Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

Chapter 639: Falling In

639. Falling Inn/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

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It was a strange sensation. Ultis was not their tracker— she did not have any Skills related to detection. Nothing that even amounted to a fraction of what a simple Skill like [Dangersense] could do. So she wasn’t one who would even notice if anyone was ever scrying on her. And yet, something felt off.

She glanced over her shoulder as she flew over the empty white terrain of the Netherworld. But even though there were no wild Demons wandering around the desolate landscape, she still felt like she was… being watched.

Ultis glanced over her shoulder as her eyes narrowed. Just like the hundred different times before since she started to feel like something was off, she saw nothing there. And there was nothing there.

Because she had informed both Asto and Liquis of this strange feeling she felt. And using his detection Skills, Liquis scanned the surrounding landscape and found no trace of a scrying spell or of any kind of tracking magic. They then concluded that Ultis had just been entirely imagining things, before they continued on to their targets.

Ultis felt uncomfortable about that. She was still uneasy. But if neither Asto— their leader and the highest-leveled of them all— nor Liquis— who was their tracker— detected anything, then it must have meant that Ultis truly just imagined it.

So she accepted their explanation as they went on. And she just hoped that they reached their destination soon. While the Tablet of Tracking was useful in finding their targets, it didn’t offer a good gauge for distance. They just knew the general direction of where to go for now.

But unfortunately, it seemed that these three Archdemons had been located at the other side of the lake of fire. And while the ten Deathsquad Hunters could fly, they didn’t want to take any risks going over the burning landscape. So they went around it despite its wide length, which prolonged their journey by quite a bit.

However, thankfully, according to Liquis, it seemed that they were getting close.

“There.”

He called out as he pointed towards the base of a tall mountain in the horizon. Ultis blinked, and the other Deathsquad Hunters dove low. She followed suit as she listened to Asto’s instructions.

“We will observe from afar. Do not rush in. We do not want to end up like Venas, is that understood?”

He spoke as he nodded back at the other nine Deathsquad Hunters. While most of them just responded in affirmation, a few rolled their eyes. One of them— Aliq— even snorted.

“We’re not going to end up like Venas.”

“And how do you know that?”

Quid quipped back a reply. The two of them were twins— they had come from the same pool of Lifeblood, and they had been together since the very beginning. They were the two only non-[Fiends] gathered here. They were both [Jinn], and they were slightly higher-leveled than Ultis at Level 162 each.

Ultis just craned her neck and listened to the twins bicker.

“You know what Venas is like! It’s probably his own fault he died!”

Aliq crossed his arms and continued.

“I bet he used his stupid favorite strategy of running away and activating his Grand Skill and got himself killed because the Beast was nearby.”

That argument did kind of make sense to Ultis. Venas was brash and reckless, which was how he got to such a high level so quickly, but now seemingly was the reason for his own end. However, Quid didn’t buy it.

“Or, considering it was Revelation, Venas just got unlucky because the Beast showed up. You do realize that Venas was sent to capture these escapees, right? He would have no reason to use his Grand Skill because it would have annihilated them all.”

“Come on, do you really think Venas thought things true?”

Aliq waved a hand dismissively. But Quid just stared flatly back. Sighing, Aliq folded his arms across his chest.

“Fine— even if you’re right. That doesn’t matter. We still have no reason to be careful. We’ve killed thousands of these escapees before, and we’re only going up against three Archdemons. This will be a breeze.”

He spoke as the group of Deathsquad Hunters rapidly approached the mountain’s base. But Quid shook his head.

“These Archdemons know they’re being hunted down. They know they will be found soon, and they must be prepared for our arrival.”

“And now I must ask you this— how do you know that?”

Aliq smirked, using his twin’s argument against him. Before Quid could answer, Ultis piped up, raising a hand.

“That’s because those three Archdemons disappeared off the Tablet of Tracking.”

“Hm?”

Aliq blinked, turning to her.

“What does that even mean?”

He looked confused. Quid shook his head at his twin’s foolishness. Ultis began to explain.

“The Archdemons vanished. They shouldn’t have been able to just disappear like that. And yet, they did.”

“I still don’t get it. Can’t you explain it in simpler terms?”

Aliq scowled, and Ultis sighed. But Quid took over.

“What she means, brother, is that the Archdemons were safe. They had already escaped. We could not have tracked them down, and they had no reason to return to the Netherworld. But they came back. Why?”

“That’s—”

Aliq opened his mouth, then caught himself. He placed a hand on his chin, before slowly turning towards Ultis.

“I… I think I’m starting to see your point.”

“These Archdemons have no reason to return unless they have laid a trap.”

Ultis said as she glanced over her shoulder once again. The uneasy feeling was still there. But she tried her best to ignore it. She looked back towards the front— Liquis was pointing at a cave situated at the base of the mountain.

“And that’s why we need to keep our guard up. Because we don’t know what’s waiting for us there…”

“Right.”

Aliq pursed his lips as he raised his head. And soon enough, all ten members of the group of Deathsquad Hunters arrived at their destination, landing right before the cave.

“This is where they’re hiding?”

