280. Storm

“Is this really fine?”

I took in the scenery— the view around me. It was a tropical forest, lush and brimming with life. It melded into a beach with sparkling clear waters. I’d flown for a few hours to get here, and this was where I’d say goodbye to Galt.

The [Gallias Tortoise] stood on the soft sand, staring around with wide eyes. He no longer wore the Breastplate of Alexander— I kept it in my [Dimensional Pocket] since it wasn’t needed here. He turned to me, a grateful expression on his face.

“Thank you, Salvos. I will not forget this debt I owe to you.”

“Don’t worry about it! I like you, Galt. And I made a promise to Centina, too!”

I waved a hand off. He still spoke squeakily, communicating with me despite having no language. But he was intelligent and he had intent, and that was enough for my [Universal Language Comprehension] to translate into words.

It was a lot more coherent than what I was hearing from the fish flopping on the beach, washed up by the waves.

“Help. Help. Help. Help. Help.”

I snorted and picked it up, tossing it back into the ocean.

“Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Than—”

“Well, I’ll be going now, Galt. It was a pleasure meeting you, even if it was only a short amount of time.”

“The same can be said about meeting you.”

I took off, spreading my wings wide and ascending to the sky. The [Gallias Tortoise] watched me go. I smiled and waved at him as I soared back to the Bloodied Gulf.

—--

I flew above the crowds, relaxing, recuperating before I would have to return to the underwater canyons. Then the sky tore open above me. I blinked as a face peered down.

“Salvos.”

“S-Sal…?”

I stared at the Devil as he placed a hand on his goatee.

“Tell me, my daughter, didn’t I give you clear instructions against leaving the Bloodied Gulf?”

I gulped, remembering his parting words to me. I halted my flight— not like it mattered since the crack in space followed me regardless.

“Um, I kind of forgot…?”

His piercing gaze bore into me. He didn’t wear an amused face as he usually did. I knew whatever was coming from him next wouldn’t have been good. I quickly protested.

“But— I also thought you meant I couldn’t flee from the Bloodied Gulf! To evade my responsibilities and stuff. I’ve been diligently training to get stronger than that [Evolved Centinel]! I even nearly killed him!”

The Devil crossed his arms, frowning. But he didn’t say anything for a moment. After some thought, he sighed.

“So you did. But he escaped. So, you have proven nothing. And you still broke the rules.”

“R-right…”

I trailed off. If I argued any further, I would’ve made him angrier instead of calming him down. Instead, I scratched my cheek and asked a question.

“Why did you want me to fight him, anyway? He’s just a Centinel, isn’t he?”

Sall shook his head.

“Because he is special, too. Just like you. If he continues in his path, well… let’s say there’ll be an [Ancient Centinel] rampaging through the Human lands in a decade or so.”

“Huh.”

That sounded like it’d be worse than Belzu. So, was the Devil making me do this to protect Humans? Or, wait, was he giving me a mini-Belzu to face before I fought the real Belzu?

“Nevertheless, that Sage Centinel— let’s just call him Sagey, alright?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Sagey has beaten you once, and you have beaten him once. As far as I’m concerned, you’re 1 - 1 against each other. It’s time to settle the score, Salvos. And I think I’ll be giving him a slight advantage, so that you’ll learn your lesson.”

A smile spread across Sal’s face. My eyes grew wide.

“Wait, why?”

“Because, my daughter, you have gone against my rules twice now, all due to a whimsical promise you made to a bunch of mortals. Tell me, will any of this even matter in a hundred years time? A thousand? Ten thousand?!”

He spoke. His wrath was evident. The smile slipped off his face, twisting into something more sinister.

“Now, I’ll be taking my leave. After I give Sagey some help, I have a meeting with a good ole friend of mine. You may have heard of him— Reggie, my boy. Honestly, he’s come so far. I’m actually quite proud of him. But, be warned, daughter, if you’re not careful, tonight may be the end of you.”

The Devil feigned a sniffle before snapping his fingers. I watched as the portal closed, and I was left alone in the sky.

“Well, that was ominous.”

—--

I returned to the Bloodied Gulf in a slightly more dour mood than before. Nervous, too. I glanced around my back, making sure the Sage Centinel— Sagey or whatever Sal called him— wouldn’t just pop up out of nowhere and attack me.

A few Centinels did spot me on my return, giving chase. I dealt with them easily enough. I didn’t level up, and I probably wouldn’t level up for a while until I killed a lot more Centinels.

Willy and Kron waited for me where I left them. I didn’t see them at first, which sent a prickle up my spine. But they stepped out of the [Krokodis]’ illusion, looking at me anxiously.

“How go?”

“Safe?”

I stared at the both of them. My lips pursed as I thought about Sal’s warning.

“Salvos?”

Willy repeated himself. I blinked, then beamed.

“Oh, Galt? Yep, he’s fine. I dropped him off on some beach a few hundred miles in that direction.”

I pointed back where I came, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Good.”

“We go back now, yes?”

Kron ushered us back towards the Land of the Lost. Willy started after her, but I hesitated. The [Will O’ Wisp] paused, staring at me.

“Issue?”

“N-no. But—”

The Devil didn’t like how I protected and saved these mortals. He would surely target that, right? If I followed them, the Sage Centinel was going to somehow discover the haven when trying to kill me. It wasn’t safe. Not for them.

