Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

557. The World Of His Mind Part Two

“Ridiculous— that’s absolutely ridiculous! Become gods? Create a new plane? Who do you think you are? You’re a mere Greater Demon!”

Belphegor sputtered, pointing accusingly at Samuel. And yet, the gangly [Fiend]’s smile never vanished from his face. He was being serious. He genuinely believed the words he said, despite how asinine they were. 

It went beyond a mere dream. It was pure insanity. Belphegor himself had his own aspirations before— some of which never seemed like they were feasible. He had thought of one day crossing the planes. He believed he could escape from this grueling life of survival.  

But he never once had such a foolish, insane thought. Not just to become a god himself, but for everyone to become a god? It was no ambition. It was a delusion.

“You are nothing. How can a Greater Demon like you possibly hope to lead all of Demonkind to apotheosis?”

Belphegor snarled, gesturing towards the sky. Somewhere, out there, a Worldwalker roamed the heavens, uncaring of the desolation wrought in the Netherworld beneath. 

Samuel just smiled in response.

“Yet, I was not always a Greater Demon. I was a Lesser Demon once— an Infant Demon before that. We all start from nothing, and that is why we can become everything.”

“That’s insane! You’re insane! You are as foolish as a wild Demon!”

Belphegor raised his claws. He took a wide stance, ready to do battle with this insane [Fiend]. But Samuel simply lowered his flaming spear, dropping it to the ground.

“Perhaps I am foolish, but if those Worldwalkers who plague our skies can exceed the bounds of their homes and enter ours, should we not be able to walk other worlds too?”

The gangly [Fiend] took a step back. He raised his head towards the shorn sky of Revelation and he took in a deep breath. 

“You say that I am nothing, and maybe I am. However, aren’t we all nothing outside of our own minds? We are only worth what we think of ourselves! So we should strive to achieve our dreams— we should strive to become something more!”

“You will die trying, you damn fool.”

Belphegor swung out with a claw, but Samuel just took a step back. He easily dodged the swing, however he refused to land a counterattack. Instead, as Belphegor spun around, Samuel simply proffered his hand once more. 

“Perhaps I will die.”

Samuel shook his head as Belphegor hesitated.

“But what is wrong with that? I would die trying to achieve my dreams. There is no shame in death.”

The gangly [Fiend] took a step back and closed his eyes.

“After all, even gods die. Even Worldwalkers can be killed. Nothing— no one— is safe from death.”

“What?”

Belphegor paused. He narrowed his eyes at Samuel.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh?”

Samuel just smirked, looking back down to face Belphegor.

“Are you telling me you have never witnessed the death of a Worldwalker?”

“The death of a…? No— that’s impossible. They are far more powerful than even the greatest Archdemons!”

“But it’s true.”

Samuel’s lips twisted into a smile. He leaned forward as Belphegor backed up, wide-eyed.

“I know it’s true— because I was the one who killed her.”

“That’s…”

“Even gods could die, so there was no reason why we could not become gods ourselves. At least, that was what I told myself when I saw the body.”

Belphegor opened his eyes as he recounted his first meeting with the Devil King. Salvos just blinked, standing in shock before him as the ground shook and crumbled. A rift continued to form just overhead, but neither of the two lone Demons in the second layer of the Netherworld paid attention to anything but each other

“The body? What body?”

Salvos asked as she narrowed her eyes. Belphegor remembered the crater— he recalled the lifeless body like he had just seen it for the very first time. The lifeless eyes. The dried blood. 

“It was the corpse of the Worldwalker your father had killed. It never vanished— it remained, even as the natural cycles of the Netherworld continued. The body was left there to remind us of our ambitions.”

Belphegor sighed as he craned his neck back, hanging his head. He stared up at the rift as Salvos just pursed her lips. The corruption continued to coalesce, containing the torn space.

“Then what happened?”

She finally asked. She gestured around the ruins of a vast city.

“Was this… built by my dad?”

“Yes.”

Belphegor replied softly. He spread his arms wide, laughing as he spun around. He remembered the city that teemed with life. The sanctuary that saved hundreds of millions of Demons from the hellish world above.

“This city— it took hundreds of cycles. But we built it from nothing. We created this safe haven for our people. And it was beautiful.”

A single teardrop slid down Belphegor’s cheeks. He saw a vision— no longer that of tall, looming structures. Instead, he saw faces. He heard laughter in the distance. The chittering vanished, and the corruption faded away.

