"Him and that Suteki! They stripped us all of our power. Those two alone destroyed us and saved humanity….and you….You three share those same eyes….but with those eyes comes a curse like no other….My question is…Will you be able to handle your fate? Or will you get lost in the storm? Who knows…but you will lose just like he did in the end…you will lose yourself like he did in the end. The pain you have cost me today will me like a paper cut to what you will experience!….You three and that man will all meet your end shortly…and mother will then give birth to me once more!"
"You already lost to him? Is that why you wanna bring back Lilith?"
Matsumi thought for a moment.
"But since we're on the topic of your mom, remember the rules of our game? You better tell me everything there is to know about her before I knock you to next week!"
He ignored her threats and prophecies, right now he was in too much of a feel good mood.
"Long Ago there was a beast named Zeus. He created all of the ancient witches and gods….from then Lilith created the earth…and the gods created humans. There is only one strength in this world that exists above all the others, the mother of despair. She was the only one that could challenge Lucifer before Ashi Zenin. Her strength lies with the strongest to have ever existed. Our goal is to own all territories in the world….every one will submit to the one that created this world for you to live and breathe and exist on…How can you not worship her? You wouldn't exist without her. Nothing would!"
"Well if she was so strong, how'd she get killed then for you to want to revive her? Maybe she wasn't that great after all."
"Shes been at a disadvantage. She has never reached her prime form without being destroyed first. The only ones to beat her at that stage is Desmunê…but with some help…We'll achieve what we have desired all along….All they need to do is keep their promise."
"What promise?"
"Sorry. You're all out of questions."
Mammon weakly stood.
"Kurati will end you. It's no worries."
"Already? Oh well. Since you're like a sin and everything, when you get to meet your siblings again, tell 'em we're coming!"
And with that he swung the bat smoothly through the air as he struck cleanly on her head. Mammon fell unconscious before them as a door appeared behind her toward the next floor.
"Ah. So she was weakened because she isnt used to the the amount of spiritual pressure in this realm, since the Gods draw from a completely different energy. Then we have to get a move on..If we can catch all of them beforehand, winning won't be so hard."
"She sure did talk a lot for being weakened. But geez…"
The lightning cloak deactivated, the bat disappeared as Matsumi held his back in pain.
"Did she have to hurt so much..?"
"I feel like there's something going on that we don't know-"
Tānlán panted a bit before calling out to them
"H-Hey!…"
"Huh? What, she's back already?!"
He turned to Tānlán.
"You already lost, dude!"
"….I want to talk…Just hear me out a bit will you?!"
Tānlán seemed different. Far closer to Matsumi in personality than he was before.
"Hmm…hmm…hmm…hmm."
He thought about it for a second, or maybe more than a second before walking closer to Tānlán.
"Okay, sure. What do you wanna say?"
"….Let me help against the other six sins…..I have more information than you and you need the battle experience..Especially against the top three of them."
"Huh?! Why would we do that?! You're all mushy with the sins, aren't you? You could just help them after or something!"
"No. Mammon only used my vessel to battle. I'm a person trying to climb the tower just like you."
"You are? So you've been in here for a long time too? Well…okay! I guess you can come too!"
Matsumi was a very trusting person, not the best at doubting others and always takes them at face value.
Kibō looked at him for a few moments.
"Yeah. Hes alright for right now…but if he does something to hinder our progress it could be bad for us."
"….I say we leave him. If he gets in the way it could cost the safety of Barghest."
"It would? Aw, man. Well, we can't take you then, dude!"
"I-I'll help you beat the tower! I would never betray you!"
Tānlán looked a bit angry at the idea of him doing that.
"The sins! They took everything from me! They took my family…"
Tānlán had the same look in his eyes that someone back home would. Those same eyes were just like Raiden or Tengoku's, even despite their struggles a flame burned in their eyes. It was an oddly familiar look that Kurai and Matsumi knew well.
His look immediately reminded him of the little blondie, tilting his head slightly.
"They took your family?"
"They wiped out a majority of them long ago…I traversed the tower with who was left of my family through this tower to gain the strength to destroy them in their own home. Just as they did me…but when I made it to the hundredth floor I was sabotaged by the same faces that took the ones I love from me….and they noticed mine."
"You made it to the hundredth floor? What's up there? Do you remember?"
"The sins mother is Lilith the Witch of Despair…but all children have a father correct?…The hundredth floor is the center of the universe…where a man named Azatoth lives…the final floor is where you must battle him with his endless power. Out of every competitor who failed the tower to this day I am the only one who he has spared…To that I don't know why….but the sins ended up getting a hold of my body after we failed to beat him…I, and my other family members were all used as vessels for them to exist during the inflation of energy and its pressure on this planet, carrying out hundreds of murders, assaults…all of the things you can think of using my body while I was conscious. Unable to fight back."
"Just like some mind control. Azatoth…never heard of him before…But if your family got taken over…maybe if we kick their butts too they can come back! Just like you did!"
He turned his head to Eraba.
"What do you think? We're heading to the top floor and fighting all of them anyway, we aren't losing anything."
"I'm not sure still if helping him is a good idea…"
"…..Tānlán belongs to the Akuma family. I don't know how to feel about saving those people is beneficial to me."
"What? You were the one?"
He glared toward Tānlán a little now.
"Huh? The one to what?"
"Are you really Akuma?"
"Yeah. A descendent of the family…but only half…Half Akuma…Why do you ask?"
Matsumi looked at Eraba and Kurai, seemingly looking for some approval before shrugging and kicking the weakened Tānlán right in the crotch.
"A-Ah! What the hell?!"
Tānlán curled into a ball on the ground.
"S-Seriously?!"
"Theres a possibility that Tānlán wasn't apart of the Akuma who were erasing the Sāmatu from this world. The Akuma have been politically split for as long as they've been recorded in history. There's entire cities of different tribes and different people, it's a culturally split and flourishing family."
"That does check out. He may not have been the one who destroyed our family…and he has valuable information for us potentially. I'm interested in what the Sins are planning exactly."
He looked down at him.
"Really? Then sorry, I guess…"
"No! You're a dick man!"
Tānlán slowly stood up still holding his torso and his crotch.
"For now let's take him…then we can figure out the rest."
"Think of it like handshake instead! I'm Matsumi! Nice to meet you!"
"Tānlán is a name that was chosen by the Sins for me recently. They often changed hosts depending on the circumstance. I'm Kogane Akuma. I would say it's nice to meet you but you might kick me again."
"As long as you don't try and pull anything I won't kick you again!"
"And as long as you don't kick me I won't try anything! Is that fair?!"
"Yeah, that sounds fair!"
"Alright. We will keep a look out for him. Let's keep going for now.."
"Right, onward!"
Matsumi stepped over Mammon to enter through the next door.