The next few hours were spent in a haze of busy activity, with the influx of more important guests and their various servants all arriving in tandem, Mammon had his hands full ensuring that every individual was properly greeted and made comfortable. Of course, inane small talk necessitated every encounter, followed by gossip and the exchange of gifts and promises. It was all rather dull, although the demon knew the importance of such social interactions.
Long minutes stretched into hours, and as the time fast approached for the main event - the assessment ceremony - approached, Mammon had to make some excuses to disentangle himself from all the various visitors so that he could check up on Dust and her operations. The demon thought that finding the strange girl would have been a problem; he’d never been able to locate her even at the best of times, let alone during such a hectic event, but thankfully the silent woman was able to find him first.
“House is empty. Everything is good to go,” she whispered. Mammon gazed over to the direction of the voice and saw Dust emerge out of the shadow of a tree like some sort of phantom. He’d need to be on the lookout for future assassins if they could all do what she did.
“Excellent,” Mammon replied, “Inform me if you need anything on my end. How will I find you later?”
“I’ll find you,” she answered before submerging back into the shadows, leaving just as silently as she came.
Mammon shook his head at the weird subordinate he managed to acquire. He’d never get used to Dust, that was for sure, and it’s certainly a novelty to have someone with such a unique attitude working for him. Back on Earth and in Hell, none of his minions had the gall to even look at him in the eyes, let alone just leave without being dismissed, but Mammon supposed that he liked Dust’s attitude. She was no-nonsense and crass, but she got the job done, and she was reliable; what else would one want out of a subordinate?
-na… Help!
He was just about to leave to get back to the social gatherings when he heard a voice resound in his mind. He half thought it was Dust for a moment before he recognized that voice, although it was heavily distorted as if something was interfering with the message. The demon concentrated on that weak connection.
Mona, there’s someone here! They took all of us, I’m hiding right now.
Calm down, Wren. Mammon sent, Tell me as much as you know.
A group of hooded men came and took out all of the guards. They started to take all of us, I’m hiding right now.
Where did they take the kids? Mammon questioned, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible for the boy’s sake.
At the… oh no, they found me already, hel-
Wren? Boy, are you there?
No response.
Mammon frowned as he felt the link between the boy and himself weaken. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, but this wasn’t the time to ponder those implications. He had told the boy that if anything happened, he could call out to him and he’d hear, but the demon had almost forgotten about that since nothing had happened to Wren in the months that they’d been together. Yet now, on the one day that he needed the boy the most, someone had the gall to mess with his carefully constructed plans. If Mammon found even one hair on the boy’s head missing, then the perpetrators would face the full fury of the Archdemon of Greed.
Mammon swore inwardly as he hastily made his way back to the guests. As the host of the party, he couldn’t just leave without a word, as much as he wanted to. He frowned as he approached the eager guests
“I apologize,” the demon said quickly, the nobles chatting with him just then winced when they heard the shift in tone in his voice, “But something urgent came up. If you’ll excuse me.”
Mammon didn’t wait for the others to respond before making his way toward the last spot where he saw Wren. Their innate link from the initial summons told him that the boy was unhurt and alive, but with how weakened the demon was in this world, he couldn’t precisely pinpoint the boy’s location. Something was also interfering with that connection, weakening his ability to sense Wren further. Perhaps with more time, he could narrow it down, but he didn’t have that luxury, he wouldn’t allow any harm to come to the child.
Mammon felt his blood boil as the thought that someone would dare hurt the boy, to steal his charge, flooded his mind. It was a fury that he was unused to. Sure, there were times when he was angry when things didn’t go his way when he lost money and resources because of an incompetent underling, but even in the worst of those situations, he had never raged like this before.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
No, this was an all-consuming feeling of Wrath that permeated every inch of his being. At that moment, Mammon wanted nothing more than to see the complete and total destruction of the people who dared interfere with his plans. He wanted to move the Earth and the Heavens to get to those people, and nothing but their suffering could placate him then. He had to grit his teeth to suppress this urge to lash out at the poor attendants here. He still had that much self-control.
“Master Amon!” one of the worthless security detail shouted, “Please calm down!”
If this was still the Earth that the demon knew, then he would have vaporized the incompetent man already, but this wasn’t the Earth that he knew, and he didn’t have the power and prestige that he once did. Instead, the demon stifled his growing frustration and rage, letting that feeling bubble just beneath the surface as he gazed at the hired help that couldn’t even keep a group of children safe.
