Perfect Avatar-Chapter 276: Gloria

Gloria lowered her arms, making her scars more visible. The Goddess of Ambrosia, the Bear of the Winter Wolf, the one who brought despair as she walked was now here, more vulnerable than ever with proof of weakness etched on her for all to see.

She gave Agiel a murderous look, then met Freya’s gaze again.

"So that’s why you’re here? To make fun of me? Yes, I lost something, and my patience is part of it. This is your last warning, leave!"

Freya was in deep confusion, how could anyone be reduced to this? She had literally become a caged beast after her fight, and that simple image triggered a response from Iris.

"Time is another ally of Greed...and the longer a fight lasts, the more power it steals...Thomas was also weakened after their first battle."

Freya turned to the maids, they were standing guard but there was no hostility among the young duchess.

"Why didn’t you use anything to heal her? Couldn’t any of you find a healer in the entire kingdom?!"

Nosfera frowned, this situation was becoming more and more confusing, they were enemies, so why this interrogation?

"...Well...Who knows? Maybe there wasn’t a healer available? Most of the kingdom is destroyed..."

"And we can’t leave the Queen alone because he marked her."

All eyes turned to Ratoncia, the maid with the raised finger looked like a child who didn’t realize how stupid she had just been.

Agiel coughed and readjusted his tie.

"Marked? Of course, I wasn’t wrong about the venomous bite comparison. It should be a way to allow him to come here at any time to finish her off."

"... Damn... Wait, couldn’t you remove it with voracity? You can erase someone’s memory, you should be able to erase a magic mark!"

Gloria placed a hand on her chest, taking a small breath, trying to reduce the boiling of her blood. She observed Freya attentively, then Solaria.

"Girl, your questions are boring and I have no intention of following any of your rules. Your presence here only means one thing: you want to die. If you don’t, then leave now. You will get nothing from me, no help, no information, and certainly no more time.

The tension was starting to rise, the Queen was not giving in despite her condition, Freya was at an impasse. She wanted a dialogue but Gloria was unreachable.

Kindness wasn’t possible, threats weren’t an option, she tried desperately to think of another option, but there was one last option she refused to consider, and a shadow beside her had just initiated it.

"...What are...Stop it!"

All the knights flinched, the maids showed anxiety in their eyes, and Gloria’s eyes sharpened.

"I’ve had enough of this stupid game, you heard her, she won’t help us in any way, so let’s do something useful for everyone." Mercy’s scythe caressed the floor.

She stepped forward and headed for the stairs, but Freya intervened.

"What’s wrong with you?! I said I didn’t want any bloodshed! Put that thing down now!"

"... You said? And what exactly do ya want? Freya why are we here? I’ve been following you all this time and I don’t understand ya anymore. You wanted to ask for help for the thing in the Rift, right? She refuses to help, t’means she’s useless now!"

"Listen here, it’s not a matter of being or not useless, Too many people have died for nothing, if we kill her here, you will also kill the maids and probably Solaria. Why are you so focused on a person?"

She grabbed her by the arm, Mercy immediately increased her body temperature, reflecting in the whole room, but it seemed to have no effect on Freya.

"Mercy, you know why we’re in this mess? It’s because people with this power are using everything to kill each other instead of focusing on the source of all our pain! How many Players have you killed since your awakening? How many humans? If she is alive, we can be sure that one day Dora will come, isn’t that useful?"

She looked at the maids and the Queen behind.

"For God sake, let’s stop with this useless hatred. I don’t want to kill you, and I won’t let anyone attack you neither! Right now I only want a dialogue."

"...Yup, it was true, the privileged always find excuses."

Mercy broke free from Freya’s hold, her grip on her scythe and the rage in her eyes becoming more palpable.

"Yer a really good talker. You’re right on some point, she’s usefull in her way, and I’ve killed no Players, not even monsters, only humans... but yer overlooking something: I don’t give a fuck."

