I'm Screwed
The colossal Asmodeus slowly reached out a hand to seize Mammon.
Mammon roared in fury at the sight and shoved Asmodeus back.
The force was unexpectedly powerful.
But it wasn't enough to defeat him.
[You dare try to harm me inside my own being? You, who were born into a human body less than a year ago?]
Mammon's body began to swell again.
In an instant, Mammon grew to a size comparable to Asmodeus and let out a bellow.
[I fought on the front lines more than anyone during the Heavenly War! Do you think you can defeat me? There's a limit to how arrogant you can be!!]
Mammon threw a punch.
During the Heavenly War, all Asmodeus ever did was hide craftily and stab people in the back.
In contrast, Mammon had directly fought the gods on the front lines.
In a straight one-on-one fight, he was confident against anyone.
Just as he was about to swiftly settle the obvious fight,
a brilliant cluster of light erupted from Asmodeus's hand, and the sensation in Mammon's right hand vanished as he was extending it with force.
[Urrrrgh!!!! Aaaaargh!!!]
Mammon screamed and staggered back, clutching his right arm.
His right arm had been severed and lay on the ground.
The cluster of light in Asmodeus's hand took the distinct form of a sword.
Holy Power.
A sword of dazzling, high-purity Holy Power was held in the Demon King's hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
[That's right. I was born less than a year ago. Even though I've been sucking down immense Faith for the past half year, I'm still very weak compared to you, who has been cultivating power for 300 years. However. It seems you've forgotten just what kind of power I've been absorbing for the past half year.]
Asmodeus giggled and picked up Mammon's arm from the floor.
The intense Resentment and Divinity clinging to Mammon's arm were absorbed directly into Asmodeus's body and vanished.
[It's Faith. Mammon. I don't care about it, but for you, it's such pure Faith that even a simple stab would cause you agonizing pain. It's true I'm weaker than you, but that doesn't mean an adult won't die after being stabbed by a child, right?]
[You!!....... You parasite!!]
Asmodeus burst into delighted laughter at the sound of Mammon's scream.
[Furthermore, the location of this fight could be called the worst possible one for you.]
Lust, holding the sword, charged at Greed, whose arm had been severed.
The severed arm regenerated in an instant, and Mammon roared defiantly as he charged at Asmodeus.
[Don't underestimate me!! How many battles do you think I've fought against the gods of the Pantheon!! As if I would fear a measly Holy Power!....]
And the next moment.
Asmodeus vanished.
So did the brilliantly shining sword of Holy Power.
And Asmodeus's Divinity, which had radiated overwhelming force, could no longer be felt anywhere.
As Mammon panicked,
[Where did you go........... Argh!!]
With a sharp, stinging sensation, his left leg was cleanly severed this time and fell to the ground.
Asmodeus, appearing out of nowhere, swiftly picked up the fallen leg and absorbed it as well.
[Did you forget? I can perform a disguise more perfect than anyone. And the two of us are currently fighting inside your Divinity. If I imitate your Divinity directly, you have no way of detecting me.]
[You!! You dog-like!!......]
Furious at Asmodeus's words, who was mockingly twirling the sword of light, Mammon regenerated his left leg and resumed a fighting stance.
[Besides, is there any reason for me to engage in a direct confrontation where I'm obviously going to lose?]
But seeing that, Asmodeus abruptly vanished once more.
He was invisible.
No matter where he looked, Mammon could only sense his own Divinity.
Forget a direct confrontation; his opponent simply wasn't visible from the start.
[Wh, where are you? Where are you...... Aaaaargh!!]
This time, it was his left arm.
The fallen arm was retrieved by Asmodeus and swallowed down before it even touched the ground.
[Such pure and intense Resentment. Your Divinity is truly delicious. Thank you, Mammon. Thanks to you, I'm getting stronger a bit faster.]
[N, no!! No!! It's mine!! It's what I collected!! It's my Divinity that I collected!! It's not something you can just take so easily!.....]
Asmodeus vanished again.
He was nowhere to be seen.
Mammon felt terror.
There was no way for him to win this fight.
But that didn't mean his chances were gone.
Mammon's eyes turned to the soul of Saint Amael, lying neatly far away in the distance.
A small, insignificant soul imbued with Asmodeus's Authority.
If he destroyed it, he could win.
The moment his judgment was made, Mammon began rushing forward at a terrifying speed.
Even if his limbs were severed, he did not intend to stop.
He had to hurry and take that bastard hostage; only then could he drive out Asmodeus.
But the situation did not flow as Mammon wished.
[I figured you'd charge at some point.]
With a slicing sound, Mammon's body was cut into dozens of pieces and spilled onto the floor as if disassembled.
The horrific pain prevented him from even screaming properly.
As Mammon, now in pieces, slowly looked back, he saw dozens of strands of Holy Power pulled taut and filling the air.
It was a trap.
Of course his body would be sliced apart after charging into such a place at full speed.
[It was blindingly obvious you'd target Seong-ppippi. I set up traps around him in advance.]
[This b, bitch.....]
[You should have chosen your battlefield and your opponent better. The Pride that made you think you could simply swallow me, and the Greed that coveted my Divinity and Authority—those were your undoing.]
Asmodeus began rapidly absorbing the pieces of Mammon's Divinity and Resentment scattered on the floor.
Simultaneously, Asmodeus, who had a muscular build and angular face, slowly began changing form.
By directly absorbing the potent Authorities Mammon had gathered over 300 years, she began to reveal her true appearance.
Her muscular body started to slim down.
Wings began to sprout from her bare back.
Her short hair grew long, and the hand gripping the sword softened.
