Where Light Exists, So Does Darkness
Just as light exists, so too does darkness. In every corner of the world, there lies a hidden, ugly realm untouched by even a single ray of light—a world known simply as the underworld. It is a place where nations fail to govern, laws abandon their duty, and crime runs rampant as if it were the natural order. In this world, only power matters. The strong devour everything, while the weak are stripped of all they possess in a brutal law of survival.
“……”
One of the highest-ranking executives of the underworld, the Seven Deadly Sins, who wielded absolute authority under the direct command of the Death King Dark Heaven himself. Pride sat motionless, staring at the message his master had sent via tablet for a long time. From behind, his shoulder-length hair gave him an almost feminine silhouette. It wasn’t that he had grown it out intentionally—more like he simply hadn’t bothered to cut it. His bangs hung messily over his face, and beneath them were deep-set crow’s feet and a tightly pressed mouth. His slightly narrowed eyes only emphasized his stern, cold demeanor. The aura radiating from him pressed down on the room, amplifying his natural charisma.
“Greed. Wrath.”
After some time had passed, Pride finally spoke their names.
“Do you know why I called you here?”
Two men knelt before his desk. The one on the left looked utterly ordinary—almost painfully so. If anything, he resembled the kind of middle-aged man you might pass on the street without a second glance. Unlike Pride’s long hair, his was cropped short in a sporty style. He scratched the back of his head with an awkward laugh.
“Ahaha… Well, more or less?”
He had already heard what went wrong. As a fellow member of the Seven Deadly Sins, Greed didn’t question the situation and quietly admitted his fault.
“I didn’t think things would turn out like this. Who would’ve guessed that selling a Master’s dark magic spell would cause such an uproar?”
At the time, he had been thrilled about the money. If he had known it would lead to this, he never would have made the deal. How could anyone have predicted that the spell sold to a black-market merchant would eventually be used right in front of the Master himself?
What kind of lunatic learns a Master’s dark magic and then causes trouble right in front of him?
Even the Seven Deadly Sins, who shared their master Kain’s independent streak, would never dare to pull something so reckless in front of the Death King.
“……”
In contrast, the man kneeling on the right showed no sign of admitting fault. He was a massive figure, easily three times Greed’s size, his body so rugged and muscular it seemed impossible to achieve through training alone. His physique looked capable of crushing steel. Wrath, another member of the Seven Deadly Sins, looked up at Pride with a sullen expression.
“I don’t acknowledge any wrongdoing on my part.”
“……”
The words seemed to strike a nerve. Pride’s brow furrowed deeply, and the oppressive aura in the room grew heavier.
“Hey, what the hell’s wrong with you!?”
The entire room trembled as if struck by an earthquake. In that moment, Pride’s fury surpassed even Wrath’s. Greed flinched and grabbed Wrath’s arm in panic, but the giant didn’t so much as blink.
“……I have disappointed him.”
Pride spoke quietly, his eyes sinking with visible gloom. Then he slammed his fist onto the desk and roared.
“We have disappointed the Master! And it’s because of you two!”
Pride, the practical second-in-command who ruled the underworld in the Death King’s stead. Every incident in the underworld was reported to him, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he managed the entire realm single-handedly. The workload was so immense that he never left his desk, not even to eat. There were rumors that no one had ever seen him stand up. Some even whispered he had considered turning his chair into a toilet to save time walking to the bathroom. The reason he pushed himself to the brink, sacrificing his own lifespan, was all for the sake of the Death King. While the other Sins pledged their loyalty, Pride was a fanatic who worshipped Kain above all else.
That was why he could not tolerate the current situation. Because of their incompetence, they had forced their master to intervene personally. If he didn’t have so much work left to do, he would have hanged himself on the spot to atone.
Is it fortunate that there’s so much work? Or unfortunate?
The dark circles under Pride’s eyes looked especially pitiful today. He was that kind of person. That was why, no matter how reckless the other Sins were, they generally followed his orders in his presence. Greed’s current admission was no exception. If anyone else had scolded him, even another Sin would have refused to admit fault out of pride. But because it was Pride, he accepted it. That was an unspoken rule among the Seven Deadly Sins.
Wrath, however, had broken that rule.
“I did nothing wrong.”
It was because he genuinely believed he hadn’t made a mistake. If he had, he could have bowed his head like Greed. But he couldn’t apologize for something he hadn’t done.
“Then what about this?”
Pride stood up. It had been years since anyone had seen him rise on his own two legs. Fortunately, his leg muscles hadn’t atrophied yet.
“You were supposed to erase everything connected to the Nasara Merchant Group. The fact that survivors remain means you were negligent. Or are you saying the Master was mistaken?”
While Greed idly noted how long it had been since he’d seen Pride stand, the atmosphere grew colder.
“No. But I really am innocent.”
Wrath shook his head and met Pride’s furious gaze with a serious expression.
