Disciple of Immortal

Act 5: Chapter 37: Great Merchant Greed

After parting ways with Lovis and co., I head deeper into the mansion, looking for Philia. Upon arriving in front of the grand staircase leading to the 3rd floor, a few people were already standing at the top of that staircase.

"Kingdom Knight… Doesn't seem to be one of them. For you of all people… The cooperative worker of 《Fairy's Wings》, the otherworlder, Kanata Kanbara."

I could see at a glance that the person standing atop the staircase was the Great Merchant, Greed himself. I couldn't feel haughtiness or any other feeling that made humans human from him, thus I couldn't help but feel creeped out instead. His fat, roundish face with few creases barely showed his advanced age. Rather, it looked more like an eerie mask.

He was the chairman of Greed Company, which had a huge influence on the kingdom's economy, and the lord of Polorock city.

"Your subordinate seems to have already run away. Care to surrender?"

"Do you understand the meaning of coming this far? The most important things in this world aren't those small fries; they're nothing more than flashy decorations… It's real, absolute power. That's why that man tried to create the strongest homunculus."

Said Greed as he descended the staircase.

"That… man?"

"Care to hear some of my story? I've got a promise to keep with the young miss, you know? A promise not to hurt Kanata and co… I will keep my promise… as long as they don't become my enemy."

"Good grief… Young Miss is gonna hate me for sure."

Greed's neck made a crackling sound as he cracked his neck to the side.

It seems he had no intention to surrender. Honestly, I still had no idea why he chose to appear before me, an adventurer, bare-handed without escort or weapon.

But I might be able to stop the golems and the subordinates by using Greed as our hostage. I just need to knock him out if he resists.

I made a beeline toward Greed, trying to catch him.

But Greed's movement betrayed his appearance; he dodged my hand by a paper-thin margin. On the other hand, his hand reached out to my head.

"WHA–!"

I parried with my arm and kicked Greed's abdomen. My kick sent him flying back, but Greed skillfully spun his body in the air and landed on the ground.

"Dear me… It seems you're not your average S-rank adventurer. To think that such an irregular got mixed in. Or maybe this is how it's supposed to be since you have that Young Miss. You clearly belong to this side."

Greed muttered in annoyance.

"You… Who in the world are you? You're not a mere merchant, eh?"

Based on his reaction just now, my lowest estimate of his level was at least a thousand. But that was impossible. From what I've heard so far, there was no mention of Greed having an extremely high level. He was supposed to be a mere merchant who climbed all the way up to become a lord with territory.

"If possible, I didn't want to reveal this… I want to take control of the kingdom as a human, after all."

Greed's body suddenly ballooned, ripping his clothes to shreds.

The Greed before me gradually turned into a grotesque monster. The creepy face-like mask that he used gradually lost its vitality. The mask broke in two, and appearing from within was a huge, inhuman-like mouth.

His plump feet and arms transformed into forelegs and hindlegs. A dragon-like tail swayed, and its tip was aimed toward me. To sum it up, he became a giant, black toad-like monster.

"What in the heck have you become!"

I pointed my sword toward Greed, readying my stance. He was a heterogeneous existence that couldn't be compared with any other enemy I had fought so far.

—

Adam

Race: Chimera Homunculus

Lv: 3000

HP: 14394/15000

MP: 12000/12000

—

"Level… 3000!?"

As expected, one wouldn't normally attain such a high level. Nyarlhotep… and the 《Invisible Hand of God》 wouldn't allow creatures with such high levels after all. Wait, could it be that he was one of the 《Invisible Hand of God》?

Nah, that wasn't the only problem. Seeing this grotesque appearance, it seems he wasn't Greed to begin with.

"You must be his shadow! Where's the real Greed?"

"I'm Greed, the great merchant himself! If that man keeps doing such risky gambling right in front of the government's nose… it's only a matter of time before Polorock collapses. His sloppy and amateurish rebellion plan has long since leaked to the royal family. At any rate, he might die from old age while making the preparations… I mean, how can a greedy and narrow-minded human like him achieve something that only a legendary hero or great historical figure can achieve with that kind of mindset? Since I'm ageless, I can guide Polorock to a more prosperous future!"

Greed spoke merrily with his big mouth.

I was at a loss for words hearing those remarks. There was a story about Greed keeping youthful even though he was about eighty years old.

There was some rumor about him using black magic to maintain his youth, but it turned out he had long since been replaced by a homunculus. According to what I heard from Rosemonde, ‘Greed caused a huge incident resulting in a lot of casualties due to a failed experiment with a homunculus a few decades ago.' Maybe the person called Greed was replaced back then.

There were three huge crystal marbles lining up on the back of Greed. I noticed that there were numerous gears meshing together inside those crystals. It should be the first time I saw those crystals, yet it gave me a deja vu.

…

—

【Mechanical Moon】《Value: Phantasmal》

A crystal ball tinged with wicked magical power. By changing the crystallized blood of thirteen demon lords with alchemy, it was an item developed to mass-produce 《Abyssal Moon》. It used numerous cores of homunculus.

—

"《Mechanical Moon》?"

No wonder it gave me a deja vu. The 《Abyssal Moon》 was the item embedded in the body of Mother… the demon lord of spiders.

And that was the reason behind Mother's rapid level-ups. Mass-producing something like that would definitely threaten the balance of this world.

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