Mortal Sin Erosion
Grade: EX
Type: Active
A skill created from the fusion of the Void, the power of the Seven Deadly Sins, and the ability of a false constellation.
It erodes any tool or substance, raising its capabilities by one stage.
Only one target may be selected for erosion.
Mortal sin, huh.
Now that’s a profoundly meaningful word.
—I am curious about the reasoning behind that judgment.
“The other term for the Seven Deadly Sins is mortal sins.”
The original sin mentioned in Christianity.
The seven evils known as mortal sins—or the Seven Deadly Sins.
Baal of Greed.
Asmodeus of Lust.
Belphegor of Sloth.
Leviathan of Envy.
Mammon of Gluttony.
Agares of Wrath.
—You said there were seven. Why then is one desire missing?
“The ruler of Pride, Satan, has gone missing.”
The one seated upon the throne reveals discomfort.
The master of the polluted throne stares intently at you.
[…….]
The constellations’ reactions were extremely heated.
It was only natural.
To those lofty beings whose names were recorded upon the stars, it was an exceedingly uncomfortable name.
Satan.
An extra demon king not included among the seventy-two demons recorded in the Lemegeton.
A fallen angel who sought to sit upon the many mountains yet plummeted to the earth.
The former leader of the seven archangels, an existence revered and admired by every angel.
—Those are truly splendid modifiers.
“Well, that’s not what’s important.”
The real crux here was the fact that the term Mortal Sin—encompassing all seven deadly sins—had been attached to the skill’s name.
The archetype of the seven sins.
The primordial evil that even the seventy-two demons only possessed fragments of had been implemented into the system.
—Hmm. I see.
Nyx’s response lacked any real sense of impact.
Well, that made sense.
This individual was the primordial darkness that had opened its eyes in the farthest reaches of time.
Whether it was original evil or sin, she was practically in the same generation as that goddess.
Still.
I never expected it to actually work, but it seemed blessings could be fused as well.
***
The skill’s performance was monstrous.
It raised the grade by one stage without question or hesitation.
“I’ll have to test it to understand the underlying principle.”
—Now that the words have been spoken, let us test it at once.
“Good idea.”
Mortal Sin Erosion has been used.
Target: Demonic Feather Coat.
The grade of the Demonic Feather Coat has increased.
The coat now coated in violet.
It wasn’t just the color that had changed.
◈ Magic Boost Lv 99 → Lv 120
◈ The ‘reduced effect while moving’ penalty from the Absolute Stealth option has been removed.
Whoa.
Whoa.
Whoaaaaaaaaaa!
—Why are you so shocked? Your mouth is hanging wide open.
“Do I not look like I should be shocked?”
It was a Mythic-grade item, after all.
Even in my previous life, I had only ever obtained a single artifact that received the ‘Mythic’ grade judgment.
—Was it truly that rare?
“Don’t even talk about it. You couldn’t buy it even if you offered a fortune the size of a small country.”
The reason Transcendent-grade items were considered end-game equipment was simple.
The ‘Mythic’ judgment was only granted to powerful holy relics.
Odin’s Gungnir.
Zeus’s Astrape.
Only objects that symbolized at least a god-king level constellation could receive the mythic designation.
—This garment does not appear to be an artifact of such caliber.
“The grade rose, but it’s not quite at that level.”
It was at the very edge of mythic grade.
Barely touching it with the tip of one toe.
Even so, the fraudulent nature of Mortal Sin Erosion was in no way diminished.
The ability to freely cross the boundary between mortals and constellations at will!
If.
If Baal’s blessing had been even a little higher, what additional options might have appeared?
Fusion Qigong.
It really was a terrifying ability.
That was why Rene Davis had been called humanity’s strongest until the moment he betrayed us.
—Did that traitor also toy with blessings?
“No. It wasn’t to this degree.”
The sponsor was one per person.
This great principle remained unchanged.
It was precisely why Ellen had chosen her sponsoring constellation with such care.
—You too formed a contract with this goddess.
