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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Sin of Gluttony, Gluttony (2)
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Dian thought.
He wondered if this was what it felt like to have his guts ripped out.
Dian was so utterly exhausted that he could entertain such a preposterous thought.
He had almost suffered mana depletion. The battle just now had been that intense.
No, to be precise, it was a battle where he had poured everything he had into a short burst, without a thought for what came next.
Dian had no other choice. The being he had fought was one of the Seven Sins, the calamities of humanity.
Dian's legs trembled, threatening to give out at any moment, yet he found himself smiling.
It was the first time. The first time he had faced one of the Seven Sins and seen it retreat, not him or his companions.
In a way, it felt empty.
The Seven Sins were supposed to be insurmountable walls for the Hero's party, yet today, he and one other had achieved 'victory' with just the two of them.
It felt as though all the years he had spent traversing the Demon Realm as part of the Hero's party, all the experiences and emotions he had shared with them, were being negated entirely.
Yet.
"Ha, ha-ha!"
Dian let out a hearty laugh. The joy of proving that a Sin could be defeated far outweighed the emptiness of having his past negated.
"That was easier than I expected. You're amazing, Senior!"
Dian, still gasping for breath, bantered with the skeleton who had fought alongside him.
"This isn't the Demon Realm. And it wasn't its true form."
Malick, in contrast to Dian, maintained a calm demeanor.
"Even considering that, it was too weak for a Sin. Like knights on a battlefield who hadn't received their proper equipment."
"Are you saying...?"
"It's one of two things. Either it hasn't been long since it ascended to the position of a Sin, or its power was taken by another being. Junior Dian, do you happen to know when this one fell?"
Malick asked with a remarkably serious expression, and Dian tilted his head as he replied.
"...I believe it was a little over ten years ago."
"Then it must be the latter."
Malick mumbled, his expression grave.
"First, I'll go check on Junior Camel. That sly rascal. How dare he deceive a senior like me?"
"Senior, wouldn't it be better to just wait here? Camel will be bringing the presumed victims back here anyway... Wait, you said 'deceived'...?"
"Yes. I think Junior knew. That the one in this cave was a duplicate, and that its true form was where the girls were headed."
"He was planning to face the true form alone. That arrogant bastard... Senior, let's go together."
"No. Please wait here, Junior."
Malick shook his skull, declining Dian's offer.
"But..."
"Junior Dian, please look after the people who will be evacuating here. They'll already be terrified, and if someone looking like me tries to take care of them... Ugh, my life."
Malick pulled the hood of his robe further down, continuing his words.
"And Junior, your mana is depleted anyway, isn't it?"
"..."
"Ah, here they come."
Dian followed Malick's gaze to the cave entrance. About ten terrified girls were entering.
"I'll be back soon."
Saying so, Malick, with his face still obscured, approached the girls, gestured towards Dian, and then stepped outside.
"..."
Dian, who had been staring blankly at the scene, realized the girls were trembling and began to move.
He lit a fire with magic, warming the cave.
After introducing himself, he told them he would ensure their safe return home.
"We have no home to go back to..."
"...Our families are all dead."
Sadly, most of the girls were orphans.
Feeling pity for them, Dian made a suggestion to the girls.
He offered to send them to a monastery in the Holy Kingdom, asking if they would like to live there until they could support themselves.
He assured them that while it might be inconvenient, their food, clothing, and shelter would be guaranteed.
However, contrary to Dian's expectations, the girls reacted strongly, refusing his offer.
"Oh, no!"
"Please, save us..."
A flustered Dian could only ask the girls, once they were calm, why they were so terrified of going to the Holy Kingdom's monastery.
"We're all from the Holy Kingdom..."
One girl spoke up, and then the others began to open their mouths as well.
Dian's expression darkened rapidly as he listened to what was happening in the Holy Kingdom.
"I wondered who had arrived..."
Just then, a captivating voice suddenly echoed in Dian's ears.
"Dian, it was you."
Dian's thoughts immediately froze as he turned his gaze towards the voice.
****
The summit of a mountain in the northern forest of Adenia.
