Eligos and Ophelia were lying on the floor. Yong-ho thought they were having a touching hug, but they were too tired to do it.
However, they were still strong Red Demons. Eligos, who could be called the strongest of the Mammon spirits, raised his upper body slowly. But Ophelia couldn't get up easily as if the blow by Baphomet was quite strong. However, she did not lose consciousness and whispered to Eligos.
Yong-ho eventually gave up standing. He sat down, touching the floor with one hand and holding Catalina with the other. As soon as he sat down, he wanted to lie down again, but he barely held down the urge to do so. When he turned his head a little more, he saw Skull.
Skull was also a total wreck. The battle hammer that Burgrim improved for him was completely destroyed. What he had now was a bag only.
His armor and helmet were also broken. He wasn't as bare as when he first came to the House of Mammon, but it was the first time since his fight with Poras that he was injured so much like this.
Skull, kneeling on the floor and supporting his upper body with one cracked arm, trembled.
His chin and head, in particular, trembled badly.
"Skull?"
It was Skull that dealt a final fatal blow to Baphomet. Did he overwork himself because Yong-ho mobilized too much power into him?
When Yong-ho called him in a worried voice, Skull slowly turned his head. Ghost flames that were supposed to be present in his hollow eyes were too small.
And that wasn't all. Yong-ho felt somewhat concerned about Skull. It was something like a feeling of strangeness. And Yong-ho alone didn't feel it. He could sense Skull's feelings transmitted through Brigada.
Yong-ho found it hard to express what it was. It was the kind of feeling that he could express by comparing it to a torrent raging under the quiet water.
"Skull."
Yong-ho called him again. Skull reacted at his affectionate calling. Although it was a skull without any expression, Yong-ho knew that Skull was trying to smile, though with an effort.
"Skull… kull…"
Speaking slowly and quietly, Skull fell to the floor instead of struggling to stick it out.
As if he was encouraged by Yong-ho's calling, Skull cleared his anxiety a lot.
Skull now seemed to be resting comfortably like Ophelia and Catalina.
Watching them, Yong-ho gulped. His sense of strangeness about Skull disappeared, and he could do nothing because there was nothing unusual about Skull at this point.
Yong-ho just hoped it wasn't a big deal. Then once again, he held Catalina anew and hugged her. After overcoming the temptation to fall asleep next to her, he looked at the mana in the empty space.
The energy of death hadn't yet completely disappeared from there.
It was the same black mana but different from Catalina's.
Catalina's black mana resembled the gentle night that embraced people. On the other hand, Baphomet's black mana was like cold and terrifying despair.
Black mana swirled in the place where Baphomet stood. When it swirled once, the darkness scattered in all directions, which was spectacular, indeed.
Yong-ho touched the magic field on his left hand with his right hand over her waist. Despite him not seeing it, the newly created Baphomet jewel clearly came to his mind.
The power of death contrary to Scathach's life.
Yong-ho finally let out a sigh. Prepared for fainting, he extended his right arm. Instead of hugging Catalina, he let her rest her hair on his thigh and grabbed the air.
Following the flames of the red lotus, the green lotus arose. He collected not only his remaining mana, but also that of Eligos, Ophelia, Skull, and even Catalina, who almost passed out, and poured it into Aamon.
His efforts paid off.
Although he was not in the arena, he could talk with Aamon.
[My little master.]
Watching Aamon's true body, the burning spear, reminiscent of a weapon from the age of mythology, Yong-ho asked, "Is Baphomet completely dead?"
He couldn't afford to beat around the bush.
Aamon answered his straightforward question.
[Baphomet is the incarnation of death. The realization of the concept of 'death' that humans in the alien world conceived.]
[Its body, which had been worn away for a thousand years since the disappearance of its owner, has now completely disappeared. Since the container holding the concept has disappeared, the concept will also disappear.]
[However, we can't say it's completely extinct.]
[The essence of Baphomet remained in its unfinished Godly Energy. Not only Baphomet's power, 'death,' but also some consciousness remains in it.]
[But, my little master. You don't have to worry. It will never be able to hurt you, nor it will.]
