That was kinda my fault, I guess. But it’s not something I can really tell you— right now, at least.”
She looked genuinely apologetic, which made Edithe feel bad. The redhead sighed and patted her friend’s shoulder.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it was important. Don’t worry, we aren’t actually angry. Right, Daniel?”
“Well, you did just save our lives, but I’m still annoyed you took so long. If you arrived a moment later, things might’ve gotten really bad, Salvos.”
Daniel shrugged, gesturing at Amanda and himself. They were in quite bad shapes compared to Edithe. Hadrian, too, looked very roughed up. The redhead got away with only a few minor scratches at most, fortunately.
“Anyway, I thought your Grand Skill had a long cooldown.”
Edithe peered curiously at her friend.
“How’re you able to use it so soon after our fight with Belzu? It hasn’t even been a month since then, has it?”
“Nope! It hasn’t. It’s only been just under three weeks since then. But I never needed a full month to use my Grand Skill. I only needed about three weeks thanks to my Title’s Bonus.”
Salvos answered cheerfully before tapping a finger on her chin.
“And then… well, I’ve been practicing using my Divine Essence over the past few weeks. I guess since I’ve gotten better control over it now, I only need to wait two or two and a half weeks? Honestly, I'm not sure. It’s always just been a feeling, and I felt I could use it now, so I did.”
She gave Edithe a thumbs-up. The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes. Salvos had explained to her how [Manifestation of the Old Gods] also drew from Divine Essence. That Skill gave the silver-haired girl extremely enhanced senses. Which meant…
“If you’ve been practicing… wait, are you saying…?”
“Yep. That’s how I found you guys so quickly.”
Salvos grinned and pointed at herself.
“[Manifestation of the Old Gods]. It works really well when I actually have my Divine Essence active, huh?”
“Wait, wait, wait.”
Hadrian piped up, waving a hand around. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to parse what was going on.
“Divine Essence? [Manifestation of the Old Gods]? What are you talking about? Are you saying you’re… like Mori Gladius?”
“Well, kinda? But I guess he had better control over his divinity.”
Salvos shrugged, and the leader of the Valiant Dreamers Company tried to work his jaw.
“Are you… being serious right now?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She cocked her head at him. Hadrian just gaped back at her. Edithe patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him that he wasn’t losing his mind as Daniel stepped in.
“Salvos, are you saying you can see everything that’s happening in and around Alyras?”
“I can hear and smell everything too!”
She beamed, before making a face of disgust at the [Hero].
“Honestly, you smell really bad, Daniel.”
He ignored her and continued.
“So you can see what’s going on with Lofus, Crocus, and Avaritia? What about what’s going on outside the city?”
“I just have to focus on it. But it’s all, like, there in the back of my mind. And it’s not completely overwhelming like before! So, yep!”
“Wait, so how are they doing? We need to help them. Avaritia… that Demon had—”
The [Hero] started forward, practically interrogating the silver-haired girl. Salvos just raised a hand, stopping him.
“He had the Boots of Alexander, right? Orgaf already told me that he was fast. I’d like to fight him. See who’s faster between him and I. Also— take a look at his Grand Skill.”
Daniel pursed his lips.
“Salvos, this isn’t a game. Peoples’ lives are at stake.”
“I know, I know. Don’t worry, Daniel. You’re always so uptight.”
She waved a hand dismissively. He opened his mouth, and Edithe wanted to protest too, but the silver-haired girl just spoke over them.
“I already knew that. That’s why I was prepared.”
Salvos puffed out her chest with a self-satisfied smirk.
“That’s why I already sent my clones out there to help out before I even got here.”
“What?”
Edithe and Daniel blinked. The redhead raised a hand hesitantly and asked.
“Help out where?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
The silver-haired girl spread her arms out.
“Everywhere.”
Zack looked on in horror as the dark firestorm incinerated a chunk of the army in an instant, burning through the collective barrier of a hundred Gold and Platinum Ranked [Mages] like it was nothing.
