Volume 2, Chapter 1: Avaritia’s Usurping, Part 1: It Reeks
‘Twas but a simple unfounded rumor.
That in this vast Demon World, there existed but a single Demon Lord who reigned over the forces over ice and snow, a force that didn’t exist among the original sins.
Not a single thing could stand before him, but without paying mind to the legions of Demons brought to their knees, he simply spent his perpetual existence on naught.
And of that supreme Demon Lord, the Demons whispered, and spoke of exaggerated tales.
… Of the Lazy King.
Seeing the young Demon nervously speaking on as if each work he spoke was true, I snorted.
“Ki ki ki, how pointless a story…”
A goblet dyed in a blood-like red.
I downed all of the viscous liquid within it in a single swig. It was a devilish wine made to bestow a drunken state onto the Demon Race, despite their high status abnormality resistance.
It was as if the liquid let off a fiery heat as it leisurely slipped down my throat.
That heat became power, as it expanded towards every nook and cranny of my body, my six arms and all.
“Still, Deije-san. I’m bein’ dead serious here. You heard ‘bout how the Dark Prison’s earth was sealed in ice, right? In all actuality, that Superbia Demon Lord who climbed to rank one was supposedly rising in power to restrain it, or something…”
“That so… Ki ki ki my commanding officer’s sure gotten high and mighty, has he…”
Of course, it’s not like a deserter like me actually witnessed anything.
But from the current situation, I have a good hypothesis. I can calculate it out.
My Avaritia aches.
And as if to hold it back, I started downing the goblet that had been presented to me again.
A high rank Demon, for argument’s sake, like me isn’t going to get dead drunk from drinking something like this, and as long as I willed it, I could blow away the drunken stupor in an instant.
My eyes reflected in the well-polished wine were shining with desire.
Ki ki ki, this is why Greed’s no good.
Something reeks. It reeks the hell of it. I’ve got a bad premonition stirring up even the depths of my soul.
It’s the same atmosphere I felt before the war of black and white that broke out ten thousand years ago. It’s flowing. The field’s going to change before my eyes.
This must be that which can’t be expressed in words, the intuition of a Demon who’s lived out his years.
It was the smell of treasure, and the smell of war.
The smell of death, and yet the smell of glory.
I offered a warning to my junior, a Demon who also governed Greed sitting beside me.
“Ki ki ki, well keep your shirt on, Zeta Adler. Don’t mistake your enemy.”
“Mistake… my enemy?”
“Yeah.”
Generally, those of the Demon race are all self-serving.
Therefore, we’re always surrounded by enemies. You can’t even be negligent around allied troops. That’s exactly why the ability to distinguish friend and foe is an indispensable skill. No matter how talented a Demon may be, they would be killed in an instant had they failed at that aspect.
Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend. Yesterday’s friend, today’s enemy. It’s important to see the sides switch as well. Those that can’t do that, yet still persist to live long lives are either ridiculously talented, or perhaps blessed with good luck.
“Ki ki ki, exactly. Zeta, just how is that Lazy King related to us? Is he… our enemy?”
“… No, but…”
An instinct for strife sleeps within a Demon’s base nature. It’s a strong instinct. It’s perhaps the second strangest force within us, next to our sin.
And that often dulls out decision making capability.
“Then there’s no need to cower at him, is all. The Lazy King is… not our enemy. I would never be able to fulfill my Greed working at a place with hostility towards me. Am I wrong?”
“You’re not… wrong.”
Zeta nodded with an unsatisfied expression.
It’s fine if he doesn’t understand it yet. If he lives long enough, he’ll figure it out eventually.
It’s just that until he realizes that, it would be nice if my words remain in him if only by the slightest.
Even so…
“Lazy King… huh. Just what are you thinking, Boss Leigie… Ki ki ki, this is no good.”
Leigie the Depraved.
Let alone General Class, he is a long lived Lord who existed back when I hadn’t even become a Knight Class Demon.
The reason for his existence would be summarized into a single word. Nothing.
A steadfast Demon Lord who wouldn’t take any action regardless of the times. An unchanging existence. Therefore, regardless of his high rank among the Demon Lords, there are few who know him, and those that have seen his figure are severely limited.
That’s why I fear.
On top of his experience, he has to have something hidden on him.
Of all else, he’s a Demon Lord. It would be stranger for him to have nothing.
Without having been told it by Zeta, I knew well enough of how Boss Leigie’s land had frozen over.
It had spread around the expanse of the Demon World as a sort of urban legend.
More than a year’s passed, but even if we still hear of it from those straining their voices in the corners of the bars, to us Demons who know of the insurmountable existences known as Demon Lords, it’s absolute absurdity.
That’s why even after just a year, everyone acted oblivious to it.
There’s also the fact that a more precise threat showed itself, but that’s not all.
It’s terrifying. An unknown power. Of those that know, and those that don’t, there are few to put the story to words.
Ignorants aren’t to speak.
