Life 3. The Seven Deadly Sins, Part 2 –Greed & Envy–

Part 1 – Greed

I, Haruka Sorami, am standing close to my Exorcist friends, María and Nero. Our opponent is no other than The Sin of Greed, Paddad Mammon.

"Nero, long times no see! It's great to see you again, since last time you escaped death with the power of [Evil Pieces], but now there's no running away!"

"Paddad, I'm no longer allowed to go to the Vatican because of your acts. Virgilio and I will never be able to recover our old friendship."

"Oh, shame on you! That Angel and you won't be able to be as close as before, so what? As a Devil, ruining a human's life is just a part of my job!"

Nero puts on an angered face towards Paddad's words. María also appears to be mad at Paddad, probably because he made Nero angry.

I grip Arondight and point it towards Paddad. He hurt my friends' feelings, so I must repay him! I charge towards Paddad using my Knight! However, he's nowhere to be found once I got close to him.

"Oh, you idiot! Did you forget the power my magic, [Top Speed]?!"

Paddad is now right behind Nero and María. He's right, I forgot about his magic. [Top Speed] allows him to move faster than the eye can perceive, so it's extremely hard to keep up with his moves.

Nero tried to attack Paddad using Durandal, but he blocked the attack by using the Demonic Emperor Sword. That's Paddad's characteristic weapon, the legendary Demonic Sword Gram.

"You still have no idea how to fight against me, don't you? I don't need to use my full power, as long you're unable to hit me, there's no way I can lose!"

Paddad says that before suddenly appearing between us. We're unable to see him move, how are we meant to fight against him?

María summons her knights with her [Balance Breaker], so they try to attack Paddad, but he starts attacking one after the other. By taking the chance he's distracted, Nero launches holy waves to attack Paddad!

"It won't work on me!"

Paddad responds his attack by creating waves with Gram! Not only that, but he also destroyed some knights in the process.

María runs in between her knights, charging against Paddad! Just in the moment she slashes, Paddad uses Gram to block her double attack.

"Nero, using Gram like that is extremely harmful for the user, right?"

"Yes, Haruka, it's just as you say. I heard that just swinging it drains a lot of stamina and other departments, such as demonic power. Using it as much as Paddad does… I'll be surprised if he hasn't trimmed his lifetime severely."

Just like I thought, Paddad's fighting style is basically suicidal. By combining his super speed and Gram's power, he's an extremely difficult opponent to fight against. However, because of his overuse of the Demonic Emperor Sword, his stamina should run out relativity fast for an Ultimate-class Devil.

Since there's no way we can win over Paddad on a normal fight, we must force this into a stamina fight. Like that, we'll consume his stamina as much as possible until he becomes unable to keep fighting.

Once María's knights were destroyed, she came back with us, so I explained her and Nero my plan. As they nod to my idea, Paddad looks at us.

"I don't see how you feel you have slimmest chance of winning; I'm Paddad Mammon! By using the power of Gram and my unbelievable speed, no one can defeat me!"

Paddad disappears from our view! Nero launches multiple waves of holy energy all over the place, but Paddad blocks them by using Gram. Right after that, he charges right at Nero, slashing him with Gram without mercy!

"Ahhh!"

Nero falls to ground by that attack! María, being enraged by her master's defeat, slashes Paddad multiple times by using her Holy Swords, but he was able to evade them!

Paddad suddenly appears behind María, but I can see their swords clashing! So María was able to read Paddad's moves.

"That was amazing from your part! However, reading my moves isn't enough to defeat me. I'm faster than you, and even if you block some of my attacks, there's no way you can lay a hit on me!"

Paddad launches waves of energy at María, but she blocks them by summoning Holy Swords from the ground! I charge at him by taking the chance, but Paddad blocks my attack!

"Surprise attacks won't work on me, you idiot!"

María appears behind Paddad's back and slashes at him by using two Holy Swords, but Paddad blocks them with Gram!

"Do it now, Haruka!"

I charge at Paddad once more by María's order, but he disappears from sight before I land a hit!

"You two are good, but that isn't enough to stop me!"

He says that before reappearing in front of María, who suddenly has slashes all over her body! As soon as he takes one step away from María, I feel slashes all over my body! I was unable to see his attacks!

Paddad gets away from our range once more, as we're immobilized his attacks. His speed, his sword, his apparently endless demonic power; Paddad is a monster. He's an opponent like I have never seen before. Even by working together, he's just too strong to us.

