Chapter 429: The Seven Heavenly Virtues (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 429: The Seven Heavenly Virtues (6)
Beijing. It had taken two hours to get here.
I gazed down at the cityscape from the large window of the luxurious hotel room provided by the government, lost in thought.
“……”
My conversation with her in the car came to mind.
“The Seven Deadly Sins… the Seven Heavenly Virtues…”
Seven sinful emotions that drive humans to crime. And seven virtuous emotions, their complete opposites, that guide humanity toward good.
Before we arrived in Beijing, she had made me an offer. She asked me to help her defeat the Apostles of the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Heh.”
It was utterly ridiculous.
The sight of her asking for help, completely unaware that her enemy was standing right before her.
I stroked my chin, scratchy with a few days' worth of stubble, and thought of the Saintess.
“She’s not that foolish of a person, though…”
Sophia Saintess.
A woman who possessed the mercy and compassion befitting her title of Saintess.
But it would be a grave mistake to think her personality was just as gentle.
“She’s a difficult woman to read.”
As the Saintess of the Vatican, she was a woman who had dealt with world-class entrepreneurs, Hunters, and politicians.
Perhaps that’s why, sometimes, the intentions she hinted at during our conversation felt like they weren't her true ones.
This offer was no different.
While we were talking, I thought she had come to trust me and had removed me from her list of suspects, but…
“Now, I’m not so sure.”
Thinking about it calmly on my own, it occurred to me that even that might have been a ploy to test me.
The man her ability perceived was a gray figure leaning toward the black of a villain. Yet, she said the man she saw in person was a noble soul, far from being evil.
A discrepancy between her experience and her ability.
She said that for the first time in her life, she would try to trust what she saw with her own eyes over her ability, but… who knows.
“Maybe the test isn’t over yet.”
Of course, she might have made the offer because she truly trusts me, but letting my guard down was out of the question.
“Anyway, what should I do now…”
The answer was more or less decided.
Whether her goal was to test me or to genuinely ask for help.
“I should play along for now.”
It was the right move to join the group she mentioned that fights against the Seven Deadly Sins.
I am an Apostle of the Seven Deadly Sins.
I don't have the slightest interest in the world, but you never know what the future holds.
I might suddenly go crazy and want the world at my feet, or I could be branded an enemy by the Saintess simply for being an Apostle of the Sins.
They say if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. From the perspective of stealing information from the enemy's camp, there's no better answer…
But there was one problem.
“…What if someone notices my aura?”
What if there was someone in the group she mentioned who was sensitive to the aura of the Seven Deadly Sins?
If so, it would be like walking straight into a tiger's open maw.
“Hmm…”
I looked down at the flow of mana coiling around my entire body, including my arms and legs.
Achromatic mana.
If I were to use Gluttony here…
Shwaaak!
In an instant, the mana was dyed as black as pitch.
It wasn't just the color that changed; the very nature of the mana was transformed.
The individual elements that made up the mass of mana were corrupted into a single entity.
If I had to describe it…
“Yes, ‘Avarice’ would be a fitting word.”
To be precise, a nature that covets mana.
This aura devours and digests any mana it touches, making it its own.
A portion of it is converted and given to me, the host, while the rest becomes dregs and naturally disperses.
It's the same principle as eating healthy food—the nutrients are absorbed, and the leftover waste is expelled as shit.
I withdrew the aura of Gluttony that had colored my mana.
The mana returned to its original form and color.
“As long as I don’t use it, it doesn’t show on the surface…”
But you never know. There might be someone with the ability to perceive not just what's on the surface, but what lies dormant within.
The Hunter world is full of people with bizarre abilities, so I couldn't be sure of anything.
“But refusing is also… a bit problematic.”
This was an offer from the Saintess, of all people.
Beyond just information, the benefits of maintaining a close relationship with her were significant.
On the other hand, refusing her offer would be tantamount to a declaration that I wanted to sever our ties.
And then I realized.
“What the… I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.”
To be precise, both options had clear pros and cons, making it a difficult choice.
This is troublesome.
I did say I'd give her an answer before we headed back home…
Just as I was stroking my addictively scratchy chin, deep in thought…
Thump!
My heart pounded once, hard, and a wave of lethargy began to wash over my body.
“…What is this?”
A sudden drowsiness assaulted me.
As I struggled to lift my eyelids, which were growing heavy as if I'd unknowingly taken a sleeping pill, a voice echoed in my head.
-Do not resist.
A familiar voice.
-Come over here at once. Do you intend to keep your one and only goddess waiting?
My one and only goddess.
Gula…
It seemed this sudden wave of sleepiness was her will, calling for me.
I staggered toward the bed and flopped down onto it.
The moment I closed my eyes, my consciousness faded into the distance.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I closed my eyes and opened them to the sight of two towering peaks.
Not a mountain range…
“…Breasts?”
Yes. Breasts.