Asto asked with narrowed eyes. He peered into the darkness of the cave entrance. It was a large tunnel that led further into the mountain. Liquis shrugged and gestured at the Tablet of Tracking.

“That’s what it’s telling me. And I can definitely sense that someone is down there.”

“This is starting to seem more and more like a trap…”

Ultis whispered with pursed lips. Ocbu seemed to agree. Even though she was their camouflage who typically remained silent, she spoke up as she looked up at the mountain.

“If the Archdemons are hidden within the mountain, I believe it would be a strategic move for us to collapse the mountain into itself to force them out. We can capture them once they emerge.”

“That is if they emerge. We’re supposed to bring them back and figure out what happened to Haec. We can’t risk accidentally killing them all.”

Asto shook his head, before glancing towards Nonnu, Unis, and Vul.

“The three of you will form a perimeter around the mountain in case these Archdemons try to escape while we’re down there. Keep an eye out at all times. Is that understood?”

They nodded, and Asto turned to the rest of the Deathsquad Hunters. He held their gazes as he raised a hand, conjuring a spear made from purple flames.

“Now, the rest of you will come with me and find these traitors and bring at least one of them back to our King. Let’s move.”

Asto barked the order, and all ten Deathsquad Hunters moved out. Nonnu, Unis, and Vul began to prepare a barrier spell to prevent anyone from escaping the cavern, while the other seven of them started down the tunnel.

Ultis was the last to go, trailing behind Aliq and Quid, before she came to a halt right before the entrance. She glanced over her shoulder one last time, unable to shake off the uneasy feeling she felt. She grew even more uncomfortable than before. She no longer felt like only a single pair of eyes was watching her every movement. She felt like a dozen eyes were looking her way, analyzing her every move.

And that made her shiver. But still, she was a Deathsquad Hunter. She had to be fearless. Anyway, there was nothing to be afraid about, right? She was going to go up against three mere Archdemons. Meanwhile, they were seven Primeval Demons— personally selected by their King to be his kingdom’s executioners. They would be fine.

That was what Ultis told herself as she descended down the tunnel, following after Asto and Liquis— the two leading the way down towards their targets.

It was a long and winding tunnel that seemed to burrow down beneath the mountain. There were a few forks in the path, however Liquis could see the trail the Archdemons left behind.

“This way.”

He spoke simply as he stalked his way ahead. Once the group of Deathsquad Hunters had delved deep enough into the tunnel, the crimson light of the glowing sky of the Netherworld faded away, bathing them in darkness. The path was partially illuminated by Asto’s flaming spear, giving them enough vision to see what was ahead of them so they couldn’t be ambushed.

But as they turned a corner, Ultis came to a halt, hearing a soft dripping echoing in the cavernous tunnel. She paused as she narrowed her eyes, sweeping her gaze over her surroundings. Only the twins came to a halt with her, turning around to face her curiously.

“What are you doing? What, are you scared or something?”

Aliq grinned, and Quid snorted.

“Ultis is loyal to the Demon King. She would sacrifice her life to obey his orders. She does not feel fear, neither do we. But if decides to run away, we will have no choice but to hunt her down… sorry.”

Quid nodded apologetically her way. She knew that. But she ignored the twins’ remarks. She had no intention of running away. Instead, she strayed off the path towards the wall of the tunnel with a frown.

“It’s coming from—”

And Ultis stretched a hand out, hearing the dripping echo louder. Her fingers touched the wall. It was wet and sticky. She furrowed her brows as she brought her hand back and saw a black liquid sticking to the palm of her hand.

“This is… blood?”

She blinked, before seeing a droplet of blood fall onto the fall. Slowly, she looked up and froze. Her eyes went wide as she took a step back.

“What…?”

“Hurry up already!”

Aliq called out after her. Ultis didn’t respond. She just stared at the ceiling in shock. Finally, Quid came up to her with his brows snapped together.

“Asto is going to leave us behind if you stand here any longer. What are you looking at?”

Ultis pointed at the ceiling, and Quid looked up. Aliq joined him a moment later as the twins looked towards what was on the ceiling.

“That’s… a [Hellterror]?”

Aliq tilted his head. Quid nodded.

“Looks like it. And it’s a fresh corpse too. So it must’ve just been killed.”

“Is that what you held us up? Over a dead Archdemon? That’s really not a big deal. Three Archdemons killed a single Archdemon— so what?”

Aliq scowled as he gestured at the bloodied corpse. But Ultis bit her lower lip in response.

“I’m not worried that this [Hellterror] is dead. I’m worried about how it was killed. Look—”

Ultis pointed emphatically at the way it had been cleanly impaled into the ceiling by a strange gray spike. Both the twins finally took notice of the weapon and blinked. But before any of them could investigate the corpse even further, they heard a shout coming from up ahead.

The three of them exchanged a glance. Ultis felt the uneasiness from before rise up in her stomach as she heard a commotion continue to break out from where Asto and the others had gone.

She drew her twin sickles from her side as Aliq and Quid nodded at each other as both their bodies flickered with electricity. The three members of the Deathsquad Hunters pressed forward apprehensively as the dripping of blood continued to echo behind them, moving to investigate what was going on.

Author's Notes:

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