Chapter 128 The Feast

"Sit, don't be shy," the Sovereign of Gluttony said, materializing a chair and pushing it over to Neraxis. "What's your plan here? You want to finish what you started?" Neraxis asked with narrowed eyes. The situation had turned out for the worse. He wasn't even sure when he had entered this mind realm, as the change had been instant. From the looks of things, Evangeline wasn't sure either. [I... I don't understand. The invite was supposed to uphold the rules of the system... Even if they can manipulate it to a large extent.] Evangeline muttered, trailing off. [...I don't know.] I don't understand it either, Evangeline. It's already done, so no need to think too much about it, Neraxis assured. All the while, the Sovereign of Gluttony went over and sat on the other side of the giant round table before speaking. "I have genuinely invited you to talk. My curiosity has hit an all-time high, after all." "Talk about what?" Neraxis asked with suspicion. "Your return, perhaps, or maybe before that? I'm not sure. I'm just curious how you were able to retain your sense of self after what happened," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied with a chuckle. Neraxis tilted his head. "I was betrayed by my friends and died. What is so interesting about that?" "Oh?" The Sovereign of Gluttony let out an amused voice. "Is that the version you remember?" "What else am I supposed to remember? Unless you want to tell me now that you so generously invited me over to your mind realm?" Neraxis said with frustration. "Hmm... I don't know, are you even worth the time? The current you has a very large memory gap—years, if not hundreds of years of missing memories," the Sovereign remarked as he reached down and picked up a fork, before suddenly digging into a dish, eating it in an instant. Neraxis grumbled. "Then what else do you want from me? Just send me back." "Not yet." The Sovereign of Gluttony shook his head. "We, the Sovereigns, can invite a user to join our mind realm once every couple of years, and I just used my ticket. Therefore, you will have to entertain me for a little while longer." As the last of his words fell, he twisted his hand and pushed a dish over to Neraxis. "I don't want a guest to stay hungry. Eat up." "Fuck off and just get to the point." Neraxis leaned back in his chair. "What are these memories you are talking about?" "You are no fun." The Sovereign of Gluttony frowned and suddenly clapped his hands. Immediately, the giant table disappeared, and the entire room, which had been white, began flickering, the colors changing. Soon, a familiar sight appeared before Neraxis's eyes. The ruined city and a massive rift in the sky, spewing down monsters. In the very middle was a man with many scars, cleaving each monster into several pieces with a flaming red scythe. "That's me," Neraxis said with a frown. "Why are we here?" "Just keep watching," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied with a snicker. The events played out like he remembered. Monsters spewed out, and he killed them. Stronger monsters did the same, and after suffering some minor injuries, he killed them as well. It was a cycle that continued for several hours, yet in the heat of it all, he was able to notice something he hadn't been able to last time. One of the monsters he killed suddenly got up after being enveloped by a golden light, a clear sign of someone using a high-ranked healing skill. In the corner of some rubble, he saw a certain someone—Alice—waving her staff around and frantically healing all the monsters Neraxis was fighting. "Pfft... Hahahaha," the Sovereign of Gluttony let out a distorted laugh. Nonetheless, the events continued, all the while Neraxis saw the heroes getting closer and closer. "Phahaha! Good job, all of you!" The Sovereign of Gluttony shouted with excitement, practically skipping through the bloody battlefield and approaching Neraxis's body. Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire "Finally... Everything fell into place. Envy, come." At his words, a figure materialized, a man with a hyena's mask, who soon walked after Neraxis's body and let out a scoff. "For a mere pup, he sure did a great job. I almost feel proud." "Stop with your narcissistic shit. Check his condition," the Sovereign of Gluttony urged, and soon Envy complied, leaning down and placing a single finger on Neraxis's forehead. "Stable..." the Sovereign of Envy stated, yet as he did, his eyes widened, fingers shaking. "I-It's... It's done." "What!? It worked this time?" The Sovereign of Gluttony shot up from the ground with excitement, and a tinge of fear. "When is he... You know... Coming back?" "I'd say in around—" "Quiet." A cold voice rang out, as Neraxis, who had multiple holes in his body, stood up and dusted himself off. "How long has passed?" What...? [You're... Alive?] Evangeline said with disbelief, and he too, shared the same sentiment. Nonetheless, they continued watching as the events unfolded. "I believe 492,000 years, give or take a few thousand," the Sovereign of Gluttony replied. "I see, it's been a little while then," the one in Neraxis's body remarked with a frown. "Did you do something different? I feel weaker." "No, sir, same as always... just more rage," the Sovereign of Envy replied, pointing to the shocked heroes. "You might be feeling weaker because of these bugs." "Hmm... They are peculiar—so much wrath and greed, envy and lust, pride, and even laziness. How ironic: there's one who's stomach is gurgling too." Neraxis let out a faint laugh and summoned a small white flame in his hand. "But you are of no use to me." As his words fell, the white flame split into seven parts, and at a speed no one could track, traveled toward their foreheads. Not even a moment later, each of the heroes fell to the ground one by one, their brain matter splattering as they landed. "Aah... So refreshing to be back." Neraxis turned to the two Sovereigns, who immediately performed respectful bows. "We welcome your return, Fragment of the Eternal Sin." However, as the shocked Neraxis prepared to watch the next events unfold, everything suddenly froze. The surroundings of a ruined city soon disappeared, replaced completely by white, along with the creepy grinning shark mask staring right at him. "Ah, I'll cut it there. I believe you've seen enough." "Who—no, what was that?" Neraxis asked, wary. "I wonder?" the Sovereign of Gluttony replied teasingly, standing up. "My time is up, and our chat is over, Neraxis." "What do you mean, over? Right after showing me that?" Neraxis said with anger clearly present in his tone. "I couldn't care less about answering more of your questions," The Sovereign of Gluttony remarked, beginning to walk away but soon halting before turning around. "On second thought, I'll give you a warning instead. Noticing the ominous tone, Neraxis couldn't help but grow even more wary. "The Sovereign of Pride is adamant about killing you once and for all for what you have done. He won't stop at anything to do so," the Sovereign of Gluttony stated before adding, "Though this new world has many more restrictions placed upon us, meaning we can only send out apostles. Consider this my debt repaid, Neraxis." With those words, he vanished, leaving Neraxis alone. Yet not even a moment later, the white space around him began crumbling, albeit very slowly. However, during this moment of self-reflection, Neraxis realized his approach needed to change much sooner than anticipated. Soon, the hall from before reappeared in his sights, with Aurelia still standing behind him and the apostle from earlier flashing a wide grin. So he really did get me at the very start, Neraxis thought, readying himself for battle. ...I need to speed things up.