Chapter 625: Sparring Match
<strong>625. Sparring Match</strong>
<strong>***</strong>
It was going to be a duel.
Well, it was actually just going to be a sparring match. It was not going to be serious. Or at least, that was what Taburas told herself as she took in a deep breath to steel herself. She was nervous, to say the least.
She wasn’t even going to be either one of thebatants. All Taburas was was a spectator standing to the side alongside Bertrugil and Aem. They were watching from a distance— standing as far away as they possibly could from Salvos and Haec.
But the pocket space they were upying wasn’t a massive ne. Taburas couldn’t back away as far as she wanted. After all, she was about to watch two Primeval Demons duke it out in a fight.
For whatever reason, her nervousness was limited only to herself. Everyone else seemed quite rxed about what was going to take ce. Bertrugil just yawned as he leant back against the walls of the pocket space.
“This better not be boring…”
Taburas bit her lower lip. She nced towards Aem, but the [Fiend] actually looked excited.“I wonder who will win?”
That was… a stupid question. At least, to Taburas. She admired Haec. She really did. But he was much lower-leveled than Salvos.
The [Subus] wasn’t delusional. She knew that there was a 15 level difference between Haec and Salvos. Perhaps at the same level, Haec would win. But as it was right now, Taburas knew the answer.
She ground her teeth together as she nced between the two Primeval Demons. Her uneasiness must have been obvious because Salvos waved a hand and spoke cheerfully,
“Don’t worry, Taburas! We’re going to take it easy, right Haec?”
“We are.”
The [Devil] nodded. Taburas nced towards him hesitantly. It was strange to her to perceive him by his new Subspecies. For all her life, she had known him just as a [Fiend]. But now he was something else. He even looked different.
For the first time ever after an evolution, he had grown shorter rather than taller!
Taburas wasn’t sure why, but she felt off seeing him like this. He didn’t feel like he was him anymore. It didn’t feel like he was… her leader anymore.
She shook her head and dismissed the thought. <em>He is Haec. It doesn’t matter what evolution he undergoes. He is my leader.</em>
The [Subus] steeled herself as she raised her gaze. She pursed her lips, watching as the two Primeval Demons faced off. And she waited for the duel to begin.
<strong>***</strong>
I grinned at Haec as I flexed an arm, revealing my ws. I looked him up and down, bouncing on my toes. I ensured that [The World Of My Mind] was as reinforced as possible, then I posed the simple question to him as I took a step forward.
“Are you ready?”
Haec nodded with a small smile stered on his own face.
“I am. You can start whenever you want, Salvos.”
“Huh.”
I stared at him— I saw the confident look on his face. And that made me bare my teeth as I took on a wide stance.
“Are you sure about that? Because I don’t want this tost too short.”
“I’m positive.”
Haec replied, and I shook my head. From the side, Taburas, Bertrugil, and Aem waited in anticipation for the duel to begin. Iughed.
“Alright. Here we—”
I appeared behind him with a w already raised, burning with [The Holy mes].
<em>“Go!”</em>
I swung down at the [Devil] before he could even react. I aimed for the back of his head, hoping to knock him out with just one strike. But before my fist couldnd, a white object sprouted from his back.
I watched with wide eyes as a spike-like protrusion shot up towards me, nearly impaling my arm. I flipped out of the way just in time as Haec pivoted to face me. He wore a devilish grin on his face as the spike poked out of his back like a massive horn.
“What do you think?
“What is that?”
I gaped, staring at the bone-like spike. Haec ced a hand on it as he shook his head.
“[Greater Reapershell]. I didn’t exactly know what it did, but I knew it would protect me the moment you got close. It’s pretty nifty, huh?”
He strode up towards me as I narrowed my eyes. I heard a whistleing from the side. It was Bertrugil. He looked impressed as he ced his hand on his chin.
“Interesting. That’s simr to a [Hellreaper]’s natural defenses.”
Aem nced between Bertrugil and Haec. Her eyes went wide.
“Wait, are you saying that Haec is a [Hellreaper] now?”
“What? No— are you an idiot?”
Bertrugil sputtered and began to reprimand her, but I ignored them. I cast my gaze back to Haec with an amused look on my face.
“Huh. That is impressive. But I wonder… how fast can it react?”
I snickered as I dashed forward, sprinting straight at my firstpanion. Once again, my ws were enveloped by [The Holy mes]. I leapt forward at Haec,ughing as I swung down at him. He didn’t even brace himself. Another spoke shot out from him once again, this time jutting out of his shoulder and curving around his chest.