Those crafty enough to anticipate the outcome keep their mouths shut. Of course, I don’t speak up about it either.
Apart from Sloth, a majority of Demons’ Skills are undergoing extensive research. If a land of ice and snow were to reveal itself, then the probability of it being in the unresearched Acedia would be high, and seeing from the land on which it transpired, it isn’t hard to imagine it was Boss Leigie that did it.
A large-scale Skill invoked by the idle lord… what sort of change has come about in his feelings, or what sort of circumstances erupted into it, I don’t even want to know.
Perhaps Supreme Commander Heard stepped on the tiger’s tail, or… oh, right, Heard was the Rank One Demon Lord now, was he?
Well, the thing I should be putting my mind to isn’t some absurd urban legend or anything. There was a much more precise enemy before our eyes.
Contrasting his age, Zeta showed quite a bit of promise. Unlike me, he had desires that caused him to take up humanoid form. A young male Demon with ashen hair, and eyes of the same color.
Even without having reached General Class, in the few years since he’d been born, he was already in the upper ranking of Knight Class. His wit showed decent prospects.
An Avaritia’s companion’s got to be either another Avaritia, or an Invidia.
Even if we hold the same sin, our targets are different. There’s some merit in association. Perhaps our affinity is even better than with Invidia.
“Well, rather than that, there’s something we should be focusing on, right?”
“Yes… that’s right. Deije-san.”
Zeta sent a glance around, as if he was mindful of the surroundings.
A run-down bar. Without even any music, there were barely any other Demons present. In the first place, there are few Demons out there that actually drink.
All that was there was a strange bartender Demon offering us drink, and a pitiful lower class Demon sleeping flat on top of a table. Both of then are too low in power to even consider comparing them to me.
Perhaps through fear, a sublime smile surfaced on Zeta’s face.
“The 『Angel』 came out again.”
“… How many times does that make it?”
“It’s already the third time within the month. They’re five of them in numbers. I’ve heard information they made an appearance at the Crimson Prison.”
『Angel』
A Demon’s natural enemy, and their predefined nemesis.
The vanguard of that white god’s attempts to invade the Demon World.
Their power specialized to kill Demons was so great, that it’s been said they were born for that very purpose.
Demons receive great power from the land of this Demon World, but they can put up an even fight even within this miasma. It’s not like I’ve fallen too low to take down a low grade Angel, but that doesn’t change how troublesome they are.
It’s because my subordinates aren’t as strong as me. They’ll be purified by the most average of Angels.
The Crimson Prison was one of the lands managed by a Lord Subservient to the Great Demon King. That is something that should be common knowledge to those heavenly messengers.
“Casualty count?”
“Close to a hundred Knight Class and lower…”
“A hundred… is it…”
Doesn’t look like the top brass took the time to come out.
But with only five coming out, I wasn’t expecting them to. The top’ll only show up when it’s time for a complete war of annihilation.
That time ten thousand years ago was the same. At the start, it was low class Angels, then gradually intermediate level, and finally when high class ones were sent in, the King led a force of several thousands to combat them.
This generation’s Demon Lord doesn’t even know of that. No, she probably knows, but she didn’t experience it.
Even I don’t know about the Angels’ situation, but perhaps it’s something similar. A timespan of ten thousand years isn’t something to make too light of.
To Greed, War is but a single turning point. Ki ki ki, it’s something that brings up many a treasure chest.
With the low, and the intermediate, and the high, and even the Demon Lord Class Demons dying left and right, it all just starts flowing down.
Treasure of that level gets scattered all over the place. So our enemy isn’t just the Angels. Precisely because of their desires, similar Greed Demons may become even greater opposition.
What I seek… the resources I desire are finite. If it enters my hand, it won’t be goin’ to anyone else. If others lay hands on it, it’s not ending up in mine.
It’s a game of looting. Of Angels, of Demons, or Treasure.
And the necessary power is something I possess.
Libell isn’t here anymore, but in exchange, I have Zeta. Experience-wise, Libell came from the same time as me, but it’s unavoidable.
The first thing we need is to discern the enemy.
The number of angels. Their power. Their goal. Their actions are always focused onto some greater goal or another by the will of God. Knowing that or not will change our chances of victory.
“What became of those five Angels…?”
“They fled, it seems. The moment they caught sight of the Demon Lord’s main forces, they ran.”
“How rare of an army of God to pull back… those guys are supposed to stick to their doctrine, even if it may result in death…”
Angels are perpetual lives created from souls. Their sense of life isn’t all too different from ours, but there’s a single law. As they could only move in accordance with their grand design, their powers were severely limited when compared to Demons.
And it’s all so each and every one of those things can kill as many Demons as possible.
But this time’s pattern clearly differed from the norm. How troublesome. They should’ve just lived facing forward.
What could they be thinking…?
Has a goal more important than Demon slaying come down to them…?
… Well so be it. Whatever the case, the result is predetermined.
I’m a Demon of Greed. Then there’s but a single thing I have to do.
I don’t think I even have to say it.