A dimly lit temple.
The crimson sky exuded a bloody glow as crows cawed raucously on tree branches, occasionally flapping their wings to spread the aura of death into the distance.
Within the temple at this moment, the enshrined Fudō Myō-ō deity statue glared with wide-open eyes and a wrathful gaping mouth, gazing into the far distance.
Enigma, her lips painted with alluring purple gloss, appeared before the statue and let out a soft chuckle:
"A temporary meeting? How... unusual."
She laughed lightly and placed her hand on the statue's right hand.
Instantly, the scenery before her eyes vanished, replaced by a pale, desolate space.
Within this space, seven pallid chairs encircled a black round table standing silently at the centre.
Above them, an enormous black clock ticked with a steady rhythm.
As the clock's hands moved with faint clicks, the aura of sin began to permeate the air.
Black and white lines spread continuously, eventually forming humanoid silhouettes of black lines upon the seven pale chairs.
When Enigma's consciousness arrived, one of the black figures on a chair suddenly opened its crimson eyes.
Enigma glanced around at the other black figures with their eyes tightly shut and couldn't help but laugh:
"It seems we're still missing some people."
As her words faded, an elegant male voice spoke:
"Good evening, Lady Greed."
Hearing this, Enigma turned her gaze towards the central seat, meeting a pair of dark red eyes that seemed perpetually amused.
After a moment, she chuckled and said:
"Good evening, Lord Pride."
"You seem quite satisfied with your little game of make-believe with that young earl."
The one called Pride didn't respond, merely offering a smile in return.
Just then, a female voice interjected:
"Honestly, I can't believe you all have the leisure for idle chatter here."
A pair of hollow, pitch-black eyes opened on one of the figures, speaking with sarcasm.
"Good evening, Lady Jealousy," Lord Pride greeted in that same elegant tone.
To this, Lady Jealousy merely snorted coldly:
"Spare me your pretentious manners, Sebastian. I don't share that earl brat's enthusiasm for your childish games."
Even when his true name was revealed, Lord Pride—Sebastian—remained perfectly composed:
"If Lady Jealousy insists, then I shall prepare to commence the agenda for this temporary meeting."
As he spoke, he surveyed their surroundings before continuing smoothly:
"Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath are absent. Lust, Greed, Jealousy and Pride are present."
"With more than half the council assembled, this Sin Council is hereby convened!"
Only when Pride said this did Enigma notice someone had quietly taken their seat.
She glanced towards the furthest corner and immediately met a pair of innocent, pure violet eyes.
Innocence? Pure?
These were hardly words one would associate with members of the Hell Sect's Sin Council.
'Lust, then... This one seems dangerous...' Enigma thought to herself.
As the newest member of the Sin Council, having only risen to her position by killing the previous Lady Greed, she knew little about her fellow sinners.
She only knew that Pride, Sebastian, appeared to be the butler of some young English earl, while Jealousy seemed to be a Great Yokai from Japan.
Aside from this, the identities of other Sin Council members remained largely unknown. There were only vague rumours that Hao Asakura might be one of them, but the specifics were unclear to her.
Just as Enigma was pondering this, Pride said with a smile:
"Based on current intelligence, let me outline the two agenda items for this Sin Council meeting."
"One is the vacancy in the Gluttony position, requiring new personnel selection. The other concerns the incident during the Flame Demon summoning ritual."
Hearing this, Enigma giggled:
"Gluttony's vacancy? Were they killed?"
Members of the Sin Council rarely changed, but whenever they did, it was either because someone was killed or overthrown by subordinates from the Hell Sect.
Thus, upon hearing about Gluttony's vacancy, Enigma instinctively associated it with her own actions, assuming Gluttony had been killed in the same manner as she'd slain the previous Greed.
In response, Jealousy let out a cold laugh. Before Enigma could express confusion, Pride smiled and explained:
"The previous Lord Gluttony was promoted to the rank of Baron and resigned, becoming a supervisory committee member for the Sin Council. Therefore, the Gluttony position became vacant and requires a new selection."
"Baron... promotion?" The smile instantly vanished from Enigma's face, replaced by a look of shock and uncertainty.
At that moment, Lady Lust, who had remained silent until now, asked with innocent curiosity:
"Eh? Can we get promoted too?"
Pride then said in an elegant tone:
"After passing the trials and receiving permission from the Grand Dukes, we too can receive Hell's favour and obtain corresponding noble titles."
"The former Lord Gluttony passed the assessment and successfully obtained the title of Baron."
"Incidentally, I've heard that individual might not be far from receiving the bestowal of a count's title."
Upon hearing this, Lady Lust suddenly understood: "I see... as expected of Mr Hao..."
Enigma's pupils contracted, then she smiled and asked:
"Mr Pride, are there any strict requirements for obtaining a noble title?"
After some thought, Pride smiled and explained:
"Using modern terminology, one must advance to Demigod status to possess the basic qualifications for being bestowed the title of Baron. Simultaneously, one would also gain their own territory in hell."
Enigma fell silent upon hearing this.
Demigod?
Who knew how to advance to that? Aside from that thousand-year-old monster Hao Asakura and the rumoured Demigod in the SDS, she'd never heard of a third Demigod's existence.
Even this much she only knew because Hao Asakura had deliberately spread news of his Demigod ascension through her channels. Otherwise, she wouldn't know how many Demigods existed in the world.
Thinking about Hao Asakura intentionally leaking information... Enigma suddenly realised something.
Was spreading the news meant to facilitate his Baron promotion? What exactly was that old monster plotting?
"So that's how it is," Lady Lust murmured. "All we need is to advance to Demigod status?"
Hearing this, Mr Pride said with amusement: "Would Lady Lust like to try?"
"With your capabilities, passing the Grand Dukes' trials shouldn't be difficult."
At these words, the gazes of both Enigma and Jealousy immediately focused on Lust.
So this means... this woman who looks particularly simple-minded... is a Demigod?
Excluding the recently ascended Hao Asakura, among the seven members of the Sin Council, there's actually another Demigod hidden?
Enigma immediately became alert. She didn't know what kind of monsters might be hiding among the remaining four members, but judging from their reactions just now, Jealousy was probably at the same level as her - not yet reaching Demigod status?
Then what about the remaining Wrath, Sloth, and the always unfathomable Pride? What level might they be at?
Enigma buried these questions deep in her heart, not dwelling on them further.
Because after Lady Lust remained silent and unresponsive, Pride turned to her and asked:
"The vessels prepared for the Flame Demon summoning Ritual were destroyed."
"Nearly all the demons we prepared were captured by the SDS Hidden Management Department tonight."
"Lady Greed, Lady Jealousy, it seems the tasks assigned to you two... went wrong?"
Speaking up to this point, Pride continued in a languid tone:
"The Grand Dukes... seem rather displeased."