"… Being reincarnated as a Devil was a huge blow to my pride…"

The one who says that is Nero, who finally stood up after all this time.

"… As an Exorcist and a pious servant of God, the fact I became into my enemy shook my world… however, the places I have seen, the experiences I have gained, and the friends I have met… nothing will ever be able to replace it…"

Paddad isn't even looking at Nero, just giving him his back while being focused on us.

"… For that, I must tell you one thing… thanks…"

And then, Nero charged at full speed towards the distracted Paddad, finally landing a slash on him!

"… Thanks for lowering your guard!"

Nero says that as he slashes Paddad for the second time! We are finally able to damage his body! But just as Nero was about to deal the third slash, Paddad finally blocked it.

"That was magnificent. You're right on something; I lowered my guard because of my superiority. However, I won't do that anymore; now, I'll focus on defeating you!"

An intense aura covers Paddad, focusing on Gram's blade; in that moment, an extremely powerful energy wave is released right at Nero! This is it, Paddad's full power!

"I'm going to finish the work from last time! You're dead, Nero!"

Paddad focuses huge amounts of demonic power on Gram once again! This is bad! If that attacks lands, it's possible it'll actually kill Nero!

María and I charge at Paddad, slashing multiple times all over his body! However, even by combining the attacks of my Arondight and María's Holy Swords, Paddad doesn't move at all!

"You're just a nuisance! I'll finish you first, and then I'll kill Nero!"

After shouting that, Paddad releases his energy waves at us! I feel like I just received a fatal blow by such attack!

I'm extremely damaged by his attack, and I can bet María and Nero are like that too. It looks like we lost. Paddad puts in position, preparing a third wave of energy. In that moment-

"Cough!"

Paddad vomits some blood as a red sword appears on his chest, stabbing what appears to be a vital spot! Looking to where it came from, we see two familiar faces.

"Looks like you'll need Phoenix's tears."

Denpachi and Nicolas! What are they, the two super elite members of Grigori, doing here?

"María Hernández, Azazel told us to give you this."

Denpachi throws a sword to María. Looking carefully, it's [Blazing Shining Aura Darkness Blade]. Not only that, but Nicolas applies Phoenix's tears on María and I.

"Sorry, we only had two."

"You don't need to worry, I'm sure they'll be more valuable to the fight than I am."

As the Damphir apologizes to us, Nero doesn't appear to be bothered by it. Then, he throws Durandal towards María.

"I'm no longer able to fight, so you should take my place. After all, you were my best disciple, María; if someone is able to use Durandal's power, it's you."

María now holds both the legendary Holy Sword Durandal and the strongest Artificial [Sacred Gear] [Blazing Shining Aura Darkness Blade]. It's clear her power will be on a different league now.

By the way, the reason Paddad hasn't moved until now is because Nicolas is restraining him using his shadow hands. Denpachi gets close to Paddad and removes Galatine from his chest.

"Well then, we'll leave the rest to you, there are more people who'll need our help. Let's go, Nicolas."

And like that, Denpachi and Nicolas leave the place. Now that Paddad is free, it's clear he's angry.

"You are such a nuisance, preventing this me from killing that stupid Exorcist! Exorcists have hunted and killed countless Devils like us since unmemorable time; I have no reason to hold any piety towards them!"

Paddad charges aura around him and his sword, so he must be charging another powered wave. María, on her hand, summons her knights and turns Azazel's [Sacred Gear] into light particles, so the light covers the knights, turning their swords into copies of Azazel's [Sacred Gear].

"This is my [Dual Balance], [Blazer Shining Aura Darkness Blade Knight Mass]. Come at me, Paddad!"

Paddad releases his powered wave, but María's knights use the light on their swords to make it disappear! And now, María launches waves of light and holy power by using both Duradnal and [Blazer Shining Aura Darkness Blade]!

Paddad suffers great damage from those attacks, so the knights keep launching light at him! Even I join the party by attacking with Arondight!

An army of [Blazer Shining Aura Darkness Blade] combined with Durandal and Arondight, the power of light and holy used against Paddad in huge amounts damage him to extreme extends!

Going by the fact he isn't dodging using [Top Speed], he must have consumed all his remaining power! Well, taking into count Denpachi and Nicolas helped us to finally win this stamina battle, we must be thankful to them.

