[Salvos] 776. Disappearance

776. Disappearance

***

“I swear I left her right here.”

Manos said as he scratched the back of his head. Haec looked between the Executioner, before looking towards the… well, the wide expanse of nothing but white rocks.

“Are you absolutely sure about that?”

Haec asked with pursed lips. Manos nodded.

“Mhm, she was right here. In fact, she was the one who brought me here.”

“Right, I vaguely recall that. And why exactly did she need you?”

“She just needed some help with figuring out what one of her new Grand Skills did. All I did was tell her what it probably did.”

Manos shrugged as he took a step back. Haec stared at Manos, before sweeping his gaze around the landscape. There was no sign of his companion anywhere.

They had already searched the area. And it was not just the two of them. Hartia and Sicar had helped with the search, because they could cover a lot more grounds much faster than either Manos or Haec.

And they were only revisiting it now because there was nowhere else to search.

Which led to only a single conclusion.

Salvos was gone. 

Whatever happened to her was up to anyone’s interpretation. But she had disappeared. Vanished without a trace. 

But why?

Haec didn’t get it.

Salvos would never abandon him— she had defied Regnorex for him, making an enemy out of the Demon King. 

All for Haec.

And that was not all. But she had many companions in the Mortal Realm. Out of everyone in the Netherworld who would want this ritual to be stopped, Salvos had to be one of the ones who wanted it to be stopped the most.

But she was gone now. Right when she was needed the most.

When the ritual had just begun.

Why?

Where could she have gone?

Haec didn’t understand it at all.

She couldn’t have possibly abandoned them, but she was also nowhere to be found. So what was the explanation?

The former Heir of the Netherworld gritted his teeth, before spotting a glowing ball of light descend towards him. He faced Hartia who just shook his head and floated down towards the ground.

“I flew around the area three times. I saw nothing. So unless Salvos suddenly died without a trace, she definitely left us.”

“That’s impossible.”

Haec shook his head, refusing to accept that possibility. 

“She would never betray us.”

“That’s probably true. But if she wasn’t the one who betrayed us, then…”

Hartia’s gaze drifted towards the Executioner who was just standing to the side, still looking around quizzically. 

“What do you mean by that?”

Haec asked with a frown. Manos blinked, realizing he was the topic of their attention. 

“What are you guys looking at?”

The Executioner raised a brow. Hartia drifted down towards Haec and whispered to his ears.

“Hey, I mean, I warned you that Manos could betray us.”

“Alright, I can hear you.”

Manos snorted.

“And I didn’t betray anybody— I just told Salvos that… I could probably betray you. That’s all.”

Hartia gave the Executioner a flat stare.

“You’re literally proving my point.”

“Hey, I was just trying to prove my own point to Salvos! And I didn’t betray anyone— words and actions are different.”

Manos harrumphed, before looking up towards the sky and calling out.

“Sicar!” 

The other Primeval Demon descended to the ground and nodded at the former leader of the Deathsquad Hunters.

“What is it, sir?”

“Tell them that I’d never betray anyone— you’ve known me for a while, you know I would never do such a thing!”

Sicar hesitated when he heard Manos’s request. Glancing between the Executioner and Haec, the other Primeval Demon slowly lowered his head.

“...sir, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but you literally betrayed the Demon King.”

Manos paused, before shaking his head.

“Well, that’s because Regnorex is evil!”

“I don’t think you of all people have any qualms about good and evil, sir.”

“That’s—”

“That’s enough.”

Haec said, cutting them off. Even though Sicar and Manos were both higher-leveled than the former Heir of the Netherworld, they listened to him, stopping their little argument. They turned towards him as he shook his head, a grim look on his face.

“It doesn’t matter what you told Salvos. What matters is that she’s now gone. When we need her the most.”

Hartia furrowed his brows when he heard that.

“I wouldn’t say that’s exactly the case— I mean, you’re making it sound like that she is what’s going to turn the tide of the war. But she’s not even the highest-leveled of us all.”

“She may not be the strongest just yet, but she always knows how to win. I’ve never seen Salvos lose before.”

Haec shook his head. And Manos rolled his eyes.

“So what?”

The Executioner folded his arms across his chest.

“Are we just going to call off our attack to stop the invasion?”

Haec drew his lips into a thin line at that question. He turned towards Hartia and pleadingly met the Fairy’s eyes.

“Are you sure you detect no trace of Salvos? Maybe any distortion in space she might have left behind? It’s possible she could have gone to her pocket world and doesn’t realize what’s happening.”

“Nope, I don’t sense anything at all.”

Hartia confirmed. And Haec sighed at that, closing his eyes.

There was a long pause as the former Heir of the Netherworld considered what to do. But his decision had already been made before he even thought about it. Opening his eyes, he turned around and started forward.

“Salvos would never abandon us— I refuse to believe that she’d leave when she’s needed the most. I’m sure she’ll return soon. So we should just do what we can and go ahead with our attack.”

And with that, it was decided.

***

Unfortunately, while Haec’s belief in Salvos would never waver, the same couldn’t be said for many of those in the rebellion. When word got out that she had left— that she had disappeared— panic spread among the ranks.

Many Demons wanted to flee. Escape and abandon the rebellion before they engage with the Demon King’s remaining forces. But without an opportunity to escape, they had no choice but to follow along as they were shepherded towards the ritual.

Despite their trepidation and fear.

Ultis wasn’t sure if she understood their fear. Sure, Salvos was the Enemy of the Demon King, and she had earned that Title with her power. After all, she had been the one to defeat Ultis and her entire team of Deathsquad Hunters alone. It was only Ultis and another Primeval Demon, Aliq, who had survived, before they were forced to aid the rebellion.

But Salvos wasn’t that strong compared to what they were about to go up against. She was a Primeval Demon— a far cry from the Primordial Demon that was the Demon King himself.

Perhaps it was because of her Title, but it was almost thought amongst the rebellion that Salvos would be the one to defeat Regnorex.

However, Ultis didn’t exactly consider that to be a possibility. She had already thought this rebellion was a death sentence. So Salvos’s alleged defection was not going to change the outcome of this upcoming battle.

That was why she didn’t worry. That was why she didn’t care. At least, that was until Aliq approached her.

“This is our chance, Ultis.”

“What do you mean, Aliq?”

She blinked at her former teammate as he met her gaze.

“The Enemy is gone. So we can finally act. We can get our revenge. For my brother. For our team.”

That just confused Ultis even more. She frowned.

“But how would that make a difference? Even if Salvos is gone, Manos is here— you and I both now firsthand just how strong he is. We will die if we act against him.”

Aliq shook his head as he explained.

“That’s not the point. The point is that many people have lost their faith in the rebellion. And that means we can use it to our advantage.”

“Wait, you don’t mean…?”

Ultis blinked a few times, and Aliq nodded as he grinned savagely.

“We shall destroy the rebellion from within.”

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