4 4: Selection of Darkness

Azekiel felt as if he was being overwhelmed by hunger. He struggled a lot to keep himself in control because he knew that he wasn't strong enough to take out those guards.

"If I had a Weapon of Sin, I might be able to scare them."

He opened the screen again, pressing a small floating symbol on the rightmost corner of his vision, to which opened the [Main menu]

He immediately tapped on the [Weapons] option.

The screen changed. In its place, a new screen appeared.  There was only one name displayed on the new screen... There was only one weapon. Azekiel, on the other hand, couldn't read that name no matter what he tried. It was as if there was a thin layer of mist covering the name, making it impossible to read what was written.

At the end of the name, there was a black sign that seemed like a lock.

Azekiel pressed on the name, hoping to get something. However, deep down, he had a bad feeling.

-Tap

As soon as Azekiel tapped the screen, a small warning sign appeared before him, surprising him.

[Warning: The Weapon of Sin is not unlocked yet. Please try again later.]

"What is this? With Michael, it was unlocked from day one! I saw him use his Spear of Pride on Floor One! How could it be sealed for me? Don't we have a similar system? Wait… Could it be...?"

As Azekiel thought of something, he went back to the main screen. In his haste, he had previously missed something that was really important.

Back on the main screen, Azekiel's eyes roamed over one specific option, which he had ignored previously due to being in a hurry to eat.

[Welcoming Bonus]

"How could I forget this? Just from what it's called, this should be something good. Michael must've received his Spear of Pride from here!"

Without thinking twice, he immediately pressed the option.

[Three Welcoming Bonus Cards are available. Each Card contains something unique to you. Do note that only one can be selected. Please select wisely]

As this notification appeared, Three Colorful Cards had also appeared, floating before him. The cards didn't contain any names; each of them only had a different color.

The first Card had a blood-red color. The second was dark green, while the last Card contained a pitch black color.

On the new screen, Azekiel read the note, which made him slightly annoyed. There were three bonuses, but he could only select one? Does that mean two would disappear forever as soon as he selected one? The worst part was that he couldn't see what was in each option. All he could see was their colors.

"Tsk. Select wisely, my ass. How can I select anything when I don't even know what's in each Card? Isn't it just blind gambling at this point? What wiseness can I use?" Azekiel rolled his eyes.

He was sure that one of these cards had a weapon he needed. As for the other two... He wasn't sure what could be behind them. Maybe something better than weapons? Maybe something worse?

He could easily take as much time as he needed before selecting, but he knew that it wasn't going to do anything. In the end, the choice was going to be between the colors.

"Hmm. The dark red color, it reminds me of my own blood as I was beaten daily... I've had so many bad memories with it… The dark green... The color of the rice balls I ate... the thing that started it all… And the pitch black color… I think it meant about my life in the dark room where I waited in agony, waiting for death…."

"I can forget what I ate or how much I bled, but I will never forget that void of darkness and that long, excruciating feeling of hunger! That forbidding darkness will always stay within me..."

Azekiel raised his hand slowly toward the pitch-black card. The other two cards vanished as soon as he touched the black card, leaving only the card that Azekiel had picked. Furthermore, the illusory black card became real, which Azekiel could feel that it was exactly just like a real card.

"Please be a weapon... Please be a weapon..." Azekiel kept repeating as he slowly turned the card around, wondering what was on the other side.

He could feel his hand trembling in anticipation and excitement of what this card was going to hold. Was he also going to get an amazing weapon like Michael possessed?

"...What is this?" He blankly muttered as soon as he saw the face of the card. There wasn't much on the card except what appeared like a drawing. The drawing depicted a man... A man with two pitch-black wings on his back and a lush red apple in his hand as if he was a man roaming in the garden of Eden to eat the forbidden apple.

There were three words written on top of the card.

"Raphael," Azekiel repeated that name.

As soon as he repeated the name, the pitch-black card started shining in a blinding light. Amidst that light, even Azekiel was forced to close his eyes. He had lived in the darkness for so long that this much light was suddenly too much for him.

Fortunately, only he could see the card and the light. No one else on Floor Zero could.

As the blinding light disappeared, so did the card. Azekiel opened his eyes quickly as soon as he felt the card disappear from his grasp.

"Where did it go?!" He exclaimed, finding out that the card was missing. It was neither in his hand nor on the ground before him. There was also no way that someone could've taken that from him. So, where did it go?

"Are you looking for me?" A calm voice from behind forced Azekiel to turn around. Did someone catch him? How did someone manage to get so close to him without his knowledge?

As Azekiel turned around, he saw a man sitting on one knee behind him. The man... He didn't look human from any angle. He looked more like what was depicted in the drawing on the black card.

The man had smooth white skin along with a slim figure and looked to be in his mid twenties, slightly older than Azekiel. The man had beautiful black wings that appeared as if the darkness of the night had come to life, he had long silver hair which was as pretty as the moonlight, and his eyes resembled the pitch black card, as it was as dark as the unending void of darkness.

Without any exaggeration… even his fingernails were also black… did this man come from the world of darkness? Or is he the Lord of Darkness himself? Azekiel thought as he could see that the man was even wearing dark black colored clothes.

The man was sitting on one knee before Azekiel, looking up into his eyes.

"W-who are you?" Azekiel inquired, stunned. Who could help but ask himself, Did the person depicted on the card come to life?

"I am Raphael." The man introduced himself in his calm voice. "I am the General of Gluttony and the faithful servant of the King of Gluttony."

"You... Are you telling me that you're my servant?" Azekiel asked again, just to be sure.

"Yes. You are the King of Gluttony. I can feel it..." Raphael respectfully stated.

Even though Raphael was sitting calmly and replied respectfully, his aura was just so strong that Azekiel was taken aback. His voice had a devilish charm to it that was filled with authority.

"Raphael. Don't call me a King." Azekiel responded. " I don't want to share the same title as the bastard I hate the most, the King of Pride…."

"I see, so the King of Pride is here as well. That is certainly interesting." Raphael muttered, seemingly thinking of something. "Then, what should I address you as?"

"You can call me Azekiel. Or if you really want to use a title... Just call me anything besides a King. Hmm, wait. I guess you can call me… Monarch... the Monarch of Gluttony."