'Gluttony?' Raon's mouth fell open as he stared at the white-haired child with ruby-red eyes. That rabbit-like little one was Gluttony, the Monarch of Gluttony he had met before.
'Why is that guy here....'
He couldn't understand why Gluttony, who was usually busy searching for ice cream, had suddenly appeared here.
"Stand back.
That one is dangerous." Glenn stepped in front of Gluttony to protect himself and the others.
"Wrath. I'm out of shiny things...." Gluttony hung her head low like a child who had dropped their candy, saying she had no more gold coins.
"Shiny things...?"
Glenn furrowed his brow, not understanding why Gluttony, who had a stronger presence than most Transcendent Warriors of the Five Demons, was acting like a child.
"Ah...."
Raon let out a sigh as he looked at Gluttony. 'She must have run out of money to buy ice cream.'
He remembered giving Gluttony a pile of gold coins when he sent her off before, telling her to come back when she ran out.
It seemed that time had come now.
'Of all times to come... huh?'
As Raon was about to ignore Gluttony and continue transferring aura to the fallen Edgar, a bolt of inspiration struck him.
'If it's Gluttony, maybe...?'
Currently, Edgar was dying after absorbing the death aura from Sylvia and Rector's bodies and transferring his own life force to them.
Raon thought that perhaps Gluttony's could devour the death aura Edgar had absorbed.
"If you don't want to die, don't come any closer."
Glenn was emanating a cold killing intent, as if he was even considering killing Gluttony.
[She's not an enemy!]
Raon sent an aura message to Glenn, who was pressuring Gluttony.
[Please trust me and wait for now!]
"Hmm...." Although Glenn didn't erase the look of suspicion from his eyes, he stepped back, seeming to trust Raon.
"Gluttony, come here." Raon beckoned to Gluttony, imitating Wrath's manner of speaking.
"Okay...." Gluttony hopped over like a rabbit.
Perhaps due to the memory of being suspicious at first and having her power taken away when they first met, she now completely believed Raon to be Wrath.
"Can you save this human?"
Raon pointed at Edgar, who was unconscious and turning into black smoke.
"Hmm...."
Gluttony briefly licked her lips as she looked at Edgar.
"He ate death.
It tastes bad...."
She shook her head, as if wondering why he had eaten the death aura.
"So can you save him or not?" "It's difficult...." Gluttony slowly lowered her eyes.
"I can eat the death, but his life force is already gone."
She shook her head, saying that even she couldn't revive a dead human.
"What if I use my life force?"
Raon pointed at himself.
"You're weak right now...."
Gluttony lowered her hand, saying it would be difficult.
"It's fine.
This king will never die."
Raon calmly shook his head. His life force, enhanced by the Ring of Fire, was at the level of a Transcendent Warrior.
Even if his body and mind were exhausted, he should be able to endure.
"Huh?"
Glenn's eyes widened in surprise, as if shocked that Raon referred to himself as 'this king'.
"Still, it's not possible...."
Gluttony shook her head, saying there wasn't enough life force.
"Can you really save him?"
Glenn approached from behind Gluttony, casting a cold gaze.
"If life force can be transferred, there's a possibility...."
Gluttony blinked, saying there was a chance of saving him, though she couldn't be certain.
"Then I'll add my life force too.
" Glenn stepped forward, saying he would join in as well.
[Head of House!]
Raon quickly shook his head, telling Glenn not to do it through an aura message.
[Don't worry. I just have some words I want to share with the bastard who took my daughter.]
Glenn lightly waved his hand, telling Raon to worry about himself first. "You're strong, so you'll be fine.
But you're old, so you'll suffer a bit...."
Gluttony nodded, bluntly telling Glenn he was old.
"Then let's begin."
Feeling he couldn't stop Glenn, Raon instructed Gluttony to start immediately.
"Okay. But, I need money...."
Gluttony twisted her hands, saying she needed money.
"Understood. If you save this human, I'll give you enough money to buy all the bead ice cream you want."
Raon nodded, promising to give her even more gold coins than before.
"Okay!"
Gluttony nodded enthusiastically. It was the first clear answer she had given since arriving here. -Bead ice cream? However, Gluttony wasn't the only one who reacted to the words 'bead ice cream'.
Wrath, who had been sleeping in the ice flower bracelet, suddenly burst out.
-Where is the bead ice cream! Who dares to...
Huh?
Why is that glutton here?
*cough*!
Wrath's eyes widened in surprise as he spotted Gluttony after smacking his lips in anticipation.
"I'll start right away."
Gluttony reached out and placed her hand on Edgar's forehead. Black lips sprouted from her palm and began to suck in the death aura that was turning Edgar to dust.
"It tastes bad...."
