Chapter 580: The Conspiracy Begins (13)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 580: The Conspiracy Begins (13)
My body was on fire.
It felt as if I’d thrown myself into a blazing inferno.
The heat from my head had spread throughout my entire body.
I was in no condition to fight.
But I had to.
Because the winner of this battle would be the one to achieve their goal.
And yet, I’d gotten too greedy.
Trying to capture him alive in my desire to gain even a little more was a fatal mistake.
Thwack!
The sound of the impact rang clearly in my ears as my body doubled over.
A dull pain spread as the golden aura coiled around his fist surged into me.
It was a blow designed not to break the exterior, but to utterly shatter the interior.
Crack!
As the energy swept through me, my ribs shattered and my organs began to melt.
“Cough…!”
The agony was so intense I couldn't even scream.
My already blurry vision darkened further.
My consciousness began to fade.
At the same time, a torrent of thoughts flooded my mind.
I can’t lose consciousness now.
If I die like this… what about my women?
I know.
No sadness or pain lasts forever.
They would grieve if I died, but one day, they would forget me and live happily.
Perhaps with another man by their side to replace me?
The thought made me sick to my stomach.
I’m not that magnanimous.
“Since I’m dead, I hope the ones I left behind find someone good and live happily”?
How could anyone think that?
Doesn’t that just mean you never really loved them?
I can’t be like that.
No matter how many times I think about it, I could never say those words.
I want them to remember me for the rest of their lives.
I want them to carve the man that is me not just onto their beautiful bodies, but into their very souls.
No, that’s not it.
Simply…
I want to live.
Thump!
My heart pounded.
Gluttony, which had been coiled quietly in my gut, began to stir on its own.
It wasn’t in its usual starved state; it was brimming with vast mana from the mana stones.
It whispered to me.
『You… can’t die.』
Was it worried about me?
No.
It was worried about itself.
If I, the host, died, it would die too.
And it hated that idea.
『Dying… I hate it.』
In the midst of this crisis, it broke free from my control and began to move on its own.
I wanted to hold it back, but it was impossible.
My will had weakened, and Greed had grown stronger.
It began to course through my body, riding the currents of desire.
I was being pushed back.
My consciousness, my mind.
The control over my body.
I could feel it all being stolen away, bit by bit.
But it wasn’t all bad.
Crrrack!
Snap!
Its vast mana restored my shattered ribs and melted organs.
Thanks to that, my mind cleared a little.
And a sense of crisis washed over me.
Its energy shot out on its own, wrapping around the opponent's fist, which had not yet been retracted.
Sluuurp—
A sound like lips smacking echoed.
A massive maw tore off his arm and swallowed it.
CRUNCH!
“Kuaaaargh—!”
My opponent’s agonized scream rang in my ears.
I could feel it.
The frantic beat of his heart, pounding harder than ever before.
The terror and fear that filled his eyes, now twisted in pain.
My mouth opened of its own accord.
“I’m hungry.”
Was it because my body was half-possessed?
I could feel Gluttony’s senses as if they were my own.
A terrible hunger.
A hunger that could never be satisfied by simply devouring mana or flesh.
It was etched not into the body, but into the soul itself.
An eternal starvation.
Only then did I realize.
This was the true nature of Greed.
No matter how much you have, how much you gain, how much you eat, you are never satisfied. You just crave something more.
A cycle from which there is no escape until this life ends and returns to nothingness.
I…
What an absurd power I’ve been living with.
“Give me food.”
Gluttony must know it too.
The fact that its hunger will never end until it dies.
Yet, the reason it constantly seeks to eat is that, for that brief moment of consumption, the starvation is appeased.
For that fleeting moment of liberation, it desires to eat endlessly.
The black aura surrounding my entire body opened its maw wide.
“Thank you for the mea—.”
I stopped it.
Stop.
“Ah……”
My body and the aura froze in place.
I could feel its disappointment.
It was a relief for me.
Thank goodness my body recovered before I lost complete control. Otherwise, I might have had to watch helplessly as my body was taken over.
I tried to persuade the entity, which still clung to the control it had stolen from me, refusing to let go.
Come on, be a good boy.
Master is okay now, so go back to your place.
『No… I won’t.』
Well now.
This bastard is pissing me off again.
You’d better listen carefully.
I still have half the control over this body.
If you keep this up, I’ll just stab myself in the gut and die. You got that?
Then you and I both die.
『You can’t do it….』
He wasn’t buying it.
Well, that made sense. He had just seen me begging for my life, desperate not to die.
But he only knew one side of the story.
You’re right, it’s true I don’t want to die.
Isn’t that obvious?
Who in the world wants to die?
But listen here.
I’d rather die than have you steal my body and be relegated to the back seat like some old geezer.
Want me to prove it?
Clatter, clatter.
With a trembling hand, I reversed my grip on my sword and aimed it at my stomach.
What do you think, Gluttony?
Should I show you?
Whether I can die or not?