It was a massive loss, but no one could stop to mourn all the deaths and casualties being accrued from this battle. To think that only two Archdemons could cause so much damage— Zack was utterly at shock. But this only emphasized the point that Humankind needed to fend off this Demon threat.
If we survive this, at least. The [Mage] grunted as he hurled a giant boulder at the black inferno. But it just consumed his spell like it was nothing.
“Fuck… nothing we’re throwing at it is working.”
He panted, turning to Helen as she fired arrow after arrow into that ever growing abyss.
“We can’t give up now. We have to stop it so it doesn’t destroy the city!”
The two of them continued launching their attacks to no avail. Meanwhile, their leader, Jaakko just stood and stared, unable to do anything to help. Of course not. He was a [Warrior]. If he ran in there, he would die.
Thousands— maybe even over ten thousand— already lay dead from this battle. But what was worse was that it had only just begun. If it continued, there would only be more destruction and more death.
Someone strong enough needed to stop this [Jinn] from continuing its rampage. But Kaitlin Darkhelm couldn’t help. She was a [Warrior] specialized in one-on-one combat. Not only that, she was preoccupied with the other Archdemon.
And Marwin the Silver Swordsman couldn’t even get close to the black flames either. A terrible roar echoed with the wind as the black flames of the [Jinn] drew closer to the scattering armies.
Zack cursed as he lowered his spellbook, turning to his teammates.
“Nothing we’re doing is working. We’ll just die if we stand here like a couple idiots. Come on, let’s get moving.”
Helen listened, but Jaakko stood like a rock statue. Zack blinked at his leader.
“Jaakko—”
“Look.”
The Cyclops raised one of his four hands, interrupting the [Mage]. Raising his head, Zack followed Jaakko’s single-eyed gaze until he saw the flash of light. A deluge of fire crashed into the storm of black flames as a pair of glowing figures descended.
Figures made of gold and silver flames. Zack recognized them. He’d seen these glowing figures once before. Back during the destruction of Westshield.
“That’s…”
Zack’s eyes widened as he watched the pair of flying figures zip around the dark inferno, blasting it with their own gold and silver light.
“Come on, is that really all you’ve got?”
Saffron looked on as Avaritia laughed. He spread his arms wide, taunting both Lofus and Zin Norwood. The Demon had managed to whittle them down over the course of the battle, using his speed to outmaneuver them both.
Even in her bestial form, Zin looked like she was at the cusp of passing out, and Lofus’ Grand Skill had ended a while ago. Saffron wanted to help them. She really did. But she knew she’d only get in their way. She stumbled back as she readied for their clash once again, only for motes of gold and silver cinders fluttered around the young noble Vampire.
Her eyes widened as she looked up, seeing a glowing figure descend. Avaritia paused as he frowned at the newcomer.
“Who are you?”
Then the Demon squinted at her.
“You’re not… a person, are you?”
And while that might’ve been true, Saffron couldn’t be more than relieved to see her arrive there. To see—
“Salvos.”
Helena Warshade spoke simply as she eyed the three figures floating around her. Ira raised his head, his charred body already regenerating from the fiery blast they’d struck him with while he was off-guard. He snorted as his mouth glowed gold and silver.
“No matter how many of you pests show up, I will crush you all.”
And Ira exhaled. The Salvos clones backed up warily, but Helena created a barrier, blocking the attacking. Truth be told, she didn’t expect Salvos to show up. But even the clones were a great boon for the Great Tempest Archmage. After all, she could use their help.
Not with this Archdemon. No— of course not. Perhaps if Ira had undergone his Level 150 evolution… but for some odd reason, he was still an Archdemon.
Nevertheless, Helena Warshade could deal with him soon enough. Instead, she needed Salvos’ aid with some other task.
“I’ll deal with that Demon, you break the other Elites out of that dome. Is that understood?”
And the Salvos clones nodded in agreement.
