Chapter 96: The Influence of the Seven Deadly Sins, Reaching the Border
"You over there, Little Miss Jealousy. Step up and explain to the class exactly why one should never level up the Seven Deadly Sins skills."
Having been called out by the Demon Lord instructor, Sophia reluctantly stood up. "Because this specific series of skills systematically corrupts the psychological stability of the wielder."
"Excellent. Take your seat."
The exact second Sophia sat back down, Ariel instantly leveraged the answer to inaugurate her comprehensive lecture on the internal mechanics of Ruler Skills.
"The primary catalyst for this psychological shift stems directly from the intense, lingering emotional imprints left behind by the ancient, original wielders of these skills."
"Furthermore, in the specific case of Little Miss Jealousy here who wields
"Is it really that severe...?" Sophia covertly mumbled under her breath. Personally, she didn't perceive a single negative shift in her consciousness, firmly believing Ariel was simply engaging in a bout of extreme alarmism.
"In short, flatly refuse to increase this skill's level any further. For that matter, you should strictly avoid excessive exposure to the Seven Heavenly Virtues series as well," Ariel issued a thoroughly solemn warning.
The paths of Pride, Wrath, and Greed were uniquely fatal. In contrast, regarding her personal mastery over the Gluttony series, as long as she strictly regulated her caloric intake, it rarely triggered a catastrophic loss of control. Furthermore, since Ariel was the ancient, original wielder of Gluttony, countless centuries of experience had allowed her to analyze and map out its operational boundaries with absolute precision. She was entirely confident that no unmanageable scenario would manifest.
As for the Lust series... Ariel subtly scrutinized the pint-sized vampire loli standing before her, calculating that given Sophia's current physical age, she wouldn't be crossing paths with that specific branch anytime soon.
"When it comes to the Sloth series, its psychological degradation is statistically the weakest," Ariel clarified to the group. "The original wielder of Sloth possessed a deeply lazy disposition, yet the apocalyptic circumstances of that ancient era flatly denied them the luxury of slacking off. Ultimately, they ended up triggering a terminal case of fatal overwork."
Therefore, a true master of Sloth would aggressively grind through every operational metric until there was absolutely no work left for anyone else to execute, forcing the surrounding population to default to total idleness, ultimately rendering everyone a baseline couch potato. The Elroe Great Labyrinth was entirely engineered by that ancient, original master of Sloth–who promptly dropped dead from physical exhaustion the exact second construction concluded.
Given that the current global landscape had entered a phase of relative geopolitical stability, there was absolutely no pressing demand for suicidal overwork, rendering the psychological baggage of that specific branch entirely negligible.
"Regarding Pride, it systematically brainwashes the wielder into categorizing every living breathing organism as a glorified experience point package," Ariel continued. Shiro possessed a deeply personal, intimate understanding of that specific metric. Fortunately, upon achieving Godhood, every system-integrated skill was ruthlessly stripped away, effectively neutralizing the psychological corruption.
Wrath required zero elaboration; the exact second the skill was activated, the wielder's physical stats instantly surged by a staggering factor of ten, forcefully plunging their consciousness into a state of unmitigated, mindless berserk fury.
"As for the final branch, Greed... its specific operational framework allows the wielder to forcefully siphon away a portion of a target's raw power upon executing a kill. However, if you systematically absorb an excessive volume of foreign capabilities, your internal skill tree will fracture into complete chaos. Consequently, your rational mind will fracture alongside it, plunging your entire consciousness into total, unmitigated pandemonium."
Following Ariel's vivid, terrifying breakdown of the mechanical consequences, Sophia finally registered the sheer gravity of the situation. Her posture instantly snapped into a rigid, perfectly straight line, listening to the remainder of the lecture with absolute seriousness.
Meanwhile, Shirazawa covertly navigated his way over to Shiro's side, smoothly scooping his beautiful partner right into his embrace. Shiro offered a microscopic, half-hearted struggle, but upon realizing she couldn't break free from his grip, she comfortably leaned her entire weight against his chest, quietly listening to Ariel's lecture.
This peaceful, ordinary lifestyle drifted past for another six months.
Because nobody could deduce the exact tactical reason behind the old elf's prolonged, eerie silence, Ariel had firmly resolved to enforce an extended period of total isolation for the group. *If the enemy doesn't move, we don't move!*
However, now that a full year had quietly trickled past, Shiro had successfully recovered the absolute bulk of her god-tier strength. Furthermore, through a grueling, night-and-day cycle of intense, collaborative research alongside a certain young man, her mastery over the baseline laws of magic had ascended to a terrifying, cosmic degree. God only knew what kind of reality-warping formulas this dog-couple was engineering behind closed doors; terrifying tremors of raw energy would periodically ripple outwards from their guest room.
As for Shirazawa, through a perfectly structured, step-by-step regimen of dedicated cultivation, his combat capability had officially broken through to the myth tier. Having entirely mastered the foundational archives of magical theory, he was currently preparing to coordinate a meeting with D to secure the subsequent phases of cosmic data.
With their two previously incapacitated heavy-hitters now fully restored to their absolute peaks, Ariel was no longer inclined to play the waiting game. Looking at the current lineup of the primary party, even their statistically weakest link, Merazophis, possessed a combat threshold that was rapidly closing the gap with the ancient Earth Dragon Araba. They officially possessed absolutely nothing to fear.
On this specific day, following a brief group council, the party officially resolved to break camp.
