485. Staying Put

My clones swept across the battlefield. Well, it wasn’t so much a battlefield as it was a massacre. The Humans of Lunaris had been unprepared for this. I doubt anyone expected this would happen. All of a sudden, the sub-ritual had been reactivated. The portal that connected the Mortal Realm with the Netherworld— no, the gate which merged the Mortal Realm with the Netherworld.

It summoned a swarm of wild Demons. Thousands of them. They poured out en masse. Whether it was Lesser Demons, Greater Demons, or Archdemons. They came, they saw, and they murdered any Human in sight.

Fact was, the Humans that had remained in Lunaris hadn’t been in battle-ready conditions. Most of them were injured soldiers or adventurers, weary from all the previous battles they’d been through. There were others who’d been tasked to look over the prisoners of war. But there were hardly enough of them to put up a fight against the overwhelming number of Demons here.

That was why I summoned all my clones at once. All that I could now, at least. In total, I could normally have ten clones simultaneously wandering around, but I had already created five clones earlier to aid my companions in Wilford, and as far as I could tell, they were still alive. So five was all I could manage now.

I could command my faraway clones, telling them to teleport back to me. But using [Greater Teleportation] five times wasn’t possible. I needed ten minutes between each cast, and it was too costly. Perhaps one clone could’ve teleported all of them together at once… but I didn’t even know if it would work with multiple clones as opposed to people, and I was saving my [Greater Teleportation] for something else anyway. In any case, even with only five clones, there was much they could do.

They unleashed blasts of golden flames into the sky, incinerating hundreds of wild Demons at a time. They tore rained flaming weapons down into the earth, blowing apart even more wild Demons before they could reach the encampments. I watched them as they formed a protective perimeter around Lunaris. They prevented the spread of Demons, and I twirled my Divine Nebular Scythe behind my back.

“Time to level up.”

I whispered as a pair of bone-like wings spread behind me. At the same time, they were quickly coated by a layer of blue flames before anyone could notice the abnormality. I glanced back at Zack and Helen. The two adventurers stood behind me, staring.

“Regroup with the other adventurers. Don’t try to take on this swarm alone. You guys have to work together.”

Zack blinked, clearly puzzled by my plan of action. Helen paused for a split second too, but quickly shook her head. She stepped forward.

“We need to find Jaakko!”

My eyes flickered. The Cyclops wasn’t with them. He was their leader, and they were worried for him. But—

“He’s fine.”

I spoke simply, gesturing past them towards the edge of the encampment.

“Jaakko is over there, rallying a group of other adventurers.”

“What?”

Helen stared at me. Zack frowned. He asked.

“How do you know that?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just go find him. I will deal with these Demons.”

They were both confused. They didn’t know how I could find Jaakko without even looking. Truth was, I was looking. Just not in a way they could see. It was the same reason why I knew they were in danger. A Skill of mine. One that had proved to be useful time and time again.

I had [Manifestation of the Old Gods] active, and it let me see everything.

I had a perfect lay of the battlefield. I knew what was going on here. It could potentially see as far as hundreds of miles away, but I limited the scope of my vision now to just the area around Lunaris due to potential backlash from overexerting myself. And even still, in its weakened state, it was very effective.

I saw the way Zack fidgeted. I noticed the way Helen looked at me. In awe. With slight worry. But with gratitude at the end of the day. She bowed at me, speaking softly.

“Thank you. For protecting us.”

I could tell she was truly grateful to me. This wasn’t the first time I saved her, after all. But she misunderstood. I wasn’t doing this to protect her. Well— I was trying to protect her. I liked her, Zack, and Jaakko. But, ultimately, my goal boiled down to something much more selfish.

I just wanted to reach my next evolution as soon as possible.

It was my Level 150 evolution. I hadn’t evolved in so long. Sure, I had Class advancements. And they were pretty good Class advancements too. But they were incomparable to any evolution I got. The feeling of becoming something more. Knowing that I was transforming further into my true self. That I was growing more Salvos— that I was growing more into me.

This was something I understood since my very first level up. And it stayed true, even now. As a Demon, my essence was created from those black pools of lifeblood that formed during Advent. And I felt like my essence became more distinct the more I leveled.

So I was excited. I exploded into the sky, leaving Zack and Helen behind. Even when I was looking up, I could see them turning and joining my clones. I could already hear the notifications resounding in my head as the golden me’s tore through the ranks of wild Demons. I grinned, flying straight into a flock of winged creatures. [Vampyr Bats]. Each one was around Level 40, but there were hundreds of them. I didn’t care. I pointed, sending a cone of white flames into their numbers. They hissed and screamed and were blown apart with ease.

Defeated [Vampyr Bat—

Little-to-no experience is awarded for

But they weren’t my targets. They were weak. They didn’t contribute to me leveling up by much. So I quickly burned the last of them and scanned my surroundings.

