Chapter 9: Greed
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
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Overwhelming fear fell over all of us. No matter who you are, you would've been scared shitless by this thing.
The sheer size would've been enough, but the face was pure evil. It was something even worse than any nightmare you could ever have.
Silence filled the air, not a single noise blowing in the wind. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Alex spoke.
Alex: "You are not welcome here, Demon!!!"
Alex had some serious balls to yell at that thing, definitely not something I would do. At first, Mammon didn't do a thing. He stood there, motionless and soundless. Then, with a sudden creepy grin, Mammon spoke in a high pitched, gravely voice.
Mammon: "Give me your souls!!!!!"
He motioned at a few of his Demons to begin their assault.
The second they got close enough, they triggered holy sigil traps set by Annis. Once activated, the sigils exploded, blowing the Demons apart. After that, the rest of the army held back.
Mammon: "Not very compliant, huh~?"
He held out his hand. In said hand, was a large pile of gold trinkets and coins.
Mammon: "I know who all of you are. Alex, Yuki, Nozomi, Asuka, even the great Draco Himeko! I've heard about how you've beaten both Belphegor and Asmodeus, very impressive. It seems your Dragons Bane is more valuable than we originally thought. Therefore, I shall offer you a deal. Join us and we shall give you all the riches in the world!! You can have anything your heart desires!!"
I immediately gained the courage I needed, just on what he said.
Draco: "Join the Devil?! Seriously?! Do you realize how stupid that sounds!! No way in hell!!"
Mammon grinned as his eyes went bloodshot.
Mammon: "Poor choice of words~"
He held his large bag in one hand and prepared to swing it downwards. I didn't exactly know what was in the sack, likely gold, but I knew it would destroy this building and us along with it.
Draco: "Get down!!!"
Nozomi held up her staff right as the bag hurdled down towards us.
Nozomi: "O Lord in Heaven, protect us with your blinding light!"
Surrounding the whole mansion, a barrier of pure light formed, almost like a force field. The large sack slammed down onto the barrier, creating a crack, however it stayed intact. The Demon army chose this time to resume their assault, battering the barrier with their weapons.
Nozomi: "H-Hurry up and figure something out! I don't know how long I can hold this!"
Alex and Yuki looked at each other and nodded. They suddenly jumped down off of the roof and landed on their feet, rushing toward the barrier. They both formed their weapons out of thin air like how Asuka taught me and ran into battle.
Alex and Yuki's bodies slipped straight out of the barrier as if it wasn't even there. Alex began to conjure flames on the blades of his katanas, slicing down Demon after Demon. Yuki simply used normal close combat with her daggers, slicing Demons' throats and stabbing them in multiple places. The two of them were beasts, killing Demons wth ease.
Asuka nudged me on the shoulder.
Asuka: "Want some action too?"
Draco: "I'm good, you can have fun though"
She smirked.
Asuka: "Scaredy Cat~"
She leaped off of the roof and formed her scythe mid air. She swung her scythe with so much force that she created a wind current that swept up a large number of Demons. With a single slice, all of them were cut clean in half.
Remind me to never piss her off, along with Yuki and Annis.
The three of them went on to kill nearly half of the army they had brought.
I bet you're wondering why I wasn't down there slashing away, right? Well, I'm something, as Asuka would call it, a scaredy cat. You can judge me all you want, but when you see something like this, come back and complain. Then maybe I'll take you seriously.
However something kept bugging me. This was too easy. I mean, yeah, we still had the Sin to worry about. But these Demons were going down way too quickly. Don't get me wrong, I know my friends are powerful, but it was like they weren't even putting up a fight.
My suspicions were confirmed when I noticed Mammon staring down at Alex and the others, a crooked grin on his face.
Draco: "It's a trap!!! Get back here!!!"
It was too late. The Demons had surrounded them completely. They drew them farther and farther away from the barrier until they weren't able to return behind it.
Mammon let out an ear piercing screech as he swung his sack at full speed.
Asuka: "On the ground!! Now!!"
Alex and Yuki immediately hit the dirt as Asuka slammed her hand onto the ground. Tendrils from the ground shot up and created a kind of dome made of dirt and rock.
Draco: "We have to help them!!"
Nozomi: "I-I'm a little busy!"
Shadow patted me on the back.
Shadow: "I've got your back"
I nodded and formed my sword.
Shadow: "Finally learned something, huh?"
I grinned.
Draco: "Just this, and something I need to experiment with"
He grabbed my arm.
Shadow: "You'll need it, hold on"
He dragged me along and leaped off of the roof.
Draco: "I hate heights!!!!!"
