[Salvos] 770. Immortality Skills
770. Immortality Skills
***
“My first immortality Skill?”
I blinked as I stared at Manos in confusion. He just nodded in response without elaborating any further.
“That’s right— your first immortality Skill.”
“What does that even mean?”
I pressed him, annoyed by his lack of any further explanation. The Executioner just rolled his eyes at me as if I was asking the dumbest question in the world.
“It’s an immortality Skill. Come on, what do you think it means?”
“Alright, I can infer that it’s a Skill that makes me immortal. But how?”
I glared at Manos as I crossed my arms. He shrugged back at me.
“I dunno.”
“...what?”
I looked at the former leader of the Deathsquad Hunters with round eyes. I waited for him to say that this was a joke, before actually going on to explain what my new Grand Skill did. However, he just gave me a helpless look.
“You can’t be serious, right? How do you even know it’s an immortality Skill if you don’t know what it does?!”
“No, I know what it does.”
Manos scoffed in response. He wagged a finger and spoke in a lecturing tone.
“It makes it very hard for you to die.”
“Ok, but the name ‘immortality Skill’ implies that! And you still haven’t explained to me how you even know it’s an immortality Skill! You could just be making this up!”
I pointed accusingly at Manos. He sighed as he shook his head.
“I’m not lying. Look, I have heard about immortality Skills before— but only in passing. From Oracli, a couple times from the Devil whenever he stops by, and even once from the Demon King. But the specific Skill you have?”
Manos looked back up at me and met my gaze. I furrowed my brows at him. He tapped a finger on his chin.
“Yes, Jofis mentioned it a few times. Mostly when he is reminiscing about his past reign as the Hellking. It’s a Grand Skill that he had… before he was defeated and dethroned by Regnorex, of course. But he said he lost access to it once he devolved back into a Primeval Demon.”
“Wait, Jofis had this Grand Skill?”
I blinked at Manos. He gave me a flat stare.
“Yeah, that’s what I just said.”
“Ok, but, like—”
I sputtered, and Manos cut me off as he tilted his head back.
“Well, actually, Jofis had two immortality Skills. One of them was the same as yours— [Soul Of The Primordial Demon]— and the other was called… I believe, [The Faux Resurrection]? I don’t know for sure, since I never really asked him about it.”
I looked at the Executioner in disbelief. Shaking my head, I took a step forward.
“But why not? Aren’t you on the verge of becoming a Primordial Demon yourself? Aren’t you curious about these immortality Skills?”
“Me? On the verge of becoming a Primordial Demon?”
Manos placed a hand on his chest as he stared at me incredulously. I nodded, and he blinked a few times, before finally laughing.
I watched as he guffawed, doubling over— even slapping his knees. It was evidently an exaggerated reaction. Almost like he was trying to prove a point. I squinted at him as I crossed my arms.
“What’s wrong with what I said?”
I asked as I poked Manos’s side. He straightened and wiped a tear from his face.
“It’s just that you think that I am on the verge of becoming a Primordial Demon…”
“And is that wrong?”
I frowned, but Manos just shook his head.
“Yes, yes it is.”
“Then does that mean you’re not even close even at your level?”
I pursed my lips at the thought. If Manos wasn’t close, then that meant that I wasn’t close either. Which meant that there was a long way for me to go before I even stood a chance against Regnorex.
It made me reconsider if stopping the ritual was even a possibly. Maybe I was going to have to get my dad’s help. Well— I was already trying to lure the Beast here to help us against the Demon King. Unfortunately, right now, each time a clone of mine got close, they were instantly killed.
And it wasn’t like the Beast was actively trying to kill them. It just killed them… by accident.
So that was not going to be an easy task for me to accomplish with my clones alone. But if I wanted my dad’s help, I would have to travel back down to the end of the world where time moved differently due to the distortion of the corruption.
I wasn’t really going to risk returning there, even for five minutes, and coming back to the ritual already being completed, along with my friends back in the Mortal Realm dead. That was why I didn’t seek out my dad.
However, as I was lost in my thoughts, wondering about what to do, the reply that came from Manos took me by surprise.
“No.”
He chuckled as I paused. I looked at him and raised a brow.
“Excuse me?”
“I said: no, I’m actually pretty close to becoming a Primordial Demon. But I wouldn’t say that I’m on the verge of becoming one either.”
Manos explained as he rolled his eyes. I just gave him a confused look.
“What does that mean?”
I asked, and he scoffed in response.
“It means that if I wanted to, I could become a Primordial Demon right now. But… I just don’t.”
And my jaw dropped when I heard that.
“What?”
I stared at him for a moment, before I asked.
“But why?”
***
“And it’s done.”
Hartia said as he dusted his hands off, before descending down from the sky. Haec watched the Fairy slow to a halt right before his face. The army of legions that had been brought back by both Manos and Salvos had just been freed from their collars.
Even now, Haec could still hear the constant clinking of the metallic object dropping onto the ground in the distance. Glancing towards the side, he saw the Primeval Demons— the leaders of the legions— that had been left alone with Haec, rubbing their necks as they realized they were free from their collars.
Turning back to Hartia, Haec gave an approving nod to the Fairy.
“Thanks for showing up when you did, Hartia. I was getting worried for a moment there, because… you know.”
Even though Haec wasn’t too fond of the Fairy, at the very least, he could be trusted. But Hartia just scoffed as he looked in the direction of the other leaders of the legions.
“Please, if you’re worried about any of these other incompetent fools, trust me: none of them will betray you. At least, not right now.”
Haec raised a brow when he heard that.
“Why not?”
He asked curiously, and Hartia just huffed.
“Because Manos is on your side. As long as the Demon King himself, or another fake Primordial Demon like Chordus or Jofis, isn’t in front of them, they are not going to do anything to challenge the Executioner.”
“But Manos is only a Primeval Demon like them. Surely it would be more suicidal for them to go against Regnorex than taking their chances against him?”
Haec countered simply, and Hartia just shook his head in response.
“There’s a reason why Manos was chosen as the leader of the Deathsquad Hunters— honestly, I’m surprised Oracli has never told you this.”
The Fairy explained as Haec furrowed his brows.
“And what is that reason?”
The former Heir of the Netherworld asked, before Hartia sighed dismissively.
“Because Manos is one of the three followers of the Demon King who have already reached their Primordial Demon evolution— but each one of them just have not accepted it yet.”
And Haec blinked when he heard that.
Author's Notes:
Apologies again for the inconsistent schedule, but because of various reasons, it's looking like I'll have to leave Malta-- which is where I currently live-- in the next few months, so I've just been looking and exploring options to move to. Not only that, but I'm wrapping up the final episodes of Salvos Season 2's webcomic. I hope it won't disrupt my schedule for too much longer. But if it does keep disrupting my schedule, I may have to pause my patreon because it's so much on my plate all at once...