Baphomet couldn't hurt him.
It also didn't have the intention to do so.
Yong-ho let out a long sigh. Aamon smiled gently.
[My little master. Good job!]
[The power of greed comes from desire.]
[However, simple lust can't bring out the true power of greed, for it would be closer to the power of the King of Lust rather than the power of the King of Greed.]
[Clearly, the power of lust was strong for you, but because it was mixed with the purer, original desire, you could overcome Baphomet's death.]
[Hope and desire. Project your true wishes onto your desire.]
Indeed, Aamon correctly pointed out what seemed to be embarrassing to Yong-ho.
Instead of replying, Yong-ho looked at Catalina's face blankly. He had the urge to touch her cheek, but he couldn't because he was grabbing Aamon at the moment.
But he was reaching the breaking point slowly. This time, he really wanted to touch her cheek quite seriously.
So Yong-ho asked the last question, "Third floor. Who among the 12 Spirits controls the third floor?"
Aamon didn't answer right away. There was some pause. As a human, Aamon would have sighed or smiled bitterly during that short span.
[Elune whose star sign is Libra, cutting the night.]
[She is the owner of the third floor of the Labyrinth of Greed.]
After answering, Aamon withdrew the flames then went back to a bracelet, its original shape.
'Cutting the night... Elune.'
The escort knight for Mammon, the King of Greed, and his sweetheart.
Yong-ho caressed Catalina's cheek. He closed his eyes because of her extremely soft face, but he shouted with all his might. He called Salami, Bucephalas, and the Skull Squad, who were waiting in the corridor.
The passage to the third floor was opened, but now was not the right time to move.
First, he had to go back to Scathach on the first floor to restore stamina and mana.
He felt Salami running behind his back. Only then did Yong-ho take a load off his mind.
Touching Catalina's cheeks, he fell into a deep sleep.
***
The end of the long battle was around the corner finally.
Plauros, the head of the Western Owners' Alliance, laughed vainly. It was not because Cecharo of the House of Berne, his strong ally, literally disappeared, bleeding before his eyes.
The Western Owners' Alliance was defeated by Embrio.
And that defeat was already certain from the beginning.
Five horns, which was the evidence of the strength towering over Embrio's head.
They weren't new horns as a result of Embrio destroying the house heads in northern and western regions. Although he had only four horns from the beginning, Embryo, who cultivated his mana over the years, knew it.
Embrio had five horns from the beginning. Most of the house heads in the northern and western regions lagged far behind him in power, and perhaps, even the power they absorbed by essences of horns was little.
It was natural that the house heads in the northern region lost to Embrio helplessly.
It was also understandable that each of them showed their might just like the one-man army.
It was highly likely that there were quite a few with five horns under the command of six kings. But it was not the case in the barren place of the south. To be precise, Embrio could be said to be the only and the most powerful in the southern area.
Embrio absorbed the essence of Cecharo. Since it had only four horns from the beginning, his absorption helped him a bit.
Embrio took another step. Plauros smiled bitterly at that.
It wasn't just because of Embrio's horns that Plauros understood the defeat as "something certain from the beginning."
Plauros realized who was standing behind Embrio.
That was why he gave up and laughed scornfully.
"You can't be a king, Embrio. You will eventually fall miserably after chasing only the king's shadow."
It was not known which king was supporting Embrio. However, whoever he was, he would not ignore Embrio's ambitions.
Embrio did not answer. He just silently approached Plauros.
That was why Plauros laughed again. Instead of begging for life miserably, he wounded Embrio's mind with a final scorn.
"You know, Embrio, that you can never be a king."
Those were his last words. Plauros couldn't talk anymore. With his heart destroyed while he was still alive, he died.
Embrio took his essence. It could get quite a lot of power, just like the strongest head of a house in the western region.
'You cannot be a king.'
It was a curse. Embrio decided to think so. By ordering a group of wolves to eat Plauros's body, it dispelled his displeasure.
The smoke from the battlefield covered the sky. Death, screams and groaning resonated everywhere.
Leaving all this behind, Embrio stepped forward.
He was heading for the south, where a great king was born.