Mukkebi's Confession
Mukkebi was worried. Was it really the right thing to tell him about Wrath? To explain that, she'd have to reveal her own identity. Once he knew the truth, would Sung-tae keep treating her the same way he always had?
"Mukkebi-ya, what's wrong?"
"Huh? Nothing. It's nothing."
But she had to tell him. She'd seen it herself—how strong Wrath had become. A mere fragment, a tiny shard that had burst from a shattered glass window, yet it had grown powerful enough to stand against the Dragon King. That meant the main body was already nearing its end.
If she didn't speak now, who knew what catastrophe might unfold later?
"Sung-tae, I... I have something to tell you."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Well..."
The words rose to her throat. But unlike her resolve, they wouldn't come out easily. What if he abandons me? What if he starts hating me? What if I see a side of Sung-tae I never knew? 'What if he gets mad at me too?'
That last fear had grown even larger after seeing Sung-tae consumed by rage just moments ago, becoming the biggest obstacle blocking her confession.
Sung-tae approached the hesitant Mukkebi and reached out a hand. She flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, but soon felt the warm touch stroking her hair and cautiously opened her eyelids.
Sung-tae wasn't attacking her. Instead, he was gently petting her head.
"Don't worry. No matter who you are, I have no intention of doing anything to you."
"Sung-tae..."
Gritting her teeth, Mukkebi finally steeled herself and confessed to Sung-tae. Her true identity. The laws of this world that she knew.
"Sung-tae, the truth is... I'm one of the Seven Deadly Sins you mentioned."
"..."
"And that one was incredibly powerful... Gluttony—that was me."
"..."
Mukkebi squeezed out the words with effort and looked up at Sung-tae. His silence made her regret it instantly. 'I shouldn't have said anything.'
"Hmm..."
Sung-tae groaned as he looked down at Mukkebi. But contrary to her fears, no iron fist of rage came down. In fact, he was smiling.
"Just as I thought. Heh heh. Thanks for telling me."
"S-Sung-tae? Y-You already knew?"
Sung-tae grinned warmly. He felt good about Mukkebi's confession. Sharing such a huge secret meant she trusted him that much and cherished him, right?
"You think I'm an idiot or something? Of course I knew."
Mukkebi's behavior had always been suspicious. At the gathering of the Demon Kings, no one paid her any mind. The Demon Kings themselves, and even Demitrian, treated her like she didn't exist. She was like a ghost on the verge of vanishing.
Sung-tae had guessed that the Mukkebi from back then was in a state like a spirit on the brink of death.
"Your actions scream Gluttony from the start."
And her ability to devour others' life force fit Gluttony perfectly. If she'd just nibbled a little, maybe, but she'd gobbled up his immense life force and even other spirit beings. Not to mention swallowing Sloth and Envy—there was no way she could be ordinary after that.
"When you devoured Envy last time, I started suspecting around then. I just didn't say anything because I didn't want to burden you."
"Sung-tae..."
"So don't worry so much. I told you before, right? Tell me whenever you feel like it. That meant I wouldn't care who you are."
Mukkebi's vision blurred. She'd thought tears only came when you were sad, but apparently they flowed from joy too.
Mukkebi threw herself at Sung-tae and hugged him tight.
"Hehe. Thanks."
"No problem."
For a moment, the two shared each other's warmth. Once that passed, Mukkebi's expression turned serious.
"Like I said earlier, that red energy that just vanished was a fragment of Wrath. One of the Seven Deadly Sins like me—and one of the upper four."
"Upper four?"
"Yeah. The Seven Deadly Sins aren't all equal. Greed, Sloth, and Envy were the weakest, while Pride, Wrath, Lust, and me—we four were the strongest. Basically, the emotions that influenced living beings the most were the strongest."
It made perfect sense. Among the sins humans committed often, anger, lust, and gluttony were far more common than sloth or envy. Anger led to murder, lust ruined lives, and gluttony let some gorge in agony while others starved.
"But that doesn't add up. Greed is weak?"
"Huh? Why not?"
"Nothing influences humans more than greed. It should be the strongest. And Pride being the strongest doesn't make sense either. Sure, pride causes problems sometimes... but greed's bigger."
Humans waged wars for greed. Without it, no wars, no technological progress. No exploration for land, no new discoveries. What real impact did pride have on living beings? Animals weren't proud—they'd get eaten the moment they were. And for humans, unless you were in a position of real power, pride didn't lead to major sins.
"Maybe they're switched?"
"No. Greed was weak, and Pride was the strongest among us. Those two were a bit different from the rest of us."
"How so?"
"Uh... well..."
Mukkebi furrowed her brow, trying to recall Greed, but her memories were foggy, like shrouded in mist. She couldn't explain properly.
"Sorry. I can't remember. I haven't fully recovered my power, so my memories aren't complete."
Her memories had started returning recently. After absorbing Sloth, bits came back, and after Envy, most of it. But key parts were still missing. Time might bring them back, but not now.
"Not complete means you still need to absorb the others?"
"Yeah. I don't remember why, but absorbing them brings my memories back."
"Got it. Then we need to find the other Sins quick."
"But I do remember this one thing."
This was the trigger for her confession to Sung-tae. The purpose of those guys she absolutely had to warn him about.
"They want the destruction of the world."
It was the one memory crystal clear in her mind. The Seven Deadly Sins hadn't originally desired the world's end. But suddenly, like they'd been possessed, they did. And the moment the other Sins attacked her was the first memory that returned when she regained her power.
