Chapter 340: Sin of Pride
Floating above the skies of the Lost Continent was a Demon King of great fame and strength.
Its vertical pupils scanned the land beneath with a cold and calulative gaze. Despite not having a solid platform to stand on, the creature stood tall in the air; its stance displayed skill, discipline, and power that not many could compete with.
Arms folded on its chest, a deep, rumbling growl echoed from this creature. The sound seems annoyed or irritated about something.
"Hey, King. What's the matter? Why look so glum?"
A seductive voice, followed by a lingering touch, woke the king out of its reverie. Its vertical pupils glanced over the one who disturbed its thoughts—a female demon with bat-like wings wearing very thin clothing that almost did nothing to hide what's beneath. Her figure and gaze could easily drive any demon insane with desire.
She's also wearing a leash, and she's holding onto the other end of it, seemingly handing it over to the king.
Such a gesture caused the king's pride and desire to flare intensely, but it quickly recovered. The king knows that this is neither the time nor place for this. That said, it did take the other end of the leash for her, causing the other party to be visibly delighted.
"It's strange," the king stated, peeling his cold gaze from the lady and surveying the land below once more. "I feel like something's wrong lately, but I just can't put a finger on it."
"I keep feeling some strange movements around. Like some pests scrittering here and there, but each time I try to search for them, I don't see anything. It's pissing me off."
This wasn't the first time that this king tried to survey the surrounding area. In fact, the king has been doing this for a couple days in a row now, but it just couldn't find the source of the strange movements and sounds happening.
It's as if these pests could monitor the king's movement, and they would only dare to cause a ruckus whenever he's not actively searching for them. This truly grinds on its nerves and becomes unbearable with each passing day.
"Is that why you've been particularly fierce in bed lately?" The bat-winged demon lady coquettishly leaned on the king's muscular body, tracing the lines of his muscles with her long and delicate fingers.
The king felt a vein popping out on his forehead. It growled in disbelief at the sheer audacity of this bitch. Here it was, trying to be serious, yet this woman's thoughts are still tied to sex. How unbelievable. Though not out of character for this one.
"Go hop on the Lazy Ape's dick if you're horny. I have no time for this," the king replied in an irritated way.
"Boo, you're such a killjoy." The lady pouted and peeled herself away from him. Her expression turned bored and she said, "Are you sure that you aren't just hearing things though? I mean, that'd be normal since we're on an alien planet."
"Unlike you, I'm actually serious about my career." The king sneered in contempt. "I've studied Prime Earth numerous times before; how can I not know what's normal and not in this place? I don't want to stay here any longer than I need to, so I want to accomplish this mission as soon as possible."
"So you assume that humans are doing this, then?"
"Well, the stray animals are way too afraid of us to do anything that will spark our ire, so, yes, I do think it's the humans that are doing this."
"That sounds absurd." The bat-winged lady rolled her eyes in contempt. "Humans are merely lucky creatures. They already exhausted the entire fortune of their race when they managed to liberate and somehow hide Azure Terra from us."
"This continent is quite literally on the other side of the planet. They would have to cross the tainted and extremely turbulent sea if they want to set foot in this place. And even if they could do that, how can we, Demon Kings with the power of the Deadly Sins, not know? They're humans; they will stick out like a sore thumb in a place like this."
She has a point, which is the very thing that irritated King Pride. And if she could think of something like this, how can he, the sin of pride, not? Of course, he already thought of this before. He's way ahead of her. However, the fact that he couldn't find an accurate answer to the strange things he'd been feeling lately was truly pissing him off.
He refuses to believe that it's the stray animals that's causing this. He's fairly certain that it's Prime Earth itself or the Sea Demons either, so it could only be humans—bbut if this is right, how exactly? The fact that King Pride was clueless about it makes him feel angry.
Clink!
There it is again! This soft and seemingly random sound was precisely what's been triggering King Pride's paranoia lately, so the moment he heard it, he immediately scanned his surroundings and ran towards the source of the sound.
Mistress Lust saw this and followed suit. Both of them turned into streaks of light, going towards where King Pride heard the sound.
Upon landing, they saw a slightly gruesome scene. Bits and pieces of flesh were strewn on the ground; some are even pulsing still, indicating that whatever creature was slaughtered here died merely seconds ago. The land on their feet was pulsing too, seemingly absorbing the black blood that rained down on it. The stench of death and the scene of mutilation were still fresh upon their arrival.
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"King, it's just strays misbehaving. There's nothing to see here. I don't understand what's causing your paranoia. Maybe you need some sleep." Mistress Lust gently coaxed the lion demon king because she could see that he's nearly being driven to the point of insanity.
"I really don't get it." King Pride gritted his teeth in anger. His fur bristled, and his expression turned fierce. His fangs even started protruding out of his maws.
He clearly came here as fast as he could, hoping to see just what the source of that sound is, but to his utter disappointment and disbelief, he only discovered strays mutilating each other—a pretty common sight for their kind. Not a trace or a clue could be found about the sound he heard or the movement he's been feeling lately.
It feels like someone was deliberately messing with him. How can he not feel upset and angry about this?
"King..." Mistress Lust gently approached him.
She released a wave of calming pheromones that wafted to his nose. On regular days, she wouldn't do this to him or any of her fellow sins because they wouldn't appreciate it, but it's necessary right now so she could only apologize to him later.
"Taper down your sin." She whispered close to his ears, her voice sounding like a hypnotic enchantment that bewildered the king. "Now is not the time to succumb to it."
King Pride is, of course, well aware of what she's doing. She had been his comrade for hundreds of years now, so he understood her behavior. He knew that she wouldn't dare cross the line in moments like this, so he allowed himself to be ensnared by her seductive enchantment.
It couldn't be helped. The sin of pride was too strong to be a fault. Forget about how easy it would be for him to get lost in its abyssal embrace; the mere fact that only he was able to bear the burden of this insignia was an obvious clue of how troublesome this was.
Lust's enchantment causes her target to lower their inhibitions, allowing her to essentially control them as she pleases. In terms of synchronization with the insignia of sin, Lust is only second to Lady Envy, giving her enough control and mastery over her powers.
She's helping him stay calm by controlling him. Unfortunately, she has to resort to using her echantment to do so because the Insignia of Pride is truly too powerful. If she makes any mistakes here, she will undoubtedly be killed by King Pride once he succumbs to its grip.
Mistress Lust guides him through it, allowing him to escape the pull of the spiraling madness that threatened to swallow him whole. Comfort and exhaustion followed this; it's the backlash caused by his poor control and relationship with his insignia.
"You're right, maybe I do need more rest. I'm starting to hate this place more and more," King Pride weakly complained, slinging his arm on Lust's shoulders with his paws fondling her tits.
His other paw tugged on the other end of the leash, causing tightness around her neck that sent a quivering pleasure to her core.
"Come on, big boy. Let's go to my place. We can make as much noise as we want there."
As soon as she said this, she found herself being carried by King Pride, despite his weakness. He then makes his way to her place.
The two of them never noticed a lens peeking out of the ground. Shortly after they left, a drone dug itself out of the ground and began flying towards one of the hidden outposts on the Lost Continent.