It had been a while since that battle and quickly after that, the existence of the sins had been acknowledged as 'normal', in an official manner that is but still, it didn't feel like it was a threat anymore.
Some still held their grudges but most had always felt somewhat indifferent, many embarked on extermination missions in the first place because of how the sins were viewed, the last generation had been a long time ago but their marks had been left behind even if the former sins themselves were mostly forgotten.
Those who felt like it was a pointless endeavor just moved on and started doing something else, the heroine had only ever wanted things to strike into a pulp and thus didn't care much about what was happening, the other hero didn't want to shake the anthill, this was the status quo and he would rather preserve it.
Gregory was still keen on getting his revenge but the fact that the mere image of Lust had frozen him in place and had almost gotten him killed by someone leagues beneath her didn't exactly made him feel like it was something he could truly accomplish.
Laura and Molarine had agreed to help because it had seemed like the right thing to do at the moment but it no longer was, they found something else to do.
Aliara was left confused by how things turned out, the mysterious compass only pointed toward the two women so she went along for the ride even if it didn't seem very productive, she couldn't believe her life was reduced to following a suspicious tool given to her by an even more suspicious man.
The champions were ones to follow the will of their king and thus, they just went back to their usual routines, even if they were down one member, word that a certain iron necromancer was still alive made it to their ears however, one year after it all went down.
They kept an eye open for Narik.
As for Iustus, he had been surprisingly fine after actually dying against Occult, his broken bones had all been in place and without any cracks in them, for the intense beating he had received, this outcome wasn't so bad at all but the way the situation changed wasn't exactly to his liking.
Unlike the other, whose hunting of the sins had been out of their free will and own conscience, he had been thrusted in it by none other than one of the major forces of this world, the system.
He couldn't tell whether his animosity toward Occult was driving him or if the title the system had given him was making him think that way but exterminating the sins was all he had in his mind, especially the dragon.
A long time had passed, almost three years and only now did he finally started getting a grasp on his powers, he had bled and exhausted himself many times in his attempts to consciously use his powers, even if it was nowhere near as impressive as when they activated on their own.
Meaning that even then, he was nowhere near even scratching the draconic sin, it frustrated him to no end but he had heard of the other lesser sins from the others, they were nowhere near as powerful as Occult, some barely having any combat abilities, Iustus knew that with his pitiful powers at the moment, that even then he would struggle against all odds to bring down an enemy that was, by the standards of the sins, weak.
He was seeing no progress in his powers however and the usual way of gaining strength through the system, collecting XP, was proving to be fruitless, the system had given him this title and it was clearly wanting him to follow the lead, do as he was suggested.
It seemed like the only way to get more powerful was to face against those with sin titles.
He walked up to a nearby pond, he had secluded himself to the wilderness, pushed by a thought that hadn't come from him, the title was even whispering things in his ears now.
'This thing is a parasite...' he thought as he washed his face with the cold water, unbelievably cold water, it was just above freezing temperatures outside.
Indeed, it was time for winter and this one seemed to be preparing to be an especially excruciating one, it had been a while since more than a single sun had showed up in the sky and those had been here had been dim, sending down weak sunlight.
Why it didn't seem like night during the day was something Iustus had no clue about, he was just a peasant to the root after all.
As the ripples in the water cleared, he saw himself, he hadn't paid much attention but he had grown, no one could decently call him a boy anymore, he had a thick beard on his face and 'long' hair, although it looked more like they had grown in denseness.
Iustus stood up, heaving a heavy sigh, he saw his warm breath spreading in front of him.
What had been the thought that had pushed him into hiding again? He struggled to remember for a few moments, these last few years had felt like a sudden rush.
"Ah yes..." he muttered to himself, his voice rough after not speaking regularly for so long, he coughed a few times as he remembered the words that had been whispered into his ear, now that he thought about it, it hadn't felt like it had come from inside of his head, not like it had been the system speaking.
He looked over his shoulder, almost expecting to see someone or something, just staring at him while being centimeters away from his face but there was nothing.
"Pride will kill you" he repeated absentmindedly, this was what he had been told, that Pride would eliminate him.
The mountainous woman had been gathering up people to pray for her, that was another piece of knowlegde Iustus felt like had just appeared in his brain, he hadn't left his hiding spot at all, he couldn't have possibly heard of it from anyone.
'She would probably see me as an enemy to her ascension due to my title...' he thought as he rubbed his temples, he felt had headache coming.
He slapped his own face to stir himself awake and focus.
'I need to track down the lesser sins' he focused on this thought as he packed anything he could need, making sure to wear something that would conceal his face and appearance before walking out of here.
It was time to work.