"For some reason, they attacked me. I don't know why exactly... but it was definitely the first step toward destroying the world."
"Destruction? Why?"
"No idea. They just suddenly wanted it, and to make it happen, they need bodies."
"Hmm... They can't do it without bodies?"
Sung-tae recalled the Sins he'd fought so far as he asked. Sloth, Envy, and the Dragon King as Wrath's fragment—all had power far beyond a Demon King. Sloth had a body when they met, but before that, it corrupted the World Tree and destroyed the forest. Envy corrupted Gepelt, Wrath's fragment the Dragon King. With that strength, couldn't they destroy the world without bodies?
"They're strong without bodies, but they need them to unleash their true power. No body, no world destruction."
"Why?"
"Um... I don't know. That part's missing from my memories. Why they need bodies..."
"Hm. Okay. So how do they make bodies?"
Sung-tae had a rough idea but asked to confirm.
Mukkebi didn't know the details either, but from traveling with him, she could guess.
"You've seen it already, right? What the heroes do."
"So the evil spirit inside Leo was one of the Sins after all."
The evil spirit in Leo had been greedily absorbing Crassus's power. Strangely, it hadn't used that power and couldn't resist his exorcism properly from Leo's inner world. If it'd used the Demon King's power, it might've lasted longer. The reason? To pass it to the Sin.
'Now it makes sense. Why heroes lose their power or stop craving Demon Kings after defeating them.'
They probably handed it all over. Once a hero's inner world was tainted by the evil spirit, it was ruined. Could they wield hero power like that? Sung-tae thought no—they'd become ordinary people.
'Heroes are truly pitiful.'
Sung-tae's guess was half right, half wrong. Heroes did absorb Demon King power and pass it to Sins. But they weren't disposable. Housing both evil spirit and Demon King power broke their inner worlds. Those who survived lost hero power, became normal, and lived shorter lives. But if they endured... Sung-tae hadn't met such a hero yet, so his thoughts didn't extend that far.
"Sorry, Sung-tae. I couldn't help much."
"Nah, you helped plenty. Thanks."
Sung-tae petted her head again. Revealing their goal of world destruction was huge, whatever the reason. He'd come to this fantasy world—plenty left to enjoy and explore. No way he'd let it end.
"Where are they, I wonder? Wrath, Greed, Lust, Pride. Catch those four, and we're good."
A new goal emerged alongside his aim to adventure and enjoy this isekai.
"Sunbae..."
Leo bit her lip, watching Sung-tae lie motionless with eyes closed.
What if something was wrong? Her heart filled with worry for him.
"Phew. Alright! Life goal set!"
"Sunbae! Are you okay?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you two?"
"I'm alright now, my lord."
Leo hadn't been hurt to begin with, so she was fine, and Garba—who'd been badly injured—was already standing on her own, fully recovered.
"Whew. Good," Sung-tae sighed in relief. He'd feared aftereffects, but seeing Garba hale cooled his lingering rage.
Leo stared intently at Sung-tae. Her heart throbbed with an ominous premonition. 'No way... Sunbae...'
"Garba, you train so hard, but getting hurt like that?"
"I'm sorry. I'll train even harder!"
"Enough. Just be more careful from now on. You're a warrior. Courage to charge stronger foes is good, but too much becomes recklessness."
"Yes, my lord!"
Seeing Sung-tae chat and laugh happily with his loyal subordinate made Leo's chest ache more.
After talking with Garba, Sung-tae glanced at where Roman had been. No corpse left, but something shiny remained.
"Hm? This is..."
It was the Elf's Token the elves had given him. A special-rank adventurer's privilege—exactly what Sung-tae wanted.
Lucky it hadn't been hit directly and got knocked aside? Either way, jackpot for him.
'I'll take it. No need to grind for special-rank now.'
"Sunbae, what happened to Roman-nim?"
"Hm. He..."
She'd arrived late and missed details, but he'd surely acted shamefully. Even the Dragon King, muttering lame extra lines, snapped back to normal once the fragment left. Whatever disgrace he showed must've shocked Leo.
"He was controlled by some weird spirit life-form. Unfortunately... couldn't separate it, so I had to kill him."
"...I see."
Sung-tae lied kindly. The dead deserved no spitting on his grave—especially since he'd been Leo's mentor.
"Roman-nim..."
Thankfully, Leo didn't doubt him. She closed her eyes briefly, praying for him.
'Old man, you're blessed. Someone praying for you.'
"Alright. Quest's done—let's head out."
[Uwaaaaaah!]
The northernmost end of the continent. The frozen land. In the ice continent buried under eternal snow year-round, a scream echoed.
Or was it a scream? An eerie sound, impossible to tell if rage or cry, shook the lifeless frozen earth.
[Who dares! Which bastard! To shatter my fragment!]
The voice burned with fury. Just hearing it conveyed the seething anger.
[Hot... my body burns. This petty cold can't cool me anymore!]
The glacial land where everything froze. A hell of absolute zero.
[I said it can't cool me!!!]
That absolute zero ground began melting. Snow enduring millennia steamed away with the scorching earth. The world, unable to withstand the change, turned to storms and heat, forging a hellish wasteland.
[No more waiting. This way, I'll never get a body—not in a lifetime.]
The stronger the being, the harder to forge a fitting body. Something long suppressed in this extreme land finally stirred.
[Find it. A body worthy of me. Now!]
[Yes!!!]
As the voice commanded, several others replied in unison, then fell silent.
[Hot! So hot! Find it quick!]
After that day, no more ice at the northern end. Only boiling lava and world-shattering storms remained.