Azekiel observed each and every single person present here as if trying to recognize some faces.
"You, come out." He selected a young man who appeared to be in his late twenties.
Shivering, the man stepped out, slightly scared. He remembered all the times he had mocked Azekiel in the last few years. Was Azekiel here to take revenge? He couldn't understand, but he hoped that wasn't the case.
He stepped out of the crowd.
Azekiel removed his attention from the young man. He kept calling out people from the crowd, one after another. He only stopped after he had fifty people. All the people he selected were men who had mocked him once in a time.
Moreover, some of the people he selected weren't even ordinary people. They were people who worked on Floor Zero for other Lords of Sins and even some who worked for Kings.
Unfortunately, even the ones who worked for the Kings couldn't go against Azekiel, especially now that they had heard that Azekiel had killed Michael.
All the fifty people who were selected gazed at each other, wondering what they had in common between them. They tried to guess why they could've chosen. They were sure it wasn't so they could be killed. If Azekiel simply wanted to kill them, he would've done it already.
"You fifty will work as my Porters from now on. I've selected the best and the strongest people I could find in the group. If anyone has anything to say against it, say now."
"Huh? Porters?" All the men were stunned. The New King was here to select Porters? Still, wasn't fifty too much? Why did he need so many people? Even the King of Pride only had twenty porters. Why did Azekiel need so many? Unfortunately, they were soon going to find out.
It didn't matter why Azekiel needed so many. What mattered was that they were selected by a King! Even after many of them had insulted Azekiel, Azekiel selected them for such a prestigious position which came with a lot of influence!
Many of them were really excited at how their life was going to change now that they were going to work for a King! Not only could they get many advantages, but they could also have the right to go to higher floors, all thanks to Azekiel.
Unfortunately, there were also some of them who weren't very happy. They couldn't select this position.
"Ah, M-my Lord, I can't be a Porter. I'm already working for the King of Greed." A young man stepped forward. "I ask for forgiveness."
"You work for Elijah?" Azekiel smiled in amusement. "Anyone else who works for a King amongst the one I selected?"
Another man raised his hand at the question of Azekiel. "I work for the Lord of Sloth, managing his business on Floor Zero."
A third person also stepped forward. "I work for Lord of Greed as well."
"Anyone else?" Azekiel inquired as three people stepped forward.
There were also some who worked for Lords of Sins, but they were happy at this promotion. Why would they work for a Lord of Minor Sin when they could work for the King of Sin who was strong enough to kill Michael?
"So only three people. Well, you three work for me from now on. I'll send a message to your respective Kings when I meet them, which I will soon. That's it for now. You fifty work for me, and anyone who refuses me now, do I have to speak out loud what will happen?"
"W-we accept." The three people gulped heavily.
Even though Loyalty was important for people, it wasn't more important than their lives. If they said no, they understood they were going to be killed. Moreover, it wasn't as if Elijah was going to kill Azekiel for one Commoner? Their life was going to be wasted for nothing.
"Good. Come with me." Azekiel turned and walked closer to the portal. He walked past Ri on the way back, but he didn't even glance at her.
He didn't stop at the portal either though, as he kept walking past the portal. Instead, he was advancing toward the other end of the floor, where a massive tent was established to keep the food.
Azekiel's food had been growling for a long time. Only he knew how he controlled it. The battle and the growth of his hunger stat made it so that he couldn't even go to the second floor without feeling hungry.
Even though he knew he could find food on the next floor, finding enough for him was going to be a problem. Moreover, he wanted to spend all his time in finishing the mission and not in search of food, so he came back to Floor Zero to create an unending stream of food for him on the second floor with the help of fifty porters.
Moreover, he had killed Michael! Of course, Michael's massive food stock was going to belong to him.
"Wait for me here. When I come out, I'll tell you what you need to do." Azekiel stepped inside the tent, leaving his men outside.
It was just his second time coming back; however, things were really different at this point. When he came here first, he was weak and needed to sneak inside something that belonged to someone else. He even needed to hide to protect his life.
However, now he was the King of this place. He wasn't scared of anything, at least not at this moment.
It was as Raphael had expected. Azekiel came here because he was hungry. When Azekiel was about to step inside the portal, he had noticed Azekiel momentarily holding his stomach with a frown. This small gesture was enough for Raphael to know what was happening.
"Don't tell me you came back to eat?" It was different for Lia, who didn't know why Azekiel came back.
As he saw him starting to eat, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Azekiel himself was very angry as he ate. He didn't know what was with his hunger... He only ate a few hours ago, and he was again so hungry. Even though he showed calmness on his face, deep inside, he was really scared.
He had lost finished the first floor, and he couldn't even go a few hours without feeling that terrifying torturous hunger! Moreover, with him getting stronger, his hunger also increased. It was the same with Soul Snatch.
He couldn't even imagine what was going to happen to his hunger by the time he reached the tenth floor? Was he truly going to become a beast who wasn't going to feel full no matter how much he ate? Was he going to be like Raphael, who was eternally hungry? This Torture... Was it in his destiny? The more he thought about it, the more he was scared.
The future... It looked grim. Was he really going to be the Monarch that he hoped to be, or was he going to become a beast that was in eternal agony?