We landed on the ground, surprisingly not breaking any bones. Before we could even rush in, Mammon bellowed.
Mammon: "Asuka!! I knew that name sounded familiar!"
A silver trinket flew down from the sky, landing right in front of Asuka. The second she looked down at it, her eyes opened wide. She dropped her scythe and fell to her knees, picking up the trinket.
Alex: "A-Asuka! What's wrong?!"
Mammon: "So it is you!! How splendid!!"
Draco: "Shut up, Demon!!"
Yuki looked down at Asuka.
Yuki: "Now's not the time!!"
Tears ran down Asuka's face as her eyes grew fierce.
Asuka: "Y-You, y-you're the one...!!!"
Mammon: "So you finally recognize me then!! That's fantastic!!"
Alex: "You know this Sin?!"
Asuka: "H-He... he's the Demon who killed my parents...!!!!"
Mammon let out an insane cackle.
Mammon: "Right you are!! You traded your own family away just for some money!! You are truly a soul worthy of the Forth Circle! Your Greed was delicious!"
She clenched the pole of her scythe and screamed. She leaped into the air and swung her scythe.
Asuka: "I'll kill you!!!!!!"
Mammon simply backhanded her, sending her flying into a tree. She hit the ground hard, blood dripping out of her nose.
Draco: "Asuka!!!"
Energy coursed through my body as I ran towards her. Almost instinctively, I sliced down one Demon, then two, then three, and so on. Thinking back on it, I probably killed about twenty without realizing it. My rage fueled my power.
I saw a Demon about to pierce their sword right through Asuka's chest. I yelled at the top of my lungs and drove the sword straight into the Demon's neck, cutting it off completely. I knelt down to Asuka, who was completely unconscious.
If I had a nickel for every time she got injured—
Mammon: "I gave her a chance to become something better than her parents, but it looks like she wasted it by working for your God. She should've been working with us, since by the end of this war, we shall claim the earth and Heaven as our prize!!!"
The Demon army surrounded us.
Mammon: "This is kind of sad, you know? I came all this way because I heard all of you were a threat! I'm truly disappointed!"
The rage swelled in my chest until I couldn't take it anymore.
Draco: "Shut up...."
Mammon grinned.
Mammon: "What was that~? I couldn't hear you. You'll have to speak up~"
I turned my head towards him, my eyes turning pitch black.
Draco: "I SAID—"
I was suddenly punched in the back of the head.
Asuka: "S-Shut up, dummy. You're so loud"
I turned around and saw Asuka sitting up against the tree, wiping her nose of blood.
Asuka: "I'm fine, idiot. Did you really think I'd go down just like that?"
I smirked.
Asuka: "Don't answer that"
I helped her up onto her feet.
Draco: "Are you good to keep fighting?"
Asuka: "I think, I used my alchemy to soften the impact, but I still hurt my back pretty bad"
Alex and Yuki managed to work their way over to us.
Yuki: "You'll live, we have more pressing matters"
We all held our weapons ready.
Alex: "Draco, now's as good a time as any to activate your Dragon Bane"
Draco: "Annis!! Help me out!!"
Even from all the way out here, I could tell she was rolling her eyes. She then appeared in a flash of light right behind me.
Annis: "You can only do this once, then your body will need time to recover. Are you sure you want to do it now?"
Draco: "If I don't, we'll be dead within minutes"
Annis: "I can't believe this..."
Like last time, she went up behind me and pressed her hands against the sides of my head. This time, activating it was much easier on my body. My memories didn't rush into my head and all I got was my power boost.
Draco: "Thanks, Annis, I owe you one"
Annis: "You owe me infinitely more than one"
I ignored her.
Alex: "Draco, we'll cover you. Just do your best to take out Mammon"
Draco: "Got it, Asuka, mind lending a hand?"
Asuka: "It would be my pleasure"
Alex: "Yuki, you're with me. Take out as many as you can"
Yuki: "On it"
The battle ended as soon as it began. With a single surprise attack, Mammon slammed his sack into the barrier of the mansion. The impact was so great that the golden barrier shattered like glass. The sack crushed the mansion completely, sending debris and dust everywhere, even killing multiple groups of Demons.
Draco: "NOZOMI!!!!!!!"
I decided now was the time to test my new technique. I condensed a portion of my gained power into the blade of my sword, coating it in a purplish aura. This is what the book called Aether.
Draco: "AHHHHH!!!!!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs and swung my sword, sending a wave of Aether over an entire portion of the Demon army. The wave destroyed Demon after Demon, clearing a path for me to reach the destroyed mansion. However the wave continued past that, cutting the small hill behind the mansion in half too. Guess I didn't master it yet.