Voluptuous breasts of such a perfect shape that it felt like my fingers would melt away if I touched them.
A familiar face peeked out from between the two mounds.
“Are you awake now?”
The black-haired Han Ju-hee.
Or to be precise.
“…Gula.”
The Goddess of Greed who appointed me as her Apostle.
Judging by the soft, plush feeling at the back of my head, I was resting on her lap.
As I tried to sit up.
“Hmph.”
Press.
“Mmphh…?!”
She leaned forward, pressing my face into her chest.
What is this blissful… no, this outrageous behavior!
I barely managed to keep my tongue from lolling out and gave up resisting.
Satisfied, Gula smiled and lifted her torso again.
“Huhu… Don't waste your energy. Just stay as you are.”
Looking up at her smiling face, I felt a sense of peace.
It wasn't because she resembled Han Ju-hee.
It was just the soft, plush sensation at the back of my head and her gentle smile that brought me a sense of stability.
Realizing she had no intention of letting me up, I asked with a resigned expression.
“So… you were quiet for a while. Why the sudden summons?”
She opened her mouth to speak.
“It seems you've finally encountered not just an Apostle of the Sins, but one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues as well.”
“That’s right.”
The Saintess, Sophia Saintess. Not some figurehead propped up by the Orthodox Church, but a woman truly chosen by a god.
She revealed her identity as the Apostle of Caritas, Charity, one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.
At this, Gula sneered, one corner of her mouth twisting up.
“Caritas… That one is rotten to the core. A filthy hypocrite who pretends to care for everyone while secretly coveting the throne of the Main God.”
“Oh, really.”
I didn't think I should take her words at face value.
Even if their side was hypocritical, our side was just openly evil, wasn't it?
She shot me a sharp glare.
“Hmph… I see you don't believe me.”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
I didn't deny it. What was the point, when she'd find out easily anyway?
“Well, fine. I didn't call you all the way here just to tell you about that bastard's personality.”
How generous of her.
“I hear you received a very interesting offer from that one's Apostle.”
“Yeah.”
She smiled again.
“Hmph. It seems the Apostle that one chose this time will die soon.”
Those were some harsh words.
Die?
“Why?”
“Isn't it obvious?”
A deadly yet beautiful smile was directed at me.
“Because she has placed my Apostle by her side.”
“……”
So.
Was she telling me to kill her?
“I should kill her? Why?”
When I asked that, her expression turned sour.
“Why…? Isn't it a given? You are an Apostle of the Seven Deadly Sins, and that child is an Apostle of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.”
The Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues have been enemies since ancient times, so I must kill her. That seemed to be her logic…
“I don’t know. There’s nothing to be gained from killing her.”
In fact, there was nothing but losses.
She was the Saintess, hailed as the celebrity of celebrities, wielding global influence.
The moment it was revealed that I killed her, where in the world was I supposed to live?
“Nothing to be gained? What are you talking about? Don't you realize that eliminating her early on will be a great help to your future path of world domination!”
“……?”
What was this woman talking about?
“World domination?”
“Yes! A ruler who stands above all others!”
“…Me?”
What the. Since when did my future involve becoming the ruler of this world? I've never once dreamed of such a thing in my life.
When I gave her a look of disbelief, she was the one who became flustered and asked me.
“Wh-what's with that look? Why do you look like you've never even considered it…?”
“Because… I've never thought about world conquest.”
“Wh-what?!”
Startled by my words, she shot up.
Thanks to that, my head, which had been resting comfortably on her lap, fell straight to the floor.
Thud!
“Oof!”
My head!
Whether I was in pain or not.
With a look of clear panic, she shook her head violently and muttered to herself.
“Th-that can't be. As long as he has received my Divine Authority, there's no way he wouldn't have… have greed…?”
Then, she glared at me with a sharp gaze.
“H-have you never felt any sudden emotions welling up? For example, wanting to possess something, or snatch it away, or dominate it…?!”
I grimaced, rubbing the new lump on the back of my head as I sat up.
Wanting to possess, wanting to snatch away, wanting to dominate.
“…I have?”
“Y-yes! When did you feel that way? Huh? Hurry up and tell me, hurry!”
“Well.”
Those thoughts always came up in the same situation.
When there was a woman I really liked in front of me.
“Like a woman who belongs to someone else but I find attractive, or a woman who stimulates my desire to dominate…?”
Hearing my answer, Gula's knees hit the ground.
Thump!
What's with her?
Her dumbfounded expression reminded me of a colleague I was close with back when I was Son Si-woo.
Whenever he lost all his money on some shit stock.
He'd make that exact face every time.
“…No, wait a minute.”
Does that mean I've become a shit stock to her, or what?
I felt a sense of displeasure and glared at her, but she paid me no mind.
She was too busy floundering in her own world.
“I-I'm ruined. Just because I coveted his talent, I shouldn't have stolen the candidate from Luxuria, that harlot…!”
“……?”
What the hell is she talking about now?