“Am I supposed to be… thrilled by that prospect?” Erin asked, as blunt as she could sound.

“Normally,” Nyx replied.

“Sounds tedious. Can I pass?” 

“It will be quick, I promise. It won’t be as tedious as you may think, Erin.”

“Still not interested.”

“What is it that humans always say?” Nyx mused with a hum. “Birds of a feather flock together?”

“You’re saying my siblings-in-faith are all tricked into this position?”

“That is not my meaning when I said “birds of a feather”,” Nyx explained. “And what you said is not true.”

Erin glared.

“Well, at least not completely true,” she admitted. “None of them were forced into this. They chose to become my Apostle because the other choice is death, same as your circumstances. Well, nearly the same.”

 Erin’s glare didn’t wane.

“What I meant by “birds of a feather” is that none of you held any blind faith towards me. You are impartial even to my opinions.”

“I don’t have any faith in you at all, blind or not,” Erin retorted.

Nyx tittered. “It hasn’t even been a month. A lot can change in a short amount of time. Look at you; aren’t you just the prime example of change?”

Erin couldn’t deny Nyx’s words. A look in the mirror could easily prove the truth in the goddess’ words. It pained Erin to accept it but it was even terrifying to imagine how much more she could change in the coming days.

“Well, I don’t expect faith to come from you any time soon. Then again, faith is not what I expect of you in the first place.”

“I don’t care what you expect from me.”

“Well, I’m in no rush to garner your trust. We can put that aside for now. Meeting your brothers and sisters of the same faith comes first. Now, this might sting a little.”

Erin reeled herself away from Nyx. “Don’t you dare—” But there was nowhere she could run to.

Nyx didn’t even approach Erin. The Goddess’ body merely glowed brightly and Erin felt information was seared into her mind like someone had branded her brain with red hot iron. It was agonizing at first but slowly, the pain was replaced with a serene sensation like a sea calmly flowing into a river that extends for hundreds of miles. And the faces of people she had never met appeared in her memories. Names appeared alongside those faces. She immediately understood these people were also the Apostles of Nyx. There was an interesting fact she discovered along with this information.

“And there, all done. You are all now acquainted with one another. Quick, isn’t it?”

Erin groaned, her hand clutching her head. “This was not what I had in mind. And these people… Pride, Gluttony, Envy, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath… These are—”

“The seven mortal sins, as mortals would put it. A concept embraced across worlds because it inevitably exists in all mortals as long as sentience is present.”

Nyx’s profound revelation did not enter Erin’s mind as she was still recovering from the sudden influx of information into her brain. It wasn’t just their names, faces, and the sins they were attributed to. Erin was even able to feel the location of each of them. She knew precisely where they currently were even if they were in a place she had never been. And out of the six individuals, only two of them were strictly speaking, humans.

“So you’re the goddess of sins, is that what you are?”

“More of an overseer. It is one of the many aspects I govern, yes.”

Erin felt like she heard something extremely heavy but to avoid the trouble, she didn’t touch the subject any further.

“These six individuals are your allies, family you could even say. Should your paths cross, I sincerely wish you lot would offer a helping hand to one another when that time comes.”

“As long as they don’t give me a reason not to be warm with them, I’ll help.”

“Ah, that’s a little...”

Erin rolled her eyes. She knew there would be a catch. She wanted to raise her voice but she calmed down after convincing herself of the futility. She was at the Nyx’s whim and mercy. No matter what she did, it wouldn’t matter. In a way, she considered this true despair. A completely hopeless situation where she even gave up being angry. It was faster to just nod along whatever the goddess was saying and hope that her request wouldn’t be as obnoxious as her character.

“Aera Glass, the holder of Wrathmonger,” the goddess said.

Flipping through the pages of her newly induced memories, the face of a gentle girl with black hair and violet eyes appeared in her mind. “What of her?” Erin asked. She was struggling to hold back on asking who came up with the name.

“Out of the seven of you, she is the most recent to join the fray.”

“You mean the most recent to be inducted by you,” Erin muttered.

There was no way Nyx wouldn’t have caught that remark but the goddess continued without retorting. “She is currently, shall we say, lost.”

“That’s very specific.”

“She was the only one who called out to me on her own accord. Well, not specifically for me at least. Her circumstances were bleak. She prayed desperately for divine assistance. She didn’t pray to a specific god. She just prayed. And I decided to take pity on her.”

Erin gave a look. “You took pity on her?”

“She was… just like you, Erin. She was desperate. She would invoke the assistance of any Divine but her heart— even if it was a despairing situation, her heart stayed firm. The other Divines refused to help her because they knew she wasn’t the type to easily bend her knees towards power just because she was offered tremendous help.”

