Ch.314Trusted NPCs. (5)

“Ugh…”

“Luxuria, are you really okay? So can we escape…”

“…Lize, don’t talk to me. I feel like I’m going to throw up… urgh…!!”

Unlike earlier when she had become glossy and stronger after receiving some of my spiritual energy, Luxuria now looks completely exhausted, causing both Miho and Lize to grow anxious as they watch her with worried eyes. Can we even properly escape like this, let alone execute our plan?

“Don’t worry. It’ll work. More importantly…”

Covering her mouth as if truly trying to hold back vomit, Luxuria shifts her gaze toward the demons brought by Green Stone. It’s not all the demons she summoned earlier, just a few powerful-looking high-ranking demons.

“Why did only you come?”

“Sigh, Lady of Lust, you deceived us. You said it was the human realm, but to summon us inside Gluttony’s stomach… The mid-rank demons gave up after struggling messily, saying they’d rather die than face Gluttony, and most of the high-ranks abandoned resistance too. Only these six followed me here, trusting me. I’ll say it again—they came because they trusted me.”

“…Daughter, how exactly have you been managing your lower demons?”

There’s no answer to that. Instead, they whisper among themselves about the word “daughter,” wondering, “Huh? Could she have given birth after being in the human realm for less than a year?” Frowning at their behavior, Luxuria reaches out to Miho and me, continuing:

“Well, anyway, six should be enough to hold out for 10 minutes. When my control breaks and my power domain is released, you two take over and maintain it.”

“…Are you saying we need to save all these livestock too?”

“If you don’t like it, quit. But then I won’t transfer my domain and will just leave.”

“…Sigh, to think our master would not only side with humans but also betray us. I’m tempted to go to Gluttony right now, offer you up, and beg for mercy.”

“You’re quite cheerful, aren’t you? Go ahead and try if you want.”

When Luxuria responds with glaring eyes to the high-ranking demon’s half-serious words, the demon smirks and shakes her head.

“I wonder what happened to you in the human realm. Your personality has become quite impressive, unlike when we served you in the demon realm. I’m glad you’re no longer that pathetic Seven Deadly Sin who whined alone for 4,000 years without sex.”

“Hey!! Why are you saying that in front of others?!! Urgh!!!”

Luxuria, who had been speaking in a serious, downcast voice until now, suddenly shouted like a young girl with a reddened face and then actually started vomiting. The high-ranking demon who had been conversing with her at the front reached out in concern, asking if she was okay, but Luxuria hastily backed away, wiping the vomit from her mouth. Ah, so this is the current Luxuria?

“Don’t touch me!! You little… Say ‘daughter’ one more time and I’ll really kill you. I was barely holding it in.”

“…What in the… No, that’s not important right now. What you just threw up. Is that demonic energy?”

“Ignore it. You, Saint. Elf. We don’t have time. We’re leaving now.”

“Alright, please stay safe.”

“All three of you, be careful.”

“…I’ll definitely be safer than you who are facing certain death.”

“You elders be careful too.”

“We’ll definitely succeed.”

After looking at each other, Miho and I grabbed Luxuria’s hands, and she began emitting demonic energy far more intense and pitch-black than anything she had shown before.

“Hmph, so this is the power our master can truly wield. See, I told you to just have sex with anyone…”

“She really talks too much! Let’s go!!! Both of you, stay focused and don’t pass out!!!”

“Ngh…!!”

“Urgh!!!”

Enveloped in her demonic energy, we focused solely on maintaining consciousness despite the tremendous pressure.

-Ping!

After feeling a ringing in my ears, my vision was immediately swallowed by darkness.

*

Gluttony’s Gula. He fully understands that many demons consider him a fool, but he is also keenly aware that he is not actually foolish. He is the most cautious among the Seven Deadly Sins.

[It wasn’t Luxuria. And the cleric beside her is dangerous too.]

Being the most greedy among the Seven Deadly Sins means having the most desires. To obtain what he wants and achieve his goals, he had no choice but to be more cautious than anyone else, and to act more foolishly than anyone else.

[The elf doesn’t matter much. The fox beastkin wasn’t a threat either. However, that white tiger beastkin seemed to notice the situation, and letting her escape was a mistake.]

He speaks little and is always eating something—even dirt from the demon realm if nothing else is available. Other Sins and lower-ranking demons think him stupid, but he prefers it that way. It’s much better if “everyone” fails to notice his desires and objectives.

[If it were the real Luxuria, she would have already withered away and been swallowed along with her power. She’s holding out too long. What a shame. I wanted to have that woman.]

A demon with beauty that could be called superior even compared to females in both the demon realm and human world. He had vowed to devour her someday, and her betrayal presented a perfect opportunity. However…

[…It’s dangerous. Better to just kill her.]

