On a different side of the world, in the Luo Conglomerate's Headquarters—located within the technological fortress of Canih—something interesting was happening.
Gallows sat in his sprawling office, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose as he leisurely reviewed documents. Just then, a holographic screen with an incoming call request popped up in front of him. He paused his movements and looked up.
"... Xiao Yue?... Answer."
The screen flickered, and Luo Yue appeared. "Xiao Yue, what's the issue?". Her indifferent expression didn't change as she spoke. "Reporting to Master, Lady Vespera—"
Suddenly, the heavy sandalwood doors swung open with a loud *Bang!*.
Gallows looked up, and his expression immediately soured. ".... What the hell is wrong with you?! You took the door clean off its hinges!!"
A booming laugh rang out as a woman's voice replied, "Shut up! You love your big sister!"
At that, Gallows scowled. In strode a woman clad in moon-white brocade and gold-embroidered long robes, her wide sleeves fluttering with every slight movement. A stiff mandarin collar edged with gold framed her slender neck, while her cascading blood-red hair was styled up and secured with a golden headdress. She wore a gold-plated corset belt that cinched her waist, with gold filigree resembling dragon scales and sun-rays crawling up her ribs. Golden nail guards etched with holy runes adorned all ten fingers, and clutched in her right hand was a coral and gold-beaded rosary with a single teardrop shaped ruby. Her vermillion, drooping phoenix eyes held flecks of gold, her pupils dilating upon seeing her younger brother. A grin spread across her carefully made-up face, displaying long canines and making her look menacing.
This was Longxiao Luo Vespera, and her usual fatigue seemed to lessen as she sauntered toward her brother. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the entire building—and several others surrounding it—grew hot and blindingly bright, even with the air conditioning turned up to the maximum! Gallows, however, didn't look perturbed in the slightest.
He disconnected the call with Luo Yue and said coldly, "Your Aura is leaking out."
Vespera froze, then simply lifted her hand from her waist upward. Immediately, the suffocating heat vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"Little brother~! I missed you!!"
Gallows set his documents aside and watched her. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be dispatching priests and watching for suspicious activities?"
Behind her followed two priests. One had long ears, stood at six feet eight inches tall, and possessed golden, waist-length hair with ocean-blue eyes lowered toward his clasped hands. The other was a woman with black, neck-length hair and amber, serpent-like eyes, standing at a height of five feet eight inches. Both moved almost soundlessly, light gauze covering their faces. Together, they carried a large, black, cross-shaped box covered in white silk.
Gallows' eyes narrowed.
"Well, we've been a bit tied up," Vespera said. Gallows lifted an eyebrow while the tall redhead plopped down rather ungracefully into an armchair. "What do you mean, 'tied up'?". She waved at the priests, and they set down the box gently.
"Well, the Seven Princes are moving slowly for some reason. I believe they are searching for the Vessel of Darkness. Why? I have no idea, but it can't be good..."
The female priest made a swift set of hand gestures, and a small portal opened. She extracted a five-clawed, golden dragon-embroidered handkerchief and presented it to Vespera, who casually took it and dabbed away a few beads of sweat.
Gallows frowned. "... According to the Hagia Graith, the Seven Princes are the lackeys of the Darkness. Could it be they know the God Fragment has descended and are trying to resurrect it?"
Vespera stretched. "That's what I thought too, and that's why I'm back here. However, I feel that's not the only reason they're searching for the Vessel of Darkness."
"What is your hypothesis?"
Vespera chuckled. "What if they want to forge a Contract with the God Fragment?"
There was a dead silence. Gallows' face paled, his eyes snapping instantly to the priests.
"Don't worry, brother. They're deaf."
Gallows hummed, his expression complicated. "That's a terrible thing to contemplate..."
Vespera threw her head back and laughed for a brief moment. The sound was forced, and when it stopped, the deep exhaustion on her face became evident once more.
"Very terrible. That's why I'm thinking of purging the Seven Princes and their affiliates."
Gallows leaned back in his chair. "You say this like it's going to be easy."
Vespera chuckled darkly. "Precisely because it's not going to be easy is why I want to do it. At the very least, we can kill three of them as a warning, then continue our search for the Vessel of Darkness in peace."
"... What's the time limit? We can't spend too much time on those fiends, lest we give the Darkness time to grow in strength."
Vespera stretched lazily while humming an indistinct tune. "Two years at least, and four at most. That's considering the power vacuum a purge will bring, and the time needed to stabilize everything afterward."
Gallows looked thoughtful, falling into a silence that lasted a full minute. "... That's... stressful. Hmmm... Alright. That could work, actually. But which of the Seven Princes do we deal with?"
"That's exactly what I'm here for! I'm thinking the Princes of Lust, Sloth, and Greed..."
Gallows' eyes twitched; he desperately wanted to kick his elder sister. He rubbed his temples and removed his glasses. "Are you crazy? Greed? Lust?! Sloth is manageable since they don't hold many contracts with influential people, making them easier to handle. But GREED? LUST? Are we talking about the same entities, or am I just high?"
Vespera sighed. "Would you rather deal with Wrath? Pride? Gluttony? Envy?"
Gallows slammed a hand onto his mahogany desk, ready to shout his disagreement, when Vespera cut him off.
"Besides, we can curb their influence in the world. They have grown too powerful over the years and have begun to act out. The Faith of Light can purge them to gain more prestige and followers under the banner of a crusade. After all, did the Lord not leave them be specifically so they could be used to cultivate the Faith? If they're hindering the work of the Lord, we can't keep all of them around. So, let's get rid of the weaker ones first."
Gallows drummed his fingers on the table, deep in thought.
"Why Sloth, though? I understand Lust and Greed, since their influence has grown over the past centuries. They're based in Septentrion and Vrynshire—two massive continents with deeply entrenched roots in commercial and political powerhouses, dominating both legal and illegal systems. But why purge Sloth?"
Vespera closed her eyes. "I'm uneasy about the Prince of Sloth. For one of those fiends to be so low-key is suspicious. I am also not one to tolerate a speck of dust in my eyes."
She paused, then added, "If anything, we have a Vessel and a Pope, both of whom possess Dragon's Blood. Do you honestly think we can't take them? We'll suppress them little by little and stabilize the global situation in as little time as possible. And while doing that, we'll keep an eye out for the Vessel of Darkness. It's just a change in the original plan, but we can still pull it off."
She turned to look at her brother, who stared right back. They locked eyes for a long moment before Gallows finally sighed.
"Alright. I will dispatch the Luo Yǐng Weì to monitor for suspicious activity while Xiao Yue supervises them. You can concentrate all your resources on those fiends."
Vespera smiled—a tired, yet somehow cold smile.
"Good."