“And why did you help her then?”

Nyx chuckled. “As I have said, I don’t desire blind faith and she offered me none of that even after I dispelled her despairing situation. She bore the same gaze as you when you met me in person.”

“I have yet to hear your commands, your eminence.”

Nyx giggled. “After the ordeal I freed her of, she took my gift and embarked on a journey of vengeance.”

“You want me to help her with her vengeance?”

“I want you to help her, not with her vengeance, but herself. This path she is treading on, she will only destroy herself. She has potential. It would be a shame if it went to waste.”

“And why me? What about the others?”

“You’re the closest one to her. At present, she’s just in the next town to the east.”

“And what do I get out of this?”

“Same as before, a reward from me, anything of your desire.”

“My desire… huh…” Erin mused. “You know what, I think I know what I want as my reward and I believe it is just right within your power and interest to do so.”

“Oh?” Nyx uttered with an amused tone. “Pray tell, my dear Apostle.”

****

As Erin opened her eyes, she awoke to a black rocky ceiling. Aside from the unfamiliar sight, she also felt her head was laying against soft, malleable, yet solid.

“Oh, you’re awake?” Aedan asked, leaning his head into her gaze.

Immediately after seeing his face, Erin bolted upright and reeled herself away from where she lay, Aedan’s lap. Her tails and ears were also perking upright.

The Dragon-kin had an unassuming smile as he dusted his lap with gentle waves of his hand.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this,” Erin warned, her ears twitching in accordance with her tone.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” replied Aedan, with the unassuming smile still on his face.

Erin heaved of sigh of relief and rubbed her temples. “How long was I out?” she asked.

“An hour at most,” Aedan answered.

Erin looked around. She was still in the same room where she fought the Ba’al. The only difference she noticed was how much tidier the room was considering the battle that had transpired.

“I cleaned the room, somewhat, if you’re wondering about the changes,” Aedan explained. “I don’t know when you'll regain consciousness so I take the liberty to clean the room. The smell was really getting to me and I’m sure it would get to you too.”

“Nothing attacked us while I was out?”

Aedan shook his head.

She heaved another sigh of relief. “T-thank you...” she said, faintly. “I-I honestly appreciate what you did… I don’t believe I would have succeeded in this endeavour without your assistance.”

“Nonsense. I’m sure you would have succeeded regardless. Perhaps not as easy but I’m sure you would tough it through. You’re full of wonders, after all.”

“I wouldn’t call them wonders,” Erin muttered to herself.

“So, what happened?” Aedan finally asked.

Erin was expecting this question. She shrugged. “I got dragged into some kind of subspace by my patron goddess. What happened to my body then?”

“You just fainted all of a sudden. I thought you were exhausted but as you slept, I witnessed some strange changes to your Mana flow. And I knew right then, you weren’t simply sleeping due to exhaustion. But thank the stars, you’re fine.”

“Were you worried?” Erin asked, eyeing him with a smirking gaze. Her tails were wagging in anticipation of Aedan’s answer.

“I was worried. Things would be hell if you had died. How am I going to explain this to your kin?”

That wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. For some reason, it annoyed her. “I’m not talking about others, Aedan. I’m talking about you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.” She pointed at him. “Putting others aside, putting consequences aside, what do you personally think? Were you worried, hmm?”

Aedan stared. He didn’t think he misunderstood her question but it was an unexpected question. “I was worried,” he answered, truthfully. “Not many people could put up with me. And those that could, usually don’t last long. Every acquaintance I had was just so transient.”

A warmth began to spread within her. She didn't remember being this happy over someone's worry of her. She received plenty of others' worry when she was still Argon Raze. Too many, in fact. She had always hated people’s overbearing worries towards her but somehow, it felt good this time. She realized it wasn’t people’s overbearing nature that she hated. It was their insincerity. She despised those empty worries of theirs that often came out of their mouth for the sake of formality.

“So… what did your patron goddess want?”

Erin recounted her short tale but she made it brief even though it was already a short recount.

“That’s your request? And she allowed it?”

“With some compromise.”

“And those compromises being?”

Erin smiled and winked. “Secret.”

Aedan recoiled.

“What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly jump?”

Aedan expelled a breath. “Because you looked extremely alluring for a second there. If I didn’t know you, I would say you were tempting me.”

“But I wasn’t?” Erin replied with a befuddled look. “So even you can get tempted, huh.”

“I am in retirement, not celibacy. I have desires too, you know. Just don’t do that to strangers or acquaintances that you aren’t particularly close with. I’m sure they will get the wrong idea.”

