Using herculean strength, the skull of the unknown creature fractured before crumbling. The monster did not bother cleaning the blood and brain matter covering him and merely flung the creature across the cave. It had been hunting for a long time and was very disappointed at these lackl.u.s.ter specimen. Feeling a tremor, it immediately took out a familiar object.Upon noticing the Sin Qualification of Wrath tremble and alleviate its pressure, the monster clenched his fist so tightly that the nails which were not even sharp had drawn blood from its palm.
The lines of the foreboding prophecy echoed in his mind like a plague taking hold of a victim. He began to shiver in trepidation as he could only choose to postpone ravaging the realm he had just discovered. Returning to his dwelling within h.e.l.l, he knew he must prepare for what was to come.
"Awaken my Contingencies", he shouted while positioning his arms in a pose which signified that he was beseeching enlightenment from heaven.
Three sets of glowing eyes appeared in the deep darkness at his beckoning. All three were ent.i.ties of immense power and inwardly, even he felt threatened by them. They were the only creatures which were capable of contending with the prophesied invader. The invader was a being of great calamity and undeniably a blight upon the universe. As these three were prominent within their own worlds which they had been extracted from, he hoped that they were enough to even out the odds.
Although if it was up to him as an individual, he would have run away a long time ago but as he was an agent of heaven, he could only sacrifice himself for the greater good.
______________________________________________________________________________
"For a dead man, you really are well preserved", Atlas said as he began examining the Holy Supremacy. "The embalming chemicals in h.e.l.l must be miraculous"
"Are you intentionally trying to curse me? I"m not dead", he said in response. It was good to reunite with his disciple but he was never able to fix his lack of piety.
"Of course not. Have you been well?"
"I have. Even though this is the homeland of demons, there is still plenty of grat.i.tude to be had"
"Indeed, this land is peaceful. Its inhabitants are kind and would never try to kill a newcomer"
"..." *Ahem* "How is my granddaughter?"
Atlas paused a bit before answering in a morose tone, "She is unavailable"
Looking behind Atlas, he was surprised to see Kirei. She smiled at him before vanishing. He then realized that Atlas could not see Kirei who he could tell was not a ghost but was also not in the same realm as them.
"Come. Master has someone who wants to meet you"
Along the way, the two continued their discussion. The first topic the Holy Supremacy brought up was what he had experienced when he first entered h.e.l.l. The sight of innumerable lost souls made him retch not from melancholy but from disgust. They were beings to be pitied but pity does not erase the stench of flaming trash and rotting flesh. Atlas then asked why there were none left to which the Holy Supremacy proudly proclaimed that he had eliminated them.
He then began to talk about the nature of this world. It was a place for sinful souls and monstrosities. However due to the Diabolic One, sinful souls were not the only beings lured in but also sorrowful souls. The Diabolic One who was rumored to have created this realm would use it to invade other realms. The Holy Supremacy then said he could not understand the reasoning behind this and why the Diabolic One would want the realm to look like h.e.l.l.
Atlas then asked where he got this information and he began to mention his long history with the Duke of Pride. The Duke of Pride was the one that had provided the pendant but the only function it had was being a GPS for the paired pendant which caused him to question Kirei"s origins.
Like them, The Duke of Pride was once human. His name was Revel and he had died as a result of his hubris. He could not be considered an evil individual but he had been labeled as such due to his extreme decisiveness when it came to punishments. Dragged in by his Sin, he was naturally discontent as unlike the other Dukes, his hubris was caused by his upbringing and not an innate trait.
At the forefront of an obsidian palace, a familiar pale-faced youth stood and greeted the two expectantly.
Turning to Atlas, he said, "Welcome, Lord of Souls" and to the Holy Supremacy, he said, "Welcome back, Oumu"
"I have yet to express my grat.i.tude", Atlas said.
The Duke of Pride a.s.sessed Atlas for a moment before saying, "I do have 3 requests"
"Oh? If they"re within reason then I will gladly fulfill them"
"Very well", he said before Atlas" vision began to distort.
