Chapter 90 - Lafayette [Kolme]

"It seems like the Megiddo Carmlan has been subdued on the west frontier," says a young man in a cloak, holding a two-meter staff made out of steel. "The east and the south have been going good as well. Strangely enough, the north has been empty."

"Something must've gone wrong," replies a harpy, preying on anything suspicious with her eyes. "Don't tell me…"

"Quite frankly… Seems like our boss' PMC is stationing a massive stronghold around 5 kilometers from here."

"He's rich."

"He is rich."

5 kilometers to the north from Amos, was a Tanomobi enshrined on a stylist chair on top of a fortress with 100 autocannons mowing down the numbers of Calamities rapidly akin to the garden variety front yard chore.

A maid Tekhanure beside him reports, "Boss, there will be hundreds of S rank Calamities approaching, we've been aggroing almost every enemy on the Northern frontier. Some of the personnel on the backline are complaining that you're racking the kill."

The Tanomobi only sips his wine. "Take twenty million KC from the account and enhance the firepower of every turret. We will stay, just let those crybabies rant at the backline."

"Affirmative."

The maid channels her consciousness into the private bank account of her boss, taking 20,000,000KC. "Transaction complete, enhancement initiated."

The Tekhanure drills her hands into the platform to branch her vessel; 100 autocannons' ammunition refill and the turret's base model is modified into a better version of itself that fires 20mm Uranium rounds at a thousand per minute. The fortress becomes bigger and reinforced with five extra floors that hold 10 artillery cannons at each side; any Calamities in the proximity of 100 meters near the fortress are obliterated without mercy, like a scrape on the gentleman's plate.

"Still no news from Kratos? Did the Silver Border Scout get obliterated?"

"One of my surviving drones has reached there, only corpses and the contamination of the void can be found. No survivor, hell in a nutshell."

"Devastating, they were such fine men… I was planning to hold a supreme banquet there, one of my comrades in arms is stationed there." He stands up from his chair, mesmerizing the view of the brutality that he brings to the Calamities. "Luthis, put this on the future plan—"

"I'm ready."

"After the crisis ends, donate one hundred billion KC to rebuild the Silver Border, and hold a ceremony for the fallen."

"Affirmative." Luthis records the voice into her memory. Despite the broken communication, she had sent numerous signal waves nonstop in the hope that at least one of them would pierce the wave disruptor.

A harpy landed on the platform, giving a salute to the short rodent. "Boss, we're complaining."

"If you ought to complain, don't give me a salute and bare your fangs at me instead, and don't call me boss."

"Oh, okay." The harpy takes the suggestion literally, immediately pointing her talon towards her boss, hissing. "Lafayette! I want a pay raise!"

"That is definitely not the complaint."

"That was mine, others have started playing poker and football. One of the superiors destroyed the improvised football field and they are bored."

Lafayette put a facepalm, "Luthis!"

"Yes, boss."

"Give each member of the battalion ten thousand KC into each of their accounts. Also, Mordekai."

"Yes?" says the harpy.

"You bared your fangs upon your superior, no pay raise."

"Aww."

"Any private message you wanted to send together with the transfer?" The maid stared at her boss.

"Tell them to shut up."

"Affirmative."

Mordekai prepares herself to be airborne, flapping her wings. "I'll be bringing the news!"

"Be careful, don't get shot,"

Hating Calamities was his hobby, the billionaire Lafayette is a man of steel who sees every impurity like pubic hair on a bacon omelette. Volatile and lawful, he is one of the early Pantheons of Greed, until he was bored of everything and just decided to use his wealth for the greater good.

"Luthis, how's this scenery?"

The scenery of impending doom to whoever rushed their way into the Calamity exclusion zone. Luthis has always been asked the same question every time she gets together with him in this kind of work.

"Boring."

"Is that so. Tell me, anything your father can give you?" Lafayette says, prodding Luthis despite his eyes being fixated upon the carnage, and not her.

"Donuts."

The father can only smile. "Sure do, let's just get on with this and go home."

The very reason Lafayette took away his title from being the Pantheon of Greed was because he met with a newborn Tekhanure, right after the God Slaying Era. An era where Deities aren't to be trusted, a triangular war between the upper realm, Neamh, and heaven.

After taking an arrow to the knee, he fled from the battlefield bringing a curious sphere of sentient mana crystal. At first it shaped itself into the shape of Lafayette, but after maturing enough, the Tekhanure takes the appearance of a female maid with a long pair of drill hair. This led the man of greed to get his hand on more information about Tekhanures itself. It was estimated that the young Luthis took that appearance because her father read a lot of maid magazines; somehow her father didn't mind this progression.

Since then they have lived together. Lafayette stopped caring for money; he can only waste the insurmountable amount of KC on his one hundred bank accounts. Sadly, the man of greed himself isn't a reckless spender, he only pays for everything that is worth the price. This trait is also inherited by Luthis who was always with him all the time.

This led many of his acquaintances to question, has the man of greed himself changed? Now, his current goal was to free this world from threats that could harm his daughter.

"Boss, an SS-rank Calamity with the record of Singularity is approaching."

"Give me the estimate."

"Ten seconds, the middle of the fortress."

"What bad timing."

Rustling iron and destruction can be heard, rattling with an ear-piercing song. A towering crustacean has blasted off the platform right in front of Lafayette. Glaring at each other, the former Pantheon of Greed looks at his rude adversary unamused.

"A Terraklause." The purple front armor and the rodent are only a meter apart from each other. The man gives himself another facepalm. "That platform and every turret you destroyed cost around more than one billion KC, do you have the money to pay for that?"

Luthis immediately controls the steel of the platform into tentacles, gripping down the giant Calamity. The crustacean screeches, yet then in front of him stands still undaunted. Lashing out in distress, the Calamity shot a vaporizing beam of energy. Lafayette only leans his head slightly to avoid the destructive attack, still in the same position.

Some of the destroyed autocannons had led to the marching resistance of thousands of Calamities approaching at a high rate through the blind angle. The Tanomobi only sighs.

"Luthis, how many donuts would it take to obliterate this insignificant trash?"

"I want the entire factory."

"It will be yours."