Ch 143 – Deadly Sin of Greed

"Ha… Hahaha! Those bastards are actually dead!"

In a dark forest with little to no light, one can instantly smell the horrid stench of blood wafting in the air. If one were to squint their eyes, one will witness a scene of gore, human corpses ravage by claw and bite marks. One can clearly see those groups of humans donned with expensive armor and wielding luxurious weapons were killed by wild animals, perhaps even beasts or monsters. Their body was riddled with holes, flesh missing from their bodies as they were feasted upon by whatever beasts had killed them.

And yet, even with such a gruesome sight of death and savagery, a human man can be seen stepping out of the shadows. He wore inexpensive leather armor and had black hair and brown eyes that looked at the human corpses with fear, exhilaration, and the clearest emotion of them all, greed. His whole body was trembling, either shock from the sight of death—which was unlikely due to the greed in his eyes—or due to the fact that whatever his plan was succeeded.

A man who willingly caused the death of fellow humans, all to quench that greed brightly shining in his eyes. Just like what they say, greed truly is a deadly sin, but it is never stated that it would be deadly to oneself and not to others.

The man, excited by the death of those humans wearing expensive equipment that showed how well off they were, approached the corpses while licking his chapped lips. One can see he was breathing roughly, while his arms and legs trembled from the adrenaline he just experienced.

Finally, he arrived at one of the corpses, a man with blond hair and closed eyes, riddled with bite marks and bleeding wounds. But the man's eyes weren't one fear, instead, they were shining brightly upon seeing the suit of armor the dead blond man was wearing. Even in the dark night, he was able to see his suit of armor glowing with a soft sheen of blue light, as if it was enchanted with magic.

"H-Hehehe, you rich bastard! You're actually dead! You really thought that you could take on the E Rank Dungeon—Wild Wolf Forest, after awakening for only a few weeks? I knew it, you rich fuckers have no actual survival experienced and died after encountering a wolf tide in the middle of the night!"

The man cackled while grinning widely as if he has just seen a pile of treasure. And in a sense, it was true that the dead corpse in front of him was a pile of treasure. The mere armor the blond man wore costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and not only him, but all of the corpses around him can be seen wearing equipment that was quite costly.

With greed in his eyes, the man slowly took the equipment of the dead corpses while thinking, 'Finally, I'll finally have my big break! Once I sell these pieces of equipment, I'll be raking in enough money that I won't be able to earn as a weak E-Rank Hunter. It's a good thing I was able to quickly formulate a plan by sensing the wolves in advance and putting a scent only they were able to detect.'

*** (Flashback)

It was a few minutes earlier, the group of humans can be seen huddled around a bonfire that crackled with bright orange-yellow flames. All around the fire, young men and women wearing luxurious armor and robes talked with one another, one glance alone would tell of their current expertise.

In a dangerous dungeon filled with wild monsters, one wouldn't have the luxury to have 'fun' with friends. They must conserve their energy while being on high alert at all times. And yet here they are, eating freshly made food dripping with oil and sauces, while their stomachs bulge, their faces splattered with the oil and sauces dripping from their sticks of meat.

Not only that, one can even see that only a single person was keeping guard of the area. In the darkness far away from the group of inexperienced adventurers, a person wearing what seems to be dark leather armor along with a cloak sat upon the branch of a faraway tree, a bow can be seen on his back along with a dagger sheathed on his waist.

'Tsk, rich bastards. Just look at them, if it weren't for me, they'd have died already!' The man in the darkness complained. His appearance was entirely average, with nothing noteworthy about him except for his athletic body, though it didn't help make him more appealing in appearance.

The man silently watched the rich bastards huddling around the fire, telling stories to each other like a group of kids on a field trip. Though that suppose is a thing of the past, where monsters escaping the dungeons haven't existed yet. Now, things like school field trips are nearly nonexistent, as venturing out into the wild could lead one to encounter a wild monster that came out of a dungeon that hasn't been noticed by anyone.

Considering dungeons can exist anywhere, whether it be the inside of a volcano or atop the blue seas, going out into the wild without enough strength could lead to one's own death. The world has already gone sideways since the year 2020—the year where the apocalypse started—and its ripples have changed how society is in the present moment.

But back to the man. As he continued to keep watch of the youngsters in the distance, his ears suddenly twitch after hearing the sounds of faint footsteps faraway into the distance. With his heightened senses and specialization of being a ranger, his range of hearing was quite absurd even to E-Rank Hunters, that's how he remained relatively safe his entire time as a hunter, so safe in fact that one can't even find a single scar on his body.

'Wolves?'

After turning around in the direction of the faint footsteps he heard, his eyes can be seen glowing a dim green light and his vision rapidly extended to hundreds of meters in front of him. There it was, a horde of wild wolves moving in a direction that doesn't directly lead towards his group. After seeing that they weren't approaching them, he breathed a sigh of relief, that was until a thought suddenly appeared in his mind, a thought he wouldn't normally think of due to how risky it was.

'Wait… If those bastards die… Can't I just loot their bodies? I already have a valid reason for their deaths, and it's normal for reckless young masters to die even with expensive equipment. It's not like having a legendary item can supplement a severe lack of experience. So…'

As the train of thought plagued his mind, his hand slowly slipped into his pocket and took out a glass bottle from nowhere. Inside it, a colorless liquid can be seen while he slowly opened the container's lid. He gulped lightly, his eyes trembling as if a strange power has grabbed hold of his mind, and the sin of greed plagued his very soul at that very moment.

