Chapter 568: Claws
568. Claws
Salvos (S̶̛̼̗̅ecė̶̺̜͕ly’s S̶̛̼̗̅ė̶̺̜͕ntǐ̶̬nĕ̷̪ͅͅl̵̨̦̗͗̔̃) (The Devil’s Daughter)
Species: [Primeval Demon of Pride]
Secondary Species: [Lesser God]
Subspecies: [Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 164
Class: [Draconic Apprentice] - Lvl. 140
General Skills:
[Advanced Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)
[Corruption Navigation] - Lvl. 2
[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: Corruption Camouflage] - Lvl. 1
[Title Skill: General Status Effect Resistance] - Lvl. 1
[Title Skill: Invoke Wrath] - Lvl. 1
[Title Skill: Protection of the Corruption] - Lvl. 1
[Title Skill: The Devil’s Grace] - Lvl. 1
[Racial Skill: Divine Essence of the Angelic Devil Princess] - Lvl. 1 (Maxed)
Stats:
[Available Stat Points: 0]
[Vitality]: 265 (+50) (+10)
[Strength]: 255 (+50) (+10)
[Endurance]: 255 (+50) (+10) (+3)
[Wisdom]: 410 (+50) (+10) (+50)
[Agility]: 450 (+50) (+10) (+5)
Skills:
[Available Skill Points: 4]
[Angel’s Wings] - Lvl. 15
[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. 10
[Divine Radiant Slash] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)
[Sacred Hellfire] - Lvl. 10
[Salvo of Vanity] - Lvl. 25 (Maxed)
[The Call of Armageddon] - Lvl. 10
[The Holy Flames] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)
[Passive - Angelic Premonition] - Lvl. 15
[Passive - Weapon Mastery] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)
[Available Grand Skill Points: 0]
[Claw of Corruption] - Lvl. 1
[My Flame Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends] - Lvl. 3 (Maxed)
[Unused Skill Slot] x2
Secondary Skills:
[Available Secondary Skill Points: 5]
[Draconic Fury] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)
[Greater Teleportation] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)
[Manifestation of the Old Gods] - Lvl. 5
[Truth Divination] - Lvl. 5
[Warped Time] - Lvl. 20 (Maxed)
[Passive - Dragon Scales] - Lvl. 10 (Maxed)
[Passive - Master of Material Manipulation] - Lvl. 15 (Maxed)
[Passive - Weaker Regeneration] - Lvl.5
[The World of My Mind] - Lvl. 1
[Unused Secondary Skill Slot] x1
I left the Dungeon behind me.
Visiting my father’s former kingdom was an interesting experience— a very dangerous experience too— but I was now ready to return to face the destruction of Revelation above. I was ready to face devastation. I was ready to battle to the death.
There were possibly tens of millions of wild Demons roaming the surface, ready to pounce on me at any opportunity. Maybe there were even hundreds of millions of them. Or even billions! Or more!
I didn’t know. I just knew that there were a lot of them. And they had all been forced out of hiding because of Revelation. But that wasn’t the only danger that was waiting for me above.
It was like the Netherworld itself was trying to destroy everything crawling over its surface. Dark lightning bolts crashed from the sky, obliterating anything it touched. Crevices tore their way through the flat ground. Mountains collapsed, and lava exploded into the air.
I had been there for the start of it all. It was destruction beyond anything I had ever witnessed. When the crimson dome overhead seemed to tear open, I knew that even Primeval Demons like me weren’t safe. Not from Revelation.
That was why I had fled. That was why I had hidden underneath the earth, biding my time and growing stronger. I recovered from my injuries and emerged from the Remnants of the First Demon King, ready to tackle this daunting task—
And I paused as I stared at my surroundings.
“Huh.”
The Netherworld… was still devastated, but it was far less chaotic than when I had last seen it. The ground was still carpeted by cracks and ravines that spread out as far as I could see. There was a storm raging overhead— dark lightning rained down from the sky.
But I no longer saw swarms of wild Demons desperately scrambling across the white surface, battling each other for their own survival. The crimson dome wasn’t dotted by the figures of winged Demons, and the pools of magma weren’t covered by the swimming figures of burning Demons.
Well, I still saw plenty of them wandering about. But compared to the scene I had witnessed during the start of Revelation… the current level of chaos was incomparable.
