Chapter 75: Lust
“Gaa!”
This time, Lakdevo truly let out a rather aggrieved cry.
It kept feeling as though there was some sort of barrier between its master and itself, and for a subordinate, that wasn’t a good sign at all.
Especially now, when its situation was far from favorable—one could even say it was quite dire.
It knew that the River Council would never let it go.
It also knew that, having permanently lost a portion of its body, it would never again become a proper Apostle, even if it consumed enough divinity.
It could feel the divinity within its body slowly ebbing away, though the rate was quite slow.
This was also the reason why it hadn’t fully devoured the divinity inside that Right Eye of the Gloomy Moon—
It had discovered that no amount of divinity could mend the cracks within itself.
It had already fallen into despair, already prepared to calmly face eternal slumber. But then, it remembered—it had pledged allegiance to a "master" worthy of being called a "great existence."
Even if the current state of that master seemed a bit off, it was still a glimmer of hope.
As for praying to the other True Gods for aid—it didn’t believe that would succeed.
There were many reasons for that, including but not limited to certain “divine accidents.”
While this fat crow was getting lost in its own thoughts, Sylvia’s gaze gradually turned a bit strange as she looked at it.
What’s with this guy?
Cracked under pressure?
No, wait, what kind of pressure would it even have?
Seeing that it wasn’t making any further moves, Sylvia withdrew her gaze and began today’s “work”—
Weaving a version of the “original sin” compatible with the third stage.
And the compatibility issue between swordmasters and the original sin had already resolved itself the moment she discovered and grasped the “Original Sin.”
Now, the Seven Deadly Sins could be completely treated like universal plugins—ready to be used and swapped at will.
At this moment, she sliced her own spirituality and elevated it into the Spiritual Realm, beginning to use pure rank convergence to sort through the chaotic and disorderly extraordinary power.
...
January 8th, 10 p.m.
Sylvia, seated in her office, slowly straightened her posture, giving her soul—exhausted from frequent spiritual overexertion—a moment to relax.
Though tiring, it wasn’t without its benefits. Sylvia noticed that her rate of spiritual recovery seemed slightly faster than before.
And under the long-term pressure of overtime, this was how Sylvia found a bit of solace amid the suffering.
Of course, beyond that, the extraordinary path she was weaving had also achieved some success.
Unlike the brute-force simplicity of Pride, this time she had chosen “Lust” as Adela’s original sin.
In fact, she had hesitated for quite a while—feeling that “Envy” might also suit the fallen noble.
But taking into account Adela’s current path as a puppeteer, and after a brief discussion, she ultimately settled on “Lust.”
After all, the core of this Authority lay in “the miracle of life’s structure.”
Once a puppeteer officially stepped into the third stage, the domain they dealt with also began to intersect with the field of life transmutation.
However, Sylvia had always been curious as to why the Tuya family was able to retain a complete extraordinary chain.
Regarding this matter, Adela explained that the puppeteer path’s complete chain did not originate from the Tuya family, but rather from her grandmother.
The exact reason remained unknown, as her grandmother had passed away a long time ago, leaving behind very few useful clues.
As for the handling of the Authority of Lust, this time Sylvia adopted a method completely different from that of Pride.
For the sin of Lust, the weaving technique she employed followed a step-by-step progression—
In the first stage, those who walked this path possessed bodily control capabilities that were no less than, or even superior to, those of a warrior. This ability applied not only to themselves but also to others.
A Sinner wielding the original sin of Lust could, through simple contact and observation, come to understand the structure of another’s body.
At the same time, their appearance and charm would receive an extremely exaggerated enhancement.
Upon transforming into the second stage, Lust granted its Sinners a singular ability—domination.
This included domination over the body and domination over the soul.
By using mysticism to forge intangible threads, they could perfectly control living beings or corpses into motion—this was bodily domination.
By further enhancing their charm to toy with the thoughts of living beings—this was spiritual domination.
However, this portion of the ability did somewhat overlap with that of a puppeteer, though it couldn’t be considered useless.
Because the puppeteer’s control threads, when used on entities other than their own puppets, could only serve to restrict—unlike Lust, which dominated without reason or limit.
Hmm, to put it in her hometown’s words, it was the “ProMax version.”
Upon completing the third metamorphosis, Lust would truly grasp the real mysteries of life.
Abilities in forbidden domains such as human transmutation, soul fabrication, and hybrid breeding would all be within the grasp of a Sinner who wielded Lust.
And after obtaining divinity and advancing to an Apostle, the Sinner of Lust would gain access to the true “miracle of life.”
Reviving oneself, reanimating others—these all fell within the authority of this path’s Apostle.
At this thought, Sylvia paused in contemplation.
“Hmm...”
“I think I may have made this path a bit too complicated.”
“Gaa!”
“Indeed.”
Lakdevo nodded, then spoke in a flattering tone:
“But this also serves to highlight your wisdom and vast knowledge.”
“I believe the Sinner path could absolutely be divided into seven separate paths!”
To this, Sylvia gave a slight nod but didn’t continue the conversation.
Just then, the gray-haired puppet tilted its head slightly, as if listening to something.
And Lakdevo’s head also lifted in an instant, its gaze seemingly piercing through the walls to look outside.
In response, Sylvia stood up and walked leisurely to the door, pushing it open.
What greeted her eyes was a noisy and chaotic scene.
The once spacious corridor was now packed with knights and priests, yet they were all carefully making way, forming a clear path.
At the same time, a knight who looked somewhat familiar to Sylvia was shouting:
“Priest! Pure-White Priest!”
This was one of the four extraordinary paths held by the Church of Radiance. Compared to the Purist path, the divine light they wielded aligned more closely with the concept of holy light as understood by the masses.
“What’s going on?”
While asking a nearby knight, she turned her gaze toward the underground entrance.
Hearing someone speak, the knight beside her quickly turned his head.
And upon recognizing who had asked the question, he immediately straightened up and struck his left chest with his right fist:
“Your Grace, one of our comrades is injured!”
“Injured?”
Sylvia frowned slightly, catching a whiff of blood drifting in from the distance through the air.
“Yes, injured in a battle with a border demon—and it’s serious.”
As he said this, it was as if he suddenly recalled something. His worried expression transformed into one of excitement, and he couldn’t help but say, brimming with emotion:
“I was being foolish earlier—now that you’re here, he’ll definitely be fine!”
Hearing that, Sylvia simply smiled without replying.
At that moment, a figure strode down from the entrance. It was Loruze, whose white clerical robe was stained with blood.
Behind him were two tall Radiant Knights, both carrying an injured man.
When Sylvia’s eyes landed on the unconscious young man, she suddenly furrowed her brow.
Because she was quite familiar with him—
Kakilis Radlion.