After sending the terrified girls back to the cave, I hummed a tune and began drawing a large magic circle on the ground.
'I've been quite lucky.'
I found one of the Seven Sins much sooner than I expected.
Gluttony, the Sin of Gluttony.
This bastard was a madman who devoured girls once a month under the bizarre excuse of 'making friends for his sisters,' but thankfully, I managed to find and rescue the girls just before that happened.
Not only that, by discovering one of the girls who was heading here, I was able to locate its true form and prepare to confront it, just as I am now.
"My dear pig."
I gazed at the boy, who lay sound asleep on a wide rock, bloated with fat like a pig, and curled my lips into a chilling smile.
At first glance, he looked like an innocent child, but surprisingly, that boy's true identity was Gluttony's main body.
"Did you think I wouldn't find you?"
I looked up, and saw a rift in the void, which had been cut open and was now slowly mending.
As soon as I arrived, I sensed a subtly distorted flow of demonic energy, swung my sword, and cut through space. From within, I pulled out Gluttony's true form.
I had the option of plunging my sword directly into this true form, but I didn't.
Because, right now, this true form was nothing more than an empty shell. Even if I destroyed it, even if I burned it, as long as Gluttony's soul was elsewhere, Gluttony would not perish.
"You'll be quite surprised when you open your eyes."
I was waiting for Gluttony's soul to return to this true form, after losing its duplicate to Malick and Dian.
Gluttony is the Sin of Gluttony, maintaining its life and power through consumption. If it doesn't eat and take from others, it cannot sustain its existence and slowly loses its strength.
That was why Gluttony had gathered the girls here, where its true form resided: to devour innocent girls and maintain its meager life and power.
"Instead of eating anything, you'll just flail around until you die."
I intended to allow Gluttony, exhausted and famished from dealing with Dian and Malick, neither food nor even the chance to resist.
"It's done."
Having completed the magic circle, I smiled contentedly, waiting for Gluttony.
****
From the time it was human until now,
Gluttony had never once eaten its fill.
Gluttony was always hungry.
But born as the eldest son of a poor beggar, it skipped more meals than it ate.
Gluttony had an insatiable appetite.
However, it had eleven younger sisters. On the rare occasions when food appeared, its parents would divide it precisely into twelve portions.
Gluttony was greedy.
So, without its parents' knowledge, it began to devour its younger sisters. Thanks to this, it could sate its hunger each time. Moreover, as the number of sisters decreased, its share increased.
Gluttony was foolish.
Because of this, it even devoured its own parents, who had brought it food. Thanks to this foolish choice, Gluttony had to wander the continent in search of sustenance.
Gluttony was strong.
Thanks to this, Gluttony never starved. It always devoured those it wished to eat, and those who despised and tried to harm it were also crunched and chewed.
Gluttony was now very angry.
A skeleton and a human had stolen its food right before its eyes. It had tried to make them its next meal, but instead, it had been defeated by them.
Gluttony was furious.
If it had devoured the nutrient-rich girls, it would never have lost. But the skeleton and the human had arrived precisely when Gluttony was weakened, and had attacked its duplicate.
Gluttony wanted to kill them.
The skeleton and the human who had harmed it and even stolen its food.
Gluttony was extremely hungry.
So it intended to devour everything. The 'sisters' it had prepared for its meal, the skeleton and human who had interrupted it—all of them.
"Hungry, so hungry...!"
Gluttony mumbled, opening its eyes and then its mouth. It was so famished its belly felt stuck to its back, and it desperately wanted to ravenously devour its 'sisters'.
But.
Gluttony couldn't eat anything.
No, to be precise, its entire body was bound by something, rendering it completely immobile.
"Hello there, piggy."
Hearing the word it hated most in the world, Gluttony turned its gaze.
"Ughhh!"
But Gluttony couldn't properly identify the source of the voice. More accurately, it couldn't open its eyes fully.
Because blindingly white light was erupting from all around Gluttony.
Gluttony writhed in agony, and Camel asked it:
"This is the pigsty I prepared for you. How is it? Do you like it?"
Feeling an unspeakable torment, rage, and fear, Gluttony violently shook its head.