Chapter 207: Greed (3)
Yong-ho looked at her, feeling fresh about her using honorifics, unlike her sharp-looking face.
The King of Fury continued, [I received your reply and special products through Gardimundi of the Garura clan, my faithful friend and right-hand man.]
[I am very happy that you are also thinking of making a friendly relationship with our people.]
With a gentle smile, the King of Fury stopped talking for a moment.
As if hesitating, she curled up her lips several times and finally opened her mouth.
[It may be a little bit early, but why don’t we meet and talk about the exchanges between our people and the House of Mammon?]
[The future of the demon world is uncertain due to the ongoing war between the King of Pride and the King of Envy in the northern area. Even the belligerent King of Gluttony seems to be ready to start a war anytime.]
[I think we will be able to overcome this turbulence wisely if our people and the House of Mammon join hands together.]
The voice of the King of Fury had a strong appeal. After she continued to talk firmly, she took her breath once then relaxed a bit. She resumed talking with a gentle look and voice, [As I said, you might think it a bit early that we meet face to face.]
[So, just feel free to do so if you feel uncomfortable about my proposal.]
[I look forward to your frank reply.]
[PS: I really enjoyed the fried chicken you sent me. Thank you.]
Her postscript was not her own voice, but a message of light. But Yong-ho seemed to hear her voice in it.
He folded the letter.
At that moment, Kaiwan and Catalina were lost in thought respectively, instead of responding recklessly. His reply to the King of Fury’s offer was a major issue that could determine the future of the House of Mammon.
He closed his eyes for a moment and recalled his conversation with Sitri.
She said something at the time. She mentioned one decision that she said was the most important.
‘You already have the answer from the beginning.’
He needed to hide his status as the King of Greed from her.
He also needed to hide the fact that he took the essence of the King of Gluttony.
The King of Fury’s goodwill to Yong-ho was based on the fact that “Yong-ho is not a king.”
So, he didn’t need to break a friendly relationship by revealing it.
For the same reason, he didn’t have to reveal that he defeated the King of Gluttony.
What would happen if the King of Fury found out that he not only obtained the sin of Greed but also the sin of Gluttony? What if other kings found it out, too?
There was a historical precedent to it. There was a precedent in which all the other kings joined hands to destroy Mammon who obtained as many as three out of the Seven Deadly Sins.
So, it was the best option to hide it from the King of Fury.
Yong-ho could meet her in his capacity as the master of the House of Mammon, not as the King of Greed.
After making up his mind, Yong-ho opened his eyes again. Then Lucia, who was checking his condition, opened her mouth.
[By the way, master.]
[The space for securing your subordinate spirits also increased significantly. Probably, you can make one of Mammon’s 12 Spirits your own subordinate spirit.]
What she said was a bit irrelevant to his main topic, but he could not ignore her.
He raised his head instinctively and looked at Scathach.
She shook her head and said, “Thank you, but it’s premature. You remember you made the promise to me, right?”
“Sure, I do.”
What she presented to him as the condition for passing her test was the liberation and subjugation of Gusion. So, securing Gusion was more urgent to Yong-ho than Scathach.
“And this is my recommendation to you as the healer of the Mammon family. Just take a journey back home sooner or later.”
“Home? Are you talking about my hometown in the human world?”
She nodded at his question again. Approaching the blue water where Yong-ho, Catalina, and Kaiwan were soaked, she said, “Right. I think you should because your body has gone through a complete changeover this time, the Demon God’s heart, too. So, I think you had better go back to the human world once more and take some fresh air.”
Although she replied to his question, Yong-ho got even more curious.
He tilted his head and asked, “I know what you mean. But why did you mention the Demon God’s heart?”
“Well, Master Mammon completed the heart of the Demon God in the human world, not the demon world. As a result, many of the ingredients of the Demon God’s heart are mixed with that of a human being.”
Blinking again, Yong-ho looked at himself. He felt fresh about the heart of the Demon God made of Brigada.
