[Salvos] 771. To Be Demon

771.To Be Demon

***

I stared at Manos in shock, processing what he had just said.

Did I hear that right? There was no way, right? Because if what I thought I heard was what he had actually said, then that was incredibly stupid!

Manos the Executioner, former leader of the Deathsquad Hunters, and current Primeval Demon told me that he could… actually become a Primordial Demon right at this very moment!

It made sense. It was not something unbelievable to me— after all, he had been Level 196 when I met him, and he was Level 197 now. While normally it took reaching Level 200 to evolve, getting a Subspecies evolution a few levels early was not unusual.

And yet, even though Manos had gotten his evolution option, he had not chosen to evolve.

I just couldn’t understand his reasoning why.

“When did you get your evolution? Was it from defeating Jofis? Or was it when we fought Chordus?”

I stepped forward and inundated the Executioner with the questions racing through my head. He rolled his eyes at me in response.

“I didn’t level up from our fight with Chordus— I wasn’t even with you fighting against her. I was dealing with the other Primeval Demons, remember?”

“Right…”

I scratched the back of my head, before furrowing my brows.

“So it was from killing Jofis, then?”

If Manos had gotten his evolution from killing Jofis, it made sense. After all, Jofis was the [Disgraced Hellking]— once a Primordial Demon who had a kingdom that ruled over the Netherworld, just like Regnorex. Perhaps it was smaller in size under Jofis, and maybe he was not exactly the strongest Primordial Demon.

But that was besides the point. Killing a former Primordial Demon who once was a Demon King was a massive achievement. So it would make sense that Manos would have gotten an evolution to become a Primordial Demon with that feat.

However, he just shook his head at me.

“Nah, I already had my first evolution option since I was Level 195. Although, killing Jofis did give me a brand new option that’s pretty good, if I had to say so myself.”

“You can’t be serious, right?”

My jaw just dropped. I looked at the former leader of the Deathsquad Hunters, hoping to find any sort of hint of sarcasm in his voice. He had to be messing with me, right?

But no— he just replied casually, waving a hand at me.

“No, no, I was lying for no reason at all… of course I’m being serious.”

Manos scoffed as he crossed his arms. I pointed at him accusingly.

“So why haven’t you evolved yet? Are you stupid?”

Maybe if he hadn’t gotten a good evolution option, I’d understand why he was waiting to evolve. But he had just explicitly told me that he had been given a good evolution option from killing Jofis!

“I’m not stupid— you’re the stupid one for asking me why I haven’t evolved yet.”

Manos gave me a half-glare, which I gladly returned.

“No, you are! You make no sense!”

He sighed as he drew back from me, sitting down on a nearby rock.

“Well, if I must absolutely explain the reason why I haven’t evolved, since you can’t piece it together yourself, it’s simply because Regnorex would not let me.”

“Huh?”

I blinked at Manos, and he nodded.

“That’s right. Even as the leader of the Deathsquad Hunters, I was not allowed to evolve into a Primordial Demon. Regnorex may have trusted me to hunt down his traitors— but he didn’t trust me to not betray him if I amassed enough personal strength. Which, honestly, is smart of him.”

“So you weren’t allowed to evolve, because Regnorex would just kill you if you did?”

I placed a hand on my chin. Manos snapped a finger with a grin.

“Now you’re thinking.”

He said, and I just huffed in response.

“Well, that still doesn’t explain why you don’t evolve now. I get Regnorex not fully trusting you— because it’s honestly kind of valid, since you’re literally betraying him right now. But now there is nothing stopping you from evolving! It’ll help our rebellion a lot.”

I placed my hands on my hips as I finished. Manos just gave me a flat stare. 

“Come on, Salvos. Do you seriously think that it would make a difference?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think about it.”

Manos turned away from me and faced the black clouds eddying in the red sky in the distance.

“Even if I evolved into a Level 197 Primordial Demon, will that really make a difference? Would I really stand a chance against Regnorex who is at least Level 210? Possibly even Level 230? I don’t exactly know his level, but it sure is far above mine.”

I pursed my lips at his explanation. I wanted to interject and add that I had slain enemies who were over 30 levels above me before. So it was possible. But I knew that was besides the point that Manos was trying to make.

That was why, instead, I just pointed out the inconsistency in his logic.

“I mean, if it’s not going to make a difference, why not just evolve then? There is no reason for you not to evolve. I think it’ll help, even if you don’t. And I’m sure it’ll be a big boost to our morale.”

“Ah, about that.”

Manos nodded understandingly, before meeting my gaze. He smiled as he spoke simply. But his words didn’t match the expression he wore on his face.

“Well, it’s just a gamble, you know? I could always evolve later, but if I evolve now, I can’t undo it. So if I remain a Primeval Demon, I still stand a chance of coming out of this rebellion alive if things go south and I have to betray you all.”

“Betray us?”

I stared at Manos, horrified at what he just said with a straight face. He waved a hand dismissively.

“Unlike you, not all of us are in this rebellion with the intention of seeing it through until the end. If things start to look grim for us, then we’ll swap over to the winning side.”

“Wait, what do you mean by us?”

I narrowed my eyes at that. Manos gestured vaguely past me— back in the direction of the cave hiding our rebellion.

“We’re Demons. Everything we do is for our survival, Salvos. You’ve spent too much time in the Mortal Realm, you really have forgotten what it’s like to be a Demon, haven’t you?”

I blinked at the Executioner’s words. I opened my mouth to protest, but then I paused. I remembered what my life back in the Netherworld had been like, before I first found myself in the Mortal Realm.

Wandering around the white rocky plains, unsure of anything that was going on. Meeting the others for the first time. Fighting our first wild Demon— being the only one to successfully bring it down while the others were either killed or simply fled. Leveling up, killing more wild Demons, then saving Haec. Watching the Demon King’s forces in battle, evolving, introducing myself to my companion for the first time, then wandering the Demon King’s Domain, all before finally encountering Lucerna…

Back then, time almost seemed to move differently. Or maybe it was because I was remembering these events from so long ago, it was all a haze in my mind. Events that should have only been a few minutes at most seemed to stretch on forever in my memories, while other moments that should have lasted days or even weeks seemed to go by in the blink of an eye.

Manos was telling me that I forgot what it was like to be a Demon. Because I had spent too much time in the Mortal Realm— and while I wanted to argue over it with him, I knew that this was true.

Because when I compared these memories I had of surviving in the Netherworld with the memories I had in the Mortal Realm, it was different. I cared for Haec— he was my first ever companion. But I didn’t cherish the moments I had with him as much as I did the moments I had with Daniel, Edithe, Rachel, and my other companions.

Not because I cared about them more than I cared for Haec, but it was because Haec and I were just fighting together, struggling to survive. Whereas with my other companions, my memories with them were more precious to me because we would be laughing, talking, or just doing whatever to have fun.

I clung more closely onto these memories with my companions in the Mortal Realm than I did to the memories I had of fighting to the brink of death in the Netherworld. And because of that, I knew Manos was right.

“I…

I trailed off, and Manos just got off his rock and walked past me.

“Right now, we’re only fighting on the side of this rebellion because it’s the smart thing for us to do. But if that ever changes… I will not be the only one defecting back to the Demon King’s side.”

“I see.”

That was all I said as Manos left me behind, heading back to the rest of the rebellion. 

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