313. Vanity

“Who are you?”

Simag stared at the silver-haired girl as she stood amidst an inferno of red and white. His most powerful Skill was deflected— just like that. How was that possible? Who was she? She carried the [Hero] in her arms like she was the [Hero]. And when she spoke, it was utterly casual.

“I’m the Princess, and I’m here to save the [Hero].”

She was carrying Daniel Song, the [Hero] of Elutra, in her arms. He could only look up at her, blinking. In utter disbelief.

“How did you… find me?”

“I had a little bit of help.”

The silver-haired girl gestured up to the sky. A [Will O’ Wisp] hovered there, alongside a pair of golden figures— flaming figures that resembled the girl. They carried with them two Humans. Simag recognized them as members of Elutra’s Resistance.

They called out, trying to get down.

“Princess Faith! Prince Bel!”

But the flaming figures refused to let them down. Only the [Will O’ Wisp] descended next to the silver-haired girl. And Simag’s eyes flickered.

The flames. They’re… from the [Will O’ Wisp]. It was the only thing that made sense to him. There was no way that Level 90 Human [Mage] could’ve halted his [Ray of Frost]. It was his greatest Skill— only a Grand Spirit could’ve done such a thing. And his suspicions were confirmed by those copycat flaming figures.

It was all the Grand Spirit’s doing.

“A [Summoner]… Princess? Very interesting. But even with a Grand Spirit by your side, you don’t stand a chance. All of you will die here.”

Simag spread his arms wide, and dozens of Demons moved. Whether they were wild Demons or [Changelings] or regular Demons— there were far too many for a single Grand Spirit to take on. Not only that, he had a trump card. His fingers twitched as one of the rings glowed.

Two [Changelings] appeared by Simag’s side. They snickered and laughed. Bolus and Procul. Each were close to Simag’s own level. Level 110 and 108. Simag waved a hand dismissively.

“Kill the girl. The rest of you, distract the [Will O’ Wisp] and those flaming copies.”

The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes. She lowered Daniel to the ground, shaking her head.

“Stay here, Daniel. I’ll deal with them real quick.

“Salvos—”

He sputtered, raising a hand.

“You can’t…”

Then she smiled at him as the first of the [Hellwolves] moved. Bolus leapt forward with an ice lance as Procul created a lightning bow.

“I’ll be fine, Daniel. I’m me, remember?”

“...right.”

The [Hero] didn’t stop her. Simag’s eyes darted back up to the Grand Spirit. The [Will O’ Wisp] was nearly Level 130. It would be tough, but with numbers alone he’d be able to win. He just had to sacrifice a handful of the wild Demons. Not that they mattered much.

Too many [Changelings] had been killed over the course of this war. The only ones Simag had to be worried about losing were Bolus and Procul. But they could handle themselves.

Their attacks streaked out for the silver-haired girl. It was a clash of frost and lightning. The [Will O’ Wisp] was too slow to react. Even the flaming copies didn’t move. Faith cried out as Daniel stared. Bel didn’t move, sniffling as he hugged his sister.

Simag chuckled and created a fiery axe.

“Now, to deal with—”

And the smoke cleared. It dissipated, revealing the silver-haired girl underneath. She smiled as her flaming armor burned brilliantly. Bolus blinked. Procul stared in shock. Simag just paused.

“...what?”

“Are you done?”

She asked, crossing her arms. The Demon with crooked horns didn’t believe it.

“How did you…? No— I see it now. That armor was given to you by the [Will O’ Wisp], wasn’t it? But that doesn’t matter.”

He turned to Bolus, passing him the Raging Axe of Flames.

“Don’t waste anymore time. Deal with her now.”

“Yes, Simag.”

Bolus vanished, appearing behind the silver-haired girl.

“[Tempest Slash].”

He swung for her head, and Simag sighed. Now he could turn all his attention to what mattered. The [Will O’ Wisp]. He just had to get close…

And Bolus struck nothing. Simag’s eyes widened as the silver-haired girl easily ducked under the attack. She held Bolus’ gaze, raising a brow.

“What were you trying to do?”

A scythe appeared in her hand as she sliced up with ease. Bolus couldn’t even leap back in time. She cleaved him in half with the rainbow-colored weapon. He dropped, dead in an instant.

“Because it didn’t work.”

She finished. Simag stepped back.

