Halifax, the City of Sin. The region administered by the first of the 【Seven Sins】, 【Pride】 Lucifer.
Meeting someone familiar in the City of Sin was something that Bella hadn"t expected to have happened during this trip to Halifax. However, due to the fact that Elaine had never seen Bella"s true form before, she probably wouldn"t recognize the current Bella. Ariel, however, was a different story as Elaine had already seen her current form before already. Not just Ariel, Elaine had also seen the current forms of the three lolis, Mia, Angel, and Noesha, previously as well.
Taking advantage of the time while Elaine"s attention was turned towards the store"s merchandise, Bella and the others hurriedly left. In the region of Halifax administered by Lucifer, the currency used was the Pride Coin, minted using pure gold with Lucifer"s image on both sides of the coin. When held in the hand, a Pride Coin had quite a bit of weight to it, several times heavier than the gold coins used by the human empires.
"Bella, this is the biggest store in my territory, feel free to walk around for a bit while I go and change."
"Alright, oh, Lucifer, my Sin Points card… I don"t seem to have one, how do I go around buying stuff?"
"Your card… you don"t have to use it, you can pick whatever you want here and we"ll subtract it from your balance later."
The shops within Lucifer"s administered region were mostly flashy stuff that could be used to show off. In the store that they were currently in, "Fallen Heaven", Bella saw countless rows upon rows of luxurious and elegant equipment lined up on the shelves. Not only did this store sell demon items, but they also sold items that were from the G.o.ds, the craftsmans.h.i.+p made it quite evident. Only in Lucifer"s administrative region would one be able to find such G.o.d-tier items.
"Ariel, is there anything that you want here?"
"No, I don"t have a Sin Points card anyways. Also, I"m not that girl Ariel."
"Then you are?"
"You don"t need to know, just know that I don"t bear any ill intent towards you. Anyhow, your secret is safe with me."
Ariel had been holding her golden tome tight to her body the entire time and Bella suspected that this was her other personality, but there wasn"t any concrete evidence and now wasn"t the time to confirm it.
"Samanthsama, it"s been over ten thousand years since we"ve last seen each other, how about you come over to my district and browse the wares there?"
As Bella and the others were mindlessly browsing through the store, a female demon king with a bombsh.e.l.l body approached them. This female demon king was tall and curvaceous in figure, her long pink hair flowed behind her, she also had a set of black demon horns on her head that seemed to be a bit larger than those of Lucifer and took the shape of a ram"s horns.
This demon king had also chosen not to activate her wings, meaning that this wasn"t her complete form either. She was dressed a lot more provocatively than Lucifer, with a tightly fitted s.h.i.+rt and an excessively short skirt that had large openings on the two sides, showing off her beautiful pale white legs.
"You are… one of the 【Seven Sins】?"
"Samanthsama, you don"t remember me, Asmodeus? Well, no problem! However, Lucifer-nee sure has no clue on showing people around, her store is too uptight and isn"t suited for girls at all!"
The 7th sin, 【l.u.s.t】 Asmodeus, the second of the 【Seven Sins】 that Bella had encountered so far during her trip to the City of Sin. Asmodeus" looks lived up to her t.i.tle of being the demon king of l.u.s.t, her green eyes were currently fixated on Bella and the others with a flirtatious look. It wasn"t that Asmodeus was purposefully giving off this look, it was just the way her gaze normally was.
"So your Asmodeus, sorry about that, my memory is a little lacking. Right, I have something that I need to discuss with you!"
"Then let"s change locations, I don"t particularly like the atmosphere of Lucifer"s stores."
When Lucifer had returned after changing her clothes, she discovered that Bella and the others had long left. On the counter was a note from Bella for Lucifer telling her that Bella had already left with Asmodeus and that she would come to visit Lucifer again when she had the chance.
