Everything became trapped in emptiness; the only beings that remained were humans, afflicted by all diseases, so old that their bodies threatened to fall apart, yet denied the dignity of dying or living.

There were no more plants, animals, sky, planets, or even a universe. Only humans existed, in an infinite state of sickly coma. They floated in the air, with no ground to rest upon. Wait, no...

There was a vast platform too, made of stone, extending for kilometres, where several humans were gathered. Eight of them had been saved from this disaster because of a book, granted to them by an entity. The others... well... they caused this disaster. But do not judge them; after all, they are... the Deceived.

It's confusing, I know, but before I explain what happened, I must show you who caused it. Let's rewind a bit, just a few minutes before the whole universe collapsed.

In a hidden cave deep within the Earth, there were twenty tables, each with a chair, and above each table was a sphere. At the centre, there was a girl, between 7 to 9 years old, with long, straight black hair, dressed in a pure white dress that resembled a nightgown, and she was barefoot. However, what was most intriguing were her eyes; she had heterochromia, her right eye being white and the left one black.

The young girl wore a serious and sad expression. As she walked, she sat at one of the tables, the one with a sphere of white light.

"I came here for you..." the girl whispered to herself, as the person she referred to was no longer there. Alone, just her and the emptiness of the cave. You may wonder what the story of this girl is? Well, at some point, you will find out, but not now, as I said. The answer now is who, not why.

The young child then waited; it was all she had left to do. I wish I could say the cave was silent, but that would be a lie, as there was a leaky faucet dripping there, probably since the world began. Wherever it dripped, there was a puddle. She would never look at it; she couldn't bear to see her own reflection.

Reflection reminded her, memories saddened her, sadness made her feel alone, loneliness brought nostalgia, and nostalgia... strengthened her hope.

She then tried to focus on staying attentive. Just staring at the sphere before her until someone new appeared in that place. After a few seconds, someone finally arrived. In the center of the tables, a white light appeared, slowly shaping into a man, and when the light dissipated, there was a second person there.

The man was Asian, wearing a royal-looking male robe, had long brown hair, and his skin was somewhat darker. He had a serious expression, was muscular, and atop his head were horns that formed a crown.

"Child. My chair. Tell me, what is it?" The unknown one ordered with impressive authority and arrogance, clear as the sun; to him, she was nothing, like a molecule that doesn't interfere in the path of a beast. However, the girl was already tired of everything and wanted something more than that. She wanted to know much more about who the others were.

"Your name." the girl calmly spoke to the man. He slightly lowered his head, staring at her, questioning how she dared.

"Excuse me?"

"What is your name?"

"I believe that is of no interest to someone like you..."

"I'am asking so it is... we will spend the rest of eternity together. If that's true, I want to know who I'll be living with. So, what is your name? And what are you seeking to destroy?"

The man hesitated for a few more seconds until, feeling extremely uncomfortable, he replied, "My name is Uomen, and I seek to destroy love."

"Why love?"

"You are very insolent. Did you know that?" The girl gave a light smile and said nothing; Uomen understood that she wouldn't back down from her question. "Love took away all my power and killed someone who didn't deserve to die."

"That is enough. Your virtue is the pink one; you may sit and wait for the others." As requested, Uomen walked toward the table where the pink sphere was and sat down.

The two then waited and waited until the third person arrived. Again, a white light appeared in the center and took the shape of a woman. She wore a yellow nun's habit, the hem of her skirt infested with stars. She was white and appeared to be in her thirties, although her face looked younger.

The first thing the woman noticed when she appeared was her own clothes; she broke into an extremely joyful smile and twirled around.

"Yellow, I feel so alive! This was exactly what I wanted, thank you, Lily." The nun then looked around, first spotting Uomen. She started to walk toward him, but the man simply raised his hand, clearly indicating he had no desire to chat. Understanding the message, the woman searched for someone else in the hall and finally spotted the small child. "Hi, my darling, could you tell me where is it the virtue of..."

"What's your name? And what do you seek to destroy?" asked the child promptly. She was taken aback but remained unfazed.

"Of course, my manners. My name is Mordame, and I seek the virtue of life."

"Your virtue is the red one ; you may take a seat." With her smile back on her face, Mordame took her place by her red sphere.

The three waited until the fourth arrived. A young girl, seemingly 18 years old, appeared. She had a massive ponytail that fell to her feet, an excessive amount of makeup on her face, teeth extremely sharp like a shark's, and was dressed in a leather jacket, ripped jeans, boots, fingerless gloves, and oversized, incredibly sharp fake nails.

"AHHHH, it feels so good to be free..." the woman laughed in an outrageous, powerful way. She then began to sniff as if smelling something, and her eyes immediately locked onto the girl. "Hey, hey, little girl, do you want to play with me? I know some really fun games..." She piqued the girl's curiosity, but she was not one to trust easily, so instead of agreeing, she asked.

"What kind of game?"

"Arm Breaking, what do you think?"

