After waking up, Rakna didn’t go back to sleep and waited for the Eion Poison to be expelled from his body. Fortunately, his Nanomachines considerably accelerated the process. Normally, most, if not all poisons, would be neutralized right away but an energy-based venom such as this one was naturally very hard to get rid of. It couldn’t just be destroyed like the others.

When he managed to exfiltrate himself from Flavia’s arms, he turned around to see Pronos and Tyran watching him with their heads lowered. Especially the little snake. “Don’t worry. I was the one who told you to do everything to stop me. You did well,” he whispered as he knew that they were probably guilty of hurting him.

Pronos nodded slowly.

Rakna patted him with one of his tails, noting to himself that it was quite an interesting experience at this size. He then checked the time on his HL and jumped down from the bed. He straightened his front legs and stretched his body.

Ding!

“Huh?”

❮ ◈ ❯

Absolution of Belphegor has been triggered.

You have slept seven hours.

Sloth rewards you with 70 Experience Points.

Day’s Limit: 70/100

❮ ◈ ❯

‘…I guess I will do everything I can to sleep at least ten hours a day now,’ Rakna thought. ‘Hm… if this happened because sleeping is an act of sloth… I definitely need to test other ones. Wouldn’t I just need to do nothing every day?’ He mused.

“{Okay, now I’m actually jealous,}” Higure commented. “{I was the queen of laziness. I would have been invincible with this skill. No doubt.}”

[Rakna, if I may,] Alexa spoke up. [I have limited records of the Sin Skills but it is a common fact that only those who embrace the sin can take full advantage of it. I am afraid you will not able to fake sloth by merely acting lazy.]

‘Well, that’s a shame,’ Rakna responded and shrugged. ‘Oh well, it does seem useful overall but even if I can’t abuse it, there will probably be other occasions. The skill states an increase in effectiveness to anything relating to sloth. In this case, my sleep was so ‘effective’ that it made me stronger. There will most likely be other methods and even different rewards.’

“What are you doing?”

Rakna’s fur stood and he nearly staggered from the sudden whisper in his ear. He grunted and his eyes moved to where Nyx was crouching right next to him with a small smile. The darkness of the room didn’t seem to stop her from seeing at all. And the reason that he hadn’t been able to sense her approach was likely the same.

“…I’ll go complain to you first if I ever get heart problems,” he deadpanned at her.

She chuckled and playfully poked his cheek. “You can get quite small, huh? Is that also a skill from your Harvester?”

Rakna groaned as his head sprang back every time she poked him. “Not exactly… it’s a skill that is normally made for pets. I happen to be compatible with it thanks to my race.”

Nyx nodded. “I see,” she said and stopped teasing him. She then stared at him silently and he raised an eyebrow at her analytical air. He could make out curiosity from her scent but about what, he had no idea.

“What? You want to ask me something?”

Nyx shook her head. “Your voice.”

“What about my voice?”

“It’s lighter.”

Rakna blinked. “Lighter, you say…?”

“Yes. You sound less cold and… burdened,” she said slowly and glanced at Flavia who was smiling in her sleep with Tyran, who had failed to escape in time, in her arms. “I assume her plan worked as well as she hoped. That’s a relief.”

The wolf stayed silent for a moment. The side of his lips raised a bit. “Maybe,” he whispered and Nyx smiled. “Let’s get out, I don’t want to wake them up,” he added and she stood up with a nod.

She walked to the door of the room and opened it. Rakna followed behind her with quick steps due to his size and yawned quietly. She looked at him amusingly. “You seem to be fond of that form,” she commented and turned the lights of the living room on.

“It’s unexpectedly very comfortable,” he replied and looked around. “Where’s the shower?”

“Over there,” she pointed at one of the three doors in view.

Rakna nodded and reverted his transformation. Due to the size he had to regrow, it took him more than usual to get to his normal state. When his clothes came out of his storage, he worked his limbs a bit and coincidentally caught sight of Nyx suddenly looking concerned.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your…” She uttered and put her finger under her eyes.

He scowled and imitated her. When his fingers touched the same spot she indicated, he froze on the spot. He rubbed his skin and slowly looked at the tip of his fingers. There was a red smear on them.

Rakna hastily conjured a mirror exuding a cold aura and as it hovered in front of him, he saw the two lines of half-erased, half-dried liquid going down his cheeks; as if he had cried blood. This was something that previously couldn’t be noticed under his fur.

He looked at it for a moment before a certain sound rose in his throat. “Hah… haha…” He began to cackle and his taciturn expression loosened. A few strands of his hair turned to red and his irises became crimson. He ultimately started laughing and Nyx’s eyes widened in shock.

“Hahaha! Goddam, I guess it’s true what they say,” Rakna said laughingly. “You can’t escape your nightmares,” he uttered and clicked his tongue in an upbeat way. “But fuck them, am I right?” He chuckled again a few times and lit up a cigarette as he headed toward the bathroom.

Nyx and Pronos were left stupefied as they followed his back with their eyes. When he closed the door behind him, the two looked at each other to make sure they hadn’t just imagined it.

* * *

When Rakna was alone in the spacious bathroom, he breathed out and a large cloud of smoke came out with it. He stored his cigarette back and calmed his mental state. He entered the shower that was wide enough to fit three of him and the water started pouring from the entirety of the roof.

Rakna closed his eyes and let it wash over his body. The temperature was icy cold, something that was virtually unhealthy for normal people.

