The Two Types of Underworld Dwellers
People affiliated with the underworld were generally divided into two distinct categories. The first were those who still interacted with the outside world while keeping one foot in the underworld. The second were those who lived their entire lives completely within it. Kalifa belonged to the latter.
Born to a prostitute who sold her body, she had been abandoned on the streets of the underworld as a child, as casually as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In a place where compassion simply didn't exist, she had somehow survived and climbed her way to this position. She was a true daughter of the underworld, down to the marrow of her bones.
"Hey, was it Kalifa?"
To someone like her, the person standing before her eyes was a completely new type of being. She stood roughly 150 centimeters tall—only a little higher than Kalifa's waist. But the most striking feature was the mass of flesh that spread far wider than it did tall. It was a wonder she could even walk; the girl suffered from extreme, severe obesity. Her face was so buried in layers of fat that no expression could be seen at all. Only her long pink hair that fell past her waist and the thin, beautiful voice emerging from within all that flesh suggested she was female.
"Do you know about this?"
It was a classic case of self-management failure. Her ridiculous appearance invited ridicule from anyone, and the common wisdom was that someone like her couldn't possibly survive in the underworld. At least, under normal circumstances.
"When I came to this country with Master last time, guess what? In Yggdrasil they put fruit in their pizza and fried rice."
It still didn't feel real that this person held the same rank as her superior. Unlike her perpetually irritable and high-strung boss, this girl's exceptionally friendly personality—talking casually to everyone without hesitation—didn't suit the underworld at all. She seemed far too pure and innocent to belong to this dark world.
At first, Kalifa had been suspicious. Despite her appearance, this girl was one of the underworld's greatest powers. Surely beneath all that fat lurked an equally vicious malice. But after spending several days with her, Kalifa realized that wasn't the case at all.
"They add pineapple and mango too. I thought it was delicious, but Master just shook his head. He said why ruin perfectly good food by putting fruit in it."
This person was simply an idiot. To put it kindly, a total pushover. Far too nice for the underworld—a person who could easily be taken advantage of and abandoned.
"But even though Master said it didn't suit his taste, he didn't leave a single bite. He ate everything. That's why I like Master. He treasures food."
Even now, as she kept talking, food continuously disappeared into her mouth without pause. She ate so much that one might reasonably suspect she had a pocket dimension in her stomach. This pig—no, this girl. After observing her for the past few days, Kalifa had learned that despite how much she consumed, she didn't actually gain that much weight. At first she'd wondered if it was some kind of binge-eating disorder, but that wasn't quite right either.
"Hmm? Want some?"
She had no hesitation about sharing food with others. In other words, she had very little greed for it herself.
"...Thank you."
Even now, as Kalifa stared at her, the girl seemed to think she wanted to eat together too. She forcibly pressed a sausage into Kalifa's hand. Honestly, this had been happening constantly throughout their journey, and Kalifa wanted to refuse. It felt like her stomach was so full that food was backing all the way up her throat. But she couldn't refuse. She had already seen with her own eyes what happened to those who rejected the kindness offered by the girl before her.
The powerful figures of the underworld were mostly insane. No sane mind could endure the hell that existed in this world to the very end. Whether their nature was good or evil, every one of them had some corner of their mind occupied by a twisted, mad sense of reason. For the being before her, that madness was food. Sharing food was acceptable. But wasting it was unforgivable.
If she witnessed someone throwing away food right in front of her, the kind pig girl would instantly transform into a ferocious wild boar. Unlike Kalifa's boss—who was always irritable and nervous but could at least be reasoned with—this girl would become a mindless beast with whom no conversation was possible.
"......"
Understanding this, Kalifa forced herself to bite into the sausage despite her reluctance. The rich meat juices flowed from the chewy casing. The savory aroma of meat filled her mouth and rose to her nose as the sausage's distinctive umami flavor slid down her throat. At the same time, the mountain of food piled in her stomach surged upward through her open throat, as if begging to be released.
"Ugh!"
She held it in. She had to hold it in. The moment it came out, her body would burst apart like minced garlic, leaving no trace behind. It was fine. She could endure it. Compared to the trials she had overcome while surviving in the underworld all these years, this was nothing.
'Now I understand why only this person's subordinates in the underworld were all so fat.'
Serving a superior like this, it would be stranger not to gain weight. Kalifa silently vowed that if she ever met an obese person in the underworld again, she would treat them well. With that determination, she finally managed to force the rising food back down her throat.
"Anyway, Master understands how precious food is."
Perhaps satisfied by the sight of Kalifa eating the food she'd given her, the girl rummaged through her subspace pocket again. She pulled out a dumpling, took a huge bite, and continued speaking.
"I heard he grew up poor as a child and couldn't eat properly. I was the same."
Abandoned by her parents in childhood. Living by begging on the streets before drifting into the underworld. Back then, unlike now, she had been so skinny her bones showed. She had rejoiced at finding a single piece of moldy bread in a trash bin and barely sustained herself for a whole week by nibbling at it bit by bit.
