The walk along the grand avenue of the Ivory Citadel's south sector seemed peaceful.
Diana carried the reinforced leather pouch strapped securely to her belt, containing the 3x Purified Magic Silver Ingots of the Circle of Lust that Rhea had snatched from the secret crypt's chest. Beside her, Rhea kept a light pace, her amber eyes scanning the display windows of magical artifacts as they headed toward Master Volkan's workshop.
They were at Levels 13 and 12. They had thirty-nine silver coins in the vault, the registered trademark of the Arcane Greed Workshop, and Level 25+ materials in their bag. In Diana's mind, they were establishing a respectable, dominant presence in the Second Circle.
Then the world stopped.
Literally.
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There was no sound of a spell activating, nor the snap of a magical trap.
In a millisecond, all noise on the grand avenue vanished. The clatter of flying crystal carriages, the shouts of merchants, the murmur of hundreds of high-level pedestrians… everything turned into absolute, sepulchral silence.
The air around Diana and Rhea turned dense, heavy, as though the very atmosphere of the Second Circle had been replaced by molten lead and the scent of chilled medicinal flowers.
Diana tried to take a step forward, but her legs simply refused to obey.
Her body's primal survival reflex locked every single muscle. Rhea's silver ears flattened completely against her head, and the hybrid girl dropped to her knees on the marble sidewalk, cold sweat trickling down her forehead in involuntary panic.
What is this…?! Diana thought, her heart hammering against her ribcage at a terrifying speed. What is this pressure…?!
Three meters away from where they were frozen, the three-dimensional space of the street folded in on itself like a sheet of paper.
A rift of silver and pink light opened in midair, and out of it stepped a man walking with the elegance of a nobleman strolling through a winter garden.
He looked like an elven-lineage demon of unreal beauty: long silver hair falling in flawless waves over his shoulders, porcelain-white skin, and eyes of a deep violet color that seemed to contain entire galaxies. He wore an immaculate overcoat of dark-blue silk with silver-thread lotus flower embroidery, holding a crystal goblet with mana wine in his right hand.
Diana used [Analysis Vision] with whatever shred of willpower remained to her.
The System window flickered… and collapsed into complete red noise:
[SUPREME ENTITY DETECTED!]
[Name: Cassian - The Silver Lotus]
[Title: Candidate for the Sin of Lust]
[Level: ??? (ESTIMATED: LEVEL 115+)]
- THREAT LEVEL: ABSOLUTE / INESCAPABLE.
- SYSTEM WARNING: A SINGLE STRIKE FROM THIS ENTITY IS ENOUGH TO ERASE YOUR EXISTENCE FROM REALITY.
Level 115.
Diana felt her throat dry up completely. Her 120 HP felt like a sick joke before that figure. A breath, a glance, or a snap of that man's fingers would eradicate her, Rhea, and the entire citadel block without the slightest effort.
Even the System's voice in Diana's head fell dead silent, retreating into the background of the interface in absolute, terrified awe.
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The man, Cassian, took a calm sip of mana wine from his crystal goblet, letting out a satisfied sigh.
He looked at the reinforced pouch on Diana's belt, then stared into the human girl's dark eyes.
"Ah…" Cassian smiled.
His smile wasn't cruel or sadistic. It was an extraordinarily charming, warm, polite smile, like that of a gentle veteran greeting two children in a park. But the Level 115 aura pressure emanating from his sheer presence caused the marble ground beneath Diana's feet to crackle.
"So it was you two, two brave little Level 13 mice, who opened Asmodeus's secret hall on the third floor of the dungeon?" Cassian said, his voice sounding like a soft melody echoing directly in their minds. "I felt the resonance of my Circle's Magic Silver being moved along the avenue and thought: 'My, is some idiot mercenary trying to sell Lust's heritage on the black market?'"
Cassian took two steps toward Diana.
With every step he took, the aura pressure seemed to crush Diana's lungs a little more. But Diana, with all the arrogant stubbornness making up her soul, refused to fall to her knees. She gritted her teeth until she tasted blood in her mouth and held the Level 115 man's violet gaze.
Cassian stopped a meter away from her. He tilted his head, observing the black-gold aura glowing in the depths of Diana's soul.
His violet eyes widened slightly… and he let out a low, clear, genuinely amused laugh.
"Oh!" Cassian let out a delightful chuckle, shaking his head. "Well look at what we have here! A newborn Candidate for the Sin of Greed!"
Diana managed to force a gasp of air out, compelling her locked throat to speak.
"Are you… going to kill us…?" Diana asked, her voice issuing as a rasping whisper through the pressure.
Cassian blinked his violet eyes, shocked by the question, and laughed out loud.
"Me, kill you?! Hahaha! My God, no!" Cassian waved his free hand gracefully through the air. "Why on earth would I kill you, little girl? The Succession War doesn't work like that!"
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Cassian snapped his fingers.
The crushing Level 115 pressure suffocating Diana and Rhea diminished by 90% instantly, allowing air to return to their lungs. Rhea collapsed onto her hands on the pavement, panting heavily, while Diana took a staggering step back, clutching her chest.
Cassian casually sat on the avenue's stone wall, crossing his silk-clad legs as if chatting with old friends in a cafe.
