The Lazy King

Volume 2, Chapter 6: Irritum’s Vanagloria, Part 3: Each and Every Desire Should Just be Devoured

Both Demons and Angels had instincts.

Demons and Angels were just right souls and wrong souls. Between them, there was an instinct for them to reject the others’ existence.

An incomprehensible feeling of impatience that would rock the soul just by having one next to another.

Unable to stand an encounter without trying to kill one another, it could be called a second Desire.

Before my eyes, 『Vanity』 was blown away.

I saw the built up months and years of training behind the speed of that punch.

Even that body I had modified to be able to stand up to a Demon Lord’s might , that impregnable fortress of a body was torn apart without being given a chance to react.

Regardless of its truth, not even its soul core remained.

As I thought, the position of Rank One was no decoration.

Dammit, Heard Lauder.

His power was greater than I anticipated. Going at him head on is… nothing more than a stupid move.

I am in no way a warrior. My goal isn’t conflict, but victory.

Not the process, but the glory. From the start, that man was a beast. I’ve no intent to exchange blows with such a brute.

It’s precisely because of their Pride, that Pride Demons are full of weaknesses. That guy’s weakness was especially clear.

I’ve already determined my thoughts on the matter.

But before that…

After Heard ran off to chase Zebul, I walked up in front of the clueless girl he left behind.

She was a young lass with golden hair, and an impertinent expression on her face.

Oblivious to the world, unknown to tragedy, and without any foundation she was one that looked down on everything in creation. Her condescending expression made my skin crawl.

While humming a merry tune, she calmly walked through the lines of soldiers, and regardless of the fact that she hadn’t done a single thing herself, I didn’t feel te slightest hint of indebtedness in her.

I believe Heard called her Hiero. She was cowering behind Heard during the meeting as well.

She was an existence so helplessly weak I couldn’t fathom why that man chose to drag her along.

I hate fools and weaklings.

It’s always been that way. Both Angels and Demons regardless.

For both those Demons that only pursued their desires, and thought everything could be solved with an exchange of blows, and those mindless dolls that thought all they had to do was listen in to God’s orders.

Why is it that I… have to play part to something useless like that?

They’re the ones who should be learning their place.

By the time I noticed it, I was staring fixatedly at her form.

Even when her power was one that would go out if I blew on it, her recklessness on staying in this place was the very thing I hated about Demons of Pride.

Then, if it’s like that… right.

How about I… give you some wisdom.

“Mm? What is it…?”

I extended the arm of the Demon closest to her.

Having her shoulder grabbed, Hiero turned with a blank expression. Her face indicated she believed there wasn’t a single thing to harm her here.

With nothing but pure curiosity, she looked deep into the single Demon’s mask.

It was a humanoid Demon with a large build. The upper half of his face was covered up by a grey mask.

That mask wasn’t just some accessory.

Covering their faces, their expressions, held meaning.

One’s expression was their individuality itself, and by hiding it away, I could bring about changes in their psyche.

It was a means to overwrite their measly spirits with an image of strength.

It was a single ritual.

A way to paint out right and wrong and Angels and Demons with chaos.

“Oh, could it be that you guys can actually move without orders? Kusu kusu kusu… I had thought of you all as nothing but dolls.”

Even when grasped by one two heads higher than her, Hiero’s expression as she looked up at his face was a bright smile.

His arm let out a dull sound as it broke. But the face of the woman who did such a thing didn’t seem to hold the slightest interest in what she had done.

As one who also governed Pride, I had a clear grasp on what power she held.

Unbefitting that soul of hers, a powerful 『Overrule』 Skill.

Ah, how surprising it is.

Without a fragment of understanding as to just what she was talking to, Hiero widened her smile, and tilted her head.

“And, what is it you need?”

… But how interesting.

A sharpened soul.

The power hidden in it had far surpassed her own self. That『Overrule』, the very definition of pride… just what basis does it act on?

And why is Heard dragging a useless woman like this about?

“Interesting…”

“!?”

The arm was released, and Hiero instinctively retreated a distance.

The pride on her face from before vanished, and a stiff expression looked over me.

“W-who are you!? What’s this all of a sudden!?”

The eyes of this girly who hadn’t even lived through a tenth of my life inspected my body quite rudely.

While she did seem wary, she didn’t even get stanced for battle. I’m not sure whether that was supposed to be her Pride or not.

Or perhaps it was her bearing that didn’t even see enemies as enemies that formed the mold for her firm mindset.

