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714. Unkillable
Jofis’s eyes blinked open.
He stood in a familiar wasteland. A desolate place he called his kingdom. Surrounding him were legions of millions of his dead followers, and standing over their corpses were millions more of traitors and his enemies’ soldiers.
The King of Hell gritted his teeth as he recognized this scene. This memory.
He heard the clanging of metal approaching him from behind, and he spun around. Slowly approaching him was a figure wrapped in chains. A figure that Jofis recognized in an instant.
The Demon most responsible for Jofis’s defeat.
“FOCALOR—”
Jofis charged with a scream, his claw growing in size as he swiped down at the chained Demon. But before he could reach his target, a figure intercepted him. A massive Demon that stood double of Jofis’s height.
A red muscled arm that caught Jofis by the neck.
“Regnorex—”
Jofis started, staring at the skull-like face of his enemy. And Regnorex kneed Jofis in the stomach, before dropping him to the ground.
“[Hellking Jofis]. You have brought death and destruction to the Netherworld with your reign. You are not fit to be the King of Hell.”
“You…”
Jofis gritted his teeth, staring up at Regnorex. But then his gaze slowly drifted towards Focalor, even as Regnorex continued to monologue.
“However, your power and your abilities may still serve another purpose—”
Regnorex continued, but Jofis didn’t hear it. He saw the piercing eyes of Focalor, looking down at him through the chains.
And Jofis mustered up the strength to get back to his feet. He charged at Focalor once again.
“FOCALOOOOOO—”
But this time, Regnorex didn’t just intercept him. Instead, he produced a blade made out of a black aura and swung for Jofis’s neck.
Then—
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“Alright, surely Jofis should be dead now, right?”
I said as I landed right next to Haec. He had delivered a powerful blow using [The Right Hand Of The Demon King] against Jofis, completely destroyed the Winged Horror’s chest.
Normally, I highly doubted Haec would be able to deal that much damage with his Grand Skill. But it was a completely direct hit, and there was nothing to protect Jofis. Not even his defensive Skills worked any longer, since he became corrupted and wild. And he was already badly injured from a plethora of other attacks.
The only reason why Haec could land that hit was thanks to his [Demonic Essence Manifestation Mastery]. It was able to give me an additional 10% boost to my [Agility], so I could avoid Jofis’s attacks and catch him with [Worldbreak].
I hadn’t been able to use it immediately, since Jofis had been holding onto Hartia at first, so the Fairy would have been caught in its effects too. But once I saved Hartia, using [Worldbreak] on Jofis was easy.
Hartia, Aliq, and Ultis flew down right behind us. Haec narrowed his eyes, peering at the fallen figure of Jofis. The Winged Horror wasn’t moving, although the corruption was still wreathing off his body as much as before.
“I am not sure—”
My companion started. And then Jofis’s body shifted as I blinked. All of us tensed, taking on a defensive stance. But Jofis didn’t move.
Instead, the corruption that coated his body… dispersed.
I raised a brow, watching as the distortion pulsed out. The iridescent light that was wisping off him vanished. He lay there, unmoving as my brows snapped together.
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“Wait, what just happened?”
Ultis asked next to me, and I chewed my lower lip.
“Jofis just… became uncorrupted somehow? I don’t understand.”
I peered at the Winged Horror’s body. I didn’t sense any corruption emanating from him any longer. I didn’t get it at all.
There were still some wisps of rainbow-colored flakes coming from his body. His divinity was no longer active either.
“Which means his other Skills must be back…”
My eyes widened as the realization settled in. I immediately marched forward, twirling my Divine Nebular Scythe behind my back as Haec stared at me.
“What are you doing, Salvos?”
“Jofis clearly isn’t dead yet, since we haven’t gotten any experience. So I’m finishing the job before he can heal up.”
I came to a halt right before Jofis, focusing [Divine Strike] and [Corrupted Draconic Fury] to my blade. Previously, I had been afraid of using the two together because I thought they would counteract each other. However, after seeing how Jofis could use both at the same time quite effectively, I wanted to test it out.
