Chapter Nineteen: New Skills and Pain

"A life… without a pathetic body. A life without the shadow of death constantly over my head. A life… without being pitied and looked down upon by everyone I meet. It sounds like a fantasy." her eyes then perk upwards as she thinks of something, "Hold on, that panel said that I was never meant to be born into my circumstances? That would imply that whoever sent that to me has control over souls. That would make it a god-like being? And that also implies that it's the one that made me go through all of that," Eris clenches her fists, and her expression morphs into one of pure rage, "They're the reason why I was born like that. They're the one that killed my brother. And now they want to make it up to me?!" Tears flow from her digital eyes but dissolve into blue sparks halfway to the ground, "But… At the same time, they said that they can make me forget. If they erase my memories, I won't have this burning in my heart anymore. I can start over, with everything I've learned without having my memories weighing on me. I don't care if this is real or fake, but I'll find out tomorrow."

Eris decides to spend the rest of the day within the game, but constantly, those around her can see the cloud over her head. She walks through the many towns and forests within her empire, and any player or monster that confronts her for a fight is instantly destroyed. She gets back to her throne room later that morning, and after reading the mail in her digital inbox, she finds that the three remaining enemy castles have been destroyed. Eris is now the only player in the entire world that has taken over an entire map. The young vampire smiles for the first time since yesterday, but still possesses a large amount of sadness in her crimson eyes.

A panel appears and a woman's metallic voice echoes through her head, "Congratulations! You are the first player in Legend Conquerors Online to conquer an entire map. You have acquired the title, Ruler of the World. Your stats have increased greatly. Notice: you are now the strongest player in Legend Conquerors Online. You have acquired the title, Goddess of LCO. Notice; various conditions have been met. You have acquired the titles Evil Empress, Embodiment of Asmodeus, Embodiment of Lucifer, Embodiment of Beelzebub, Embodiment of Mammon, Embodiment of Leviathan, Embodiment of Satan, and Embodiment of Belphegor. You have acquired the skills Lust (level 1), Pride (level 1), Gluttony (level 1), Greed (level 1), Envy (level 1), Wrath (level 1), Sloth (level 1), and All-Seeing Demon Eyes (level 10). Notice: the skills Lust, Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Wrath, and Sloth have risen to level 10 and Demon Eyes of Hypnosis have merged with the skill All-Seeing Demons Eyes. Notice; the conditions have been met. The skills Lust, Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Wrath, and Sloth have all evolved into the unique skills Sin of Luxuria (level 10), Sin of Superbia (level 10), Sin of Gula (level 10), Sin of Avaritia (level 10), Sin of Invidia (level 10), Sin of Ira (level 10), and Sin of Acedia (level 10) respectively. Notice: as a result of the skill Sin of Gula, you have acquired many new skills including; Ancient Dragon Magic (level 10), Aethereal Magic (level 10), Illusion Magic (level 10), Celestial Magic (level 10), Ultimate Necromancy (level 10), and Underworld Magic (level 10)"

The vampire's eyes widen, "WHOA! What just happened? Why did I acquire all of these skills? What are the conditions of Gluttony?"

A panel shows up and answers, "Conditions for acquiring Gluttony skill; Need to drink the blood of or devour the flesh of over 5000 monsters, need to have conquered an entire map, need to have the title Evil Empress and/or Embodiment of Beelzebub. Effects; boost to the skill holder's stats. Allows the user to take any unique skills from boss-level enemies and use them for themselves if the user drinks their blood or devours their corpse. The power of the skills holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"I'm guessing Sin of Gula is just an upgrade of that skill in which I acquire the skills of the bosses whose blood I devoured in the past. Well that explains all the new types of magic that I have now. What about Lust? What are the conditions for it?"

A new panel appears that reads, "Conditions for acquiring Lust skill; Need to use Demon Eyes of Hypnosis or other charm/psychic-related skills 5000 times, need to have conquered an entire map, need to have the title, Embodiment of Asmodeus and/or Evil Empress. Effects; boost to the skill holder's stats. The power of any eye, hypnosis, and mind-related skills increase. The power of any individual recognized as the skill holder's significant other increases exponentially. The power of the skill holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"Alright that makes sense. Although having the Sin of Luxuria kinda sounds wrong to me. What are the conditions and effects of Pride?"

