Chapter 278: Mammon (2)

Catalina, who was blinking, immediately nodded. Her reaction was almost instinctive. Kaiwan groaned at the fact that Catalina and the Queen of Fury got along so well so quickly.

'Oh my god!'

Aside from the Queen of Fury, what was Catalina flapping her tail at?

Kaiwan quickly reached out and pulled Catalina toward her then said, hugging her tightly, "No, Catalina, you're mine. You're on my side."

Kaiwan called her urgently before she knew it. The Queen of Fury looked at Kaiwan this time then nodded gladly. As she was advised by Gardimundi in advance, the queen said after changing her tone a little, "Alright, no problem."

Kaiwan once again gulped, aghast at the queen's unexpected action, while Catalina flapped her ears and tail.

***

On the day when the ceremony was held, the northern forces did not show any movement. As far as they could detect to the best they could, the new hole of the celestial world was not opened either. This development was fortunate for the southern forces.

[All of the celestial holes except for the celestial door are incomplete.]

[The larger the size, the longer it will take, but if left unattended, the door will close someday.]

That was a characteristic of general twisting. The hole in the celestial world was special in that there was a celestial world beyond it, but the fact that it was a temporary passage to the alien world was the same as the other twisting.

[So, it might sound a bit irresponsible, but it's best to leave the hole out of your reach just neglected as it is.]

[If you close the celestial door as quickly as possible, you can minimize the damage.]

During Mammon's times, they responded a little differently. Not only Mammon, but his 12 Spirits went out to close the hole of the celestial world.

But they couldn't do it now. Unlike Mammon's days, Yong-ho and his subordinates were engaged in a war. Yong-ho could not disperse his forces recklessly now and when the northern army would resume their attack.

The damage caused by the celestial hole would never be small. If a hole was opened enough for the godly man to come out, quite large places such as the Free City or the masters' dungeon could be destroyed.

But Yong-ho had to refrain from taking any action now. Ending the war as soon as possible was the best option that he could take.

When Aamon was done talking, Gardimundi said, "The course of the northern forces has changed significantly. Everyone, please look at the map."

There was a sand map of the demon world in the middle of the conference hall of the mobile dungeon Vimana. When everybody focused on it, the red sands showing the northern forces began to move.

The northern troops gathered near the eastern border of the Queen of Fury's territory headed northwest. Those who didn't join the northern forces also moved with them.

"It doesn't seem like they're trying to stop fighting and retreating. If so, the forces of the King of Lust and the King of Gluttony would have returned to their territories respectively."

The amount of red sand that was united as one was truly enormous.

Gardimundi continued, "It seems that the northern forces are trying to force us to fight them on a large scale instead of dividing themselves into several units to attack us. Based on the information collected until now, the expected path of movement of the northern forces is as follows."

A line of light was drawn over the map of the demon world. The line was passing through the collective residences of the eight clans located throughout the territory of the Queen of Fury.

It was a fairly reasonable prediction. However, there was something dubious about it. If they wanted to force Yong-ho's army to fight like this, they didn't have to go to the trouble of changing their infiltration route.

Why?

Were they scared of the possible opening of the celestial hole again?

"I think I know their intention to some extent," said Gusion suddenly.

Scathach nodded. She fidgeted with her fingers in the air on behalf of Gusion, who was poor at magic skill. Then a new line of light was drawn over the line that Gardimundi drew. It was slightly different from the path of infiltration that Gardimundi anticipated, but it passed through the unclaimed land between the territories of the Queen of Fury and the King of Envy.

There was no dungeon or Free City there. So, there was no reason for the northern forces to pass through it.

But Mammon's 12 subordinate spirits thought differently. Yuno and Yustia groaned while Scathach realized once again that it was the King of Pride who led the northern forces.

The unclaimed land without any people or resources.

Yong-ho knew it instinctively.

Sitri said to him on behalf of Mammon's 12 subordinate spirits, "On that day, one thousand and several hundred years ago, it's the place where the celestial door opened."

***

The northern army was a huge army unprecedented in the history of the demon world.