Gluttony slightly lowered her eyebrows, as if the bead ice cream had changed her palate. However, it was clear she was devouring the demonic energy, as the disintegration of Edgar's body, which had been turning to powder and scattering, stopped. "I can't believe it's actually disappearing...."
Glenn's eyes bulged, seemingly amazed by Gluttony's power. -D-Don't tell me that skeleton man is sucking in the demonic energy that killed Mother and the old man?
Wrath's eyes widened, as if he had instantly grasped the situation.
'Yes.
He tried to take it all on himself.' Raon nodded heavily. -What a madman.... Wrath let out a sigh as he looked at Edgar, whose eyelids were twitching.
-Not just his body, but he must have felt pain as if his soul was being torn apart.
How did he endure it? He furrowed his brow, as if unable to understand. -It seems he really is your father after all.
'Yeah....' Raon bit his lip as he held Edgar's hand, which was trembling more and more.
To think that glutton could be of help, I've lived long enough to see everything Wrath shook his head as he watched Gluttony swallow the death aura.
'It's fortunate I built up a relationship with her.' -Relationship?
It's fraud!
And fraud using this king at that!
*cough*!
He shouted, wondering why Gluttony couldn't recognize him. 'Well, all's well that ends well, right?'
-It's not well for this king!
*cough*!
Wrath coughed dryly again, as if he had overexerted himself this time. Now that Raon looked closely, his complexion seemed pale
'You....' "A lot of the death has been removed. Now add the life force." Just as Raon was about to ask about Wrath's condition, Gluttony tilted her chin, saying it was time to start.
"Understood." Raon exhaled briefly and placed his hand on Edgar's chest.
"Let's begin."
After making eye contact with Glenn, he began to infuse life force into Edgar's body.
'Ugh....' As soon as he started expending his life force, a throbbing headache and chills hit him, but he endured by biting his tongue. 'Nothing's ever easy....' Life force is an energy that everyone possesses from birth, and unlike aura, once used, it takes a very long time to recover, or may not recover at all.
Although his own life force was more abundant than anyone else's thanks to the Ring of Fire, he felt excruciating pain just from extracting it due to his exhausted state from continuous battles.
"Are you alright?"
Glenn showed a worried expression,
as if concerned about Raon, even though he himself was sweating.
[Yes. I can endure it.]
As Raon forced a smile while enduring the pain that made him feel like he might faint, a clear sword chant erupted from his waist. It was the Blade of Requiem.
The sword vibrated intensely, as if telling him to grab it. 'Why suddenly....' As Raon stretched out his left hand and drew the Blade of Requiem, blue-tinged life force rose from the red-glowing blade.
'This is....' He could instantly recognize what kind of energy it was.
The malice and killing intent from the beads he had obtained after capturing the Ghost King in the commune where Derus had been raising children had been purified by the Blade of Requiem and transformed into life force.
The Blade of Requiem rang out with another clear chant, as if telling him to use the life force it had purified to save Edgar.
'...Thank you.'
Raon pushed the life force provided by the Blade of Requiem into Edgar's body. As it was an even purer energy than his own, the black veins that had appeared on Edgar's face slowly subsided.
-This king will help too.
*cough*!
Wrath placed his hand on Raon's shoulder, saying he would help despite coughing violently.
'What? Why are you....'
-Didn't this human save Mother?
I must repay that.
*cough*!
He nodded briefly and transferred his life force, as if he truly cherished Sylvia.
Wrath was also exhausted, but because the size of his soul was so enormous, Edgar's complexion began to improve even more rapidly
. -*cough*! *cough*! 'Stop it!'
-This king is the Monarch of Devildom.
Debts must always be repaid! Wrath seemed to only remember what he had received, not what he had given.
Though he could be petty when it came to food, the size of his heart was greater than anyone else's.
"Hm? The power has returned...?"
Gluttony tilted her head, as if she had sensed Wrath's life force. "This king has always been strong."
Raon uttered a line that Wrath would likely say and continued pouring out life force.
-Th-That's a line I like! Wrath nodded slightly, as if he approved. At that moment, when two people, one Demon King, and finally one sword were bound by a single will, the grip of death enveloping Edgar's entire body melted away, and a colorless radiance spread out.
"It's done...."
Gluttony clapped her hands lightly as she looked at Edgar, who had turned white.
"You can stop now. He can live on his own power now...."
She opened her eyes wide, as if amazed at what she had accomplished. "Ah...." Raon's lips trembled as he kept his hand on Edgar's chest. 'He really survived....'
Truly. Edgar's breath, which had completely stopped, had returned. Although still labored, he was breathing on his own. Raon's legs gave out, and he collapsed on the spot.
'Mom. He survived.'