I crossed my arms as I stood atop a broken mountain. I rubbed my chin, muttering to myself.
“Well, there’s really not much for me to worry about, right? Unless I run into a Primeval Demon, I’ll probably be fine…”
A few hundred Archdemons couldn’t kill me. Maybe a few thousand could— if I didn’t have my Grand Skills. But by the current state of the Netherworld, I highly doubted that I was going to run into more than a hundred Archdemons at a time at the very most.
“How am I going to level up from this?”
It seemed that I was too used to the second layer. Even if I had been down there at the end of the world for a short period of time, I acclimated to the intensity and the danger of that environment. So now… even facing the destruction of Revelation felt like a casual stroll, comparatively speaking.
I shook my head as I started forward, spreading my wings wide.
“Whatever, I guess I’ll—”
And my eyes flickered. My [Angelic Premonition] alerted me of a figure rapidly approaching me from behind. I spun around just in time to see a Level 141 [Savage Agarat] swooping down from the sky to strike my back.
I sidestepped the attack, before raising a claw. A grin spread itself across my face as a crimson aura and a gray aura overcame my forearm. I pivoted around and faced the Archdemon as I began to swing up.
“Nice try—”
And my claw twisted for a moment. It was a very brief moment— I didn’t even feel anything. But I saw a distortion on my fingertips. Like they were being bent backwards as the space around them contorted.
But I easily tore through the [Savage Agarat] a moment later, feeling nothing from my distorted claw. I blinked as the notification resounded in my head.
Defeated [Savage Agarat—
Less experience is—
But I ignored it, narrowing my eyes at my clawed hand. I stared at my ashened scales. I even pinched myself a few times. However, there was no distortion there. It was almost like it was my imagination.
“Huh.”
I looked back up and shrugged.
“Maybe it was my imagination…”
Or maybe not. I had a corrupted Title now. So it was entirely possible I was seeing the aftereffects. I didn’t know. It didn’t really matter as long as it didn’t impede me in a fight.
So I spread my wings and flew on.
—--
I didn’t take to the skies because it was too risky. There was no way for me to deal with the black lightning bolts that came from the rifts in the sky. There was also nowhere for me to escape if I did encounter a wild Demon I couldn’t handle. So I mostly stuck to the ground.
I did briefly fly up to investigate those rifts floating far overhead. But no matter how far I seemed to go, they never seemed to draw closer. And I sensed no dimensional tear coming from them, so I turned back. Now, I floated over the crevices filled with lava.
If I needed to, I could escape into the cracks down below. Maybe even teleport around to lose any Primeval Demon that was strong enough to kill me. Or maybe if I encountered a Primordial Demon… or the Beast…
But that was very unlikely. In fact, I mostly found Lesser Demons and Greater Demons wandering about, and even though they were far weaker than me, most of them still tried to attack me.
I easily incinerated them with a blast of flames. I barely even looked their way. There were the occasional Archdemons too, and while they were certainly stronger than the Lesser Demons and Greater Demons, I still killed them with ease.
“Hm, how am I even going to find Haec out here in the Netherworld anyway?”
As far as I knew, the Netherworld could have expanded infinitely in all directions. That meant I could be searching for my first companion for… well, forever. I scratched the back of my head as I flew on, before flicking a finger at a charging [Hellwolf].
The wild Demon was reduced to ash in an instant. I frowned, flying on.
“Maybe I can ask my dad to give me a tip— I also have to talk to him about Belphegor too.”
Although… would I even be able to find Sal now? He probably moved his pocket space away from the fold in between the planes since he showed me around the multiverse. If I teleported there again, I might just end up floating in stasis next to the black hole.
Well, I did have [The World Of My Mind] now, so I wasn’t really bothered or worried about being trapped in empty space. I could probably survive even the void as long as I was protected by my pocket space.
So I decided.
“It doesn’t hurt to pay him a visit—”
I started, and a blast of blue flames shot down at me. I immediately swerved out of the way as a looming shadow descended from the sky. I spun around, raising my claws warily, ready to engage in battle.
“What not?”
I asked, and I blinked when I saw the hulking figure. I stared for a moment, seeing the bone-like wings. I saw the four arms. The spindly body. It was—
[Hellabomination - Lvl. 185]
“Oh, you’re higher-leveled now.”
I remarked idly. And it swung down at me with one of its claws.