Even though all of them were not yet gathered, the number of spirits included in one large group exceeded 100,000.

The movement of the large army was like a mountain and a forest walking on the ground. Moreover, the northern army was not composed solely of ground forces. Several flying monsters and giant monsters filled the sky.

Regardless of the enemy or friendly forces, their massive movement was a spectacular scene. In fact, the scouts of the Karvinka clan who observed the movement of the northern army from a distance were overwhelmed with awe and fear.

Asmodeus, the King of Lust, was in the midst of such a large army. He was inside a battlewagon pulled by a giant Hydra with seven heads.

It was huge, befitting a carriage pulled by the Hydra. It looked like a palace on the move.

The King of Lust stood by the window. Instead of the red sky of the demon world, a gray cloud fell over his head. A cold wind was blowing through the falling rain.

The celestial hole opened again. The look of the godly man was the same as before. The celestial power still acted as a deadly poison to demonic beings.

It was a thousand and several hundreds of years ago, but the King of Lust didn't feel like that. It wasn't just because he had lived so long.

Even now, if he closed his eyes, he felt like he would go back to that time, when the kings with the Seven Deadly Sins gathered together for the first time in the history of the demon world, and when they were united against an external enemy called the celestial world.

But the King of Lust did not close his eyes because he knew it was just futile sentimentalism. More than a thousand years had already passed. Even if he recalled the past, nothing would change, just like one's past would not change no matter how often one regretted it.

When the King of Pride's surprise operation to subdue the demon world overnight failed, the King of Lust had a different idea from the King of Pride briefly.

'What if I just stopped fighting like this? Do we have to subdue the south?'

The King of Violence was dead. The King of Gluttony and King of Envy were long gone as well.

The King of Pride had risen to the position of the King of Greed, Mammon, of yesteryear.

In terms of mana alone, the King of Pride had already surpassed Mammon.

Of course, there was the Queen of Fury, the Queen of Sloth, and the King of Gluttony, but none of them were strong enough to beat the King of Pride.

The King of Pride, the King of Envy, the King of Lust, and the King of Gluttony had their own territory, but even Mammon could not obtain such a large land when he was alive.

So, the King of Lust just wanted to stop fighting. He felt the masters in the south would never be able to target the north. If the King of Pride made up his mind, he would be able to enjoy peace amid tension, just like he did a few months ago.

The raindrops were cold. The King of Lust woke up from a dream. It was stupid. He had lived for more than a thousand years, but he hadn't changed now or in the past.

The days when he fought against the celestial world with Mammon were never honorable. The King of Envy was compelled to surrender, and the King of Pride expressed a sense of intense inferiority. The King of Lust didn't know what to do, looking at the two kings.

Only

It was impossible for the King of Lust to stop the King of Pride. Just like he acquiesced after he failed to persuade the King of Pride not to betray Mammon, he couldn't stop the King of Pride's determination to attack the south.

When Mammon saved the demon world by sacrificing himself in the end, the King of Lust keenly realized it. At the very moment, when the House of Mammon virtually collapsed, the King of Lust understood it, looking at the vanity on the King of Pride's face.

The King of Pride that the King of Lust used to know was no more. The King of Pride crossed the river of no return on the day when Mammon saved the demon kingdom.

The King of Lust turned. There was a large throne in the middle of the dark room. The king was asleep, half lying on the throne. He didn't even move as if he was turned into a statue.

The current King of Pride got rid of the royal family of his predecessor. This had nothing to do with any figurative meaning. Heavily wounded by the King of Violence's suicidal attack, the King of Pride brought together all the royal members that he had given birth to and raised over the past one thousand years and killed them all overnight. Then he devoured all the essence they had.

He didn't even miss those failures that came out in the process of making the best one. The total of essences absorbed by the King of Pride numbered one thousand, and his power of dominance minimized the loss incurred in the process of him absorbing their essences.

The King of Lust approached the King of Pride. Only Abrasax and Bifronz survived among those who followed the King of Pride on the day when the King of Violence made a suicidal attack. And they were now somewhat at a distance from the King of Pride because they were scared that the king might take away their essence anytime if they were near him.