[Greed refers to grabbing money, material wealth or satisfaction far beyond one's own needs, and ** is the most primitive instinct of intelligent beings in the world. 】

Yes, it is instinct, all the development and progress, politics, war, business, culture, religion, art, education, all of this originates from the first, is the result of the first-driven, people are the product of the first, and life is the continuation of the first.

Human beings are like a ** stream, it does not flow streams, but all kinds of human beings, wealth, status, power, women, all kinds of ** control human beings, human beings are nothing more than **slaves, forever overzealous to seek superiority over others.

This is a sin that human beings have borne since birth, and this sin is called greed!

"Huh, stupid guys!"

Walking alone in the bustling streets of the Imperial City of Sassen, but the bustling scene around him could not stop him, looking at the creature called human, Argus's eyes were frosty cold, even if he himself was a human, no, it was.

In Heliriox, and in the series of events that followed, the diabolical man was victorious, all victorious, all victorious.

With the destruction of Heliriox, the killing of the archmage Grett Keynes, the fall of the Imperial City of Sasson, the assassination of King Eagle Awood Sassen XII, and rebellions throughout the Empire, everything was laid out according to Argus's plan.

The obstacles in front of me have all been removed, and all that remains is to spread the war step by step according to the trajectory affected by this incident, until the end of the country is coming, but ...... "Why do you have an inexplicable sense of emptiness, tsk! It's boring!"

As Prince Glen's most powerful supporter, Argus now almost controls all of Sasson, not because of Prince Glen's trust in him, but because of the power of Argus himself, so strong that even the current ruler, Prince Glen, respects him, so strong that Jerry Belfort and the entire Royal Society of Wizards have become his subordinates.

Driven by interests, the high-ranking nobles of Sassen have unanimously fallen to the camp of Argus, and the rare and incongruous part of it has also been erased by his great power, and Sasson, and indeed the entire empire, perhaps no one has such great power as him, as mentioned before, this man has stood at the top of the pyramid and is moving towards a more distant altar.

All the people in the world are his pawns, and his will will determine the direction of the empire, and indeed the direction of the whole world, but even so, Argus's eyes did not show the joy of his duty.

"It's boring! Should you keep some guys to relieve your boredom?" Scratching his head, Argus glanced at the crowd on the street, the commoners and even the nobles living in Sassen did not seem to realize what kind of new era they were ushering into, and still repeated the silver and erosive life, looking at the drunken drunkards, at the women standing at the entrance of the street to seduce men, at the candlelight shining through the windows, Argus couldn't help but feel a little funny.

Hey, dying without knowing it is perfect for these guys, right?

More than half of the thirty-six regions of the empire are already in chaos, and they don't want to recognize the new king? Don't want to recognize the new Sassen Imperial City? It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, I don't need you to admit it at all, hurry, hurry up and organize the army, and with all kinds of ridiculous excuses, take back your so-called kingdom.

War, it's already an inevitable fact!

However, the progress of the Dark Altar is still very far from ideal, and it will have to be completed before the war spreads here...... Tut!

Thinking of the altar, Argus's eyes changed slightly, as if with some hesitation and confusion.

Time was still a little short, and I didn't have time to drag Artak in, but it shouldn't be a bad thing, food is the most fatal weakness of that barren region, as long as the transportation of military pay is cut off...... I've heard that Artak's army is the strongest local army in the Empire, so I really want to see it, hey!

But there doesn't seem to be much movement on Galik's side, the one who took the lord's place...... Duke Yvonne Ogier, unexpectedly difficult, I didn't expect that guy to take the initiative to admit the new regime of Sasson, it was so surprising, that man, he shouldn't have known, he killed his father himself...... But for the time being, you shouldn't have to worry about it, Galik heard that he has recently been stirred up by vampires who have escaped out of nowhere, oops, what a luck!

Tsk!

Forget it, the Dark Altar is not finished yet, and the Dark Knight Legion under Clark is still being summoned, so let these guys stop for a while and wait until everything is ready...... But it's not enough, the world isn't chaotic enough!