"Let me teach you a lesson in etiquette among Candidates, cute girl." Cassian said, taking another sip of his wine. "The contest for a Deadly Sin's Throne is an internal game. I am a Candidate for Lust, which means my only real enemies are the other Candidates for Lust trying to claim Asmodeus's Throne here in the Second Circle."
He pointed his index finger at Diana.
"You are a Candidate for Greed." Cassian explained in an educational, playful tone. "Your enemies are the other Candidates for Greed up in the Fourth Circle. We do not compete for the same throne. To me, you're just a cute rookie who just arrived in Hell."
Diana composed her posture slowly, wiping cold sweat from her face, absorbing every word from that absurdly powerful demon.
"How many Deadly Sins are currently dead…?" Diana asked, wanting to seize this golden opportunity to extract information from the top of the world's pyramid.
Cassian smiled, appreciating the human girl's quick intellect.
"Only three of the Seven Thrones are currently vacant." Cassian said, counting off his porcelain fingers:
1. Sin of Lust (Second Circle):"Our Sovereign Asmodeus fell two thousand years ago. Myself and three other Level 100+ Candidates are waging a cold war in the shadows to decide who claims the throne."
2. Sin of Wrath (Seventh Circle):"The Sovereign of Wrath fell fifteen hundred years ago. The Seventh Circle is a hellish bloodbath between Level 150+ Candidates."
3. Sin of Greed (Fourth Circle):"Sovereign Mammon was the last to fall, merely three centuries ago. That's why Greed is the 'newest' vacant throne. Candidates for Greed like you are still few, mostly weak or newly arrived, and the grand war of the Fourth Circle hasn't even truly begun."
Cassian winked one of his violet eyes at Diana.
"The other four Sins, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth, and Pride, are alive, kicking, and have ruled their Circles with an iron fist for millennia."
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Diana committed every data point to memory.
Greed fell last… that's why I'm still at Level 13 without being hunted down by Level 100 monsters in the Fourth Circle.
"And about the Circles…?" Diana asked. "They said Level 50 is the requirement to leave the Second Circle."
"Level 50 is just the subway ticket to cross the portal, kiddo." Cassian chuckled softly. "To be a true Deadly Sin and rule an entire Circle, you must be strong enough to walk through all Seven Circles without anyone stopping you. Level 100 is the bare minimum requirement of bare minimums for anyone dreaming of a Sin's Throne."
Level 100.
The number crashed onto Diana's mind with monumental weight. Level 13 felt like an insignificant speck of dust before that mountain.
Yet instead of terror, Diana's dark eyes flared with an even fiercer spark of greed.
Cassian rose from the stone wall, adjusting his blue silk coat. He approached Diana and, to the human girl's utter shock, reached out his hand and gave two playful, affectionate pats to the top of her dark head.
Diana froze, feeling the sheer density of that man's power a millimeter from her skull.
"Keep the Magic Silver ingots you snatched from my crypt." Cassian winked, smiling with devastating charm. "Consider it a welcome gift from a veteran Candidate. Use them to forge decent gear with Master Volkan. And when you reach Level 50 and ascend to the deeper Circles… stop by my palace here in the Second Circle for tea. I like girls with nerve."
Cassian snapped the fingers of his right hand.
A whirlwind of silver lotus petals and pink mist enveloped his body completely. When the wind cleared, the Level 115 man had vanished without leaving a single magical trace.
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In that exact second, the three-dimensional space of the street unfolded.
The clatter of carriage traffic, the shouts of merchants, and the murmur of the crowd rushed back in a roar, as if nothing had happened. People walked along the avenue without realizing that a few meters away, a Level 115 entity had been chatting with two girls.
Diana and Rhea collapsed onto a wooden sidewalk bench, panting heavily, their backs soaked through with cold sweat from post-tension relief.
—My God…
The System's voice finally emerged from the depths of the interface, its tone trembling and shocked.
—That was Cassian… the strongest Candidate of the Circle of Lust. Level 118. He could have wiped out this entire sector with a snap of his fingers.
Diana looked at her hands, which were still trembling slightly. She looked at Rhea, who was wiping sweat from her forehead with her arm, and then at her pouch containing the 3x intact Magic Silver Ingots.
[FULL FINANCIAL AUDIT]
- Balance Maintained Intact: 39 Silver Coins and 50 Bronze Coins (3,950 Bronze!).
- Legendary Materials Intact: 3x Magic Silver Ingots of the Circle of Lust (Gifted by Cassian).
Diana rose from the wooden bench, adjusting her jacket.
The experience of facing a Level 115 Candidate face to face hadn't broken her. On the contrary: it had pulled back the curtains of the universe.
"Level 100…" Diana said, her voice low, firm, laden with an ambition that seemed capable of burning Hell itself. "We have a long road ahead, Rhea."
Rhea stood up at her side, drawing her corrosive daggers, her amber eyes shining with unshakeable loyalty. "I am going with you all the way to Level 100, Diana."
With 39 Silver in her pocket, Level 25+ ingots secured, the truth about the Deadly Sins revealed, and determination tempered by the encounter with the Silver Lotus, Diana and Rhea walked with steady strides toward Master Volkan's workshop.
Final Notes;
First appearance of a Deadly Sin candidate other than Diana! I really like this character, and he's going to generate some pretty funny scenes later on. Hope you enjoyed it!
Any help is welcome!