Chapter 280: Mammon (4)
Kaiwan felt embarrassed when Yukrasion seemed to be sincerely concerned about her, unlike other masters who just enjoyed exchanging banter with her lightly.
She pondered over how to respond to Yukrasion’s question for a moment then just filled the glass instead of replying.
In the meantime, the Queen of Fury and her bodyguards filled up their glasses.
Kirtimuka, who was filling the queen’s wine glass, asked in a subtle voice, “Aren’t you going to see him?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I am talking about.”
Covering her mouth with a big hand, Kirtimuka laughed frivolously. Although the queen was innocent, she knew the meaning of Kirtimuka’s loaded question.
With her face blushing, the queen snapped, “Hey, can’t you stop talking nonsense?”
Kirtimuka said, shaking her head again, “I know you haven’t had a wedding ceremony, but…”
The queen was at a loss, not knowing how to respond.
Gardimundi, who was watching them quietly, just smiled at the queen.
Since the Queen of Fury became the King of Greed’s subordinate spirit, the status of Gardimundi and Kirtimuka was also changed Their master-subordinate spirit relationship with the queen was still maintained, but they could no longer influence each other. As a result, Gardimundi and Kirtimuka could not share the power that the queen newly gained after becoming the King of Greed’s subordinate spirit.
With the war with a fatal influence on the fate of the demon world just around the corner, Kirtimuka was busy bantering with the Queen of Fury. Even though the battle for the devil’s fate was only a few days ahead, it was good to see Kirtimuka bantering with the queen, while the queen was struggling to get out of her embarrassing suggestion. Rather than shuddering with fear of the war, they tried to shake it off by spending their time as happily as they could.
After agonizing for a moment, Gardimundi also decided to chime in with Kirtimuka, her long-cherished foe. She knew her behavior was rude to the queen, but at the same time, she found it so amusing to see the queen sweating, bungling, and shuffling when she was strongly asked to go to Yong-ho’s bedroom.
When her two faithful friends as well as subordinate spirits started teasing her at the same time, the queen was so embarrassed as to feel like crying anytime.
<hr />
Gusion and Scathach said nothing, holding each other in their arms. They enjoyed each other’s warmth through close physical contact.
They didn’t need any new resolution. They cried bitter tears enough on the day when they had to see Mammon leaving alone to save the demon world. They didn’t have to go to the trouble of renewing their determination that they had made during the past one thousand years.
Scathach kissed Gusion’s lips. Gusion hugged her slender body tightly.
Yustia didn’t read the star sign cards. In a situation like this, she was just following her fate like she did a thousand years ago.
Yuno didn’t blame Yustia. She went to see Richard, who kept silent all the time. He was tight-lipped, standing there like a rock as he had done a thousand years ago.
But he was far from dumb. Yuno still remembered Richard’s voice and his screaming back then.
Mammon’s 12 Spirits didn’t talk to each other. They just remembered the past and brushed up on the common goal they had shared.
<hr />
A red carpet was laid on the floor of the captain’s seat of the giant red dragon Tiamet.
Catalina and Eligos were by the side of Yong-ho, who sat down with a straw mat on it.
Skull rolled on the floor here and there.
Although Skull gained the status of Avatar of Death, something like a mythical being, he just enjoyed rolling on the floor like he used to. Yong-ho grinned, recalling the days when Skull was a skeleton worker.
Eligos was baking pancakes directly in front of Yong-ho. That was a familiar scene Yong-ho was exposed to every day when he just became the master of the House of Mammon.
Eligos had much fewer wrinkles than before, and his strong build looked good, but he had one thing that didn’t change at all like Skull. He was still Yong-ho’s butler at the House of Mammon.
“It smells good.”
“It’s almost done.”
Smiling warmly, Eligos slowly turned the frying pan on a simple stove that Yong-ho had bought from the human world.
It was because of Yong-ho’s request that Eligos suddenly baked pancakes. Although he was not in the room of the demon king at the House of Mammon, Yong-ho felt nostalgic, watching the straw mat on the carpet, Skull on the floor, and Eligos baking the pancakes.
Yong-ho always saw this kind of scene in the RPG games he had played or from the cartoons he watched as a child. Namely, right before the final battle, the fighters gathered together and chatted among themselves in a relaxed mood.
At the time, Yong-ho grumbled, unable to understand why they looked so miserable before the final battle, but he seemed to understand now as he was in the same situation. When he was faced with a big, probably final battle with the fate of the demon world at stake, he wanted to chat with his subordinate spirits or his colleagues.
On that day five years ago, or exactly six years ago, his father said something like this, “The blood of the demon king flows through our family.”
And five years later, Catalina and Eligos visited Yong-ho himself.
So many things happened after that.
He survived life-threatening moments so many times. There were so many things that he would not have experienced if he had been a normal college freshman in the human world.
Yong-ho turned his head to the side. Catalina, whose eyes were weak in the morning and strong at night, was staring at the pancakes with her eyes shining.
