“Ah, that was stressful,” Robyn said. She breathed a sigh of relief once her party entered the nation's capital, Stresara. It was peaceful. The people were calm and normal. There weren’t random demons roaming like in the castle they just left. Robyn quietly wondered that the general appearance of demons varied wildly. That particular race had all sorts of subtypes, so it was to be expected that they'd look different even if they derived from the same origins. A silent thanks was given to the fact that all of the sins resembled humans. Robyn wouldn’t know what she’d do if she had to face literal monsters.

“Yeah, it’s not every day we can just walk into the underworld,” Rex said. Now that the team was away from that domain, their thoughts were becoming much more stable. He realized the danger that they were really in. They were a team of heroes that walked into a castle full of demons without a care in the world. They could have easily been killed. Lust and Gluttony could have turned around and said you know what, kill them. Given the team’s strength, they would have perished immediately.

“At least we’re back,” Xander said. His thoughts were clear as well. It was startling how powerful [Lust] was. They needed to deal with that specific skill immediately if they ever wanted to operate normally. The Unnamed Team only made it this far because of their quick thinking, odd strategies, and luck. A skill like [Lust] put a stop to the first two, and Genesis usually interfered with the last one. Unfortunately for the team, Lust wasn’t the only person with a skill that charmed its targets. Several other monsters had skills like [Charm] or [Allure] which were essentially weaker versions of [Lust]. The team would need to invest in items or skills to resist these types of effects.

“We’ve also met Gluttony. Which means we can plan how to disable her or-” Nicholas tried to say. He was interrupted by a voice none of them were ready to hear.

“Kill her?” Lust asked. She was casually walking behind the team. The armor she once wore was replaced with more casual clothing. It still made her stand out, but only as a noble rather than a combat-ready sin. Most of the people in the street were stealing glances at her. Whispers were growing to a low murmur. Who was that remarkable beautiful woman? Was she some nobleman’s daughter? What was her title? Where did she come from? Heaven? Why didn’t they notice her earlier? These sorts of questions began to echo.

The Unnamed Team turned around. Confused expressions stretched across each of their faces. Then, panic. They weren’t expecting Lust to have followed them. She had escorted them to the surface and waved as they left. She should have never had the opportunity to follow them. Of course, Lust knew where the team was staying. It wasn’t much of a secret. It was how she found them in the first place and escorted them to her home. The Unnamed Team quickly tried to compose themselves as they realized where they were. Making a scene was the worst possible option. There were too many bystanders who could easily be swayed by [Lust]. The sin wasn’t inherently evil, but that didn’t mean she couldn't flip if the team treated her poorly.

“Lust, you’re back. Why?” Xander asked. He tried to phrase his question as politely as possible. Their sin friend said she needed to stay behind because of some job she had to do. Apparently, it was supposed to take at least a week to complete, but that was obviously a lie. It would have been fine to come with the others. She had no reason to deceive them. Then again, that rational thinking wouldn’t have been fun.

“I wanted to spend more time with you all. Plus, I got to see all of your surprised expressions.” Lust said with a smile. She was slowly showing how complex she was. All of the sins were nothing more than people with great powers. Did they overindulge in their respective sins? Sure. Greed was quick to point that out. Their sins were fundamentally a part of them, but that wasn’t all of them. Lust was a demon who was generally curious about things. It was because of her curiosity that she originally met The Unnamed Team. Even if she was relatively normal, she was still, first and foremost, a demon.

“Oh, great. You do remember that this is the capital of a human nation, right?” Robyn asked. Her fear was justified but slightly misplaced. Greed managed to live in this city without much issue and even opened a business. Most races could coexist. That much was especially true for one of the nation’s neighboring countries which harbored a staggering number of unique races. Problems only arose from conflicts or prejudice. The only people that weren’t given a chance were demons, for obvious reasons.

“Is that going to be a problem? Greed got along fine with all of these people.” Lust said. The Unnamed Team was well acquainted with the mentioned sin. He was the first one to have a civilized discussion and openly admitted defeat. He even gave his life after losing his skill in a round of gambling. It was because of him that the team knew of an alternative method for handling the remaining two sins. The only reason he managed to hide among humans was because of his appearance and wealth. People were always willing to look the other way if enough money was involved. Plus, he looked like an ordinary human, as every sin did.

“Well, not every-” Rex tried to say.

“Makes sense to me. Why not come to the Annual Winter Ball with us? If you can turn off [Lust] during your visit, that is.” Nicholas said. His proposal was ludicrous to the other members of his team. Invite a sin into the capital? What was wrong with him? They all moved to voice their opinion until noticing his quiet thumbs up.

The Unnamed Team thought about it. Then, it finally dawned on them. Lust was one of the last two sins. They had to face her. It was their mission. Sure, they could keep pushing back the target date, but they would eventually need to do something. If they waited too long, The Heroes of The Voice would step in, and they definitely wouldn’t show her mercy.

“You mean it?” Lust said. Her eyes were practically sparkling. She gave Nicholas the biggest hug possible, using far much more strength than he could handle. Her excitement could barely be contained. She leaped from person to person, giving the warmest embrace possible. Everyone else remained silent. It took time to process their updated mission.

One way or another, The Unnamed Team would have to deal with Lust.