"Bellsama sure works fast… I really wanted to give this to her too…"
Lucifer looked at the book that she had in her hands, it was a collection of information on the dimension that Bella was currently in. However, before she could return it to its previous location, several familiar figures busted through her store"s front door.
"Lucifer-nee, I"m so envious! You got to see Samanthsama first!"
"Lucifer-nee, you"re too mean! Stealing away my business… give me my customers back!!"
"Lucifer-nee, where is Samanthsama? Oh, I"m also a little hungry, do you have anything here to eat!?"
The three demon kings who had come barging in were all members of the 【Seven Sins】, the 2nd sin 【Envy】 Leviathan, the 5th sin 【Greed】 Mammon, and the 6th sin 【Gluttony】 Beelzebub. The three of them had been following Lucifer and Bella for quite a while earlier, but when they had almost arrived at this store, the 7th sin 【l.u.s.t】 Asmodeus had suddenly appeared and tricked them to go in the opposite direction, which was why they had only managed arrive now.
"Samantha and the others already left with that perverted girl Asmodeus, the three of you are a little bit late."
"Lucifer-nee, isn"t Asmodeus bis.e.xual… if anything, she"s even more into females! Are you not worried about leaving Samanthsama to her?"
"Beelzebub, your information is a little off. Ever since Asmodeus met Samanthsama ten thousand years ago, she hasn"t even properly looked at another guy. Anyways, she had always arranged for her succubi subordinates to steal the life essence from males, never partaking in the dirty work herself.
"Mammon-nee, so I"ve misunderstood Asmodeus…"
"There"s also no need to worry that Asmodeus will do anything to Samanthsama, Beelzebub. On my way here, the 3rd sin 【Wrath】 Satan and 4th sin 【Sloth】 Belphegor were already heading towards Asmodeus" administered region to set an ambush, they"ve probably already intercepted Asmodeus by now."
The other three members of the 【Seven Sins】 all had Bella on their minds and none of them realized that Lucifer had specifically changed out of her armour into a beautiful dress that showed off her beauty specifically for Bella. One would have to admit, Bella truly was a sinful woman, all seven members of the 【Seven Sins】 had their own unspeakable feeling for her.
Lucifer wasn"t the only one who had changed, even the demon king of l.u.s.t, Asmodeus had given up on male prey. The always lazy Belphegor had left her room for the first time in years just because she heard that Bella had arrived in Halifax. None of the 【Seven Sins】 had realized the changes that each other and themselves had gone through because of Bella, for their attention had long been drawn elsewhere…
___
Golden Legend student a.s.sociation"s main office, Olsyvia Academy"s northern Filomina branch for n.o.bility.
President Carlos and his most trusted subordinates were gathered around a sinister summoning formation. This formation was the exclusive one used to summon the 7th sin, 【l.u.s.t】 Asmodeus. Based on the amount of pulsating dark energy coming from the summoning formation, it had most likely already been active for quite a while.
"President, are you sure there"s no problem with the summoning formation?"
"Of course, the blueprints for this summoning formation were something that I paid a high price for to obtain from the Church of Light"s holy maiden, Daisy, you should know that her affiliated Salo faction is quite well researched about these evil magics. Several decades ago, my dad used a similar summoning formation to summon the 5th sin, 【Greed】 Mammon, how else do you think my family got our current position?"
"President, isn"t this ritual supposed to use the summoner"s life as payment? Are you not worried?"
"Just shut up and watch."
Carlos knew very well of the price it took to wish upon a demon, however, there were some loopholes to it. This was something that he had learned from his father. Decades ago, Carlos" father had a twin brother with the same name as him, Carlos" father used his twin brother to take his place in the ritual and it was his twin brother whose life was taken. After asking Mammon, Carlos" father received some vital information about the summoning ritual.
