Y/N POV
It felt dreadful.
No, not just that. It made my entire body pulse in disgust, only to realize it was coming off myself.
To be fair, it wasn't me who was radiating the foul odour, but rather the space around me. I wasn't a sage candidate like Subaru, so the miasma's effect was definitely getting at me. The only reason Echidna and the other witches' miasma did nothing to me was partly because I wasn't afraid of them and that we were in a contract. But now, with the Witch of Envy's miasma on full blast straight to my face, not even Deceit can't do anything to diminish its effects.
And I only entered the first gate.
Cut to moment of entering
I stabilized my breathing as I stepped towards the door. I remember loud and clear, the exact details of this place. Seeing how it wasn't a door with gems on it, I guess it's the version from the light novel instead of the web version.
In the web version, it was a door with 7 gems on the circle. When Subaru approached it, four gems lit up.
However, in the light novels, Subaru was able to walk through obstacles he called doors, and he passed through 3 of them before being blocked. Shaula also managed it was dangerous to go in there without gathering all seven of the 'gems'. If Return of Death was indeed the Authority of Envy, if not a simple extension, it could explain the phenomenon. Subaru possessed Envy, Sloth, and Greed, while the web novel's door possibly only lit up for the ones he didn't have, as the sins are quite 'dark' things.
Currently, I possess five witch factors. I'm not exactly sure if that would allow me to pass through 5 doors, as Deceit is not one of the original seven deadly sins.
Can't hurt to give it a try, though.
"Open."
As soon as the word left my mouth, the first gate gave off a slight rattle before I noticed the Sloth Witch Factor pulsed within my body. Seeing the signal as a green light, I stepped past the gate and into the tunnel.
There was virtually nothing in here besides sand and oh, god... that's a human skeleton right there, is it not?
I advanced upon the corpse, who has no more flesh and only bones. Judging from the deterioration of their cells, they've been dead for more than 100 years... Upon touching the bones, the Sloth Witch Factor gave off another pulse and a simple flash of memories was sent into my brain.
Arrival
No money
Stole stuff
Took jewelry from a noble
Got caught by guards
Saved by someone
They told me to go find a box in some kind of abandoned place
I went there a month later to stock up on supplies first
Found the box
Had some weird thing in it-
SLOTH
HAHAHAHAHA UNLIMITED POWER
The invisible force is amazing... it's like telekinesis!
I can shape this thing into many different forms...
SLOTH
I defeated a knight! For the first time!
SLOTH
I stole-
SLOTH
I killed-
SLOTH
I conquered and obtained the-
SLOTH
Shit! They sent the Sword Saint after me?! I wasn't paid enough to do this!
Oh no you don't, you little-
I need to run.
SLOTH
This woman's crazy! I didn't even do anything that destructive, at least not when compared to-
Who chases a mere guy with a weird power to the Augria sand dunes?! This place is a death trap-
I can't find a way to avoid her! I have to fight-
SLOTH
Where am I?
This door... it's oddly familiar for some reasons
Huh, could I open it-
SLOTH
And I'm back.
What was that...?!
There was another user of sloth 100 something years ago? But I thought Petelgeuse had the Witch Factor...
And he was an outerworlder, out of all things...
He seemed to have an even greater mastery than Petelgeuse with the Authority though, considering he could fight the Sword Saint of his generation, albeit not very successfully...
Anyways... I need to move on. The miasma concentration is getting thicker, so I could not linger any longer in a single spot or else it will cause me harm.
The... second door. I approached it as it suddenly faded away, as if an illusion. After the Witch Factor of Greed gave a slight tug, confirming its acceptance, I marched forwards, deeper into the ominous tunnel of sand and stone.
The tunnel got darker as I walked in, so I lit the place up using lanterns light bulb wires made of tungsten. There was nothing particular of note here between the second door to the third, so I guess maybe no one made it this far?
Sloth and Greed are both giving off rattling sounds coupled with the noise of slimy water. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a bad or good sign, but I kept moving on anyways. Trekking through the sands and mud, I arrived at the third door before long, as there were no obstacles between the 'Door of Greed' and this one. To be honest, I think the doors actually shift around by themselves depending on who it is. Since nobody said you had to use them in a certain order. So if Capella came over, the 'Door of Lust' would rearrange itself to be the first door, and then she can't go any further.
