I’m returning to “Salvos” because there are several things that I find both interesting and funny.

For instance, there’s the “Princess Salvos” running gag, which started in the second book, when Salvos discovered that Nobles and Royalty exist, and she liked the idea of being better than everybody else and addressed with respect, obeyed and so on, and she also liked how fancy Saffron looked, so she started playing a Princess, especially when they saved Rachel from the brink of being used as a human sacrifice to summon demons; essentially, Salvos, at her estimated two years of age was of similar emotional maturity as the little girl at the age of eight or so. The “Princess” thing was initially embarrassing more than either credible or cute, since she always had her clothes torn and dirty after having finished some battle or another, and she was also permanently broke. As she continues calling herself a Princess, after having prestigious Titles, achievements and levels, the thing becomes credible enough that people like Rowyn Ino, the Emperor of the Inorian Empire, doesn’t bat an eye on it and just assumes it’s literally true – after all, she is a nigh-Elite super-Mage, a Diamond ranked Secily’s Sentinel, who single-handedly mopped the floor with multiple Archdemons and Diamond-ranked Warriors and Mages, looking so overpowered while doing it that she didn’t even break a sweat. That she would be a Princess of some kingdom sounded quite reasonable in context. The funny thing is that her companions basically go after her and correct her, thinking she’s making a fool of herself, as she in fact was initially, but as time went by, the joke started sounding like the real thing… and then at lvl. 150 she evolved and her subspecies was “Angelic Devil Princess”, giving her an actual claim to the title… and then later, in the Netherworld, she finds out that her adoptive father is actually Samuel the Devil King, of the First Demon Kingdom, fifty thousand years ago, and she, as his daughter, is an actual Princess. It’s no longer a game – but nobody in the Mortal Realm knows it. They have various ideas about it; her companions think it’s all fake, while others think it’s true, but she must be the renegade daughter of the Demon King, meaning Regnorex, which is wrong, but actually closer to reality than her companions know. They still think she’s messing around and playing a Princess without an actual claim, while she in fact has the oldest claim in the world, older than all the human kingdoms and empires.

While we’re at Regnorex and his kingdom, it turned out that his kingdom is a thousand miles across, which makes it the size of Motharis Mountain Range. Considering how the humans believe that his kingdom encompasses the entirety of the Netherworld, it’s actually funny how small it is. He’s by no means a planar ruler. Samuel, however, was. His kingdom spanned the entirety of the Netherworld, and all its layers… before the fall, and the end of the world. Samuel also hinted that Regnorex is a fake king, which made me think – at the Primeval evolution, the Demons with Grand Skills and special achievements get a Hellprince/Hellprincess evolution; Salvos thus got the “Angelic Devil Princess” unique evolution, and also a second species of a Lesser God. What if Regnorex got a “King of Demons” or “Hellking” evolution at lvl. 200, and took it too seriously in his megalomania and conceit? What if his “kingdom” is merely a Domain? After all, when Salvos entered it, the notification said Now Entering [Demon King’s Domain]. It didn’t say “Now Entering [Demon Kingdom]”. When she entered her father’s fallen kingdom, the notification said Now Entering [Dungeon: Remnants of the First Demon Kingdom]. A logical conclusion, assuming Melas didn’t make an accidental mistake here, and I don’t think he did, would be that Samuel the Devil was the actual planar King, while Regnorex is merely an extremely pompous wannabe and an upstart; he’s no more a King than the “King of Chimeras” is a King. Basically, -King suffix is merely how the System calls the subspecies of Primordial Demons who have Grand Skills and special achievements.

Also, there’s the implication that he owes his entire career to a fortunate series of events and little to no achievements of his own. We know that Focalor, one of Samuel’s old subjects, refused to give up hope that his beloved King would return, and sent his enslaved Primordial Demons to either defend the position against the end of the world in the lower layers, like Hydra, Frenzied Basilisk and, apparently, Belphegor, using his soul magic Skill; also, he sent Paimon the Slave, lvl. 203, to kill all Demons at the cusp of the Primordial evolution, apparently so that Samuel wouldn’t lose his Title. Paimon apparently did so for a while, until she got so disgusted at her role in this senseless murder, that she refused to kill Jofis, committed assisted suicide allowing him to level from her death and become a Hellking, if only he promised to kill Focalor, which he of course did. The next thing we know is that Focalor, chained, wordless and enslaved by Regnorex, defeats Jofis easily, and Jofis loses his Title, his Evolution, and becomes a Disgraced Hellking, while Regnorex takes over and assumes the position of the Demon King.

This, however, is all highly suspicious, for several reasons. First, Regnorex doesn’t allow his subjects to evolve to Primordial and kills them if they do; this is very different from Samuel, whose followers (de facto ministers) were mostly all Primordials, and not only was he not threatened by that or lose his Title, but they all worshipped the ground he walked on and would never even consider deposing him. The fact that Focalor killed all pretenders to the throne ten thousand years after the fall, and Belphegor kept working on delaying the end of the world in his doomed tomb, dreaming of his King and the old times before the fall, says enough. Regnorex lives in constant fear of his subjects, because he rules by fear and an iron fist. Samuel ruled through respect, love, admiration and freedom, and was one of the best – if not the best – rulers Nexeus ever saw. Also, I have a hunch that Regnorex might be weak.

