Even though Yamato wanted to finish all his work at once, it was just not possible to finish in one day. So he might as well go to bed, seeing as it was already dark outside. Yamato currently occupied a room which he assumed was a guest room, of which there were more than enough in the castle. As he entered, he found the furniture already moved and the bed replaced by a ridiculously large one. If he had to guess, it was about four meters wide. In the middle of which, sat Yuki expectantly, wearing her nightgown already.
"Welcome home~"
"What is all this… Who needs a bed that big?"
"I do! It's fun and bouncy. Look, I can lay flat and roll to the side for so many rotations!"
Demonstrating her praise worthy accomplishment, she rolled from one side to the other in one go. It was very fun.
"That's great, Yuki… Can you give me the book I asked you to keep?"
"Only if you do it once too!"
"…Really?"
"Yes! Preferably together with me, while we hug!"
"…Okay. Once from one side to the other?"
"And back!"
"And back…"
Though childish and hindering him from what he actually wanted to do, Yamato admitted it was fun. As Yuki gave him the book, she also already hooked into him to the point of no return. Feeling very sleepy and satisfied with how today had turned out, she enjoyed the mkment. Yamato on the other hand read the book, looking through the pages but focusing on Yuki's entrances specifically.
"I think this book displays information about the title and corresponding abilities of people close to it… Earlier, there was an entry about Marneras and Petrisha, but now it's gone, whereas our entrances remain."
"Ooh, what does mine say~?"
"Yours is long and a pain to skip through…"
"Want me to summarize all the abilities that I know of~?"
"That's gonna take days, I think."
"I could do it in a couple of hours maybe. What did it say about you?"
"Apparently, I'm the Sin Incarnation of Pride now. Whatever that means. Might be linked to the prophecy, might be something else. It is what was responsible for the ability I explained earlier though."
"Never heard of anything like that. Sounds important though. As expected of you~"
As Yamato skipped through the pages, he finally found what he was looking for.
"Says you… Look what title you have. Sin Incarnation of Envy. I was about to complain… How come I get called incarnation of sin and you don't…"
"Really? I get to be envy? Wow. That doesn't fit at all. I'm like, the complete opposite of envious. By the way, let's be together as just the two of tomorrow all day long please…"
Yuki nuzzled into him and pushed the book aside from behind her head, which was where Yamato had to hold it to read. As she kicked the book away onto an unreachable place, so it would not distract them anymore, she prompted Yamato to cuddle her back.
"Besides… I obviously already knew that the moment I received the title… If you didn't, I can only assume it's because your more of an foreign object to this world than I am… Or something like that. Or maybe that pride effect thingy prevented it too. I dunno… Good night…"
"I see… I'll look into it once I find the time. Good night…"
Some time in the middle of the night, Yamato woke up, not next to Yuki, or even in the room he fell asleep in. He stood in the middle of empty space. As he looked around, he could not find Yuki anywhere. At the blink of an eye, he suddenly found himself on solid ground, which seemed to be stone but he had different things to focus on. Such as the six silhouettes of people which together with him stood in a circle. As they looked around similarly to Yamato, he assumed they were just as confused, and that he appeared as an silhouette to them as well, because otherwise attention would most likely be focused on him. To his right, he could identify Yuki based on her body, and the fact that she seemed to have recognized him as well, as she only stared at him and only him. However Yamato could not identify anyone else, making him believe they did not know each other. He also realized he could not move. Which explained why Yuki seemed annoyed, even though he could not see her face. Which seemed to go for everyone else too, as they all had the same amount of space between them, which he found odd as it felt like they were ordered.
A figure of light appeared above them, shining brightly with the dark background. With the voice of a young boy, it spoke.
"Welcome, my Champions… I am the reason you are here. Please, call me M. I'm so glad I was able to find you all, finally, and bring you together, although be it in this spiritual way. I hat been wondering, how long it would take for the last one to awaken. Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Envy and Pride… That is who you are! But make no mistake, there is no shame in being called that. It is your birthright, one might say! You are destined for greatness, to rise and evolve, beyond your wildest dreams! All I ask in return for guidance on your path, is that you let me bear witness to what you shall do to this world and the people in it! Be who you are, do what you do… If you ever need anything from me, feel free to call for my help. My door is always open for troubled souls. Farewell, my Champions~"
Like a dream, it all withered away, leaving nothing but darkness in sight. As Yamato opened his eyes, it was still dark, though he could see just enough to see Yuki's eyes, who had just opened as well. As he found them still intertwined, their mutual stare only confirming that what had just occurred was in fact not a dream.
"Master…"
"I know… Emergency meeting…"
"Then I will begin right away with my assessment… The entity calling itself M is not to be trusted, and should be terminated along with the other people that are to be assumed of holding titles comparable to ours."
"Hm… Let me think for a moment…"
"Of course…"
As Yuki grabbed his head and pressed it against her chest, she could not help but feel as though caution was needed in such a situation. After all, how would there ever be a wedding with such an never ending demand for his attention, was her only primary concern. Yamato, strangely soothed by her action driftied into deep thought.
