Ch.315Trusted NPCs. (6)

As I entered the creature’s belly, I realized nearly half a day had passed when I saw the rising sun outside.

“Hnngh! Eat this!!!”

-BANG!! CRUNCH!!!

The horizon where the sun was visible—which should have been hidden behind the mountain—was where the outer wall once stood. The remnants of the wall, torn apart by the creature’s power, were devastating. I was hurling boulders larger than my body into the monster’s mouth, using the debris.

-CRACK!! CRACK!! CRUNCH!!!

“Eek!! Rocks aren’t going to do anything?!”

“…I’m going to lose all my tail fur at this rate. Even surrounding myself with the Ghost Illusion Blade doesn’t help when it devours everything around.”

“Just keep throwing!! Keep stabbing!! I can’t hold out alone, ugh…!!!”

Luxuria continued firing magic bullets and various techniques at Gluttony’s mouth while constantly retching, and Gluttony approached, unfazed, swallowing everything. The battle between the Seven Deadly Sins unfolding before my eyes was, honestly speaking, beyond what I could have handled a year ago. Moreover, if I hadn’t seen Jack fight, if I hadn’t fought the Grand Elder, I would have certainly deemed this battle impossible and chosen to flee.

“What do you think, sis?”

“…That does seem to be its main body.”

-BOOOOOM!!!!”

[Magic tastes good!!! Give me moooore!!! CRUNCH!!!]

“Eek!! How long is this lunatic going to keep eating!! Aren’t you full yet?!!”

Luxuria flew through the sky, bombarding without rest. And Gluttony, taking all the bombardment, simply opened its mouth to swallow the attacks before speaking. If this turned into a prolonged battle, Luxuria’s defeat was certain. Besides, we had neither the luxury nor the time for a drawn-out fight.

“About five minutes left, right?”

“…Time to make our move?”

I grabbed nearby debris and hurled it at the creature’s face. Even while consuming Luxuria’s magic, it properly recognized my attack and devoured it. After all this preparation, it should now eat without suspicion.

“Let’s go, sis.”

“Right.”

“Hey!! Aren’t you going to help?! It’s hard on my own!!!”

As Luxuria grumbled at us, I picked up debris and dashed with my sister, positioning ourselves on either side of the monster. Luxuria shouted even louder, complaining that all we could do was throw rocks and swords, while releasing intense magic to draw Gluttony’s attention. Now…!!

-BOOM!!!!

“Ghost Illusion Blade!! Ghost Combo Strike!!!”

The dark, massive sphere Luxuria threw exploded in front of the creature’s mouth. In that moment when its vision was blocked, my sister ran around, scattering tail fur to create swords and immediately striking, sending blades into the monster’s flesh. Most of the flying swords were torn apart in mid-air, but occasionally some hit the flesh. Of course, I didn’t think this was causing the creature any real damage, but…!!!

-CRACK!!

“HYAAAH!!!”

Timed perfectly with my sister’s swords and Luxuria’s magic explosion being swallowed, I brought down debris onto the creature’s face. The timing is perfect!! This should…!!!

[I’ve been waiting for this.]

“?!!”

The words spat out by the huge mouth, its corners tearing upward as the smoke completely cleared while I was dropping the rock on its face, were no auditory hallucination. The creature had been waiting for me to charge in like this!!

[I’ll eat you first, then make you fight that fox beastkin.]

“Ugh!!!”

The massive mouth began to grow even larger than before, as if to swallow both the debris and me whole. I could hear my sister and Luxuria screaming my name. As I felt like I was throwing myself into a giant cave without a speck of light…

“Got you!!!”

I pulled out the holy water vial that Rize had given me, which I’d hidden between my breasts, and threw it straight into its mouth.

From the beginning, I had been throwing rocks from a distance intending to feed this to the creature, but I was concerned that the holy water might not reach inside due to its space-tearing attacks. And our plan was based on the judgment that the creature was “not as stupid as it looked.” This was something Luxuria and the Elder had noticed during their conversation. After losing us to the Elder’s attack, it could have tracked us immediately, but it remained in place for a long time without moving.

That’s when the Elder said that the creature seemed to be deliberately acting stupid to lure us in. Considering how it caught me from behind when I was hiding, it clearly wasn’t as foolish as it appeared. So we put on an act. Luxuria pretended to be fighting alone because we were useless! And we predicted that if I showed myself desperately charging in to attack, the creature would swallow me, the most incompetent of our group! With this, getting the holy water into its mouth would be successful…!!!

-Plop.

[So this is what you were aiming for?]

“What…?”

From within the pupil-like maw, a human-sized hand rose up and caught the holy water vial I had thrown. And with a voice much more articulate than before, mocking words reached me, making every hair on my body stand on end. Could it be…

[I was wondering what you were preparing, throwing rocks meaninglessly. This is… water with holy power? Did you think something like this would work on me, who can now absorb holy power?]

-SLASH!!!

“Argh?!!”