I touched the mask covering my own field of vision.

It was a cold sensation in my hand… the gray mask sunk away without a sound.

“… Hah…? What are you supposed to be… are you Vanity-san’s… subordinate?”

… Fool.

The ability to even paint over the presence of my own soul, and conceal myself from search Skills was Irritum’s greatest advantage. Even a Demon Lord’s Abyss Zone was unable to pick me up.

Rather than Superbia, whose output rose the more one showed themselves off, the authority of Irritum was one to hide one’s self, yet still decorate it. Truly one suited to resourcefulness.

I ignored the girl’s panic, and started observing again.

Right, no matter how I look at her, I can only see a frail Demon.

While she did, more or less, have a strong ability to 『Overrule』, that level wasn’t at Demon Lord Class, and if I had to say, her only real special point was the very fact Heard was taking her around. Even if I did absolutely nothing, she was an ant-like existence that could easily be crushed by my army.

That confidence against enemies she knew she could beat, and this dismay against the unknown. Her body was unconsciously preparing to take flight… I don’t think she’s even a warrior, this one.

A demon I’m surprised to find anywhere near Heard’s side. Just what part of her tugged at his heartstrings?

I can’t even possibly see her as someone that battle enthusiast would fall in love with.

Whatever the case, that’s all irrelevant to me.

What’s important is… if this girl can work as Heard Lauder’s weakness.

I cast aside the thoughts surfacing within me at once.

No, I doubt she’d do any of that. There’s no way she would. If he could be destroyed that easily, he’d have been killed off at a time long passed.

My interest is starting to escape me.

While she certainly was an interesting woman, no matter what sort of existence she was, she was irrelevant to Heard Lauder’s impending destruction. Seeing the way she stuck by his side and followed, I can’t even see her as an assistance, but more than anything, this girl… is too young.

She wasn’t even a pebble by the wayside. A single Demon whose life or death wouldn’t bring about any influence at all.

I ignored Hiero, as she directed scared eyes without even a hint of fighting spirit, and used a Skill.

A dark grey light covers my entire body.

The authorities of Superbia and Irritum.

My Mana becomes my armor. To pass by all of creation, and bring about a miracle.

With my soul at the base, I create the form of a hero.

I show off. My own power.

I pile it up. Only to some day show it off to the world.

… To look down on the high and distant heavens.

Irritum held a contrary nature to Pride, but at the same time, they both held but a single place to aim for.

… Higher than, greater, than anyone in all the lands.

Surpass God, and look down on him.

I understood. From the time when I was the one protecting his throne.

In truth, I had always understood it. Just why it was I became a Demon.

“Ku ku ku ku.”

The reason was that I… subordinates alone, I don’t even remember the name of my only sworn friend in the world.

I must have been strong. My desires had exceeded my loyalty to my God. That’s all it was.

“Hah ha ha ha ha!!”

As light ran all about my body, a pleasant feeling akin to intoxication went through my mind.

It covers up each and every part of my body. Even if it were to be a body of fiction, it did contain my own soul.

I was already more accustomed to the body I had used for many years than my own real body.

How many years has it been that I even laid my own form bare? It’s already beyond my memory. I doubt there are many out there that even remember my original body.

My white skin turns black.

My golden eyes to silver. I lost my argent hair, and gained a height that exceeded even that man.

My breasts that were nothing but a hindrance were covered over with muscle, and the pitch wings on my back were hidden away.

More ominous, more exaggerated, and more strong.

An impulse like an electric current flowed through me.

That which I could never get used to no matter how many times I did it was, to put it simply…

… An almighty sensation.

“Hii…”

Hiero’s dumbfounded expression warped along with her increased understanding of the situation.

Her face was one as if she were peering into the cauldrons of hell.

Now, to you who holds not the slightest of roles in this play, let me give you glory.

Glory to stand up against your own lord.

I grabbed the arm of the girl, whose expression was still quite stiff.

Those arms were so slender, it felt that if I gripped them any harder, they would break. I lfted her up into the air.

As if remembering something, fear colored her face, and her limbs flailed about, but that resistance is futile.

None of those punches or kicks can do a single thing to this body. That was the difference in our abilities. My buildup of years made the distance between us something akin to an adult and an infant. I’m not something to break under the Overrule of the like of you.

With her body still in hand, I pushed her against a collapsing wall.

I ignored her hand’s attempts to wriggle free, and looked into her blue eyes.