“What…? That’s not— that can’t be right.”

His attention finally focused on the silver-haired girl. She laughed as she twirled her scythe.

“Well then, aren’t you guys going to attack me? Or are you going to come after me one by one?”

I was finally here. I finally got to face the Simag Rowyn talked about. We left in the morning, and now it was already sundown. It took us hours of searching, but we arrived just in time. It was thanks to Zane and Willow’s combined tracking Skills that I made it.

Well, supposedly it was because the Demons had left quite the trail behind. They weren’t being inconspicuous at all. Even now, they all showed up in their non-Human forms. Kind of stupid, if I had to say so myself.

And they were weak. The strongest Demon here was Simag himself. He was Level 114. An Archdemon of Weak, or something. The other two [Changelings]— well, one [Changeling] now— weren’t any better. In fact, they were far worse.

There were regular Demons too. Wild Demons as well. And the highest-leveled amongst them was some weird chicken. A [Cockatrice]. The others ranged from Level 70 to 100. There was a single [Djinn], and a bunch of [Fiends]. Again, nothing that would be problematic for me.

I didn’t even know why I was using [Protection of the Sentinel]. I’d been worried they’d be comprised of stronger fighters, so I came in fully prepared with multiple enhancement Skills already active.

That hadn’t been necessary.

I raised my rainbow Nebular Scythe and pointed at Simag.

“Well then, aren’t you guys going to attack me? Or are you going to come after me one by one?”

The Archdemon of Stupid’s gaze darkened. He created a Spear of Flames and shouted.

“Kill that girl! All of you! End her now!”

I grinned as the Demons moved. The other [Changeling] let out a guttural cry as he loosed bolts of lightning at me with his bow and arrow. I turned to my clones, gesturing at Daniel and the others.

“Keep them safe. Get them out of here.”

Willy flitted forward, but I stopped him.

“You too.”

“Help?”

“It’s fine.”

I spoke casually, blocking the onslaught of projectiles.

“I can deal with this myself.”

“Ok.”

The [Will O’ Wisp] sent both healing and levitation flames at the injured brown-haired woman and the injured man in plate armor. My clone scooped Daniel up as he stared at me.

“Get them, Salvos.”

I nodded at him, deflecting another bolt of lightning. Then I fixed my gaze onto the other [Changeling]. Not Simag. I was going to save him for last.

I brought a hand to the sky, unleashing a volley of flames. Fireballs shot out, created by [The Primordial Spark], raining down on the small gathering of Demons. It wasn’t a horde. There were a few dozen of them. Nothing comparable to the swarms of Centinels I saw in the Bloodied Gulf.

Streaks of blue and white crashed down from above, blasting apart the wild Demons before they could even draw close. The other [Changeling] leap back as he narrowly avoided a few of the explosions.

I teleported behind him.

“Hi!”

He spun around, eyes wide. He swung for me, and I tapped him on the shoulder, once again behind him.

“You hurt my companion. Now, die.”

And I sheared straight through him with my burning scythe. He fell to the ground as a shadow loomed over me. I looked up to see the [Djinn] raising a giant hand to crush me. Its arm came crashing down, and I caught it.

“You’re stronger than Lucerna.”

I flipped the [Djinn] over, leaping onto his chest.

“But still weak.”

I tore him in half with my claws. The [Fiends] closing in on me paused. They hesitated, and I reacted. I appeared before them, cutting them down one after another. They were defeated before they could even lay a hand on me.

The wild Demons saw this slaughter. This total and utter massacre. Some of them began to flee. I looked over at the [Cockatrice] as it turned tails and flew off.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

I threw my scythe at it, slicing off one of its wings. I appeared in front of the [Cockatrice] and grabbed my scythe. It spewed fire at me. But the flames were weak. I flew through it and slashed off its head. The giant wild Demon dropped slowly to the ground as the gathered Demons ran.

A flurry of fiery weapons lanced out my way, but I easily blocked them. I caught a Spear of Flames, blinking. I tossed it aside and stared down at Simag.

His gaze burned with anger. With fury. He watched as all his companions left him. Not just the wild Demons. The [Fiends] ran too. They were all afraid. They knew they couldn’t win.

I bared my teeth at him as he stumbled back.

“Just… what is this? How are you doing this? Even a Grand Spirit’s magic can’t push you this far!”

“You’re wrong, Simag.”

