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Big Sloth's death left a deep impression on the Sin Demons. His ending woke them up to the reality of the situation before them.
Creatures who used to take deaths lightly since it was a temporary thing for them were now facing the true threat of death, and they don't know how to deal with it.
Boom!!
The stalemate brought by Big Sloth's death didn't last though. It was interrupted by a sudden, unexpected move from King Pride, who still hasn't recovered any semblance of his sanity.
To Charles and everybody else's surprise, King Pride swerved from chasing the machines and flew straight towards Big Sloth's headless corpse. He practically teleported on top of his body with how quick he was.
And under their shocked gazes, King Pride ripped the corpse's heart out and swallowed it whole.
The scene was appalling, both for humans and his fellow Sin Demons. None of them were able to stop him from doing this either, and in hindsight, maybe they should've tried to nonetheless, because what happens next just made the King's situation even more unstable.
BOOOOM!!
A large explosion shook the field with King Pride at its center. It was then followed by heavy pressure flooding the entire sealed zone. When the smoke cleared, they saw King Pride still standing on top of Big Sloth's corpse with visible changes on his body.
He's still in that chimera form of his, but he grew bigger, at least twice his previous size. Additionally, the sheer power emanating from him was frightening. The sheer fluctuations of it turn the space around him murky and unstable. His aura was causing everything close to him to collapse due to its density.
ROOOOOAAAAARRR!!!
King Pride released a roar of satisfaction, grief, and anger. His voice doesn't even sound the same anymore. Everyone could hear Big Sloth's wailing in the undertones of Pride's voice.
This made them realize that King Pride devoured the Insignia of Sloth, which not only caused his already perverted level of strength to increase sharply but also very likely eroded his sanity even further.
Previously, there might've been a 10% chance that Lust or any form of stimuli could've returned King Pride's sanity. Now though, the chances of that happening might not even go past 1%.
King Pride has truly reached the state of mindless rage. It's kind of ironic considering that this isn't how his sin should work. Excessive rage was Wrath's thing because that undead bone dragon was the Sin of Wrath. The possibility of devouring other sins to increase one's strength should've fallen under Gluttony's repertoire because that would just make sense.
It doesn't, though. Gluttony can't do something like this because he'll straight up die from excessive energy and explode like fireworks.
So what's up with Pride? How can he do this?
King Pride sensed Charles's movements, and it instinctively treated them as threats. Fortunately, King Pride reacted slow enough for Charles to finish his set-up because once King Pride moved, nobody was able to follow his movements because of how quick it was.
The mad Demon King was no longer standing upright; he was on fours, and his chimeric form was even more prominent than before after he devoured the sin of sloth.
He appeared right in front of Charles in a blink of an eye and slapped him with a paw. This seemingly casual move was actually strong enough to pulverize an entire island.
Fortunately, Charles was prepared. The drones in his body reacted as soon as they sensed movement. They formed a triagular shield that blocked King Pride's paw, rebounding the excessive force back to its sender, causing the beast to be sent flying from where it came.
Oberon and Ophelia mobilized at this point. The former turned into a streak of light and stabbed his spear towards the area where King Pride was about to land. The latter also blasted several shells in the general direction.
The clash between them caused the others to resume the fight even more fiercely than before.
The Sin Demons had no time to grieve about Big Sloth's death. The humans won't give them a chance either. They also don't have the luxury of time to think about what's wrong with Pride. They could only focus on making it out of this place alive.
Charles was definitely determined to keep King Pride chasing after him. Unfortunately, he underestimated just how much of a strength boost King Pride had after he devoured the sin of sloth.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In just a short burst of clash. Oberon and Ophelia have been destroyed a couple of times in a row. If it weren't for the fact that they could rearrange themselves and heal the damages they receive so long as they have an energy supply, they would've been gone by now.
Charles himself also couldn't escape King Pride's harassment. If anything, it seems that the mad beast has particular liking to him because he kept coming after him.
The drones he had protecting him could only take so much force at once. If their expected output was exceeded, there is a certain chance that the drones will malfunction, which will definitely be dangerous for Charles.
In terms of physique, he knows that he's the most fragile out here. This accursed teenage body of his could only be protected using other means and has always been his weakness.
Charles wore a solemn expression. He could sense the threat of death looming over him closer than it ever were previously. King Pride was way too strong that it was suffocating.
That said, he couldn't bear to interrupt the flow of battle. He could only try his best to last for as long as he could to give others the chance to finish their task.
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Before they achieve this, Charles must keep dancing at the edge of life and death.
It was then that he heard an exclamation near him.
"Oh, wow! Erica, look! That kitty looks adorable. Do you think I can pet it?"