Damien was all too familiar with the power of reincarnation.
If harnessed properly, Justeaze's future would be limitless.
Not to mention, she possessed the utterly broken skill Lord of Greed.
Manipulating others' desires, seizing magicules, and dominating minds... this ability was the textbook template for a villain.
"There are some side effects to Lord of Greed's power."
"What side effects?"
"This Ultimate Skill carries the risk of losing control."
Simply put, like Milim's Lord of Wrath Satan, Lord of Greed placed a tremendous burden on its wielder.
The stronger the desire, the greater the power.
That was Violet's description of Lord of Greed.
Moderate desire could motivate a person.
But excess leads to ruin.
Greed beyond one's capacity would inevitably bring calamity and destruction.
"Lord of Hope enhances my ability to purify negative energy."
"With this power, I can, to some extent, mitigate the side effects of Lord of Greed."
This balance was reflected in the angelic wings behind Justeaze.
Twelve wings... six black, six white.
This was Justeaze's optimal state.
Normally, all twelve wings would be white.
But as Lord of Greed strengthened, they would shift: two black, then four black, and finally six black.
It might not sound like much.
But in concrete terms, the enhancement from Lord of Greed was staggering.
Each pair of blackened wings granted Justeaze an additional 10,000,000 magicules.
Even now, with Lord of Greed active, one pair of black wings brought her to 26,000,000 magicules, two pairs to 36,000,000, and three pairs to 46,000,000.
"What happens if you exceed that limit?"
Damien asked, "What about eight black and four white?"
"It doubles!"
Indeed, if Justeaze fully unleashed Lord of Greed's power, her magicules would surge exponentially.
"With four pairs of black wings, my magicules would rise to 92,000,000."
"With six pairs, that's my limit, approaching 200,000,000 magicules."
In other words, with twelve black wings, Justeaze would leap into the Divine Domain, rivaling the power of the Frost Dragon God and the Storm Dragon God.
Hiss…
Hearing Justeaze's explanation, Damien inwardly marveled at how perverse the Seven Deadly Sins' powers were.
Guy's Lord of Pride could replicate any Ultimate Skill he observed.
Velzard's Lord of Envy could downgrade an enemy's Ultimate Skill, absorb the magicule difference, and seize their skill.
Rimuru's Lord of Gluttony could endlessly devour others' magicules and even assist other monsters in soul fusion to achieve True Demon Lord awakening.
Milim's Lord of Wrath granted infinite magic growth when enraged, though at the cost of losing rationality.
And now, Justeaze's Lord of Greed.
Compared to the functional and defensive nature of the Seven Virtues, the Seven Deadly Sins were clearly designed to annihilate opponents.
Targeted suppression, weakening, plundering, destruction... prime candidates for world-ending threats.
"Awakening…"
"So, becoming a Demon Lord requires awakening to reach that realm?"
Unlike Justeaze, who was sharing her growth with Damien, Albis and Suphia were dumbfounded by the spectacle before them.
The method of Demon Lord awakening was largely unknown on the Central World.
Or rather, no one realized that "Demon Lord" was not just a title but a realm.
This was likely due to Guy and Rudra suppressing the information.
True Demon Lords who achieved awakening wouldn't leak such details either.
Over time, this led to the current state where three of the Ten Great Demon Lords were not awakened.
As for Albis and Suphia…
Not to mention them... even their superior, Carrion, likely didn't know how to awaken.
The souls of over ten thousand humans.
The condition seemed simple but was incredibly troublesome.
Those ten thousand had to be personally killed by a Demon Lord Seed.
Moreover, after killing, there was no guarantee the souls would be obtained, further increasing the ratio of deaths to harvested souls.
Barring outliers like the original Rimuru, a typical Demon Lord Seed would need to slaughter over a million humans to have a chance at that realm.
And even then, there was no guarantee of acquiring an Ultimate Skill during awakening.
"This amount of magicules…"
"There has to be a limit to this madness, right?"
Suphia didn't fully grasp what a True Demon Lord meant, but she could feel the overwhelming magical pressure from Justeaze.
Crossing the 1,000,000 magicule threshold already marked a qualitative leap in magic power.
That alone was terrifying.
Yet Justeaze had skipped two levels entirely.
Her Calamity Domain magicule quality gave the two women the illusion of facing the entire world, sapping any will to resist.
Compared to Justeaze, their superior Carrion seemed no better than an ant!
"No, I can't think like that!"
Suphia quickly dispelled such disloyal thoughts. "Given the chance, Lord Carrion could surely reach that realm."
The Three Beastketeers had grown up alongside Carrion.
Their bond wasn't just that of superior and subordinate but of family, like siblings.
No matter how strong the enemy, they wouldn't bow so easily... that would be tantamount to betrayal.
"Impressive resolve."
As if hearing Suphia's thoughts, Damien nodded approvingly. "Now, as per your earlier suggestion, I'll take you both as prisoners. Any objections?"
"This…"
Albis felt a bitter pang in her heart.
She wanted to refuse.
But Justeaze stood nearby, her gem-like red eyes smiling yet hiding a deadly intent.
If either woman said "no," Justeaze would undoubtedly make them taste the torment of endless reincarnation!
'Terrifying!'
'So terrifying!'
Suphia's hair stood on end, nearly triggering a feline stress response.
"Please… treat them kindly…"
Albis didn't dare voice further objections. The strength on Damien's side was simply too overwhelming.
Forget Treyni... just the fleeting glimpse of Artoria in the projection and Rimuru wielding the Starflame were far beyond what the Eurazania could provoke.
Albis couldn't judge whether they were stronger or weaker than Justeaze.
But their power has clearly reached the level of the Demon Lord.
***
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