When I heard the scream, for a moment, all thought of Envy was pushed from my mind. If he had decided to return right at that moment, he would likely have caught me off guard, and may have even been able to safely rescue Ophelia. Fortunately, Envy was long gone by this point.
There were two reasons I found this particular scream so distracting. First, was the identity of the one who was screaming. The voice was unmistakably Ji-Soo’s, but I was not aware that she was even capable of speaking at a normal volume, let alone yelling so loudly it echoed through the mountain range. The second was what she had screamed. It was only a single word, but those two syllables were the worst that she could have said.
“INGRID!!!”
Before I knew it, I had grabbed Ophelia and Humility roughly with [Telekinesis], and we were shooting off toward the site of the other battle. The sounds of combat had ended, but the silence that followed them was far more concerning. It only took a minute to crest the ridge and spot the others across the plateau kneeling near the two corpses, and half that to reach them.
The dragon’s corpse was impressive– It was as long as a bus, and a pitch black that seemed to absorb the sunlight. It was lying at the end of a shallow trench that was likely produced when it landed, and Ji-Soo’s spear was sticking out of its right eye. However, I didn’t spend much time looked at it, as my eyes were drawn to the other body.
It was unrecognizable, yet unmistakably Ingrid. Her beard was completely gone, as was most of her face. On the right side, there was nothing but blackened bone, while on the left her skin was so melted and twisted that it looked more like prosciutto than human skin. Her armor was still smoking hot, and had molded to her body, while there was nothing left of her underclothes. As I looked into the puddles of goop that filled her eye sockets, I realized that I couldn’t remember what color her eyes were originally.
I don’t know how long I stood there staring, unaware of what was happening around me when Otto’s voice woke me from my stupor.
“-cy. Lucy. Lucy!”
“W-What? What is it?”
“Where is Envy?” he asked.
“I- I don’t know,” I said, trying to pull my mind back together. “They left a little while ago. I don’t think they’re coming back.”
“What happened over there? And what happened to her?” He nodded toward the weeping princess’ bleeding neck.”
“I- well- Envy tried to negotiate. I realized that they needed Ophelia alive, so I threatened her life. My bluff worked, and Envy left. We didn’t fight.”
“They just left?” asked Otto. “Do you know why Envy was there in the first place?”
“They said that they were tricked into signing a contract with Greed. They didn’t seem too happy to be there. Now that Midhna is dead, there’s no reason for them to come back. The contract is probably broken.”
Otto looked at Ophelia with an expression like he was trying to see inside her. “We will need to interrogate her more thoroughly later to find out why her life was so important to them. But that can wait…” He glanced back toward a weeping Ji-Soo.
I followed his line of sight, and now, my senses returned, I was able to get a better picture of the scene. Barnabas and Sylvester were kneeling nearby with their heads down and Ji-Soo was sitting a few feet away from Ingrid, with her head in her hands and tears flowing down her face. I wasn’t sure how I didn’t notice earlier, but her ankles both ended in blackened stumps, rather than feet.
“W-what happened?” I asked.
“We were fighting Midhna, and I managed to injure him. He appeared to momentarily lose control of his flight, so Ji-Soo took the opportunity to strike. However, the dragon was baiting her into a trap, and launched a powerful counterattack. Ji-Soo managed to surprise him by throwing her spear rather than jabbing with it, but she was not able to avoid his attack, until Ingrid pushed her aside.”
I had no words to respond to that and merely continued to look on. After a few minutes, I forcibly tore my attention away from Ingrid, and to the dragon, trying to look on the bright side. Ingrid’s sacrifice had not been in vain. With her help, the Demon King of Greed had been defeated. I opened my HUD, hoping that the newly reduced number of competitors in the gods’ game would help cheer me up.
[HP]:
3300/3300
[MP]:
39854/48600
[AP]:
3300/3300
[Life Energy]:
87/100
[Pawn of the Gods] enemies remaining
5/6
“I have contacted the main church. They are-” started Otto.
