Master Of None

"There has to be something very VERY wrong here." Su was feeling more and more stressed as they pushed in to the demon city. The closer they got to the center, the more soldiers, mages, and demons they found collapsed and unconscious struggling to stay alive.

"All of their mana has been taken. And I think I know where it is." Gil was at the highest point. He had been traveling the rooftops and could see the central castle. This was where he was able to see that there was a lot of light inside. The windows were nearly glowing which told him that a lot of mana was being used.

"I don't know what they're doing but it's clear that they crippled their army to make it happen. We need to push in." Walker didn't hold back. He let his emotions spur him forward.

"Now that's what I am talking about! Let's go and beat that mana out of them!" Remey pushed forward while switching her elemental knuckles to fire. She wanted to be ready to switch in to her most powerful skills with Azar at any moment.

"Midnight, sneak in to the shadows and watch our backs. I know that everyone thinks we are safe, but the worst could still be hiding in the dark." Midnight huffed softly as she used the shadow wrapping skill. She would be sure to be right near Walker to keep him safe.

"The clearing is up ahead. Then we enter the castle!" Gil had been directing them. The small training squares and winding paths through the forges were hard to navigate. The city had truly only been made to create soldiers. It was not a place to raise a child. It was a place that surely caused pain and suffering to those without the strength to stand on their own.

"The castle that soon revealed itself was larger than expected. It was made from a black stone that had been roughly cut and stacked. The demons had magical abilities to make most things. Therefore, when Walker saw this was handmade, it proved that the demon lord had built a home out of others' sufferings.

"This place…"

"I know, I can feel it too. But we need to press on." Su felt the same heartbreak seeing this. It was as if the mana around the castle was also in pain. As if it was crying out to return to where it belonged.

"Well, you are here too?" Scylla had arrived right behind them from another street. She looked more on edge than the party. She had not found a single battle with any slider or mage. Just unconscious and hurt demon people.

"Yes, we are about to push in to the castle. There will be at least three more sin title holders." Walker knew that Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth were the last three. The last three that would fight them before the demon lord would. The demon king. The demon that was responsible for an entire race's pain.

"Three more to take down before we imprison the one responsible for it all. Let's go." Scylla radiated anger while she stepped ahead of the party toward the open gate. Behind them, more soldiers and the royal dragons arrived. Alma made her own appearance but walked in to the castle as well. The party knew that they would need to clear the entire thing of whatever was within.

"This is, slime core?" Remey looked at the slime cores on the ground.

"So they did have ambushes." Gil knew that if the slimes were still here in the large front entrance, that they would have been the toughest ambush they could face.

Using his all around appraisal, Walker found that all of the slime cores of multiple types were mana deficient. "They are in hibernation because they lack mana. They had their mana taken too." This was another point of stress that Walker added to his shoulders. How could they do this to even their own creations?

"There are larger cores there. You called them lord slimes?" Scylla pointed out and had Su confirm that. They were not happy to see that the main hall they were walking down was littered with lord slime cores.

"They must have been working on these slimes for years before they started sending them out to attack others." Remey had the most knowledge about slimes and their growth. This was because of the alchemical uses that slimes had. They could be grown as a material but Remey knew that a breeder must have worked for years to achieve even a few large slimes, let alone lord slimes.

"The slimes aren't a problem then. We can just push inside more." Walker looked at the walls while they moved. They were decorated with red and black tapestries depicting the crushing of villages. The rising of demon soldiers. And the eventual defeat of what Walker believed they believed, the other races. It inspired anger in everyone that looked at them. They felt that the demons were more than looking down at them.

"This would be the main hall." Gil looked at the large doors inlaid with precious gems and gold trim. It was much too extravagant to just be another door. "Ready?" Gil was standing waiting for everyone to give him the approval.

"Do it." Alice chimed in first. No one noticed that her face had become more and more twisted in anger. She had seen the damage caused to the demon people. As a healer, she had seen them scream in pain from the injuries when fleeing. She had felt their pain.

Being a healer was always hard. Most people never knew what it was like to be there for every moment of someone else's pain. To watch them give up hope and pray to just stop feeling. Alice had, she had grown up in it and she never wanted to see those that caused such things to go unpunished.

"Do it." Walker echoed Alice while everyone else did as well. The others were pushing through the castle. Scylla was the only one with them right now. It was the party, Scylla, and Alma all ready to see the one who caused this all.

"Ah, our guests are here. Too bad you have failed again. So sad." The same mocking voice the party had heard in the dwarven kingdom caves echoed on the stone walls of the large hall in front of them.

'Slime breeder!" Rmeey yelled in rage when she heard it.

"Oh, calm down. Just call me Envy. If you ever see me again." There was a flash of mana that caused them all to realize what was going on.

"Envy is correct. His slimes and all those weaklings gave me just enough mana to send them all away." The raspy vice that followed Envy's laughter drew the party's gaze. They laid eyes on a large mass of what could only be described as fat.

"I consumed all the mana to create this wonderful thing. Aren't you impressed? And then my lord even told me I could have you as snacks after he left. I can even eat this castle. This entire land!" The spiral horns that came off the bloated demonic face made Walker want to vomit.

"You would be gluttony then." Su figured out the name of the one demon that was left in the middle of the large hall. There was no sloth, they had seen Envy disappear, and the demon lord was nowhere to be seen.

"Smart little appetizer! Yes, I am the sin title holder Gluttony, and you will be my food!" The mana burst around the room and was starting to be drawn out. The large magic circle that patterned the ground glowed brighter and brighter as well.

"No you don't!" Gil fired an arrow but watched as the mana faded from it. The arrow landed on Gluttony causing little to no damage.

"Awwwee, that tickled. Maybe a thousand more of those and I will feel a little more full." The mocking of Gluttony made everyone more on edge. However, the magic circle was glowing brighter and brighter. Even moving to wrap Gluttony's body in the rune patterns.

"We need to retreat." Scylla had a sixth sense of danger in battle. It wasn't Gluttony that was telling her to retreat. She felt that something was incredibly wrong right now. "That magic circle isn't normal."

"You are right with that! We found it in that forsaken library beneath the earth. We found the secrets of teleportation and where those juicy researchers went. We found where real power lies!" the magic circle grew again but this was the changing point. Gluttony had just boasted out loud but suddenly began to cough and shake violently.

"No, my mana! My food. Where are you, Nooooooo" the entire castle started to become engulfed by the runes of the magic circle. The mana that was fueling it coming from Gluttony was pulling everything from him. Before the party's eyes, Gluttony was shrinking. Losing the rolls of fat. Becoming emaciated. " I was going to…eat it …all."

…..

….

If you are not reading this at Fire.net, then sorry the content you're reading is stolen!

Please say no to piracy! Don't take part in crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Repent now and go here, http://wbnv.in/a/ccfhAus