Sacrifices To Jupiter XI

I snap.

I flick my fingers in a snap. Status.

A holographic blue window with neon hieroglyphs appears before me.

Chandra |Archdemon |SS||

Murk |E|

Aura |E|

Wise |E|

Luck |F|*

Gifts:

—The Devil's Wrath |E|*

—The Hero's Curse |A|

—Reverse Plot Armor |S|

—...

—...

—...

—...

—...

Title:

—Villain |F|

—...

—...

—...

I cease to hear her steps, and so I turn around and glance at her.

The confident expression she had, has crumbled, replaced by a shattered face. Like broken glass.

"You—you—" she musters, muttering, her voice breaking, then suddenly shooting up. 

"You Archdemon?!?"

Her shout echoes. Then shaking. Stilling. "What kind of evil have you committed in your past life…? What kind of abomination are you!?"

I wonder. I did bad things. That I remember.

Killing and smuggling and selling people. That, I remember.

From stealing to extortion, crime after crime.

How did I feel about doing bad things?

What other atrocities have I committed?

I have to move on. I'm already in hell anyway.

So I shrug.

"I'm guilty of participating in and acing a cursed survey if anything," I say, pointing at the screen.

"Is there something wrong with it?"

Mari, in turn, points at me, resolutely. "Everything! I knew you're a Great Demon, but this… This changes everything!"

"How so?" I ask. Tilting my head. "Can you—"

"What Sin are you?" she asks, her eyes expectant. "Tell me! Now!"

What's gotten into her? There is fear inscribed on her face, a newfound dread, yet, at the same time, the fear is not because of, say, finding a bear in a forest but rather winning a lottery and attempting to hide from taxes.

"You ask the obvious, Princess." I look at her smilingly, frowning slightly.

Her finger stiffs, her expression twitching. "Don't tell me…"

"Wrath?"

"Wrath."

"Wrath?!"

"Wrath!"

"No wonder!" Mari clasps her ears, looking for the answers, looking above.

I flick her forehead. "Why are you so disappointed?"

She backs away, itching the newly formed red mark, glaring at me angrily. "Wrath Sin is always the first to die! Always!"

Okay, I'm getting annoyed. If she doesn't stop talking in circles, I may circle her neck—

"Can't be helped," she whispers, lowering her head and continuing to walk.

I follow. We stop before the crimson orb.

"Let me tell you about the Great Demons first, then," she says, her sapphire eyes reflecting the reds and the sparkles of the orb. 

I nod calmly, watching her carefully in case she has some trick up her sleeve.

We're standing before my lifeline, after all. No orb—and I'm dead.

"You might have an idea of what the letters before the attributes, gifts, and titles are, yes?" she asks, toying with her amber hair.

"A grading system, right?" I guess, raising a clawed finger.

"Precisely," she says noddingly. "Each grade is fifty percent, or, two times better than the previous one. If an F-rank adventurer lands a punch with a force of five, per se, then they'd land a ten were they to be an E-rank."

"But that's not all," she states. "In actuality, an E-rank would also land the punch two times faster, so it'd produce an output much more than merely a ten, yes?"

"F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS," she counts on her fingers. "That's all the ranks."

I laugh emptily. "Then doesn't that mean I'm meant to be…" I do the math. Two by two by two by two by…

"One hundred twenty-eight times stronger than you are?"

She claps, amazed. "Wow, how did you solve that? Pretty impressive,"

I brush my nose. Of course. I always knew I had a knack for science and stuff—

"For you," she finishes.

I turn my head to her, my eyes wide yet focused, piercing. "Why are you still provoking me?" My tongue darts out to wet my lips.

"Umm… my bad," she says, waving her hand up and down dismissively. "But I didn't say it to provoke you, I'm truly impressed, is all."

That only makes it worse!

"You only have the power of E-rank because you're a Great Demon," she switches the topic once again and moves her eyes across me, blankly, yet boldly. "There are three races of the Great Demons."

"Races?" I prompt her to explain, raising a brow.

"While we, people, have classes, the demons have races," she states, biting on her pinky. "You saw that next to your name, Chandra—"

"I'm Chan. Uncle Chan," I interject, raising a hand in interruption.

An annoyed smirk tugs at her lips. "That's among the weirdest names I've heard. But, whatever, I guess. You do you, Uncle… Chan. That gives Japanese vibes."

What's so bad about my name?

"Your name is the weird one, Marisella. Did your parents want to marry you into aristocracy or something?"

She stammers, her lips pulling back in a humorless smile. "You a real petty person, no? Do you have no decency at all? No dignity at all?"

No.

"Anyhow," she mutters, barely holding onto her pettiness, fearing to make a comeback, fearing I'll pop her head if she says what's in her mind.

I will. No doubt.

She raises three fingers. "For Great Demons, there is a Dungeon Master race, of A-rank. A Demon Lord race of S-rank. Finally, you, an Archdemon. SS rank. 

"You all basically have the same roles, looking after a dungeon, building armies of monsters, and wreaking havoc for resources to expand."

"Monsters?" I prompt her to explain once more.

She sighs, bringing her hand up to her eyes, massaging. "Monsters are the same as demons, except they lack intelligence. Basically, they're like yo—"

Mari flinches, looking up at me.

"What was it? Why did you not finish?" I ask, smiling brilliantly.

Try me, bitch. Just finish what you were to say. I dare you say that.