{Rejoice, Heretic. You have slain the Wretched Maiden of Despair}.
{Seals of Sin: 21/1000}.
***
Nero collapsed to the ground and retched heavily.
A thick, disgusting glob of something was spat from the depths of his stomach.
Already twisting into knots, that was the only thing that provided his bowels some relief.
The feeling of the hard stone on his painful skin made him feel both relief and anguish.
He couldn't stop the frail curse from rising off his lips as he let out a groan.
He tried to open his eyes, but even after that, he realized all he could see, was black.
He truly was blind.
With trembling hands, he slowly felt up all around him.
Finding the pile of bunched up clothes, he dug through them for some time before finding what he was looking for.
The feeling of the smooth glass on his palm brought him relief.
He quickly uncorked the small vial, froze for a moment, then brought it up to his nose.
Once he had confirmed he wasn't about to condemn his own soul, he tilted his head back and downed all of the contents of the vial greedily.
A soft heat flowed through his body, filling up his pores. The heat swam all the way up to his eyes.
Stifling a groan, he could feel the flesh and nerves in his damaged sockets begin to slowly reconstruct themselves.
A few minutes later, he opened his eyes again.
This time, he could see rather clearly.
Most of the pain in his body was gone too.
However, he could still feel a dull ache coming from his back, as well as several other parts of his body.
But he was simply too exhausted to care.
He was tired.
Very tired.
After surviving such a horrid ordeal, he couldn't think of anything but sleep. However, the very thought of falling asleep horrified him too.
What if another terrible Evil Spirit sought to lay claim to his soul whilst he slumbered? Would he be able to survive two of such terrible encounters back to back?
Of course not.
He knew his limits quite intimately, after all.
Still, coupled with the relief from avoiding death once again, plus the effect of nature's remedy...
He was unable to stop his eyelids from drooping before closing.
He felt asleep.
Whilst he slumbered, Nero was unaware of the changes occuring within and upon his body.
Morning came faster than he had expected.
He rolled onto his back and stared at the roof of the cave.
'I might be sick.'
He trembled and rolled to his side, dry heaving for a few minutes before weakly rolling back to his back.
He stayed that way for about an hour.
Then, with a pained groan, he reached out and grabbed at his pile of clothes that were now in complete disarray.
He groaned weakly as he picked up another vial. Uncorking it, he put it to his nose. After confirming it wasn't a vial filled with the toxic sap, he placed it to his lips and drank weakly.
Despite having consumed one bottle of Divine Elixir the night before, he still felt absolutely terrible.
'Could it be that I need to up the dosage from now on, or were the injuries I sustained simply too much?'
He sighed weakly.
After taking the Divine Elixir, he stayed motionless again for a few hours. But he was not getting any better.
If anything, he felt even worse as time went on..
His body shivering, he decided to finally ask the Oracle,
"W-what's happening to me?" he asked out loud, his voice trembling.
{Rejoice, Heretic. You have acquired the Sin, Curse of Corruption, and the skill, Black Body Transformation}.
Nero's brows trembled,
"Curses... That doesn't sound good at all."
***
Name: Nero.
True Name: Armageddon, Angel of Judgement.
Seal Rank: F
Seal(s): Seal of Divinity (locked).
Relics: Silver Blade, Wandering Spirit's Journal.
Skills: Heretic Eye, Black Body Transformation.
Description: Town Guard.
Sins: Heretic, Witness, Curse of Corruption.
{Heretic}: You are one who truly does not believe. Thus, you have been deemed a Heretic by the heavens and have acquired the Curse of the Divine Will.
{Witness}: The Heart of a Heretic is the One true witness, for it is the only thing not bound by belief. The Witness cannot be easily afflicted by knowledge and madness.
{Curse of Corruption}: The Heretic has been corrupted with madness.
Seals of Sin: (21/1000).
***
He was silent.
Mentally willing a new set of runes forward, his gaze drifted as he scanned through the words;
***
{Heretic Eye}: Eyes that do not believe see all and nothing. Blessed, cursed eyes. They see truth, but are forever clouded. They see knowledge, but are forever prone to madness.
{Black Body Transformation}: The body of the Heretic has begun its transformation. To upgrade the Black Body to its next form, the Heretic will need to devour the flesh of Abominations.
***
Nero lay there. Absolutely still for a few minutes.
"What the hell does this mean?"
Shock wasn't the word for it. He was stupefied. Yes! That was the word!
He was absolutely stupefied! Flabbergasted too.
The Oracle seemed to know what he was referring to, as its reply was immediate;
{The nature of the Seals of Sin, is to lead all creatures of the Earth, with every step, towards damnation. The brands granted by the Church tends to solidify the Sins, granting humans clear pathways to power, at the expense of their humanity and souls. However, he who has been blessed with the Seal of Divinity is a bit unique}.
{The Seal of Divinity absorbs the cursed Seals into the Heretic's body. The body of the Heretic adjusts and sacrifices as it gathers more Seals of Sin. The skills are the natural effect of this phenomenon}.
Nero frowned,
"So you are saying..."
{The Heretic's current discomfort is as a result of said skill, the Black Body Transformation— A skill that was created as the Heretic's body's response to all the Seals he had absorbed}.
Nero eyes widened as he sat up.
The reality of what he had just heard dawned on him.
He began to scramble around erratically,
"Mirror... Mirror!"
Eventually, he picked up the Silver Blade which had been laying right by his side.
He brought it up.
The next moment, he threw it to the ground, an expression of twisted horror on his face.
A face that didn't look like it belonged to him anymore.