Just as Argus was standing alone in the street looking up at the sky, a rush of footsteps came from behind him, and then a guard in a dark blue uniform hurried up to him, and after saluting, he said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency!

"What's the matter?" Argus, looking up at the starry sky, asked faintly.

"Prince Theo...... No, it was Theo Butz Yarwood, the former prince, who absconded from his place of captivity, and it was Bert Brackley, the former deputy commander of the Royal Knights, who was dismissed for disobeying orders, and Clive Baylis, a former magician of the first team of royal magicians, who also had the help of some rebellious nobles, and ...... last night Huh, are you listening?"

Glancing at the guard, Argus said lightly, "Isn't it just a few lost dogs, what's the fuss about? How many people ran away, is there a record?"

"Yes, yes!" the guard nodded heavily, and said in a deep voice, "It is reported that seven people, including Theo Butz Yawood, have absconded in fear, and the nobles who helped them to escape were captured by the guards before leaving Sasson, a total of thirty-three!"

"Kill!"

"Uh...... Yes!" Seeing Argus decide the fate of the thirty-three without the slightest fluctuation, the guard was shocked, swallowed his saliva and whispered, "Those who have absconded...... Do you need to send someone to chase after you?"

"What do you say?" Argus asked with a playful smile on his lips.

"Genus...... Subordinate......"

"Hahaha," Argus laughed and mocked, looking at the trembling appearance of the guard, "no need to chase! a few bereaved dogs, what can they do? Where do they want to go, where can they go? Altak Galik? It's just these places, much later than I expected, it seems that His Royal Highness the Prince's will is not strong enough, or is the prestige of the imperial power gone when he killed his father? Oh, it's His Royal Highness the Prince......" he said, waving his hand and said impatiently. If there's nothing to do, you can leave and don't bother me!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!" the guard hurried away after saluting, after all, even if it was only a few words, the pressure he was under was very great, and it could be seen from the cold sweat that broke out involuntarily on his forehead.

Looking at the guard's departing back, Argus shook his head and muttered in a mocking or self-deprecating tone, "Right, what a corrupting thing...... Wealth, status, vanity, this is how human beings live with endless **, never stop extravagant, it's really sad......" As he spoke, his eyes changed slightly, he glanced at the dim part of the street, a few inexplicable smiles rose at the corner of his mouth, and walked towards the entrance of the alley.

On the night of the coup d'état in the city, many people were inexplicably involved, and after some disobedient nobles were killed on the street, few people dared to stay on the street late at night, especially the commoners living in the outer city, who did not want to be involved in the inexplicable incident for no reason.

"Stomp, stomp!"

Following the road, Argus came to the edge of the city, which, unlike the bustling city centre, was inhabited by people who could not pay the high taxes but did not want to leave the city, and although they were also residents, their living conditions were actually very poor.

There is a leader, there is a leader, there is a slave class, there is an enslaved class, no matter which city, this phenomenon is always unavoidable, there is no city in the world that only has nobles, if there is no commoners for the drive, how can it reflect the nobility of those nobles?

The people who live in such corners are the ones who do the hardest work and receive the most meagre pay, and perhaps they also play the role of scavengers, without the guarantee that they will have enough money to buy food.

Such a corner of the city, even the guards would not want to pass through.

"Hehehe," Argus smiled at the towering wall not far in front of him, only to see him turn and look into the darkness behind him, and said jokingly, "Hey, I've created the most advantageous environment for you, why, haven't you come out yet, gentlemen?"

"Tsk, has it been discovered?" a small voice came from a dark corner, and then, as Argus turned his head, a wind blade swirled across his face.

"Hey, at least say hello, gentlemen?

"Did you miss? No, you dodged it...... Damn!" With a few curses, a man in a black cloak stepped out of the darkness in the distance, and the eyes that emerged from the cloak stared at Argus hatefully, as if they wanted to kill the other with their eyes.