“Catalina, you’re still the same.”
“Pardon?”
Catalina looked back at Yong-ho, flapping her ears a bit.
Watching her reaction, he clicked his tongue.
“At first, I thought you were really a cool knight here. But you were weak and dumb.”
He suddenly recalled her getting cold feet when he asked her if she could confront Crimson Ogre. Pouting her lips, Catalina touched his arm by flapping her tail. Since she was so timid, she expressed her protest and anger like that.
Right at that moment, Yong-ho opened his eyes wide and raised his voice.
“Uh? What the heck?”
Catalina was embarrassed because Yong-ho was disturbed by her flapping tail, so she immediately calmed down her tail, pretending to be innocent.
But it wasn’t because she flapped her tail to touch his arm that he reacted like that.
In fact, he would not be upset or feel bad even if Catalina hit him with her tail.
Bursting into laughter, he said, “Is your evolution EXP already full?”
The evolution EXP could be acquired not only through combat but also through one’s daily life. Actually, Catalina’s evolution EXP was already full when she flapped her tail just once.
It wasn’t long before Yong-ho proceeded with synthetic reinforcement of Catalina, but her evolution was done a long time ago.
“Stay still.”
Yong-ho then activated the power of evolution.
Somehow, he saw the window of her evolutionary status after a long time.
[Name: Catalina (Female)]
[Race/Title: Shadow Queen (Mixed Demon)]
[Category: Demon (Superior)]
[Attribute: Wind Level 4 / Darkness Level 10]
[Individual nature]
[Innocent/Dumb/Seductive]
[Individual aptitude]
[Charm / Mana / Agility / Skill]
[Evolution EXP: 100/100]
[Attraction Specialization Level 7 | ★★★★★☆(5.5)]
[Fitness Specialization Level 5 | ★★★★☆(4.5)]
[Agility Specialization Level 9 | ★★★★★★(6)]
[Mana Specialization Level 9 | ★★★★★☆(5.5)]
[Skill Specialization Level 8 | ★★★★★☆(5.5)]
[Attribute Enhancement Level 7 | ★★★★★☆(5.5)]
Her evolutionary status was so splendid that it could not even be compared with when Yong-ho first met her. He couldn’t help but laugh after checking her individual nature.
Innocent, dumb, and seductive was the exact description of Catalina as she was now.
“Okay, let me have you go through evolution after a long time.”
Catalina was glad to hear him mention ‘evolution.’ She flapped her ears and blushed when Yong-ho openly talked about her individual nature marked by ‘innocent, dumb, and seductive.’
She erected her tail tightly as she was nervous at the moment.
[Master.]
[Your anguish is rising sharply.]
“Skullkull.”
Skull laughed heartily, and Eligos also laughed warmly.
With Catalina at a loss of what to do, Yong-ho put his hands on her thighs. It wasn’t because he was sexually aroused. In fact, the day he first discovered Aamon, he wanted to recreate the moment when he had evolved Catalina.
After all, Catalina also laughed, but he focused his consciousness.
Then he activated the power of evolution.
<hr />
It was late into the night. While everyone was sleeping, Sitri woke up alone and looked into the darkness. She felt it was the same as in the past, but this time, she felt different.
It was the same that a final battle was going on under the celestial door, but this time, the target and purpose of the battle were different.
There was no unjust betrayal this time. It was a simple fight that they should confront the enemy, namely the celestial world with their might.
Sitri reflected on the past, as always. She recalled the bitterest and clearest memory in her life.
Namely, the moment when Mammon died in her arms.
The moment she herself ended Mammon’s last breathing.
Back then, Mammon had told her not to cry. He was even smiling during his last moment.
“Mammon.”
There was Mammon’s tomb in the unclaimed area under the place where the celestial door was opened. It commanded a good view of Yong-ho’s final battle with the King of Pride.
Sitri hugged her own shoulders. Recalling Mammon’s last smile, she once again renewed her determination. She firmly decided that she would not repeat the same mistake under any circumstances.
It was already very late into the night, but it didn’t take long for Sitri to feel that dawn was breaking slowly.
<hr />
The northern forces headed for the promised land.
The southern forces also headed for the promised land.
It was the land where the celestial door was opened one thousand and several hundreds of years ago.
There was nothing left in the land after the great war on that day.
The main pillar of the southern forces was the tribesmen of the eight clans. When the forces under the command of the Queen of Fury joined the southern forces, they numbered almost 60,000.
The Dragon Legion now boasted of their strongest power since they were founded.
The number of dragons was over one hundred and thirty, and among them, the number of fully grown ancient dragons was twenty-three. The number of flying beasts and flying monsters following the Dragon Legion was almost 10,000.
The flying fleet of the House of Mammon, backed by the main forces of the Dungeon Market with the support of Sitri and Samael, strongly reinforced the Dragon Legion. The spectacular grandeur of the 23 flying monsters flying through the sky stood out even when more than one hundred dragons were filling the sky.