A new panel appears, "Condition for acquiring Pride skill; Need to use magic to enhance one's self at least 5000 times, need to have conquered an entire map, need to have the title Embodiment of Lucifer and/or Evil Empress. Effect; boost to the skill holder's stats. Increases the effect of any magic use to boost one's physical or magical abilities. Power of the skill holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"Okay. What are the conditions and effects of Wrath?"

"Condition for acquiring Wrath skill; Need to kill at least 50 million individuals (players, NPCs, or monsters), need to have conquered an entire map, need to have the title Embodiment of Satan and/or Evil Empress. Effect; boost to the skill holder's stats. Allows the user to enter a state in which their stats increase exponentially. Power of the skill holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"Well that's cool. Not only am I the strongest player, but I've also killed over 50 million beings. Next, what are the conditions and effects of Greed?"

"Condition for acquiring Greed skill; Need to acquire over 100 billion gold coins over the course of your time in the game, need to have the title Embodiment of Mammon and/or Evil Empress. Effect; boost to the skill holder's stats. Allows the user to steal one item or piece of equipment from an adversary once every 30 minutes. Power of the skill holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"Now that one would definitely come in handy. What are the conditions and effects of Envy?"

"Condition for acquiring Envy skill; Need to fight at least 1000 enemies that are stronger than you, need to have conquered an entire map, need to have the title Embodiment of Leviathan and/or Evil Empress. Effect; boost to the skill holder's stats. Can only be used against an enemy that's stronger than the user. If the user is weaker than the opponent, then activating this skill will double the user's HP, MP, and SP. Power of the skill holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"Finally, what are the conditions and effects for Sloth?"

"Condition for acquiring Sloth skill; Need to have not participated at all in at least 100 battles involving your subordinates, need to have conquered an entire map, need to have the title Embodiment of Belphegor and/or Evil Empress. Effect; boost to the skill holder's stats. The more the user's health is taken down, the more their attack, magic attack, defense, and magic defense rise. Power of the skill holder's subordinates and commanders increases."

"These effects are amazing. What about All-Seeing Demon Eyes?"

Another panel shows up to answer her question, "Conditions for acquiring All-Seeing Demon Eyes skill; need to have at least one eye-related skill, need to have a title that shows you as the embodiment of one of the seven great demons. Effects: multiple Demon Eyes in one skill. Demon Eyes of Hypnosis, Demon Eyes of Paralysis, Demon Eyes of Destruction, Demon Eyes of Magic Drain, Demon Eyes of Knowledge, Demon Eyes of Binding, Demon Eyes of Curse."

"Holy hell. This is seven skills in one. The Demon Eyes of Knowledge should allow me to see someone's stats as long as their detection blocking isn't too high level. The rest of them should speak for themselves as for what they do. And with all the passive boosts to my stats, my HP, SP, and MP are now ten thousand and all of my other stats are over eight thousand. At this point, I'm basically the final boss of this game."

Eris is surprised but happy to see all the power that she's acquired, but that happiness doesn't last. She's suddenly seized by a massive pain in her chest and head. She stumbles backwards and places her hand on the armrest of her throne to keep herself from falling down. Eris grabs the center of her chest as the pain continues to pierce her body, as if someones stabbing into her heart and brain with a hot metal stick. It takes a few moments, but finally the sharp pain comes to a halt.

Eris breathes a sigh of relief but her face turns to one of confusion, "What was that?"

A blue panel appears in front of her face, "Notice: your body has suffered pain in the real world. Would you like to commence a total logout?"

The young vampire presses the yes button and quickly returns from her dream-like state. Once in her physical body, she quickly takes off her headset and examines her body. There's nothing visibly wrong with it, but there is a lingering soreness from the pain she just experienced. There's only one thing that Alexia can think of.

"So that message was right. Tomorrow I'm going to die. I didn't think I'd experience the pain from this world while in the game."