Yellow aura danced in Greed's eyes. The tall woman seemed to take an actual interest in Vale… or perhaps she took an interest in what she could take from him.

Envy stood up and slammed her hands on the table while staring at the crystal as if begging it to go red and shoot a holographic beam into Vale. When it remained dormant after a few seconds had passed, all she could do was just sit down and close her mouth.

Wrath chimed in:

"Truly… that is some unprecedented luck."

Greed chuckled.

"Perhaps you actually will have some value, unlike the last Lust."

'Greed met the last Lust? I thought the previous incarnations died together?'

With an exhausted and fed-up look on her face, Envy just leaned back in her chair and rolled her eyes.

"What's next, are you gonna say you actually got 100 Aether in your first three weeks…?"

Vale blinked and stared at Envy, whose agitation was steadily growing.

"I didn't get 100—"

Envy chortled, then let out a relieved scream as she stared at the dormant crystal.

"Ha! Even with that luck?! Lust is weak as shit!"

Vale gave a devilish smirk, then finished his sentence:

"...I think I got around 300."

'Though most of it was Salome's doing… but you don't need to know that.'

This information should probably be kept guarded, but Vale couldn't resist it. He just needed to knock the bitch down a peg… or two.

Envy's laughter ceased, and her whole body went limp, and the green glow in her eyes flared. It looked like she could set someone on fire by just looking at them.

Vale tried his hardest to hold back his laughter as he asked:

"Don't tell me… how much Aether did you get in your first month? 100? Not even? 75? Perhaps 50? 25?! Holy crap, did you get any?!"

Envy's cheeks flushed, and she stood up again and opened her mouth to scream, but a thunderous clank of metal shook the world and petrified both Envy and Vale. Wrath had tapped his finger with force.

"I'm impressed by your progress, Lust. But let's not try to make enemies of our only allies. I really don't have the patience to try and quell an idiot's rage — or at least, quell rage without returning it in kind."

Vale tensed and gave an apologetic nod while Envy stifled whatever curse she was about to say and sat back down, ignoring Greed, who gave a sinister laugh at the situation.

Envy spoke slowly:

"Whatever…"

After a short pause and fixing the hem of her dress, Envy continued:

"As you know, Seed activity in my area is the least of my concerns at the moment. Celestia is preparing a force to invade my dungeon, and Humility is a part of them. The invasion is scheduled for five months from now, but it could be as soon as three. They can't send the whole force because of my dungeon's predicament, but the detachment is fairly strong."

Wrath mumbled:

"Humility, huh? So they appeared in Celestia. Why are they so far away from Pride? It's not like he hides his dungeon. Are you sure it is Humility?"

Envy, still stifling her anger, answered:

"Not fully, but 90 percent sure. At the very least, it is a Hero of Virtue."

Wrath thought for a moment before looking over at Greed.

"You, help her out."

The smile plastered on Greed's face dropped and revealed itself for the terrible facade it was. Wrath seemed to be a force she just couldn't defy; however, she didn't look entirely subdued.

"Even though I am weakened against Humility, you'd ask me to put my life and forces in danger? I assume I'll be rewarded accordingly?"

Wrath silently stared at Greed, and the red glow in his eyes intensified. The air grew cold, and time fell still. Just as an echo was escaping from under the helmet, Sloth's eyes shot open, and Wrath's aura died down.

Wrath began incessantly tapping his gauntlet against the arm of his chair, letting the metal clank rhythmically.

"Living after talking to me like that is reward enough…"

Wrath sighed, and Greed just shrugged, then donned her fake smile again. Wrath looked back to his right, at Envy, and continued:

"Lust, even if closer, is too weak to assist, so Greed will be able to help you in defense if need be. Though Humility shouldn't be all too strong yet, so you should be alright, even if you're weakened. But if it happens to be Charity, Greed will be unable to help. And if it happens to be Kindness…"

Envy, without any inflection in her tone, replied:

"I understand, thanks…"

'Seriously… how does he know where my dungeon is?!'

Vale, who'd been entirely left out of the exchange, was beginning to see the dynamic between everyone here. He wasn't entirely sure where he fit into the equation.

