Monarch of Gluttony: System of Sin-Chapter 9: 9: Surrounded from all sides?

Lord of Lies, Layim, stepped inside the tent, feeling as if he was going to find something inside that could solve this mystery about the missing guards.

He was sure that this couldn't be a coincidence that the guards were missing. Jackal also stepped inside along with Luna.

One of the Porters also stepped inside to make sure they kept an eye on these Lord of Sins.

"This is certainly too much food for one person to control," Luna muttered, observing the mountains of edibles.

"Yeah, but if the one controlling them is him, I doubt anyone can do anything about it," Layim responded. "Focus on the task at hand. There's a good chance that someone is hiding inside. The guards are missing. Either they left this place defenseless because they were stupid, or they are already dead. In any case, there's a good chance that someone could've sneaked inside this place."

"You're not a complete idiot, it seems." A calm voice came from nearby. Unfortunately, Layim couldn't hear since it was spoken by Raphael, who stood right beside him, observing his every action.

Layim lazily started walking around, checking every place to see if someone was actually hiding inside or not. The other two Lord of Sins also spread out to check.

Along the way, Layim lazily picked a small fruit and started eating it as he searched.

All three Lords were moving closer to the back of the tent where Azekiel was hiding with multiple dead bodies. Before long, there were only a few meters of difference between the two sides.

Raphael closely followed Layim, slightly frowning. He knew that if Azekiel was discovered, things were going to get really bad.

Before long, all three Lord of Sins reached the endpoint and reunited with each other.

Layim had a deep frown on his face. Despite searching everywhere, he hadn't found even a single person. All he saw were fruits and meat.

"Did you not find anyone either?" he asked the others.

The other two also shook their heads. "No one is inside."

"I see; maybe I truly was wrong. No one was lucky enough to get inside. Or whoever did get inside already left. In any case, we need to find out what happened to the guards. Let's go outside. It's time we find the truth."

Everyone left the tent. Luna was left right outside the tent to protect this place while the other two went to find out what happened to the guards.

The other Porters were tasked to continue shifting all the meat inside the tent since the place was clear.

It took the porters thirty minutes to shift all the hunted items inside the tent before they closed. In the meantime, the search for the missing guards was still ongoing. Everyone on Floor Zero was commanded to gather for interrogation by the Lords. They wanted to know if there was anyone who saw what had happened.

All the people gathered near the screen respectfully.

"Is everyone here?" Layim asked, frowning.

"Yes." The people responded.

As everyone was there, Layim commanded the porters of Michael to check the entire floor to find the guard since they weren't among the people who had gathered. What he didn't know was that there was another person who wasn't there.

~~~~

After all the hunted beasts were inside, the tent was closed, and the Porters left.

Raphael arrived at the back of the Tent. "They all left. You can come out."

A mountain of fruits fell down as a figure stood up, rising from inside. Realizing that the place could be checked by the Lords, Azekiel had already taken the precaution by hiding himself under the fruits, effectively burying himself inside. All the bodies were also buried there.

Azekiel stood up, arranging his ruffled hair. "That's good, but I'm sure they won't leave this place before they find the culprit. I need to hurry."

Azekiel stepped out of the fruits and walked to the front of the tent, where all the freshly hunted monsters were kept.

"Let the feast begin." Azekiel placed his hand on the chest of the first Monster which was a seven-foot-tall beast with sharp claws.

"Soul Snatch!"

[Strength +5]

[Defense +5]

[Speed +5]

[Hunger +3]

There were around seven beasts here, and all beasts were really strong before dying. In fact, even a single beast could kill millions of humans.

"This certainly boosted me more than humans. I was right; the strength of the beasts does make a difference." Azekiel rubbed his chin.

"This boost might seem big, but as you level up, you'll realize more things. This much boost is nothing in the grand scheme of things," Raphael responded.

"What Level up?" Azekiel frowned. He hadn't heard about this before. He was really curious about what it meant. All he knew was that people became stronger the more they killed, but this level thing he didn't know.

"It just means you've evolved a tiny bit. You went through a level-up when you killed the humans. You can check the Levels in your stats. All other Kings and Lords must have something similar. Did you not check the stats and missions?" Raphael asked, frowning. "You should've checked everything first."

"I was so hungry; I only checked what seemed important. I left the rest for later," Azekiel answered. "Let me absorb them, and then I'll check."

After working with Michael for so long, he had managed to know many things, that's why he was surprised he didn't know about Levels. So these people kept some things secret as well. Maybe because they didn't want other Lords to find out their levels? Whatever the reason, Azekiel didn't care at the moment.

He moved over to the next beast.

"Soul Snatch."

[Strength +5]

[Defense +5]

....

Azekiel moved from beast to beast, relishing the delicious energy and the boost in his strength.

After he was done, he stretched his arms lazily. His body was filled with strength.

Finally, he decided to check his stats to understand what Raphael was talking about.

He opened the system screen and tapped on stats.

[Stats:]

Name: Azekiel

Species: Human

Title: King of Gluttony

Level 2

Experience needed for Level up: 10

Strength: 77

Speed: 77

Defense: 77

Hunger:79

Magic Affinity: 25

Constitution: 65

"So I'm Level two after killing just 12 weak humans. And each human gave me 1 Exp. On the other hand, Michael has killed powerful beasts. His level... It shouldn't be small." Seeing his stats, instead of being happy, Azekiel grew even more serious. "Even those Lord of Sins must be around level ten at least, let alone Michael!"

*****

Outside on Floor Zero, the search didn't find anyone. The twelve guards were still missing. However, there was one person who remembered something.

"My Lord, I remember that not every one of us is here! One person is missing! Azekiel!"