The Veritas Chapter 8; Diligence

One of the heads of the $yndicate would stand at the appointed destination, waiting for the signal to regroup.

Because SIN's presence had already passed by from Temptation when the Fallen Angels were left to their doom, by the time the $yndicate member made it to one of the designated points, there was a Demon Lord already waiting.

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When Belial was finally completely destroyed, because none of his former subordinates came to assist him before his time of death, the very fact that he died and each of them was aware and abandoned him caused a detachment between them due to the degeneration of trustworthiness. In their hearts and minds, each of the remaining Demon Lords were divided by a decay of their own internal soundness. Each of them defecting from each other through the division via Envy brought them all now also suspicion of each other and therefore caused each to act and work independently of one another, even if feigned as though they weren't. Therefore, the new Belials, who were the Demon Lords being Corrupted from the inside out because of how they treated the former Belial before it died, were like him and also no longer concerned with each other due to the decay of the Corruption.

Someone in the distance could be seen coming from the City that was setting itself up all around the mountain.

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The $yndicate Member was moved on further along the mountain alone.

This $yndicate member was different from the other one that was stationed in the area and was sent as support, but was located inside of the hazardous environment of the city of the Demon Lord Greed. "En route to the target point," he said to his subordinates with his method of communication with them, ensuring they knew of his safety and location. "Scoping out coordinates." Looking around, he searched for where his other member was located, so that the two of them could meet up somewhere.

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Innumerable eyes like windows opened up variably across the expanse of the city-like construct. Everything around them became dark due to how much of the land was possessed by Greed before the death of the Sin and the rise of the Demon Lord of Greed. The actual byproduct, itself, was also capable of being possessed again by another entity or come together all on its own, as if someone else picked up the pieces and rebuilt the same concept all at once. The concept, itself, was its own form of threat as a Demon Lord. Now, already, the Spirits were trapped inside of the House; surrounded from every angle by the City.

"Ew, look at Greed's mess..." said the Demon Lord of Sloth, which was the Adhesion that was presently binding the Sin down  as a slave to the Demon Lord by Attachment, alone, "... All over the carpet..." The Demon Lord of Sloth, which was also attached to whatever it touched to restrict them in place, somehow got caught up in Greed's garbage just because the two touched. "How did I even get involved in this...?" Sloth continued to allow Greed to accumulate and for the Waste to build up as an accumulative mass. "... I tried really hard not to get caught up in what anyone else was doing, but now I somehow am involved... I guess there's nothing I can do now..." More things would continue to get stuck to the Demon Lord like flies on sticky paper.

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Lord Charity, the Grand Panda responded obediently, extending a branch from the large body and out over the ignorant $yndicate member as to take possession of his body and move him further ahead whilst remaining attached to the House, like a life line. Everywhere he would go extending out from the actual secured clean land, he would be supported and protected as an extension of the main vine and branch all collectively congregating in the place where the House was rooted, which was also where Titane's body would remain set. This also made it easier to defend the city whilst the spirit of Lord Father went on to secure another large area, thereby claiming two separate lands by association.

The $yndicate member that was stationed at this location was kept up to speed with what was going on in the other locations. He had been informed that there was someone coming for him, but he saw something sprouting up around him that looked like a city, and yet also a large accumulation of mass that was disorderly and piling up. It was a strange construct that didn't look like it was doing anything except getting bigger and bigger in one spot. It seemed like it was hazardous, considering what happened as soon as the city touched it. Naturally, he felt like it was good to report that sort of thing to his teammates.

"I see something," he said with his own method of communication, "It looks like that city you were talking about, but it also looks like something different." He was unsure if he should go touch it or not. "Should I go check it out?"