In order to scoop up whatever emotions she held within them.

“Guh… Wh… why are you alive… N-no, that form from before was…”

A gray light circled around my hand.

To pretty up the mud with gold, and repaint her existence.

Her body, her soul, her power, her meaning, her memory… her being.

The mask was to denote a Persona.

A mask of the soul to show off one’s personality, it was easily able to cover up whatever mask they wore before.

I won’t change her form.

I doubt Heard Lauder’s ever going to hold back, but there’s the million-to-one chance he might be mildly disturbed.

I may be able to sway his emotions.

I grasped her had with the palm of my hand.

“N-no, unhaaaand me! What? Are you saying I did something to you!?”

Her body kicks around some more to offer some pointless resistance.

And on her futile plight, I was momentarily taken in silence.

Seriously, why was that man keeping this girl at his side? There isn’t a hint of pride in her pitiful behavior.

For one who prioritizes hubris over all, she should be the type he hates most.

Perhaps it was my error to sink to silence, as Hiero started letting out words like a turbulent gale.

“I-in the first place, the one who attacked was Heard-san, right!? D-definitely not me. I didn’t do nuffin!! P-please forgive me. I didn’t even have the time to stop him or anything! H-honest. I really did think about stopping him… r-right. If you try laying hands on me, my master won’t keep quiet, you know!?”

Unsightly. It was just so unsightly that I didn’t even feel any contempt.

You’re seriously trying to threaten me here?

Can your fear fulfill the desire in your heart?

“This is my… Irritum’s… 『Outer Decorate』!!”

“Kuh…”

Hiero opened her eyes wide in fear. Her body was assailed by shivers akin to convulsions.

Matching her emotions of terror, her eyes talked to me.

Fear, reverence, panic, flattery.

Dance on my palms. Become my doll.

The young girl’s slim figure shook. As if to crawl into the depths of her body, a deep gray light encroached her.

No matter how much a hopeless weakling she may be, if I decorate her, she’ll at least be able to buy some time.

I didn’t make a mask for her. That would have stood out too much. Also, if I go as far as to cover up her eyes, then perhaps Heard Lauder won’t even recognize her as Hiero. I don’t change her personality or memory either.

… What I plant in her is loyalty. Absolute devotion to me was appended to her nature.

Around her finger, light gathers in the place of a mask, and a single boorish ring took shape.

It didn’t matter what it was. There’s no doubt that to bring changes to one’s personality, a mask to cover the face held the greatest efficiency, but for a Demon of her level, I don’t even have to use one.

She gave one last large convulsion, before she ceased movement.

Her sloppily lowered arms held no vigor, and on her pale features, her eyes sluggishly closed themselves.

I release my hand. I ignore former-Hiero as she fell onto the ground, and turned to my army.

No will to speak of. Over a perpetual amount of time, the souls whose glory I’ve piled up.

Now, Heard Lauder. You who’ve dragged me down from Heaven.

A few tens of thousands of years passed, let’s have another meet.

A will I never had before offered power to my body.

I surveyed my troops gathered around.

I have no right hand man.

In my army, everyone was everyone, and they were my power in itself.

That means, that all were all, and all were me. An individual, yet Legion.

Sensing my will, the military body lined up next to their mounts.

Regardless of what form they may be in, what was before me was undoubtedly the Legion of a Demon Lord. I nodded.

The masked Demons let out a quiet, wordless battle cry.

The delicate body prostrated on the ground lifted itself.

What was once an existence known as Hiero sent a hollow gaze in my direction.

“The Prideful Kaiser, and the Devourer, I’ll swallow you all in my sin.”

For the Devouring Lord, who once ate up a countless number of my brethren.

Who I let escape, and who became the trigger for my fall, the Lord of Pride.

Those frail Angels who protected the silence while knowing of Demons.

That pitiful Valkyrie who had been attacking this area as of late by chance.

For enemies… they’re worthy enough.

I already have the preparations in order.

Now, let me cover all creation in my deception.

Having been effected by unconsciously soaking up my power, the residents of Grey Rock peered at me from the windows with colorless eyes.

Near me, a Demon leading along a conspicuously large Dragon kneeled.

“Vanity-sama, your Dragon has been prepared.”

“… Huh?”

Normally, that voice shouldn’t have been there.

What was there was the Demon I had just decorated.

I glared.

