There was a deep solemness in Seth's expression.

He stood amidst the rubble and the dead, his expression distant and solemn, as if he had just woken from a deep, century-long sleep.

His mind was hazy, yet he still remembered the exact moment his life ended.

When the explosion swallowed him, his consciousness had "descended," falling into a strange, desolate place of absolute darkness.

Within that desolate dark place, countless pairs of eyes had turned to look at him.

Each one radiated a unique form of madness and evil so profound his human mind couldn't even begin to comprehend it.

They were ancient, hungry things, and they had reached for him, eager to pull his fragile consciousness apart.

Just before their touch could claim him, a mysterious force had wrenched him back, slamming him into his resurrected body.

'The life after death does not seem peaceful at all...'

He silently concluded, a cold dread settling deep in his bones.

He was too afraid to even try to understand what he had witnessed.

Just recalling those eyes made his head throb, as if his brain was trying to protect itself from the memory...

Shaking his head to clear the terrifying images, he focused on the new notifications that had appeared in his mind.

[The ability [Null Presence] has contemplated itself through death.]

[The ability [Null Presence] has now grown stronger]

[Null Presence] Others overlook your existence, forgetting details about you easily. Tracking abilities, clairvoyance, and even fate-based targeting struggle to lock onto you. This ability also allows you to become invisible against people who do not actively seek you out...

[Null Presence (First Death)] When Null Presence is activated, the physical limits of your body will become meaningless. Allowing you to naturally exert brute strength, flexible movements, along with inhuman speed and senses.

Seth heaved a bit of a sigh of relief.

With this, his chances of surviving this strange world were slightly better.

In this brutal and strange place, it gave him more combat power, a bit of security he desperately needed.

But he had no time to enjoy the relief due to his current predicament.

As for the matter of the disturbing warnings of the system's earlier messages about his fate being manipulated...

He did not think about it as of yet.

There was no time to ponder that now.

The woman called Priestess Putrescence was still somewhere near, and he had to be gone before she returned to "clean up."

He had to escape before that powerful lady called Priestess Putrescence came!

But first, there were practical matters.

He looked down at himself.

His suicidal explosion had vaporized his clothes, and while his [Null Presence] could hide him, the mental discomfort of being completely naked was a barrier he couldn't ignore.

His eyes fell on Arthur's body.

He approached the large man with a quiet sense of pragmatism.

'Sorry for this...'

He shamelessly apologized in his head.

He worked quickly, stripping Arthur of his pants and shirt.

Arthur had been bigger than him, so the clothes were loose, sleeves hanging slightly, pants folding awkwardly.

But it was still much better than running around unclothed.

He left Arthur in his underwear, a small attempt at preserving some dignity for the dead.

He did not even considering taking Reymond's clothes, fearing it might have been marked by the Coven of Abomination.

With his outfit handled, Seth knelt beside Arthur again and placed a hand on the man's forehead.

A soft chill seeped into his palm as he absorbed the lingering sins inside Arthur's body.

The sins felt like a cold, thick liquid seeping into his veins.

The energy carried a distinct feeling of emotional isolation, a deep and frozen indifference that made Seth frown.

It was similar to the nature of his own Sin of the Meaningless, but far more lonely.

'May you find peace now...'

Seth thought, a simple, human sentiment offered to a man he barely knew.

He felt no strong attachment.

After all, the Iron Jackals were not good people.

Seth's simple prayer was simply out of human compassion for the dead.

Next, he moved to Reymond's body.

He stretched out his hand again, his palm hovering over the dead witch's chest.

His eyes eyed the man's dropped wallet, but Seth shook his head and did not take it.

He was not going to risk getting tracked again...

As he began to draw in Reymond's sins, the sensation was completely different.

There was no cold feeling of self isolation.

Instead, it was an intense, burning sensation, a sin that felt ancient and deep-rooted, like the primal urge of a dragon guarding its gold.

It was a greed that was not just for money, but for everything—possessions, power, secrets, even moments in time.

It was a desperate, all-consuming need to own and to keep something forever.

As the energy flooded him, Seth felt a foreign desire rise in his own heart.

He looked at a piece of rubble and for a split second, felt a compelling urge to pick it up and keep it, just to have it.

The feeling was powerful, much more so than the sins he had taken from Arthur..

This feeling felt extremely ancient and more powerful than what the sins from Arthur's body gave out...

'This... what kind of feeling is this...'

He wondered.

He wasn't puzzled by the greed the sins brought, but by the feeling of ancientness...

It felt old, as if he were touching the essence of the very first creature that ever wanted to possess something.

A new, crucial question formed in his mind.

'Is there some sort of hierarchy between different sins? Are some older, more fundamental, and therefore more powerful than others?'

He tried to analyze it, but his understanding was too limited.

The realization was frustrating.

'In the end, my lack of knowledge really does bring me to so much trouble...'

He silently promised himself to make contact with Phoebe's mentor in hopes of being taught properly...

Seth's mind raced, trying to form a plan for the immediate future.

'Right... I can collect the information sheets I asked Matilda to write.'

He remembered offering her the job to document the history and operations of different covens, gangs, and government organizations.

'Let's hope it gives me a general understanding, at the very least.'

As these thoughts settled in his mind, the last traces of sin inside Reymond's body finally flowed into him.

The process finished, and the sheer volume of energy he had absorbed was staggering.

It was multiple times greater than what he had taken from the first demon he'd ever encountered, and it dwarfed the amount he'd drawn from Arthur's body.

'Is this the difference between the levels of circles?'

He wondered, a sense of unease growing within him.

'If a second-circle witch has this much sin, what about those at the third, fourth, or even higher? They must be carrying an atrocious, unimaginable weight of sin within them.'

The thought was terrifying. He looked at Reymond's lifeless body.

'By that point, I wonder if someone so saturated in sin is even capable of being redeemed... or if they're even still human at all.'

He sucked in a sharp, cold breath as a feeling of fullness settled in his body...

It was in that moment that a new, clear system notification appeared in his mind

[Threshold for required sin amount has been reached.]

[You are now qualified to advance to the Second Circle of the Sin of the Meaningless.]

[Advancement Task: Understand the core purpose that drives different individuals to live.]

Seth did not have time to fully read the entire thing when sounds of footsteps suddenly echoed out from the entrance.

From what Seth could instantly deduce, these were definitely coven witches, likely a response team sent to investigate the source of the twin explosions.

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