Page 78 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

He pulls his pants lower, but the moment I see the line of his drawers, I stop him.

“That’s enough. I can see it just fine like this.”

“As you wish,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.

I grab some iodine and dab it all over the surface of his wound. It’s not too deep, so it will not require stitching. But I do my best to clean it and then I apply a bandage on top of it.

“Where’s the whiskey? I need whiskey!” Holloway shouts from the other side of the infirmary.

I glance back at him, noting that the greed demon is coiled even tighter around him than before.

“More. Need more,” the demon whispers in a low, gravelly voice.

“Bring me the whiskey!” Holloway then cries out.

A nurse rushes in, carrying a bottle of whiskey, and hands it to him.

Is that…normal? To just give a patient whiskey?

Holloway grabs the bottle from her and, without a word, brings it to his lips and gulps down greedily. He’s drinking at such an alarming speed that both the nurse and the doctor have to wrestle the bottle away from him. I roll my eyes. Why give it to him in the first place?

“More. Get more,” the demon whispers. In turn, Holloway cries out for more, wildly moving his limbs around and throwing a tantrum.

As I return my attention to Mine, I note that he’s also watching that exchange with interest.

“When did that behavior start?” I ask absentmindedly.

“When we entered the German territory,” he mentions, pursing his lips. “He started behaving oddly then. It’s why we caught so much flak. He kept giving me the wrong coordinates.”

From any other person, I would have taken that as an attempt at an excuse. But Mine doesn’t seem like the type to blame someone else for his failures. In fact, his tone is more that of a worried friend than someone looking for an easy way out.

Holloway has now pushed the nurse to the ground while the doctor tries to restrain him.

I gasp and swivel to go help.

Mine grabs my hand and stops me.

“Don’t,” he mutters. “You’ll get hurt.”

I shake my head.

“He’ll only get stronger,” I whisper.

If the greed demon attached itself to him during the mission, then it’s only a matter of time before it gains more strength.

As the struggle between Holloway, the doctor, and now a few other nurses continues, the demon slowly shifts on his shoulder, the shadows becoming more opaque until the demon gains a shape. It turns into a small red humanoid reminiscent of a dwarf. Its claws are sunk deep into Holloway’s chest, and as it feeds on the chaos, its eyes shimmer and turn a silvery color.

I may not be too familiar with sin demons, but from what I remember from my school days, the more sins they consume, the stronger they become, and just like regular demons, that is reflected in their appearance. After the sin demon has consumed enough sinful energy from the mortal it latched onto, it will be able to control not justonehuman, but multiple at the same time.

If that is the case, then…

I gulp down as a sliver of fear goes down my spine. Not only is Holloway in mortal danger as the demon becomes more greedy, but if it absorbs enough sinful energy, it will most likely be strong enough to tap into the hidden greed of everyone at the base.

No one will be safe from it.

If I let it run amok, it will turn the entire base into a cornucopia of greed.

“Let them deal with Holloway. You’re treating me now,” Mine says.

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