“We have finally conquered the second layer.”

Focalor guffawed as he spun around. He spread his arms wide, shouting for all to hear.

“We are gods! We have truly become gods— even the Worldwalkers will fear us now!”

His legion of followers cheered with him. They danced together in celebration. But Astaroth just shook her head and started forward.

“Now— let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We still have five more layers to traverse.”

She grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him away from his followers. They jeered in response, but Focalor just waved a hand off dismissively.

“Come on, that’s easy! The second layer barely had any wild Demons down here. And it’s not like the world itself is trying to kill us like during Revelation.”

“We don’t know what the third layer could hold for us. Now shut up— you’re being too loud.”

She rolled her eyes. But he just swept into a bow, taking her by the hands.

“Lighten up a little, Astaroth. Don’t you want to dance with me?”

“Wha—”

“He’s right, Astaroth! Dance with him!”

Vepar shouted from the side. He grinned, before wincing as Agnares elbowed him. She scowled back at her twin.

“Don’t encourage Focalor.”

“I was just—” 

Belphegor and Samuel both watched this scene from a distance. They looked on as their friends celebrated. But neither of them joined in. They just accompanied each other, speaking softly amongst themselves.

“It appears that your dreams are coming true as you said, my King.”

“Please, Belphegor. You know better than to call me that when we’re alone together.”

Samuel chuckled lightly in response. He leant back, before looking towards a pit in the far distance— one that had been dug up by a giant undulating creature. A wild Primordial Demon. It would have destroyed the entire kingdom had it not been slain here and now. Even though they were mere Primeval Demons, they still won. They slew the [World Serpent], and now they had found a path to the third layer.

It was the very same pit the [World Serpent] had fallen back into when it had been defeated. A deep darkness at the very end of the second layer— leading further down to what seemed like an entirely different world. What awaited them down there? No one knew. But they had to be ready.

Samuel shook his head before turning back to face Belphegor.

“And you know that this is not just my dream. It is our dream.”

Belphegor blinked as Samuel spoke. The Devil King held his gaze. He stared deep into those eyes, entranced for a moment.

“Samuel…”

But Samuel turned away, gesturing towards the city in the far distance. And he stared at his kingdom. He took in his people. He just smiled.

“This dream— it belongs to all of us. None of this would have been possible if not for every single one of my people banding together to achieve this.”

“R-right.” 

Belphegor cleared his throat. Samuel didn’t notice the way Belphegor shuffled his feet uncomfortably. But it did not matter. Instead, the Devil King just sighed wistfully as he raised his head.

“We have come so far… even the Worldwalkers have started to take notice of us.”

“Wait, what?”

Belphegor blinked. And Samuel shook his head apologetically.

“I am sorry for not telling this earlier, but it happened just before we left to fight the [World Serpent]. A Worldwalker showed himself to me. He spoke to him, and he offered me his help.”

“His… help? Wait, who is this Worldwalker, Samuel?”

“He called himself the Trickster.”

Samuel replied simply. 

“And he said he could help me achieve my final dream.”

“What…?”

“I should have said something. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted that Worldwalker. There was no reason for him to help us, but he did. And we suffered the consequences for it.”

Belphegor spoke through gritted teeth as Salvos just looked on. She didn’t move. She didn’t take a step forward. She didn’t even lower her head in despair. She just held Belphegor’s gaze, before shaking her head.

“What happened? What did Trico do?”

For a moment, Belphegor just stood there, reminiscing about everything he had built alongside the Devil King. Then he heard the screams. He heard the echoes of millions of dying souls. The chittering of the corruption returned, and he raised his head.

The rift stilled. But the corruption wreathing its form only grew wilder.

Belphegor tried to fight back his tears.

“Trico… that Worldwalker… he—”

The Primordial Demon started as Salvos leaned forward. But then a loud screech interrupted him. The two of them blinked and spun around. They looked back towards the storm of the void as a figure emerged from the bubbles of non-existence.

Salvos gasped.

“Oh no…”

[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Hellspace - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]

And Belphegor narrowed his eyes. But before he could react, the rift hovering overhead shifted. A tendril of corruption shot down as the rift finally collapsed, forming a Corrupted Hellspace— a second Corrupted Hellspace. It grabbed Belphegor, yanking him into the air as the first Corrupted Hellspace charged at Salvos.

[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Hellspace - Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]