"Ah~ at long last, sweet, beautiful freedom~!" Sophia, clad in a stunning rose-red princess gown, cheerfully skipped onto the carriage alongside the spider girls. Once the remaining members finalized the acquisition of travel provisions, they boarded the vehicle in succession.
Shirazawa was finally, permanently liberated from the grim necessity of wearing a dress. A fully awakened Shiro had personally spun a brilliant crimson robe for him–featuring massive, flowing sleeves elegantly embroidered with intricate spider motifs. A violet-gold crown rested atop his head, secured by a jade belt at his waist and a sleek pair of tall leather boots. Right between his brows bloomed a brilliant scarlet spider lily, though a closer inspection revealed the pattern was actually an inverted, stylized spider emblem. The entire ensemble exuded a distinctly exotic, menacingly elegant allure.
Naturally, this specific wardrobe layout was continuously targeted by Ariel's playful mockery, who frequently labeled him a "textbook groom." In stark contrast, Shiro remained profoundly satisfied with her personal masterpiece. As for the man himself, he was entirely unbothered by the semantics; as long as he wasn't forced back into a skirt, he counted it as an absolute absolute victory.
Merazophis aggressively cracked the reins, prompting the two Earth Dragons to unleash a resonant roar as the carriage slowly navigated away from the borders of the town.
*Ugh!!*
The familiar, horrifying wave of motion sickness walloped his system without warning. Shirazawa's complexion instantly shifted from a healthy flush to a ghostly white, before rapidly settling into a deep shade of sickly green.
"Son of a bitch! Why the hell am I still suffering from motion sickness?!" Shirazawa let out a desperate, miserable wail. "Is my physical constitution just that utterly pathetic, or is my current mental capacity too fragile?!" He felt entirely plunged into a sea of absolute despair.
"Do not worry. I have just manually configured and loaded a high-tier Anti-Vertigo skill directly into your system matrix." Shiro's soft, incredibly gentle whisper echoed directly beside his ear.
In the very next fraction of a second, the suffocating dizziness instantly vanished into thin air.
"Ah~ I have officially returned to the land of the living," Shirazawa let out a massive sigh of relief, rubbing his temples in profound appreciation.
Throughout his year of dedicated cultivation, his focus had been entirely monopolized by the abstract laws of magic, leaving his physical attributes and baseline constitution at their original, pathetic mortal thresholds. The progression metrics of godhood operated entirely on the wavelengths of mental capacity and soul-tier evolution, offering zero structural upgrades for a mortal flesh vessel.
As for why Shiro remained completely immune to the torment, that was entirely due to the massive array of high-tier Resistance skills anchored to her soul–all of which were permanently locked into her matrix prior to her deification. If he could manage to trigger a direct, independent awakening of his vessel, he would seamlessly achieve that exact brand of absolute invulnerability.
*The exact cultivation methodologies regarding physical resistance and flesh-vessel reinforcement must belong to a drastically higher tier of cosmic data. I'll have to cross-examine D regarding that specific metric once I get the chance,* he silently calculated in his mind.
Inside the carriage compartment.
The introverted Sael and the delightfully airheaded Riel squatted quietly in the furthest corner of the cabin. The perpetually mischievous, chaotic Fiel simply couldn't sit still; one second she was engaging in an intense staring contest with Sophia, and the next she was darting behind Shirazawa's back to playfully twist his hair into knots. She only settled down after receiving a thorough, heavy-handed thrashing from the eldest sister, Ael.
Meanwhile, Ariel lounged casually on the roof of the carriage with a blade of foxtail grass clamped between her teeth, feigning a light nap while keeping her sensory network fully extended to scan the surrounding terrain for any approaching adversaries.
The remainder of the journey progressed with absolute smoothness. The party abstained from making extended stopovers in human settlements, charting a direct, uninhibited course straight toward the imperial borders.
Finally, after more than three grueling months of continuous travel, the caravan arrived at one of their primary strategic targets–a heavily fortified border town situated at the rim of the Renxandt Empire.
Advancing past this specific perimeter would place them squarely within the active, chaotic warzone of the Human-Demon War. The strategic landscape ahead was incredibly volatile, to the point where even the Demon Lord herself didn't dare lower her guard. To systematically eliminate any potential complications, they resolved to halt operations for a two-day resting window, before executing a flanking maneuver to bypass the warzone entirely via the adjacent Mystic Mountains.
Once they successfully cleared the treacherous peaks of the Mystic Mountains, they would officially cross the threshold into their final destination: the Demon Territory.
Inside the local inn.
Shirazawa stood quietly by the window frame, his deep, calculated gaze scanning the distant, snow-capped peaks of the jagged Demon Mountains. He wasn't merely admiring the frozen landscape; he had actively deployed
Their current travel progression had bypassed the original timeline's parameters by a staggering nine months. Because of this massive temporal displacement, he possessed zero concrete data regarding whether Wrath's goblin village had already been systematically eradicated by the human forces.
"What exactly are you tracking?" Shiro's soft, melodious voice resonated from directly behind him.
"Locating a very specific acquaintance," Shirazawa replied, turning his torso around to casually drape an arm over her shoulder with a highly amused smile.
"An acquaintance?"
"Mm. Someone you know quite well." Shirazawa nodded, deliberately maintaining an aura of profound mystery.
Shiro scrutinized his expression with deep suspicion for several seconds, before a sudden flash of insight illuminated her eyes. "A fellow reincarnation?"
"Brilliant."
"..."
"And... I've officially located him."
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