By this point, there's no opposition from Paddad at all. He doesn't have energy to use neither [Top Speed] nor Gram, so his defeat is almost secured by this point.

"Haruka! Deal the finishing blow, now!"

As María yells that, I focus as much holy power as I can on Arondight's blade and charge at Paddad!

"There's no way you can't lose now!"

I slash with my great attack, forcing Paddad to the ground! It's clear now, we have defeated him!

"… But… my speed…"

He utters that while lying on the floor, unable to move. Abusing Gram in such a way was clearly harmful to him. Speaking of that Demonic Sword, I look at Gram lying next to Paddad. However, I soon as I do that, I notice something out of normal.

"Gram is… glowing?"

María gets close to me, and Gram's glow intensifies. Don't tell, Gram is responding to her?!

"That radiance… I think it's directed towards you, María."

"That means… Gram has re-chosen its owner, and it wants me…?"

With that, María takes some distance from Paddad, extending her hand towards Gram.

"Come Gram! If you are choosing me, then I shall accept you!"

Hearing that, Gram glows even more, levitating away from Paddad. After that, Gram flew towards María, impaling in the ground in front of her.

"Congratulations María, now you're the owner of the Demonic Emperor Sword."

María takes Gram out of the floor, but saves it on one of the scabbards on her back.

"It'll be useful later, but for the moment, I'll just rely on Nero-san and Governor Azazel's gifts."

After remembering the instruction from Governor Azazel, I followed María and her knights as we go to battle a monster.

"… Good job María… you have surpassed me, your master… I'm proud of you…"

Spadaccino Nero; thanks for everything you did for my dear María, but from now on, I'm the one who has the deed to take care of her.

Part 2 – Envy

I, Abraham Hawkthorn, with the help of my best friend Mint and a magician girl named Ellice, am going to fight against The Sin of Envy, Caitlin Leviathan.

"Ara, we meet again, former Fairy King Mint Borrow."

"You greatly damaged my people. There's no way I'll forgive you for that."

Mint appears to retain his anger towards Caitlin because of her alliance with Lavender. As his best friend, I understand his hatred better than anyone.

Ellice steps forward with many magic circles on her hands.

"If you made my friends angry in the past, I think I have to do this magic burst!"

By releasing magical attacks from all kinds, Ellice attacked Caitlin right away! Once the attacks hit her, a big amount of smoke was created in front of her.

"Fufufu, it was a great attack."

Once the smoke cleared, it was visible that Caitlin had part of her clothes ripped because of the attack, but no severe damage could be seen on her.

"And as a compensation for that, I have something for you: [Absolute Zero]."

With just those words, Ellice suddenly froze! I remember that magic from when we fought her on the Fairy Kingdom; it can be undone with enough heat, but I doubt either Mint or I have the ability to do that.

"Mint, we should do it."

"Yes, Ham, we need to repay her for what she did."

I stop time for everyone but Mint and I. He gets close to me while [King's Spear] surrounds us. I return Mint to his original size, and he flies towards my chest. As we do this, we start chanting.

" "With strength of the Giant slayer and the magic of the Fairy, we should complete the power left by the First King!" "

And with that verse, light covers us, and once time resumes, Mint and I are clapped on golden armour with Dragon wings. [King's Armour] worked this time!

"Let's finish her, Mint!"

[Yah, Ham!]

I charge towards Caitlin with my body covered with magic, but she blocks my punch with a water ball. Looking at the floor, there's water all over the place.

"[Water World] is being as useful as usual."

Her second magic which allows her to use boiling water to fight, I remember it pretty well from our last fight. However, I didn't know she could manipulate it to this extend.

Suddenly, a pillar of boiling water surrounds my body! Going by the pressure I'm feeling, Caitlin created a geyser.

"Ara, how are you feeling in there?"

"… Actually, not bad at all."

It probably is because of my armour, but beyond the water pressure, I don't feel any actual damage from this geyser.

"And how do you feel about this?"

I say that as I punch right at her face, sending Caitlin flying away! Seeing as she's flying and unable to dodge, I launch many balls of Demonic Fairy magic towards her!

[This is great, Ham! At this rate, we'll win before reaching the time limit!]

Caitlin finally landed at the floor, only to stand up again. She's bleeding from the attacks just now.

"Kuh, you're bad boys; you need to be punished for what you did!"

Caitlin says that as she creates a massive ball of demonic energy above her head! If my serves right, it's around the same size as Mint's ball from last time!