The Witch Factor of Wrath gave off a slight tingle before the third gate disassembled itself, and I marched forward into the hallway. It was... cold and hot at the same time. A very otherworldly feeling. The walls seemed to be made of marbles. Who actually had the time to build all of this?
Wait...
I came to a sudden realization. Whoever built this must've either gathered all the Witch Factors themselves or had help from those who possessed it. And yet this tunnel leads directly to Satella's Sealing Stone Shrine. Which means somebody must've dug it out after Satella's sealing, after the Great Calamity 400 years ago.
Oh...man... the lore is hitting me deep in the bones today.
A beautiful place to put 'the plot thickens'.
"I still have Pride and Deceit left unused... I suppose Pride is next?" I murmured as I laid my hands on the fourth door, and when it opened, a giant wave of miasma smacked into my face, making me wheeze in pain as it blocked my air tunnel. I took a few steps back in caution and fear, but the miasma eventually dissipated.
"What the..." I materialized a gas mask using the Authority of Deceit and secured it onto my head before entering the gate. "This is only the fourth door... why is there so much miasma here? Could the Witch of Envy be escaping? No, there's no way..."
It was at this moment I noticed another skeleton in the corner of this room. It seemed like a female's, due to the bone structures. I laid my hand on her skull, but unlike the former user of Sloth, this one did not respond. Instead, a few words were shown to me as the Witch Factor of Pride pulsated with fear.
PRIDE
MIASMA
DEATH
CURSE
REAPER
DANGER
PRIDE
What?
It seems like whatever is behind this gate... is truly, very dangerous.
But it doesn't matter, I have to open it. Well, even if it does go wrong, I'll just run out of the tunnel and ask Subaru to reset or something. Actually, no. That would make me a horrible friend.
Ugh... whatever. Deceit, open it.
And that was quite the big mistake. Well, at least without any cover for myself, that is.
A wickedly sharp purple blade coated with over hundreds of layers of miasma came hurtling straight at my face, scraping my face before embedding itself in the wall behind me. Then, as if commanded by an invisible force, it dislodged itself and came back towards me again. Sensing this, my other Swords of Power recognized the foe and pulled themselves out of my Dimensional Storage and blocked the stab attempted by the blade.
"What is that...?"
I looked at the design carefully, trying to pick up any clues about its identity. Only when I realized it was feeding off the immense miasma to boost itself even further did I then know what it was.
"Ha... hahahaha! I really did not expect to see another one of you so soon...so the Book of Wisdom was telling the truth..."
"Cursed Sword, Juken, of the Ten Swords of Power."
The sword hummed in confirmation to my statement, before flying up and swinging its blade down again. However, my own swords blocked its blow and pushed it back, sending it into the wall.
YOU...
What the...
YOU CANNOT TAKE ME! YOU UNWORTHY BASTARDS...EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU...
How did this sword suddenly start speaking?! Can you guys even speak?
I looked towards my own Swords of Power, but they only hummed in response to my thoughts. Taking two with my own hands and two with my Extensions, I faced the Cursed Sword, who began to steady itself mid-air, as if held by somebody.
"Pure Truth... can you see what it is?" I tapped into the fourth power of Deceit, one managed by my own delusions. After a few tinkering clicking, the veil faded away and I faced a woman. For some reasons, she seemed really familiar...
She leaped above me and struck down with immense force, rivalling that of Halibel's. Her speed was astonishing as well, since I had to try my best with all four of my swords to parry her attacks.
"Inen Original- Kurayami no Hitotachi."
The large slash of corroding darkness was deflected by the swordswoman, and it slammed into the wall before the marble began to deteriorate from the spell. I swung Ryokyo next, and activated Prismatic Spectrum in hopes of blinding her, but she charged straight through.
"Zeam, damage that spirit's soul!" I swung my third sword towards her leg, and it grazed her just barely, but I was able to see the tiny effect of soul corrosion of the Life Sword take place. Smiling at my inner victory, I charged at her next with Amorum, cutting her regenerating smoky form loose, and she tensed at my sudden effective moves.