“Speak,” the demon grumbled, “And you better have a good reason why you and your men couldn’t keep a group of children safe during the one day that it mattered most!”
“We-” he stuttered, clearly uneased by the sheer malice radiating from Mammon, “I apologize, but we’re just normal people, sir. We didn’t expect the abductor to be a mage. P-please, calm down before you burn the square down.”
Burn the square down? Mammon frowned at those words until he saw that his hands had unconsciously clenched tight, but more importantly, there was a deep, crimson-red blaze radiating from his fists. He relaxed his grip, curious as to where this strange flame came from; it wasn’t the normal Hellfire that he was all too familiar with, it was much too intense for what he was able to conjure now, and it didn’t have that horrible stench of sulfur either. No, upon closer inspection, Mammon saw that this new ability was similar to his touch of gold.
The demon unclenched his fingers and a loud pop of static electricity boomed outwards. Ruby red bolts of lightning discharged in all directions and the poor fools around him hurriedly backed off from the violent display.
“Amon, sir!” they exclaimed, but the demon ignored him. He was fascinated by this new boon, and a quick introspection showed him what he had hypothesized earlier.
On the strange tree that was his new soul, next to the branch with the first fruit, grew a new one. This fruit was tiny and blazing red, maybe the size of a marble, but it was there nonetheless. Mammon knew, in some deep corner of his soul, that this new ability corresponds with the Sin of Wrath. However, unlike Greed, the demon’s understanding of this particular Sin was surface level at most. He never did understand those rage-filled idiots in the other Circles, although he regretted not studying them more now.
His ignorance of the Sin explained why the particular fruit that grew on the new branch seemed so small and immature, if the demon was right, his new powers were directly tied to his understanding of the Sins, and he’d need to explore the other six in more detail later on. He studied the new power but quickly saw a problem: as he calmed down and used the analytical side of his brain, the boiling rage he felt seemed to cool down, and so did his nebulous grasp of the new power.
It seemed that maintaining control over this new power was more complex than Mammon first assumed, without a better understanding of the other sins, he’d not be able to control these wondrous abilities, let alone use them when he needed, but he didn’t have the luxury of time at the moment. Right now, he had some people to find and his charge to rescue.
Rage turned into frustration as he saw the new fruit continue to shrink and wither, and with a shake of the demon’s head, Mammon left the inner world of his soul and returned his attention to the terrified bodyguards.
“Thank you, sir,” one of the humans said, “Again, we apologize for failing you at this time… we’ve contacted the higher-ups in our organization and they’re sending over official mages to find the children!”
“And how long will that take?” Mammon asked slowly, as his thoughts wandered over to the kidnappers, he felt that familiar rage fill his core once more. Although the demon couldn’t use those fires at will, he was certain there was more than enough Wrath in his system to fuel its use for the time being.
“Um,” the man muttered, it was clear that the answer wouldn’t be something that would be pleasant, “Given the remote nature of this location, our mages will need at least 12 hours to arrive…”
“And do you think we’ll have that much time?”
“Well… there’s usually some kind of demand when people take the children of royals…” he answered, avoiding the core of the question.
Mammon stared at the human as if daring him to continue his inane rambling.
The man wiped the sweat off his forehead before muttering, “But we can’t know that for sure, especially in a situation like this. The perpetrator is clearly unhappy about your rise in status, so anything could happen.”
“Which means we don’t have the time to wait for your reinforcements,” Mammon concluded with a glare, “I have a rough idea of where my son is, he has a…” the demon thought for a moment about what term to use here, since magic here seemed quite advanced, he settled for something safe. “Talismin on him that shows me his rough location.”
The guard went wide-eyed for a second, and Mammon feared that such an object didn’t exist in this world, but that shock turned to understanding just as quickly. “I see, of course Young Master Wren would have such a treasure. It’s… the rumors seem to be true. I apologize again for our failures!”
The demon nodded quickly. He wasn’t exactly sure what had transpired in the man’s mind, but enchanted talismans and the like seemed rarer than he initially thought. He’d best be careful about what he said in the future.
“Go inform the rest of the affected families,” the demon continued, “And gather as many capable mages and fighters as you can.” The crimson fire reemerged from Mammon’s fists as he concentrated on the direction of the link. “I’ll find these kidnappers, and there is nothing in this town that can keep me from him.”