Chapter 148 : Sin of Greed Cult Leader(2)
Sin of Greed Cult Leader(2)
[《Mirage Cloak》 has been sold.]
[《Whirlwind Staff》 has been sold.]
[《Perennial Frost Crystal》 has been sold.]
[《Fire Demon Helmet》 has been sold.]
.
.
― Shaaaa-rattle-rattle!
'Faster, faster...!'
Mobius gritted his teeth as he frantically tapped the sell button floating in front of his eyes.
Even though he pressed until both his fingers went numb, he'd only managed to sell 10% of the valuables so far.
"Keuuuugh...!"
At this rate, he wouldn't have been able to sell much before being caught by Hisperion's group upstairs.
But abandoning these valuables and running wasn't an option.
To Mobius, these valuables were more precious than his own reproductive organs.
He hadn't been named Greed for nothing.
"Aaaaaargh...!!"
Mobius even cast body acceleration magic as he continued to hammer the sell button.
When he had managed to sell about 20% of the valuables—
― Shrreeeaaaaak!
Sword Ki, imbued with the scent of blood, came flying for the back of Mobius's neck.
― BAANG!!!
The crimson Sword Ki smashed into an automatically triggered magic barrier and scattered in all directions.
'Ugh, urgh! Wh-what!?'
If not for the auto-defense artifact, he would have lost his head.
Cold sweat beading on his brow, Mobius urgently turned around.
― Swiiiiiish...
Beyond the vault door—
In the deep darkness of the long corridor, two pairs of red eyes glared, targeting Mobius.
'What the hell is that now...!!'
― Vrrrmmm!
Mobius drew a combat magic staff from his subspace.
Soon, two women came into view.
Pale, bloodless faces stretched into chilling smiles at the corners of their mouths.
"Hehehehe..."
"Long time no see, Mobius of Greed. You haven't forgotten us, have you?"
Their laughter echoed so creepily that Mobius's heart dropped in an instant.
'N-No way—the Noxcar blood kin...!?'
Impossible not to recognize.
These were the ancient Vampires Mobius himself had once captured.
'C-crazy! What—what the hell happened!!'
He thought the intruders were just the Hisperion group, but now the Noxcar blood kin had appeared as well.
Mobius's head spun with confusion.
'There shouldn't be any connection between Hisperion and Noxcar!?'
Was he perhaps trapped in a nightmare?
'Kh, keuuugh!'
Countless thoughts flooded his mind, but Mobius shook his head violently to clear them.
This wasn't the time to deduce how the two factions had arrived here together.
He had no such luxury.
First and foremost was escaping from this place.
'Damn...! Hisperion was trouble enough, but now the Noxcar blood kin, too!'
If he didn't keep his wits about him, he'd be dead before he could even run.
He had to escape before even more enemies gathered; giving up on the remaining valuables he hadn't yet retrieved might now be unavoidable.
However...
Mobius was the leader of the greediest denomination within the Cult of Deadly Sins.
Even in such a life-or-death crisis, he would begrudge giving up his property.
'My valuables, until the very last moment! I won't give them up, never!!'
― Clack!
Mobius pointed his magic staff at the Vampires.
After all, these two were enemies he'd already subdued once.
Besides, vampires had clearer weaknesses than any other species.
'I just have to take care of these bitches as quickly as possible, gather my remaining valuables, and escape!'
He knew the perfect spell for subduing them.
A magic from another world, purchased through the dimensional shop.
'Spear of Solar Lightning.'
No matter how-nimble a Vampire was, it was too fast to evade easily, and even a mere graze would burn flesh and bone down to the core—an absolutely deadly finishing spell.
― BWAVAVAVAT!
As Mobius murmured the incantation, countless magic arrays instantly overlapped at the tip of his staff.
― VWUUUUUUUM!!
Soon, the fiercely spinning magic arrays sparked golden lightning.
At the moment those arrays overlapped, the Vampires before him should have been reduced to a handful of ashes.
However—
― THUD!
"K-KEUUG!?"
The Spear of Solar Lightning was never fired.
Suddenly, thorny vines burst from the ground and skewered Mobius's arms, blocking the flow of demonic energy.
'Wh-what is this...!?'
A strange presence appeared behind him.
Mobius whirled around in alarm, only to see—
"Wh-what!?"
A swordsman in robes, wearing a peculiar goblin mask.
Sword Fiend stood there, gripping demon swords in both hands.
'Th-the Sword Fiend!?'
What now!
It was already Hisperion, then the Noxcar blood kin... And now the world's strongest mercenary here to capture him?
'Th-this is too much!'
It would be overkill even for hunting down a demon realm duke, let alone a single cult leader.
Mobius began to feel that the situation was absurd.
Even if he was a high-ranking figure in the Demon Cult, gathering the world's greatest powers just to catch him—wasn't this an outrageously wasteful use of resources?
'K-keuuuuugh...!!'
No matter that Mobius was an 8th-circle great mage with the authority of the dimensional shop, handling all three of them in this confined space was impossible.
Just moments ago, there had been a slim chance for a desperate compromise, but not anymore.
Now, even if it meant abandoning his treasures, survival came first.
"K-KAAAAAAAH!!!!"
Mobius let out a tearing scream and activated his warp necklace.