Her voice as she kneeled didn’t hold the slightest hint of indebtedness, and her frame and hair and eyes and voices and powers hadn’t changed in the slightest bit from before.

“What are you supposed to be?”

“Pleasure to meet you, Vanity-san. I’m called Hiero.”

I wasn’t asking for your name.

I’m sure I overwrote part of her personality. I didn’t make a mask, so it wasn’t perfect, but I did add on to her nature. I never thought that she would be capable of conversation so quickly.

The ring of Irritum I produced was unmistakably intertwined around Hiero’s right index finger.

I’m not sure what she was thinking, but the fear on her expression from before had disappeared.

Both her face and posture were the epitome of superficiality. It was much removed from the form I had anticipated. Was her affinity with the Skill exceptionally good?

In the few tens of thousands of years since I began using Irritum, it’s a scene I’m witnessing for the first time. Even so, as long as I’ve forced her loyalty, I can’t think she’ll go against me.

It was an unexpected reaction. Should I just destroy her now, or leave her be?

There’s not even the need to think of it. This turning point is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t be paying so much mind to a trifle of this level.

“Is your master not Heard Lauder?”

“No, the one I serve… is surely not Heard Lauder.”

I looked down over her as she said that without hesitation.

I didn’t feel the cover of falsehood over her words.

Hmm… this is but another bit of entertainment, I guess.

The greater the forces the better. The stronger the structre, the more stable.

I doubt I’ll need a shield, but having one should be better than not. Of all else, I already gave her a portion of my power anyways.

No matter how great my power may be, it is my no means unlimited.

Of all else, I already brought forth three Sacred Lords, and a countless number of normal Angels.

I should keep as many forces as possible on hand.

“So be it. Follow if you will.”

“… Understood.”

My army mounted atop their dragons raised a tremor as they dashed forth.

I already know where they are. Those huge colliding powers were something I could sense, perhaps even if I didn’t use my Abyss Zone. It would be harder for me to ignore that those presences stirring up my soul.

The moment I put myself over my own dragon, Hiero called out again.

“… What?”

“… Vanity-sama, for your purposes, I do believe that rather than a beast to race across the earth, a flighted one would be to your benefit. Clashing with that man from the front is a poor choice of move. Even if he be the Prideful Kaiser, he has not the widest variety of strikes to launch across the sky.”

“… You’re the one that brought this flightless dragon to my side, are you not?”

“No… I mean… I never thought you would be bringing me along, so…”

“…”

I felt my own brows become stiff.

… No seriously, why did that man take her along?

After she disappeared from my field of vision with natural movements as if to run away, Hiero returned with a flying dragon.

It was likely the one she had used to transport herself here. As expected of the possession of Rank One, it had a splendid build.

With movements as if to try raising my affection points towards her, she closed in, and pulled on my arm.

That utter lack of anything resembling Pride made my pity well up before my anger had a chance.

No, perhaps it’s something I brought about with the power of my Skills…? If that’s the case, then really, I apologize. No, no…

“Now, now, Vanity-san, over here.”

“… Yeah, fine.”

While feeling somewhat unsatisfied, I put myself over the flying dragon.

Following that, she boarded a smaller… Flying Dragon, likely for her own use.

Oddly enough, it made me associate the scene with the form of Hiero cowering behind Heard.

I should have just killed her without using any power…

This personality of hers…

I started imagining a spectacle of Heard crushing this girl without a moment’s hesitation, and my own expression naturally distorted.

＊＊＊＊＊

The town of Grey Rock was close to the Dark Prison. For ground dragons specialized in land transport, and for flying dragons that rivalled them in speed, we were able to set foot into those lands in little time at all.

From the start, Grey Rock had been a town stationed on a national border, and it was once the front most line of the conflicts between the hostile Demons of both lands. It was also one of the few of such towns that remained after both the Crimson and Dark Prison were taken in under the Great Demon King’s army.

Heaven and the Demon world were heads and tails. In contrast to the world up there carefully governed by law and order, this Demon World was rampant with disorder.

On contrast to the scarcity of their activity, the great Demons Heard Lauder, and his former master, Leigie Slaughterdolls of the 『Slaughterdolls』 were Demons of power much too vast.

While I could tell his strength partly from how that Prideful Kaiser who thought nothing of God served him for such a long time, what clearly demonstrated his strength was the extensity of his Zone, that was able to cover the entirety of the Dark Prison several times larger than my Crimson Prison.

