Chapter 676

Raon swallowed nervously, watching the pieces of frost slowly subsiding to the land.

‘Demonic Field Creation…? No way… Did he imitate the Sword Field Creation?’

Wrath had always told him that he didn’t know much about formations or boundaries. The fact that he’d used a boundary to amplify his demonic energy despite having always destroyed everything with sheer power implied that he’d created the technique after watching Raon’s Sword Field Creation.

“That is the King of Essence’s boundary, created after watching your martial art and tenacity.” Wrath nonchalantly nodded, as if he were answering his question. “How is it? Isn’t the King of Essence’s Demonic Field Creation a lot more beautiful than your Sword Field Creation?”

He smiled cheerfully, picking up a leaf-shaped piece of frost on his hand.

‘My Sword Field Creation is way better, but I have to admit, the Demonic Field Creation is more suitable for you.’

Raon nodded at Wrath, who couldn’t hear his voice.

“It’s obvious that you won’t acknowledge it, but the Flower in the Snow is the best for the King of Essence.”

Wrath raised his chin arrogantly, showing that his mind wasn’t going to change no matter what anyone said.

‘To be honest…’ Raon bit his lip slightly as he observed Wrath’s confident back. ‘I didn’t expect you to say that about me…’

Wrath had described his back as the back of a swordsman who never gave up. Raon had thought that Wrath had been laughing at him whenever he trained because of the huge difference in power between them, but he was gravely mistaken. He had acknowledged his tenacity and will in his heart.

In fact, the slashes executed through the Flower in the Snow utilized the principles of basic swordsmanship that Raon had been practicing every single day ever since he’d started wielding a sword.

His heart was filled with passion upon learning Wrath’s true feelings. He felt confident that he could advance even higher.

“Just wait a bit longer. It’s not over yet.” Wrath raised his eyes, which were glowing the color of winter. “Greed, how long are you planning to feign death?” He pointed his finger at the dark sky. “Let’s put an end to this before the lizards arrive.”

A long fissure suddenly appeared amid the moonlight and an old gold coin, as if it were reacting to his words.

“You’ve become quicker to notice.” Greed’s composed voice came from the dusty gold coin.

“Show yourself, Greed.”

“You don’t need to rush me so much.”

A faint golden radiance spread out from the gold coin, and Greed returned to his original form. However, his shirt was completely shredded and his body was covered in injuries, suggesting that the blow he’d taken had been quite dangerous.

“After all, the dragons won’t be able to arrive any time soon.”

“What do you mean by that?” Wrath narrowed his eyes, gazing up at Greed.

“They have business to attend to.” He casually tapped on his wrist, saying that they were going to be a bit late.

“What have you been doing?”

“A merchant makes money, what else? Today was a huge loss, though…” Greed casually shook his hand. “Because I had to spend a hundred million just to survive.”

‘A hundred million?’ Raon gasped upon hearing his words. ‘Did he summon that scale again?’

Raon assumed that Greed had summoned the scale again to spend a hundred million gold coins in order to survive Wrath’s Demonic Field Creation.

“That boundary’s power was suitable for you. I really would’ve died without the scale. However…” Greed’s voice sank, deep and heavy. “Next time will be different.”

He wasn’t just confident. He was declaring it for sure.

“No, your head will roll at our next encounter.” Wrath twisted his lips, glaring at Greed’s golden eyes.

‘Hmm…’ Raon furrowed his brow, watching as Wrath remained immobile. ‘Is he at his limit?’

Just as the Sword Field Creation exhausted all of the strength from the swordsman, Wrath’s Demonic Field Creation should’ve also consumed most of his demonic energy. It could be expected that he didn’t have much time or demonic energy left.

“By the way, Wrath,” Greed chuckled, leaning backward mid-air. “That boundary you used, it was similar to Zieghart’s Sword Field Creation. By any chance…” His eyes glowed a vivid yellow. “Are you raising a human?”

“A hustler is talking shit again.” Wrath bared his teeth, as white as the snow at dawn. “The King of Essence doesn’t raise anyone. The unripe simply flock to his embrace. If you are going to keep going with your bullshit…” He raised his finger.