As time went on and nothing was done about the accumulation off to the side, it grew up to be like a mountain, letting whatever would become attached do so as it would, specifically as an adhesion to anything and everything that would be such. The Demon Lord of Sloth, which was this large adhesion that grew and grew the more things it touched, started to swallow up the land and create a symbiotic bond to it and all that was attached to it; Greed, inclusive. Without doing anything at all, the mass that was attached to the city of the Demon Lord of Greed would become part if it, as well, though only as an ever growing attachment something like a cancer and not as anything helpful to productivity. The processes of Greed started to slow wherever the Demon Lord of Sloth had become attached, and it spread throughout the city slowly, yet somehow swiftly at the same time.

"Do Not Touch It," the voice of Lord Kindness came up on the communicator, "You Will Become Part Of It And Lose Yourself To It. You Will No Longer Be Who You Are, But You Will Be What It Is, Inclusive To Everything That It Has Already Bonded With, Itself." He was aware of this because he had been shadowing Demon Lord Greed and also could trace the Demon Lord of Sloth as an attachment to Greed. "That Is The Demon Lord Of Sloth, Which Attaches Itself To Whatever It Touches And Turns It Into Part Of Itself." Lord Kindness, because he was able to sever himself from it, yet also remain attached to Greed, would not become part of the association, but instead watch it accumulate at this target point whilst Greed was on the move. "We Need To Focus Here. Soon Enough, All Of It Will Consume All Of Greed And It Can Be Destroyed All At Once Altogether." After giving the explanation and analyzing the situation, Lord Kindness would draw Lord Father's attention to this point.

"Lord Father," he signalled, "I've Found Where The Greatest Perversion Is. It's Within The Demon Lord Of Sloth, Which Has Amassed Itself As A Symbiotic Attachment To Many Things, And Is Becoming Indistinguishable." There was no distinction between Sloth and whatever had touched Sloth, inclusive to that section of Greed. "Awaiting Your Commands."

Taking priority in the matter, Lord Charity, who had possession of the latest member that had regrouped, would guide him through the pathway toward where it was known that the other $yndicate member was located. With foresight and oversight by being the 'House' as a collective for all the $yndicate members together, Lord Charity was able to oversee the land where the individual members could not because of their individuality as opposed to the collective mass that was housing them as a singularity altogether as one unit. "I Will Make A Clean Land. I Will Make A Black Root And Then Lord Patience May Burn It Up. Then The Land Will Be Secure And We All May Meet There." With this initiative, Lord Charity extended his branch out into the distance by moving his Piece, the $yndicate member, out into the Field away from the city. Where he was stationed, each of the others was signaled all throughout the line to congregate there at that point. Afterward, the $yndicate member was bid to be held where he was so that everyone could make it to where he was without him moving elsewhere, and so that the extension of the House could be rooted for security.

"Roger that," the $yndicate member who had not regrouped said, turning all of his attention to getting to the rendezvous point. "I'm on my way to the meeting place." Because the spot was made away from the city, it was easy to see and clear for him to make his way to the destination before anything could cut him off or interrupt him. Once he regrouped with the other members, he remained within the sanctuary covered by the clean fire and began to communicate with his associates again. The $yndicate would begin exchanging information between themselves.

The Demon Lord of Sloth, which was still paying attention to everything even if not doing anything about it, suddenly started shifting when it noticed that there was someone attempting to escape, and succeeding. "... Wait..." Sloth called out, stretching itself over the land as an oozing thick liquid something like putty would, "... Don't leave without me...!" Even with everything attached to Sloth, and all of that being carried with it, there was a thin trail left behind the escaping $yndicate member that was able to be traced by the Demon Lord of Sloth. Though it would be trailed slowly, it was still attached, and that meant that Sloth could continue to expand and grow in size and mass and form as a singularity. Swallowing up Greed bit by bit, Sloth would be like an even greater mountain now that was melting over the land, yet also still somehow bubbling up from the core. It had no form nor structure nor foundation outside of the bubbling core, but the mass continued to expand outward and also still rise upward like bread. By Greed's trail, everything would be consumed by Sloth via attachment, and with the $yndicate member's trail, Sloth would be able to swallow up the other part of the city that belonged to them. Then, the entire mountain would be one giant wad of adhesion, waiting patiently for anything to attach itself to it so that it could grow further, yet would not if nothing ever did.

