777 Avaris?

"For insulting me, you have to pay a price. Let's see . . . how about your sword?"

"Huh?" Lorelai grabbed Azazel's clothes. "What did you just say? Do you want me to cut you with Demonsbane?"

"I told you it's not me!" Azazel reasoned, attempting to shake off the confusion.

"Demonsbane? Ugh. That sword is actually that dangerous. Never mind. Then I will settle if you show me your underwear."

Azazel's mouth fell open wide, and Lorelai's face turned crimson with embarrassment and anger.

"What did you say?" Lorelai asked, gritting her teeth.

Azazel was feeling unfairly targeted, and covered his face with his hands to defend himself while explaining, "It's not me. My voice is slightly different. I tell you, it's a ghost . . . but I don't mind if you showed me your under–Gargh!"

Before Azazel could finish his words, Lorelai retaliated by beating him to the ground.

"He's done for," the others thought.

Desira was concerned for Azazel, and attempted to intervene. "Don't hurt Lord Azazel, you wretched bitch!"

However, her efforts only seemed to worsen the situation as her punches and kicks unintentionally landed on Azazel's face instead.

Suddenly, Vivi smacked her hand as if a light bulb had appeared on top of her head. "Wait, I know that voice. It's . . . AVARIS!"

The revelation echoed through the hall, leaving the group in a mix of surprise.

"Avaris?" Elena exclaimed, her eyes widening as she spoke, and everyone turned their attention towards the stony figure of Avaris.

"Are you kidding me, Vivi?" Desira growled with an annoyed tone.

"He's not pulling your leg. I'm really here! Here!" the voice insisted.

The group was perplexed, and they immediately approached the frozen statue to confirm if the voice indeed emanated from there.

"Avaris, are you alive?" Vivi inquired.

"Of course, he's still alive. He just turned into a statue," Desira rolled her eyes. "Hey, Avaris, if you can speak in there, tell us what happened."

"Everyone! I'm right here! Here!"

"Where is that voice coming from?" Ren mused aloud.

"It definitely doesn't come from the statue," Evie said.

Ren and the others scrutinized their surroundings, but it remained seemingly empty.

"Down here!"

Their eyes darted to the floor, discovering a snail. The peculiar thing was, it sported a golden hairpiece on top of its head.

"What on earth?" Elena knelt down and poked the snail. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, stop poking!" the snail protested.

"It talked!"

Elena and the others were taken aback, retreating a step.

"How rude, each one of you. As payment, I wouldn't take each of your souls—ah, except you, Lord Obsidian X, Vivi, and Desira. But the others need to pay for even setting foot in my castle," the snail declared, crossing its slimy hands together while its big blue eyes narrowed at Ren and the others.

. . .

. . .

"A . . . Avaris?" Vivi uttered, sounding uncertain.

The snail nodded. "That's right. It's me."

". . . EGH?!"

The group was surprised again, bombarding Avaris with their own questions.

"Is it really you, Avaris?" Vivi asked.

"Why did you turn into a snail?" Desira interjected.

"How are you even talking?" Elena questioned, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why do you have hands?" Evie added, her curiosity evident in her tone.

"This thing is tiny and slimy and gross," Lorelai commented, wrinkling her nose.

"Avaris turned into a snail? So it's not a ghost?" Azazel couldn't keep up with the conversation.

Ren sighed. "Let's start from the beginning and let the guy speak up first."

Lorelai picked up Avaris and examined him closely. "Are you really Avaris, the Warlord of Greed?"

Avaris struggled in Lorelai's hold on his shell and shouted, "How rude! Don't touch me so casually, or you'll have to pay the price! In fact, it's rude to even breathe the same air as I do. Pay up with your life! . . . I accept rare items too."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow and casually jiggled Avaris in the air. "Huh! Did you say something?"

"Argh! You rude woman! Let me down! Let me down! What do you think you're doing?! Who do you think I am?! I am a warlord! One of the most powerful devils—GaArgh!"

"Huh? I can't hear you," Lorelai said, continuing to wiggle Avaris in the air.

"Stop that," Ren said, whacking Lorelai's head. "We need him alive."

"Geh. How rude!" Lorelai shouted at Ren.

"I'm only giving you back what you're doing to the others," Ren commented without care.

Vivi swiftly took Avaris from Lorelai's grasp and asked, "Avaris, are you okay?"

Avaris was still seeing stars and was on the verge of puking but managed to hold it in. "Ah . . . what a very rude woman," he panted. "So . . . so violent."

Azazel chuckled and place his hands on the back of his head. "Right? She's pretty strong too!"

"Ah! Lord Azazel, not fair in praising a stranger. Praise me too!" Desira quickly intervened.

On the sidelines, Ren let out a wry breath, realizing that at this rate, they weren't going to achieve anything.

Taking control, Ren asserted his dominance. "Tell us what happened here and why did you turn into a stone, and how did you end up in that body?"

Avaris shook his head to regain clarity and stared at each one with a serious expression as he began, "That's right. I will tell you the great tale of how the great I, Avaris, came into this—!"

Ren swiftly snatched Avaris from Vivi and positioned him in front of his scrutinizing eyes. "If you don't want me to do unimaginable things to you, you better cut to the chase and only answer what I asked of you."

Avaris swallowed hard, a bead of sweat running down his slimy face at the sight of Ren's narrowed eyes. "U-Unimaginable?"

Ren leaned in and whispered in his ear, the rest of the group leaning in with curiosity, hoping to catch what Ren was saying to Avaris without any hope.

Avaris's eyes widened in shock when Ren finished his threat, and his shriek pierced the room.