"The correct term is arm wrestling" the girl responded. The woman laughed even more, feeling excitement taking over her being, sensing her beast wanting to emerge.

"No, no, little girl, the game I play is called arm breaking, and whoever breaks the other's arm gets to keep it as a souvenir."

"Name. Target."

"My name is Rhoj, and I came here to kill justice."

"Why justice?" Again, she laughed as if hearing jokes only she understood.

"Because it's boring, confusing, and unfair."

"Fool..." grumbled Mordame, but Rhoj heard her.

"What did you say, old lady?"

"Justice will never be unfair, you fool. It's the people who misuse justice who are unjust. Life is what's unfair for not valuing those humans who deserve it. It's so obvious; God must have squished your brain when he created you."

"WHAT? OBVIOUS? LISTEN HERE, SNOB, HOW CAN IT BE OBVIOUS IF I DON'T KNOW?"

"That's enough." The child spoke up. The two women turned to her and stared. "Rhoj, your virtue is the blue one; you can take a seat."

The four waited for the fifth to arrive. The next came in a medieval tone, a young woman with wavy black hair, dressed in medieval armor but without any weapon in her hands.

"How beautiful you are..."Rhoj commented admiringly. Unable to contain herself, she stood up from her chair and approached the soldier. " You resemble Snow White... I want to see you bleed" In a leap, the crazed one lunged at the rookie, and with just one punch, Rhoj was thrown back once again.

"You want to see me bleed? I'm sorry, but you're too late. Now can you tell me where I can find the virtue of youth?"

"To know your virtue, dear..." Mordame replied, watching amused as Rhoj was defeated. "...you first have to answer a question from that little child over there."

The soldier turned to the girl, who had words written above her, made with shadow: NAME. VIRTUE.

"Do I need to answer?" she asked the child, but the girl just continued to stare at her, waiting. The soldier huffed and replied. "My name is Ygritte and I'm after the virtue of Youth."

"And why is it Youth?"

"Because it is cruel, wicked, cowardly, and stupid. Because of it, I have no future."

"Your virtue is the purple one; you may take a seat."

The five waited until the sixth arrived. This time, there was no one who remained neutral, for the being that appeared in the center was a puppet, a living ventriloquist dummy, the toy moved and behaved just like a human.

Its head began to spin three hundred and sixty degrees, assessing the entire room while the group stared at it in disbelief.

"Incredible." Mordame whispered; it was beautiful and extremely interesting, the complete opposite of Uomen's thoughts, as he found the toy repulsive and strange, watching with a certain disgust at the fact that it moved. Rhoj couldn't stop laughing, completely thrilled, while Ygritte remained still as she observed it.

The toy then set its eyes on the writings in shadows above the girl's head. The pair observed each other for a time, both feeling a certain connection.

"My name is Chin... " the toy replied, bowing to the child, its voice high-pitched and screechy, as if it were unnatural.

"Tell me, Chin, were you a doll before too?"

"Made and used. Obviously, I didn't have life back then; this is the first time I can move."

"And what virtue are you after, Chin? And why?" The girl stared at him, extremely intrigued. She knew it wasn't one of the most unbelievable things she had seen, but it didn't lessen how interesting it was.

"I plan to kill goodness, my friend. " His first answer remained in that fine, childlike voice, until his second response took on a more mature, heavy, normal, and serious tone. "I need to save humanity from this plague."

"Your virtue is that colored sphere right there; you can take a seat." Bowing to her, one last time, Chin moved toward his seat. The six waited for the seventh to arrive. And well, if Chin was something that existed, then this newcomer was certainly not; it resembled an octopus in a humanoid body, with six tentacles acting as legs and two as arms, its thick, swollen head adorned with two gigantic black pupils.

Uomen huffed:

"More and more aberrations keep appearing around here."

"Sir, I recommend you look at your own head... "Ygritte replied, referring to his crown of horns. "...Poor man, your wife must not have been very faithful."

"So many insolence's in one day. I can tolerate an irritating brat, an annoying psychopath, an irritating doll, an annoying nun, even this aberration. But an irritating woman who wants to pretend to be a man? That is outrageous to me."

"Take back what you just said." The soldier challenged, standing up from her chair and walking toward the man. "Say again what you just said..."

"Why? In addition to being a woman, are u also stupid? What a poor existence you have." Ygritte tried to punch him, but the man simply caught her fist mid-air. With a swift movement of his arm, the Japanese man threw the French woman to the ground. "If you attack me one more time, I'll kill you, woman."

'Finally, someone with overwhelming power... " The creature said as it approached Uomen.

"Who gave you permission to speak to me, monster?"

"Monster? No, no, no. I am a human like you, always have been. We are incredible beings, don't you think? We have the power to build buildings, cars, weapons, and many other things. We are the best race that exists."

"Hm... that's positive thinking. In any case, answer those two questions and take a seat."

"Well... you can call me Octo. I came to eliminate the lie."

