Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

Chapter 638: Setting the Bait

638. Setting the Bait

***

Venas was dead.

It was impossible. Ultis couldn’t believe it. She had known Venas ever since she first joined the Deathsquad Hunters herself. He had already been a senior member— not a captain just yet, but he was always paired together with some of the more elite members of the Deathsquad Hunters.

And when Venas crossed the threshold to reach Level 180, he had been promoted to a Captain of the Deathsquad Hunters. So he was powerful. Ultis didn’t know his exact levels, but she thought of him as one of the most competent members she knew.

Now, he was dead.

Hearing the news had appalled Ultis. Not because she saw him as some kind of a mentor— of course not. But because she knew of his reputation, and she had respected his power. When she had heard he had been sent out to retrieve the former Heir of the Netherworld and his escaped friends, she believed that he would have succeeded with ease.

She truly believed that Venas would have returned before Reconstruction even began. And yet, he failed. But he didn’t just fail. He had been killed.

It just didn’t make sense. Haec was only an Archdemon. Sure, he had been on the precipice of reaching his evolution to becoming a Primeval Demon, and even if he evolved, that should not have made a difference. He would have been only a single Primeval Demon against five. And he would have still been significantly lower-leveled than Venas, let alone the others that were there too.

So what could have happened? Was it possible that Venas and his team ran into a group of Primeval Demons and were slaughtered? They had been traversing the Wilderness during Revelation— the most dangerous period of all the Netherworld’s cycles. So that was a possibility.

Another possibility could have been that a Primordial Demon had targeted them. It was incredibly unlikely. The chance of running into a wild Primordial Demon was very low. However, it was not nonzero. So it very much could have happened.

But Ultis could have speculated on what had happened all she wanted. That didn’t matter. What mattered was that she now had to figure out what actually happened to him. Because the moment they were all notified that he had perished, another ten members of the Deathsquad Hunters had been sent out to investigate his death and hunt down the former Heir of the Netherworld.

There was Asto, their leader. There was Liquis, their tracker. There was Ocbu, their camouflage. And there was also Quid, Aliq, Nonnu, Unis, Incol, Vul, and… Ultis.

She was, of course, one of them. And while she wasn’t their leader, nor was she an important member due to her rather average levels, she still had been given some details. All of which painted the scene behind the situation with quite some mystery. After all, apparently, Haec had perished right around the time Venas had died too.

Or at least, his summoning collar had been destroyed. Which, again, should not have been possible. But it happened. And it also happened to the five members of the Deathsquad Hunters that had perished too.

However, notably, this strange phenomenon did not happen to the other Archdemons who were accompanying Haec in his treachery. Instead of their summoning collars being destroyed, they had… vanished. As though they had been pulled to the Mortal Realm, but didn’t come through to the other side.

It was all so strange. And Ultis couldn't even begin to comprehend what could have happened. She was certain that when she arrived at the scene of Venas’ death, she would have not been able to piece together anything at all. But when she actually got there, she just paused, her eyes widening in realization.

“Oh.”

That was all she said. It wasn’t just her either. The other nine members of the Deathsquad Hunters accompanying her came to a halt too. Their eyes were illuminated with a pale white light. They all stared breathlessly at the scene awaiting them.

At the lake of fire that stretched out as far as they could see.

Ultis shivered, despite the oppressive heat pressing down against her. She took a step back, not because she was afraid the white flames would burn her. But because she knew that only one creature in all of the Netherworld could have caused such devastation.

This was not a natural phenomenon. It was created by a being that transcended every other entity in all of the Nexeus.

It was caused by the Beast.

And just the thought of the terrible Primordial Demon alone made her breathing quicken. She swept her gaze over the landscape of her surroundings, eyes darting in every direction, searching for the Beast.

But Asto, the leader of the ten Deathsquad Hunters, stepped forward, speaking up and drawing the attention of all of them.

“Stay on guard. We need to be careful. If the Beast was angered to this extent, then that means it was challenged by another Primordial Demon.”

Asto’s gaze darkened as he shook his head.

“Even if the Beast is no longer in the vicinity, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other dangerous Primordial Demons nearby. We do not want to end up like Venas.”

Ultis gulped as she heard their leader’s words. While she wasn’t close to Venas, she couldn’t help but pity him if this was how he perished. She hoped his death was painless, at the very least.

She closed her eyes for a moment, before looking up when she heard a voice speak up.

“Wait, Asto—”

Liquis piped up as he raised his Tablet of Tracking. Asto frowned and turned to face their tracker.

“I have picked up a signal.”

Liquis said, and Asto narrowed his eyes.

“A signal?”

“Yes—”

Liquis nodded furiously. He pointed at the Tablet of Tracking as he continued.

“Here. We have found the other traitors.”

And Asto blinked, before grinning. He turned to the rest of the Deathsquad Hunters as he nodded at them.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Good. Then let’s go.”

***

And in the distance, a flaming figure watched the ten Primeval Demons as they made their plans. She listened. She carefully observed their every movement. Even though she was nearly a hundred miles away, she took in everything they said and did.

As she did, she mentally communicated with her creator, relaying this scheme of the Deathsquad Hunters.

Because she wasn’t just an ordinary flaming figure. She wasn’t even a Demon. She was a clone. One that was created by Salvos.

***

“Alright.”

I clapped my hands together as I faced Haec, Taburas, Bertrugil, and Aemula.

“So here’s the plan.”

I turned towards Taburas, Bertrugil, and Aemula. I pointed at them as they blinked.

“The three of you will be bait.”

“Uh, what?”

Aemula tilted her head at me. Bertrugil crossed his arms and frowned.

“Fuck no. I’m not doing that.”

“Too bad. You’re bait.”

I cut him off as he glowered. But he didn’t protest any longer. Taburas didn’t even react.

But Haec scratched the back of his head in concern.

“Should we really be using them as bait, Salvos? I feel like that’s a bad idea. If something happens to them…”

“Don’t worry! We’ll be there with them! We’ll just be hidden away in [The World Of My Mind] so the Deathsquad Hunters won’t know we’re there until it’s too late!”

I waved a hand dismissively. It was a simple plan. But it was the only one we could act on right now. Because earlier, I had sent out all of my clones to scour our surroundings. They used [Manifestation of the Old Gods] to search far and wide. And thanks to the Skill and their incredible speed, they were quickly able to find a group of wandering Deathsquad Hunters.

Of course, it was luck that these Deathsquad Hunters happened to be so closeby. Well— relatively closeby. But they could have been anywhere. And yet, they were here. So I was glad we didn’t have to wait too long to find a Tablet of Tracking.

We had already wasted enough time trying to navigate through that sea of fire and get back to land. There wasn’t much time left for us to put a halt to the Demon King’s plans. Now, it was time to act.

And I smirked as I looked through my clone’s eyes and saw the Deathsquad Hunters, watching them depart the lake of fire, flying towards us. They were all winged-[Fiends], and they moved fast.

My clone followed them from afar, trailing behind them to keep me updated on how far they were from us. My vision returned to what was in front of me, and I stared at Taburas, Bertrugil, and Aemula’s confused faces. I nodded at them and turned to Haec. I grinned as I spoke simply.

“Now— the bait has been set, it’s time to catch us some Deadsquad Hunters… get it? I said Deadsquad, not Deathsquad! Because they’ll soon be dead!”

There was a moment of silence. And then Aemula laughed in response.

“I get it!”

Author's Notes:

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