A pale, desolate space.
At the top of the space, a massive black clock ticked away.
As the clock's hands emitted faint sounds, the aura of sin began to spread relentlessly.
Amid the intertwining black-and-white lines, seven pale chairs surrounding a black round table gradually formed humanoid figures outlined in dark strokes.
Before Enigma could speak, a cold female voice rang out:
"So this is the Sin Council, the core meeting of the Hell Sect's sin members?"
Hearing the voice, Enigma turned to look at the seat that had originally belonged to Gluttony.
After Hao Asakura ascended to Demigod and withdrew from the Sin Council, that seat should have been empty.
Yet now, there sat a woman with indistinct features—short, neat hair, an unusually long prayer bead necklace around her neck, and a notably flat figure.
Just then, Sebastian, the embodiment of Pride, spoke first as usual:
"Welcome, everyone, to the Sin Council."
"I am the host of this meeting. You may address me as Lord Pride."
As he spoke, Sebastian smiled at the animated humanoid figures:
"As Lady Lust and Lady Greed have likely noticed,"
"Gluttony's seat has recently undergone a transfer. The person to my right is the new Lady Gluttony."
"I heard there's information about Classes for sale here. So, which one of you is the information dealer? Step forward quickly and don't waste my time."
Faced with the newcomer's attitude, Enigma didn't speak immediately, choosing instead to observe quietly.
Meanwhile, Lust beside her seemed curious about the new Lady Gluttony and kindly explained:
"Information regarding Classes is highly valuable. Typically, it's measured in units of Spiritual Essence."
"By the way, do you know what Spiritual Essence is?"
"No." Lady Gluttony's tone was icy. "Is it some internal currency of your Hell Sect?"
"More accurately, it's a currency used exclusively by beings at the Demigod level and above."
Lust seemed unusually eager to educate today and continued:
"Generally, Spiritual Essence can be slowly absorbed from the world by Demigod-level beings to gradually enhance their Spiritual Power, making it easier to grasp conceptual powers."
"Of course, aside from this, it can also be obtained through faith."
"Under normal circumstances, one million believers conducting weekly prayers can generate one unit of Spiritual Essence."
"Beyond that, there are no other known acquisition methods."
Upon hearing Lust speak, Sebastian lightly tapped the table with a gloved index finger.
Tap tap.
All present—Lust, Gluttony, and Enigma—turned their gazes towards him in unison.
It was then that Sebastian smiled and said:
"There's another relatively accessible method to obtain Spiritual Essence."
"That is, by extracting the souls of a thousand Common Rank sorcerers, or ten thousand ordinary humans, and refining their Spiritual Power."
Hearing this, both Enigma and the newly arrived Gluttony paled visibly.
Soul extraction!
Those two words instantly darkened their expressions—clearly, such a currency was unacceptable to them.
At that moment, Lust interjected in her gentle voice:
"Mr Pride's description contains a slight inaccuracy."
"While Spiritual Essence can indeed be extracted from human souls, only a Demigod proficient in soul manipulation could achieve such a feat."
"Additionally, someone like Mr Hao Asakura's Spirit of Fire could, due to its unique nature, burn souls to obtain Spiritual Essence."
"But beings with such abilities are exceedingly rare, making this approach nearly impossible to replicate."
With effortless ease, Lust dismissed Sebastian's proposed madness before redirecting the conversation:
"Therefore, under these circumstances, I recommend relying on gathering believers to obtain Spiritual Essence."
"Incidentally, when the believers are sorcerers, the higher their rank, the stronger the faith they provide—and the more Spiritual Essence that can be extracted."
"And 'faith' here is merely a convenient umbrella term."
"In reality, admiration, gratitude, even jealousy or hatred—once processed—can all yield Spiritual Essence."
"Let me offer an example."
"Suppose you, as an educator, teach over a thousand Common Rank sorcerers a technique you developed."
"If those sorcerers study and apply it, and your teachings influence them in some way, then with proper processing, you could obtain one or two Spiritual Essences within a year."
"This is the most stable and feasible method."
Hearing this, Lady Gluttony's eyes flickered with suspicion before she remarked:
"By your logic... Japan's Onmyou Agency seems to operate similarly..."
When Gluttony mentioned the Onmyou Agency, Lust paused briefly before explaining:
"Mr Hao actually raised this proposal during a previous meeting."
"However, you weren't present then, Lady Gluttony—nor had Lady Greed even joined us yet."
"Though Lady Jealousy was there... Hm? Wait, where is Lady Jealousy?"
Only then did Lust notice the absence of Jealousy, who usually attended without fail.
Meanwhile, Enigma observed this and confirmed one thing:
Lady Lust's intelligence network clearly wasn't very efficient, given she remained unaware of the incident in Akihabara.
A lone Demigod?
Just as this realisation struck Enigma, Sebastian—seated at the head of the table—smiled faintly and said: "The matter concerning Lady Jealousy will be the first item on our meeting agenda today."
"According to the intelligence we've received, Lady Jealousy likely perished during last night's demon summoning ritual in Akihabara."
"Regarding this matter, as the only person with knowledge of the situation..."
Sebastian tilted his head slightly, his smile not reaching his icy eyes as he asked:
"Lady Greed, don't you think you owe us an explanation?"
Instantly, both Lust and Gluttony turned their gazes towards the accused.
At the centre of their attention, Enigma merely curled her lips into a smile before declaring:
"Yes, you've guessed correctly."
"I was the one who betrayed Jealousy!"