419. Sleep is for the Weak, so Sleep

[Mage - Lvl. 141]

Edithe Dawnrise stared up at the silver-haired girl. At her savior. At her friend.

It was odd. This wasn’t the first time Salvos had come to save the redhead. The last few times Edithe was rescued, she’d always felt incredibly frustrated with herself. Like she was weak— as though she wasn’t strong enough.

But this time? All Edithe felt was relief.

“You came. Like you promised.”

The red-haired woman smiled at her friend. Salvos nodded, glancing idly back.

“I did. Sorry I’m late. I was busy taking care of my kids. But I’m here now. And I’ll make these guys pay for what they did here.”

Smirking, she twirled the ornate sword and held it out at her side with one hand. Edithe stared at the iridescent blade, frowning.

“Wait, what is that—”

“Seriously? There’s more of you?”

Desidia groaned as she smacked her forehead. The Demon looked like an annoyed child. She kicked a foot into the air, sending a nearby boulder flying like it was a small pebble.

“And I thought we were finally done with our boring mission.”

“You can leave if you want. I’ll give you a chance to run right now. Go ahead, now’s your last chance to try and escape.”

Salvos replied with a grin. Desidia snorted.

“Are you dumb? You’re only Level 141. We should be the ones offering you a chance to get away now while you can.”

Edithe pursed her lips as she watched this exchange play out. She couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t nervous at all about what was going to happen. These were Demons, just like Salvos. It wouldn’t be an easy fight.

But the silver-haired girl was confident.

“Nope. I never said I’ll let you get away. It’ll be a ten minute head start. Once I’m done with your companion here, I’ll find you and kill you as well.”

That made the other Demon pause. Desidia exchanged a glance with Iivor who also wore a confused look on his face. The latter lowered his hands, letting the small tornado he’d conjured up vanish, dropping Daniel to the ground. The [Hero] just sprawled there, groaning in pain.

“You’re… yes, I have heard of you.”

Iivor faced the silver-haired girl as she grinned. He tapped a finger on his chin.

“Salvos, the Liberator of the Plaguelands. You’re the one who killed that idiot Lucerna who somehow got himself trapped in the Mortal Realm, aren’t you?”

“You know Lucerna?”

Salvos raised a brow, genuinely curious. Edithe herself couldn’t help but perk up at the mention of the name, and Iivor nodded.

“A weakling. He’d been a Lesser Demon for the equivalent of… a hundred years? In the Mortal Realm. Before he finally became a Greater Demon. I wouldn’t even know of his name if not for the anomaly surrounding his death.”

“Anomaly?”

“The fact that he somehow broke his summoning collar. That is not something that normally happens.”

Iivor tapped on the metal bracelet he had on his left hand. Well, it looked like a bracelet to Edithe, but apparently it was a summoning collar? With a clink, he tried to yank it off, to no avail.

“Even a [Hellprince] can’t break a summoning collar. They were created by our king himself. They are nigh unbreakable.”

“Huh.”

Salvos tilted her head back. Then she leaned forward.

“Well, do you want to be let in on a little secret?”

Iivor frowned as she pointed a thumb at herself. Baring her teeth, she spoke in a low voice. Clearly threatening.

“I was the one who broke Lucerna’s summoning collar.”

Salvos bared her teeth at the pair of Demons. Iivor blinked. He hesitated for a second, peering at the silver-haired girl with a puzzled gaze.

“You’re…?”

But Desidia just let out a heavy sigh.

“Enough of the talking already. I just want to crush this annoying girl and get this over and done with.”

The green-skinned Demon started forward, cracking her knuckles. Her tails swished behind her back with each step she took. Edithe backed up warily, and Hadrian got to his feet next to her. He stood protectively over the redhead, but Salvos didn’t look worried.

“Sure, go ahead and crush me if you really want. Just—”

And Salvos vanished. Edithe didn’t even register her friend’s disappearance for a split-second. Desidia did. The green-skinned Demon blinked and looked around.