I stared at the Demon with crooked horns. I tossed aside the Spear of Flames and descended before him.

“The one who blocked your [Ray of Frost]— the one responsible for these flames— is me.”

“W-what…?”

He trembled, speaking in an almost familiar gravelly voice.

“Just what are you?”

“Me?”

I leaned closer, eyes glinting. I held Simag’s gaze and grabbed him with a clawed hand. He stared at it— at the Demon-like hand. Then he realized what was going on. I finished as I met the eyes of the Demon with crooked horns.

“I’m Salv…”

Then I paused.

“Wait, don’t I know y—”

And Simag moved. He tapped my chest with a ring while I was distracted. I stared at his familiar face, only for a void of darkness to pull me into the ring. By the time I registered what had happened, it was too late.

“Ring of the Forgotten Prison.”

“No!”

Daniel shouted as he watched Salvos disappear. She was sucked into the Epic Grade artifact, unable to react. Unable to escape. He struggled as the flaming figures that looked eerily like Salvos held onto him, still flying higher.

“We have to help her. We have to—”

Simag cackled as he collapsed to his knees.

“She fell for it! She actually fell for it! And here I thought I was going to die today!”

The [Will O’ Wisp] just stared down at the scene. Daniel glanced between the flaming figures, then the Grand Spirit.

“Why are you guys just watching? We need to do something!”

“No.”

“What?”

He looked at the [Will O’ Wisp] in shock at the rejection.

“But—”

“Stupid. Mistake. Her fault.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything!”

Daniel protested. The [Will O’ Wisp] made a sighing sound. He looked over at Daniel, bobbing in Simag’s direction.

“Watch.”

Daniel opened his mouth… then he stopped. He turned to Simag. The Archdemon was laughing, gloating in his victory, and ignoring the fact that Daniel or the [Will O’ Wisp] was there.

But it didn’t matter. They weren’t going to do anything. Salvos said she would deal with this alone, and if Daniel knew anything about her, he knew she’d do whatever it took to stick to her word.

I found myself floating in a sea of darkness. It was like I was in my Dad’s home, except there were no floating objects frozen in time. There was no supermassive blackhole overhead. Instead, I saw stars. An expansive canvas of space. One that was as beautiful as the night sky.

There was nothing below me, nothing above me. It was just this pretty sight. And I floated in it, lost. My voice echoed as I tapped a finger on my chin.

“Oops. Did I get too cocky?”

Well, it only made sense. I was an Archdemon of Pride, after all. And while my nature sometimes served to my advantage, I knew there were drawbacks too. This was one of them.

“To be fair, I was distracted. I mean, Simag just looks so familiar…”

I shook the thought out of my mind right now. I had to escape this place. This so-called forgotten prison. First, I tried flying away from this spot, but wherever I moved, the world seemed to move with me, forcing me to stay fixed into this point in the plane.

Then I used [Planar Navigation] to take in my surroundings. Yep. I was definitely trapped in a sort of pocket dimension. I couldn’t sense the forest or the trees or the dead Demons around me, like I’d be able to if this was an illusion.

“Alright. So the solution is simple. I just have to— [Long Range Teleport].”

I clapped my hand together, waiting. My body shone. The world warped around me. And… I appeared at the exact same spot.

“Huh. Well, that didn’t work.”

That sucked. I couldn’t do anything but wait for someone to save me… or at least, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything if this was a week ago. Normally, I’d have been stumped. I’d have waited for my clones to free me.

But many things had changed in the short span of one week. I had two Grand Skills now, although neither were applicable in this situation.

However, there were other things I learned. I hadn’t advanced in my Class just yet. Maybe if I did, I’d have learned a planar teleportation Skill and would’ve been able to escape from this pocket dimension. Except, well, if I could do that, I’d currently be in the Netherworld searching for Haec.

So what changed? What was different that left me so unconcerned? Well, recently I gained a new Title. Two new Titles, actually. One of them, Secely’s Sentinel, gave me a pretty good Stat boost and Bonus, along with a few useful Skills. But neither would be applicable here.

My other Title, on the other hand, would finally prove itself here. I was The Devil’s Daughter. My Dad was a master of space magic. There was no way I’d be trapped by such a cheap trick. After all, I was Salvos, and Sal was my father.

I raised my hand and spoke simply.

“[The Devil’s Grace].”