When one summoned a specific demon king to grant them a wish, they were able to offer the lives of those who had the same first and last names as them, instead of their own. However, not all of the 【Seven Sins】 acknowledged this loophole, currently the only ones who had been confirmed to accept such subst.i.tution were the 5th sin 【Greed】, 6th sin 【Gluttony】, and the 7th sin, 【l.u.s.t】.
The other four members of the 【Seven Sins】 did not accept this bypa.s.s, especially the 1st sin, 【Pride】 Lucifer. Because of this reason, it was important that they summoned the correct demon king from this ritual, as Carlos" life would be forfeit if he summoned one of the four that didn"t approve of this rule.
After a flash of pale white light, a blurry figure in a white dress began materializing above the summoning formation. Carlos quickly destroyed the most important part of the formation, the demon stone that he held in his hand. When Daisy had introduced the members of the 【Seven Sins】 and their appearances to him earlier, Asmodeus would never wear white when she was summoned, the figure that they had seen belonged to the 4th sin, 【Sloth】 Bephelgor.
Little did Carlos know, Daisy had never truly intended to help him with his scheme against Bellina. She knew that Bellina was Bella"s alias and the relations.h.i.+p between the two of them was quite good, so it was natural that Daisy wouldn"t allow Carlos to harm Bella. So, while Daisy did give Carlos the summoning contract for 【l.u.s.t】 Asmodeus, but the blueprints for the summoning ritual were that for summoning 【Sloth】 Bephelgor.
Of the 【Seven Sins】, Bephelgor was the hardest to summon, simply because she was the laziest of them all and very rarely even left her room. Those who were the quickest to respond to summons were the 5th sin 【Greed】 Mammon and 6th sin 【Gluttony】 Beelzebub. Daisy didn"t want for Carlos to die, as he and his was quite the steady source of income for the Salo faction, so she had given him the summoning formation for the hardest to summon of the 【Seven Sins】, not expecting for Bephelgor to actually respond to the Carlos" summons.
Even though Carlos had reacted swiftly and interrupted the summoning before Bephelgor could completely manifest in this world, a dozen scapegoats that Carlos" father had prepared for him all died abruptly in an explosion at nearly the same time. Due to the fact that Carlos" family had previously struck a deal with 【Greed】 Mammon and there was still some trace of Mammon"s power on Carlos, he was spared by whatever had killed all his body doubles.
However, Carlos would no longer be able to continue with the summoning, as demon summoning was something one could only attempt once in their lives. Anyways, even if Carlos could continue and managed to summon 【l.u.s.t】 Asmodeus, he would be forced to offer his own life now that all his body doubles were dead.
___
The Olsyvia Academy"s Western Euphemia branch for royalty, student council president"s office.
President Ese sat in her chair and looked inquisitively at her two visitors. Of the two girls who had entered, the one with the hooded cloak to cover her face was her younger sister Elaine and the golden-haired knight beside her was the very same d.u.c.h.ess Bellina who had been betting against her. Recently, Ese had heard quite a few rumours about Bellina spreading around the Olsyvia Academy recently.
"President Ese, it"s only been a few days since we"ve last seen, so why are you looking at me like that? I don"t think I did anything bad recently?! Natasha has been following me around constantly, so even if I wanted to do anything bad, I wouldn"t have the chance to!"
"Whatever, I"m having a hard time understanding you as a person, Bellina. Your request… I"m not sure how to answer you, "Strange Happenings of the Olsyvia Academy at Midnight" has already been locked away somewhere in the Church"s St.Louis branch by the main student council. Even though I"m friends with President Angelina, but I"m unable to help you here, even if you get my sister Elaine to help persuade me!"
"It"s just that I don"t believe the things that it records, I wanted to borrow it only to read. If you can"t help me, then I"ll just have to find a way myself!"
"Are you sure that you only want it to read? Those places recorded on the book are truly forbidden, I don"t think that you"re the type who would limit herself to just reading…"
"I don"t believe those superst.i.tions! Could it be, President Ese… that you"re afraid?"
