The demons' meeting began.
The supposedly amazing party Beelzebub had promised was actually a gathering of silent demons. At least for now, the entire city was terrifyingly quiet. The only sounds were waves crashing against the cliffs and ocean currents surging back, sweeping up schools of fish.
Before it began, Xie De, Wei Yanchi, and Wei Jianye had gone to the tallest building in the city-a clock tower.
They looked down from the top of the clock tower. Its mechanism turned slowly, and its chimes were not piercing but dull, like a giant sharpening a blade against a stone slab.
There was no one up there. The clock tower stood in a remote spot, making it seem rather desolate, but the view was excellent.
Looking down, they could see the demons who were not attending the meeting standing silently throughout the city.
Looking up, they could just make out Leviathan's enormous body and the long conference table that flickered in and out of view.
Five of the seven deadly sins had arrived at once.
Asmodeus of lust.
Beelzebub of gluttony.
Leviathan of envy.
Mammon of greed.
Belphegor of sloth.
The two who had not come were Lucifer, who represented pride, and Samael, who represented wrath. According to Beelzebub, both great demons were asleep, and this matter did not warrant disturbing them.
When Mammon arrived, he rode in an ox cart pulled by three oxen. Unlike most accounts of him, he looked remarkably inconspicuous. A loose white robe enveloped his entire body, and his face was pale. He stooped forward with a hand outstretched, as though begging.
If Leviathan had not glanced down at him and said in a low voice, "Come up now that you're here, Mammon."
Xie De probably would never have guessed that this unassuming, sickly-looking beggar was