Erin snorted. “You sound dead certain about it.”

“Because I got the wrong idea.”

Erin looked away. “I-I see...”

“Well you look amused,” Aedan said.

Erin frowned. “I look amused?”

“You were smiling.” 

Erin touched her face and felt the curve in her lips.

“In fact, you began smiling when I said I was worried. Were you that delighted?”

“That’s just your fantasy.”

“Yeah, sure it is,” Aedan retorted with a shrug.

“A-anyways, let’s finish up our business here and go.” Erin stood up and began walking in a certain direction. After walking a little distance, she stopped, turned around, and retraced her steps to collect her sword before returning to her path.

“Mist Pearls is the other way.”

Erin huffed and made a turn in her path.

“That wall over there.” Aedan pointed towards a corner.

Erin placed her hand in front of the wall. A breeze blew by her fingers. She then gently gave the wall a few taps. A hollow sound returned. “There’s a large room behind this wall. How do we get through? Break it down?”

“That would be unwise,” Aedan remarked. “Unless getting caved in is your wish.”

“Then what do you suggest? Or are you just going to keep sitting on the ground and watch?”

Aedan chuckled and pushed himself off the ground. As he made his way to the wall, he inspected the back of his left palm. The symbol was still pulsating with a vibrant glow. “My magic is still out of the question,” he thought to himself.

“Magic scrolls?” Erin suggested.

“If you have a million gold at the ready, then yes,” Aedan retorted. “This looks like a secret room. A secret room tends to have a secret door and lock.”

“I know that but I don’t see nor sense anything that could resemble a lever or lock.”

“Our dearly departed friend was a spell caster. It only makes sense if the lock is also some kind of spell.”

“I don’t see anything, even with my Spirit Sight.”

Aedan activated his own Spirit Sight and scoured the room. After a few scans, his gaze landed on a certain part of the wall. “Found it, I think.”

“Where?”

“That part right there. See how that particular part is devoid of miasma?”

“Looks like something is repelling the miasma.”

Aedan put his palm on that particular part of the wall. He poured only a little of his Mana and like a lit fuse, a glow traced a wavy path until it reached a certain point. The wall shook and began to move.

“That was easy,” Aedan said.

“Are you sure you should be using Mana?”

“If it’s only a little, it’s no problem.”

A slit appeared on the wall. The wall shook again before opening up like a double door. Dust and dirt were shaken off the wall and a gust of wind blew from within.

“Why would he hide something as insignificant as Mist Pearls in a secret room?”

“That is if you’re assuming he was trying to hide the Mist Pearls. Maybe he was hiding something else and the Mist Pearls just so happen to be in the mix.”

The two walked into the room devoid of any light but darkness was never an issue for the two. Although, the darkness didn’t linger long as they noticed a glow looming in the farside of the secret room.

“No way...” Aedan gasped.

“What is that?” Erin asked. She saw something but it was still too far away for her to make out its shape.

Aedan said nothing and kept walking towards the glow.

Erin followed behind. She wanted to ask but seeing his solemn face, she decided to trail behind him without a sound. Along the path, Erin noticed grasses were growing all over the place. It was even growing on the walls. Appraisal told her these were called Nightspring Grasses. They possess soothing properties to the heart but huge doses could potentially cause the heart to cease beating. Erin swallowed a lump at that discovery. She unconsciously cupped her nose and mouth with her palm. 

The faint scent of blueberry and mint began to grow stronger and stronger the closer the two got to the glow. Soon, the two were close enough for their eyes to recognize the shape and size the glow was originating from.

“What the fuck is that!?” Erin asked. The discovery was so shocking that she didn’t notice her own voice cracking.

In front of them, across a small lake, lay a giant skeleton of a corpse. No matter how she looked at the corpse, there was no way she could see it as anything other than a skeleton corpse of a Dragon. Purple flowers with huge buds were growing all over the corpse with their vines entangling all over the skeleton. She could perceive a constant stream of some manner of dark aura emanating from the skeleton corpse.

“That is the source of The Singularity’s peculiarity.”

“Yeah, I figured as much but I meant, what the hell is that thing?”

“That, my dear, is the skeleton corpse of a Dragon. An Ancient Dragon at that.”

“Ancient Dragon?”

“I guess you can say they are a tier below True Dragons.”

Erin couldn't help but notice the sorrow in Aedan’s tone. “This Dragon… I’m sensing you two were close?”

“Aye, we’re close,” Aedan said with a nod. “One of the few that I considered a true friend.”

Erin was silent. She only stared.

“Erin, meet Izayl, the Abyss Dragon.”