[Trial of Pride Inflicted]
"My King! The Castle is under siege by the commoners. Is it not possible to listen to them?", a knight donning gilded armor requested.
Atlas observed the knight which had been resolute in his demand before deciding his first course of action. To bait and expose his enemy.
"What do those peasants know about governing? Very well then, as of today, I will abdicate the throne", Atlas said and then threw the crown on the floor.
"BUT, My King! This is your land and the country that you have painstakingly upheld. Don"t you have any connection to your people?"
"No. After all, why bother helping people who don"t appreciate you?", Atlas said before looking down upon the kneeling knight.
The kneeling knight suddenly stood up with eyes which expressed intense loathing and rage.
"As expected! You truly are wicked. A piece of s.h.i.t who is only alive because of royal blood. I-"
Before the knight could continue ranting, Atlas interrupted with a simple statement which was accompanied by a facetious smile.
"I am. And?"
Taken aback by the blatant display of indifference, the knight roared in anger. Charging at the former king with the sword of the Royal Guard, he had no intention of sparing the monster in front of him.
Unleashing a tremendous slash, the air trembled and even generated heat. However, it did not slice through flesh. Atlas negated the attack with the jewel from his crown and disarmed the knight. In the next moment, he struck the knight with so much force that the armor dented and was warped to the point that only legendary blacksmiths could repair it.
"Tch. My weak bones ache from this", Atlas stated as he held his bruised fist.
He then took the sword of the Royal Guard and spun it in a playful and carefree manner.
"I wonder if this will last long when subst.i.tuting a cleaver", he spoke out aloud with a sinister grin.
"To use the sword for slaying the innocent... You monster!"
[Trial of Pride Transcended]
Atlas pa.s.sed the Trial of Pride as he was someone who did not care about reputation. His ego was directly proportional to his strength and even then, he did not carelessly flaunt it. The Trial would attempt to chain people down through their perception of righteousness and desire for proper recognition but that would not work on Atlas. After all, he was someone who couldn"t care less about upholding justice or being lauded as a Good Samaritan.
Somehow, this had reminded him of the time when he used to force his secretary to run the company in his stead back in his original world. She had complaints which he ignored and barely tried to compensate for.
"Sir, as the CEO, you need to be more involved with your company!"
Atlas raised his head from the book he had been reading and stared at her for a bit. She subconsciously reacted by blushing but tried to stand her ground.
"You-", she began but was immediately stopped by Atlas.
"I"ll treat you to dinner later", he said before returning to the page he had been interrupted at.
Returning to reality, he felt contentment from pa.s.sing so many of the Trials of Sin.
"Are there anymore Trials left?", Atlas asked expectantly.
Revel was surprised by his enthusiasm towards Trials but laughed it off.
"It can be arranged as the Duke of Sloth prefers peace."
He seems to be prepared for my arrival. There must be a prophecy or divination for him to have knowledge of events a decade in advance, Atlas thought.
"What is your second request?"
"To be a retainer in your entourage", Revel said after a moment of silence.
"Are you sure?", Atlas asked as he was unfamiliar with the workings of the Follower Subsystem and was hesitant to use in case of complications.
The Duke of Pride merely nodded in a solemn and final manner.
"Very well", Atlas said before hovering his hand in front of the Duke of Pride"s head.
[Induct]
For a moment, the world was encompa.s.sed in light and when it dissipated, Revel could only look towards Atlas in astonishment. He did want to join the World Traverser"s entourage but did not expect immediate benefits. As soon as the Induction was completed though, he could feel overwhelming strength course through his very being and he knew he was on par with the Diabolic One now.
Other than the obvious increase in strength, the only physical change was the appearance of an enigmatic symbol on the top of his right hand which signified the System.
Seeing his brilliant radiance, the Holy Supremacy knelt down in acknowledgement of something greater than himself and so did the Duke of Sloth who had just arrived.