The Zodiac Empire

Chapter 19 - Visit From a Virtue

Naito pondered on that for a moment. He imagined if he, as king of the Zodiac Empire were to succumb to whatever darkness lay buried beneath his own heart. Would this be enough of a spark to cause his entire empire to fall as well, under his own rule? Thinking of it this way, it made sense why Humility sought him out, as well as Benevolence selecting Silver. "I get the gist of why I need to be specifically involved in this spiritual war, but I have enough on my plate right now without any of this."

"I am no fool, child, I am fully aware of your own personal goal. Worry not, the next mission I have for you shouldn't interfere with your journey."

"And what's that?" he asked.

"Do you remember the obelisk you encountered in Tirdipsowl?"

Naito shuddered. "I wish I didn't...."

"That was not just any obelisk. It was one of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Naito blinked. "That...was a living thing?"

"There is another one in the jungle at the end of Noheg. Here is my humble request: find this Sin, and destroy it." Humility said, straight to the point.

Naito stepped, or, floated back. "Hey hey hey...you can't be serious. You were watching over us in Tirdipsowl, weren't you? We could hardly get through just a few Moltrogks, and that obelisk, or Sin, or whatever, it mentally tortured us! There's no way we can go through that again!"

"So, you decline?"

"Yeah I decline! How would we even destroy it, anyway? What if we the Moltrogks try to kill us, are you going to come and save us? Would destroying the obelisk even kill the Sin? What if some demon or something crazy emerges from it and eats our souls?!" Naito breathed heavily, his heart racing in his chest.

"Your fear is natural, child. Still, I hope that you will change your mind. If you do complete my request, I promise that I will make you a heavenly knight."

"May I go now?"

"First, allow me to bestow upon you a gift. Consider it your reward." Humility rose from the throne and stepped towards Naito. It lifted its front legs up and pressed them into Naito's chest.

"Hey, what are you..." Naito's body began to glow with the violet light. A cool, peaceful sensation washed over him.

"That'll do." Humility lowered its hooves.

Naito's body stopped glowing. He felt renewed and fresh, as if he had taken a good, long shower. "I don't look any different tho..." he said, inspecting himself. "Did you really give me anything?"

"If your heart is true, my light will radiate within you."

"And that means...?"

"To put into terms a child can understand," the virtue said, making Naito wonder if it wanted to tick him off, "I increased the virtue of your Fruit towards my path. Now, the humble state of your heart may spread to those around you. This essentially allows you to be the coolant to any heated argument, defusing the situation and bringing everyone to a consensus." Humility explained.

"Whoa, for real?" Naito blinked; that was quite impressive. He could name a million times in his life where that would've been great to have. "So, I can just prevent any argument? And this works on anybody?"