"Hey, isn't that normal? You don't think I'm such a good thing to deal with, do you?" Smiling slightly, Argus raised his right hand, hooked his fingers, and said jokingly, "When I'm in a bad mood lately, there are always a few guys who let me out of my boredom!-Do you know why I'm walking at such a time and in such a place? Just to create an opportunity for you guys, if I have guards with me, you can't do it, right? Hurry up, you're welcome!"

"Damn, dare to underestimate us!" the cloaked magician gritted his teeth in hatred, chanting a few incantations in his mouth, and then, a violent wind suddenly blew nearby, and several invisible wind blades spun and flew towards Argus.

"Tsk! boring tricks!—in vain what I'm looking forward to!" snorted coldly, Argus, with his hands in his trouser pockets, didn't need to use magic to resist at all, and only relied on his body to dodge the wind blades, but the magician didn't show any frustration, on the contrary, a triumphant smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Whew!" Without warning, a sharp dagger pierced the darkness and was handed to Argus's neck.

"Die, you damn thing!" the magician sneered, but in the next second, he couldn't laugh anymore because he saw Argus reach out his right hand and pinch the blade of the dagger at some point.

"What are you doing, do it!" the magician whispered eagerly at the dark shadow beside Argus.

"Huh?" Argus said with a smile on his face as he looked at the black shadow that was close at hand, "I see, were those wind blades just to attract my attention? That's a good idea, but how did I not know that the venerable dark mage had begun to work with thieves he had always looked down upon?"

The black shadow that retreated, no, it was the thief who whispered to the magician, "Is this guy a monster?! You didn't make this clear when you commissioned the mission! How does this guy look like a magician?"

"Oh, yes, it's not enough to fight at this time," Argus walked slowly towards the two of them with one hand in his trouser belt, raised the fingers of his right hand and said with a smile in his mouth, "It's not enough to kill me!"

"Tsk, I can't help it!" the thief in the darkness drew two daggers from his waist and whispered to the magician beside him, "Remember, the commission will be doubled in the future!"

"Anything, you have to be able to kill this guy!"

Receiving the promise of his employer, the thieves immediately launched a swift attack on Argus, the two sharp daggers slicing through the air, glowing with cold knife flowers, looking at his decisiveness of sometimes hiding in the dark and sometimes appearing to attack, he was indeed an experienced thief who had taken on many assassination missions.

However, under the joint attack of such a thief and the magician, Argus seemed to be more at ease, blades, magic, he actually dodged the opponent's attack one by one by simply dodging without using magic.

What's even more incredible is that Argus's eyes have a relaxed look as if they were playing.

"Damn!"

"What the hell is going on with this guy?"

Unable to inflict any damage on Argus for a long time, the two Assassins appeared a little discouraged.

This made Argus feel very disappointed, and with a bang, he actually crushed the thief's dagger with his hand, and then, without looking at it, he only dragged the thief out of the darkness with his right hand and pinched his throat.

"It seems that you have no tricks, although I am a little disappointed, but this farce should also end!"

"What are you kidding!" said that, the thief waved his right hand, and the sharp dagger slashed through Argus's chest with a cold light, but unexpectedly, except for cutting the black coat on Argus's body, there was not even a trace of wounds, the thief attacked again in disbelief, but when he heard a ding, the sharp dagger could not pierce Argus's flesh.

"You...... You ...... thief's eyes finally showed a deep sense of fear.

Looking at the cut position on his body, Argus shook his head and said lightly, "The weak itself is a kind of sadness and boredom!" As soon as he finished speaking, he grabbed the thief's hands and pulled them, only to hear a scream, the thief's hands were ripped off alive, and the dagger in his hand fell when he landed.

In an instant, holding the falling dagger, Argus stabbed the thief in the heart with a backhand, and the whole process was simple and neat, and it was completely unclassified.