“Ah, no thanks. My warehouse is going to be depleted if we keep fighting any further. Well, I guess there couldn't be two demon kings who decided to raise humans.”

“Two? What do you mean…?”

“......” Greed smiled faintly without answering his question. “I’ll be taking my leave now, because I feel like Gluttony is going to eat me at this rate.”

“Slurp…” Gluttony was actually licking her lips while watching Greed as he floated in the air. “The next time we meet… Ah, they appeared faster than I thought.”

Greed started to raise his finger but stopped himself. He looked right and left, then shrugged his shoulders. “Wrath, I’ll pay the price for failing to recognize you with this.”

As soon as he finished speaking, huge wings that seemed to be made of gold burst from his back. A suffocating amount of demonic energy covered the night sky again.

Whoosh!

Greed flew to the west, suppressing Wrath and Gluttony’s presence with his own, and the red and blue sparks appeared afterward to follow him.

Raon’s eyes widened as he watched the golden radiance shine the most brilliantly among the multicolored flashes.

‘The dragon lord?’

The energy was familiar. The dragon lord and the other dragons were starting to follow Greed.

‘Is that what he meant by paying the price?’ Greed seemed to have implied that he would pay the price for suspecting Wrath by luring the dragons with him. ‘He said he was a merchant…’

Since Greed had referred to himself as a merchant, he must’ve been trying to keep his credibility with that.

Wrath watched the dragons chasing after Greed for a while before he shifted his gaze. He confirmed the Light Wind Division’s state, unconscious under the frosty tree, then headed to Gluttony’s side.

“Gluttony, conceal your demonic energy.”

“Why?” Gluttony tilted her head, unable to understand the reason.

“It’ll be annoying if the lizards follow us.”

“We can just eat them if they come here, just like back then.” She licked her lips in anticipation.

‘Huh…?’ Raon gasped while looking at Gluttony’s tongue. ‘Did he eat with her back then?’

It was absurd, but Raon also felt like it was fully possible because they were both food wasters.

“Tsk tsk.” Wrath clicked his tongue at her pathetic statement. “You haven’t changed, still eating pebbles on the ground like a beggar.”

“Then what else am I supposed to eat?” Gluttony chewed and swallowed a steel frame that’d been engulfed in demonic energy.

“Have you ever…” Wrath curled his lips into a smile, looking into Gluttony’s blurry eyes. “Heard of bead ice cream?”

After Gluttony concealed her demonic energy, Wrath brought her to the bead ice cream shop. The ceiling had collapsed, but not all of the shop was destroyed thanks to the pillars inside.

“Enter.”

Wrath confirmed that no one was inside and called Gluttony into the shop. He almost looked like a child, inviting his friend to his home.

“What is bead ice cream?” Gluttony lifted her chin, her eyes showing no interest in the matter.

“It is the whole reason for humanity’s existence, and the demon god’s blessing.”

‘What…?’ Raon let out a dry laugh, almost sighing. ‘Since when did a human’s creation become the demon god’s blessing?!’

The more ridiculous part was that it was apparently the reason for humanity’s existence. Raon fell speechless because of how absurd it was.

“Hnng.”

Wrath went over the counter and headed to where the ice cream was located while humming. The magical device must’ve broken, as the ice cream had melted slightly, but he used his frost to freeze the ice cream again.

“This has been missed so much!” He panted with an expression of exhilaration, as if he’d just witnessed God.

“Is this the so-called ice cream?” Gluttony pouted, saying that the quantity wasn’t enough.

“The quantity isn’t the important part! Shove it down first before you speak!” Wrath frowned at Gluttony and picked up a scooping spoon. “This is such a long-awaited day.”

He started to scoop the ice cream into a freezer box with tears leaking from his eyes. The movement of his hands was even faster than a swift swordsman even though it must’ve been his first time doing it.

‘This demon…’ Raon shook his head, watching Wrath transfer the bead ice cream. ‘He was saving his strength.’

Greed had been hiding his power, but Wrath hadn’t gone all out either. The reason for that was because he wanted to eat the ice cream afterward. He must’ve regretted having to return to his original form before he could eat during the previous manifestation.

