Chapter 423: A Difference in Class (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 423: A Difference in Class (5)
The Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride, Avarice, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Greed, Sloth.
A term referring to the seven sinful emotions designated in the holy scriptures.
For each sin, there exists a god who is its very essence.
And beneath that god exists an Apostle, and directly below them, a Priest, and below them, the Followers.
An Apostle was a special being, beloved by their god.
Priests were those who followed in their footsteps, living in the god's shadow.
And Followers were simply those who blindly followed the evangelism of the Apostles and Priests.
Agwi was a priest who served Gula, the Goddess of Greed.
A rather devout priest who had been granted an audience with her, albeit from a distance, and had been bestowed a fraction of her Divine Authority.
He was certain of one thing.
Among all the priests who served the gods of the seven sins, the number of those who served Greed had to be the smallest.
It wasn't an official statistic, but his experiences proved it.
He had met quite a few priests in his time, but not a single one of them had served Greed.
That was why he had always waited.
For the moment he would meet a priest of Greed, just like himself.
Was it simply for the sense of kinship from serving the same god?
No.
“I wonder how delicious he’ll be…!”
Slurp!
It was out of curiosity.
He wondered what it would taste like to chew and devour one of his own kind, who had also been granted power by the goddess.
He felt no guilt.
This was the will of his god.
Hadn't she told him herself to covet and devour whatever he desired?
If that greed had boundaries, how could it have become one of the seven sinful emotions condemned by the scriptures?
He was simply being faithful to its essence.
So he thought.
He lived day by day in a state of hunger that could never be sated, no matter how much he ate. And then, one day, an opportunity finally arrived.
A chance to meet one of his own kind.
The urgent voice of his subordinate came through the receiver.
-Kim Do-jin has appeared here!
It was followed by a cacophony of noise.
A fierce battle was likely underway.
He left a curt reply and immediately ended the call.
“I’m on my way.”
Then, with a sinister smile spreading across his lips, he kicked off the ground.
CRASH—!
As if even the time it took to use the door was a waste, Agwi smashed through a wall and charged forward.
After landing on the rooftop of the opposite building, he immediately leaped again, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth.
An unbearable hunger.
Curiosity for a prey he had never tasted before.
And because of it all, his patience had run out.
“Kuaaaah…!”
With each leap, he left craters on the rooftops and roofs as if small meteorites had struck them. His roar echoed thunderously.
“I want to eat him noooow!”
At the same time, his movements grew even faster.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed from the far end of the upper floors to the entrance and landed at the reported location.
BOOM—!
And he saw him.
Kim Do-jin, who had instantly knocked down one of the organization's members and was now searching for his next prey.
The moment he saw him, he knew instinctively.
‘Just as I thought…!’
His prediction had been correct.
He was a priest who served the Goddess of Greed, just like him!
Feeling a profound sense of elation, he finally came face to face with him.
And then, Agwi was bewildered.
‘W-wait, hold on.’
Something was strange.
The energy he felt from his opponent was unmistakably a trace left by the same Goddess of Greed.
But.
‘Wh-what… is this feeling…?’
It was the same energy, yet different.
It felt as if his own energy, received from the goddess, had been condensed by several, no, several dozen times.
The moment he met his gaze, the ravenous appetite that had been burning fiercely just moments before vanished.
At the same time, his entire body froze, and a cold sweat broke out.
A sudden, ominous thought flashed through his mind.
‘N-n-no, it can’t be…’
Perhaps his assumption had been wrong from the very beginning.
Perhaps he wasn't a priest, but an Apostle who monopolized the god's love.
Just then.
Kim Do-jin turned to him and asked.
“Are you Agwi?”
It was a simple question.
Yet, unable to withstand the pressure, Agwi…
“Hic…!”
…let out a hiccup instead of an answer.
*
What the hell is that?
What’s wrong with him?
That thought was fleeting.
The energy of Gluttony, coiled in my stomach, let out a sharp ring.
It felt as if it was trying to tell me something.
“……?”
Wondering what it was, I looked at my opponent… and I felt a familiar energy.
No, I could see it.
Gluttony.
The energy I felt from him was clearly the same as the one sleeping in my stomach.
Though, quantitatively and qualitatively, it was so pathetic it couldn't even compare.
How does that guy have the energy of Gluttony…?
My thoughts were brief.
“Aha.”
The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place in my mind.
His body, frozen stiff the moment he saw me.
The energy I felt from him, similar to my own.
The answer derived from these facts was obvious, wasn't it?
“You… you’re a priest of Greed, aren’t you?”
At the same time, I realized one more thing.
I was above, and he was below.
The two of us were in a clearly defined vertical relationship.
“Hey, get over here.”
“Ye-yes…!”