“Come on. I don’t have a sponsor.”
***
—Hmmm?
“We’re in a mutual contract relationship, aren’t we?”
Thanks to the schemes of the old gods, most of Nyx’s power had been stolen by the tower.
She lacked the ‘dignity’ required to serve as a proper sponsor.
Therefore, the contract had been formed not as one-sided sponsorship, but in a way that benefited both parties.
—Yu Jinho will cooperate to the utmost to help Nyx regain her authority.
—Nyx will assist contractor Yu Jinho in becoming stronger with all her heart and strength.
Therefore.
My sponsor slot was currently vacant.
—To toy with and deceive this goddess’s heart!
“Huh?”
—Did you not say that your only contractor was this goddess!
Nyx kept tapping my shoulder nonstop with her tiny hands.
Ow.
That actually hurts a little.
—To mock a maiden’s heart!
“Um… you’re hardly at the age to be called a maiden…”
—Nonsense! This goddess is forever a maiden!
Why had she suddenly turned into a maiden advocate?
Anyway, I was currently a free player who had not taken any sponsor.
Was that why the constellations were swarming to watch me?
It was also why [Olympus’s God of War]—in other words, Ares—kept sending courtship messages whenever he had the chance.
“Giving a blessing without signing a sponsor contract is already unusual.”
I hadn’t simply received Baal’s blessing for free, either.
It was compensation for his intervention in the tutorial mission.
Even then, a legendary-grade artifact paired with a first-stage blessing was honestly an excessive reward.
In any case, blessings weren’t handed out without proper ‘justification.’
Which meant Rene probably hadn’t been able to hoard that many blessings himself.
However.
I was different.
Thanks to my extra ability, Essence Predation, I had already collected three blessings.
—Gaia’s blessing.
—Zeus’s blessing.
—The fake constellation Bael’s blessing.
All three were god-king level.
Add the ‘Blessing of the Goddess of Night’ I received from the goddess herself.
And with Baal’s ‘Blessing of Greed’ on top, that made five.
The only flaw was that they were all only Lv 1.
In the future, I could increase the number of blessings through further predation.
Raising their levels was also possible.
Fusion Qigong and Predation.
When the two abilities combined, the result wasn’t a simple plus—it was multiplication.
The greatly expanded range of predation targets compared to my previous life.
If I added Fusion Qigong on top of that?
Now this…
***
Powerful new skills were going to pour out like hotcakes from a factory.
“Ehehehehehe.”
—There it is again, that laugh.
I pretended not to hear Nyx’s lament and laughed cheerfully.
* * *
The dark realm.
Gehenna.
Or the land known as Hell.
The air was thick with the stench of sulfur.
It was a demonic landscape so extreme that an ordinary human would die within five minutes of setting foot inside.
Unquenchable pits of fire and frozen territories holding the chill of deepest winter existed side by side.
Lakes that, once fallen into, one could rarely escape.
And every conceivable form of ‘pain’ given physical shape.
Belial was one of the kings of Hell, commanding eighty demon legions and ruling the infamous western region of the dark realm.
While Baal, the supreme ruler of Hell, remained alone in his grand audience chamber,
Belial’s residence was filled with armed demon legion commanders standing at attention.
“I cannot recall the last time a mere mortal piqued my interest.”
The androgynous voice echoed throughout the vast hall.
The master of the palace, Belial, was a beauty whose appearance made it impossible to determine whether they were male or female.
Here, ‘beauty’ meant an appearance that would inspire favor regardless of the observer’s gender.
One demon legion commander stepped forward.
“O great king. Simply give the order, and I shall seize that insignificant mortal and offer him before your throne.”
“Izuel. We are always grateful for your loyalty.”
“Hahaha! For the king’s command, I am prepared to shatter my bones and crush my soul!”
“Yet how exactly do you intend to descend to the lower world?”
“Hmm! I shall accomplish it somehow!”
Belial swept a hand down his face.
“Futile. How utterly futile.”
With a light sigh, he flicked a finger.