"How could it be......" Looking at the thief who had been killed for a while, the magician involuntarily stepped back, and suddenly, he suddenly found that Argus's figure had disappeared from his sight, and then, he felt a sharp pain in his back, and when he lowered his head, he saw a bloody hand running across his chest, and bright red blood flowed down his clothes.

It only took one flash from start to finish, and the bastard's heavy corpse ...... "bang!" fell to the ground, blood slowly staining the ground nearby.

Looking at the two corpses, Argus shook the blood from his right hand, then took out a white handkerchief from his trouser pocket and wiped his hands.

"Isn't there a guy of the level of Heliriox?" Shaking his head, Argus tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket, glanced up at the bright starry sky, and muttered, "It's a matter of passing the time, but it's boring to have some of these guys all the time, and it seems that there is nothing else to be gained today." - Let's go back!" he said, raising his feet and walking into the distance.

As he walked, Argus turned his head sharply and looked at the clutter-filled corner to see a dirty, short-haired little girl who seemed to be only four or five years old, cowering in a dilapidated cardboard box.

Tsk, it turned out to be just a little ghost!

Shaking his head, Argus was about to turn away when the little girl whispered in a slightly hoarse voice, "It's not good to fight." ”

"Hmm?" Argus felt a little ridiculous, and walked up to the little girl and crouched down, and was about to say something, only to find that the little girl's gray eyes were not angry at all, but only open blankly and unfocused.

Argus stretched out his hand and shook it in front of the little girl's eyes, but saw that she did not react, and was about to speak, but the little girl spoke first.

"I can't see it all the time......"

"Huh?" Argus asked, stunned, "and how do you know?"

"I can feel ......," said the little girl, who raised her hand and pointed in the direction of the two corpses on the ground, and whispered, "You'll get sick if you sleep there!"

Glancing at the two corpses, Argus smiled wickedly and whispered, "They won't get sick, because they're dead, and I've killed them!"

"Die, kill, what's that?" asked the little girl, tilting her head.

"......" Argus opened his mouth, but there was no way to explain what death could be? After thinking about it, he frowned and explained, "To die is to disappear, to disappear from this world, to another world!"

"Oh," said the little girl, nodding her head in understanding, "then I don't want to die!"

Listening to the childish words, Argus smiled angrily and asked in surprise, "What about your parents?"

"I don't know," the little girl shook her head and said in frustration, "the voices of the adults are terrible, and my parents told me to run, so I ran, but they didn't come to pick me up, and they used to pick me up when I went out to play......"

"Oh, well, how long have you been here?"

"Well," said the little girl, after thinking for a moment, "Mother used to say that the days are warm and the nights are cold, so whenever it's cold, I scratch the ground with a stone......"

Looking down at the scratches on the ground, Argus counted roughly, about forty or fifty, and after a slight thought in his heart, he roughly guessed the identity of this little girl, most of whom were the children of a [disobedient] aristocratic family, since they were ignorant and did not know how to understand current affairs, there was no need to keep them.

"Uncle, why didn't they come and pick me up?"

"Humph!" Ardgus said lightly, "Die, your parents, killed!"

"Dead ......" the little girl was stunned, thinking about the meaning of death that Argus had just explained to her, and bit her lip and said in frustration, "Is it gone?

"Who knows!" Argus pouted, then lowered his head and said playfully, "Not only can I not see it, but I have also lost my father, and it is very hard to live alone in such a place, do you want me to help you?"

"Help me?" the little girl looked up in confusion.

"Yes, you don't have to work so hard when you die, there is no hunger in that world, there is no cold, and nothing feels like ......"

"Are Mom and Dad in that world too?"

"Ah, yes!" Argus's mouth curled into an eerie smile.

"Hmm!" the little girl nodded vigorously, unaware that Argus slowly raised her right hand.

"Thank you, uncle!"

"......" Looking at the smile on the little girl's face, Argus's expression was a little hesitant, he finally put down his right hand, sat next to the little girl and said in an inexplicable tone, "Hey, do you hate?

