Mias expanded on the portal linking to a different world, but they didn't know much about what was beyond. So fretting on such a topic was inconsequential.

What was consequential, though, was their explanation of the pivotal law.

The pivotal law was a name coined by this person's academic predecessor, Despair. What it dictated was that any being who traveled through the portal to a different world would have their soul shattered and reconfigured, plus any Aether within them would be corrupted, "having been separated from the main body."

Of course, as with all scientific laws, it wasn't proven to be absolute.

Somehow, Mias and, by extension, Vale had defied the pivotal law and transcended worlds to come to Pandora. Apparently, that Despair guy did too… although he found his own way without help from the system; and Mias was not sure Pandora was where Despair ended up...

According to Mias, there were two significant implications of this law and the portals' existence on Kaldora in general…

If one connected from Kaldora to Pandora, it was only natural to assume a reciprocal connection existed.

Beyond that… an already corrupted and shattered being faced minimal consequences when traveling through the portals. Meaning… the portals were most likely how the corrupted were finding their way to Pandora. Even further back, how the corruption found its way to Kaldora…

Though it wasn't exactly clear how the beasts were affected by the pivotal law, Mias needed to study Pandora and the corrupted to learn that answer, and they'd only been there for less than an hour to this point and hadn't left the Dungeon Core.

Though the smoky person with onyx eyes did seem quite excited for the bonus immunity to corruption provided by subjugation to Vale.

Next on Vale's list was Origin…

He hadn't had much hope when he asked the question, but Mias, when they heard it, answered it with surprising ease and nonchalance. The first sentence in their response had given Vale quite the shock:

"Origin? Well, that's how one becomes a god..."

Apparently, Origin was the path to godhood by way of legacy…

Through spreading a tale and becoming synonymous with some aspect of the world, upon one's death, if their Origin had been built up enough, they would be reborn as a god… in theory, of course.

Even Mias couldn't confirm how, why, or if this were true.

But the idea alone was precious information.

There was also an insane fact that Mias added as if it were nothing.

Lust and the other sins… they were all the names of people on Kaldora who'd plotted to escape their imminent deaths and confinement to Kaldora by means of ascension.

Even more… at least on Kaldora, their names were the literal etymological reasons for the word "lust" and the others' definitions… Even "despair" and "hope" were originally people — in fact, those two were twins!

Whoever this Lust person was, when they were born, their name didn't mean lust as Vale knew it.

In fact, in Mias' language, the name meant 'Lu - Love', 'st - Story', and was pronounced 'Loohst.'

But… this Lust… in their life created an Origin surrounding carnality, desire, wantonness, and ardor…

So much so that lust became a word that meant such a thing; the question was if that was how the word lust was created…

How the hell did Vale know it?!

Well, Mias had a theoretical answer for that as well…

"Success."

Lust had succeeded in creating their Origin. And somehow… their Origin spread to other worlds.

Mias didn't have any definitive answers, but at least gave their thoughts and opinions — their rationale.

"If a person ascended to godhood through Origin, then it would only make sense for the maintenance and retention of divinity to rely on the continual spread of that Origin, even after death."

And with Kaldora marching toward destruction, there would be no one left to remember their Origin… so they spread it to other worlds.

Then, Mias added a wild theory that just popped into their head upon learning Vale's knowledge of the words lust, despair, hope, wrath, and the rest…

That theory was some 'time bullshit.'

Mias had an idea that other worlds were at their ends in history when, in relation to the current world one was on… but if one transcended to a different plane, they'd be sent back to a specific point on that path toward destruction.

That made absolutely no sense, at least at first, but as the point was articulated with some perspective…

'It continues to make zero fuckin' sense!'

According to Mias' new theory…

Kaldora was destroyed, and corruption took over. Otherwise, the corruption wouldn't be spreading to Pandora without its complete subjugation, as the corrupted had natural inclinations toward the nearest uncorrupted life, and the portals were distant and otherworldly. Even if right next to one, a beast wouldn't travel into it purposefully for the fact that whatever was on the other side was literally a world away.

However, at the moment Mias had been summoned, Kaldora was still on the path to destruction, but not destroyed…

By their theory, that meant there shouldn't be any corrupted spreading to Pandora — at least purposefully, which seemed to be the case with how Wrath described the plight.

Mias also added the bonus theory that other worlds were also being subjected to destruction, maybe already destroyed, including the one Vale came from. But at the same time… Vale obviously hadn't dealt with the corruption back on Terra.

Even more, Mias seemed to firmly believe that Terra was currently destroyed… but if someone went through the portal, they'd be sent back to a point during its path to that destruction. That current point being when Vale was summoned — well, nearly two months after that point by now.

None of this mattered or made any sense to Vale, though he was a little disheartened to learned the potential death of all he once knew… but he was also happy because a lot more deserved that death than didn't in his world.

The only significance from the theory was 'when' a god would be born…

In essence, if a person ascended to godhood, when would their ascension be completed, and how would their Origin spread in other worlds? Would they manifest at the actual time, the time of destruction, or the point at which Vale and Mias had been lifted from?

The answer seemed to be the latter, which would explain Vale's knowledge of the words.

'Am I here on Pandora just to spread that bastard's Origin?'

That seemed to be the most likely answer. But no scholar worth their salt would make a conclusive rationale before all other variables had been eliminated…

Not that Vale was a scholar in anything except the art of lust.

In any case, Vale knew leaps and bounds more than he did yesterday. But at the same time, the knowledge didn't mean anything at the moment. All it was was potential reasons for his predicament, which he hadn't truly been searching for. He'd been curious, yes, but it hadn't been his primary focus.

Speaking of his primary focus, that being survival, Mias was a calamitous addition.

The person had the makings of a spy or silent assassin and desired to explore and study the world outside… Of course, if Vale reached a point confident enough to send Mias out, Vale would let them go on the condition that they not go too far and return if Vale needed them to return.

But at the moment, Vale needed them to stay.

Even if things were pretty peaceful right now, Vale was doubtful such tranquility would remain for too much longer. Though it's not like Vale would lose out if Mias got their will to free exploration, as they said they'd build their own Aether Reserves and report any findings to Vale.

Eyes on the outside would help a lot, as currently his only source of outside information was the other Vice and a random cultist village boy.

Finally, Mias, with some reluctance, shared a little about themselves and why they wanted to find this Carver guy so bad…

Mias didn't go into extreme detail, but for one reason or another, they believed Carver held the key to fighting the corruption and driving it back, locked away in his soul. A deed done by someone known as the 'Nameless King' at King Ixion's behest…

'Though you're not really nameless if your name is Nameless King, are you?'

Vale could already tell that one who went by such a title was an insufferable bastard.

Either way, Carver's soul apparently possessed a property of something capable of not just pushing back corruption, but vanquishing it. Even if Mias had called the guy a bastard, his intention wasn't to hunt the guy down for sport.

At least, it didn't seem to be.

'Who knows… Mias might be trying to steal whatever was placed in Carver's soul by way of murder…'

Not that Vale particularly cared.

The next thing Vale became focused on was… Class.

Demon.

Mias was a Demon.

A Class only second to Vice.

Vale smiled from ear to ear.

'I can't wait to see the look on Envy's face…'

Then his smile slightly dropped as he thought of that wicked green bitch.

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