'Fuck it! Let those bastards for all I care! As long as I can get their equipment and sell them at a decent price, I'd be well off for my entire life!'

And with that, he dripped the colorless liquid to the ground below him, and he watches as the horde of wild wolves in the distance halt their steps, their noses noticing the strange odor which caused their heads to turn towards his direction.

Just like that, the leader of the pack howled loudly, and they changed directions.

A single decision led to a lot of death, that was the fickleness of human emotion and how greed was deemed a deadly sin.

*** (Back to Present)

In the present moment, one can see the man draped in the blood of the rich bastards around him. One can find flesh sticking to his black cloak, while a pile of goodies is laid out in front of him, a soft glow emanating from his newfound loot just like in a video game, with the glow showing just how much value the loot he got is.

"H-Hahaha! If I were to sell them all at market price, I'd easily rake in more than a-"

Just as the man was reveling in his newfound success, he suddenly slid his body to the side and watch as a spear flew by next to his head. Hastily turning around, he found a blood-riddled man with dark blue hair wearing a suit of dark blue armor glaring at him, their teeth were gritted as their dark blue eyes stared daggers at the perpetrator of all this death.

'Shit! Young Master D is alive! I was wondering where his corpse was, I thought he was dragged by the wolves for a meal, I didn't know he survived!'

Alarmed by the man's sudden appearance, the perpetrator widened his eyes and dodge to the side once more as the spear that previously flew by him glowed a dark blue light and returned to its owner, the nameless Young Master D.

Rolling to the ground, the greedy man pulled out his bow and a couple of arrows, hastily holding them and pointing at the spear-wielding young master whose eyes were reddened by his overwhelming rage.

"You bastard! Why did you do this!"

The man crouched down, and with a loud boom, his body explosively flew forward towards the greedy man who shot arrows with haste. Waving his spear, the arrows encountered an invisible barrier and bounced off, while Young Master D arrived in front of the greedy man.

"<Martial Arts, Azure Dragon Spear 1st Form: Azure Dragon's Heavenly Wrath>!"

Like a streak of thunder, his spear glowed a dark blue light that illuminated the surrounding area. As the head of the spear arrived in front of the greedy man's head, the greedy man's perception of the whole world slowed down while he raised his fist to the spear wielding man, and if one were to look carefully in all that chaos, one would find that the golden ring he is wearing in his right hand glowing brightly.

With a flash of bright orange light, a loud explosion was suddenly heard and the smell of charred meat wafted in the air.

Opening his eyes, he watches as the light green barrier that erupted from his chest recedes, and the greedy man slowly stood up to find the corpse of the spear-wielding Young Master D burning in front of him.

His eyes remained apathetic and cold, not even a hint of regret or fear appeared within him. He only thought of one thing, 'Shit, his spear is broken!'

Yes, he didn't even feel a hint of remorse for taking a human life. But out of nowhere, as he stood still, his eyes widened in surprise when a warm current suddenly flowed through his entire body.

'H-Huh?'

He thought, for a strange warm current to suddenly appear within him, he felt scared but then surprise when he felt his entire body getting stronger. Especially his arms, it was as if they had held a spear for a few years already.

'What? Why do I suddenly know the Azure Dragon Spear martial arts?'

As the man was left to wonder inside the E-Rank Dungeon, one couldn't help but lament his fate as a pair of dark purple eyes suddenly opened in the dark void of pitch darkness.

"Plunder, the holder of the Sin of Greed, you've finally been given your cheat by that Goddess. Soon, you'll fall to your own demise as you give your blessings to those unworthy of such power. A cheater and the component needed for the 'Data Extractor' of the system, everything is going all according to my plan just as intended."

As a purple screen suddenly appeared in front of him, one can see strings of letters and numbers suddenly appear before it flashed away from a burst of purple light.

*** (Back to Raiden and Nicolas)

"So, we have to wait for this Plunder guy to grow strong enough so that his cheat can be fat enough for the system? Sigh, father really is so fucking cool. Plotting against the Goddess like that, you think you can do the same, Nicolas?"

"No, definitely no. His mere mental prowess is definitely above that of a measly Goddess. To think every action we do is merely another part of his plans, nay, any action done by any being in this entire world is merely another step to his grand plan, it really shows how insignificant we are to the true powerhouses of this multiverse."

"Well, sorry for you, but my grand purpose is far above any simple multiverse."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, it's just that we have vastly different futures is what I'm saying."

"Whatever, I'm still waiting for my chance to escape this universe once your father turns into a multiversal entity capable of existing across all of space-time."

"Eh? You're pretty confident about my father's success, huh? Anyways, c'mon, we have to go to America so we can start our rise as the two rising stars of the hunter world. The Crimson King—Raiden Stolas and the Grand Magus—Nicolas Olfen."

"Yeah, yeah."

With that, a burst of white light erupted within the dark room, and another stage in Braun's plans started.

AN: This chapter has 2259 words.

Man, I really love writing villains.

Future author here. Sigh, I really had a bad session of sleep. My brain just kept thinking and mulling about the crush situation, then I experienced a short burst of sleep paralysis, maybe even a sleep paralysis demon because it felt like my whole body was undergoing immense torture, and now I wasn't able to sleep and fucking hell, this day is definitely going to be a long one.

(September 9, 2022 – 289th day of writing)