There, I thought. I saw a [Savage Agarat] flying down towards a group of fleeing civilians. I dove ahead, charging straight for the Archdemon. I moved as fast as I could as it snapped its terrible jaws—

And I blinked as it was cut down from the sky. The civilians looked up, cheering as a golden figure flew past them. She waved, grinning as I blinked. And a notification resounded.

Defeated [Savage Agarat - Lvl. 131]!

Less experience is awarded for defeating an enemy at least 10 levels below you!

I watched my first clone fly by, waving at the Humans. She had killed the [Savage Agarat] with a quick flurry of [Barrage of Cinders], and they were celebrating her. I scowled, pointing at her.

“Hey! That was mine!”

She glanced at me, blinking. Then she stuck out a tongue my way.

“How dare you make fun of me! I’ll show you who’s the better me!”

Even if I still got the experience from it, I was upset that I wasn;t the one who actually got the kill myself. I enjoyed the thrill of battle. The feeling of defeating an enemy never got old. And, unfortunately, I couldn’t see through my clones’ eyes right now. With [Manifestation of the Old Gods] active, it would’ve been too overwhelming for my senses.

I narrowed my eyes. I spotted another Archdemon— a [Hellterror]— flying out of Lunaris from the other side of the city. It easily bore through the city’s walls, bringing them down behind it as a pillar of dust and debris shot to the sky. I smirked. My first clone definitely didn’t notice this. She didn’t have [Manifestation of the Old Gods] like me.

I sped my way over there, laughing at my first clone.

“Seeya later!”

She raised an angry fist at me, trying to keep up, but I had a head start. I smirked and looked forward. I saw the [Hellterror]’s tendrils shooting into the skies, killing other Demons with no remorse. Then I blinked as it was ripped apart before me.

My eyes grew wide as my second clone hovered there with six arms, grinning triumphantly.

“Not you too! That was mine!”

I scowled. She just cocked her head at me, confused. But my first clone laughed, pointing at me mockingly. I glared at her before spinning around.

“There has to be a powerful Demon around here somewhere.”

But all around me, I watched as my clones got there first. They dealt with any Archdemon before I even had the chance to get close. I zipped around like a fly by a windowpane, confused and lost even with [Manifestation of the Old Gods] active.

It almost felt like a waste of Divine Essence. Once it was fully expended and over, I was going to hurt. I knew that, but I still used this Skill now. After all, it was necessary if I wanted to keep an eye on…

And I paused. I caught a glimpse of three figures crying out. They were running down a hill, about five miles away from the city. And they were running towards the fighting. My brows snapped together. Instantly, I was there with [Greater Teleportation].

“I thought I told you three to stay put!”

I crossed my arms at the three figures. Novis, Bellum, and Oriur froze, looking up at me as I appeared in front of them so suddenly. It took them a moment to process what just happened, then all at once, they threw themselves my way.

“Mama!”

“Don’t!”

I caught them with space magic. They blinked at me, levitating in the air as I glared. I slowly lowered them to the ground without even touching them while they swung their arms and legs in the air.

“This is serious, guys. I said you guys couldn’t follow me. You can die.”

The three baby Wyverns exchanged a confused glance. Novis pointed my way.

“Mama protect us.”

“I can’t protect you and fight off a horde of wild Demons at the same time, Novis.”

“But Mama strong!”

Bellum protested. I rolled my eyes.

“I am strong. But I can’t do everything. Please, can you listen to me? Just wait far away from the city for an hour. If anything happens, I will be right by your side at once. But I need to deal with this.”

I gestured back towards Lunaris. The ritual roared in the distance. The sky was now a dark red that somehow glowed. The outpouring of Demons didn’t slow, but my clones had distracted them enough. The Humans had regrouped and formed a defensive perimeter around the encampment so they weren’t as unprepared to fend off this attack as they’d previously been.

Oriur pointed at me. I blinked. Then I looked on as he slowly pointed towards the golden figures flying around in the distance.

“Mama clones fight. Mama stay.”

I paused. I stared at him with round eyes.

“Oriur… how did you…? I thought you couldn’t tell that my clones were—”

I caught myself.

“Wait, is this the first time you said something other than ‘Mama’?”

I wasn’t entirely sure. But in that moment of my surprise, I noticed the way the baby Wyverns looked at me. Their round eyes. Their worry. I hesitated. I glanced back at my fighting clones. I heard the notifications that came from their kills. I wasn’t even needed there at Lunaris. So, slowly, I nodded.

“I guess I can just wait here with you guys—”

I started. Then I blinked as I saw a flicker. A black projectile shot up, spearing straight through one of my clones as my eyes grew wide. The baby Wyverns recoiled in shock. Oriur backed up, hiding behind Novis and Bellum. And I spun around, watching the golden explosion of my clone’s death.

“That’s…?”

And from the flames emerged a crimson figure. A figure sneering as he caught the weapon made from blood. Demon’s blood. His own blood.

It was Ira. The Primeval Demon of Wrath. The one who’d bested Orgaf in battle. The one who survived a duel with Helena Warshade. He stood there, grinning as he twirling his blood-spear.

[Hellprince - Lvl. 157]