Wrath seemed to be the oppressive force that the others had to listen to. Then next down the line was Greed, who held some authority. Followed by Envy, who was new, just like Vale. Then, Sloth seemed to be the mediator, stopping Wrath from killing everyone, as well as the boss in the shadows.

While it didn't seem like Wrath would be forcing objectives upon Vale at the moment, it was clear Vale was at the man's mercy.

It was also clear that Wrath's repeated warnings about behaving around Sloth were not unwarranted.

'Just how strong is she?'

Finally, he learned more counters. Greed's power was nullified against Charity and weakened against Humility. Envy's power was nullified by Kindness and also weakened against Humility.

Vale wasn't sure how he'd use this information or if it would prove useful at all… but it was something to keep in mind.

Closing that topic, Wrath began the second pass around the table:

"With Beakon relaxing my containment. I'm free to send some forces south to help with the Seed outbreak on the Frozen Isles. I will also continue in my efforts to track down the Virtue hiding in Beakon."

There was not much for anyone to say in response to it, which quickly passed onto Greed.

Greed didn't add much to the conversation, only expanding on her current operation to overthrow the government of Windshire. Then she talked about the Seed activity, saying it was nowhere to be found around her.

It once again became Vale's turn… or it should have been. But instead, the beautiful light-blue goddess lifted her head and slowly blinked, showing off the radiant blue smoke pouring from her eye sockets.

She leisurely raised her hand and stretched out a finger toward Vale, who felt a cold shiver just being the object of her attention.

"You… stay."

With that terse order, Sloth lay her head back down and returned to sleeping. When it was clear that's all she had to say, Wrath, with an intense tone, stared at Vale and said:

"That means she has an oracle for you that only you are allowed to hear… After the meeting, you will remain alone here in her domain and listen to every word she says. Share what you hear with no one. Not even me. If you reveal the contents in any way, I can promise your execution will not be swift… not that it would be my doing."

Vale listlessly dragged his view from left to right, tracing between Wrath and Sloth.

"I-uh… understood."

Vale didn't want to admit to being intimidated by Sloth, but that icy gaze dwarfed anything he'd ever experienced. Despite taking no damage, he felt he suffered worse than when at the mercy of Ximena's Absolute Zero.

After a short respite to regain his composure, Vale continued the meeting…

"I don't have much more to share in the way of my progress… but I am at odds with a neighboring dungeon of mine; however, no humans have discovered my dungeon yet. As for the neighboring dungeon, I should be able to take care of them on my own."

Envy's gaze narrowed ever so slightly, and Vale's stare flipped to her. Thankfully, it didn't seem like she had choice words to add, though something seemed… off about her look.

Wrath commented with a happy undertone:

"Things are going really well for you. Taking out a neighboring dungeon this early on after awakening? It would be thoroughly impressive."

Greed glared at Vale, the yellow aura dancing in her eyes growing brighter than ever before.

"About this dungeon… where is it?"

Wrath just sighed as the red tint of his eyes, hidden in the darkness of his helm, slightly intensified:

"I'd urge you not to answer that unless you're going to die and absolutely need help. There's a reason she only learned where Envy's dungeon was at the last meeting…"

Greed pouted:

"Aw, come on. I only wanted to help him."

Instantly, the crystal shimmered and came to life, then shot a red beam into Greed's heart. Greed shrugged at the red beam, ruing its existence.

After a few more helpful comments from Wrath, the stage passed to Envy, who gave a more thorough update on local politics.

Following Envy, the rest continued discussing politics and using jargon Vale had never heard before, leaving him mostly out of the conversation.

Eventually, the organized talk broke down as each member delved more into their nature as they sat around in the space. Wrath's patience dimmed, Envy's sass intensified, and Greed's avarice was put on full display. Even Vale could feel his desire being stimulated as he leered at the three otherworldly beauties.

The man in full metal didn't do much in that way…

'Maybe if he took it off?'

But who knew…

When it was clear that one wrong sentence would be all it took to start a war, Wrath declared the meeting over and walked away angrily into the distance. Envy followed next. Then Greed winked and smiled at Vale, before summoning her golden carpet to walk off into the void.

Vale was left alone with the sleeping beauty, who slowly raised her head.

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