『…….』
When you’re threatening someone, you can never be half-hearted.
I put strength into my arm and pushed the sword into my stomach.
Shunk.
The tip of the blade sank about an inch deep.
Feeling the killing intent directed at itself, Gluttony’s urgent consciousness flooded into me.
『S-Stop….』
You think I’ll stop just because you tell me to, huh?
If you want me to stop, give me back my body and get the hell back to your place. Right now.
Or else…!
Just as I gritted my teeth and prepared to push the sword deeper…
『F-Fine… I get it.』
The will of Gluttony that had bound my body began to fade.
It became easier to move my arms and legs.
As it slowly retreated, it left me with one last message.
『Next time… it won’t be as easy as it was today….』
Look at this little shit.
So you’re saying you’ll try to take my body again if you get the chance?
That’s not going to happen.
Even if a situation like that arises, you will never take my body.
Because I’ve never made the same mistake twice in my life.
Our dear Fake Si-woo already gave me that experience once, so there won’t be any chances for you.
“Hoo.”
A heavy energy settled in my stomach.
I prodded at Gluttony, but only its power surged, without a trace of its consciousness.
Maybe it was sulking and had fallen asleep, or maybe it was just exhausted.
Either way, I didn’t care.
As I straightened my aching body, stiff from the clash of two consciousnesses, I felt two pairs of eyes on me.
The Blue Dragon and Jincheon.
『They say humans are incomprehensible beings, but to think one would stab a sword into his own stomach….』
“……”
I was so embarrassed my face turned red.
What must I have looked like to them?
A madman who suddenly froze up and then stabbed himself in the stomach?
“Haha.”
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
My eyes met Jincheon’s, who stood there blankly, both arms gone.
Amidst the fear radiating from his eyes, there was a flicker of something else.
His lips parted.
“You… you’ve been deceiving the entire world.”
It seemed he’d figured it out.
The fact that I, like him, was an Apostle chosen by one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Well now. I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
I shrugged, playing dumb.
He curled his lip in a sneer, as if finding my act pathetic.
“Kukuku…! So that was it. There was a reason you interfered with the organization’s work at every turn.”
It seemed he was misunderstanding something.
“In your own way, you desire this world, just as we do.”
“Uh, well.”
Not at all.
“I wondered why you were so persistent in hindering us, but that was the reason.”
Sigh.
Whatever.
Let him misunderstand.
“It’s time for you to go to sleep.”
Using my seemingly endless supply of mana, I cast a spell on him.
「Sleep」
“Ugh……”
He staggered.
He bit his tongue with enough force to sever it, trying to resist, but that was all he could do.
“Damn… it.”
With both arms gone and his body already broken, he couldn’t withstand the magic and collapsed.
Thud!
Soon, the sound of steady breathing filled the air.
“That was tough, really.”
The thought that I could finally relax was fleeting.
I immediately looked down at Jincheon’s subordinates surrounding Namsan Tower.
Their faces were covered by masks, so I couldn’t see them clearly, but I could feel it.
“W-What do we do?”
“Let’s run for it….”
“We have to report to our superiors…!”
I could feel the emotions of men who had lost their leader, panicking and running around in confusion.
I thought for a moment.
It’s a pain. Should I just kill them all?
“…No, that’s not right.”
For a moment, my head spun.
To think of killing dozens of people just because it was a hassle.
This was wrong.
That would make me no different from the other Apostles of the Seven Deadly Sins.
I released my killing intent towards them and raised my voice.
“Anyone who moves a single step from now on dies.”
As if on cue, they all froze.
After putting them all to sleep as well, I looked up at the Blue Dragon that held the very air captive.
I was saved by a magic I had considered a half-mistake, since every ego that inhabited it was so peculiar and strange.
“I’m alive thanks to you.”
Acknowledging this, I bowed respectfully.
He was a transcendent being, after all. There was no harm in making a good impression.
『This is the first time I’ve received a human’s reverence firsthand. It’s not bad at all.』
The Blue Dragon seemed quite pleased.
『I, too, express my gratitude to you. For it is thanks to you that I was able to experience the human world.』
Hmm.
Of all the transcendent beings that have inhabited my magic so far, this one seems to be the most conscientious.
My mana was starting to run low.
“I think I need to release the spell now.”
『Hmm… I suppose so. It would not be easy for a human to maintain this body’s manifestation.』
He continued.
『If you ever need my power, call upon me at any time. I have taken quite a liking to you, so I shall answer your call whenever you wish.』
“Yes. I will be sure to do so.”
The Blue Dragon seemed like one I wouldn’t mind summoning again.
At least he was a hundred, no, a thousand times better than that moron Zeus.
I released the spell.
The body made of mana slowly dissipated.
After the overwhelming pressure that had gripped the surroundings completely vanished, I found an association staff member who had been hiding in a safe place and gave swift orders.
“Grab every last one of those guys around here and tie them up. And…”
“……?”
“Get me to a hospital.”
My eyes closed.
