567. Recollection

567. Recollection

I woke up.

I blinked my eyes open as my head spun. The world whirled around me, and I tried to regain my bearings. My head was aching. My entire body stung with an intense pain. I groaned as I got to my feet, before taking in the room around me.

I was still in the Remnants of the First Demon Kingdom. It was a Dungeon— one that existed here in the Netherworld. Previously, I thought that Dungeons were a thing of the Mortal Realm. But now I knew that the Netherworld was just like the Mortal Realm.

Or rather— they were similar.

They both had history. They had kings… whether it was in the past or the present, they had rulers and nations. Society existed in the Netherworld. And it wasn’t an idea birthed here by the Demon King Regnorex.

My father had a kingdom once. Long before Regnorex created his own nation. Back then, Sal had been called Samuel, and he had been known as the Devil King.

I didn’t know how much time I spent, but I spent quite some time exploring Sal’s old kingdom. And I learned a lot. For one thing, I discovered that the Netherworld used to consist of twelve different layers. Now, only a single layer remained.

And it was all because of the corruption.

It was the end of the world. Just as the Kobolds had foretold. The Nexeus was collapsing— its three planes no longer could sustain. Everything was going to come to an end. Eventually. Maybe it would happen in a hundred years. Or maybe it would happen in another ten thousand.

I didn’t know. I just knew that I had met a survivor of my dad’s kingdom— a Primordial Demon named Belphegor who had spent eons locked in battle against the end of the world down below. He led me through the Gate of the Netherworld. He showed me what was left of the second layer.

And he showed me the end of the world. The wall of infinite corruption that was consuming the Netherworld— that which was destroying all.

The corruption spread quickly down there in the second layer. It was more corruption than I had ever seen. And it was nothing like the corruption I had faced before. It was stronger. It was far more potent.

Even the Corrupted Rocks I saw down in the second layer were far more dangerous than the Cursed Boulder I encountered in the Beastmen Plains. Each Corrupted Netherstones I battled would have taken down countless Corrupted Islands with ease. I was certain that if the [Ancient Centinel] I fought in the Bloodied Gulf had unleashed its Grand Skill of corruption against a Corrupted Netherstructure, it would still lose with ease.

The only reason I survived down in the second layer for as long as I did was because I had my Grand Skill with me. And even then, I only escaped with my life thanks to Belphegor’s help.

I left him behind to face the end of the world. I wanted to help, but there wasn’t anything I could do against the wall of infinite corruption. It spawned an entire army of corrupted creatures— creating Corrupted Hellspaces out of thin air.

I would have died if I tried to intervene. So I had no choice but to go. But before I did, I promised I would speak with my dad. I would talk with Sal, on behalf of Belphegor.

And that was what I was going to do now.

“…that is if I can even find my Dad.”

I sighed as I took a step forward. While I was still slightly injured from the multiple fights I had gotten into in the second layer, I had mostly recovered during my sleep thanks to [Rest]. And I was ready to leave this Dungeon— to face the destruction of Revelation above.

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After all, I had leveled up plenty of times since descending down this DUngeon. And while many of the levels I had gained were not for my Subspecies but for my Class, I had also gained two brand new Grand Skills in the second layer below. I had even become… partially corrupted? At least, to a certain extent.

I looked down at myself, and there was no veil of corruption coating me. I looked no different than I did before I descended into the second layer and fought the corruption. But I knew that I could call forth its power if necessary.

I raised a hand as I narrowed my eyes. There was a flicker of a glint on my fingertips. An iridescent spark— but not that of divinity or flames. It was a distortion. It didn’t emit light in a way that attracted the gaze. It seemed to shine to hide— to obfuscate, rather than illuminate.

It was an odd feeling. I was still unused to drawing the power of the corruption. But I had the power of the corruption now. It was even the source of one of my Grand Skills. It was my Title too.