"Little brother, what on earth did you do in your Nightmare to obtain a Divine Aspect and a True Name?!"
"Oh, it was easy. I just killed hundreds of thousands of humans and Nightmare Creatures, a Great Devil, and a Sovereign."
When I looked at their pale, frozen faces, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
I truly wished I had a phone at that moment to immortalize the looks on their faces; after all, it's never easy to defeat my sisters and silence them in an argument.
However, I also realized that I wouldn't survive if I didn't explain everything to them.
Even if they remained silent now in front of Mother, they would find a way later to force the story out of me. One look told me everything I needed to know.
They wanted a story.
So, I could only sigh in a theatrically defeated manner and say:
"Ladies and ladies... women and other women... Once upon a time, long, long ago..."
And so, I began recounting everything that happened to me in the Nightmare. From waking up in the Dark City to the useless Aspect I first received. I told them how I planned to hunt the guards and my confrontation with the Cathedral Knight—and for added drama, I summoned him.
I told them about the dungeon deep within the Cathedral, the Sovereign I killed beneath it, my conversation with him, and I showed them the [Hymn of the Lost Dawn]. After that, I spoke of the journey to the Tree and my slaying of the egg. Naturally, I mentioned that I had heard rumors about the Beast's Nest, and I told them about the bloody rituals related to sacrificing to the Beast God that I had learned from the prisoner.
"And so, I altered the rituals of the Artificial Sun to make it attack them, offering them as a sacrifice to the Beast God... Oh, and of course, I offered myself as well."
After half an hour of continuous storytelling, a deafening silence filled the entire place. For a few minutes, everyone was quiet, absorbing what I had said, until Mother asked me:
"How did you know the Priestess was beneath the Cathedral?"
Oh. I hadn't thought of an excuse for that. Well, how did I know... hmm...
"Intuition."
Mother stared at me for a few seconds, then nodded.
"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have believed them."
She didn't dwell on the subject; instead, she shifted it, staring directly into my eyes as if piercing through them.
"Isn't it rude not to introduce yourself?"
When I heard her words, I realized she wasn't referring to me. She meant Mammon.
Honestly, I didn't know, but I wasn't surprised, and perhaps I should have expected it.
When my sisters heard Mother's question, they snapped out of their shock and began staring in confusion, wondering what she meant. Fortunately, their confusion didn't last long, as Mammon emerged from my soul and manifested behind me in the room.
It was fortunate that the dining hall was large enough to accommodate his massive size.
Mammon looked around, then fixed his gaze on Mother and offered something close to a human bow. I bet he learned it from the servants who bowed to me, whom he saw through my eyes.
"Apologies for not introducing myself earlier. Greetings... I am Mammon, the loyal and close friend of Lord Orion."
When I heard his words, I choked on my drink, turning to glare at him.
He looked at me for a moment with insolence and sarcasm before continuing his bow. If it weren't for Mother's constant stare, I really would have burst out laughing. After all, through our bond, I could feel his tension as he bowed before her.
Hahahaha. Finally, he found someone higher than him on the food chain to bully him.
All the while, Mother continued to stare at him at length before finally averting her gaze and looking at me to ask:
"Explain."
"Ahem, well, as you can see, Mammon is the egg I killed on the tree. I obtained him as an Echo egg and fed him essence derived from the rituals to hatch him."
My sisters stared at me as if I had grown another head. They quickly looked back at Mammon, then at me, then back at Mammon. Feeling uncomfortable under Mother's gaze, I coughed slightly and added:
"He's a bit of a... unique Echo."
From the side, he added: "My meat tastes terrible."
Before the silence could stretch, all my sisters stood up and approached Mammon, beginning to touch his feathers and wings, staring at him in fascination. Mammon pretended to be confused, but I could feel his true emotions: greed.
"Orion, I want to ride him and fly around Raven's Heart," Luna said from the side, looking at me with a harsh, forced smile.
I realized what she wanted to do. She wanted to throw me off Mammon while we were flying. Hahahaha. How cute. In your dreams!
Finally, Mother tapped the table quietly. Soon, all my sisters returned to the table like obedient ducklings.
I looked at my sisters one by one. For some reason, I felt something was strange. I looked again, inspecting them closely.
Oh.
I soon realized what was different.
Their jewelry.
All the jewelry they had been wearing had vanished.
Hel had been wearing a shiny velvet dress; now, the dress looked dull. Somehow, the sparkle had disappeared as if it had been stolen.
I turned to glare at Mammon and saw him looking around calmly while sweating profusely. Through our bond, most of his emotions were fear and anxiety.
Hmmmm.
I turned to find Mother staring at him as well. Oh, it seems she saw his theft. Finally, she looked at me and said:
"You have an interesting Echo."
When she said this, I felt Mammon's emotions shift toward relief and relaxation, so I couldn't help but take my revenge.
"Dearest Mother, you can have him. I'm sure he won't mind,"
I said, smiling cheekily, then turned to stare at Mammon.
"Isn't that right?"