The demon king was such a huge food waster, to the point that it was getting unbearable.

“All done!”

Wrath came out from the counter after putting all types of bead ice cream into the freezer box. He handed over one of the boxes to Gluttony, a mountain of ice cream raised from it.

“Try it out.”

“Hmm…” Gluttony slowly observed the bead ice cream before she summoned the white mouth. “It’s too small. It’s going to be over in a single bite.”

She opened the white mouth faintly and put the ice cream inside.

“You food waster!”

Wrath couldn’t suppress his urge and strongly smacked the back of Gluttony’s head. The loud smacking sound echoed inside the empty shop.

“Ack…” Gluttony hung her head, then rolled her eyes. “Why did you hit me…?”

“You aren’t supposed to eat it like a savage! Pig out with your real mouth!” Wrath shook his head, saying that she didn’t know the correct way to eat it.

‘Err…’

Raon also had a dumbfounded expression on his face as he watched Wrath and Gluttony. They were supposed to be the demon kings, yet their energies and appearances were the only things that were surreal about them. They were acting like idiots.

“Uhh…”

Gluttony removed the white mouth while scratching the back of her head. She opened her real lips and took a bite of the bead ice cream.

Crunch.

As soon as the biting sound of the ice cream could be heard, Gluttony’s blurry eyes started to sparkle as clearly as rubies.

“…What is this?”

“Ufufu.” Wrath nodded, having expected her reaction. “This is what you call true taste, food waster.”

He patted Gluttony’s shoulder as if he’d mastered everything about the human realm.

“It’s tasty. It’s really delicious.” Gluttony smiled happily and kept eating the bead ice cream.

“Eat this one! This green ice cream is the best one!”

Wrath pointed at the mint chocolate that was placed at the edge. There was a significant amount, implying that Wrath wanted to recommend it to her.

“Alright.”

Gluttony nodded and put the mint chocolate into her mouth. It didn’t even take a second before she poked her tongue out.

“I don’t like this.”

She shook her head for the first time.

“What’s wrong with your taste?!”

‘She has great taste when it comes to food.’ Wrath furrowed his brow and Raon nodded. ‘Yeah, you can fully enjoy it for today.’ Raon chuckled, watching Wrath enjoy the ice cream with Gluttony. ‘You saved us.’

Raon thought that it would be nice if Wrath could enjoy the ice cream for a bit longer, but Wrath quietly murmured to him, “Raon Zieghart, you’ll be paying for the ice cream here.”

‘What the hell, man?’

* * *

Wrath and Gluttony finally stopped moving their hands after eating like no tomorrow, finishing all of the ice cream in the shop. Raon sighed while looking at Wrath’s protruding belly.

‘I’m definitely getting a stomachache today.’

It looked like Wrath’s body, but it was actually his own. There was no way he was going to be fine when he’d filled his empty stomach with so much ice cream.

“Ugh…” Gluttony even started to chew on the metallic container after finishing all of the ice cream. “This tastes like strawberry.”

She smiled happily, satisfied with the small amount of ice cream smeared on the container.

“Gluttony, stop it and come out.” Wrath grabbed the nape of Gluttony’s neck and dragged her out. “The King of Essence forgot because he was occupied with the food, but he has something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?” Gluttony tilted her head, wondering what he was talking about.

“Indeed. Do you remember what the King of Essence told you earlier?”

“Which part?”

“He asked you to give him your authority.” Wrath shook his finger with a grin on his face.

‘Don’t tell me!’

Raon widened his eyes while looking at Wrath. Judging from his smile, he seemed to be planning to tell her that he didn’t need that authority.

‘You’re being so sly…’

Since he’d only promised to protect him from Greed, he definitely looked like he was trying to stop him from getting Gluttony’s authority.

‘I need to drive him out.’

Being unable to gain greed was a natural outcome, but he couldn’t miss out on gluttony. Raon unleashed the power of his soul that had been keeping aside so far.

“About that…”

Just as Wrath was about to continue with an evil smile on his face, the power of Raon's soul mustered by the Ring of Fire pushed away Wrath’s soul and returned it to the center of his body.

Whaap!

The blue demon king’s body suddenly shrunk, returning Raon to his original appearance.