“Goodbye, Jofis.”
I whispered, before swinging down at the Winged Horror’s neck with all my strength. And my scythe— lodged itself halfway through his neck. His blood splattered across the ground as his body convulsed, his eyes snapping wide open.
“Shit— I woke him up!”
I cursed as I stared at Jofis who was recoiling from the strike. He stared at me for a moment, and I desperately tried to yank my scythe off his neck, before I swung down once again, cutting further into his neck as he reeled.
Then he let out a roar as he swiped up at me. I leapt back, letting go of the scythe as I dodged his attack. Jofis stumbled to his feet, my Divine Nebular Scythe still lodged into his neck. His head was practically falling off from his body.
But even still, he staggered forward as Hartia, Haec, Ultis, and Aliq took on defensive stances next to me. I stared at the Winged Horror as he wheezed. He could barely even speak, but he still mustered up his voice.
“I will not… die.”
“He regained his sanity.”
I whispered as my eyes flickered. But how? I truly didn’t know.
Jofis said as he took another step forward. Blood dripped from the hole in his chest and his neck. But his arms and shoulder began to slowly heal. He balled his claws into fists as he glared at us.
The Devil did tell me that killing Primordial Demons was not easy. But this was insane. Especially considering that Jofis was only a former Primordial Demon.
A small part of me wondered just how exactly I was going to kill Regnorex if we ever fought in the future, if even dealing with Jofis proved to be this difficult.
But right now, I had to focus on the matter at hand. Jofis grabbed the scythe from his neck, before ripping it off. More blood poured out of his neck and onto the ground. But he didn’t heal from the neck. His hand still hung limply from his body while he continued.
“I… cannot die.”
Jofis slowly walked forward as I raised my clawed hands.
“Not until I regain my kingdom. Not until I avenge my people by killing Regnorex. Not until I kill Focalor for everything he has done.”
“Focalor?”
I squinted at Jofis. I knew who Focalor was from my dad— he was the Primordial Demon who could control wild Demons like the [Basilisk] or the [Hydra]. I couldn’t believe he was still alive.
Perhaps that was why the [Basilisk] was still trapped in its prison.
I shook my head as Jofis planted both his clawed hands on the ground, approaching us on all fours like a wild Demon.
“Look, if you want to kill Regnorex or Focalor or whoever— go ahead!”
I pointed at him, gesturing emphatically at where his tail once was.
“Your tail is gone. So you don’t even have a collar on you anymore. You’re free to do whatever you want.”
“Do you really think that useless trinket was what stopped me from rebelling against Regnorex?”
Jofis panted as he bared his teeth at me. He raised a clawed hand, black flames beginning to coalesce on the palm of his hand.
“No— I will kill all of you here. I will not let a single one of you leave this place alive.”
“There’s no point talking, Salvos. We have to kill him.”
Haec said as he raised his fists. I pursed my lips.
“But how are we supposed to kill him? It’s almost like he can’t die!”
I exclaimed, pointing at Jofis. Haec shook his head.
“Still, it’s five-on-one. We have the numbers advantage, so we can win.”
“I—”
I started, before someone cut me off.
“Are you sure about that?”
An unfamiliar voice asked. Haec, Hartia, Ultis, Aliq, and I looked up at the source of the voice and saw a figure falling from the crimson sky of the Netherworld.
A figure that was descending from the sky. A Demon with four arms. His skin was an obsidian black, and he carried a golden axe that was hefted over his shoulder.
He landed right next to Jofis as Ultis and Aliq both paled. Haec cursed under his breath, and Hartia’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh no.”
The Fairy whispered, and I turned to him.
“Wait, who is that?”
Hartia pursed his lips, staring at the figure dust himself off.
“That is Manos. Manos the Executioner.”
Slowly, the Fairy met my gaze.
“The leader of the Deathsquad Hunters.”
[The Grand Fiendlord - Lvl. 196]