Letting loose a battle cry of sorts, she steadied the Cursed Sword and rushed faster than my eye could see, and severed my right hand. Crying out in pain, I began to reassemble it with my left arm while using my extensions to fend her off temporarily. After healing my damaged arm, I thrust my arms out and unleashed a burst of elements in hopes of destroying her.
"Quinquaginti-Genso Rupture!"
The first fifty elements of the periodic table, ranging from hydrogen to cadmium, exploded in the area in front of me as they were forced to combine at an extremely high pressure. The forced fusion caused them to unleash a massive wave of energy into the hallway, destroying part of it in the process. Exhausted, I sat down on the floor as my strength vanished, letting my Sloth take over for me in battle.
I knew she wasn't dead, since the Cursed Sword broke straight out of the rubble and headed straight for me once again. My extensions immediately grabbed Zeam and Amorum, but I told them to stay down for now. Crossing my fingers, Prudence's Barrier activated and my Authority of Greed deflected the Cursed Sword's incoming onslaught, leaving the swordswoman confused before I shot at her hand with my Authority of Wrath. The Cursed dropped to the ground in front of me, and I grabbed it with a third extension protruding from my stomach. Coughing at this act, I dissipated the third arm before stepping on the handle of the Cursed Sword to make sure it couldn't be taken.
Seeing this, the woman charged forth but I squeezed my fingertips together, and activated my Authority of Pride. "Stage 3- Rule Enforcement."
The woman stopped in confusion at my words as she stepped into the field, but the Domain was already cast. "Freeze."
Her soul froze in place, but her hollow eyes darted towards me in anger in realization of what I've done. Stage 3 of Dominator's Domain is really exhausting to maintain, but it's extremely effective during its duration.
"Bye-bye, swordswoman. Dissipate, soul."
And just like that, I exhausted the last of my stamina and the soul was reaped by Zeam.
"HELLO! Y/N-kun! Are you awake?"
A cheery voice woke me from the coma, and I came face to face with the Witch of Deceit, who looked like she just finished watching a good show.
"Yes, I was indeed spectating your wonderful battle." Frakinedottir read my thoughts and answered with a chuckle. "I was even cheering you on with the Tier 10 gifted subs! Did your viewers enjoy them?"
"How the hell did you even manage to make a Twitch reference and then make it into sarcasm? Aren't you from like... 500-1000 years ago?"
"No talking about my age now." She put a hand on her lips and made a shushing gesture. "Anyways, about that woman you were fighting... that was an afterimage of me. Ehe."
"..."
WHAT?!
"I bet you're all confused right now, but I was in possession of the Cursed Sword since my journey started. It was only because that bitch destroyed me in the Augria Sand Dunes did I then lose it in battle and leaving this 'prime' version of me here in the tunnel. I personally didn't even know that this tunnel existed. I was here for the majority of the Pleiades Watchtower's construction, so this must also be news to Flugel if he were to see this."
"Wait, you knew Flugel?"
"Of course I did. And his affair with you-know-who is also not a secret to our merry little band. As for how things turned out this way... I'd have to pin the blame on Satella-chan. The Watchtower was constructed after her sealing, but even then...anyways, now that you officially defeated the former wielder of the Cursed Sword, I think it'll submit to you."
"You THINK?"
"I'm sure... of it?"
"I'm hearing a lot of uncertainty in your voice, Frakine."
"Just go and take it... the Cursed Sword might be one of the most dangerous weapons on this continent, but it follows the rule of survival of the fittest. I know this because that's how I got it in the first place."
"Fine. And thanks, I guess, predecessor."
"See? You're learning to be grateful. Hehe, I'm glad that my successor is becoming such a-"
I rolled my eyes before falling asleep in the Void Realm, and awakened back in the tunnel thanks to Vacuum Trigger. Looking down at the sword that now lay inactive at my feet, I picked it up and dusted it, getting a better look at its crimson-purple blade.
"I guess I'll give you a name, since you're mine now by default either way..."
Aionia Katara.
"Your name is Aionia Katara, the Eternal Curse. Welcome to the team."
Grasping my fifth sword of power, I began to exit the tunnel as I couldn't advance any further.
The Cursed Sword gave a hum of approval, and left the trail of miasma in its wake.
The Eternal Curse has once again been let loose in this world by the user of Deceit.