“Wait, where did she go?”

The silver-haired girl was already behind Desidia at that point, her iridescent blade raised to the side. The Demon spun around with wide eyes.

“What…?”

“—you have to catch me first.”

And the ground ripped open as blood spurted out of Desidia’s chest.

What… just happened? Iivor looked on as Desidia stumbled back, clutching at the deep gash cut across her body. It was so quick, he barely even registered it. All he saw was the silver-haired girl disappearing, a flash— then… this scene.

But how? How did Salvos do that? The only explanation was that she’d somehow moved so quickly, Iivor wasn’t able to keep up with her movements. And that wasn’t possible. Not unless she was moving even faster than Avaritia with the Boots of Alexander.

That wasn’t possible. That couldn’t be possible. And yet, reality said otherwise.

Desidia stumbled back, working her jaw as Salvos disappeared once more. This time, her back burst, sputtering out a column of black blood as dust and debris went flying from the impact. The green-skinned Demon gargled in an incoherent voice as she fell to the ground.

Salvos lowered her weapon, standing over the bloodied mess that was Desidia. Daniel just snorted from where he lay.

“Show off…”

“Good to see you’re doing well too, Daniel.”

She grinned at him, and he chuckled. Then he groaned as he clutched at his sides. Salvos turned and faced Iivor.

“Now, then. Is it your turn?”

Impossible, Iivor wanted to say. He couldn’t believe his eyes. This time, he’d managed to make out her movements. The way she swiftly glided over to Desidia and sunk her blade into his ally’s back before continuing on and coming to a halt. Her speed truly surpassed Avaritia’s. It even surpassed Orgaf’s.

“But her level…”

Iivor once again used [Identification] on her. Yet, the results were still the same.

[Mage - Lvl. 141]

“This makes no sense. None of this makes any sense.”

He gritted his teeth as she cocked her head at him.

“What’s wrong?”

She was clearly trying to get into his head. But he had to remain cool. Iivor studied the silver-haired girl. He saw the rainbow-colored flames wisping off her body. He saw the iridescent aura— sensed some… strange power radiating from her. And then he snapped his fingers.

“Ah, a Grand Skill.”

That was the only thing that made sense to him. Some kind of temporary boost in power, just like Daniel’s [Will of the Hero].

“I take it all this showing off you’re doing is part of your Grand Skill’s abilities, then?”

Iivor asked, raising a brow. Salvos nodded.

“Yep. Are you going to show me your Grand Skill too?”

“Perhaps… but later. After all—”

He snapped his fingers as a pair of wind lances appeared in either of his hands. A shadow towered over her from behind as her eyes narrowed.

“—you finally woke Desidia up by making her angry.”

And the green-skinned Demon slammed her fist down at Salvos. The attack barely missed the silver-haired girl as she leapt out of the way, but Iivor was prepared for that. He tossed the wind lances at her, intercepting her and slowing her movements.

Desidia ran forward, her body growing bigger as her muscles rippled with energy. She was still regenerating from the previous two slashes she suffered, but she was mad. The Archdemon of Sloth was rampaging in a way Iivor had never seen before.

She swung forward as her arm twisted— breaking and bending in odd angles as blood seeped out of the tearing skin. This was the power of Desidia’s Grand Skill. She could rapidly regenerate from all her wounds, including self-inflicted ones, so she was able to push her body beyond its limits.

The attack sent a shockwave that extended out beyond just the premises of the palace. Desidia’s broken arm snapped back into place just moments after as she gave chase to the silver-haired girl.

“Don’t mess with me, you damned Human!”

Each step smashed the ground open, tearing her legs in the process, only for her regeneration to kick in and restore her body to normal. Her Grand Skill didn’t grant her any boost to [Agility], yet she was actually keeping up with Salvos this way. Iivor flew after them, but his spells were practically lost in Desidia’s rampage.

“You can cut me down as many times as you’d like, but I will keep coming back!”