“Are we sure he’s dead?” I asked suddenly, interrupting him.
“Wha- Yes? We got the System notification. What makes you say that?” he asked, moving his hand to his sword while he looked warily at the dead dragon.
“...a hunch,” I said.
Obviously, I couldn’t reveal that I could see the number of remaining Demon Kings, but it was too important to leave completely unsaid. The fact that the number had not gone down meant one of two things. Either Midhna was not actually dead, and, like I had done with the twins, was waiting for the right opportunity strike, or Midhna was not Greed.
“She probably knows because she is a Demon King as well, and she can tell how many there are left,” said Humility suddenly.
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“What are you-” I started to say, but never finished.
At that moment, all the strength left my body, and I crumpled to the ground. I faintly heard the dings of arriving System notification, but I found it difficult to even lift my eyelids enough to be able to see them.
[Pride] is being nullified
Due to the effects of [Vampiric Weakness], all of your stats have been reduced to (1). Get out of the sunlight to deactivate this passive ability.
“Wha-?” I said weakly.
“Humility, what is the meaning of this?” demanded Otto.
“Oh, it’s nothing much,” said Humility. “I’m just nullifying her divine skill [Pride]. It’s the one that allows her to stay in the sunlight with no side effects, despite being a vampire.”
All my stats being reduced to 1 made my mind sluggish, so it took a few seconds to register that their voice was no longer being altered, and had settled into a steady woman’s voice. It took a few more seconds for me to realize that I recognized this voice. It took all of my now meager willpower, but I eventually managed to turn my head to look up at my attacker and see her face.
“Hello, Lucy!” said the now maskless Sylvia, noticing my gaze. “It’s been a while.”
“Y-you,” I said.
“Yes, it’s me,” she agreed with a smile.
“Is this the truth?” asked Otto.
“Oh yes,” said Sylvia, turning to him. “You can get out that fancy truth orb you had before to check. She won’t be able to resist it anymore.”
I watched helplessly as Otto summoned the blue sphere out of his spatial bag, and held it out in front of me.
“Archmage Lucille. Are you the Demon King of Pride?”
“No,” I said. The orb remained blue.
“Humility-” said Otto angrily.
“No, you asked the wrong question, silly,” she replied. “Ask her if she’s the incarnation of the Demon God of Pride.”
Otto glared at her, but did as she bid. “Lucy, are you the incarnation of the Demon God of Pride?”
“F-fuck off,” I said.
“That’s not an answer,” trilled Sylvia.
I continued to not answer. Even with my greatly reduced thought processes, I knew that giving any kind of definitive answer was a bad idea here. However, my non-answer was an answer in itself. Otto looked down at me grimly, still holding the large blue marble.
“Barnabas,” he said. “Cuffs.”
“Yes, sir,” said Barnabas. A moment later, he spoke again. “I do not have another pair of mana draining manacles strong enough to keep Lucy contained. My only pair is on Ophelia.”
“Then go get those ones. Replace them with unenchanted ones. With Midhna dead, we no longer need to use such high security measures on her.”
“Yes sir,” said Barnabas again.
The mention of Midhna brought my train of thought back to what I had been thinking about before Sylvia had made her move. About how Midhna’s death had not reduced the number of Demon God incarnations left. There was something I was missing. Something important. I had a gut feeling that I needed to figure out what it was, and quickly, but with my mental faculties all but gone, nothing came to mind.
From the angle that my head was currently resting at, I could just barely see Barnabas uncuffing Ophelia out of the corner of my eye. I watched him replace her restraints with a nearly identical set, and slowly walk over to me. Behind him, Ophelia sat up a bit straighter, and rubbed her puffy eyes, from which tears had by then stopped flowing. While Barnabas attached the manacles to my limp arms, I saw something small appear in her hand. Then, she looked me in the eye, smiled, winked, and vanished.