The extent of his 『Abyss Zone』 was likely the greatest within the King’s Army. The current Great Demon King, and even the one before her couldn’t extend theirs anywhere near his territory, which was already worthy of being called a single world.

It was much too vast, too powerful. There are even rumors that it had never been broken by a hostile Demon Lord, and many suspected that it wasn’t just through pure Mana, but through the as-of-yet unknown nature of Acedia Skills that granted enhancements to it, but the only one to know the truth of the matter is the Lazy King himself.

The Zones were pretty much a Demon Lord’s turf.

By touching it, or even getting close, the oppressing feeling that ran through one’s entire body was something like a threat brought about by the land’s ruler.

And that fact that Leigie’s territory had absolutely nothing like that was one of the few pieces of information I held about that Lord of Sloth, as the owner of a neighboring territory.

But I mustn’t forget. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t hold any hostility.

It simply meant… that he had no interest, and that’s all it was.

When I entered the Dark Prison, I felt a differing presence cover my body without the slightest resistance.

The proof I had infiltrated a Zone.

The presences of Heard’s Pride, and Zebul’s Gluttony, and at the base of the two of them, Leigie’s characteristic air of Sloth.

In the extent of this endless desert, I couldn’t see the form of any life yet.

“Ku ku ku… we’re close.”

But I understood.

Even if I closed my eyes, I could tell.

The distance to Zebul. The Distance to Heard.

It was something that my soul, my instincts sought out. What they’d been seeking for many years.

It was… the presence of an enemy.

That urge that didn’t able, even for a Fallen Angel, was definitely not something from the instincts of an Angel, but something that existed because I was me.

Zebul’s presence was stopped. Regardless of how far she was from the Castle of Shadows.

It looks like she didn’t bring along that Greed Demon from before, and there didn’t seem to be any lifeforms around them.

She should have just rushed her way through while this land’s guardian was away at the meeting, but did she really believe my words? Or could it be that she noticed Heard’s presence leve the Dark Prison?

Zebul no longer has an option of escape. She was already within Heard Lauder’s range. Once you’ve stepped into the extent of that man’s Zone, you’ll never be able to flee from his power.

The distance between them was something that Lord of Pride could span in a number of seconds.

Naturally, the fact she had stopped before that inmistakable presence was likely because she understood that fact as well.

It would by difficult to intercept him on the run. She plans to meet him in the middle.

I remembered Zebul’s eyes.

Those eyeballs of hers were soaked in a bottomless hell of desire. That color wasn’t something anyone could let out so easily.

If it were to satisfy that longing of hers, then no method in the world would be beyond her.

Ranking wasn’t so simply linked to strength. Especially with that beast Zebul… the ultimate predator who would even suck up the world.

And while they’re clashing like that, an opening is sure to be created.

Even if they’re fakes… Angels painted to life by my Irritum still held the same movement speed as the real thing.

While he’s busy dealing with Zebul, my army will break into the Castle of Shadows.

That was the prideful weakness of Heard Lauder. The existence that was once his ruler.

His source. Even with his personality, it wasn’t something he would be able to permit.

Riding atop my flying dragon, Hiero, who was riding behind me raised a clouded voice.

“Vanity-san, I think it’s best you stopped, you know~?”

But she really is an impudent woman. This attitude after receiving my authority, perhaps this is just her base personality. For me to have overwritten her ego, carving an absolute sense of loyalty in her, and for her to have not changed in the slightest is just plainly amazing.

She’s surely a Superbia with a nature close to mine. That character of hers is clearly different from Heard’s.

Given the time, perhaps she’ll even set foot into Irritum. But honestly, I don’t really want to be grouped together with her.

“Vanity-sa~n, if you calm down and think about it… we’re screwed, I’m telling you.”

“… Screwed, you say?”

“Yes.”

I peered behind me. What is this woman saying at this point in time?

In the first place, even if it may be something from a Skill, the way you naturally let yourself follow behind me pretty much means you have no other path in life then to continue on as Heard Lauder’s servant.

I let my senses take in the world, as I continued looking to my back.

My physical condition is great, and my soul perfect. I’ve been saving up Mana for a long while. If I wanted to, I could even create a few Saint Lords at this moment.

I should even be able to destroy the Great Demon King right now.

And you say I’m screwed!?

“I mean, Vanity-san, you plan on fighting Heard-san, right?”

“…”

“And~ that~ means~…”

Because of the flap of the Dragon’s wings, it was quite difficult to pick up sound.

