The power of Maya's flames already seemed incredible, even with her current body in the Immortal Realm, but her power grows significantly after consuming those cursed fruits.
Still, as Sloth mentioned, her power still doesn't resemble that of someone from the Cosmic Realm, let alone Tyrion's power level before he initiated the profane ritual.
And as the cruel Naga King seems poised to emerge from that grotesque sea of tentacles more powerful than ever, the Sins quickly try to find other ways to increase their power.
Seeing the incredible potential of the rotten fruits from the sacred tree, Greed can't help but look at Nea with that golden gleam in her eyes. "Do you have more of those fruits?"
Before Nea can answer, l.u.s.t scolds Greed. "And who would eat the fruits, you fool!! Look at Maya; she can't eat even one more of those without literally exploding."
Greed doesn't consider asking Claire to eat one of those fruits, but she looks directly at Naomi. "I thought Gluttony's host could eat anything."
"Don't even think about it!" Gluttony quickly steps in front of Claire, creating a strange scene as her body is even smaller than Maya's, making her look like a short teenager.
"Can't you absorb the energy from the fruits and turn it into your own power?" Envy asks.
"Probably, but it's too dangerous to add such unstable energy along with the already unstable energy of the b.l.o.o.d.y Rose... Claire would die before I could do anything." Gluttony explains.
Lucien still knows very little about Greed and Gluttony, but the way both selfish Sins protect his sisters makes him somewhat fond of them.
But of course, the way they are always willing to sacrifice everyone else makes him want to punish them as he did with Envy so many times.
He doesn't really have time to think about such things now, so he returns to trying to find a solution to stop Tyrion.
Fighting with everything they have is still the plan, but if there was anything else they could do...
While the Sins debate over it, Lucien feels his power rapidly rising. He looks to the side and sees Pride floating in the air, gazing towards Crystal City.
The battle between the Mermaids and Nagas has already ended, the blood of hundreds of thousands of Naga soldiers staining the red sea around the city.
Half of the Naga army is still alive, some loyal to Mira and the others having surrendered when Tyrion killed Tanu.
Now that they no longer need to fight, the entire Mermaid army looks up to the sky, trying to send the power of the sinful aura back to the Sins, an effort to strengthen them in the fight against Tyrion.
And it is working, well, not so much for Lucien, but the bodies of Pride and Eve glow with a powerful white aura.
Both the powers of l.u.s.t and Pride have similar effects on others, but while Eve leads the ma.s.ses, empowering them as they follow her, Lucien has a more intimate connection with a select group of women whom he can touch.
The aura created by the union of the Sins' powers served to strengthen the Mermaid army with the best of all seven pairs, but now that the battle is over, Pride once again receives the greatest benefit from the ma.s.ses.
While all the Mermaids around look at Eve and Lucien in the same way they look at Nea, Eve and Pride are the ones generating the most demonic energy.
Lucien could generate much more demonic energy if those Mermaids weren't so focused on the enemy and instead on his body, but it's hard to think of pleasure when the enemy has not yet been defeated.
Pride understands that better than anyone, and in a way, she feels a little guilty, a situation that is unprecedented.
It's not that Pride considers herself unworthy of sharing the respect of those Mermaids with Eve, but she knows that Lucien was the main pillar in the creation of the sinful aura.
So, Pride wishes that Lucien could share in the same amount of demonic energy she is gaining now; that would be fair.
And such a thought leaves Pride's emotions in a mess; she doesn't even like sharing the crown with Eve, but in a way, it feels so right to have Lucien by her side in that moment.
It is precisely this feeling that makes her extend her hand to him, a simple act that fills Lucien with great happiness.
"We are fine, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d can't win," Pride comments as she tightly holds Lucien's hand.
Lucien smiles as he uses his finger to caress Pride's hand. "Not with you by my side."
The act of holding Lucien's hand is not only to show everyone that they are together, but Pride also tries to transfer some of her demonic energy to him.
It works, and he feels his reserves of energy increasing more rapidly, although such a method would be several times more effective if Pride had Lucien's tattoo and a soul contract with him.
Either way, Lucien is grateful to Pride for wanting to share her power, but before he can thank her, he feels a surge of power erupting within him.
"How?" Lucien becomes confused, and even l.u.s.t notices that power at the same time as him.
But then he realizes that the power is very familiar, in fact, part of it has been within him for almost a year since he met Mia.
"???" Another surge of power emanates from him, followed by another and several more.
Lucien has experienced something similar during the battle against Alexa, so he looks down and sees his wives holding hands and closing their eyes on a large ice platform.
"They did it again!" l.u.s.t exclaims as she feels all that power flowing through Lucien's body, the power of each of his wives.
The tattoo of each of the girls is s.h.i.+ning brightly as they literally transfer their energies to Lucien.
They did that unintentionally during his battle against Alexa because they really wanted to help him but couldn't do it directly.
After that event, l.u.s.t tried several times to make the girls replicate the mysterious ability, but all attempts failed. Until now.
Lucien's eyes glow with intense purple light as he looks at his wives with a loving and grateful expression.
All the time he and the Sins were discussing in front of the green barrier, his wives were right below, listening to everything and thinking of ways to help him.
The idea of trying to use that method was Ca.s.sidy's, who was also the first to succeed, but Mia and the other girls quickly caught up.
And now, almost all the girls with Lucien's tattoo are lending their power to him, which makes his aura as powerful as Maya's, boosted by three cursed fruits.
Everyone around is impressed, including the Sins. But Nea is the first to speak. "Incredible!"
"Truly incredible..." Maya can feel Lucien's aura surpa.s.sing hers. Then she quickly asks, "How?"
Lucien points to his wives. "They are lending me their power."
"Technically, it's the power you gave them, so..." Envy comments in her usual provocative tone.
"What matters is that it's working." Sloth responds. "It doesn't give us more power overall, but it focuses our strengths on Lucien."
"And with our strengths focused on Lucien and Maya, it will be much easier to defeat Tyrion, no matter how much dark mana he generates." l.u.s.t states confidently.
Pride can't help but feel a bitter taste in her mouth. Just a second ago, she almost became the center of attention, but Lucien surpa.s.sed her once again.
Nevertheless, he doesn't let go of her hand. And before Pride realizes it, he raises their joined hands and smiles confidently. "We will make it together, all of us."