You see, we never learn his actual level, and Manos the Executioner, lvl. 197, one of his main generals, admits he doesn’t know Regnorex’s level. This is highly suspicious, because if his level was great, Regnorex would show it for the sake of intimidation. Since he doesn’t, and instead hides it with magic, there must be a reason for that, and the most obvious reason would be to hide how weak he actually is. So, how would that work? Well, my reconstruction goes somewhat like this. Regnorex evolved to Demon King evolution at lvl. 200, or even 195, because the Devil punks him about something related to lvl. 200 and ascending to a Lesser God at 200, and it seems to strike close to home, making Regnorex annoyed, but since we don’t know the underlying facts we also can’t appreciate the joke. So let’s say Regnorex evolved to Primordial, and then Focalor himself came to deal with him, cursing him with something like “shut up and be my slave”, firing off a Skill, and apparently Regnorex is one of those Demons of Wrath who as a matter of their biology rebound all offensive magic back to the sender, and so the curse rebounded at Focalor, making him both mute and in chains as an outward manifestation of his enslavement, and Regnorex, to no particular credit of his own, got himself a tool of conquest, and we see him use Focalor to fight all his important battles while he just looks stern, cruel and self-important. Focalor must be extremely high in level, since he was a Primordial fifty thousand years ago. He’s probably as high in level as Belphegor, who is higher than the Great Agarus, because Salvos can identify lvl. 225 Great Agarus, and can’t identify Belphegor. Haec, too, couldn’t identify Focalor. This means that Regnorex likely owes all his fame to this fortunate turn of events, and if Salvos manages to break Focalor’s curse, Regnorex is fucked, because I can imagine Focalor not liking his eon-long enslavement. If, however, Salvos can’t break Focalor’s curse, she’s in much more trouble than she suspects.

So, after the level of the Matriarch Centinel was revealed to be an incredibly high lvl. 238, we still don’t know the levels of the Beast, Regnorex, Focalor, Belphegor, Devil, Spirit Lord, Fairy Queen and the Archangel. I would cluster most of them between 240 and 250, but that’s merely a guess.

So, the list of things her human companions don’t know about Salvos is substantial. They don’t know almost anything about her being the Devil’s daughter, the extent of their actual relationship, and especially the fact that he’s the former King of Netherworld, and that this makes Salvos an actual Princess. By the time she returns to the Mortal Realm, that might make for some funny conversations.

As for her return, her point of return used to be her lair, but this was thoroughly nuked in the opening salvo of the fight between Sally and Matriarch Centinel. However, Sally opened a link to Salvos through the Dreaded Goblet, so I suspect the Goblet is currently the endpoint of the link Salvos can follow to the Mortal Realm. Sally gave the Goblet to her clone along with the gravely injured Rachel, and they all managed to return safely to the Mavos Academy, where Sally’s clone died along with Sally, Rachel is in deep shock because she got Sally killed, Clayton is in deep shock and barely responsive because he saw Matriarch Centinel use Corruption to disrupt the magical barrier, he saw the Endlands in her mind, and he saw the Edithe/Archangel hybrid appear and fight, and he basically lost his shit temporarily, and the Dreaded Goblet is on the ground. I don’t actually expect any of them to pay attention to it, but it’s the obvious point where Salvos opens a portal to the Mortal Realm, because she had a live link to Sally through it.

I expect Salvos to come to the Mavos Academy as soon as she’s physically able, and I expect her to bring along a few very high levelled Demons, and a very high levelled Hartia the Fallen Fairy. After the initial shock, I would expect them to get along nicely with Clayton and some other humans, but we already know that a lot of professors there hate Demons enough to deface the monument to Salvos and others who were lost defending agains the Demon invasion. I would expect them to resign, and the vacancies to be filled by Demons. Bertrugil, for instance, already looks very much like a professor – lazy, snarky and irritable. He could teach the history and structure of the Netherworld, as well as the biology of Demons and their evolutions. Hartia could teach space magic, being a major expert at the subject, and also being snarky, irritable and unpleasant enough to be a great professor material. But if Manos the Executioner gets a tenure, I’ll lose my shit. 🙂

Samuel and Belphegor are currently in an incredibly vulnerable position, right next to the Wall of Infinite Corruption, also known as the end of the world. If Regnorex’s sacrificial ritual for breaking the structural wall between Netherworld and the Mortal Realm indeed breaks the Nexeus, or at least contributes to the Corruption, those two will find themselves facing something that can no longer be contained, and they could actually die, which would be a shame, because Salvos loves both of them and cares for them a great deal. Their loss would be tragic, after all they had to endure.