“…What?” Gluttony simply blinked without being surprised because she’d already witnessed the transformation.

“We actually need to get it done quickly. Hand over your authority right now.” Raon raised his chin sharply, pretending to be Wrath as soon as he recovered his body.

Cough! D-don’t do it!

Wrath shook his hand while letting out a few dry coughs after returning to being cotton candy, but Gluttony obviously couldn’t hear him.

Oh, damn it! Too much time was wasted while eating!

He screamed loudly, saying that he’d spent all the time available to him eating the ice cream.

‘Haa…’ Raon exhaled briefly. ‘My mind is hazy.’

Both his body and mind were ruined by the Demon King’s Advent. He couldn’t even tell exactly how injured he was or how much of a loss he’d suffered.

However, he couldn’t just collapse yet. He had to get Gluttony’s authority at the cost of his life.

“What a complicated way of asking for it.” Gluttony nodded while pouting.

N-no! Don’t do it! Don’t give him anything further!

‘This is why you shouldn’t have eaten so much ice cream.’

Ugh, but who knows when this chance will come around again?!

Wrath shook his head while sniffling.

‘Anyway, it’s all over now.’

While Raon was pushing Wrath away as he kept struggling, Gluttony grabbed his wrist.

Whir!

A sticky and void emotion entered his body through Gluttony’s hand. It had a similar feeling to when he’d obtained Wrath, Sloth, and Envy’s emotions, yet different at the same time.

Psh!

Once Gluttony took her hand off, a white flower bracelet was formed around his wrist.

“I’ve made it to have the same shape as the others.”

“Ah, it’s a flower…” Raon lamented. He couldn’t afford to request the shape he wanted because he had to push Wrath away in a hazy state.

Damn it! That one should’ve been prevented at all costs!

Wrath clutched his head, despairing over the worst outcome.

‘It can’t be helped since it already happened. I’ll need to get something else to go with it instead.’

“Gluttony.” Raon raised the white flower bracelet toward Gluttony. “Can you make it activate faster?”

“I’ll get hungry if I do that though…”

“Then I’ll give you something that allows you to eat bead ice cream in other locations, too.”

“Something that allows me to eat ice cream?”

“Yes.” Raon nodded and took out a pile of gold from his subspace pocket.

N-no!

Wrath shook his head so quickly that his mouth wasn’t visible anymore.

You’ll be ruined too if you help him! He is going to destroy the entirety of Devildom!

“Head to wherever it smells like ice cream and hand over those gold coins. It’ll allow you to eat all you want.”

Raon ignored Wrath and showed the gold coins to Gluttony.

“Oh…” Gluttony nodded in agreement and touched the flower bracelet.

Whap.

Once she removed her hand, a faint life force started to emanate from the white flower petals.

“Just take a nap and it’ll be awakened.”

“Thank you.” Raon nodded and gave the gold pile to Gluttony.

Uhh, damn it!

Wrath furiously ground his teeth.

You’ve gained gluttony and the food waster over there can have more ice cream now. You are both infuriating! Cough!

He punched in the air, cursing both Raon and Gluttony.

But there’s one fortunate thing about all of this.

Wrath let out a small sigh.

‘A fortunate thing?’

You would’ve become a real monster if you gained Greed’s emotions. It was a great choice to let him go.

Wrath shook his head, saying that he would never allow Raon to have an easy path even though he acknowledged his tenacity.

‘Wait, I thought you were running out of time, but did you actually let him leave on purpose?’

Ufufu, the King of Essence will stop you from having your wa—

It was just as a faint smile surfaced on his face…

[You’ve gained Gluttony’s favor.]

[You were acknowledged by Wrath.]

[You forced Greed to retreat.]

[You’ve achieved the impossible.]

W-wait a moment, it can’t be…

The messages scrolled up rapidly, as if they were reacting to the trembling Wrath.

N-no!

Wrath shouted loudly.

The King of Essence did most of that. Why are you rewarding him instead?!

‘With all these rewards…’ Raon rubbed Gluttony’s flower bracelet while watching Wrath cry in despair. ‘It’s worth wearing a flower bracelet!’

Shut up!

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Harley]