At least, not tonight.

I had to deal with the Sage Centinel first. Once I dealt with him, I could return and continue evacuating everyone else.

I promised them. And I wasn’t going to break that promise. The Devil was wrong about one thing. He said that this wouldn’t matter in a thousand years or more. But that wasn’t true. It would matter.

His apathy was the reason why the average person had never even heard of him. Only those who dug up records of the past long gone would find tidbits about him. Even then, it was scarce.

If Sal had been less callous, he wouldn’t be forgotten right now.

My goal ever since my birth was simple: to be recognized. By myself, and by others. And until the day I died, I would strive for it, no matter what.

So, I resolved myself.

“You guys go ahead.”

I gestured for kron and Willy to continue. They exchanged confused glances, but I held out a hand.

“Tell everyone I succeeded, but I will be busy for today. Just today. I’ll return though, so take this as proof of it.”

I summoned the Breastplate of Alexander with [Dimensional Pocket], handing it to Willy. The [Will O’ Wisp] was utterly confused. He held it up with his flames as it glimmered with the same colors as him.

“Sure?”

“Yep. Go ahead. And you can even show off its strength. Maybe that will convince others to trust us.”

He bobbed his body in a nod. I turned around, watching for a split second as Kron and Willy vanished back down to the Land of the Lost, then I faced the exit of the tunnel. I took in a deep breath and smiled.

“Alright. Now, where is that Sage Centinel hiding?”

I took off, staying low along the deep cracks. I drew the attention of weaker Centinels, but I know that soon it’d draw out my target.

Or at least, I thought it would.

But despite hunting through Centinel Lairs and causing a ruckus with my clones, the Sage Centinel… never showed up.

Defeated [Senior Centinel – Lvl. 102]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 20 levels below you!

...

Defeated [Junior Centinel – Lvl. 43]!

Little-to-no experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 50 levels below you!

—--

“That’s weird…”

It was night now. I sat at the edge of a cliff, staring up into the ocean view above. I couldn’t see the glimmer of the moon— it didn’t pierce through the water, unlike the sun. So, what hung over me was a purely sable dome. And yet the Bloodied Gulf wasn’t completely shadowed over.

There was lichen along the walls— a kind of red moss that shone, illuminating parts of the network of crevices with a dim crimson. I watched as Centinels skittered about below, their shadows passing over these lit areas.

“Maybe Sal lied. Maybe it was just a dumb threat.”

It was entirely possible he could’ve lied to me just for the fun of it. It wasn’t like that was the first time he’d have done something like that. But I didn’t let my guard down. It was still night, and until the sun rose back up into the sky, I wasn’t going to return to the haven.

I stood up, creating a Nebular Sickle Grenade.

“If I try to cause another small commotion, the Sage Centinel may show up this time around.”

I lazily tossed it down into the pit below. It detonated, blasting apart dozens of Centinels at once. I yawned, not yet leveling up, but I was finally getting close.

“Maybe I should just max out [Salvo of Vanity]. That’s my most useful Skill.”

I didn’t have a clone active right now— other than the one with Saffron. But they were dealing with boring stuff. Political stuff. The Vampire was busy writing letters and stuff, meeting with politicians and other people of power.

Honestly, if I thought about what my clone that was with Saffron was doing too much, I’d start to feel the same thing she did… which was utter boredom.

“If I max out [Salvo of Vanity], maybe I’ll be able to summon six clones? Or eight if it caps at Level 30.”

Right now, at Level 10, I could summon four clones. I started out with being able to summon two clones, so I gained an extra clone for every five levels since.

I’d be able to do so much more with eight clones. It was like how having eight hands was better than just two. Seriously, it was so useful. The only minor downside was that it exhausted a lot of mana— the most out of any of my Skills.

Still, after a brief [Rest], I was already ready to cast it once again. The commotion I caused didn’t attract too many Centinels, unfortunately. In fact, for whatever reason, the Bloodied Gulf seemed more… sparse of Centinels than usual.

But before I could cast [Salvo of Vanity], I felt a soft rumbling from beneath my feet. The ground shook as a cacocophy of clicks echoed down the Bloodied Gulf. My eyes narrowed. I ducked back into the shadows, readying my Nebular Scythe for a battle.

Is that him? I wouldn’t be surprised if the Devil had helped the Sage Centinel amass an army of Centinels to come after me.

But the swarm of Centinels rushed through the ravine, ignoring me completely. I watched as their figures and shadows blitzed straight past me.

“What’s going on?”

I frowned. I kept low as I ran along the edges atop the crevice, following the Centinels as they continued on. There were so many of them. Most of them were lower-leveled Centinels— [Younger Centinels] making up the bulk of the force. However, I spotted some [Senior Centinels] among the mix. The proportion, however, was majority [Younger Centinel] and [Junior Centinel], by far.

I had never seen a swarm of Centinels this heavily skewed to the lower levels.

“Where are they going?”

I peered down at them as this massive swarm slowly came to a halt. It was a familiar spot. They gathered around in a huge mass and began to dig. They sent bits of dirt and rock flying, burrowing beneath the earth by the tens of thousands. No— there were even more of them. An entire sea of Centinels.

And it clicked. I realized what was going on. I took a step back, eyes growing wide.

“No… Sal… why would you do this?”

They were going for the haven.