Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG) - Chapter 744

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744. Tortured Soul

“What are they doing?”

Clayton asked as he watched the Centinels fleeing and digging into the earth right before the barrier. After much of their numbers had been ravaged by Edithe’s brand new form, they had been left squirming around— almost confused and unsure as to what to do.

And the Headmaster of Mavos Academy simply watched them through the translucent barrier protecting the school. He didn’t know what they were doing. But he didn’t know what he was doing either.

They were all simply waiting for the ongoing battle in the distance to resolve— the duel between ‘Edithe’ and the Matriarch Centinel to come to a conclusion. Judging by what Clayton saw earlier, it was very likely that ‘Edithe’ was going to come out victorious.

But there was no way for Clayton to see what was happening. The battle had been taken so far away from Mavos Academy, it was impossible for him to spectate. So he just waited in trepidation for the outcome to reveal itself to him.

Or at least, that was what he had been doing. Until the Centinels began to flee. Until they started to dig into the ground, trying to escape the scene.

The Headmaster of Mavos Academy narrowed his eyes. He glanced around in confusion as the Centinels continued to escape the scene. His eyes flickered to the horizon where ‘Edithe’ and the Matriarch Centinel had gone, and all he saw was a distortion, followed by flashing lights.

He stared curiously at the distant horizon for a long moment, wondering what was going on. And that was when a pulse shot out. Not a bright light— not a blinding flash.

A pulse.

A ring-like explosion that spread out quickly, eradicating everything in its path.

Clayton watched as the landscape before Mavos Academy was reduced to ash in an instant as the ring swept across the landscape. He heard the panicked gasps of the students gathered beneath him, scrambling to flee from the oncoming pulse.

But he shook his head and raised a hand

“The barrier should—”

Right as Clayton started, the pulse struck the barrier. And the barrier shattered.

The pulse dissipated, but the dome protecting Mavos Academy for many millennia completely collapsed. Clayton watched with round eyes as all eight layers fell one after another. The intricate network of mana strands all untangled, falling apart from the sheer force of the blast.

“Just what kind of power is this?”

Clayton asked as his head spun. Beneath him, he heard the echoing screams of his students fleeing the scene. And next to him, Willy spoke up simply.

“This is the power of gods.”

Edithe held her breath— even though she didn’t need to breathe— as she looked up at the sky of this world. The screen which she had been staring through to see the outside was cracked and engulfed with a white light. And for a moment, she thought that the Archangel had perished.

She thought her body had been destroyed.

But then the sky was filled with color once again. A crimson color. The color of blood.

The screen was still cracked, and blood was blotting out Iudex’s vision. But the Archangel was still alive, and that was what mattered.

“Get up! You can’t die here! If you die—”

Edithe called out, but the Archangel cursed and picked up its scythe.

“Shut up— this is your fault! You did this!”

Iudex waved the broken weapon around— the ornate gems that lined the scythe had all shattered. The blade was collapsing with each wave.

“What did I do?”

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Edithe drew back defensively. The Archangel just cursed even more.

“It’s because you’re so weak— I had to sacrifice my damn scythe to protect us from dying! Now we don’t even have a weapon to fight with!”

There was nothing Edithe could even respond with. It was so ridiculous. She was the only reason the Archangel was even still alive right now. It was not her fault she was too ‘weak’ to partake in a battle between two god-like beings.

“At the very least…”

Iudex cast Edithe’s gaze to the side. And the both of them looked on at the figure that was at the epicenter of the blast. The Matriarch Centinel’s massive form was cascading like bits of broken glass.

The distortion was fading away, and the rifts had all vanished. The corruption surrounding the Matriarch Centinel was dissipating, although some of it still filled the air.

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The giant figure of the centipede-turned-cicada was now just a gust of smoke. And floating at the very center of the dissipating plume of ash and smoke was the Matriarch Centinel.

The true form of the Matriarch Centinel.

No longer was it protected by a false body— a giant form of corruption that was hundreds of feet in length.

It now looked similar to Centina, except far more humanoid and even smaller in size. Its chitin was also cracked and chipped all over. Even on its face.

Like a mask that was broken, Edithe stared for a moment at a distortion hidden beneath the broken face of the Matriarch Centinel. And at first, the redhead saw a strange distortion masking what was there.

But then she blinked, and the distortion almost seemed to clear. And under the veil of distortion— under the mask that was the body of the Matriarch Centinel— Edithe saw…

A soulscape. Or a mindscape. Something that was just like the world that contained Edithe. A place where the soul of the Matriarch Centinel resided.

A place of destruction and devastation. Where rifts riddled the sky, and a wall of infinite corruption closed in from all directions.

But at the very center of this world, a tiny larva lay atop a grassy patch. It was the only greenery that was present in this soulscape.

And the larva’s body was scarred. It was bleeding— squirming in the center of the grassy patch in fear. It was a pitiful sight.

Edithe almost felt bad for what she saw. Even though she had no way to tell, she just knew that this was the tortured soul of the Matriarch Centinel, fearing the end of the world.

But a thought crossed Edithe’s mind. She wondered just how exactly was she perceiving this.

“How am I…?”

Edithe stared at this scene for a moment, before she blinked again, and she returned back to reality. The redhead watched as the Matriarch Centinel’s chitin protecting its face regenerated, covering the distortion that was underneath once again.

And then the Archangel’s voice echoed all around Edithe.

“This insect really can’t die, huh? And I can’t even heal from these damn wounds because your body sucks. Seriously, I’m doing everything I can to even keep your body intact right now!”

Iudex cursed, slowly descending to the ground as its wings faded away. The Matriarch Centinel stood at a crater right before them, still healing, glaring up at the Archangel.

Edithe stared at the Matriarch Centinel for a moment, remembering the tortured soul she had seen. And she almost wondered if there was a way to potentially resolve this battle without killing the Matriarch Centinel— through reasoning with the monster.

But then the Matriarch Centinel screeched and raised a hand, unleashing a beam of crimson light straight at the Archangel. Iudex swore and raised the remains of the scythe to block the attack.

Edithe looked on as the crimson beam struck the broken weapon, and chunks of the scythe began to flake off from the force of the attack.

“This is your fault— we’re going to die for real this time because of you!”

Iudex continued to curse Edithe out. She didn’t even care enough to defend herself. Her mind just raced as she saw the scythe breaking apart from the beam of crimson light, hearing the Matriarch Centinel screaming in the background.

“Can’t you do something? Anything at all?”

“I already told you, I can’t use my Skills!”

The Archangel just shouted as it struggled to hold up its collapsing scythe. Iudex was injured, its weapon broken, and it couldn’t fight back against the Matriarch Centinel. Not at its current state. At this rate, Edithe knew they were going to lose— that they were going to die. Because…

“You can’t use your Skills.”

Edithe’s eyes flickered as she recalled what the Archangel said. That Edithe’s body was incapable of using Iudex’s Skills, because she was too weak. But that didn’t mean Iudex couldn’t use Skills in general, right?

And an idea crossed Edithe’s mind. She looked up as she watched the Archangel stumble back.

“You may not be able to use your Skills, but you can use mine.”

“What?”

Iudex blinked a few times.

“What are you even talking about—”

“My Skills.”

Edithe cut off the Archangel, placing a hand on her chest.

“Since it’s my body, you should be able to use my Skills. And with your power, they should be far stronger than they could ever be when cast by me.”

“That’s…”

Iudex opened its mouth, before tilting its head back. Like it was evaluating its Status. Then a grin spread across its face.

“That’s actually a good idea. You should come up with these ideas more often, instead of yapping like you always do.”

“I’m not even going to respond to that.”