― POOOF!!
In an instant, Mobius warped outside his base.
― SHREEAAAAAAK!!
He arrived in a forest, where a wild mana storm raged.
"KAAAAAAAH!!!!"
Mobius briefly lost his mind, overwhelmed by the sense of loss and rage at suddenly losing all the valuables he'd so painstakingly gathered.
After pounding the ground and screaming like a beast for a while,
Mobius forced himself to rise, grinding his teeth.
Hellfire-like rage burned in his eyes.
'I'll have my revenge...!'
On those who cost him his property—all of them.
He would sell their skins, weapons, bones, and flesh to the dimensional shop to somehow make up his losses.
'For now... surviving comes first.'
To get far from here, he had to fly.
By the level of an 8th-circle great mage, one could soar through the skies nearly as well as a dragon.
― BOOOOM!!
Mobius shot up into the air like a firework.
― BAAANG!!
He snapped into a vertical trajectory through the sky with a sonic boom.
As he burst past supersonic speeds, cutting across the Northern coniferous forest in an instant—
― SHWAAAAAA!
"What!?"
― FWUMP!!
A spear, thrown from somewhere with razor sharpness, pierced precisely through Mobius's side.
"K-Keghk!!!"
The demonic energy's circulation broke, causing the flight magic to unravel and Mobius to plummet toward the ground, flailing.
― THUD!
Fortunately, he landed in a spot with deep snow, so he didn't die...
"Ke-kehhk!?"
Hot blood gushed uncontrollably from his side.
"Keuuuuugh...!"
Mobius hastily bought a potion from the dimensional shop and poured it over the wound.
― SIZZLE!
"Arghhh!"
His wound healed in an instant, white steam billowing off of it.
Mobius caught his breath, clenching his teeth.
'A spear sniper shot...! Am I still inside Hisperion's encirclement!?'
Just how wide did their encirclement reach?
He was already 15km away from the base he'd just escaped.
'From where... was the spear thrown...?'
Mobius clutched his throbbing side and stood up.
If there were spear snipers nearby, he couldn't escape by flying.
'I have to eliminate the spearman! As quickly as possible!'
There was always the option of using the warp necklace again, but...
'Damn it...!'
This warp necklace allowed instant movement anywhere within a 15km radius, functioning reliably even in this wild mana storm.
However, using it more than three times in a day came with a fatal cost.
Up to twice a day was fine, but on the third use, parts of the body would become jelly-like, and on more than the fourth, over half the body would turn to jelly, bones and organs collapsing.
Basically, the fourth use was almost certainly fatal.
So now, the warp necklace was his last resort.
'Where are they...!?'
Mobius cast a detection spell.
Soon, a human silhouette appeared between the tight fir trees.
'Found you. Not so far away.'
But then—
'Wait... what!?'
Something about the silhouette seemed familiar, so he magnified it with a zoom spell...
'A-Aris Hisperion!?'
The spear sniper who had targeted Mobius was none other than the eldest daughter of the Heavenly Sword Lord—Aris Hisperion.
'The spearman was Aris!?'
This was going too far.
Just the big shots that had shown up so far were already absurd—now even Aris, who should have been at the main Hisperion estate, had entered the stage here!?
Did the Heavenly Sword Lord lose his mind and mobilize the entire Hisperion forces to this northern region?
'Damn it...! They really are hell-bent on catching me!'
But for now, it was still manageable.
As overwhelmingly strong as Aris was, in a one-on-one at this distance, Mobius actually had better odds.
In that sense, meeting Aris here might actually be a stroke of luck.
He could at least take some measure of revenge on the Heavenly Sword Lord responsible for this mess.
'I'll kill Aris, and escape from the North!'
With a single, fatal blow through the heart.
Mobius immediately prepared an offensive spell.
A super-high-class spell from another world, purchased at the dimensional shop.
A hyperfine destruction ray.
With auto-aim, homing, and power-amplification spells added.
― BWAVAVAVAT!
Reciting the incantation and forming hand seals, Mobius conjured layer upon layer of magic arrays before him.
But—
― SHAAAA!
Once again, his magic didn't materialize.
"K-KYAAAAAAGH!!"
A figure moving at supersonic speed suddenly sliced off Mobius's right arm.
"AAAAAAGH!!!"
Mobius clutched his severed arm, rolling across the ground.
'AAAAARGH!! Damn it! What now!?'
Was there another enemy nearby!?
With bloodshot eyes, Mobius glared at his newest assailant.
Wolf-like ears stood pointedly atop her black hair.
Predatory yellow eyes gleamed with savage wildness.
'R-Roxy Lockberman!?'
Aris's direct knight order commander, Roxy Lockberman.
'Damn it! DAMN IT ALL!!'
Had the Heavenly Sword Lord truly gone mad?
Not only had he called Aris, but also her direct subordinates!?
Why!? Why bring such monsters just to catch one man!?
"Ahhk...! Aurrgh...!!"
Mobius ground his teeth in agony.
He desperately wanted to swear at the enemy who had cut off his arm, but the pain stifled his voice.
"AAAAAAAAGH!!"
In the end, Mobius was left with just one choice.
A last resort.
Despite the risk of part of his body turning to jelly, to activate his warp necklace and escape this place.
― POOF!