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421. Everywhere
Willy floated over Orgaf’s body, pouring green healing flames into the [Rogue]’s wounds. He lay there, eyes closed, having fallen unconscious after telling Salvos about what happened. The [Will O’ Wisp] would’ve preferred to have followed the silver-haired girl as she went to hunt down the Demons responsible for this, but Orgaf had been close to death.
Salvos did have some drops of a Potion of Regeneration left which helped Orgaf recover to a certain extent. But what Willy was doing was bringing the [Rogue] back to full health— so that Orgaf could fight again. And sure enough, the Elite Ranked adventurer woke up after a few more minutes passed.
Blinking, Orgaf sat up and cast his gaze around his surroundings. They weren’t in the destroyed landscape where Salvos and Willy found the Human lying, half-dead. Rather, they were closer to the city now. Just up ahead, they could see a massive battle play out between an army and two Demons.
Orgaf tensed when he saw the raging black flames, instantly reaching for his daggers.
“That’s—”
And he paused, looking past it at the three figures staring at him curiously. They backed up as Orgaf frowned at them, before glancing over at Willy.
“What are those things?”
He asked, pointing at the three baby Wyverns. At Novis, Bellum, and Oriur. They growled at him in response, slightly nervous of his presence. Willy just sighed.
“Unimportant.”
He floated up to Orgaf and gestured at the [Rogue].
“Can fight?”
“...yes.”
The Human man flexed an army as Willy studied his gaze. Orgaf straightened, his daggers flashing back into the palm of his hands.
“Where’s Salvos?”
“There.”
Willy replied casually. Orgaf narrowed his eyes as the [Will O’ Wisp] didn’t point in any direction in particular. Then the Grand Spirit of Diligence continued.
“There. There. And there…”
“What?”
Orgaf raised a brow, and he finally realized what Willy meant.
“Salvos!”
Edithe called out as she ran up to the silver-haired girl. Salvos blinked, lowering the Sword of Alexander as she turned to face her companions. Daniel and Hadrian were a step behind the redhead, both exhausted and stumbling as they waded through the ruined courtyard.
“Edithe! Daniel! Hadrian! Aman…da?”
The silver-haired girl hesitated as she eyed the former assassin lying unconscious on Daniel’s back.
“Um, is she going to make it?”
Salvos asked, pointing at Amanda. Daniel nodded.
“Amanda will be fine. She was in a dire state earlier, but thanks to my [Hero]’s Skill, she’ll make it.”
He looked back towards the brown-haired woman, shaking his head. Salvos sighed in relief.
“Oh, good. And for a moment there I thought I didn’t make it in time.”
Edithe just smiled in return.
“We knew you would. After all, the moment we blew the Enhanced Horn of the Caller, you showed up as promised.”
The red-haired woman was glad she had a friend she could rely on. There was no jealousy there, only gratitude. But Edithe’s smile and gratitude both slipped as Salvos shifted her feet.
“Um… I didn’t actually get to hear the Horn of the Caller…”
“What?”
Daniel and Edithe blinked at the same time. Salvos scratched the back of her head apprehensively.
“I wasn’t… close enough to hear it. I was, um, kinda far away from Alyras.”
The [Hero] gave her a flat stare.
“So, let me get this straight— you gave us this Enhanced Horn of the Caller, told us to use it to call for your help, then left us completely to fend for ourselves?”
She shrank back, averting her gaze.
“That’s, um…”
He massaged his temples, and Edithe couldn’t help but roll her eyes too. Neither the redhead nor the [Hero] were actually mad at Salvos since she saved them anyhow. But still, that was a very… well, expected thing for her to do.
“Where did you even go, Salvos?”
Edithe asked, shaking her head.
“I was busy, alright? It’s kind of related to the Sword of Alexander and how I got it, but there was this whole thing with [Witches] and the corruption and…”
The silver-haired girl weakly gesticulated before lowering her head.