“{Well, that was wild,}” Higure commented rather tamely. “{What happened there?}”

“Nothing. I just happened to get a little bit too excited,” Rakna replied calmly.

“{Uh uh… right. So, we’re going to ignore that you literally spewed blood out of your eyes because of a nightmare?}”

“Yes.”

“{…}”

“{Um, while we are here, may I ask to see the other benefits brought by Sloth?}” Fray butted in out of nowhere. His thirst for knowledge was basically demanding him to find out more. “{I am very curious about the Sin and Virtue Skills. I have heard of them but they are all very rare.}”

Rakna huffed. “It’s not like I wasn’t going to check them myself,” he said and three windows were promptly opened at his command.

❮ ◈ ❯

Sloth Magic

The magic of sins and virtues has very limited applications. It hardly can ever be used in any other way than inciting the virtue or sin into another person. However, there are a few scarce spells tailored for this kind of magical affinity. Though most of them cannot be learned by anything other than a skill card.

As a carrier of sloth, the user can force someone else to feel idle, apathetic, tired, or even bored no matter the circumstances. The magnitude of the effects will scale based on the difference of mental fortitude between the caster and the target.

Currently Known Spells: Path of Absolution (T.9)

---

Path of Absolution (T. 9)

Conjures an array that will drain the sloth out of everyone in range and redirect it to the caster to be used as external mana and internal force. The longer the spell is active, the more lethargic the user will feel and within the area of effect, the affected targets will also see their sloth emerge and a debuff will be applied that increases their mana and stamina consumption.

This is an effect that can easily be dispelled if the targets are in an ‘excited’ mental state that stops them from feeling overly tired.

Cost: 50 MP + 10 MPs per minute. (Correction: 30 + 6 MP)

Note: This is one of the most basic sin spells. It has a counterpart for each of the seven sins and manifests differently based on the sin’s characteristics.

---

Designation: Ultimate Excel Skill/Sloth/Demonization/Spontaneous

Name: All Virtues Shall Sloth

Description:

Upon activation, become the embodiment of Belphegor.

Effects:

- Demonize and double all Attributes (Luck Included)

- All beings that lay eyes on you will begin to feel slothful.

- Your Mana will be fully converted into Sinister Mana.

+100% damage from and against Holy & Divine.

Cost: 10 000 MP. (Correction: 6 000 MP)

Cooldown: 666 Hours.

Duration: For as long as the user can resist the sloth before they fall asleep.

Note: …???…1/7...???...

❮ ◈ ❯

“That is actually not too different from what I expected,” Rakna commented as he combed his hair backward to stop the water from running down his face. “For the magic and spell at least… This skill is another story altogether. Putting aside the fact that it doesn’t seem usable any time soon, its effects are clearly overpowered.”

“{You don’t say,}” Higure snorted.

“But that note is equally interesting.”

“{The ‘one out of seven’, right?}” Fray remarked thoughtfully. “{That is in fact a detail not unknown to the masses. It is a fairly common tale; ‘Hoard the seven, and you shall find your place on Hell’s Throne’.}”

Rakna snorted. “So, you become the Devil once you gather all seven deadly sins?”

Fray laughed. “{Sounds about right. It has never been done before however. Just look at Sloth; you only acquired it thanks to the help of a God that is recognized as the greatest. But then again, you still have all your chances as you’ve been in the System for barely more than a week.}”

“Hmm… you say ‘greatest’, but is he truly that powerful?”

“{For sure,}” Higure affirmed. “{If I remember correctly, he appeared around the time I was still alive. Somewhere close to seven hundred years ago. His faith took the System by storm in the span of a single night. It is suspected that the cause of it was a mass memory modification spell. It had the effect of implanting all sorts of information in the minds of people.}”

“{Oh yes, I still remember that. I was but a child at the time,}” Fray hummed. “{The System abruptly relayed a global message that warned us about some mental interference. The System somewhat dealt with it but its effects were not completely stopped. Many people were left with a hypnotic-like suggestion in their heads about the Kind Demon’s feats and strength.}”

“{The Basilica of Eternal Night was probably formed a few hundred years after that,}” Higure said in passing. “{Since I’m pretty sure it didn’t exist yet as an organization during my time.}”

[The Last Hunter, The First Eternal Dragon, The Reincarnation of Angra Mainyu, Destroyer of the Original Lands, Kind Demon, and God of Eternal Night,] Alexa provided as if she was reciting from a script. [These are his most famous titles. All of them, combined with his evidently powerful faith naturally gave birth to the strongest religious organization alongside the Church.]

“…” Rakna speechlessly stepped out of the shower to dry himself. “The old man has been busy… I don’t even understand what those titles represent. Though, what I’d like to know is how can that religion be so dated if my uncle only disappeared a few years ago?”

“{That’s easy to answer. I don’t exactly know what happened to your uncle but it either involved dimension-hopping or world transfer to someplace where magic circuits existed. Just like so, he might simply have grown to godhood and distorted his timeline in the process. It’s also possible that a few years in your world, Rakna, is several hundred in the System.}”

“That’s a pretty reasonable explanation… after everything that happened, I would accept anything at this point,” Rakna said and wore a new set of clothes mainly composed of leather and fur. He sighed and went on to exit the bathroom. “Anyway, that’s not my worry for today.”

“{Oh? What is it then?}”

“Ooh, I don’t know, maybe meeting a certain someone’s mother?” He said sarcastically.

“{Oh! Right! I almost forgot about that one!}” Higure laughed. “{I’m excited to see it,}” she added mirthfully and laughed even harder when Rakna groaned.