“That day, after the Master went on a rampage and said it wasn’t fun, he ordered me to clean up the rest. I carried it out perfectly.”
He had killed them all—everyone connected to the Nasara Merchant Group. Especially the head of the group; he had made sure of that. He clearly remembered crushing Mecklen Nasara’s head with his own fist.
“……”
Pride’s brow furrowed sharply as he sensed the truth in Wrath’s words. His face twisted in frustration, and he roughly scratched the back of his head while staring at the giant’s unwavering expression.
“This is insane.”
The dead could never return. Even if one could create an ego with memories as an undead through necromancy, reviving the actual person was impossible. Not even the Death King, who had reached the rank of Absolute Being through dark magic, could do it. The reason was simple: the dead were bound by the laws of the underworld, a realm separate from this world, and could never escape it.
He doesn’t seem to be lying.
Though Wrath was the type to act before thinking, he wasn’t the kind of coward who would spin ridiculous lies just to save face. He was nothing like Greed, who knelt beside him.
Something feels off.
Pride’s instincts, honed from years of ruling the underworld in the Death King’s place, were warning him. This matter needed deeper investigation. It couldn’t be dismissed as Wrath’s mistake.
“Fine. I’ll believe you.”
Pride looked at Wrath with a heavy gaze and added,
“In exchange, you’ll take full responsibility for this. Find out why this happened. What the cause was. Who attacked the Grant Department Store. Whether you truly killed the head of the Nasara Merchant Group that day. Leave no stone unturned. Do it to clear your own name.”
“Of course. That’s what I intend to do.”
It wasn’t just Pride whose pride had been wounded. If anything, Wrath’s was hurt more. Pride was angry about disappointing Kain, but Wrath was tormented by the possibility that he had failed to carry out his master’s orders properly.
I’ll kill them all.
Wrath’s anger burned hot. If Pride’s fury was ice, Wrath’s was molten lava. He had always been hot-tempered, but it had been a long time since anyone had seen him this enraged.
Whoever you are, you’re dead.
Greed offered a silent prayer for the poor soul who would soon cease to exist without even leaving a corpse.
“More importantly, what are we going to do about the other issue?”
Greed raised his hand cautiously, trying to change the subject.
“The young lady almost got caught up in this mess. Shouldn’t we assign her a bodyguard or something?”
Arina Grant. The niece the Death King was raising, though they shared no blood. She didn’t know it, but the Seven Deadly Sins held her in the highest regard simply because she was Kain’s niece. Kain had rejected their offer to assign guards, saying it wasn’t necessary. But after something like this, leaving her unprotected seemed far too dangerous.
Greed fretted over Arina’s safety like an overprotective uncle.
“You know how the Master is. He acts like he doesn’t care, but he’s extremely protective of her.”
The Death King never gave his affection to anyone. He ruled from above and never allowed anyone to stand beside him. The only exception had been his older sister, Kayen. Now, for the first time since Kayen, someone else was trying to walk alongside him. The Seven Deadly Sins couldn’t ignore Arina’s existence. This was one order they couldn’t follow, even if it came from Kain himself. Especially now that she was about to enter the academy, where Kain couldn’t watch over her twenty-four hours a day.
“Don’t worry.”
Pride nodded in agreement.
“I’ve already assigned Jealousy to her side.”
As the master of disguise, he had probably already secured the perfect role by now. With the Master at home and one of the Seven Deadly Sins guarding her at the academy, her protection was airtight.
“That guy’s the sharpest among us. He’ll guard her thoroughly without the Master ever noticing.”
Of course, if he got too close, he’d be discovered. But as long as he stayed out of the Master’s direct line of sight, there was no risk. Jealousy’s disguise and acting skills were that flawless.
“As expected of you, Pride. You work fast.”
Truly, the man who single-handedly managed the entire underworld. A workaholic who seemed born to be overworked. In some ways, his dedication was even more tragic than the Death King’s. Just as Greed was praising him with a thumbs-up, Wrath suddenly grabbed the back of his neck with a rough hand.
“Then I’ll get moving.”
“Hey, why are you grabbing my neck?”
“You’re going to help, obviously. We need to trace the path of the Master’s dark magic you sold.”
If you don’t want to get hit, cooperate.
Reading the threat in Wrath’s eyes, Greed slumped his shoulders in defeat. He really shouldn’t have sold the Master’s spell to that black-market merchant. But regret always came too late.
Watching Greed get dragged away, Pride slowly sat back down at his desk.
“As if I didn’t already have enough on my plate with the Master’s orders going nowhere, the workload just keeps piling up.”
With a headache, Pride turned his gaze to the computer screen. Displayed there was a report stating that all information regarding Kayen’s airship accident had been completely erased. It was as if someone had deliberately deleted every trace. The report was highly suspicious, yet there was no clear starting point for an investigation.
“……”
He sent the usual message requesting another investigation, then turned his attention back to the endless stream of tasks flooding his screen. Another day began for Pride, filled with nothing but work and no rest.