"What actually happened in there? She looks... old and wrinkled..." Rozan looked at Aurea that looked like an old lady that was waiting for her death on her deathbed.
"It's the result of fighting Demon King Satan. The fight was something you have never seen before. No, it's similar to Mykel's fight with Lucifer when we were in Aersland, but this one is a lot more savage," Jeanne answered as she looked at Aurea's condition. "I was right to not bring all of you there because even Aurea's whole body got melted and crushed into pieces during the battle with him," Jeanne continued and looked at the others.
Everyone looked at Jeanne and they were glad that they agreed to let those two handle Demon King Satan. They weren't stupid enough to put themselves in danger just because of a reward.
"How long is she until she gets back on her feet?" Lillith asked Mykel who was sitting on the other side of the bed.
"She exhausted not only her stamina, but she also didn't realize she exhausted her life energy in that fight. Her subconscious knew that she wouldn't be able to win in a long fight, so that's why she looks like that now," Mykel explained and looked at Aurea. "It might take a long time, but she's actually fine and only need time to rest," Mykel answered and looked at Lillith's worried expression.
Mykel could try and give his life energy just like how he gave it to Lyneth and Elena, but the problem was his life energy was divine energy as well. Aurea wasn't a divine being, and she wasn't a damned being as well. If he wasn't careful, he might have killed her with his life energy, so he'd rather not use it on her.
"Since you look better, Rozan. There's no reason for all of you to stay put in here. You can go to the Mammon Tower, right?" Mykel asked as he looked at Rozan.
"Yes, but I'm still a bit dizzy and need a breather for a few hours at least. I don't want to hold everyone back and become unreliable inside," Rozan answered and drank hot chocolate.
"Get some rest, and Jeanne would be able to handle it if all of you failed. But I don't think there would be a case that you're all going to need her help. You guys are already stronger than the rest of the Demon King," Mykel stood up and fixed his blaze. "I'll leave the towers to all of you," Mykel continued and left with Elena.
Four hours had passed and everyone entered the Mammon Tower, leaving Aurea on her own in the suite.
"Sin of Greed, and we know that his daughter is Deviatris. We are going to fight homunculus and I can't guarantee you guys it will be an easy fight," Jeanne said as they walked in the endless hallway.
"Don't worry. I did countless experiments with homunculus and I know what weaknesses they have. I also have something under my sleeve for this occasion," Rozan said with confidence.
"Is that so? Then we shouldn't be worried, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard," Gunnar looked at Rozan with a worried expression.
"Relax. This time I might not have to move a muscle and use my brain," Rozan patted Gunnar's back. "But still, I might have to observe what kind of Demon King Mammon is," Rozan yawned as he stretched his arms.
They all went to the hundredth floor and entered the hundred-first floor.
"A city of gold, we can be the richest man in the universe with this wealth," Sven said as he looked at the kingdom that was made of gold. "But still... why the fuck Demon Kings are so fixated with a giant castle! You're a demon! Who are you going to show it off?!" Sven shouted in frustration as he looked at the golden tower in the middle that reached the sky.
Vincze wrapped his arm around Sven's neck. "Let's just enjoy the ride, and aren't you the one who wants a strong opponent so you can grow stronger?" Vincze asked as he chuckled.
Everyone went their separate ways and dealt with the demons in the city since they couldn't enter until there wasn't a single demon alive. It took them a whole day to finally clear up the city, and the tower gate was open and welcoming them in.
"Well, this is first," Rozan looked around and didn't see any demons inside the tower.
Rozan made sure that it was really empty by sending a wind barrier and expanding it to detect any demons. He expanded the barrier as far as he could and didn't feel a single movement inside the barrier.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Rozan said as he fixed his glasses.
The gate behind them suddenly closed, and they were startled because of the loud bang. They turned around and realized they couldn't leave, but they had no reason to live since the one they were looking at was at the top of the tower.
They started climbing up the tower, and not a single demon could be seen or felt. Rozan still thought something was off about the whole situation until they started to feel dizzy. It wasn't because of a curse or ailment, but the tower was moving left and right which made them dizzy.
"An earthquake?!" Vincze asked as he tried to hold onto the wall, but felt like the wall was soft. He looked at the wall and saw the gold coating wall slowly melt and turn into a flesh-like wall. "Guys! The walls!" Vincze shouted as he retracted his hand from the wall.
They looked at the walls and the ceilings turned into flesh, and then Rozan finally knew why the whole tower was empty.
"This whole fucking tower is a homunculus! We need to leave as soon as possible or we will get swallowed by it!" Rozan shouted and cast a fireball at the wall, but it absorbed the magic like it was nothing.
Vincze, Gunnar, Sven, Nagy, and Lillith tried to break the outer wall, but it was the same. Their physical attacks didn't work as if the wall was made of strong rubber that neutralized their attacks no matter how hard they tried.
"Should I break it open?" Jeanne asked as she unsheathed her sword.
"Wait!" Rozan shouted as he tried to think. "It's better if we stay here," Rozan explained.
All of them looked at Rozan with confused looks because of the sudden change in his action.
"For now, just follow me! I'll explain everything to you on the way!" Rozan said and started running.
After seeing how strong the homunculus was that it could absorb both physical and magical attacks. Rozan believed it would be better to deal with the homunculus first because if the homunculus was left alone, it would bite them back. They still didn't understand what he was trying to say but followed his lead.
Rozan finally explained why he wanted to stay because a homunculus had a core inside their bodies. It was a perfect opportunity to find the core from the inside rather than from the outside since the core should be protected by its body. Since they were already inside and a chance the core was close by, it was a perfect opportunity for them to kill the homunculus without wasting time and energy.
They tried to move around the tower even though the whole tower was moving around as grass got blown by a strong hurricane. They followed Rozan and tried to keep up with him since he could fly and it pissed them off.
"It should be around here, but where is it?" Rozan talked to himself as he looked around. "The veins... the more they're the closest we are from the core. It should be that way, right?" Rozan kept mumbling to himself.
They followed Rozan and noticed the space became narrower and the flesh walls were pulsating as if blood was flowing through the wall. The further they went, the more bulge they saw inside the walls which were disgusting to look at, and the floor became wet with sticky salivas.
"It's behind this wall! Jeanne! Destroy it!" Rozan shouted as he pointed at the huge wall with thousands of pulsating veins.
Jeanne unsheathed her sword and flew toward it and cut it open in a single slash. Rozan then told everyone to get inside since the wall had started to regenerate.
"Is that the core? That looks like a heart," Sven asked.
"Yes, now destroy it!" Rozan answered.
They went all out and cut the heart into pieces, and they were bathing in purple blood that oozed a strong pungent smell. The tower started to scream and the walls stopped pulsating. The tower was collapsing and they all drowned in the blood.
Rozan managed to bring everyone out and they never thought the smell of hell would be so refreshing.
"Good work," Rozan giggled mischievously as he bathed everyone in cold water.
"I take my words back! I prefer a big castle and tower rather than a living one!" Sven lay down as he looked at the red sky.