Kaiwan quickly hugged his arm and said, “I want to come with you, too. I also want to say hello to your father.”
“Me, too,” said Catalina, who also hugged his other arm earnestly not to be outdone by her.
He momentarily imagined his father encountering Kaiwan and Catalina at the same time.
What would his father say to him?
He just giggled when he imagined it. He shook his head and withdrew his arms from them, gently saying, “Let’s solve the important problem first.”
In fact, the King of Fury’s messenger was waiting for his reply in the Free City.
So, he had to take care of that matter first.
“Lucia, gather all the dungeon spirits in the conference room.”
[Okay, Master.]
[I’ll summon your subordinate spirits, garrison captain Rikum, and workshop chief Burgrim in the conference room on the first floor.]
[It will take some time to gather them all in one place, so please take your time.]
Yong-ho nodded. Then he asked Kaiwan, Catalina, and Scathach a bit belatedly, “Are all our people alright?”
When the King of Gluttony raided the Garden of Life, he was not alone. At a glance, there were dozens of Death Knights and more than five vampire lords surrounding him.
After defeating the King of Gluttony, he was so absent-minded that he could not afford to pay attention to them. Even his subordinate spirits didn’t know exactly what had happened, except for Kaiwan, Catalina, and Scathach.
At his asking, the three looked at each other and soon giggled.
Then they nodded at the same time.
***
There were several small rooms attached to the left and right of the Demon King’s room, which had been moved to the first floor of the Labyrinth of Greed.
On the right were Yong-ho’s room as well as that of Kaiwan and Catalina, respectively, while a conference room and Yong-ho’s private office were on the left.
When Yong-ho arrived at the conference room with Kaiwan and Catalina, all the spirits needed for the meeting were already gathered. Starting with Yuria, who was carrying teacups with Baduk, they bowed to Yong-ho politely.
“We’re so happy to see you safe and in good health.”
Eligos greeted him on behalf of the others. He patted Eligos’s shoulder, which seemed to have become even stronger.
“I’m glad you guys are all safe. Let’s sit down first.”
Yong-ho sat at the top of a long rectangular table. On his right side were Catalina, Eligos, Tigrius, and Rikum, while Kaiwan, Ophelia, Skull, and Burgrim were on his left.
Rikim and Burgrim were the only ones who were not his subordinate spirits.
Of course, Yuria and Baduk, who sat next to the teacup sets in the corner, and the nameless meerkat were not, either.
“As you see, I am alright. Since I absorbed the essence of the King of Gluttony, my mana has become more powerful now. I haven’t actually opened it up, but my mana is probably equal to that of the King of Gluttony.”
It wasn’t just the king’s essence that Yong-ho took. His Greed ate even the king’s memory.
Of course, he did not completely absorb all the king’s memories because almost all of them sank deep in the sea of his subconsciousness. However, he could remember several of them. Birudaka, the king’s name, was one of those memories.
Yong-ho activated the heart of the Demon God in order to defeat the King of Gluttony.
But now he had the same mana as that of the king even without using the Demon God’s heart, which showed the explosive growth of his mana.
‘Of course, I benefited more from my body’s complete changeover.’
Yong-ho, who had learned the use of mana from Red Demon Gusion, realized that the amount of mana that he could instantly concentrate was more important than the total amount of simple mana at least during the fighting.
As a result of his body’s changeover, the speed of mana circulation was much faster than before. Now he could concentrate more than a third of his full mana on his fist during the short span of time he threw a punch.
Yong-ho’s growth meant the growth of the House of Mammon as a whole.
Kaiwan said with a subtle smile, “Thanks to your growth, your subordinate spirits have also become stronger. Now, all the spirits have five horns on average. I’m on the verge of getting six horns. I feel like I’ve reached the maximum. Oh, of course, Aamon is an exception.”
She turned her eyes at Yong-ho’s wrist. Then, the flames of the red lotus flared up in the air.
[I also got stronger. Although I’m not as strong as I was during my prime days, I think the day will soon come when I can fully restore my power.]
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