A relationship so absolute that I could summon him with a single beckoning gesture.
That’s how easy it was for me.
To snatch away his energy and leave him an empty shell.
He knew that too, which was why he was being so respectful.
This might turn out to be easier than I thought.
“Name.”
“A-Agwi… my real name is Ramazar… sir.”
“Nationality?”
“I-India, sir.”
Good.
He’s singing like a canary.
“Are you in charge here?”
“…Y-yes, I am. To be precise, I’m one of the people in charge.”
“How many people are in charge in total?”
“Th-that is.”
After answering so smoothly, he suddenly wore a troubled expression.
Remembering something annoying, I scowled and asked.
“What, are you under a restriction too?”
“…Y-yes, I am.”
“Ah.”
What a buzzkill.
The energy I felt from him was clearly S-rank.
If we had fought without this power dynamic, he would have been quite a handful. I thought he’d be someone with some clout in the organization.
No, his position might not actually be that low.
It’s just that the organization that diligently places restrictions on even a guy like him might be a little too thorough.
“Is everyone in the organization under a restriction?”
“…You can assume that almost everyone is.”
“‘Almost everyone’ means… there are some who aren’t.”
So, to dig deeper into this organization, I need to catch the ones who aren’t under a restriction.
The problem is how to lure out those guys, who are probably at the very top of the hierarchy…
I pondered for a moment, then stopped.
Why am I even worrying about this?
“Hey.”
“Yes…?”
I placed my hand on the stomach of the man, who was warily watching me, trying to figure out how to survive.
Through my palm, I could clearly feel his energy.
To that, I transferred a little, just a tiny little piece of the Gluttony energy I held within me.
“Keoheok…!?”
The man cried out in pain as the energy suddenly burrowed inside him and settled down as it pleased.
Jeez, what a drama queen.
After confirming that the energy was properly implanted in his stomach, I quickly removed my hand.
“You can feel it too, right?”
When I asked, the man, his face contorted, shot back a question.
“Wh-what did you just do…?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just planted a part of my energy in you.”
Why did I plant it?
Obviously, it wasn’t to give him power.
Quite the opposite.
It should be starting right about now…
“Huk…!”
The man panicked at the strange sensation stirring in his stomach.
“N-no, no…! My, my power!”
I had given the energy I planted in his stomach a single command.
Devour all the surrounding energy.
And do it very, very slowly.
“Judging by your expression, it seems to be working well.”
That’s a relief.
It was my first time trying this, so I was worried it might not work.
Realizing that the situation was unfolding exactly as I intended, the man immediately dropped to his knees.
“P-please, spare me! We serve the same goddess, aren’t we fa-family?!”
Well, well, look at this guy.
I smiled brightly at him and replied.
“You won’t die just because you lose your energy.”
It was true.
Even if I took all of that energy, he wouldn’t die.
However, it would be more painful than death.
It would be one thing if he never had it in the first place.
But the process of feeling your abundant power slowly fade away, until you finally become weak, is nothing short of a living hell.
I know because I’ve been through it.
As I said that, the man, who wasn’t completely clueless, asked in a pleading tone.
“Wh-what is it you want from me?”
There we go.
If you want to live, that’s what you should have led with.
“What I want? It’s nothing much.”
It really wasn’t a big deal.
You could call it an opportunity for him to possibly earn some merit while simultaneously helping me achieve my goal.
A plan that kills two birds with one stone by also saving me from an unnecessary headache… no, three birds with one stone.
I held up three fingers in front of his eyes and spoke.
“It’ll take about three months for my energy to eat all of yours.”
His face turned even paler after learning the exact deadline. I continued.
“Within that time, bring him to me.”
“Wh-what…”
Isn’t it obvious?
“The bastard who doesn’t have a restriction on his head.”
Preferably someone with no backbone and a weak will.
I stared at the man, whose face had turned a sickly green at the unexpected proposal, and said.
“If you can’t do it, say so now. I’ll make it quick and painless for you.”
I said that, but there was only one answer he could give.
“I-I’ll do it…”
I grabbed the scruff of the man who had barely accepted the offer and pushed him into a pile of fallen corpses.
As if he didn’t even have the energy to resist, he lay down amidst the bodies. I spoke to him.
“Hide here and play dead. I’ll create an opportunity for you to slip away when the time is right.”
“I-I understand.”
“If you can’t get out then, our contract is naturally void, so you know.”
What’s the point of dealing with a guy who can’t even take the chance he’s given?
After leaving him with a final warning, I used my mana to pull the surrounding corpses and pile them on top of him.
I made it look a little messy so it wouldn’t seem artificial.
“Alright, perfect.”
Now that I’ve set up my insurance, all that’s left is to clean this place up.
I took a step into the upper floors to catch the other person in charge.