Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG) - Chapter 752

752. Grave Of Spades

This was Chordus’s one and only Grand Skill. A one-time use Grand Skill. According to the Demon King, it was a rarity for a Grand Skill to be only one-time use. That meant that it was extremely powerful— moreso than any other Grand Skill should be. After all, when this Grand Skill came to an end, she would die.

And she would die for her King. She would die for Regnorex’s cause. Because he had saved her life. He had given her hope when all hope was lost. He had given her the strength to carry on living— meaning in a life that seemed to hold none.

She recalled the moment she met him. When he had saved her life. Even though she had resigned herself to death, in the face of a wild Primordial Demon, believing that fighting and living was pointless. He had come in and given her a second chance at life.

A second chance that she hadn’t even known she wanted. After all, she had gone ahead and thrown away her own life on purpose. She had chosen to die. She had grown tired of fighting. She had thought it was all pointless. She thought that her death was inevitable. In a world of ceaseless bloodshed, eventually, it would be her blood that was spilled too.

However, Regnorex had saved her against her will. And when she had begged him to let her die— to leave her be or kill her himself— he had instead regaled an idea that had never once crossed her mind. An unimaginable, incomprehensible plot to save the Netherworld.

To put an end to the endless suffering.

And even though Chordus didn’t want to believe in it first, she heard the conviction in his voice. She saw the look he had in his eyes. It was a genuine belief that this dream was achievable. That Demonkind could… one day know salvation.

This was the moment Chordus was saved. This was the moment Chordus joined Regnorex’s forces. This was the moment she earned her one-time use Grand Skill, knowing that she would eventually use it to further her King’s goals.

That she would become far more powerful than she could even possibly imagine.

However, when she transformed into the [Queen Of Diamonds], she felt… disappointed. After all, she only had access to two Skills, and neither of them were very effective at defeating her opponents. Not only that, but her movements were unbearably slow. Even if she was extremely durable, she wasn’t capable of hitting either of her opponents. So what was even the point of this transformation? It was utterly useless.

Or so she thought.

As each moment passed, Chordus’s heart began to beat faster. And as it beat faster, she felt herself becoming stronger. Her other Stats seemed to increase, and a new Skill revealed itself to her.

[Hidden Ace: Spade Of Graves].

What did it do? Chordus didn’t know.

And she couldn’t even think about what it did because she was consumed by the ocean of distorted, iridescent colors. This power that had been conjured up by the Enemy… it was a strange sensation. It was not magic. It felt like it was trying to overwrite her entire being. Like it was trying to tear her apart. And her body struggled to resist against it.

The diamond surface of her body cracked as she struggled to fight back against this strange power.

And the only thing she could do was reach for the Skill, before she even understood what it did. Otherwise, she knew she would die. So that was what she did. She raised her hand, and her voice boomed.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

All at once, she felt an overwhelming sense of power wash over her as something crystalized at her feet. She gained a tremendous boost in her [Agility] and her [Wisdom] as her movements suddenly rapidly increased.

And then she shot up out of the wave of iridescent distortion before it could fully consume her— before it could crush her in its weight.

Chordus flew towards the sky— no she glided towards the sky. It was not even her wings that were carrying her. It was a strange object that lay at her feet. It had a cold, blackened surface, and it was the shape of a spearhead, except with a protrusion at the bottom.

It was a spade.

And Chordus rode this spade as she zipped straight up for her two opponents flying high above her.

“What is that?”

I blinked a few times as I watched Chordus fly out of the sea of corruption, now riding atop a giant black spade that was lined with an ethereal glow. It didn’t even look like an artifact. It looked like something she created, except it was not made out of diamonds unlike everything else she had created earlier.

I had no idea what just happened. But this was the result of the Skill which she had just uttered. It helped her avoid the corruption— she surfed over the waves I sent after her as she swung her sword around with a newfound dexterity that I hadn’t seen before.

“And how is she suddenly moving like that?”

I exclaimed, but Naro just shook his head, raising his sword of ice.

“Who cares about that— just be prepared! She’s coming!”

The [Hellprince] snapped as Chordus shot straight up for us. I pointed down at her, sending a barrage of flaming weapons down her way to slow her ascent. Unfortunately, the attacks just bounced off her body. Even though the diamond surface of her skin was now cracked, I still wasn’t able to damage her with my normal attacks.

Naro flew forward to intercept her, raising his blade of ice as he whispered.

“[Chilling Hellfreeze].”

Swinging down, a wave of ice shot down, consuming the entire figure of Chordus. It was a blast of frost and sleet. It froze even the air in my pocket space. And I was sure it was meant to slow the ascent of the [Queen Of Diamonds].

Unfortunately for him, Chordus simply shot through the ice, shattering it and reaching him in the next instant. He cursed as he held up his sword to protect himself.

“[Greater Iceshell—”

He conjured up the barrier just in time for Chordus to strike him with her sword. Even still, his barrier was shattered, and he was sent flying back past me as I pursed my lips. Even though he was a high-leveled [Hellprince], there was nothing he could do in the face of a Primordial Demon. Especially considering this sudden boost in speed which overcame the [Queen of Diamonds].

So what chance did I have?

But I had two Grand Skills. That was why I focused on what I could do. I raised my hands, summoning more of the corruption from the sky down to crash into Chordus.

Once again, she swerved around it, avoiding it instead of charging into it head-on like she did with Naro’s ice. That made it clear to me— especially considering her cracked body. She wasn’t able to resist my corruption the same way she was able to resist my magic.

So I just knew I had to get her with my corruption. That was how I could win this battle.

Before Chordus could get close, I immediately activated [Divine Haste], moving at greatly increased speeds compared to before. But even still, the [Queen Of Diamonds] was able to keep up with me.

She flew after me as I dove away from her, moving as fast as I could. Our figures zipped around the distorted and broken sky of my pocket space like mere blurs. All the while, I altered my world to my will, creating random walls of corruption between us to try to catch her off-guard.

If corruption is effective against you, I thought as she swerved around another wall of corruption I created. Then corruption is what I’m going to use against you!

I grinned to myself as I sent spikes of corruption her way. But she parried them all with her blade of diamond, not giving up the case. This chase could’ve gone on forever. And I was sure it would’ve— which would’ve been bad for me, since [Divine Haste] would come to an end, and I wasn’t sure whether Chordus’s Skill had a time limit.

That was why I waited for the [Queen Of Diamond]’s to be momentarily distracted by a wall of corruption I put up between us, before I spun around. Chordus swerved around the wall of corruption to get to me, only to be greeted with my smile right before her face

I spread my arms wide before she could even react as I laughed.

“[Prison Of Isolation].”

And a deluge of corruption expanded from behind me, completely engulfing her entire figure once again.