Chapter 67 67: The Four Kings
Azekiel cleared the second floor. He had given the entire command of the United Empires that belonged to him to the people that worked for him.
The Porters that he had selected were now supposed to take care of the Empire and control all the transfers to Floor Zero. For that purpose, he left ten people here, only deciding to take thirty with him to the Third Floor.
After everything was settled, he was just about to leave, only to stop in his tracks as he heard someone call him from behind.
"King Azekiel, leaving so fast?" It was a voice he had heard before... A voice that he had heard personally but not in this timeline.
"King of Sloth." Azekiel didn't even have to glance back to know who it was. "If you're here to save this Empire, aren't you too late?"
After stating the title of the person, he turned around.
"Hmm?" Only after turning around did Azekiel realize that Alioth wasn't alone here.
There were two more people who stood beside him.
In the middle stood the chubby young man who seemed as if he was somewhat sleepy and was accompanied by the other two Kings.
"You brought the King of Envy and King of Lust as well?" Azekiel inquired. Even though he was slightly surprised, he had already considered the possibility of this happening ever since he had decided to attack all the Empires.
"Honestly, I expected you all to arrive sooner. I had lost hopes that you three would be coming here. You didn't bring the King of Wrath here? He seems like someone who would've loved to be here since it involves me? Or does he only like to get involved when it's against someone who can't defend himself?"
"Lucifer doesn't need to come here. We three are more than enough to handle you." The King of Envy called forth his Weapon of Sin.
A green ax appeared in his right hand from thin air.
"Ax of Envy... A King gets stronger the more he is filled with his Sin. You must be at your strongest at the moment since I can feel your envy for me from a distance," Azekiel stated. "Let me guess. You're envious of everything I have gained in the last few weeks? I now control two Floors; I've killed two Kings as well who stood in my path. The people on Floor Zero probably think I'm a god now."
"I can understand why you would be jealous, but do you really have to come here to kill me for that?" Azekiel inquired calmly. "I have no enmity with you three. You three didn't do anything bad to me. But if you really want to go down this route, I would happily oblige."
Azekiel had some decent stats at this point. He was stronger than Michael as well. The only thing he lacked now was some decent offensive skills, but the other Kings didn't know that. He couldn't show his weaker side at the moment.
There were three Kings before him. If he took a step back now, the three were going to realize that he wasn't completely confident. They were going to jump on him like hungry hounds at a single sign of weakness.
Also, why did he need to worry? He had enough Soul Energy to Summon Raphael once again. Raphael couldn't kill the Kings, but he could at least keep them distracted for a minute while Azekiel finished the third one to slim down the number of enemies.
If things didn't work out even then, he had two escape circles to get out of here. He had many items to save his life. As a King, it wasn't easy for him to be killed.
"Are you saying you had enmity with Michael and Elijah? Is that why you targeted them?" Alioth asked, slightly surprised. This was what he thought in the first place. If Azekiel had no enmity with them, he could probably find a middle ground since the only reason the other two wanted to kill him was because they thought he would kill them later.
If Azekiel really wasn't targeting the Kings, that meant they had misunderstood.
"That sounds like nonsense. You didn't kill the two because you had enmity with them. You want to target all of us. Why else would you attack all our Empires instead of just two?" The King of Envy refused to believe the explanation.
historical
"Do you have an answer for that?" Alioth asked.
"I do. I conquered all your Empires not because I wanted to show you down but because it was part of my quest," Azekiel lazily shrugged.
"Your quest? We also cleared this floor. There was no such quest."
The King of Envy didn't believe a single word that came out of Azekiel's mouth, but Alioth and the King of Lust did pay heed to his words. There was a possibility that he was indeed telling the truth.
"You didn't clear the first floor in record time, so how would you know? When I cleared the first floor in record time, I received a hidden quest opportunity on the second floor. I came to know of that quest as soon as I stepped on this floor, and that's what I did."
Azekiel casually made up a story without even having to waste a single second in thinking.
"I killed Michael because I knew him from outside this tower, and we had some enmity. As for Elijah, I killed him because he tried to attack my Empire and stopped me from finishing my quest. What can I say? I didn't want to become the Kingslayer, but as luck would have it, I had no choice but to kill them."
"Unlike me, you do have a choice. You can either try to attack me and become my enemy as well. However, I have a feeling that you won't like the outcome of that, as it'll further cement my position as the Kingslayer. As for the other choice, you can let me do as I please and don't become an obstruction in my path."
"If you follow the second option, we might never see each other again. We will be on our individual paths, and none of you will have to die. The choice is yours."
Azekiel stood with a straight back, holding his hands behind his back. His face had complete confidence, as if he didn't worry what option the three might select. This confidence is what made Alioth feel uneasy.
If Azekiel was that confident, that meant he did have the potential to kill them. He didn't think it was worth it, especially now that it was clear that Azekiel wasn't after them.
"Why should we believe you?" The King of Lust asked a simple question. "Isn't it possible that you're lying about not wanting to kill any other Kings because you're scared of facing three of us?"
"Oh, I think you misunderstand something. When did I say I don't want to kill any King?" Azekiel asked as if he couldn't understand what gave those people this idea.
"See? He does want to kill us! He was just talking nonsense!" The King of Envy took a step closer to Azekiel with his Ax.