The blade of the scythe illuminated the room, her eyes glowing red.

"I understand you, honestly. You’re gifted, you’re born in a good family, you had no difficulties in life, the world was literally made for you. You know why? Because of that bitch there. She made a perfect paradise for people like you."

"... What are you..."

"In my case, it’s because of her that my brother died. She and the system she put in place destroyed my family, it’s interesting, because she’s a fossil, so she’s really in the roots. My brother left my family to protect us from her, then he died because she precipitated the Twilight of the Gods... I lost everything because of her, my family, my life, my goals... Who do you think you are to stop me now?"

She moved forward, the temperature continued to rise, forcing the maids and some knights to step back, but strangely, the more they bathed in this heat, the more a feeling of excitement grew within them.

"I was also a noble, yes, so I won’t be a hypocrite. I was also a privileged one, unlike the people who suffered every day because she wanted the kingdom to be like that. Wrath transformed his citizens into zombies and in the end, they died without knowing why. I see no difference with her, I hate her with all my guts... and now I know she is weakened."

Freya released her own aura, filling the room and swallowing Gloria’s pressure. The two stood face to face, looking into each other’s eyes.

"Try something...and you’ll see she’s not the biggest threat here."

"Miss Freya..." Agharita stood next to Mercy. "I respect your call for peace, but this time it is really not wanted."

"Stay out of it!"

A surge of power nearly sent Agharita to her knees, she struggled to stand again, but her eyes did not fade.

"Not this time, you’re no better than her now. People have suffered because of her for centuries. I’m tired of the fear she instilled in us... She killed and replaced so many of us, do you have any idea how disgusting life was for us? What would you say to every family that was destroyed because of her? I don’t care who committed the murder, everything, every murder, the law, the Code, the genocide, it was all because of her, and you want to stop us now? Because of the moral you inherited from her rules??"

She turned to her fellow knights, raising her fist.

"The Queen is weakened, we can inflict scars on her from which she will not recover, will we leave her in peace when she has destroyed our lives? Will we continue to follow the rules of a monster?"

"Yeah! She’s weakened, let’s finish her!!!"

"Death to the Queen and her people!"

The knights all roared together, their eyes turning red.

Liliana looked around in distress, Iris was having trouble breathing, Lilith had stepped forward, ready for bloodshed, Hope turned to Cid, there was no way to stop what was about to happen.

Solaria was watching the scene from above, so many people wished her dead, it was exactly the same as the day Moonra died.

She lowered her head with a slight smile under her dead eyes, the maids were completely helpless, they could use voracity, but Mercy was on another level and they couldn’t contain everyone and protect the Queen at the same time.

It was then that a new event occurred, the pressure of Mercy and Freya disappeared, swallowed by the descent of a true God.

"Little pests..."

The air turned orange, the floor and walls shook.

"Do you even realize who you are dealing with? I am Gloria, Avatar of Gluttony and ruler of this Kingdom. I am the first of the seven and the last of the livings. I have conquered worlds before any of you exists, all the obstacles I faced, I destroyed them, all the idiots who annoyed me, I erased them."

She stepped forward, heading towards the top of the stairs, each of her steps cracking the ground and the pressure of the air assimilating the determination of each fighter.

"I determined the boundaries of my world and offered a place to certain citizens, you have never been privileged or mistreated, you have always been in the palm of my hands. Deaths, births, all of it was possible because I allowed them, but I became soft with you and you ended up forgetting who allowed you to live, so much so that some people dared to touch the most precious possessions that I had, and now they arrived at my house with the intention of grabbing me by the throat. None of you are stupid, you are simply misguided... because I forgot to educate you."

She stopped at the top of the stairs, next to Solaria, Mercy’s eyes were tense, ready to engage, Freya gritted her teeth.

Gloria clasped two fingers in front of her face, her eyes glowing orange.

"Kill me? Protect me? You’re very conceited, I’m Glutonny. You want to take me down? Prepare for a world of pain."