He suppresses his greed. Always eating something, always taking from others—he restrains his normally uncontrollable desires and coldly analyzes the situation. Luxuria’s body was truly desirable, but now that what’s inside her has become an unknown variable and one of his cards has been exposed, he can’t afford to give her time. The fact that he’s been draining her demonic energy for nearly half a day without quickly digesting her power suggests that the undigested part might contain some unknown threat.

[Outside is… no problem. Pride (Superbia) is… not paying attention. Let’s kill Luxuria and create a new Lust to steal her rank.]

Being more cautious than anyone, he has amassed more power than anyone, and has constantly worked to control his desires. He can’t throw away all the time he’s spent restraining himself just for the greed of obtaining one beautiful female body. Having made this calculation, Gluttony very slowly moves his internal mouths.

Pretending to be angry like Wrath who can’t control his emotions, pretending to be stupid like Envy who worries about every roadside pebble. Moving sluggishly and pathetically like Sloth, yet cunningly like Pride—his mouths move very slowly but steadily through Lust’s power domain. And the moment he finds his target…

[…Ah, too late.]

Being too cautious and calculating, he gave whatever was inside Luxuria the chance to gather demonic energy and escape. However…

[Kekeke!! This is my chance.]

It seems he might be able to possess that female body after all. Gluttony’s mouths drool with joy at the desire and calculation boiling up from his core.

*

Ponia border, at the point where the outer wall has disappeared.

-Crack-crack-crack….

Black lightning shoots up from beneath the ground where a massive crater has formed. The black lightning, which seems to be colliding with and tearing through something, eventually turns into pitch-black smoke, beginning to color the surroundings as if rejecting the morning sunlight.

-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!

As the sound gradually intensifies and the fissure widens…

-CRACK!! BOOM!!!

“BLEEEEAARGH!!!!”

It spat out a black-haired, red-eyed demon and two beastkin—one silver, one crimson—who collapsed to the ground as if unconscious.

“Urgh…! Damn it. I didn’t vomit too much, did I? Ah, both of you, get up!!”

It’s not because of the impact from emerging. While breaking through his power domain, Gluttony noticed and interfered, causing more severe distortion than expected. The shock made the two beastkin, already unfamiliar with demonic energy, lose consciousness. Understanding this, Luxuria quickly wiped the black vomit from her mouth and shook the two to wake them.

“If you don’t get up right now, I’ll suck on both your lips and breasts?! Get up, I said!!!”

“Eek, please be satisfied with just my sister…”

“Kyuu. I feel like throwing up too. If you kiss me now, I might vomit right into your mouth.”

“Fine, just get up quickly. I don’t know when he’ll attack ag…”

-BOOM!!!

“Oh, come on!! Before I could even finish speaking!!!”

A gigantic maw, like the mouth-shaped flesh they had encountered inside Luxuria’s power domain but incomparably larger, lunged at the three of them. Instead of counterattacking, Luxuria grabbed the two, spread her wings, and flew away at full speed.

“Wake up! I can’t fight that thing alone!! Besides, don’t you know what will happen to everyone still inside his stomach if we waste time?!!”

“Urgh. Right after coming out…”

“Elders, Lize…!!”

Forcing themselves to steady their bodies, the two dropped from her arms, gripping fist and sword, preparing for battle as they faced the enormous maw.

“It looks twice… no, three times bigger than what we saw inside.”

“That was inside his power domain, but it was also where my power was applied first!! It was weakened then—this is probably his true size!!”

“Surely he won’t use the elder’s swordsmanship with that huge mouth…?!”

-Swish-swish!!! Clang-clang!!!

“He is!!!”

Chikuyo deflected the sword energy aimed at Miho, and Miho rushed toward the mouth, exploiting the opening. If it’s no different from before despite its increased size, now would be the time when strikes should be effective. With that calculation, she extended her fist…

“No!!!”

-BOOM!! CRACK!!!

“Gah?!!”

An explosion created by Luxuria pushed Miho sideways as the space and ground where she had been standing, along with the exploding demonic energy, were torn away as if bitten by something. Realizing that if Miho had extended her fist, her arm or even her entire upper body would have been torn off, both Chikuyo and Luxuria swallowed hard.

“Don’t tell me it wasn’t just his size that was weakened in the power domain earlier?!”

“Seems that way! This is my first time fighting a Seven Deadly Sin, let alone Gluttony, head-on!! Don’t let your guard down!!!”

“Sigh. Lately all the enemies I face are ones my fists can’t hurt. Am I too useless?”

As Miho, who needs to fight up close with her martial arts, grimaces, Chikuyo shakes her head in response.

“With that ridiculous range, I’d probably get swallowed along with my sword if I tried to cut him. It seems only Luxuria can attack effectively.”

“Hahaha. This is really annoying? Isn’t Jack’s group too focused on close combat?!”

The estimated time for those remaining in Gluttony’s stomach to hold out was 10 minutes. They need to make him vomit everyone within the next 9 minutes.

The struggle of the three, relying entirely on Luxuria’s ranged attacks, begins.