The formless wave that spread from his fingertip mercilessly crushed the demon legion commander who had stepped forward.
“Grrrrraaaagh…”
“First Legion Commander. Use your head. Do you not understand that mere enthusiasm is not enough?”
“Cough… M-my apologies, my king.”
“We appreciate the loyalty, yet we wish you also possessed wisdom to match it.”
“I shall correct myself.”
The shock was strong enough to leave no bones behind had it been a low-ranking commander.
Yet Izuel endured the wave condensed with immense power, suffered only moderate internal injuries, and stood back up without issue.
“As expected of the First Legion Commander.”
“That’s why the king places his trust in him.”
The legion commanders gathered in the hall gave thumbs-up in admiration of Izuel’s toughness.
‘These pathetic fools.’
Belial suppressed a sigh.
The dark realm’s second-in-command.
It was a title that clung to Belial’s name like a sticker.
Among the seventy-two demons of the dark realm, only four beings used the title of ‘king.’
Baal, Belial, Agares, and Astaroth.
The title of ‘king’ was proof of Belial’s power and influence.
If there was one small problem—
***
Among the legion commanders serving under the four demon kings, while they excelled in both martial might and numbers, there was not a single demon with outstanding intellect.
‘Subordinates too embarrassing to present anywhere.’
However.
It was partly his own fault that his legion commanders had become muscle-brained idiots.
Among the four demon kings, Belial had invested the most effort into organizing his legions.
His ambition to overthrow Baal and become the ruler of the dark realm!
For that moment, he had turned the western reaches of Hell into a ‘might makes right’ domain in order to forge a powerful demon army.
Demon races skilled in schemes, like youma, found it difficult to rise to prominence in the western Hell.
Demons with outstanding wisdom had drifted away from Belial’s territory.
And so every demon legion commander had ended up with a brain made entirely of muscle.
‘Sigh. How can I accomplish my great cause with these fools?’
Even while lamenting the disaster he himself had invited,
Belial did not reveal even a fragment of his true emotions.
These were precious subordinates who would need to play active roles in the great war that would decide the hegemony of Hell.
If they did not know, he simply had to teach them himself.
“That mortal has combined multiple blessings to create a higher concept.”
“My king. Simply possessing the Seven Deadly Sins does not necessarily mean one is strong, does it?”
“A fine observation, Izuel.”
Among the Seven Deadly Sins, Asmodeus—who held lust—was considered one of the weaker demon gods.
To the extent that even the First Legion Commander Azazel, who had spoken earlier, could subdue him.
The master of envy, Leviathan, was not even a demon god.
As an ancient divine beast, its pure strength was comparable to the upper demon gods, but it was not of the demon race.
The Seven Deadly Sins themselves had no direct correlation with demonic hierarchy.
“Hahaha! Who am I? I am the First Legion Commander who assists the great king most closely!”
“Oh. How clever.”
“To possess both martial prowess and wisdom. As expected of the First Legion Commander.”
Murmurs of approval spread.
At the legion commanders’ praise, Izuel—who had been crushed moments ago—puffed out his chest with pride.
Belial swallowed a groan.
‘Why must the shame always fall upon us?’
Simply not revealing his disappointment might already place him in the top one percent of demon personalities.
When the exclamations of the demon legion commanders finally died down,
Belial spoke once more.
“What matters is that a mere mortal has manifested the original form from before the Seven Deadly Sins were divided.”
The demon legion commanders wore expressions that said, Ah, so that’s it.
He had not expected every last muscle-brained demon legion commander to understand.
The explanation was merely to emphasize the gravity of the situation.
“Find the one who has contracted with a human of the Earth dimension, or the demon god sponsoring them.”
“We shall obey the king’s command.”
A variable existence who, while mortal, had accomplished a feat even the great demon gods could not achieve.
If he could obtain Jinho, pulling down Baal and claiming the top position in Hell would no longer be a mere dream.
Unbeknownst to the man himself,
one more constellation had joined the list of those seeking to purchase his heart.