I sprinted at speeds I didn't know I was capable of. Thinking back, this was selfish. I abandoned my friends to find Nozomi, but rage and worry had taken over at this point.
Draco: "Nozomi!!! Where are you!!!"
I heard a cough behind a stone pillar. I ran over and saw Nozomi was trapped underneath some rubble. I grabbed the debris and threw it up with little to no issue. I picked her up and sat her down up against a wall.
Draco: "A-Are you okay?"
Nozomi: "I-I'm fine! Go help the others!"
I noticed some blood leaking out of her mouth.
Draco: "Y-You're bleeding!!"
Nozomi: "I'll be fine! They need your help more than I do....! If we don't kill Mammon, we'll all die anyways"
I hated that she always had to be right.
Draco: "Fine, but don't move"
I turned away and ran back to the sounds of weapons clashing.
Alex and Yuki were already surrounded by the bodies of dead Demons while Asuka was using her alchemy to keep Mammon from crushing them. She kept using some kind of tendrils made of dirt and rock in the ground to block any attacks.
This is what we were waiting for, Mammon was distracted. I ran towards his legs, swinging my sword with all the strength I possessed. With one swing, his foot was sliced off. While he was off balance, I ran for the other one, slicing that one off too. Without feet, Mammon fell back and hit the ground hard, creating a mini earthquake.
Draco: "Asuka!!!!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath me began to shake. Without warning, it shot up like one of Asuka's tendrils, shooting me high up into the air. Directly below me, Mammon glared up at me.
Mammon: "You aren't as dumb as you look!! I'm impressed!!"
I condensed more Aether into my sword, preparing to cut Mammon's head clean off. However something was off, this was way too easy. Easier than Belphegor, which it definitely shouldn't have been.
Mammon suddenly bellowed.
Mammon: "If you think it's this easy to kill a Sin, you don't really understand what we are!!"
Before I could respond, his long, bony hand shot up and grabbed me, squeezing me tight. Mammon let out an ear piercing cackle.
Mammon: "God is truly a fool if he decided to give someone like you the Dragon Bane!! You don't even understand the basics of it!! But don't worry, my Master will find a good use for it"
Alex: "Let him go!!!"
Alex attempted to free me by shooting a funnel of pure flames from his palms, however Mammon simply batted it to the side.
Mammon: "This is what Belphegor lost to? This is it? What a joke!!"
Mammon tossed me high into the air, so high I was probably above the clouds. As I fell, my life flashed before my eyes.
I was getting sick and tired of seeing my life.
Terror shot through my body as I plummeted towards the ground. Dragon Bane activated or not, I would die from the impact.
Draco: "HELLP!!!!!!"
That was the only thing I could scream, I couldn't think of anything better. I forced my eyes open and saw Asuka running in my direction. She yelled, however I couldn't hear it with the wind blowing in my ears.
She slammed her hand onto the ground. A large pillar of dirt shot up, launching her into the air like I was. Her aim was dead on. She flew straight into me, wrapping her arms around me.
Draco: "W-Why did you do that?!"
Asuka: "To save you!!"
Draco: "How?!"
Asuka: "I-I didn't think that part through!!!"
Great, instead of just dying alone, I had Asuka to go with me.
Asuka reached her hand into her hoodie pocket.
Asuka: "Hold on!! I've never tested this before!!!"
I held her tight, which in any other circumstance would've made me blush.
She pulled out a pair of Lego wings, bright gold in color. They were connected to a large spear in the center. She held them out.
Asuka: "Transmogrify!!!"
The wings began to grow larger and larger until they were full size. Almost immediately, we were slowing down since the wings were acting like a glider. Asuka used alchemy to strap it to my back, making me hold her so she didn't fall.
Draco: "Smart thinking, but Legos? Really?"
Asuka: "I needed something small and durable. Be thankful, these Legos just saved your sorry butt"
As we glided, rocks hurdled up at us. Mammon was throwing massive boulders into the sky like they were baseballs.
Draco: "Hold on!!"
I tilted my body downwards so we would shoot straight down. I swerved to avoid boulders and hunks of dirt.
Draco: "When I say, get ready to let go"
Asuka: "W-What?!"
Draco: "Just do it!!"
As we got closer and closer to the ground, the risk became greater. Right before we hit the ground, I yelled.
Draco: "Let go!! Now!!"
The second I yelled that, I tilted my body so we flattened out, nearly 5 feet above the ground. Asuka let go and rolled onto the ground. I tilted my body upwards, making me fly back into the air.
