[Salvos] 674. Corrupted Apprentice (Patreon)

674. Corrupted Apprentice

***

Haec stared at the sea of faces before him. There were countless Demons gathered there, each and every single one of them waiting in anticipation for him to speak. They knew him. Certainly, they knew about his reputation. They must have known him back when he was the Heir of the Netherworld, and some of them probably knew of him now as the Traitor of the Demon King. But he had interacted with them before too, so they many of them must have known him from seeing him in battle.

They were the Third Legion— the protectors of the Expanse. Or so they were called.

In reality, they were the Demon King’s slaves. The worthless rabble who had yet to prove themselves loyal or worthy to his cause. That was why they remained here.

But that was also why they rebelled at the first chance they got. They were part of the reason why Haec was able to aid Salvos in her battle against Hartia. And together, they freed the Third Legion.

Now, they looked to Haec, uncertain what was to come next. He faced their leader. A Greater Demon that stood at the front.

A [Knight Eligos].

“What’s your name?”

Haec asked as he stepped toward. The [Knight Eligos] didn’t give an immediate answer. There was an air of uncertainty gripping the Third Legion. Many of them were still in disbelief over what was going on. And Haec couldn’t blame them.

Even he couldn’t believe what he was doing at the moment. Rebelling against the Demon King? It was ridiculous. But that was the only choice he had at the moment, unless Regnorex’s plan to genocide the next generation of Demons came to fruition.

“My name… is Tor.”

The [Knight] Eligos eventually answered. Haec nodded at him, before sweeping his gaze over the Third Legion.

“And are you the leader here?”

Haec asked. And Tor paused. He glanced back towards a [Changeling], before looking towards the rest of the gathered Demons. There was a susurration that swept over them. Haec could hear the disagreements— he could see arguments beginning to break out.

Tor must have noticed this too, because he quickly shook his head.

“No.”

He spoke with no mouth, before facing the former Heir of the Netherworld with glowing eyes.

“I am no leader. There is no leader amongst us.”

“I see.”

Haec nodded as the commotion that swept over the Third Legion dissipated. They calmed down, and the Traitor of the Demon King raised his head. Clearing his throat, he spoke loud and clear for everyone to hear.

“If there is no one to speak for you, then I shall address every single one of you as an individual. At this moment, all of you here are given a choice.”

Tor tilted his head curiously when he heard that. The Third Legion exchanged confused glances, and Haec bellowed.

“You can either flee— I won’t stop you— and risk being hunted down by the Deathsquad Hunters.”

Once again, a myriad of voices broke out when they heard that. Tor looked down at his collar around his neck when he heard that. Everyone seemed to realize that this wasn’t an option, even if Haec was presenting it as one.

So nobody moved. They remained still as Haec nodded. He proffered a hand to them.

“Or you can join me.”

Tor’s eyes flickered at that. The [Changeling] standing next to him frowned. More than a few members of the Third Legion looked like they were about to protest. But Haec spoke up, spreading his arms wide as he continued.

“Accept me as your leader, and I will offer you protection. But that is not all—”

He turned towards the general direction of the Demon King’s Castle as he spoke out.

“I will lead you all against the Demon King.”

As he spoke, a figure standing to the side stirred. Taburas, Bertrugil, and Aemula were watching him from a distance, not joining the Third Legion, just listening to what the former Heir of the Netherworld was saying.

“You may think that this is an impossible task, but we are many! There are fifty legions that have been tasked with protecting the Expanse, and if we rescue them all, there will already be millions of us! And that is not to mention all the others who are still suffering, forced to obey the Demon King against their will!”

Haec shook his head as he raised a fist. The Third Legion almost seemed to hesitate, but they were being swayed by his words. Even if ever-so-slightly.

“I implore you all— do not waste your lives, running away only to be hunted down and killed. If we unite our power, we will be unstoppable!”

Haec finished as he faced the [Knight Eligos] standing before him. He held his hand out.

“What do you say?”

And Tor… stepped forward. He raised his blade-like arms as he nodded.

“I will fight with you. For Bella. For those who have died unjustly under Regnorex’s rule.”

He was the first one to speak. But he wasn’t the only one who accepted Haec’s offer. The [Changeling] nodded and bowed as more and more of the Third Legion dropped to their knees. Their hesitation began to evaporate, and they turned towards Haec for hope.

The Traitor of the Demon King heard their pleas as he raised a fist.

“Together, we will liberate all of us who are suffering under the Regnorex’s iron fist!”

And the Third Legion cheered.

***

Of course, not everyone in the Third Legion was enthused by this offer. While many of them were resentful over their predicament and wanted to get revenge against the Demon King, there were others who had been broken over the amount of time they had spent here in the Expanse, and they believed that there was no point in fighting back.

Those were about a quarter of the Third Legion, and they left.

They were allowed to leave, just as Haec said. Taburas watched them go, before she glanced back when she heard a voice speak up.

“Since when has Haec been this good at speaking?”