The $yndicate member who now bore the Spirit of Humility closed his eyes and meditated deeply after the sifting of the particles of light fell into place within his pores. His mind rejuvenated, the man took on a more aqueous form once his powers were remembered and poured from him openly like a fountain. He relished in his memories of himself and the Lord Father and smiled softly, pleased with the retention of his own cherished mental mementos returning to him now. That was all he truly desired inside, for without his memories, he felt like he were not the same person.

"Mm..." he uttered in agreement with the will of the Lord Father, finally opening his eyes. By this time, Lord Humility was naught but an aqueous construct whose bones -- which could be seen through his translucent skin -- resembled that of a cell. The nucleus of the cell was the core of the head that extended into the body, but the liquid around him that took the shape of a human-like form was all completely porous, unlike the internal nucleus. With his eye (which were on the nucleus) opened, Lord Humility spake now unto the amnesiac $yndicate member, "Brother. You Have Forgotten Us, Like We Had Once Forgotten Each Other, But In Your Return To Our Presence, You Will Be Made Anew In Your Spirit." Likely, the $yndicate member without his memory could not see nor hear spirits, and if he could, it was probably not as clear as with those who were actually filled with and understanding of the Spirits.

"Before Your Very Eyes, You Have Seen Me Transition From A Man Into A Different State Of Being Altogether," he noted, knowing that the visual happening right before his eyes was probably very jarring without an explanation nor prior understanding, "But Do Not Be Alarmed. I Am The Same As I Was; Still Your Subordinate, Just As The Others Who Have Yet To Reveal Their True Forms Beyond Humanity Before Your Eyes In Your Human State." As long as his mind was confined and his spirit was not set, he was nothing more than a normal human, as the rest of them were. "There Is Latent Power In You Just As With All Of The $yndicate Members," he went on, ensuring to cover certain points of interest along the way, "However To Awaken It, You Must First Find Your Place Among Us And Allow The Spirit To Come Into You And Bring You Into Your Place Here, Which Is Different From What It Was When We Were All Amnesiac Humans." Lord Humility, in his great primordial wisdom, all of which was stripped from him whilst he was a human (which was why his part was to be used until he recovered), would be able to restore him on a cellular level due to the nature of his actual ability -- mastery over Water, which all cells were primordially created of and from.

"I Will Touch You And Transfer My Spirit In You, For It, Unlike The Others, Is Able To Divide Like A Cell, Because Of My Control Over The Waters." As he spoke, he touched the other member on his head with the aqueous form of his giant cell-like body, which would begin to stimulate the cells inside of the body of the amnesiac member specifically through transitive property and also natural permeation. "In You, It Will Rest Only As A Small Cell, But It Will Allow Me To Speak Directly To You, And You Will Hear Me As If You Hear Your Own Thoughts. It Will Also Allow Me Great Control Over Your Body Once I Begin Awakening You From Within." Though the process might have sounded somewhat strange and invasive, it was the reason why Humility was important to allow it to occur rather than fight it because it was difficult to understand or unable to be visibly seen initially. "As Your Spirit Grows, What I Have Placed In You Will Be A Conduit To It, As Electricity Is When Placed In Water, And The Spirit Will Grow To Fill Your Form And Restore Your Memories." After Lord Humility was done explaining, he would divide part of himself into two identical forms, yet still remaining attached to the single nucleus. "I Will Protect You From Inside. Our Brother, Lord Charity, Will Keep Us Protected From The Outside. Lord Patience Will Keep Us Clean And Lord Kindness Will Keep Us Informed. When You Reach Your Potential, You Can Consider It A 'Promotion,' If You Will, To Put That Simply In Human Terms." The $yndicate would become a more masterful unit once each of them took their places in the team and within each others' places among each other.