“Sorry. That was kinda my fault, I guess. But it’s not something I can really tell you— right now, at least.”
She looked genuinely apologetic, which made Edithe feel bad. The redhead sighed and patted her friend’s shoulder.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it was important. Don’t worry, we aren’t actually angry. Right, Daniel?”
“Well, you did just save our lives, but I’m still annoyed you took so long. If you arrived a moment later, things might’ve gotten really bad, Salvos.”
Daniel shrugged, gesturing at Amanda and himself. They were in quite bad shapes compared to Edithe. Hadrian, too, looked very roughed up. The redhead got away with only a few minor scratches at most, fortunately.
“Anyway, I thought your Grand Skill had a long cooldown.”
Edithe peered curiously at her friend.
“How’re you able to use it so soon after our fight with Belzu? It hasn’t even been a month since then, has it?”
“Nope! It hasn’t. It’s only been just under three weeks since then. But I never needed a full month to use my Grand Skill. I only needed about three weeks thanks to my Title’s Bonus.”
Salvos answered cheerfully before tapping a finger on her chin.
“And then… well, I’ve been practicing using my Divine Essence over the past few weeks. I guess since I’ve gotten better control over it now, I only need to wait two or two and a half weeks? Honestly, I'm not sure. It’s always just been a feeling, and I felt I could use it now, so I did.”
She gave Edithe a thumbs-up. The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes. Salvos had explained to her how [Manifestation of the Old Gods] also drew from Divine Essence. That Skill gave the silver-haired girl extremely enhanced senses. Which meant…
“If you’ve been practicing… wait, are you saying…?”
“Yep. That’s how I found you guys so quickly.”
Salvos grinned and pointed at herself.
“[Manifestation of the Old Gods]. It works really well when I actually have my Divine Essence active, huh?”
“Wait, wait, wait.”
Hadrian piped up, waving a hand around. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to parse what was going on.
“Divine Essence? [Manifestation of the Old Gods]? What are you talking about? Are you saying you’re… like Mori Gladius?”
“Well, kinda? But I guess he had better control over his divinity.”
Salvos shrugged, and the leader of the Valiant Dreamers Company tried to work his jaw.
“Are you… being serious right now?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She cocked her head at him. Hadrian just gaped back at her. Edithe patted him on the shoulder, reassuring him that he wasn’t losing his mind as Daniel stepped in.
“Salvos, are you saying you can see everything that’s happening in and around Alyras?”
“I can hear and smell everything too!”
She beamed, before making a face of disgust at the [Hero].
“Honestly, you smell really bad, Daniel.”
He ignored her and continued.
“So you can see what’s going on with Lofus, Crocus, and Avaritia? What about what’s going on outside the city?”
“I just have to focus on it. But it’s all, like, there in the back of my mind. And it’s not completely overwhelming like before! So, yep!”
“Wait, so how are they doing? We need to help them. Avaritia… that Demon had—”
The [Hero] started forward, practically interrogating the silver-haired girl. Salvos just raised a hand, stopping him.
“He had the Boots of Alexander, right? Orgaf already told me that he was fast. I’d like to fight him. See who’s faster between him and I. Also— take a look at his Grand Skill.”
Daniel pursed his lips.
“Salvos, this isn’t a game. Peoples’ lives are at stake.”
“I know, I know. Don’t worry, Daniel. You’re always so uptight.”
She waved a hand dismissively. He opened his mouth, and Edithe wanted to protest too, but the silver-haired girl just spoke over them.
“I already knew that. That’s why I was prepared.”
Salvos puffed out her chest with a self-satisfied smirk.
“That’s why I already sent my clones out there to help out before I even got here.”
“What?”
Edithe and Daniel blinked. The redhead raised a hand hesitantly and asked.
“Help out where?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
The silver-haired girl spread her arms out.
“Everywhere.”
Zack looked on in horror as the dark firestorm incinerated a chunk of the army in an instant, burning through the collective barrier of a hundred Gold and Platinum Ranked [Mages] like it was nothing.
