‘Oh well, I’ll just take their bodies and souls for now and clean up.’
Zero flicked his finger and their bodies and souls started to float into a portal that Zero created. He then flicked his finger and a fire started to burn away the bodily fluids left behind.
Zero then turned and said, “I’m done so why don’t you come out now.”
At his request Hel, the goddess of death appeared out of nowhere. She smiled and asked, “When did you realize I was following you?”
“I didn’t particularly know it was you but I sensed a slight fluctuation in the mana float around here. It’s good that you followed me since I need to ask you something.” explained Zero
“You’re not mad I followed you?” asked Hel
“As I explained before I think of you as part of our group now. That means I won’t question your actions unless I sense it might negatively affect the others. Besides, I’m sure you followed me for a reason and not to just spy on me.” said Zero
“Yes I sensed you awakening to a sin but this surprised me quite a bit because it shouldn’t possible. I assume you failed since all 7 archdemons are alive to my knowledge. It’s interesting though even though you failed this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a demigod no less awakening to a sin while it's still bonded to a host. You’re not even a demon but you can obtain the greatest power of their race.” said Hel as she looked at Zero up and down
“I’m just a bit unique that’s all. So gods can’t obtain sins?” asked Zero
“No, unless they’re fallen gods. Since you seem to lack an understanding I’ll explain.” said Hel
Hel explained that sins were an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. Mortals constantly commit these sins and at some point in time these transgressions took on physical form. They became objects that gathered power from all mortals and directly channeled that power into their hosts. There were 7 of them and none could wield these powerful artifacts without feeling side effects that affect the personalities of the hosts and drove all who were near them to commit sins. The divines seal them away and together decided unanimously to charge the forces of heaven to keep watch over these artifacts and study them.
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Through many trials and errors, they were able to create less powerful artifacts without side effects. They reversed the power of the sins and these new artifacts were named the 7 virtues. Problems occurred when rather than sharing these artifacts with all divines the forces of heaven kept them secret and handed them to angels to use and strengthen themselves. This deception was eventually was discovered and the divines went to war with each other. The forces of heaven in desperation used both the sins and virtues to turn the tide of the war to their favor. The forces of heaven were able to win the war against the other factions but at a high cost. The 7 angels who were charged with using the sins were corrupted by them and escaped heaven with their followers.
The 7 used the sins to empower themselves and their followers but they changed in body and mind as a side effect. This was how the first demons came to exist. The 7 wasted no time and gather the weak fallen gods and the evil gods who had previously been exiled by the divines and formed a faction that would rival the divine faction today.
After telling Zero this story Hel explained that the sins were very corrective so she followed Zero to see if they were any vast changes. She luckily found none so she asked, “So what sin did you almost awaken?”
“Pride” answered Zero
Hel stared at Zero with her mouth wide open as she heard the shocking news. She then walked over to Zero and placed her hand on his head. Zero then felt an enormous amount of mana being channeled as he felt his mind being invaded. It was an unpleasant feeling but Zero decided that it was best not to resist.
After a while, Hel released Zero’s head and breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Zero and said, “You’re quite lucky since you didn’t receive the sin it didn’t affect much. I’ll keep a watch over you just in case.”
“What’s the big deal about pride?” asked a confused Zero
“Lust, envy, anger, greed, gluttony, and sloth are all bad, but pride is the deadliest of all. Pride the root of all evil, and the beginning of sin. This means under the influence of pride you experience all the other sins to a degree. The worst part of the sin would be that you’re now most likely on Lucifer’s radar.” explained Hel with a sigh
“Lucifer the first fallen angel?” asked Zero
“Yeah, he’s bad news. Luckily I didn’t sense any connection to the sin so he probably doesn’t who you are or where you are. We’ll have to be very careful to avoid him in the future.” said Hel
“Alright, I understand. Speaking of Lucifer I wanted to ask you if you were aware of the demon Samael or the angel Abaddon?” asked Zero
“Yes, I know of them. I believe they should both be preparing for an end of time war on a planet 4,000 galaxies from this planet. Why do you ask?” said Hel
“Good so you know the location. Do you happen to know when the war will start?” asked Zero
“I believe it shouldn’t start for another 10 years. They need to first fill the planet with divine mana so the angels and demons can descend down to the planet in their true forms. This process usually takes 12 years and I believe the seals were broken a year and a half ago. If you’re thinking of going there I suggest you reconsider that idea. If you go there you’ll die.” said Hel with a serious look
“I also think it’s a bad idea to go there but I still need to go. There are 5 individuals I need to see regardless of the risks. I know they’ll actively be participating in this war so I need to meet them no matter what.” said Zero with a determined look