Lazy Salvation

“Say that again…”

The voice that spoke was so emotionlessly icy that one could almost feel the illusion of standing at the bottom of the glacier.

The listeners were barely affected, though. Even if they could sense the speaker's monumental rage beneath that eerie tone.

“Like I said, I propose we pull back. Our current achievements are more than enough.”

Cornelia looked around the table with deceptive calm as she measured the reactions of each of her fellow Sin Lords.

Lola sat beside her with a frown. Kokan remained as immovable as ever, his expression frozen. And judging from Envy's continuous nodding, he seemed to agree with the one who had voiced the previous proposition: Gluttony.

“And how did you arrive at this proposition, pray tell? Wasn't our objective the complete wipeout of the Narkal race?” Cornelia decided to hold back her irritation and get to the bottom of it first.

“Are you playing dumb, Cornelia? Or has your Sin finally blinded your reason?”

“...”

“We're simply incurring too many casualties.” Gluttony's greasy voice echoed across the tent. “The Narkals themselves aren't the problem... it's the ones behind them.”

“My investigations have already confirmed it,” Envy supplied from the side. “They are Outer Gods.”

“They...?” Lola tilted her head.

“Yes. They. The countless inexplicable deaths that have continued to occur aren't the work of some special breed of Narkal... they're the work of another Outer God.”

Cornelia's face hardened at the new piece of information.

“Why are we only hearing about this now?” She fixed the Envy Sin Lord with a stare, but the latter merely shrugged, unconcerned.

“I only discovered it a few days ago. And since we were going to gather in this conquered metropolis anyway, I thought I'd explain it once and for all when all of us were together.”

A brief silence followed.

Cornelia let out a frustrated sigh. “Be that as it may... we haven't been pushed back enough to consider retreat. With the five of us, I'm sure we'll eventually corner them.”

The Lust Mistress nodded.

“If they were truly superior to us in might, they would've come out into the open instead of resorting to these tactics.”

“That's precisely it. Despite so much time passing since their assault first began, the five of us remain alive without so much as a scratch. Why are you so scared?”

“...That may not be entirely true.”

The Greed Lord, Kokan, finally broke his silence.

“What do you mean by that?”

“What I mean is simple. I have already died once.”

When he uttered those words, a dreadful silence descended upon the large tent. Even Cornelia's suppressed rage cooled.

“If it wasn't for a life-saving ability of mine... I wouldn't be standing with you now.”

“Who was it...?” Gluttony asked coldly.

But everyone could see the waves of fear beneath that cold facade. He had been partnered with Greed and knew nothing of this.

Were their enemies powerful enough to kill so silently and so secretly...? Without him having even the slightest clue despite serving in the same army as his fellow Sin Lord?

“I believe it was the one we refer to as the Grim Reaper. There was no flesh when I was attacked...”

“How...?” Cornelia asked unconsciously, but her question was overshadowed by a louder voice.

“You heard him!” Envy spoke in agitation. “We should retreat now!”

Everyone turned toward the shouting man.

“Think about it... we've killed no fewer than ten billion Narkals if we include our own kills. We've conquered two of their closest bases. That alone will buy us enough time!”

“...”

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“...”

“The Narkals won't be around to bother us for years to come! All we have to do is consolidate our defenses in the meantime and wait for a new Sin Lord to emerge... Ashen Hart is the perfect candidate for that.” He looked at Cornelia before shifting his gaze to Lola.

“Even your Saintess is advancing at a rapid pace. It won't be long before she reaches the final Step. Isn't she already a Transcendent?”

“If we get greedy, overstay our welcome, and one of us dies, won't the human race be the ones who lose out then?”

The logic was sound on the surface, but...

“If we retreat and wait as you say... won't our current progress be meaningless?” Cornelia countered. “Everyone already understands the reproductive ability of the Narkals. Let alone ten billion... even if we killed a hundred billion, they would be back in no time.”

“And it would still be much faster than the ascension of a new Sin Lord.”

That was also true.

“Besides...” she continued, “aren't you afraid of what kind of nefarious schemes these Outer Gods might be cooking up in these infested territories?”

“Could you let such an unknown variable run amok? What if they're preparing something that could wipe us out once and for all? We are in the dark here... doesn't the unknown eat away at you?”

“You know... this is actually an opportunity.”

“What are you getting at?” Gluttony spoke with distress. It was clear that Greed's supposed brush with death had rattled him immensely.

“This is the first time these creatures have been willing to confront us. If we manage to kill them—or better yet... if we're able to capture one of them—won't we gain a premium source of information?”

