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Ragnar offered a warm smile. "Oh, that\'s quite a long story. Would you join me in the lounge first?" Ragnar invited Greed, Pride, and Lust to the mobile HQ lounge and began explaining to Greed what had happened.

While Ragnar briefed Greed on the recent events and the two witches took a break in the lounge, a commotion erupted at the giant monster corpses.

The upper torso, where the human part had detached from the snake-like monster\'s body, showed signs of movement. The dragon-like maw on this severed part started to stir, prompting the soldiers who had approached the corpses to hastily retreat.

Fortunately, it only exhibited movement and didn\'t immediately launch an attack on the soldiers. It appeared to be in a phase of recovery from the injury inflicted by Pride. Due to the impossibility of regenerating the humanoid part, it completely separated from the monstrous body.

The cries and alarms of the soldiers filled the communication channels. A communication officer rushed into the lounge and promptly informed Ragnar about the unfolding situation.

"Excuse me! Who was the lady who killed the giant monster the first time?" the communication officer asked in panic.

"It\'s me. What happened?" Pride asked, raising her hand.

"Ma\'am, that monster you killed, it revived itself," the communication officer said.

Outside, the monster, now fully detached from its human half, started moving. It looked around, and then its serpent-like body began to transform. Four fleshy nodes bulged from its body where its legs should be.

The nodes grew larger and larger until they exploded, and four limbs emerged from them.

At first, the limbs were weak and didn\'t seem to have any strength. However, as its scales and hide grew thicker over time, they began to strengthen. The monster roared, its thunderous cry echoing through the ruined town as it stood on its four legs. Now, it resembled a colossal alligator, but an alligator with several horns on its head.

— San Francisco - Greed\'s Lombard Street Manor —

Within the kitchen, filled with fresh ingredients and hunger-inducing aromas, Envy was cooking lunch for Koyuki and little Sylvana.

In the living room, little Sylvana was still playing with Sat, the dog, riding on his back while Mammon, in the form of a fat yellow iguana, perched comically on her head. Koyuki followed her daughter closely to prevent her from falling.

A chuckle escaped Envy\'s lips as she observed the heartwarming scene. She dipped a spoon into the stew, savoring the rich broth with a satisfied nod.

Suddenly, a jolt of pain tore through her very being, she felt an indescribable pain as if it was etched deep within her soul. It was the same pain she had felt when her soul merged with the soul fragment of Leviathan, back when she transformed from a normal human into a witch.

Then, she felt like a part of her power was ripped out of her. Envy suddenly felt weak; she couldn\'t even hold her own weight and collapsed to the ground, exhausted from the ordeal.

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Sat barked at Envy, quickly rushing to her and bringing little Sylvana, Mammon, and Koyuki over.

Seeing Envy lying on the floor, Koyuki immediately rushed to her side. "God! Envy! Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don\'t know…" Envy uttered, "I feel very weak right now. It\'s like… something…" She gasped. "Ahhh, something is stealing my power…" Envy said, struggling to breathe as she used all her power to resist it.

Seeing this, Mammon looked at Envy in a strange manner. One needed to know that Mammon was a sort of rival or nemesis to Envy, and he usually came out the worst, always the loser in their conflicts.

And speaking of revenge, this should be the time when he could take the opportunity to exact it—or at least not tell them what exactly had happened to Envy.

But for Mammon, who had already experienced something more terrifying than his nemesis—the unbridled and overwhelming power of the ancient Titan, a power he could never hope to contend with—this was different.

If Envy was his nemesis who always won and humiliated him every time he lost, yet he could still find a way to survive, then Daniel was a type of nemesis who, if given enough reason, would hunt him down to the ends of the earth. Mammon knew that not even hell could protect him from Daniel. The fear of inevitable and unstoppable power—that was the fear Mammon had against Daniel right now.

Mammon tapped his front feet on little Sylvana\'s head, nudging her to signal that he had something to tell her.

"Huh? What is it, Princess Aura?" Sylvana knew the iguana wanted to speak with her about something, so she rode Sat, the loyal dog, to her bedroom to begin their discussion.

Mammon hopped off Sylvana\'s head and landed with a plop on the study table.

"Little girl," Mammon began. "What happened to your mama Envy is the same thing that happens to the Hell Lords when they share their power with a witch. But since your mama Envy is not a true Hell Lord, just a pseudo one, she feels more power drain than it should be.

My guess is that something unexpected happened, and it opened a way for the original Leviathan\'s soul to escape from its prison and steal your mama Envy\'s power," Mammon explained.

"Huh? So what happened to mama Envy, is some bad guy stealing her power?" little Sylvana asked, a bit confused. She only knew the basics of magic and a few spells from Envy and didn\'t know much else.

Mammon bobbed his head."That\'s the gist of it, you\'re a clever girl, Sylvana. Just tell your mama Envy that she needs to sever a portion of her power. She should select a part she doesn\'t want to use or the least powerful aspect of her power, discard it, give it all to whatever is stealing her power, and close off her mana connection for a week.

Wait for whatever is stealing her power to solidify its hold. She will then be safe from it." Mammon finished his explanation.

"Mm! I\'ll tell mama Envy this." Little Sylvana nodded, then she was about to ride Sat to the first floor but was stopped by Mammon\'s shout.

"Wait!"

Little Sylvana stopped and turned toward him, tilting her head in confusion.

"As usual, don\'t tell Envy that this came from me, okay?" Mammon instructed.

"Why? Don\'t you want thanks from mama Envy?" asked little Sylvana.

Mammon puffed up his chest, striking a pose on his hind legs. "Hmph! Who needs thanks for such a trivial matter? A true hero helps those in need, Citizen of Megapolis!" he declared, mimicking a superhero he\'d seen in a comic book.

Sylvana\'s eyes sparkled. "Ooooh! That\'s a Captain Mega quote! So cool!"

Mammon, secretly pleased, gestured with his front foot towards the door. "Off you go, little one. Help your mama with this information!"

"Yes sir! Captain Mega!" Sylvana saluted playfully before climbing back on Sat and heading downstairs.

Alone in Sylvana\'s bedroom after the little girl departed, Mammon turned his attention to a short, cylindrical box on the table. Inside lay a treasure trove of Chromatic Philosopher\'s Stones, Sylvana\'s usual treats for him.

He picked one up, savoring the satisfying crunch as he munched on it.

"Well, well," he muttered, a hint of amusement in his voice, "seems I\'m developing a knack for handling children." Mammon shrugged, a gesture both dismissive and strangely contemplative as he eyed the remaining stones. "Not that I\'m complaining," he added with a sly grin.

—

On the first floor, Sylvana came up to Envy and told her what Mammon had shared.

Listening to little Sylvana, Envy felt surprised. Even though Sylvana didn\'t say it outright, she knew the information must have come from Mammon, the former Hell Lord. After analyzing the information and testing the theory by limiting a small portion of her power, she felt a significant reduction in the drain. She knew what Mammon told her was true.

Envy then canceled the limiting. This time, she decided to trust Mammon. She selected an aspect of her power that she felt was useless to her now. After much scrutiny, she determined it to be the most harmless aspect of the many powers in her arsenal.

The self-sealing power: she used her Hell Lord authority to create it to seal her Envy-inducing curse.

If one were to ask why she didn\'t cut the Envy-inducing curse, it was because this is both her power and a curse that is the origin of all her power, the origin of her very being. She couldn\'t cut it without losing all of her power and possibly dying.