Chapter 430: The Seven Heavenly Virtues (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 430: The Seven Heavenly Virtues (7)
Luxuria.
Like the goddess ‘Gula’ before me, it was the Latin word for one of the Seven Deadly Sins: ‘Lust.’
My panicking goddess had just let slip a very interesting story.
“I-I’m doomed. I never should have stolen the candidate from that harlot, Luxuria, just because I coveted his talent so much…!”
“……”
If what she said was true, it meant I could have originally become the Apostle of Lust, not Greed.
“Hmm… now that I think about it.”
Considering my disposition, that side would have probably suited me better.
The power of Greed was a gluttonous energy that devoured everything indiscriminately. So, would the power of Lust have been something like irresistibly charming the opposite sex, or growing stronger the more I indulged my sexual desires?
“…Nice.”
Wouldn't that have been the perfect ability?
To grow stronger while having as much sex as I wanted with any woman I desired.
Just how many countries would I have had to save in a past life to get a power like that…!
As I was grinning foolishly at the dreamlike ability, Gula, who moments ago was regretting having stolen me, grabbed my face with both hands and shouted.
“D-Don’t you dare have such useless fantasies! You are already my property!”
What a ridiculous goddess.
“Weren’t you just regretting that you shouldn’t have taken me?”
“Th-that was… I was just flustered for a moment.”
“Ah, I see.”
When I answered with an indifferent attitude, Gula began to speak with a tearful expression.
“B-But this could become a huge problem not just for me, but for you as well…!”
A problem?
“For me?”
“Yes.”
With a much calmer expression and tone, she continued.
“Greed is a power that constantly craves something. But what do you think will happen… if your desires can no longer expand and instead begin to stagnate?”
“Beats me.”
No easy answer came to mind.
“I shall show you the answer. On your own body.”
Her hands, which had been gripping my cheeks, moved toward my chest.
“……”
As she muttered something in an unknown language, the hand on my chest was stained black.
And then.
Crunch!
The energy of Gluttony, which had been sleeping soundly in my gut, began to run wild.
* * *
“Ugh…!”
A pain flared up as if all my internal organs were being torn apart by sharp teeth.
Simultaneously, the energy of Gluttony, transformed into black smoke, began to seep out from every pore on Kim Do-jin’s body.
Pshhhhhh…!
The energy that burst from his body drew a shape in front of his face, which was contorted in agony.
It was a mouth.
Dozens of sharp teeth and black lips covering them.
The mouth, large enough to swallow a human body whole in a single gulp, mumbled.
[Hungry… so hungry….]
The voice was like that of a whining five or six-year-old child.
Each time the mouth moved, a dark red tongue danced beyond the sharp teeth.
[Why…? Why won’t you feed me…?]
[If there’s no more food….]
[I don’t… need you…!]
The black lips, the pearly white teeth, and the dark red tongue revealed their hostility as the mouth opened wide.
It was so large that it completely blocked the surrounding view.
All that could be seen was the endlessly gaping mouth and the darkness that stretched beyond it.
One corner of his mouth twisted into a smirk.
‘So this is the future that awaits if my desires fail to satisfy its hunger.’
A power that would abandon a master who didn't feed it.
How utterly impudent.
Just as its teeth were about to touch his neck, Gula raised her hand.
This was, after all, merely to show him the future of one who forsook Greed.
‘He should have understood by now.’
He was an exceptionally talented and intelligent individual.
“That’s enough…”
Just as she decided there was no need to actually injure him and moved to restrain her Divine Authority…
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
With an infinitely cold tone, his hand shot out and grabbed the undulating tongue within the darkness.
Yank!
The dark red tongue was pulled taut by his brutal grip.
The flustered Gluttony struggled and shouted.
[Wh-what do you think you’re doing…!]
Kim Do-jin glared, restraining its struggles by pulling hard on its tongue.
A memory suddenly surfaced.
An arrogant dog that he had cared for so diligently, only for it to mistake itself as the master and ignore him.
‘Poppy…!’
He had realized it then.
That no matter how much you love a pet, you can’t just be nice to it.
There are times when you have to scold it with absolute firmness.
“You dare bare your fangs at me, you impudent little shit?”
Both Gula and this arrogant glutton were gravely mistaken about something.
“Hey, you think I’d be lost without you?”
Truthfully, it would be a shame.
Even more so because he had personally experienced the extent of its power.
But if someone were to ask if he couldn’t live without it, he would answer with conviction.
No.
To prove it, he drew upon his mana.
And he drew a line.
[Activating the Domain of the Ruler.]
A clear sensation accompanied the rising message.
Kim Do-jin felt an unparalleled sense of stability and fulfillment at the same time.