"This is for what you did to me last time; there you go!"

She fired the ball towards us, which move at a high speed! This could deal us severe damage if we don't do anything.

[Run, Ham, run; show her the physical prowess you're so proud of.]

Mint is right; my body is my weapon, I should use it on such an important situation!

I fly at full speed towards the ball, and just before the ball hits, I stop time!

"300 Blows Technique!"

I punch the energy ball 300 times, concentrating potential energy on it while time is stopped. Once I finish punching, I unfroze time, and the ball goes back to Caitlin at hypersonic speeds, thanks to my potential energy turning into kinetic energy!

"?!"

Before she could even react, the ball hits her, creating a huge explosion on the place! I haven't seen anything like that since Mint did the same to her a few months ago, but this one is even bigger; I dare to say it's around 1 kilometre tall or maybe even higher.

Caitlin comes out of the explosion site extremely injured and with her clothes almost fully destroyed. That is somewhat sad; her white military outfit was stimulating.

"I promised Price to keep my elegant persona while acting before enemies, but I can't do it anymore."

That means her "ara fufufu" thing was acting? Well, she convinced me.

Caitlin takes some of the water created by [Water World], shapes it into a spear, and freezes it with [Absolute Zero]. Now she has an asymmetrical ice spear on her hands.

Caitlin throws that spear with all her strength, but it did nothing to me. After all, it doesn't if it was magical ice, it is still ice, and ice can't hard metal.

"That wasn't enough to you? In that case, would you like to have around a thousand of those on you?"

As she says that, a huge amount of ice spears appear around her. She's getting more disturbed with time.

[Ham, one minute left, we need use it to the fullest!]

As Mint warms about the end of my transformation, I decide on what to do regarding the spears. I create many Demonic Fairy magic and launch them towards the spears, destroying them in the process! That wasn't hard at all.

I charge once against Caitlin, punching her on the abdomen! And then, I karate chop her back!

"Cough!"

She coughs blood from my attacks, so I put my hand in front of her face, and explode a little of Fairy magic right on her!

Taking the chance she's still in the air, I stop time once more; I punch her 3 times on key places to inflict as much as damage as possible!

[You haven't used your 3 Blows Technique in a while, Ham.]

Yeah, Mint, I'm glad to use my trusty old technique after such a long time.

Anyway, Caitlin is sent flying once more by attack, lying lifelessly in the floor. At the same time, my armour dispels as my time ran out.

It's clear by this point: the battle is over; we have won. However, Caitlin, who is extremely injured, bleeding and only wearing her underwear because the rest of her clothes were destroyed, mutters something.

"… Mint…, listen to me… I have something I want to talk about with you…"

After hearing that, Mint, who is extremely tired after having used [King's Armour], gets close to Caitlin.

"… What can you… want to talk about… with me?"

"… It's about… Lavender…"

Mint's younger brother? I haven't heard of him since Mint fought him a couple of months ago. However, thinking back, Caitlin took him away from us at that time; I wonder what she did with him.

"… What happens… with my brother?"

"… After he was exiled… he started living with us… however… I told him to abandon us… last Saturday…"

"… But… what did you do that?"

"… Lavender… I really liked him… he was willing to listen to me… he was someone I could share my feelings with…"

"… You mean… you're in love with my brother?"

"… Maybe…"

Caitlin is in love with Lavender…? Now I'm somewhat disturbed. Did he act totally different in front of her or what? The Lavender I met was insufferable.

"… Just promise me… once this business is over… that he'll have a place to live in…"

To Mint, who doesn't like his brother, petition must be too much to him. However, shortly after, he answers her.

"… Ok… I promise it… just unfreeze Ellice… and I'll do it…"

After Mint set his condition, Caitlin made some hand motions, and Ellice unfroze.

"Uh? What happened?"

"… Ellice… don't worry about that… Mint and I… took care of Caitlin… you just… go ahead and battle monsters… like Azazel asked us to do…"

As I say that to Ellice, she goes to another place to battle monsters. Mint and I lie in the ground, tired from the battle just now.

"… Thanks… for everything, Mint… you truly are… my best friend…"

"… No need to thank me… Ham… it doesn't matter… how my relationship… with Mikano goes… you'll always be… my number one priority…"

"… Thanks for that…"

As I say that, we just lie close to each other, as the couple of best friends we are.