"Being M, unknown entity that claims knowledge about me and Yuki, as well as the other five people that were present. I don't think he holds any influence over us, or else his sense of theatrical entertainment would make little sense, seeing as the only way a show is enjoyable is if it is out of your own control… Or so the theory. Of course there can be pleasurable experience in fabrication, but for any kind of godly entity, as M tries to appear to us, that line of thought doesn't make much sense. No matter the intention, he remains a threat and as Yuki said is to be terminated as quickly as possible… But how to go about that? I won't come up with anything now, but I should look into it as soon as possible… Regarding the other sins, is it really my best course of action to eliminate them? I should make individual assessments of each, if possible before I decide that."
"Master, I have a proposal…"
"I'm all ears."
"Well, I of course only wish the best for you, who I deem above all life and laws…"
"Okay…?"
"So I would only find it natural if you, say, hunted them down one by one, or better yet, allowed me to hunt them down in your name… It would be my greatest pleasure to rid the world of anyone who claims to be your equal, as I love you more than anything."
"Thank you… But I must refuse."
"But why…"
"It's because I need you here with me, of course… Of course, I could make up an official excuse for your temporary departure, but honestly… I don't want to. For it is not that I need you to work with me, but that I need you to be with me."
"Ah… Master… You even matched my formal tone… I love you… Fine… If it's your wish, of course I will stay. Forgive me for not realizing sooner. I too would have suffered being apart from you for any amount of time…"
"I'm glad we understand each other then…"
"Yes… Yes, we do. I alone understand your every wish, your every desire… So please, depend on me more…"
As they were not quite ready to go back to sleep just yet, overwhelmed by what continued become a mutual need for the other.
A familiar presence only now took their last breath, trapped in a place in which time lost all meaning. As Mateo was devoured by Iky, he regenerated after being ripped apart by Iky's many semi rotating teeth, with without a doubt was the most physically painful thing he ever experienced.
As he opened his eyes, he was in no stomach, or afterlife. At least it did not look like it. Mateo forced himself onto his feet, at which his whole body felt like it had been cut into a thousand pieces. Which of course, was quite literally what happened. However, the pain miraculously disappeared, and he began walking through what appeared to be a maze, laced with traps, as he realized after being crushed by a wall which suddenly rammed into him, before pulling back into its original position without any trigger. After regenerating from the pile of broken bones, he continued through this strange, dark place, in which he could hardly see his own feet as he looked at the ground. As he found out eight painful crushes later, not only the wall, but the ground and ceiling would ramm into him without warning as well. Though that seemed to be the only kind of trap, it was bad enough. Going further through the seemingly endless pathways, trying to stay on as straight a line as possible, he finally reached something where he could see light coming from. After what felt like an eternity in the maze, failing to stay at a straight line as he lost orientation each time he was crushed, which by now had been much over a thousand times, that light looked promising to be the end of it, which it was, in a way. In front of Mateo was a seemingly bottomless pit, with a diameter of multiple kilometers. And what spread across, was a web that held countless bodies above the pit. Above the center, hanging from the ceiling, was an orb of light, suspended in the air by nothing but a string. Mateo pulled a book out of his robe, which along with the artifact in his hand had survived all the crushing walls. As he opened the book, the large purple gem in the center of the cover reflecting the beautiful light from the ceiling, nothing happened.
"Nothing… Why? Not even a Unicum will work in this wretched place…"
As he was about to put it away again, he glanced directly at the light, which for some reason, attracted him so much that he just let his arms hang completely limp, walking towards the pit. Eventually stepping over the edge, and landing on the web, the book slipped out of his hand and dropped into the abyss. But Mateo did not react, nor did he realize. What caught his attention was the light, which shined so bright, now that he looked at it. Dragging across the string of web, he managed to climb closer, at the cost of robe and skin ripping off and sticking to the web. The closer he got to the center, the harder it was to rip free of the web again. As he crawled for hours, or even days, he managed to reach the point directly beneath the light. Looking right at it, with his back stuck to the web in a position from which he just lacked the strength to break free off, even at the cost of his body. In this final position, he looked at the light, feeling a sense of ease, being so close to it.
At which it turned off. Leaving Mateo suspended in the center of the web above the pit, with no way of moving. As the light turned off, he came back to his senses, screaming and trying to free himself to no avail. All he managed to do was get the orb off his hand, thanks to how sticky the web was. He needed the hand to free himself as his other one was too stuck to move, which left him with no choice. As he did manage to free himself with his now free hand, he again lost a lot of skin. However, it did not regenerate. Of course, the orb was no longer giving him that power. As he tried to reach back for it, he could not find it. It was too dark, without the light, and he had not many tries left, with his injuries growing. He searched and searched, but never found the orb, as he did not dare to search with anything other than his eyes. Eventually starving in the web, the orb being only an inch away from his last attempt at grabbing somewhere at random.