Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

555. The End of the World

This was the end of the world.

No, it wasn’t the apocalypse that the Kobolds spoke of. Well— in a sense, it was the same thing. But it was also different. 

This was what the Dragons left Secely to fight against. It was what killed the Old Gods. They were supposed to be powerful— divine beings who had ascended just like me. But they had done so later than I did, meaning that they were higher-leveled too. 

So I had found it strange that I could survive the second layer of the Netherworld just fine. I had expected it to be a lot more dangerous down here. After all, this place was where my father’s kingdom was laid to die. 

But all I found down here were floating rocks and invisible bubbles. Storms of the void, and Corrupted Netherstructures. However, even though I nearly died from all these encounters, I still managed to put up a fight. I escaped with my Grand Skills— I overcame every single hurdle that came my way and reached the end as a single question lingered in my mind.

How? 

How did the Old Gods perish to this? 

How did my dad lose his kingdom to a couple of corrupted rocks?

How was this supposed to bring about the end of the world?

Well, the answer made itself clear to me now. I beheld it with wide eyes as it shimmered brightly before me. It shone with all the colors of the rainbow— and more. It was just like my Divine Essence, except instead of coalescing into a single concentrated power, the iridescent light expanded into pure chaos. 

It was the end of the world. It was more than just a few distorted pebbles. It was even more than a tear in space itself. It was—

An infinite wall of corruption.

It was an amalgamation of the damage that the world had suffered over eternity— the very edges of Nexeus itself collapsing into nothingness. At one point, there was a world beyond this twisted distortion. But that was no longer the case. Nothing waited for me beyond except for the corruption and despair.

I stumbled back as the ground trembled beneath my feet. The cacophonous chittering of the corruption blared in my ears. And it wasn’t a constant overwhelming noise either. It alternated between sounding like it was a distant echo to a screech in my head. It was dizzying. Like my senses were being messed with. 

But [Corruption Navigation] took effect— maybe even [Manifestation of the Old Gods] too. I regained control of my senses and took a step forward. And I focused my gaze on the only figure standing with me before the end of the world as everything shook around us.

“I am surprised you managed to make it this far.”

Belphegor spoke as he faced his back towards me. He stared at the end of the world. I could barely get a glimpse of his face as the earth began to crack beneath my feet. I stumbled back, watching as bits of rock and stone floated into the air all around me. 

I caught myself from falling, before looking back up at the Primordial Demon. I narrowed my eyes. I thought I was imagining it at first, but I was right— I knew what I saw. Belphegor wore a morose expression on his face.

It looked like he was crying. His normally blank expression was replaced with that of melancholy. He raised his head slowly, speaking in a soft whisper. But despite that, I heard his voice.

“You have done well. Very well. Very well, indeed. However, there was no reason for you to venture past the Gate of the Netherworld.”

Belphegor craned his neck to face me. I saw his eyes. And they were no longer the empty holes that I had seen before. Now, there was life in them. I saw a sea of color— a moving ocean of Divine Essence.

A single teardrop slid down his cheeks, and the globule of water shone with an iridescent light. I watched as he took a step back towards the end of the world even as he continued staring at me.

“Go back— return to the first layer. The second layer will not fall just yet. But it is falling. And I do not wish for another soul to perish down here in my damnation with me.”

“I…”

I stared at Belphegor. I watched as he shook his head. I opened my mouth, but a loud screech interrupted me. I braced myself for an attack. However, the air just ripped open. I watched as a ripple washed over space itself, before a scar formed just before me.

My eyes widened, and broken shards of reality drifted down from the newly-formed rift. Flakes of corruption began to coalesce around the warped space as I raised a clawed hand. I caught one of the broken shards of reality and stared at its ever-changing shape. First, it was a diamond lying in the palm of my hand, then it became a sphere, and it shifted once more into a pyramid.

I lowered my hand, ignoring this odd spatial object as I stared up at Belphegor.

“This… is the end of the world?”

I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Belphegor just nodded slowly.

“Why is the world ending?”

He didn’t respond to my second question. I gritted my teeth, even as the nearby floating rocks were sucked into the rift. I pressed him again. I spoke as I remembered the mural I had seen at the Prison of the Basilisk. Not only that, but I recalled the things that the Kobolds had told me back when I had not even been Level 100 yet. 

“Is it because of the Worldwalkers? The… Planeskippers? The Realityhoppers—”

“No.”

I named each of those who were supposedly at fault. But Belphegor interrupted me. His voice boomed, causing the rift to flicker for a moment. He lowered his head as he closed his eyes.

“It was none of them.”

He spoke as he brought one of his hands up towards the rift. The scar in space floating just above him continued to tear open wider— it began to ripple with the corruption, twisting like it was a nascent Corrupted Hellspace.

Belphegor sighed. 

“Perhaps it would have eventually happened— maybe we only expedited the problem. But this? All of this? It happened because of our folly.”

“Your… folly?”

I blinked. That didn’t seem right. That contradicted everything I’d been told by the Kobolds. Xidra had said that it was because of the holes in between the planes— that which was caused by moving between the Mortal Realm, the Netherworld, and the Spirit Plane. Not only that, but the worst of it came from the Worldwalkers that used to pass through the Nexeus… right?

Wrong.

“The Worldwalkers left. They left long before the corruption could even take hold in the Nexeus— they knew that if they remained for too long, their presence would lead to the destruction of the world.”

Belphegor chuckled as he shook his head. I blinked. I stared at him in a daze. I tried to work my jaw even as the earth continued to rumble beneath my feet. 

“What…? But I thought—”

“Did you really think that they would be foolish enough to bring our world to ruin? Don’t be ridiculous. They have traversed far more worlds than you can ever imagine— they know the damage they could cause with their persistent presence. They left. All of them.”

The Primordial Demon laughed bitterly as he hung his head.

“They knew better than to cause a world’s destruction— lest they could incur the silent wrath of the Arcraem.”

“Who?”

I narrowed my eyes. But then I shook my head. That didn’t answer the question. Belphegor was speaking cryptically— he still hadn’t explained what this ‘folly’ was supposed to be. I took a step forward, steadying myself even as the wall of corruption just ahead of me slowly edged forward, causing the ground to tremble.

“That doesn’t matter— if it wasn’t the Worldwalkers who caused this, then who was it? Why does the end of the world exist? Why does the corruption exist?”

Belphegor paused. He lowered his arms. His eyes fluttered shut and he turned away from me.

“Do you really wish to know the answer to that question?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, steadfast. My gaze bore into Belphegor’s back. And he sighed audibly— even amidst the chittering of the corruption. The rift continued to widen overhead, and more of the ground beneath my feet began to break open. The end of the world approached… but gradually. It moved at a snail’s crawl. However, it was moving.

And I waited. I listened. The Primordial Demon who stood before me withheld the answer for a moment longer. Until he finally raised his head.

“It was your father.”

He whispered, and I froze. I blinked a few times as Belphegor turned to face me, raising an accusing finger.

“Your father caused this, Salvos. He is the reason why the Nexeus is plagued by the corruption. He is the reason why the world is ending.”

I heard these words echo at the end of the world. And I could only stare in shock.

“What…?”