Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG) - Chapter 609: True Purpose

609. True Purpose

Samuel had done it. It had all gone according to plan. It took many eons, but he had finally accomplished what he had set out to complete— to build an army that would even make the Worldwalkers tremble.

He had become a King. And not just any King, he had become the Devil King. Because he had become a Lesser God.

And with his strength and influence, he had traversed to the deepest depths of the Netherworld. He expanded his kingdom down to the seventh layer, where only the most dangerous of Demons lurked.

It was all that he had planned. He had carried out his role perfectly. When he stood there, in the middle of that massive crater, scheming with Trico, he had thought that something would go awry from the very beginning.

He expected to fail— he thought he would have died over the course of the perilous path ahead of him back then. But he didn’t. He succeeded, and he built a nation that was never seen before in the history of the Netherworld.

In tandem with this, Trico the Trickster scoured the rest of the Nexeus, moving between the planes to speak with the other gods of this world. He prepared an army— a coalition that would have been unprecedented. A combined force that should have been powerful enough to repel the impending invasion of Worldwalkers.

Of course, it was all done in secret. News couldn’t break out of this upcoming war, because the panic and chaos it would sow would have only been a detriment to the cause. Many of those who heard of it would have blamed Samuel or even Trico for this mess too. So only a few individuals were even made aware of it.

And the Devil King himself had kept his mouth shut, harboring this secret with himself, lying to his closest aids. Even those he loved. But it was all for good reason. It was all to protect the Nexeus. Or so he thought. Instead, it turned out he was wrong. It was all for naught.

Because when Trico showed up once again, he could only shake his head and sigh.

“They’re gone.”

“They’re gone? Who’s gone?”

I asked, narrowing my eyes as the vision ended. Once again, my dad showed me a distant memory from his past. Even though it was so long ago, it was not shown through a hazy lens— it was crystal-clear. Like I was looking through a glass window. It was as though the memory happened yesterday.

But it had to have been tens of thousands of years before even Regnorex was born. I pursed my lips, and the Devil sighed.

“You know who, my daughter.”

He spread his arms wide, and I saw it. A vision of the Nexeus long ago. My mind flashed with the memories of the Netherworld before it was what it was right now.

I saw rifts open in space— portals that appeared in the rippling sky like raindrops falling onto the still surface of a lake. Indescribable beings emerged from the darkness; their forms incomprehensible, and the shapes they took were like nothing I had ever seen.

They laughed and danced and filled the heavens with their joy. It was like the sky itself was dancing with them, joining in this cavalcade of otherworldliness and flashing in colors that had never basked the Netherworld with their presence before.

But it was not all fun, nor was it all joyous. These were Planeshoppers— Realityskippers. They often brought their fury unto each other over petty disputes. When they battled, the world itself shook. And when they bled, their blood filled entire valleys. Entire oceans of red that poured ceaselessly into the world below.

I stared at these visions. I saw what my dad did before he became the Devil King. I trembled at the sight. Even though I wasn’t there to experience it myself, I was still enchanted by what I saw.

I lowered my head, meeting my dad’s gaze.

“It was the Worldwalkers.”

He spoke simply, the smile on his face gone. He slowly looked down at the palm of hos hand as he whispered.

“They vanished. They vacated the Nexeus. After all our preparations, after everything we had done, there was no war.”

The Devil closed his eyes as he raised his head.

“There was…nothing.”

And once again, I was immersed in his memories.

“What do you mean they’re gone?”

Samuel demanded as he took a step forward. Trico backed up, raising his hands placatingly.

“Now, now! Don’t get mad at me! I don’t know what happened, but I haven’t seen another Worldwalker enter the Nexeus in about… a hundred years?”

He placed a hand on his chin in thought, before nodding to himself.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been at least a hundred years. And I checked— I asked a few friends, and they said they’re staying away from this universe from now on.”

Samuel just stared in sheer disbelief. He tried to work his jaw, before shaking his head.

“But why? We prepared for a war! What happened?”

“Who knows?”

Trico took a step back, tapping a finger on his chin. He seemed to ponder over the question curiously.

“Perhaps they caught wind of our plans to repel them, and they decided against retaliating. After all, there is no point making an enemy of an entire universe, even if they are justified in their anger.”

“Justified in their anger?”

Samuel’s brows snapped together, and he pointed accusingly at the Trickster.

“The only reason I slew that Worldwalker was because of you! How dare you pin the blame on me!”

“I’m not blaming you for anything.”

Trico rolled his eyes, turning back to face the Devil King.

“What I am simply saying is that those whose wrath we might have incurred might have been deterred by our preparation. They might have decided it was not worth losing their existence in some foreign world just to get revenge.”

Samuel stood there, processing those words. He took a step back and cast his gaze down to the palm of his hands. His fingers trembled as he took in a deep breath.

“What do I do now? My life’s work— everything I’ve done— was it all for nothing?”

“Actually—”

Trico interjected, raising a finger.

“It was not all for nothing.”

Samuel blinked, slowly looking up at the Worldwalker.

“What do you mean by that?”

Trico smiled and gestured broadly past the Devil King.

“Look at what you’ve built— this vast nation you call the Ark. Such a grand feat has never been accomplished before in the history of your Species! To say it was all for nothing simply detracts from your greatness! If not for what you have done here, we never could have scared off the other Worldwalkers!”

“I… what?”

Samuel stared at the Trickster. He looked into the cosmic gaze that bore back into him, and he slowly looked back down at himself.

“Are you saying we succeeded in our task?”

“Indeed.”

Trico nodded, placing his hands on his hips.

“Of course, it was not all you alone. The Dragons of the Mortal Realm have built grand constructs, preparing for the war that is to come. And while the Spirit Plane is still fractured and warring amongst themselves, their leaders have heard me out, coming to a truce to fight in the war. With what we have all accomplished, we won the war! We have repelled those bastards… those damn worldwalking cowards… those… those… you get the point… we have repelled them from the Nexeus!”

“T-that’s right.”

Samuel laughed as he raised his head. He looked up at Trico with a maniacal smile on his face.

“We did it! We saved the world! But…”

He paused as the Worldwalker waited.

“But what’s next?”

Samuel posed the question. Trico cocked his head, before the stars spread throughout his body twinkled with an idea.

“Well, you always said you wanted all of your people to become gods. So… why don’t we make that a reality?”

And the Devil King paused.

“What…?”

“He made you build the Ark.”

I whispered as I stared at my dad.

“And after that, Trico made you build a new plane. You did it all for him. Why?”

“You must understand, my dear daughter, I was young and foolish.”

Sal leant back as he closed his eyes. I frowned.

“Weren’t you over a thousand years old at that point?”

“I was young and foolish!”

He repeated himself, before shaking his head.

“I was without a purpose. I felt like everything I had done was all for naught. And I believed that what I was doing was for the greater good of our people— of all the Nexeus.”

I peered into Sal, meeting his gaze, and he sighed softly.

“Alas, I was a fool. After all, everything Trico did… everything he had built. He decided to betray us all.”

I narrowed my eyes. I asked the question that was in my head from the very beginning.

“But why? What did he have to gain?”

Sal chuckled bitterly, placing a hand on the glass-like walls of my pocket space.

“Everything. He had everything to gain, my dear daughter. After all, everything he did was but a ploy to save his own life.”