But within that, without working herself up at all, she let out her words as if she were just voicing a natural fact of life.

“Vanity-san, you plan on making an enemy of Leigie-sama?”

What escaped her mouth was the name of a completely irrelevant Demon.

Sama.

Leigie-sama, is it?

“… Ku ku.”

I understood.

This woman wasn’t of Heard Lauder, but of Leigie Slaughterdolls… his vassal, perhaps.

No wonder she didn’t act very subordinate-like to Heard.

She likely wasn’t expecting an answer, as her mutterings seemed to fade to dusk somewhere along the line.

They were whispers too light to even be erased by the strong sound of the wind.

“I’m fine with going against whatever it is you want, but Leigie-sama alone is someone I’d rather not oppose.”

Her tone, her emotions differed from the frivolous atmosphere she had created up to now, so I found myself asking.

“… Why?”

I’m not sure if she heard me or not, but no matter how long I waited, no response came to me.

But so be it.

From the start, I didn’t plan on opposing that man, and more importantly, there was no point.

If he stood in my way, then I’d have no mercy, but for that Lord who’d tempered his Sloth to the extreme to impede me, was in itself an impossible story.

… Right, unless some miracle were to happen.

We preserved the silence as we continued to fly on. Before long, we closed in on the battlefield.

We should have still been a few kilometers away, but the air experienced a clear change. The smell of a battle, that couldn’t just be explained away with us having entered a Zone.

The finest pray I hadn’t chanced upong in thousands of years. My fighting spirit towards my enemy danced.

The sky, the earth was crying.

Each and every blow was fatal. Fists that sent my eyes into distress shaved awy at the land, and split the empty air.

The thunderous roars that echoed through the high heavens, and Mana that far transcended that of a normal Demon Lord rose up along with it. It was likely something anyone could have noticed, even if they didn’t possess the perceptional power of a Demon Lord.

In truth, even without putting my eyes on it, I could clearly tell this was a battlefield.

It seems Zebul was doing an ample job of stalling him.

My army was also fulfilling their role sufficiently.

Demon Lord Class Demons were a form of calamity.

Their rage was to destroy the world, and kill God. The power of soul released by the two beasts was stronger than any Demon Lord I had ever fought before.

Something that in the old world of humans would have been hailed as a legend, and even in the present state where none dared to intrude on the surface world anymore, it would surely be passed down.

That level of finality existed in this space.

Humans, no, even Demons would throw down their desires the moment their eyes were to capture this battle of legend.

Kill. Slaughter one another. My greatest foes.

Besides my own, each and every desire should just be devoured.

A clash of high level Demon Lords.

What had yet to even enter my eyes as of yet was, by no doubt, quite repulsing.

But the moment before I could clearly capture the scene, the dragon followed my will, and suddenly, its upper half jerked.

It used its long tail to regain balance, and began ascending into the air at a fearsome pace.

Within the thunderous wail of the wind, we were colored with the blood red moon of the high sun. It was surely a sight one could never see in the heavens basked in light.

If we were to go any closer they would notice. That I understood.

By power is working. My Skills are completely erasing my presence.

But even if Irritum were to hide one’s presences, it couldn’t fool one’s intuition.

And those two Demon Lords over there could likely easily sense a presence-less existence or two.

Those Lords of Demons were beings that reached close to the Lords of the heavens without even having received the blessing of their God.

Even if I can grant my men with power equal to Angel Lords, before Heard Lauder’s power, they would be obliterated in an instant.

But still, there’s no way that wingless man would be able to capture a countless number of Angels fluttering around the sky. Even if he can move with the world appearing stagnant to him, his body was one that could only covet the ground.

I feel them over yonder, my subordinates… let me grant even greater glory to that Angel flock.

I’ll give them a portion of my power, and add more fuel to the blaze of their souls. The flocks speed rose even higher.

“Oh filthy souls. At the very least, burn yourselves out radiantly in the name of my Vanity!”

Now, give chase if you will. To those invading the lands of your lord.

Show me the depths of your desire, Superbia!

Those ancient battles of heaven flashed through my head again.

Without a single smile on their faces, to accomplish their justice, those vast legions of white, and those that were under the control of absolute power to pursue their desires, the black legions.

But I noticed one point that differed from the truth of my memory.

I freely manipulated the flying dragon around that biting mass of fighting spirit.

Yes, it truly was but a trifling difference…

That I myself was no longer a part of either of those Legions.