It was a massive loss, but no one could stop to mourn all the deaths and casualties being accrued from this battle. To think that only two Archdemons could cause so much damage— Zack was utterly at shock. But this only emphasized the point that Humankind needed to fend off this Demon threat.
If we survive this, at least. The [Mage] grunted as he hurled a giant boulder at the black inferno. But it just consumed his spell like it was nothing.
“Fuck… nothing we’re throwing at it is working.”
He panted, turning to Helen as she fired arrow after arrow into that ever growing abyss.
“We can’t give up now. We have to stop it so it doesn’t destroy the city!”
The two of them continued launching their attacks to no avail. Meanwhile, their leader, Jaakko just stood and stared, unable to do anything to help. Of course not. He was a [Warrior]. If he ran in there, he would die.
Thousands— maybe even over ten thousand— already lay dead from this battle. But what was worse was that it had only just begun. If it continued, there would only be more destruction and more death.
Someone strong enough needed to stop this [Jinn] from continuing its rampage. But Kaitlin Darkhelm couldn’t help. She was a [Warrior] specialized in one-on-one combat. Not only that, she was preoccupied with the other Archdemon.
And Marwin the Silver Swordsman couldn’t even get close to the black flames either. A terrible roar echoed with the wind as the black flames of the [Jinn] drew closer to the scattering armies.
Zack cursed as he lowered his spellbook, turning to his teammates.
“Nothing we’re doing is working. We’ll just die if we stand here like a couple idiots. Come on, let’s get moving.”
Helen listened, but Jaakko stood like a rock statue. Zack blinked at his leader.
“Jaakko—”
“Look.”
The Cyclops raised one of his four hands, interrupting the [Mage]. Raising his head, Zack followed Jaakko’s single-eyed gaze until he saw the flash of light. A deluge of fire crashed into the storm of black flames as a pair of glowing figures descended.
Figures made of gold and silver flames. Zack recognized them. He’d seen these glowing figures once before. Back during the destruction of Westshield.
“That’s…”
Zack’s eyes widened as he watched the pair of flying figures zip around the dark inferno, blasting it with their own gold and silver light.
“Come on, is that really all you’ve got?”
Saffron looked on as Avaritia laughed. He spread his arms wide, taunting both Lofus and Zin Norwood. The Demon had managed to whittle them down over the course of the battle, using his speed to outmaneuver them both.
Even in her bestial form, Zin looked like she was at the cusp of passing out, and Lofus’ Grand Skill had ended a while ago. Saffron wanted to help them. She really did. But she knew she’d only get in their way. She stumbled back as she readied for their clash once again, only for motes of gold and silver cinders fluttered around the young noble Vampire.
Her eyes widened as she looked up, seeing a glowing figure descend. Avaritia paused as he frowned at the newcomer.
“Who are you?”
Then the Demon squinted at her.
“You’re not… a person, are you?”
And while that might’ve been true, Saffron couldn’t be more than relieved to see her arrive there. To see—
“Salvos.”
Helena Warshade spoke simply as she eyed the three figures floating around her. Ira raised his head, his charred body already regenerating from the fiery blast they’d struck him with while he was off-guard. He snorted as his mouth glowed gold and silver.
“No matter how many of you pests show up, I will crush you all.”
And Ira exhaled. The Salvos clones backed up warily, but Helena created a barrier, blocking the attacking. Truth be told, she didn’t expect Salvos to show up. But even the clones were a great boon for the Great Tempest Archmage. After all, she could use their help.
Not with this Archdemon. No— of course not. Perhaps if Ira had undergone his Level 150 evolution… but for some odd reason, he was still an Archdemon.
Nevertheless, Helena Warshade could deal with him soon enough. Instead, she needed Salvos’ aid with some other task.
“I’ll deal with that Demon, you break the other Elites out of that dome. Is that understood?”
And the Salvos clones nodded in agreement.
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