Watching the grotesque scene of Tyrion devouring Tanu's body and disappearing into a sea of tentacles within the green barrier leaves Lucien shocked.
Not only him and his girls, but also thousands of Mermaids and even the Nagas who watch from afar.
It is no news to everyone that Tyrion was already corrupted by dark magic, committing unimaginable atrocities, but seeing him sacrifice his most loyal servant in that way is still bizarre.
Every time Tyrion descended deeper into that pit of shit, Tanu was by his side, but if he is willing to brutalize even her, no Naga alive thinks of following him.
The war between the Mermaids and Nagas ends with Tanu's death, but Lucien's and his girls' fight against a formidable enemy only becomes more difficult.
Tyrion's already powerful aura becomes more and more frightening with each passing second, and no matter how much Wrath and Lucien continue to try to break that barrier, they do not succeed.
"What the hell is he doing in there??" Lucien, like almost everyone around, is confused about Tyrion's bizarre movements.
"He is performing a dark ritual called the Abyssal Call." Sloth materializes her body next to Lucien and explains.
"Are you sure?" Envy also thought that was the case, but she was uncertain.
The knowledge in the minds of the Sins is clear, but they have no memories of how they acquired such knowledge, which often makes them doubt their own thoughts.
"Almost absolutely certain." Sloth confirms. "But the bastard is too cowardly to use his own soul and used the foolish Siren as a sacrifice."
"How does this ritual work?" Lucien quickly asks.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Before Sloth can respond in her usual slow tone, Lust does it more quickly. "Powerful users of dark magic can amplify their powers by sacrificing their souls to what they call the Abyss."
"A tremendous load of nonsense," Pride comments.
"But in practice, it works," Lust continues. "I mean, there is no proof of the existence of this Abyss, but dark magic users consume their own life energy, generating a lot of dark mana."
"But it comes at a high cost," Gluttony joins the conversation, contributing her own knowledge. "After consuming their own life energy, those foolish enough become empty husks, their souls forever corrupted."
"And they develop an insatiable hunger for lives, from which they draw life energy to avoid perishing, becoming part of the shadows," Sloth adds.
"So, is it like the rotten fruits of the Sacred Tree?" Nea asks.
Lust shrugs. "I don't know if there's a connection between such dark powers, but there is a method that dark magic users use to avoid such an end."
Lucien, who is attentively listening to the Sins while observing Tyrion's grotesque transformation within the green barrier, quickly understands what method Lust mentioned.
"They use the souls of others as sacrifices to the Abyss..." He comments, then can't really feel sorry for Tanu since it was her actions that led her to such an end.
"Exactly," Sloth nods. "Most of the time, to amplify their power, dark magic users have to sacrifice many souls, but when the sacrifice holds a high level of dark mana, it yields good results."
"How much power can Tyrion gain from Tanu's sacrifice?" Lucien immediately asks.
Before Sloth can answer, Pride materializes her body in front of him. "You're not starting to falter, are you?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"What do you think?" he asks in his usual confident tone.
But Lucien is not a fool either and just wants to understand more about Tyrion's possible new power level. "I just want to know how much more we'll have to push ourselves to kick his ass out of existence."
"His dark powers will double, or even triple," Sloth responds. "But it wouldn't even represent half of what it takes to advance one layer inside the Cosmic Realm."
Before Lucien can feel relieved, Lust gives him the bad news. "But it will be enough to protect his body twice as much, and the biggest problem remains the incredible power he stole from Mira."
"Shit..." Naomi can't help but curse, standing next to Lucien.
While the group debates the next steps, Wrath and Maya continue relentlessly attacking the green barrier. The furious Sin is just venting her frustrations, but the Phoenix seems consumed by rage.
When she notices that the others have stopped attacking the barrier to talk, she becomes even more upset and lands in front of Lucien.
"Why the hell did you stop??" She tries to appear upset, but her small stature and lovely face don't pose any threat.
"We can't just waste our strength hitting the damn barrier!" Envy responds aggressively.
"Yeah, we need a plan for when Tyrion breaks the barrier," Gluttony comments.
"The plan is to fight." Lucien doesn't intend to give up.
"Yes, we can still do this." Pride stands by his side, equally confident.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})That leaves Lust upset. "Your blind arrogance won't defeat Tyrion! We need a real plan, and quickly!"
Lucien is truly trying to think of a plan, but nothing comes to his mind.
Just like him, everyone around is also trying to find a solution to the problem, and for Nea, there seems to be only one way.
"Maybe..." She takes a beautiful ornate box from her storage ring, but before she opens the box, Lucien quickly grabs her hand.
"I was relieved because you hadn't thought of using them yet..." He speaks while looking into Nea's eyes.
The beautiful Mermaid Queen has always been willing to die for her people, but things have changed after recent events, especially the arrival of Lucien, who brought Kaisa back to her.
"I don't want to die..." Fearlessly, Nea whispers softly as she can't look into Lucien's eyes. "But if we have no other options..."
"How can there be none?" Greed asks. "Look around, the Naga army is decimated; those who are still alive are on our side, we have over a million soldiers ready to attack Tyrion."
Indeed, we can win if we use the power of everyone available, but..." Sloth hesitates for a moment because she knows what Lucien's reaction will be to her words.
"But?" Eve asks.
"The weaker ones will die, like the thousands of Naga soldiers obliterated by Tyrion's chaotic wave." Envy explains.
"No!" Lucien quickly exclaims. "I promised I would do my best to protect the Mermaids, accepting the death of so many of them is not an option."
"But the death of just one is." Nea tries to open the box again.
But Lucien firmly holds her delicate hands. "No, Nea... don't make me choose between them and you."
"That's not your choice, Lucien." Nea tries to appear firm and determined, but her eyes are begging Lucien to find another solution.
And he is desperately trying to think of something, but dealing with so many emotions and the expectations of everyone is a heavy responsibility for him to bear alone.
Luckily, he is never alone, and just like Lust, Sloth is always thinking of how to help him.
"Why are you arguing whether Nea should eat the rotten fruits or not?" Sloth asks in her usual slow tone.
Lust knows they don't have much time before Tyrion completes the profane ritual, so she gets straight to the point. "Sloth means that the side effect of eating such fruits is death, so we just need to give them to someone who definitely won't die."
Before Lust finishes speaking, everyone's attention is already focused on Maya.
And despite being technically an ancient creature almost as old as the universe itself, she is as mature as a young naive girl and not as clever.
"Me?" Maya becomes genuinely confused for a moment.
"Can't you see another immortal being here besides you?" Envy sarcastically asks.
And before Maya can point to Envy and the other Sins, Gluttony quickly explains. "These aren't our real bodies, just manifestations of our power, so the fruits wouldn't have any effect on us."
Maya may not be among the wisest people in the group, but she is certainly among the bravest. And well, being immortal, she has no reason to fear for her safety.
"Give me the fruits!" Driven by the desire for revenge and to ensure Tyrion's defeat, she quickly extends her small and delicate hand toward Nea.