And before anyone knew it,
Asmodeus had transformed into a form familiar to Mammon.
A beautiful angel with four pairs of wings.
Two pairs of black wings on the left, more hideously twisted than anything, and two pairs of white wings on the right, more brilliant than anything.
Looking down at Mammon, who trembled as he gazed up at her, Asmodeus burst into delighted laughter.
[It suits you well. Greed. Crawling around like an insect like that. It's truly amusing.]
[Why are you doing this!! Why on earth? With an Authority of that level, wouldn't it be more than enough to return to Pandemonium! Is it ambition? Are you doing this because of your ambition to surpass even Lucifer?]
[No. I told you. It's because you laid a hand on Seong-ppippi....... on Amael.]
A baffled laugh burst from Mammon's mouth.
[You're going this far just for that one guy? Do you think Pandemonium will leave you alone?]
[Threaten me all you want. Do you think that'll change the future where you get eaten by me?]
Asmodeus had already absorbed most of the Divinity that had fallen from Mammon.
All that remained was a tiny sliver.
[That's why you shouldn't have touched him in the first place.]
[Negotiation!! Let's negotiate! There's no need to go this far! Lust! Let's carry out my plan together! I'll give you half of the Resentment that comes from it!]
[No. I've already decided to eat you. And besides, Amael dislikes the world burning down. I can't help with that.]
Asmodeus waved her hand playfully.
[Goodbye. Mammon. I won't miss you.]
[No!! This can't be! No!!]
Before his last remaining shred of Divinity could be absorbed completely, Mammon attempted to escape.
Scraping together his final remnants of Resentment and Divinity, he frantically tore a hole in the void. Mammon crawled through the hole desperately.
[Where do you think you're going?]
Of course, he didn't get far before Asmodeus caught him.
She rapidly began absorbing the last of Mammon's Divinity.
[Damn you!! Fuck!]
He had no choice but to make a decision he never wanted to make as the Demon King of Greed.
At the cost of abandoning every last bit of his remaining Resentment and Divinity, Mammon was finally able to tear himself free from the mindscape.
[Grrugh!! Aaagh!!]
The Human Realm welcomed Mammon.
The basement where time had stopped.
Inside it, the lump of flesh—a body formed by the fusion of three followers—thrashed and screamed.
[My, my Divinity!!! My Resentment!! No!! No!! This can't be! This can't be!!]
That must have been how it felt to have assets carefully accumulated over 300 years wiped out by a single fraud.
Mammon wept and screamed in injustice, rage,
and despair that had exceeded its limit.
Just then,
the Time Stop that had been cast over the entire world released.
And then.
[No...... No, you bitch!! Aaaaaargh!!]
Light erupted from Amael's body.
A massive Pillar of Light shot up from his body, reaching an immeasurable height.
The Pillar of Light, piercing through the basement where the Labor Theorists hid, through the building itself, rose until it was so colossal that everyone in the entire city could see it.
"Don't give in! Don't fear the police!! We have the Saint with us!"
"Being beaten to death by the police or going home alive—it's the same either way! We have to fight and win!!"
"Arrest all these reactionaries!! They're Labor Theorists!! I'm authorizing the use of firearms!"
"Shoot right now!......."
The police and laborers who were fighting stopped.
"I said suppress them immediately! What did I make you commissioner for?!"
-Ha, but Councilman. There are more than just one or two laborers. If blood is spilled here, a strike rally could turn into a riot.
"I don't care!! Can't you see our factories are stopped? Even if it takes tough measures, I said to suppress them right now!......."
Even the screaming councilman and the police commissioner froze.
"Wh, what is this......"
"Comrade Lenaro!!! Fall back!!"
Even the Labor Theorists gathered in the basement halted.
Everyone stopped moving and lost their words as they stared at the Pillar of Light.
The gentle, warm light shone down on every corner of the Scrap Yard equally, without discrimination.
No wall could prevent the light from shining on the people.
The rich and the poor.
The sick and the healthy.
The sad and the joyful—all looked up at the Pillar of Light together.
The pillar began to slowly inscribe a single emblem in the empty sky.
An emblem depicting a weeping eye.
The emblem of Lilia, the Goddess of Grace, was clearly etched into the sky above the Scrap Yard.
And seeing this sight,
Mammon and his followers screamed.
[Anathema!! Anathema!! My, my body is burning!! Aaaaargh!!]
Mammon's physical body began to crumble on the spot.
As he crumbled, he let out a horrifying scream.
[You bitch!! You bitch!! I won't forget this!! I will never forget!!.........]
With that dying scream as his last, Mammon's physical body collapsed and crumbled away.
Karl Lenaro and the Labor Theorists collapsed from the horrifying scream of the Divinity.
They writhed on the floor for a long while, and only after about 10 minutes had passed were they barely able to regain their senses and rise to their feet.
They looked at each other.
They looked at the remains of Mammon's body melted into the floor.
And they looked at Amael, who was radiating light from his body.
Their deliberation was short.
However much the Labor Theorists hated the capitalists and loathed those in power, they still knew what the right judgment was in this situation.
"Contact the capital! Contact the White Order and the Black Fortress!!"
Karl Lenaro shouted as if screaming.
"Demon Worshippers are in the city!! Request immediate troop deployment!!"
And around the same time.
"It's Demon Worshippers!!"
"Contact the White Order immediately!! There are Demon Worshippers and black magicians in the city!!"
The factory owners living in their lavish mansions were shouting the same thing.
It was perhaps the first time.
That the laborers and the capitalists of the Scrap Yard agreed on something.
***
[Massive Experience Gained!]
[Skill Level Up Complete!!]