He bit his lip as he looked at Sylvia. He felt like crying with joy that he wouldn't have to deliver another sorrow to her, but he held it back internally as he was still acting as Wrath.
"Remarkable."
Glenn let out a sigh, as if he hadn't really believed Edgar would survive. "I had always thought Demon Kings descended upon the continent to slaughter humans, not to save them."
He looked at Gluttony with calm eyes, as if his preconceptions about Demon Kings had been shattered.
"What's the point of slaughtering humans...?"
Gluttony shook her head, saying humans don't taste very good. "And you're amazing too....
It's been a long time since I've seen a human that strong...." Her eyes sparkled narrowly as she looked at Glenn. "I thought I was seeing Wrath or Pride...."
-What nonsense! How dare you compare me! This king is definitely stron... ger?
Wrath couldn't confidently say he would definitely win, instead adding a question mark to "stronger." Seeing him joke around, Raon finally felt a bit relieved.
"Then...." Gluttony approached Raon with expectant eyes and held out her small hand.
"Give me shiny things...."
"Ah, right." Raon smiled faintly as he opened his subspace pouch. He took out an even larger pile of gold coins than before and placed them in front of Gluttony.
"Hee!" Gluttony hugged the pile of gold coins, smiling as if she was happy to see them.
'Hm? Wait a minute....'
Raon's mouth formed a perfect circle as he watched Gluttony hugging the pile of gold coins.
'She's a Demon King.'
It was all so absurd when he thought about it - a Demon King running out of money and coming all the way to the edge of the continent, saving Edgar at his request, and smiling like a child at the sight of gold coins.
-Urgh! Wrath's fists trembled. -This is a disgrace to Demon Kings!
To be tamed by a mere human! He shook his head vigorously, as if he was embarrassed on Gluttony's behalf. '...I don't think she's the only one.'
Raon smacked his lips and approached Gluttony, who was putting gold coins in her mouth.
"Gluttony. You haven't killed any people, have you?"
"If I kill them, I can't eat bead ice cream. They make new flavors every month, so I can't kill them."
Gluttony shook her head, saying there were many other delicious things as well.
"I see you understand well."
It seemed he had trained her well, just as Wrath had said. -N-New flavors every month?
This king hasn't eaten like that! Wrath grabbed Gluttony by the collar. -*cough*
! Bring them to this king right now! *cough*! 'As expected....' Raon chuckled as he watched Wrath shouting while coughing.
'There are two of them.' Though Wrath would never admit it, the Demon Kings he had tamed were not one, but two.
"Come back when you run out of money." He urged her to return in order to renew the insurance policy named Gluttony.
"Okay."
Gluttony turned her back and disappeared, as if she no longer had any lingering attachments.
"No matter how much I think about it, I can't understand." Glenn let out a sigh, saying he couldn't comprehend why a being like Gluttony would be obsessed with mere gold coins.
"It's a long story, so I'll tell you later.
More importantly...." Raon bit his lip as he looked at Glenn.
"I'm sorry. Because of me, you might become a public enemy of the continent…."
"It's not you, but the path I chose."
Glenn smiled faintly and grabbed Raon's shoulder. "What meaning is there in being a Head of House if I don't protect my family?"
The thing he regretted most in his life was not failing to conquer the continent, but falling into darkness and destroying his family.
He was determined to protect Raon and everyone else even if the entire continent, not just the Dragons or the Five Demons, became Zieghart's enemy. "...Thank you."
Raon bowed his head, clutching his chest. Hearing Glenn's words about protecting them made his heart burn hot, as if his feelings had been conveyed.
-Now the old man is finally saying something I like! Wrath nodded, saying that a Head of House should protect their family.
"I'm so glad everyone survived." Raon clasped his hands together as he looked at Sylvia, Rector, and Edgar in turn.
Thinking that the family that had been separated for a lifetime was all gathered together, a smile naturally formed on his face.
"It's not everyone yet." Merlin shook her head slowly as she raised her body.
"You...." Glenn furrowed his brow as he looked at Merlin. "Ah, let this girl greet you, Grandfather."
Merlin smiled brightly as she lifted her blood-soaked skirt. "Gr-Grandfather...?"
Glenn froze, as if he had heard a word he could never have imagined. "Raon.
We still have the young lady left."
Merlin pointed at the fallen Sia with her finger.
"Hmm...."
Raon bit his lip as he looked at Sia. 'I'm not sure about her.'
Unlike Edgar, Sia had only shown the appearance of a monster king, not a human.
He wasn't certain if her soul was still intact. "I'm not sure if Sister's soul is still alive...."
"Then we should check." Merlin pointed at herself confidently with her thumb. "I can do it. No, we can do it."