"Yay?" the little girl was stunned and whispered, "won't you send me to a world where there is no hunger and no cold?"

In the face of the little girl's question, Argus showed a rare hint of anxiety, and shouted in a deep voice, "I'm annoyed, little ghost!"

The sound like a roar made the little girl's face show a thick horror, curled up, and said cautiously, "What is hate?"

“...... Tsk!" Argus was a little discouraged, leaned against the pile of clutter, looked up at the starry sky, and muttered, "You should hate!--you used to have a harmonious and warm family, but because of some people, this family was ruthlessly destroyed, and the people who loved you were killed, and they called your name at the last moment of their lives......" As he spoke, Argus suddenly heard a small cry from beside him, and he asked in surprise, "Do you understand?"

The little girl shook her head, wiped her tears and said carefully, "I don't understand very well, but it sounds very uncomfortable......"

"Tsk, it's just a little ghost who doesn't know anything!" Argus muttered as he leaned his hands against the pile of debris and looked at the bright starry sky, "but it is a very painful thing to carry hatred, and it is a heavy burden to never forget what you want to forget, or you don't want to forget...... Oh, little ghost who doesn't know anything, let's live happily......" As he spoke, he glanced at the little girl and said in an inexplicable tone, "When the time comes, you can come to me!—but I can't wait that long!"

The little girl did not understand the meaning of Argus's words, and whispered ignorantly, "Can you no longer feel hungry and cold?"

"Uh......" Argus froze at the little girl's dim, grey eyes.

I didn't even realize it, I don't know when it began, for my own personal purposes, everything I did became more and more like those guys I hated...... However, it was too late for all this to be stopped...... At least...... Patting the little girl on the head, Argus said expressionlessly, "Hey, little ghost, let's go!"

"Huh?"

"Don't you understand? Your parents are dead, it's useless to wait here any longer, if you don't want to continue to starve and freeze here, come with me!"

"Don't ......," the little girl shook her head vigorously.

"Huh?" Argus, with a little surprise in his eyes, frowned and asked, "Why?"

"Because uncle, you were terrible just now...... Like the grown-ups......"

"Yes......," Argus said with a long sigh, stroking the little girl's head, "then I promise you not to scare you in the future, shall you......?"

The little girl thought very seriously, and after a full minute, she whispered, "Really?"

"Of course!—annoyed, little ghost!"

"Woo......"

"Damn!

“...... Hmmm!"

Is this the harvest for today?, looking at the dirty little girl, Argus shook his head feebly.

As she passed the two bodies, the little girl tugging at the corner of Argus's coat whispered, "Don't you need to wake them up......?

Listening to the naïve words, Argus snorted coldly and said lightly, "Leave them alone!-Hey, what's your name, little ghost?"

"Lily......

"Oh!—Hey, little ghost!"

"Huh?"

"Don't hate the world!"

"Huh?"

"Don't you understand? What a troublesome little ghost!" Argus scratched his head helplessly, walked down the dark road with his hands in his pockets, and said lightly, "Be careful, I won't come to help you if you fall!"

"I'm used to it......" said the little girl tugging at the corner of Argus's coat, no, Lily innocently.

"Yes......" Argus smiled slightly.

Everything is already predestined, but at least ...... Let me make up for some, even if it is insignificant...... A smile crept up Argus's face, unlike before, without any banter or hypocrisy, a very sincere and honest smile.

And at this moment, there was a "click" on the road in the distance, like the sound of stones being trampled.

As if sensing something, Agaston stopped, so much so that the little girl Lily hit his head on his leg, rubbed her sore forehead, and said aggrievedly, "Why stop?"

Ignoring the little girl, Argus looked at the figure standing in the darkness in the distance with a solemn expression, smiled, and said jokingly, "What's the matter today......? It seems that the gods of luck still favor me, but it is a little bit untimely!—Former Professor of Reochs, Hed Kendi!"

"Humph!"

(To be continued)