The silver-haired girl flipped over the Demon, pirouetting in the air as Desidia’s attacks hit nothing. Salvos landed softly, before hopping back as Desidia clapped her hands together. The blast of air popped the tiles off the courtyard, shredding everything in a conical wave.

Despite that, Salvos avoided the attack. Somehow, even though the Archdemon of Sloth was keeping up with the silver-haired girl through overworking her body, her swings would just barely miss at the very last moment each time. With a soft laugh, Salvos landed across the palace’s courtyard from Desidia.

“You’re strong. Seriously. I didn’t expect this at all. But you’re still wrong.”

“Be quiet, wretch!”

Desidia ripped off her arm and threw it at Salvos. Iivor arrived at the courtyard just in time to watch the silver-haired girl’s form blur, dodging the flying bloodied limb, before reappearing where she’d been standing like she was always there.

The green-skinned Demon’s arm regrew as she panted, steadying herself with her tail. She spoke savagely— losing any semblance of boredom she’d previously had as her anger overwhelmed her entire being.

“I will not stop. I will keep going. I will never die. Not until… nOt unTIl i CruSH yOu—”

Her entire form rippled and cracked as dozens of new joints appeared in her body.

“—LIKE THE BUG YOU ARE!”

She raised her arms and swung down. Her limb somehow stretched and reached Salvos across a dozen feet, snapping down like a whip. The silver-haired girl stood calmly as the attack came, whispering.

“I am not a bug.”

Again, Salvos vanished. Iivor prepared for her to reappear, only to see dozens of images of the silver-haired girl sprinting around Desidia in a circle. The green-skinned Demon’s twisted whip-like arm snapped back to her as she began to heal, returning to her normal form once again.

“How is she doing this…?”

Iivor asked as an echo of many voices came from these moving images.

“And all I’ll need is one attack to defeat you.”

“You…”

Desidia started, only to narrow her eyes. The Archdemon of Sloth realized something and took a step back.

“This is… space magic?”

Iivor blinked. It took him a moment, but he saw the same thing his ally did. He tossed a wind blade at one of the images, and a fractal dome shattered. All the images were gone, replaced with only a single silver-haired girl standing a hundred feet away with her sword raised.

Ribbons and motes of a rainbow-colored flame coalesced around the blade’s tip as it shimmered white. The pure aura from the weapon mixed with these iridescent wisps of energy as Salvos’ entire body exuded the same power.

Iivor pointed at her, ready to strike her down as she was off guard. But before he could cast his magic, he suddenly froze. A shiver ran down his spine as his body refused to move in sheer terror. And Salvos moved.

“Divine—”

The wispy aura grew stronger, burning around the silver-haired girl like a thick coat of mist. Desidia smiled wide as she charged at Salvos.

“Now I have you!”

Iivor watched as the silver-haired girl lowered the blade. The fiery aura around her sharpened— its power sparked off her in bits of iridescent cinder. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. Not for the full second this played out.

Desidia ran forward, cackling madly as she reached out. And as she got close, Salvos smirked and swung down.

“—Radiant Slash!”

And a giant blade of iridescent energy struck down the green-skinned Demon. In an instant, Desidia was completely engulfed by the attack. The rainbow-colored flames burned her— incinerating her body faster than she could regenerate.

Even though her healing abilities surpassed what a Potion of Regeneration could do, Salvos’ wave of divine power was too much. Desidia crumbled under the blast, twisted and tearing and burning until nothing was left. Not even ashes.

Iivor didn’t know when he regained control of his body. He just stared on as the silver-haired girl stepped back, spinning the blade and shaking her head.

“Belzu was a bug, and even he wouldn’t break a sweat with you guys.”

Then she cast her gaze to the remaining Demon. His entire body tensed in fear— this time, a terror inflicted from a stare alone.

“Now, as I asked earlier: are you going to show me your Grand Skill too? Because… you’ll need it.”