As for Regnorex being a joke, we learned that he wants to live in the Mortal Realm like a Mortal, and the only thing he can think of is go there, kill everybody and “netherform” the place to look like a barren wasteland he came from. Essentially, he wants to escape the Netherworld, but he carries the worst aspects of it with him wherever he goes. Salvos, on the other hand, developed her kindness, empathy and sophistication in her relation with the Mortals to the point where she befriended a few Elves and Kobolds, and progressed in her rank within the human society to the point where she’s a decorated honorary Noble in the Vaun Qieur Empire, she is friendly with lots of Kings and Nobles, all the Vampire Nobles see her as one of their own, she is allied with Hadrian’s company, and was one of the leading generals of the army assembled to fight the Demon invasion. She’s seen as one of the Elite adventurers, one of the Archmages, not to forget that she’s as wealthy as a small country and her name instantly opens all doors.

Basically, Regnorex repeatedly failed to win with violence and terror what Salvos won with goodness, diligent work and saving people’s lives from all kinds of evils, Demons first and foremost. The irony is, she didn’t even have to try directly. She just protected the people she cared for, and levelled by killing harmful things. Where Regnorex tries to break open the doors, for Salvos they open effortlessly. She can visit the Kobolds, the Elves and the Humans any day, and she will find friends there. Her track record is so incredibly positive, that even her enemies can’t find anything to object, and instead make shit up. Basically, she appeared in the Human Lands, and immediately killed a rampaging Demon. Then she destroyed a den of Cultists. Then she made the first report of Belzu gathering an army, and assisted the Valiant Dreamers, who are known for their kindness and optimism, which says a lot about her character. Then she goes to the Plaguelands, levels to Diamond rank, and kills the Lich, becoming instantly famous. Then she goes to Mavos Academy and studies advanced subjects. She kills an Ancient Centinel in the Bloodied Gulf and gets the Title of Secily’s Sentinel, with two Grand Skills and Divinity. She kills a horde of Demons in Elutra. Protects the Noble Families against Demons who try to kill them. Kills most Demons sieging Alyras. She fights Belzu, multiple times, eventually wins. Fights a Hellabomination lvl. 180. Recruits Clayton Skyshredder to the war against the Demons. Wins multiple crucial battles in the war against overpowering foes. Saves everybody by sacrificing herself in the end. Essentially, she’s the brightest star and the most heroic figure they have ever seen, and the account of her deeds would seem like embellished fiction were it not verifiably true. And the fact she revealed herself to be a Demon made everybody lose their shit. The entire civilization is in turmoil over her. How can a Demon possibly be such a heroic figure?

And, also, she doesn’t look or feel anything like a Demon. All the Demons, even the Changelings who can look like very beautiful Mortals, make people’s skin crawl, because they have an aura of cold malice and evil about them. Salvos, on the other hand, was always beautiful in her human form, but not only did she become completely indistinguishable from a Human, even bleeding human blood when injured, but her aura is that of uplifting courage, inspiration and kindness. She’s not someone who creeps people out, she makes everybody inspired and uplifted, and leaves a trail of positively changed lives and people who look up to her. Sure, she also annoys a few fools, but that is always inevitable if you’re virtuous. Also, unlike other Demons, people are not afraid of her, sometimes to a fault, because Amanda needs to be taught a lesson after being a bitch with Salvos too many times. When she suddenly arrives to a fight, people feel relief and gratitude, not sudden fear. Wherever she goes, she’s a great force of Light against whatever Darkness that happens to threaten. She’s someone who first brought the Frost Wyverns to the brink of extinction when they threatened the Human Lands, but then adopted three baby Wyverns as her own children and protected them. The System evaluated her role and Titled her the guardian of the continent of Secily, and for good reason, because the description is apt. She would say that she doesn’t care about anything but herself and her companions, but that’s not what it looks like. To the outsiders, she’s someone who fights high levelled Kobold invaders and then saves a little girl from a magically frozen house and brings her back to her mother. She’s someone who spent a dozen Platinum on educational tools when tutoring struggling students at school. She’s someone who flew into a war zone to save her roommate’s family, and then ended up fighting Belzu, the nigh-invincible calamity destroying the country, to protect their retreat. She’s someone who comes into a desperate situation and her arrival means you’re saved. She might have other interpretations for her actions, but from where other people are looking, it looks very much like she’s some kind of a Guardian Angel of Light, and her Title, Subspecies and second Species confirm this. Secily’s Sentinel, Angelic Devil Princess, Lesser God. You don’t get those for being a selfish person, which is how she thinks of herself; but her selfishness always turns out to be defence of something or someone she loves. The mortally wounded Belzu told her they are similar – both guided by selfishness, and she countered – no, because I am Salvos, while you are Belzu. Her selfishness means protection and care, and his selfishness means murder and pillage.

And so, now Regnorex intends to break the walls of the Mortal Realm so that he can freely invade it with his horde that knows so little about being a Mortal that they wear pants on their heads because they heard that Humans wear clothes, while the person with the Title of Enemy of the Demon King is such an expert on the Mortal Realm that she taught the ancient lore of the Kobolds to an assembly of the human Elites.

That’s going to be fun, when they meet.