426. Her Domain

Saffron Merryster blinked as she watched space warp. Reality itself twisted, and Avaritia was encased in a fractal tomb. For a second, the [Changeling] struggled against this, bending the world itself to break free. Then he vanished with a flash, pulled into some other pocket space where he couldn’t harm anyone anymore.

The tumultuous landscape, ravaged by his outpouring of magic— by the black liquid that shifted at his will, creating rising spikes and deadly rain and rippling like it was the far ocean’s waves— ceased its chaos. It calmed, the overflowing dark essence fading away. Saffron looked in awe, turning to the one responsible for defeating the Archdemon of Greed.

“You did it—”

She started as Salvos floated there. Then the silver-haired girl twisted her hand. Space itself warped again, and a portal opened up. Saffron paused, confused as to what was happening, then she realized what her friend was doing.

“Wait, Salvos!”

But the silver-haired girl didn’t listen. Salvos leapt into the fissure as it closed behind her, chasing after the Demon to finish him off. Saffron tried to protest, but the only one left there to listen was the Salvos clone.

“Why did you do that?”

Saffron asked. And… well, the Salvos clone just shrugged. All the young Vampire noble could do was speculate about what was happening on the other side of the closed portal— and why exactly Salvos would even do that.

Avaritia had thought it was a foolish move. He’d have been able to tear his way through his little space prison with ease— it was not comparable to Gula’s magic, and in this form, the Archdemon of Greed was certain he could even escape his fellow Duchess’ traps. So this little Forgotten Prison was nothing to him.

So he thought that Salvos had been nothing but a fool. That this would’ve only delayed the inevitable. But then— she followed after him. Again, it seemed like she was making mistake after mistake. A desperate attempt to defeat him even though it was utterly pointless. However, when he saw the silver-haired girl make her entrance, he was left utterly befuddled.

For once, Avaritia didn’t have anything to say. He just stared in shock as Salvos floated before him.

[Cambion - Lvl. 142]

“The girl…?”

Avaritia blinked a few times. It took him a second to process it. His mind refused to accept this fact. The silver-haired girl— the Human that he’d been fighting the whole time— wasn’t actually a Human, but a… Demon?

More specifically, a [Cambion].

The Archdemon of Greed couldn’t parse it. Even though he saw the similarities between the Human girl and the Demon flying before him right now, he still couldn’t believe it. A Demon. One that was very much like him. One that could transform and steal the essence of others just like him. One that was born from the Advent— from the pools of Lifeblood fueled by the essence of thousands of dead Demons.

Why was she fighting to protect the Humans?

It made no sense to him. But she didn’t let him question it. Salvos just charged him right away, grinning.

“Now we can fight to the fullest!”

She spoke as she swung the Divine Nebular Scythe for his head. Avaritia narrowed his eyes and parried with a whip of his tail. The attack sent ripples in the vast expanse around them. The stars speckling the dark canvas flickered from the impact as he pushed forward.

Salvos recoiled back, before flying around him as he lunged with a fist. Avaritia spun around and searched for her as she flew around this pocket space.

“Impossible. This is another one of your tricks!”

“This isn’t a trick. This is the real me. And you’re in my domain now.”

She grinned as she slipped away from his blast of black spheres. He narrowed his eyes, looking for the girl. She’d vanished, and he stepped forward.

“You’re a Demon?”

“I am Salvos first and foremost, but I am also a Demon.”

A voice replied. Avaritia paused and felt something grip him at his feet. He looked down to see a pair of giant clawed hands holding him by the ankles, and at the reflective surface, the gaping maw of a Wyvern three times his size grinned at him.

“You—”

“Burn.”

A plume of iridescent flames enveloped Avaritia. He screamed as it burned him for just a moment. Then the black essence robed around his body expanded, wreathing around him like an armor. It withstood her attack as she let go of his feet, vanishing once again.

When the flames were gone, the false Demon King cast his gaze around his surroundings. This time, he was wary. He didn’t step around without any thought. He looked both at the floor and the ceiling, seeing bare glimpses of Salvos moving through the space around him. He clicked his tongue.

Coward, he thought. Avaritia would have to draw her out. He knew that she couldn’t just hide forever. He focused his dark essence into his right fist as his tail swished behind him.

“And why would a Demon side with the Humans?”

“Why?”

The voice echoed around him. He tightened his fist, waiting at the ready. The cosmic ceiling rippled, and Salvos descended at him, taking the shape of a giant Centinel. He swung out, but she slithered around his arm and bit his face.

“Argh!”

He stumbled back as she replied simply in a tinny voice.

“I am siding with my companions, and that’s it!”

Avaritia tried to get a grip on her, but her body quickly shrank. She returned back to her Demon form, flying around his grasping hands. She flew back as he bellowed.

“All Demons have to serve our King!”

He brought his hands together and swung down. She disappeared back into the floor as he smashed the ground. The black expanse cracked— the ground beneath his feet lifting like a wave. He raised his arm as he searched for the silver-haired girl, but she wasn’t there.

“You are no Demon if you have not pledged your allegiance to him. Either you are a false Demon, or you’re—”

His lips curled up as he spoke a single word.

“Wild.”