If she hadn't awakened her Ebon and hadn't caught Master's eye, she would never have been able to live this life where she could eat delicious things to her heart's content.
"I like Master. So if there's anything Master wants, I'll do whatever it takes."
To her, Master was the savior who had pulled her life from the abyss of darkness.
"......"
Kalifa stared at her face in silence. Though her expression was buried beneath layers of fat, it was obvious she was smiling. To her, the existence known as Master—Sawang—was that special.
And it was the same for Kalifa.
Because Sawang had appeared, the underworld—which had known no laws or order—had gained at least some minimal rules. Because the barrier called Sawang existed, they could protect themselves from outside forces. The being known as Sawang Heokcheon was essentially the symbol of the underworld itself.
That was why everyone who belonged to it offered absolute loyalty to Sawang Heokcheon. They who had thrown everything away and been thrown away in turn, who were filled with distrust and malice, swore obedience to only one person. They would do anything he desired. Because Sawang's will was the will of the entire underworld.
"I don't like killing people, but if it's what Master wants..."
She stuffed the remaining dumpling into her mouth in one bite and let out a deep sigh. For the first time, she had gone more than two seconds without chewing.
Before Kalifa could even register her surprise, the eyes buried within that mountain of flesh turned forward. Below the hill where they stood lay a village. It was large enough to be called a small city. A wooden wall surrounded it, likely to guard against monster attacks, and true to Yggdrasil's nature, the interior showed harmonious coexistence with lush greenery.
At the same time, colorful distortions floating above the village gave the entire city a mystical atmosphere. As expected of the nation of spirit arts, countless spirits shimmered even from this distance. Unlike Jealousy, who only used spirits for combat, the people here naturally incorporated them into daily life. Just like how magic had melted into everyday living in the Ellemental Kingdom.
Yes, this was Yggdrasil. Unlike the Ellemental Kingdom where nature had nearly vanished, this was a prosperous nation where the entire country was covered in greenery. The pig girl's gaze was fixed on the single tall building rising from the center of the village, which—unlike the low-rise structures around it—was a church.
Piedan Grand Church.
It ranked among the more prominent churches within the village, but on a continental scale it was so old and shabby that the title "Grand Church" felt almost ironic. Yet no one who understood its symbolism could think that way. This was the very first church built in Yggdrasil. It was the starting point of the religion that had spread throughout the great nature of Yggdrasil.
In that sense, it was the perfect symbolic target. The perfect starting point for the major act they would soon carry out—a large-scale terror attack on the church in the name of Immortal.
"Hooop!"
It was sickeningly peaceful. The entire village was wrapped in a warm, harmonious atmosphere, completely unaware of what was about to happen. The people inside the wooden walls were too far away to see clearly, but Kalifa somehow knew. She knew the utter chaos that would soon erupt within.
Then the sound of the world vanished.
The air was violently pushed back, creating a vacuum around them. Her lungs contracted, cutting off her breath. Yet she felt no pain. With the spectacle unfolding before her eyes, there was no room for any other thoughts.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
Formless calories bombarded the center of the village. The strike landed with perfect accuracy on the church building at the village's heart, unleashing a devastating blast. The condensed calories then exploded outward like a storm, mercilessly spreading destruction in every direction.
Like the hole in a donut, everything in the center of the village—centered on the Piedan Grand Church—vanished without a trace. Even the spirits caught in between were completely annihilated, leaving behind a massive crater of unfathomable depth. The scar looked as if a meteor had struck. The few survivors on the village outskirts who had barely escaped screamed and fled in blind panic.
"Huu. I lost about 3kg."
Without any warning, the girl who had just unleashed an attack comparable to 7-star grand magic and brought disaster upon a peaceful village—Gluttony of the Seven Deadly Sins—casually pulled an ice cream from her subspace pocket and put it in her mouth.
"Is this enough? Want me to scream more? My throat hurts a little, but if you need it I'll do it as many times as you want."
"It's fine."
Was she saying this level of attack was nothing more than a normal strike? Kalifa quietly shook her head at the girl who spoke such terrifying words so casually.
"Please wait a moment. I'll finish this quickly and return."
Her role was over. From here, it was Kalifa's turn. She needed to intentionally leave traces that would frame this terror attack as the work of Immortal. That was why she, a direct subordinate of Jealousy among the Seven Deadly Sins, had followed Gluttony all the way here.
"Take your time. I've finished my ice cream anyway. I can just boil some cup ramen and eat while I wait."
Did that mean she should finish within the three minutes it took for cup ramen to cook? If it had been Jealousy, there would definitely have been a hidden meaning behind those words. But since they came from Gluttony, Kalifa couldn't tell if it was sincere or not. Deciding not to waste time worrying, she quickly ran down the hill.
"Heheung~"
Left alone after Kalifa disappeared, Gluttony pulled a hamburger from her subspace pocket and began eating it while waiting for her cup ramen, smacking her lips contentedly.