The amnesiac $yndicate member that hadn't yet been restored of his memories, like his comrades had, was somewhat submissive to what was going on around him, taking it all in with a paralyzing awe -- a great shock. With his mouth hanging ajar just askew, his eyes widened at the sheer capability alone to do something so abnormal so suddenly right before his eyes as if it were possible to him the entire time and only he, himself, was left out of the loop. "... No..." he muttered, raising his hand over his still somewhat agape mouth, as if trying to restrain himself. He shook his head in disbelief.

Puzzled, yet somehow understanding, he stood there listening on and on about what it was that he was his subordinate was saying and actually comprehended its meaning, which was even greater shock. "How can this be...?" he whispered, befuddled by his bewilderment. Yet, he knew what he must do. Hearing on, he began to do as he was told by his superior, Lord Humility, and started to think very deeply. He turned, seeing that Demon Lord Sloth was escaping and cried, "Wait, look! The Demon Lord is getting away." He pointed to the trail that no one was following and told them immediately because no one seemed to be paying any actual attention on it, but focused all their attention on him. "Shouldn't we do something about that, too?" It made sense, considering what was just explained to him. He awaited a unanimous decision.

As soon as Lord Humility was done explaining and contained that this amnesiac $yndicate member was regaining parts of his memory, he did as the Lord Father, of whom the $yndicate member may or may not have been able to clearly hear, and set up a path for him that was in the vacuum of the Spirit of Diligence being left behind in order to retain it for him to follow. It was set up as a long string of watery constructs like extensions of an amoeba stretched out into various similar personified shapes and forms.


Each of the aqueous constructs all bound together at the same root and some linked at the arms stretched and divided and multiplied wherever the Spirit should so have gone all along the way, if it should or would for any reason. "Follow All Of The Water Golems I Have Created For You." They were highly conductive, and therefore would not only pick up on the electrical charges in the air, but also retain them and continuously process them in their nuclei until they were purged and emptied of anything within their vessels. "They Will Take You To The Demon Lord Sloth, And We Will Handle It When We Get To The Next Location." A sifting light that seemed conscious shifted through the connected watery constructs as an electrical charge all the way down the line, only tangibly visible by the presence of the light at the time, wherever it showed up within the 'Alignment.'

As difficult as it was to deal with some of what was said and the sudden shock of it, the $yndicate member did not forget that their primary focus still was to destroy the Demon Lords and did not lose his concentration when dealing with those efforts. "Roger," he said to Lord Humility before taking off as quickly as possible down the line, following the light where it was leading him by his feelings and impulse alone. He would make sense of everything as he went along or afterward when everything was to be explained fully for his own understanding, which he presumed would have him to become like his superiors, as was mentioned.

In spite of how the $yndicate decided to move against the fleeing Demon Lord of Sloth, which inversely would be following behind it as it did not desire for them to do, it would begin to instinctively seek out attachments to serve as obstacles that would prevent them from progressing whilst also allowing the Demon Lord of Sloth to indirectly affix itself to them and snatch them out of place through attachment and consumption. This would disturb the alignment and also lessen the numbers used to form it, and also possibly disturb the balance to a point of being led astray by a broken, unfinished or altered path that kept them from reaching the intended target -- Sloth, itself. There were huge mounds like hills and also long strings of glop like elastic thread stretched out as far as it could go, both obstructing and plucking whatever would touch either. Some mounds even attempted to close them off by piling more and more atop the first mound, and whatever was stuck to the long threads would be drawn into the large mound from which it came, with more tendrils extending out to snatch them and consume them. Sooner or later, the whole chain would be nothing but a giant glob that could not be distinguished, making the alignment and whatever formation there once was meaningless due to being unable to retain a stable foundation.

With Lord Humility's memory restored, he had prior knowledge on a cellular level about how the Demon Lord would maneuver and was already prepared to relinquish sacrificial attachments in order to bind it to a different spot and also be unable to reach the actual trail left behind, yet also from the inside out lead the $yndicate member through the labyrinth of watery cellular constructs that would not be lost because they were too far on the interior for the adhesion of the Sloth to touch and strip. Therefore, the path became clearer before the eyes of the $yndicate member so that he would not divert from it nor be led astray, even if the Sloth obstructed or displaced some of the connected constructs in the alignment, because it wasn't understood how they were connecting nor in exactly what manner.