"A couple days ago, the Golden Legend"s activity room was destroyed by a mysterious explosion that even the Disciplinary Committee has been unable to identify the cause of. Even now the Disciplinary Committee is still investigating, sometimes, there are things out there that demand our fear…"
"Carlos brought it upon… I mean, it was probably a publicity stunt because he really wanted to get on the school news or something."
That day, just as Bephelgor was about to greet Bella, she was unexpectedly summoned by Carlos" summoning ritual. When they were summoned outside of their own residences using an exclusive summon, the 【Seven Sins】 would be transported over temporarily before they decided whether they wanted to help or not.
Naturally, Ese didn"t know that the explosion was because Carlos had "won the lottery" when he was summoning demon kings, as this was something that no one would ever make public. Carlos could only take this loss silently, as even if he complained to the Church of Light"s holy maiden, Daisy, there wasn"t really much that he could say. After all, he did manage to summon a demon king, so it wasn"t that Daisy had sold him something useless.
For the near future, the Golden Legend wouldn"t have any time to make trouble for the Rose Society as they were still busy dealing with the after-effects of the mistake made during summoning. Meaning that the Rose Society"s last piece of land would be safe, at least for the coming weekend"s territory war.
"Wait just a moment, Bellina, take this map with you!"
"Er, President Ese, didn"t you say that you weren"t going to help!"
Right as Bella was about to exit Ese"s office, Ese called for her attention, handing a map over to Bella. Bella quickly looked at it and to her surprise, discovered that it was a map of the St. Louis branch in incredible detail. Everything was marked on the map, including the hidden underground room that contained the forbidden texts.
"This is a map that was given to me previously by the St.louis branch"s student council president Maria, now I"m giving it to you. All I hope is that you don"t drag my little sister Elaine along with you, even though she hasn"t ever talked to me, she"s still my little sister."
Only after she saw that Elaine had already left the office did Ese tell Bella the truth. Even though she and Elaine never talked with each other, she was still Elaine"s older sister whether she liked it or not, there was no way that she could just sit idly by as Bella dragged her little sister to their deaths!
Ese knew that even if she didn"t help Bella, the latter would most definitely try to find these forbidden places herself aimlessly, possibly even dragging Ese"s little sister Elaine with her. If that was the only other choice, Ese would rather help Bella by giving her a direction. The St. Louis branch"s security was also quite tight and it would be impossible for Bella to infiltrate and steal the forbidden text, Ese figured that Bella would probably give up after realizing that fact.
Ese"s plan didn"t have any visible problems, but something that she didn"t consider was that Bella had her own "agents" within the high ranking echelons of the St. Louis branch, as well as that Bella had the aid of an infiltration specialist.
"Thank you, President Ese. I promise that I won"t invite your little sister Elaine to explore with me! I swear to the G.o.d of light."
"Then I won"t walk you out, I"ve lost this map already and I"m not sure where it is any more of if anyone picked it up."
"I found it outside on the streets, there"s no connection with you at all, President Ese. Oh, it was definitely something that d**n Carlos hid away but was blown out when his a.s.sociation"s building was destroyed! I hadn"t expected for him to be such a fervent follower of the Church of Light!"
Even though Bella had promised Ese, but she wouldn"t be breaking that promise if Elaine joined of her own accord. As for that oath to the G.o.d of light… has anyone ever seen a demon king swear on a G.o.d"s name?"
Bella didn"t have the heart to tell Ese that the little sister that she was so worried about was someone who had Sin Points numbering in the 6 digits. However, Bella had already confirmed that Elaine wasn"t a member of the Worldbreaker faction, as her name didn"t appear on the City of Sin"s ranking chart. As for what faction Elaine belonged to, it was still a mystery that Bella would have to investigate further in the future.
—TL NOTES—
IOU:28
Really sorry for this late chapter, too much work was due this week. Currently sick, no chapter this Sunday, Make up for it following week.
—END—