“With that information, we can formulate a more concrete plan. And depending on what we learn, we can still retreat and wait for new Sin Lords to emerge.”

“But as you can see, they are elusive. They fight dirty and never show their true forms. How can we capture such foes?” Lola spoke in frustration.

She had the most experience with this, as she was the one dealing with the Outer God that manipulated flesh. Every attempt she had made to locate the source of the attacks had ended in failure.

“This only means that we're unfamiliar with their methods,” Cornelia said matter-of-factly. “The more we fight them, the more accustomed we become to their abilities, and sooner or later, we'll catch them.”

“We are five, while there are only two of them for now.” She looked around at everyone before finishing, “This is our best opportunity to deal our enemies a true blow. Why are we cowering?”

“...But Greed's sudden death is too much of a variable.” Gluttony shook his head. “If this Reaper can repeat that kind of attack, won't we be helpless to stop it?”

“That is why Greed will fill us in on the method that was used to kill him. Next time, we'll be better prepared for it,” Cornelia answered, almost exasperated.

“By the way, Gluttony, it was Greed who was targeted, yet why do I feel like you're more afraid than he is?”

Cornelia had just realized that despite her fellow Sin Lords' immense power, the prolonged years of peace had made them timid. It had even blinded them to simple strategies.

“Did you come here thinking this would be a walk in the park? Did you think you'd simply stomp powerless creatures with your superior powers and be done with it?”

“This is war, Gluttony... and in war, everyone should be prepared to die—including us. If you don't get rid of that skittish mentality, I don't think the Outer Gods will even be required to kill you.”

“You—!!!”

His pudgy face twisted into an ugly grimace as he pointed at her furiously. But no words left his mouth, because no rebuttal he could think of would sound logical enough without emphasizing his own cowardice.

“Haah...” Cornelia sighed bitterly.

‘He was much more valiant when he was on the Third Step. I can't believe he's regressed so much…’

But fixing his way of thinking wasn't her job. They were supposedly equals here, and she doubted he would listen anyway.

So she played the one card he couldn't refuse.

“Everyone here already agreed to be part of this. You have no right to pull out now.”

“...”

“...”

“Even if you did... I'm not going to pull out,” she added lazily. “You can look for another Sin Lord to hold the Wrath Domain.”

“...Do you truly mean it?” Envy asked quietly.

“I do.” She nodded. “And do you truly mean retreating? Do you even know what kind of face you'll have to show back home when you have to explain how you ran away like a coward at the first sign of struggle?”

Silence was the only answer.

“I thought so.” She smirked before turning to Kokan.

“Greed, fill us in. What ability brought you down so easily?”

Seing everyone look his way, he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall that... intoxicating experience.

When he reopened them, his thoughts had already gathered as he began speaking slowly.

“In fact... while I say that the Grim Reaper was the cause of my death, he was never the direct cause. Because... I was the one who killed myself.”

“Hah?” Gluttony let out an incredulous sound at those absurd words, but he didn't interrupt.

Greed nodded slowly before explaining his ridiculous claim.

“I was presented with something more valuable than my life.”

“You might wonder what could be more valuable than one's own life, and for me... it is knowledge.”

“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't give my life for it. But if that piece of knowledge were precious enough... if it wasn't merely a piece, but an ocean vast enough to render the meaning of my life so meaningless, so inconsequential, so minuscule...”

The intoxication in his voice gradually bled onto his face as he finished his short monologue.

“Then... I would probably lay down my life for it...”

“Probably...?” Lola tilted her head.

“Yes... I wasn't sure before this, but that creature confirmed it for me.” Kokan let out a helpless sigh. “I would certainly die for it.”

“So... did this Grim Reaper offer you such a thing? Did you acquire this knowledge now that you've paid the price with your life?” Cornelia asked evenly.

“Not so.” He shook his head with regret. “It was nothing but a mirage. I reckon the being that fooled me didn't possess what it dangled before me, but it was able to make it feel real enough to deceive even me.”

“And so... I took my own life in pursuit of something nonexistent.”

He then glanced mischievously at the seat beside him.

“I suppose that if someone valued their life above all else, the creature wouldn't be able to entice them. So you can rest assured, Gluttony.”

The man remained silent, not bothering to respond to the provocation. But it was easy to see that he had relaxed considerably now that the method of attack was no longer unknown to him.

The meeting lasted for a few more hours as everyone asked more questions and tried to formulate a defense against this method of attack.

When it finally ended, everyone rose from their seats, leaving only Cornelia behind at the now-empty table.

“...It seems I can no longer afford to play it safe. Lord Mercy, was it?” she murmured faintly. “I hope you do not disappoint me.”