Black flesh protruding from between the creature’s mouth walls and teeth bound my limbs and easily tore apart the debris I had brought in. Then, the black hand that appeared from within the mouth gradually extended and began to take the form of a normal-sized doll. I even felt like a faceless black human figure was looking at me. Could that be the creature’s true form?!

[Hmm, certainly. Since coming to the human realm, I’ve eaten various holy powers and priests. But I’ve never eaten water like this. Is it tasty? Gulp. Blegh.]

The black doll, which seemed to be looking at me, had no mouth but opened the holy water cap and stuck it into its face, then made a sound as if it tasted bad. Ha, haha. Damn it.

[Well, I guess you thought you could win by feeding me something I’ve never eaten before. Not a bad idea. Just, how could anyone think that water weaker than the holy power I ate from that saint earlier would now become my weakness? That part is truly stupid?]

-CHOMP!!

“AAAAGH?!!!”

The tip of my tail is bitten by something, sending an electric current all the way to my brain. Ugh! My tail…!!

[Your suffering looks truly beautiful? I like Luxuria too, but she’s a beautiful beast. You’re also a good treasure that stimulates my greed. Good. I was going to chew and swallow you whole, but I’ll just tear apart your soul and mind to use you. After pretending the water worked and spitting it out, it would be fun to attack that fox beastkin from behind with your body, right?]

“Nngh. Don’t make me laugh…!!”

I shouted at the creature as it leered and babbled about its plan. I tried to use my strength to shake off the flesh wrapping around my arms, but it was tougher than I expected. This really won’t come off unless I use my full power!!

[Kekek, such a good expression. I’ll cut your family’s throats with that exact face. I’ll make sure you can see it clearly before I dissolve your soul, so be grateful?]

After saying that, it approached me and began to extend its featureless face toward me. Seeing that the holy water vial it had eaten earlier was gone, I wondered if my soul and mind would also disappear the moment it touched that face. Really, what kind of structure do demons have?!!

“Nngh…!!”

[Hahaha!! Who could possibly save you when you voluntarily entered my mouth? Luxuria and that fox bitch outside are struggling, but how could they get in here when they can’t even touch the flesh I created?!]

As if mocking my voice and enjoying my painful groaning, it slowly reached out its hand toward me. A chilling feeling like death itself crept up my spine, but beyond that, I felt…

-Grin.

[Huh?]

“Now!! LUXURIA!!!”

“I was so worried you’d actually been swallowed, it scared me!!!”

[What?!!]

The exhilaration that “our plan” had worked perfectly!!

My acting performance of biting my lips to hold back laughter while groaning, and the desperate struggle of my sister and Luxuria outside calling my name and trying to save me. We successfully deceived Gluttony to “summon” Luxuria herself in front of Gluttony’s main body!! Now!!!

[What?! Luxuria!!! You made a contract with this beastkin…!!!]

“Yes!! I did!! A very unfair contract!!! Where I get summoned when they call, and I transport them like some carriage—that kind of unfair contract!!!”

-WHAM!!!

[If you make the same contract, you could probably reverse-summon the two of you to where I am.]

Before Jack left, my sister and I properly contracted with Luxuria. Not just to follow her, but also for her to come to us when we called. Because we knew she might monopolize Jack while we were separated!!

“Heh, this is my first time seeing your main body, but you’re bigger than Wrath?”

[Ha, haha. Even if you catch me here, nothing has changed? Luxuria. You can’t defeat me with your power anywa…]

“Who said I’d defeat you with my power? Defeating a demon like you isn’t the job of another demon like me!”

Luxuria, who had grabbed both arms of the black doll, flashed her golden reverse eyes and made lightning spark around her. But it wasn’t the usual black lightning—it was a holy golden light. Gluttony seemed flustered at the sight and tried to back away, but Luxuria, still holding on, seemed even more delighted by this reaction and continued with her mouth corners stretched upward.

“Heheh!! So, how was the delivered holy water? Was it not even a dessert for you with its insignificant holy power?”

[W-wait… Th-this?!!]

-CRACKLE!! CRACKLE!! CRACKLE!!!

“They say holy water itself doesn’t have much effect. But apparently, it’s a ‘potion’ that doubles its effect when stimulated by holy power? Did you know that when you ate it?!!”

[Y-you’re insane!! Impossible!! How, how did you?! This is holy p…?!!!]

Gluttony raised its voice in apparent panic as Luxuria gradually began to glow golden. And I too used all my strength to tear off the flesh that had bound my limbs and immediately jumped.

“Heheheh!!! You vomited once after eating our saint’s holy power earlier, right? This time it’s double that. And that saint filled it until her face turned blue, and that woman who calls herself our mother packed it until she felt sick. Enjoy it all?!”

-PING!!!!

[W-wait…!!!]

“What ‘wait’ from a bastard called Gluttony in front of food…!!!”

“Just eat it all!!!!”

I brought my fist down on the creature’s head alongside Luxuria, who was emitting magic mixed with “terrifyingly high” purity holy power.