Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Sunhaven, Eldorath Kingdom.

The entire city of Sunhaven was partying, enjoying, singing, and dancing while consuming various forms of spirits.

The city administration had resumed the Festival of Intoxication after confirming that the king's death was indeed a farce.

Eren, at this point, was busy reading some of the old scrolls and tomes that were presented to him inside Goddess Sekhmet's temple. The proof of invitation he had received through Wilfer came in handy for him when he decided to study the Virtue Series Marks.

Unfortunately, Eren couldn't rush the templars to hold out the ceremony and brand his soul with the Virtue Series Marks in their possession. This was because the chaos caused by the king's false death and failed assassination attempt on Wilfer was too great.

Even the management of the temple had decided to bolster its security for a few weeks. As such, he could only wait a few days before he received a green signal from the templars.

Nonetheless, Eren was offered generous access to the temple's library. Eren made use of this chance and decided to start studying the Virtue Series Marks right away.

The more he read, the more he started to understand the intricacies behind them and the intent-based magic as a whole.

***

There were only seven Sin Series Marks formed by God Aleph in the primordial time.

However, the number of the Virtue Series Marks was more than seven. More importantly, they had been categorized by their generations.

The Virtue Series Marks were created by the gods to balance out the disadvantages their followers faced when they fought with the demonic Practitioners carrying the Seven Sin Series Marks. The first generation of the Virtue Series Marks were called Cardinal Virtues and they were based on the concepts of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.

The first generation of the Virtue Series was created by a group of old and well-established pantheon gods. As such, the followers belonging to only these four gods' temples received these Virtue Series Marks.

The gods soon found out that the four cardinal Virtue Series Marks were not enough to tackle the influence of the seven Sin Series Marks. Plus, a lot of internal strife broke out because only the followers of a select pantheon gods received these blessings.

Thus, a second generation of the Virtue Series Marks was created, this time by a large group of smaller gods. They created Virtue of Faith, Virtue of Charity, and Virtue of Hope Marks, which later were recognized as second-generation theological virtues.

The second generation of the theological Virtue Series Marks were shared by multiple gods and they could be used by almost any pantheon and the gods in them. This was because these Virtue Series Marks did not bind themselves with any particular faith and instead promoted the worship of the faith itself.

The concepts of faith, charity, and hope were all-inclusive and compatible with any form of divinity. At least they did not create conflict and could be adjusted to suit the divinity of the god who was about to craft their own Virtue Series Mark. As such, the second generation of the Virtue Series Marks was quickly spread across the gods' various domains.

However, there was a problem with the second generation of the Virtue Series Marks.

Even though they were highly compatible with any form of divinity, they were not particularly useful to counter the influence of the Sin Series Marks. They did not empower the gods' followers as much as they should have when their demonic opponents were fully charged with the Sin Series Marks on them.

The gods quickly understood their mistake after creating the all-compatible second-generation Virtue Series Marks. As such, they decided to create Virtue Series Marks that would stand directly opposed to the Sin Series Marks, giving their followers premium access to intent-based magic at the cost of their undivided faith in them.

Thus, a third generation of the Virtue Series Marks was born. These seven Virtue Series Marks were called Seven Capital Virtues, based on the concepts of chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility.

Although there was some overlap between the third-

generation Virtue Series Marks and their predecessors, the improved marks themselves worked really well.

They were not completely compatible with all the pantheons and the respective divinities they preached, but they managed to finally bring about a balance between the divine and demonic factions.

The Virtue Series Marks offered by Sage Minerva belonged to the first generation. Of course, she had refused to brand Eren's soul with these marks, imagining that they would not be compatible with him.

These Virtue Series Marks were finally obtained by Lensa when she successfully inherited Sage Minerva's legacy.

***

Inside a small library maintained by Goddess Sekhmet's temple, a scholarly middle-aged man was seen studying various forms of scrolls and old books.

"So that's how it is," Eren mumbled to himself as he closed the last ancient tome and reclined back in his chair. He caressed his chin in contemplation before thinking to himself.

"I think I should go with the third generation Virtue Series Marks as they create maximum contrast against the Sin Series Marks.

If I want to bring about a balance between the two polar different aspects, it would only work in my favor if both sides were similar in strength.

Otherwise, one type of the Mark will devour the other of its kind, and I would end up with faulty Marks on my soul. That is provided, I don't injure my soul in the process."

Eren concluded as he got up. With a flick of his hands, he sent away the tomes and scrolls to their intended places and cleared the study table before heading out.

Eren was glad that he was banned from receiving Virtue Series Marks by Sage Minerva when he was in Anfang. Since they belonged to the first generation, they could not have created optimal contrast between his Sin Series Marks.

Eren would have suffered big time if he had somehow forced or coerced Minerva into offering him her true legacy.

"Haah! So much unpredictability. Time to enjoy the festival and drown my sorrows in liquor," Eren sighed dramatically before heading out.

In the next moment, a smile bloomed on his face as he disappeared into thin air. He had decided to indulge in his vice after a year-long abstain from it.