My ws shed with the bone-like spike. I didn’t hold back— I tried to break through it. But his defenses were able to repel my attack. I gritted my teeth as he grinned.
And I teleported behind him.
“How about this?”
This time, I went for a fiery kick. Again, it was blocked. And I circled around him, unleashing a [Barrage of Cinders]. I was relentless. I unleashed an onught of attacks from all directions. However, he was able to repel most of it as his body slowly got covered in spikes.
And as I tried to find an opening between his defenses, his eyes glinted. I watched as Haec’s gaze snapped towards me, before he uttered.
<em>“[Hellish Reproach]!”</em>
I blinked, watching as all the spikes receded at once. It happened so fast, I couldn’t even react. Standing there in front of me was Haec in apletely defenseless position. But his fist was raised and glowing with a red aura.
“I’ve got you—”
I started, thinking I finally overwhelmed him. But his fist moved so fast, I couldn’t even dodge out of the way in time. I barely blocked it with my forearms as I felt my scales crack under the strike. However, Haec wasn’t done.
He took a step forward as his arms blurred. I backed away, watching as he moved with a speed that rivaled even my own. He unleashed a flurry of punches my way as I barely managed to avoid each strike. This time, I wasn’t caught off-guard, so I was able to move a step ahead of him.
But that didn’t mean avoiding his barrage of punches was easy. I didn’t expect him to be able to move like he did here. Eventually though, his movements slowed, and I was able to disengage. I hopped away from him as I blinked a few times.
“What was that?”
I stared at Haec with round eyes. He took a step back, surprised by even himself. He stared at his fist as the crimson aura faded away.
“I… did not expect that Skill to do that. I knew it would let me absorb your attacks and redirect it to you. But I thought it was going to be more of a single explosive punch.”
“It was returning my attacks? That’s… like Ira.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked Haec up and down. That was strange. I hadn’t seen him fight that much beforehand, but I didn’t remember seeing him use Skills that could deflect or reflect attacks thrown his way. That was the kind of a Skill I expected from a Demon of Wrath.
I shook my head as I dusted myself off.
“Well, you just caught me by surprise. And I’m going easy on you. So…”
“You’re wide open.”
Haec interrupted me as he mmed a foot on the ground. All at once, the ss-like floors of my pocket space shook, throwing me off bnce. It was like a powerful waved just rippled across the ground, and I was hurled into the air.
Whatever he did, he dibobted my senses. It didn’t hurt, I was just left in disarray. And before I could regain my bearings, I saw Haec leaping up towards me as the image of a [Hebomination] echoed behind him.
<em>“[Wrath of the Netherworld]!”</em>
I couldn’t move out of the way. I could only conjure up an aura of ming armor as Haec punched me with the strength of a [Hebomination]. I was sent flying back into the ground of my pocket space, and the ss-like floors <em>cracked.</em>
Taburas gasped, Bertrugil winced, and Aem cooed.
I nkly looked up at Haec as hended before me with a triumphant grin on his face.
“You shouldn’t let your guard down like that, Salvos.”
“That was— like Zix’s?”
I shook my head as I picked myself up. I stared at my firstpanion. The normally gentle and soft expression on his face was gone, reced by a morepetitive and battle-hungry smile. He bared his teeth at me as he gestured for me to get up.
I wasn’t hurt. My ming armor took the brunt of his attack. But I could only stare at him in shock.
“You’re… a lot stronger than I thought you’d be…”
For a moment, I lowered my head as I looked down at myself. Then I smiled as I looked back up at Haec. The mes coating my body red up as I punched my hand with augh.
“Maybe I should start taking this a little bit seriously.”
In response, the newly-evolved Primeval Demon smirked back. And I charged him once again.
<strong>Author''s Notes:</strong>
YO I HAVE BIG NEWS! <strong>For the first time ever, Salvos is finally going to have a paperback and hardcover version of its book released!</strong>
That''s right! After nearly three years, I''m finally going to have a print copy! Unlike most other novels which just publish print books on Amazon, I''m going to be going through Kickstarter with this to ensure that it has the highest quality it can possibly have, rather than the shitty Amazon print on demand quality! I will have more details for itter when the Kickstarter is finally out, but for now, you can follow its pre-release with this link /projects/1943799137/salvos-book-1-an-epic-litrpg-fantasy-novel
The officialunch for the Kickstarter will be the 17th of October, so be on the lookout for it! And even if you''re not interested in backing it, I''d really appreciate it if you checked out the pre-release and follow it as it will support me in the Kickstarter algorithm! Seriously, you don''t even need to do anything. As long as you have a Kickstarter ount and click follow, it''ll help me a ton!
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