Sin's Game (2)

"Huh? The Sin's Game? What's that?" asked Alex, addressing Lilia.

However, Lilia didn't respond to him; it looked as if she didn't even hear him.

"Hey, Lilia, are you okay?" asked Alex again, while shaking her.

His action finally drew Lilia's attention, and she, in turn, grabbed him by the shoulders and told him while shaking him too:

"Where's the artifact? You have to return it to where you found it quickly," said Lilia, nervous, and in a rushed tone

Seeing that she had no intention of calming down, Alex replied while trying to free himself from her vice-like grip, "That's impossible. As I told you, I've already merged with it, and I have no idea how to get rid of it."

Finally, he managed to free himself from Lilia and asked her, "But tell me, you seem to know something about this artifact. Care to explain what you know?"

"I... sigh, it's not really the Lust Artifact that I know about, but rather the purpose of this artifact and any other artifact of its kind. That's why I'm telling you that it's imperative for you to get rid of it. But... sigh, apparently, it's no longer possible."

"The Lust Artifact? Its purpose? What are you talking about?" asked Alex with a dumbfounded expression. The direction their conversation was taking was quite different from what he imagined it would take when he decided to speak to Lilia about the artifact. In his head, if she was ever going to throw a tantrum, it would have been about something completely different.

"Don't you remember having a conversation with the Goddess of Lust when you merged with the artifact?" Lilia finally asked, beginning to calm down from her agitation.

"Goddess of Lust? Is there really such a god?" Alex asked cautiously.

"You don't know about the Goddess of Lust?" Lilia asked for confirmation, her face looking exasperated.

"You know very well I'm not interested in anything related to the divine," Alex said firmly.

"I know, but you should at least know about some gods, right?" Lilia asked, a little hopeful. However, seeing Alex's bleak face, her hopes crashed down.

'He really does hate the gods,' Lilia thought, sighing inwardly. She knew that Alex hated the gods since he was a child because of his trash talent. And with all the incidents that followed, it wasn't surprising that his hatred for the gods had grown even stronger. But she thought that he would at least know about some of them, but alas.

"Well, when someone comes into possession of such an artifact, they usually have some sort of interview with the god or goddess from whom the artifact's powers come. I don't know why that wasn't the case for you. However, what I can tell you is that by using this artifact, you've gotten yourself into big trouble. Forget about reaching level 4 in a week. You need to become much stronger much faster if you want-"

"Wait, wait, wait... This is all too much at once. And by the way, how do you know all of this?" Asked Alex, cutting off Lilia.

Hearing his question, Lilia used her hands to affectionately hold both of Alex's hands while saying in a sorry tone, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you everything I know yet. There's something stopping me from talking about some things. What I can tell you, though, is that you're in danger. Not just you, but we're all in danger from the moment you used the Lust Artifact. That's why I'm telling you that you need to become stronger very quickly."

"Hmm... So, if I understand what you're saying, we're all in danger, right?"

"Yes."

"But in danger from whom? Who would want to harm us?"

"Those who possess artifacts similar to yours."

"And why is that, and what is this 'Sin's Game' that you mentioned earlier?"

"Sigh, that's why you should have had a meeting with the Goddess of Lust to explain everything in detail," Lilia said, holding her head and sensing a massive headache coming on.

"In short, there are other artifacts like yours all over the world, and these artifacts stem from the seven deadly sins, like your Lust Artifact. Like yours, the other artifacts grant power to those who wield them."

"I see," said Alex, trying to wrap his head around all the things Lilia was saying.

"But I still don't understand why I would be in danger just by possessing the Lust Artifact."

"Because being in possession of an artifact enrolls you in the Sin's Game. It's a game in which those who have artifacts like yours kill each other."