The aftermath of Wrath and Pride's battle wasn't limited to the Qliphoth. It has reached all the way to Laguna where it's being discussed heatedly by the Apostles.
Currently, all five Apostles sat at a round table, watching a replay of Wrath and Pride's battle.
Each of them wore a solemn expression. It was quite clear that they are taking this seriously. And understandably so. After all, even though they agreed to a truce, the Celestials and Hypogeans are still against each other.
Seeing this unknown development would of course provoke a reaction from them.
One of the Apostles, the one named Philip, looked at the corner of the meeting hall, precisely at someone who was covered with a black robe and hood.
"...do you swear upon the Miraculous Grace that this is real?"
"I do, Dear Apostle. I dare not lie to any of you. I was there when it all happened. Everything that you see was all I captured during that moment." The person whose features were covered from head to toe replied.
There was a tense silence for a bit, then Apostle Matthias spoke:
"Thank you for your service, you may return to your duty. The Miraculous Grace with you."
"And also with you, Dear Apostles." The mysterious person bowed deeply in reverence before leaving the meeting hall.
Based on this, it is clear that this person was the one who submitted this recording to him.
At first, the Apostles were surprised by this person's sudden appearance. Nobody informed them about him. In fact, only a handful of people were aware of the mysterious person at all. The ones who knew were the previous leaders of Laguna.
Apparently, they tasked someone who can shapeshift perfectly with the mission to infiltrate and spy on the Hypogeans of the Qliphoth. The guy's mission was so discreet that only three people from the previous management of Laguna knows of it.
And considering the valuable intel they received from the Mysterious Guy, or as he calls himself — the Deceiver, it seems at the very least, the previous leaders of this place did something good.
"So, are we supposed to believe everything that we just saw?" Apostle Thomas asked his fellow Apostles. "Just to remind all of you, we don't even know who that guy is. He didn't even show us his face."
"While I can see why you're doubtful of that person, I'd say that the recording he brought to us was real. The mannerisms of Wrath and Pride were something that only us Apostles and those who are above us know." Apostle James replied.
"Agreed." Apostle Jude chimed in, "It would be extremely difficult for anybody to just fake their attitude, especially in front of us since we would instantly notice it if something was amiss."
"...point taken I guess." Apostle Thomas shrugged. "I'm still skeptical of that guy but for now, at least I'd trust him for now."
"Okay, so we all agree that this recording is the real deal, correct?" Apostle Peter asked. And everyone nodded at that.
"Well, if that's the case, then I guess we should move on to the more important topic." Peter continued. "How in the world did they do that?"
"That's something we would like to know as well. But the Deceiver's present to us only included this. He already told us everything that he knows so it'd be useless to press him even further." Matthias interjected.
"Wrath so freaky in that." Jude pointed out, "I don't care what anybody says, in my eyes, Wrath won that fight. He defeated Pride who's stronger than him, and that's quite alarming."
"Oh, it is alarming, alright," Thomas grumbled in his seat.
Jude pointedly zipped his mouth upon hearing him. He got a little too carried away just now that he had forgotten that it's Thomas who usually engages with Wrath.
In other words, Wrath was Thomas' rival. And seeing as how Wrath may have suddenly become more powerful would of course trigger Thomas.
It had to be known that their rivalry always ended up in a tie so far. But after seeing that? There is no doubt that Thomas would be suppressed in his next fight against Wrath should the latter decide to use that power.
And this is something that Thomas wouldn't be able to easily accept.
"We also saw Pride managing to achieve the same thing but not for long since their fight disturbed Sloth's sleep, causing her to interfere," Peter added.
"Judging by the way they injured each other, we could say that they'd been bedridden for at least a couple of days." Matthias stated, "We can also assume that after they recovered completely, they would try to figure out how to master their powers as quickly as they can."
"If I were in their position, I'd do the same." James chimed in.
"...I think we can safely assume that tapping to that power has some drawbacks, at least until they completely harnessed it." Thomas pointed out.
He then reviewed the footage and showed them to his fellow Apostles.
"As you can see here, Wrath has completely lost it. Well, that's not entirely surprising. But this one's different."
"I fought him so many times that I have a clear grasp on what he's like. This isn't Wrath's normal kind of...beastiality. He's more brutal in this, and it's clear that he's actually trying to kill Pride as if he couldn't recognize him."
"Obviously, he is way more powerful in this state. But if that power comes with the side-effect that prevents him from recognizing friend from foe, I guess we can only hope that this side-effect stays even as gets used to this kind of state." Thomas concluded.
The rest silently ruminated on his words for a bit. Then Matthias spoke, saying:
"Currently, that's just an assumption. We have no way of confirming if that side effect would be permanent or not. While we could hope that this situation would fall to our advantage, we still need to prepare for the worse."
"Cause, if Pride and Wrath could do it. Who's to say that the others can't? Knowing Greed? He would undoubtedly push those two to harness that power properly and have them teach it to others so they can have a boost too."
"If that happens, then we're royally screwed. We will fail our mission here." Matthias looked at his fellow apostles. "That's why I will need you to help me makes plans to combat this. We can't let this development go out of hand. We cannot fail the Miraculous Son."
The Apostles looked at each other and nodded. They all subtly agreed to do something about this. And thus, they started brainstorming ideas.
To be honest, the Apostles would like to experience a similar thing in their own version. However, the blessing they got from the Miraculous Grace was already plenty enough that asking for more feels greedy and blasphemous. That's why most of them didn't bring up that idea, no matter how they yearned for it inwardly.
Plus, there are other methods they could use anyways. A direct power boost might be nice but this was fine too.
They could just take this as a test of some sort. The Miraculous Grace is testing him by throwing them a seemingly unsurmountable challenge to test their fate.
This wasn't the first time it happened, and usually, those who passed the test will receive the love and attention of the Miraculous Grace. That is something that even the Apostles yearned for, so they decided they will partake in this challenge and pass it with flying colors.
But of course, for this to work, they have to plan accordingly. And this planning will need more intel so they decided to employ the Deceiver once more to gather more information for them.
"...do you understand your mission, Child?"
"Yes, Dear Apostle. I hereby swear upon the merciful Miraculous Grace that I will do my best to bring optimal results." The Deceiver solemnly swears.
"Thank you, Child." Matthias replied. "Pay attention to your safety. Just give us an update whenever you can. Your mission will be a difficult one, but so long as you have faith in the Miraculous Grace in your heart, then I have no doubts about your success."
"Praise be to you, Dear Apostle. Praise be to the Miraculous Grace." The Deceiver replied.
"Go on, Child. May the Miraculous Grace be with you."
"And also with you, Dear Apostles."
After that, the Deceiver made his way out of the meeting hall and Laguna altogether.
He employed his tricks to remain hidden from view, as a result, nobody sensed him as he left, which also meant that nobody would suspect him at all.
The Deceiver wasn't in a hurry to leave, he traveled at a brisk pace until he was completely out of Laguna's vicinity.
When he was sure that nobody was around him anymore, the Deceiver slowed down even more. As he did so, the Deceiver took off his hood, revealing a pair of heterochromatic eyes and a playful smile on his face.
He briefly looked back in the direction of Laguna and said to himself:
'Miraculous Grace my ass...'