All the while, like a very intricate network something like a web, the glowing electrical current that surged through the attached vessels would retain its link, yet shift and swerve in several different manners within the constructs. "Follow This Light," Lord Humility, who had power over all the constructs, would speak through the vibrations undulating throughout each of the shapeforms, "I Will Be Setting Up Many More Constructs That Will Be Made Sacrifices So That You May Proceed Without Being Touched." Lord Humility, who was able to both layer and replicate himself indefinitely, could easily upkeep a barrier of vessels around the other member whilst he transitioned, which would both apprehend Sloth and also guide the $yndicate member through the vessels without being seen or being able to be touched. "Simply Follow My Lead, And I Will Get You To The Next Destination Safely." He had a plan to lose Sloth for good and give the entire team an advantage before reaching the next checkpoint.

"Thank you," the $yndicate member said to his superior, careful to follow the light wherever it may go and not lose track of it. "I see how this Demon Lord of Sloth is moving," he went on to say, making notes of his own. "It looks like it only rears up whenever we're getting closer to something we need to get to, but it won't actually do anything if we don't, and only will take what we need to get close to it or what we're presently focusing on." A humble observation, at best, but noteworthy for himself all the same. As long as he followed the conscious light that spoke to him from within the water golems, the man would not adhere to whatever the Demon Lord of Sloth was doing because it wouldn't matter. "Seems like it's all about evasion, just like we're doing." The entire time, the Demon Lord of Sloth had done nothing but run away and get in people's way if attempted to be stopped from running, which exposed its own intentions and what it was attached to, as well.

The $yndicate member paid no mind beyond simple analysis of Sloth to Sloth because at this point, all that it was good for was to look at and see what sort of terrible things it would do and what incurred it to do such things in the first place. "I'm sure if we can find out what makes it move, we can also use that to our advantage any time it does." Hopefully his suggestions were accurate, because he also was still doing what he could to kill the Demon Lord with what he had, even if he wasn't 'restored,' like the other members of the $yndicate. He was still useful as a human, even if only in this manner. He hoped it was of good use as he continued to follow the interior alignment of Lord Humility.

Demon Lord Sloth, realizing that its only hazard to its health was not blocked nor attached so that it would no longer persist, attempted to cut off the progression at the head in whatever direction they were moving at any time with a horde of blob-like mass wiping out the entire area in the direction of progression and taking whatever was present with it. The blocked off path of however many casualties would serve as a great enough mass of an adhesive blockade which anything that should so get involved would be unable to remove itself and also would get further and more deeply involved, thus causing it to coagulate and grow like a cancer until all focus was on the giant blot.

From that point where it stopped and started drawing more things into itself, it also drew more of itself into itself, causing a buildup and a back up like a sewage line, yet all in a rushed manner that caused it to grow instantaneously as swiftly as possible (which was only so fast, even with all the major developments). Eventually, it would swallow up more and more of the area in the spot they attempted to progress, swelling up into a large mountain accumulating as much and as many in the isolated incident as possible in the area of interest.

There was also a powerful attraction that was within that would draw forth even more things into the large ambiguous construct, allowing it a sort of magnetism that stretched it outward more swiftly with a greater momentum. Even so, finding what was attractive took a level of time that only allowed it to occur so fast. Yet, even so, Sloth was attracted to what also was a hazard to it in order to neutralize it completely and keep it from being a hazard any longer, so using all of its built up momentum from running away, it also drew itself closer to the $yndicate member nearly instantaneously with the two repellant forces counteracting and contradicting each other -- both running away and seeking out. The sudden instability caused it to also seek both of those effects that much more swiftly on either end simultaneously, and therefore Sloth's assault was both fierce and violent. It bypassed the other constructs without directly touching them, like a liquid, then suddenly attached to several of them as it neared the $yndicate member before retreating to a safe distance away from him after permeating only so far, still in terror.