Aemula asked as she stared at this scene with wide eyes. Bertrugil snorted, leaning back, clearly unimpressed. But Taburas closed her eyes as she remembered the times she had spent with him as the Heir of the Netherworld.

“Since always.”

Taburas replied as she opened her eyes.

Confident. Strong. Independent. Reliant only on himself. He was unlike how he acted around Salvos.

“That’s the Haec I remember…

Taburas whispered, her gaze transfixed on the Traitor of the Demon King. And she wished he acted like this more frequently.

Haec gathered the strongest of the Third Legion around to make plans. From what Taburas could tell, it was likely they were going to target the other legions and free them as well. She wondered just how well that would go.

Most of the other legions had multiple Primeval Demons watching over them. The only reason why Hartia was tasked with the Third Legion by himself was because of his authority over space magic. Nobody wearing a summoning collar could defy him.

And perhaps that meant that dealing with the other Primeval Demons in charge of the legions could have been easier, since others could get involved with the fighting.

Taburas pursed her lips. She wanted to walk up right next to Haec at this very moment and join his side like before. But she wasn’t sure if he would have accepted her being there, especially after how he had gotten mad at her just recently.

When she finally mustered up her courage to get moving, she was interrupted by a soft chittering sound. Her brows snapped together as she looked up into the air. She saw a flicker form in the sky as she narrowed her eyes. Bertrugil and Aemula took notice of it too. They looked up quizzically with her.

“What is that…?”

Taburas asked, before her eyes grew wide.

***

Haec paused when he felt a strange sensation wash over him. He had felt it earlier, when he had been fighting against Hartia alongside Salvos. But he hadn’t questioned it. Now though, he sensed it, and he shivered at what he felt. But he wasn’t the only one who noticed whatever this was.

The remaining members of the Third Legion looked up and gasped, pointing at something in the sky. Haec followed their gaze and saw a rift in space.

But that wasn’t right. It didn’t look like any rift he had seen before. This rift was twisted and distorted, leaking out an iridescent light. It almost looked like the aura of divinity. Except there was something menacing about it.

Haec frowned as he watched the rift grow bigger and bigger. Until, finally, space itself smashed open like glass. He watched as fractal pieces of the world itself collapsed towards him, and he raised his arms to defend himself.

But before he could even react, the broken pieces of space came to a sudden halt. They shifted in the air right before him, floating like they were in stasis. Haec blinked a few times as the [Knight Eligos] behind him whispered.

“What is going on…?”

And Haec watched as the broken pieces of space began to deform and glow with a myriad of colors. He lowered his hands, before he used [Identification] on these strange things.

[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Shardspace- Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]

[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Shardspace- Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]

[-̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ Shardspace- Lvl. -̸͙̍̀͠-̴̛̠͊̀͝-̵̪̱̼͑-̶̰͎͙̉̆͝ ]

“Huh.”

Haec stared at them as he tried to process what it was. And then he heard a screech. He watched as a strange tendril began to form, aimed towards him. He backed away warily as his [Dangersense] warned him to prepare for a fight.

The Third Legion raised their weapons at these three distorted creatures. But before either side could strike, a blast of gray flames engulfed the Shardspaces, incinerating them entirely. Haec blinked, recognizing the attack.

Looking up, he saw Salvos descend to the ground, wreathed in the same distortion and iridescence. She looked different from when he last saw her. Her blackened arms were glowing. The scale-like cracks that covered her skin were shining from beneath, a faint eclectic mix of colors.

Her golden eyes no longer had the single slit-like pupil in each of them. Instead, they bore these crosses that had a gradient of colors on them.

Salvos landed right before Haec as she smiled at him, and he stared at her in shock.

“What happened to you, Salvos?”

He asked as he gaped at her. She opened her mouth to answer him with a small smile on her face.

“I—”

Salvos started. And then she heard a shriek coming from behind. Glancing back, she saw more Shardspaces beginning to form, before she scratched the back of her head.

“I’m, um, going to have to clean that up.”

***

Advancement Complete!

[Draconic Apprentice] -> [C-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝rr-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝pt-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝d Appr-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝nt-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝c-̴̨̯͍̜̘̼̣̯͚̘̹̪̘͙͌̾͆̚͝]

Gained 50 Stat Points!

[Vitality] +60

[Strength] +60

[Endurance] +60

[Wisdom] +60

[Agility] +60

Gained 3 Secondary Skill Slots!

Gained 12 Secondary Skill Points!

General Skills [Corruption Manipulation] and [Corruption Navigation] consolidates and becomes [Corruption Mastery]!

Secondary Skill [Draconic Fury] becomes [Corrupted Draconic Fury]!

Secondary Skill [Warped Time] becomes [Cluster Time Dilation]!

Secondary Skills [Passive - Dragon Scales] becomes [Passive - Corrupted Dragon Scales]!

Secondary Skill [Passive - Weaker Regeneration] becomes [Corrupted Regeneration]!

Secondary Skill [Riftwalk] is now available!

Secondary Skill [Worldbreak] is now available!

Author's Notes:

What thonk?

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