He had been curious anyway.
What would happen if his mana, which was completely under his will within this domain, came into contact with Gluttony?
“You said you were hungry, right?”
Would it be devoured?
Or would it resist?
“Here, try eating this.”
He shoved his mana into the open mouth.
[……!]
The mana delved into the darkness, whose depths were impossible to fathom.
Soon, the entity began to struggle.
[Ah, ah, ahhh…! Aaaaaah-!]
A scream of agony echoed all around.
The mana that flowed into its mouth hadn't changed in the slightest.
It simply piled up inside the creature in the exact shape Kim Do-jin had fixed it in.
That must have been the source of the pain.
The form he had converted his mana into was that of a chestnut burr, covered in sharp spines.
With those piling up in its stomach, of course it would be agonizing.
Holding the creature, which was writhing in pain, by the tongue in his hand, he relentlessly pushed more mana into it.
Seeing some of the mana that had flowed past its throat surge back up, he knew.
It had reached its limit.
But Kim Do-jin didn’t stop.
“Hey, you said you were hungry. Hurry up and swallow. You get punished for not finishing your food.”
[Aaaaaah-! Gack, kegh, gweeeeh-!]
Screams and retching.
Gula was stunned at the sight of her own Divine Authority struggling to escape the pain.
“Wh-what is this…!”
Her Divine Authority, which could devour and digest anything, was failing to digest a mere human’s mana.
It wasn’t because of the spiky shape.
The problem was his control, which wasn't being usurped even from within her Divine Authority.
‘H-how is that possible!’
Something was wrong.
How could a mere human’s power possibly stand against a Divine Authority?
‘What in the world did you do?’
Through Kim Do-jin’s eyes, she could see the world.
Therefore, she also knew that he had acquired a rather useful ability called the ‘Domain of the Ruler.’
‘It exerts absolute influence within a certain space, was it…?’
But she had never dreamed of this.
That its absolute influence would be powerful enough to rival the Divine Authority of a god.
Until now, she had held dozens, hundreds of Apostles under her thumb.
Every one of them possessed the world’s greatest talent, and they had blossomed even further with her Divine Authority.
But not a single one of them had ever managed to do something like this.
No matter how brilliant their talent, they could never stand above the Divine Authority.
‘A mere human’s talent… dares to surpass my Divine Authority.’
It was shocking.
So shocking that she subconsciously looked back on her thousands of years of life, wondering if there had ever been a more shocking moment.
At the same time, it was thrilling.
To see the Apostle of Greed not be swayed by Greed.
She found it incredibly attractive.
“From now on, you eat only what I give you, and do only what I say. If you can do that, come back in. If you can’t, say so now.”
As the tongue-tied Gluttony tried to say something, Kim Do-jin continued.
“Because then, I’ll just erase you from this world without a trace.”
[……!]
With virtually no other choice, the energy of Gluttony once again transformed into black smoke.
Then it quickly seeped back into Kim Do-jin’s body and vanished.
What that meant was clear.
Obedience.
“……”
Her Divine Authority, ‘Gluttony,’ which would unhesitatingly devour even its own master if its hunger wasn't sated, had been defeated by a mere human, felt the fear of annihilation, and had chosen to obey.
Kim Do-jin patted the stomach where the Divine Authority had settled.
“Try acting up one more time. I’ll show you no mercy.”
Watching him berate his own stomach, Gula remembered.
A distant past, so long ago she could barely recall it.
Not long after ascending to her throne, she had wondered.
Was someone who was endlessly greedy a suitable Apostle?
Or was one who could control and dominate Greed more suitable?
It was a thought that had been erased from her mind not long after.
And for good reason—no matter how hard she looked, she could never find the latter.
Every single person who obtained her Divine Authority lived in a state of endless greed.
No matter how much they had, they were never satisfied, constantly reaching out for more and more.
That was why she had lived without ever considering the existence of a human who could overcome Greed.
“…So one did exist.”
She had finally found him.
A human who was endlessly greedy, yet not swayed by it.
A human who had succeeded, at least in part, in putting her Divine Authority beneath him.
But now that she had found him, she didn't know.
‘Can suppressed greed truly be called greed?’
Because such a thing had never existed in her long history, she couldn't find the answer.
But she would find out soon enough.
This impudent Apostle, who was now throwing a displeased glance her way.
Because he would show her himself.
“You’re truly incorrigible.”
She smiled.
At having obtained such a unique and special Apostle.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to cheer him on as he walked a path completely different from the other Apostles…
“What are you smiling about? Can’t even manage your own Divine Authority, can you? You want a taste of my chestnut burr magic, too?”
“……”
Hearing the sharp threat, she hastily dropped her smile and shook her head.