There was a pause. Salvos didn’t give an immediate response. The shaking pocket space calmed as he waited. Where are you? he asked mentally as his eyes darted around the darkness. Then there was a flash.

Avaritia spun around, grinning.

“I got you—”

He struck the glowing figure hard. He slammed it into the ground and began to pummel it. Avaritia only paused when he saw the light flicker. Blinking, he stared at the downed Salvos clone. She didn’t say a word, only grinning up at him.

“This…”

And she exploded. A blast of gold and silver knocked the false Demon King back. He landed on his back, staring up as Salvos emerged from a ripple in space.

“Tell that to my Dad! He doesn’t care about your annoying King! And neither do I!”

She struck him across the chest with the Greaves of Alexander. Once, twice— and she teleported away as he lashed out with his tail.

“You— what are you…? What do you mean by father? We Demons have no parents. Our progenitors are simply those who preceded us. The remnants of their dying essence, breathed life once again.”

Salvos reappeared dozens of feet ahead of him, shaking herh ead.

“Not me. My Dad is the Devil.”

“The… Devil?”

His jaw dropped. Avaritia stared at the silver-haired Demon with bulging eyes. She just grinned at him, nodding her head casually.

“Yep! So even if you don’t have a father, I do! And he’s way better than your annoying king!”

She stuck her tongue out at him. The Archdemon of Greed gritted his teeth. He picked himself up and felt his power slipping from his for a moment. He looked down at himself, bloodied and bruised, in the image of Regnorex himself.

How could Avaritia embarrass his King like this? How could he possibly lose to this traitorous Demon?

“So, you’re the Devil’s Daughter, aren’t you? The child of that trickster? That coward who refuses to do anything for his own kin?”

The black essence wrapping around him bubbled off his skin. He stood tall as his back cracked. He pushed himself to his very limit, drawing from the depths of his own might.

“That is all the more reason I won’t lose to you! I am my King’s Duke, and I will not lose to a child!”

Salvos frowned, and Avarita spread his arms wide. He was going to crush her. He was going to show her the might of the Demon King. While she might’ve negated two of his previous Skills by bringing them here, that was but a preview of the full power of Regnorex.

Avaritia’s muscles flexed as the black essence wisped off his body, growing wilder and wilder. Salvos could tell something was going to happen, and whatever it was wasn’t going to be good. He would destroy both her and this little pocket space with a single Skill.

“[Unveiling—”

His voice boomed out, causing the entire black canvas to tremble. His dark essence shook as it clung onto his skin. For a moment, he pulled from a power he didn’t have. Then it vanished.

“[Majes... ty]...”

Salvos blinked as the black essence exuded from his body dissipated. Avaritia himself froze, feeling his strength leaving his body. He looked down at his red arms and saw the way his skin twisted and contorted back into itself.

“No…”

He whispered, but that didn’t stop what was happening from continuing. He grabbed onto his forearms. He cried out in pain. However, he shrank regardless. He slowly reverted back into his regular form, even if he tried to maintain the image of his King.

“No! No! No! No!”

Avaritia sobbed. He stood there, now only seven foot tall, a husk of his former self. His Grand Skill had been pushed to its very limit, and it gave out. He didn’t move, his crimson eyes fixed on his gray skin. Like any ordinary [Changeling], he looked like the skeleton of a beast. With only two clawed hands and the skull-like face of a [Hellhound]. His back was long and spindly, hunching towards the shoulders, and his legs were bent inwards.

Salvos didn’t attack him as he collapsed, trying to take on the form of the Demon King once more, but to no avail. She walked up to him, and he glanced up warily at her. She waved a clawed hand at him dismissively.

“You know what your problem is? You’re too reliant on borrowing others’ strength. You don’t rely on your own power.”

“You…”

He growled and got back to his feet. His body cracked as he faced the [Cambion].

“Don’t you dare mock me. I can still fight.”

He tried one last time to grasp for his Grand Skill’s power, and his body shifted for a moment, only for the transformation to fail. He gagged and stumbled back. Salvos nodded.

“You can, I know.”

She dusted herself off casually and gestured at herself.

“My other Grand Skill ran out ages ago. You can actually hurt me now, you know?”

Avaritia wasn’t sure if that was a lie. He couldn’t trust a single word coming from her mouth. He stepped back as the Boots of Alexander clinked at his feet, preparing to move out of the way if she suddenly attacked.

Salvos saw this and tapped at the armor on her shin.

“How about this? Since we’re fighting over the Boots and the Greaves of Alexander, why not test them out against each other?”

She raised her hand, letting her Divine Nebular Scythe vanish. Cocking her head at the Archdemon of Greed, she bared her teeth— in a typical Demon challenge fashion.

“Boots versus Greaves. See who wins, how about that?”

Avaritia wanted to spit at her. He was offended by her proposition. Was she handicapping herself for him? That was ridiculous! But he stopped himself. He wasn’t like Gloria who’d let her pride get in her way in this situation. The [Changeling] realized that this was his one last chance of winning.

And he nodded.

“Very well.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, his figure blurred and he rushed the [Cambion], carried by the Boots of Alexander. All she did was smirk.

“Good.”

And she raised her legs, blocking his claws with the shimmering Greaves of Alexander.