This is exactly what I needed. Though the second Mammon saw what I was doing, his voice went flat and just plain confused.
Mammon: "What are you doing?"
Draco: "Time to Toby Maguire Spider-Man this shit!"
I flew directly towards Mammon, ready to impale him with the large spike at the tip of the wings.
Draco: "Go back to hell!!!!!"
At the last second, I ripped it off of my hoodie, tearing a hole in the back of it. As I fell, I looked up to see the spear fly straight into Mammon's forehead, piercing his skull.
Mammon collapsed to the ground, his skin turning a darker grey as the rest of his Demon army vanished into their own shadows.
As I fell to the ground, I realized a fatal flaw in my plan. I didn't have a way to break my fall.
Suddenly, I felt Shadow grab onto me.
Shadow: "Hold on!!"
Right before we hit the ground, a massive circle of pure shadows formed below us. We fell straight into it, darkness engulfing us.
When light appeared in my eyes again, we were on the ground, Shadow propping me up with my arm over his shoulders.
Draco: "C-Crap, why am I so sore...? I can barely move..."
Shadow: "You still activated your Dragon Bane, so it used up a lot of your energy"
Alex, Yuki, and Asuka all ran over to me. Asuka grabbed onto me and hugged me tight. However the second she did, Shadow quickly let go of me.
Asuka: "I-I'm so glad you're okay. You are such an idiot!!"
Draco: "I-I know, I'm an idiot"
I looked over at Alex and saw he had cuts all over his body, a little blood got in his eye.
Draco: "You good?"
Alex: "Yeah, this is nothing"
Yuki: "Where did you put Nozomi?"
Draco: "She's over by the mansion—"
I looked back at the mansion and saw it was completely destroyed. The initial impact only broke half of the building, however the debris destroyed the rest.
Draco: "Oh God... Yuki... I'm sorry"
Yuki: "I don't care about the damn mansion!!"
She ran into the destroyed remains of the mansion in search of Nozomi.
I noticed Shadow was looking up at the body of Mammon, which still didn't disappear.
Shadow: "Something's not right"
Draco: "What do you mean?"
Alex: "He's right, that was too easy. Compared to Belphegor, this guy was a pushover"
Draco: "Maybe we just got lucky? Or maybe Mammon was just the weakest of the Sins"
Alex: "Maybe..."
Shadow: "He is the weakest in power, however he shouldn't be this weak"
Suddenly, before any of us could react, Mammon's body began to shrink. It shrunk down so much that he almost started to look human. His dead by laid on the ground, however he was still at least 10 feet tall.
Asuka: "I don't like this"
Crack
His finger twitched.
Alex: "He's still alive!!!"
Asuka slammed her hands onto the ground, making dirt rise from the ground and surround Mammon's body in a dome of dirt.
Asuka: "Transmogrify!!"
The dirt dome suddenly shifted into pure steel.
Draco: "How is he still alive?!"
Shadow: "I don't know, but we can't just stand here!!"
A hand broke through the steel and hung out from the dome. Then another, then a leg, then the other.
With a single movement, Mammon shot standing up as if the steel wasn't even there. He tilted his head to look at us, his psychotic grin even more disturbing.
Mammon: "I have to admit, that was quite unexpected!"
He slowly started limping over to us.
Mammon: "It's rare that someone like you could actually kill me!"
Draco: "H-How—"
Mammon: "Since you did kill me, I will honor you with this information at the very least"
Alex shot off a ball of fire from his hands, however Mammon simply let it hit him. His head was now on fire, but he didn't seem phased.
Mammon: "My Master has gifted me with a very helpful ability. Every time I die, I come back more powerful than before. So fighting is futile~"
Alex ran up to cut him down, however he simply sidestepped and slammed his foot into Alex's stomach. Alex fell to the ground, clenching his stomach.
Draco: "Alex!!!!"
Mammon: "Despite everything that's happened within my time as a Demon, I still find myself pitying you humans. You're caught up in a war that isn't your own, all to serve your God while he does nothing to aid you"
Mammon picked Alex up by his neck.
Draco: "Let him go!!!"
Shadow attempted to intervene, however Mammon held up his finger.
Mammon: "One step closer and his neck snaps~"
We all froze, not knowing what to do.
Mammon: "Normally, I wouldn't resort to this kind of thing, however I would like to end this as soon as possible. So if you would, Draco, come with me to see my Master~ He's been dying to meet you~"
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Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've been really busy lately and I haven't had much time to write.
I know my stories aren't the best and I know most people will hate my stories, but for the few who do read and enjoy them, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I see you in the next one!!
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