Suddenly, it all clicked. Midhna and Envy risking their lives to rescue Ophelia, Envy being unwilling to let her die, and Midhna’s death not reducing the number of incarnations; all were results of one single, now obvious fact.
Ophelia was Greed.
.
.
.
“W-was it acceptable, my lord?” asked king Felix nervously.
Lust did not answer at first. He slowly donned his clothes while looking down at his handiwork. The queen was a decade past her prime, and had put on a few extra pounds, but even so, she was a woman who had managed to seduce a king, and she had performed her duty admirably. Though she had passed out immediately afterwards, she had managed to stay active and enthusiastic until he was done, which was more than he could say about most of his partners.
“Yes,” said Alexander. “If the others are at this level, they’ll do.”
“Then you will help us?”
“Yes. Do not worry. Your nephew will not be able to pass the walls as long as I am here.”
“Thank you,” said the king, bowing his head. “Would you like me to escort you back to your chambers?”
“No need,” said Alexander. “Stay here and tend to your wife. Make sure she recovers quickly. I have a few more matters to attend to before I retire for the night.”
“Yes, my lord,” said the king, as the elf checked his clothes one last time before vanishing.
Alexander reappeared in the office of a castle not far from the one he had just been in. There was only one person in the office who leapt to his feet the moment Alexander appeared.
“Who are you?” asked Prince Donato angrily, drawing his sword.
“My name is Alexander Tchaikovsky, though you might find it more useful to think of me as the Demon King of Lust.”
Without hesitation, Donato slashed, sending a blade of aura in the direction of the intruder. Alexander disappeared and reappeared a few feet to the side as the invisible blade passed through the place he had just been.
“You should give up now before you destroy the castle,” he said. “You’ll never hit me.”
Donato slashed again, and again, the elf teleported to the side.
“I’m here to offer you a deal,” said Alexander. He dodged another attack. “Your uncle has hired me to defend the capital.”
“Then you will have to die as well,” said the prince, slicing the air again.
“I highly doubt that.” The elf teleported again. “You cannot kill me. And your army will never make it into the city with me guarding it. Ooh, that one was close. You know why the war between Vivaldi and Ravel ended, right? Vivaldi hired me to force it into a stalemate. You and your ragtag group of rebels won’t be able to do any better than a full stable nation.”
“Shut the hell up!” said Donato unleashing a flurry of attacks. The walls around had crumbled almost entirely, and it was a marvel that the ceiling had not collapsed.
“However, I did not sign a binding contract with your uncle,” continued Alexander. “If you were to accept my offer, I would walk away, and leave the city unguarded.”
Donato finally paused, and eyed the elf suspiciously. “What’s the offer?”
“It’s been centuries since I’ve had a Demon King,” said Alexander with a dreamy smile. “One night with you, and the city is yours.”
“YOU-!!” started Donato, raising his sword.
“Three and I’ll teleport you directly into Felix’s bedroom.” Donato paused midswing. “Seven, and I’ll admit defeat to you, bringing you one step closer to winning the game and getting your wish granted.”
Donato stood, frozen in place, a look of deep consideration on his face.
“I don’t actually care much about the wish,” said the elf. “I can’t think of anything I want that I can’t get on my own. I’d happily give up my wish for a week with the Demon King of Wrath. You, on the other hand… You want your family back, don’t you?”
The prince swung his sword again as soon as he heard that sentence.
“Oh well, I thought you might react like that,” said Lust after reappearing. “I’ll give you another chance with a new offer though. I hear you have a Godly Emissary in your possession.”
“Hell no!” said Donato, slashing wildly.
“It seems that’s a bit of a touchy subject,” said Alexander from behind him. “I’ll give you a little time to think about it. I’ll be back in a week. I hope you’ll have come to a decision by then.”
“Never! I’ll just kill you and my uncle!” screamed Donato.
This time, the elf did not reappear and the prince was left alone in the destroyed office, breathing heavily as dust settled around him.