"That virtue doesn't exist." replied the girl as she played with her hair while waiting. " You meant to say the truth?"

"UGH... she doesn't deserve to be called that, but okay, it can be that."

"Your virtue is that transparent sphere over there, you may sit down."

"AAAAAAAH, what a boring thing." Rhoj murmured.  "I want to start already."

"We have to wait for everyone to arrive, Rhoj." replied Mordame as she watched Ygritte return to her seat. " Thirteen people are still missing; have patience. Aren't you even a bit curious to know what other figures we'll have?"

"NO!"

"Ignorant."

The seven waited until the eighth arrived. An elderly woman appeared, wearing an entirely black common dress. Her gray hair was tied up in a bun, and a black veil covered her face.

"Excuse me." The elderly woman called out to Mordame, having made eye contact first, her voice soft and frail, as expected from someone her age. " Have you seen my daughter around here? Her name is Tiffany, about this height and..."

" Dear, look around first. If you don't see her, it's because she isn't here. Simple as that, ma'am."

"Oh, of course, forgive my ignorance."

"Don't worry, this is common for people in your age."

"Excuse me?"

"It's common for old people to be foolish, so I expected this from you."

" For a nun, you're quite rude." Mordame kept staring at her, smiling and completely ignoring the obviously offended elderly woman in front of her. The old lady continued to look around, taking in the faces one by one; Chin and Octo specifically startled her, but she remained calm until she found her questions. - Well, my name is Misshapp and my seat is the virtue of luck.

"That it's one of those that made me most curious..."  The child commented. "Why would anyone want to get rid of luck?"

" .......... because that damned thing saved my life." There was general confusion, but none of them wanted to get involved more than necessary, as that would mean they would have to open up even more as well.

"Your virtue is the orange one, you may take a seat."

The eight waited until the ninth arrived. Once again, it was an elderly person who appeared, this time a momentary surprise, a burly bald black man wearing a long black coat that covered all the rest of his clothes, revealing only leather boots underneath.

"Another geezer..." Mordame murmured, making a rather unfriendly face at him; the man met her gaze and approached her looking unfriendly. "Sir, if you're looking for your daughter too, I shall say that..."

Mordame didn't have the chance to finish her comment, as the man gave her such a strong slap that she felt the whole world turn upside down, his handprint left on her cheek. Many there were caught off guard, others showed no interest at all. But the little girl stared on with curiosity.

"Let this be a warning to everyone." The man spoke calmly and serenely. "If anyone confronts V'huluver, they will face the consequences, because V'huluver does not tolerate confrontation. Now tell me, what is the virtue of sound?"

"To answer that, I need you to answer these questions." The words flew to the front of the man, who shot a clearly annoyed glance at the child, moving his still sore hand from the slap he had given. "I'll tell you now that you won't be able to hit me. I'm not saying this out of arrogance but as a genuine warning—don't try to hurt me."

"I had noticed that, girl. Call me Lord V'huluver; I want the sound."

"Your virtue is that striped one over there; they are sheet music. You'll often see the notes moving on it; now take your seat."

The nine waited until the tenth appeared. It was a teenage girl, probably around 15 to 17 years old. She wore heavy clothing, as if she had just come out of a snowstorm—gloves, a scarf—but her hair was also gray, and her skin was blue, as if frozen.

"TIFFANY! " Shouted the lady, getting up from her chair and running to the girl. The girl showed no excitement matching her mother's; she just remained quiet while Misshapp embraced her. "I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU, SO HAPPY, SO HAPPY!" the lady repeated tirelessly, tears filling her eyes.

"You're suffocating me, ma'am. You're too warm." The girl said in an annoyed voice, even though she wasn't trying to push her away. Misshapp kept hugging her anyway.

"You're so cold, girl; just call me mom already."

"What? No. Go away."

"YOU'RE SO BEAUTIFUL!" she said, finishing the hug and holding the girl by her cheeks. "You know you're my treasure, right?"

"Only old people to like corny things..." the confused girl murmured. The lady sighed in stress and looked at her with concern.

"Tiffany, you need to love yourself more. Please." Tiffany was ready to respond when Ygritte cut in.

"You talk as if it's easy.' commented the soldier, grabbing the attention of both. "The person who has the hardest time loving themselves is you; you know your own mistakes and flaws..."

"But..."

'That was one of the dumbest comments I've ever heard in my life, and trust me, that's a record." Uomen interjected with power in his voice, and with the authority of a king, he began to speak, and none of them dared to question him. "You should be the person who finds it easiest to love yourself; you know your qualities, talents, and achievements. Or are you going to tell me that none of you has any accomplishments to be proud of?"

Mordame fell silent, Ygritte fell silent, Chin fell silent, Lord V'huluver fell silent, and Tiffany fell silent. Rhoj and Octo remained unwavering, as if it meant nothing to them. Misshapp also remained silent, but lost in thought; had she had any accomplishments in her life? It was pure failure, even humiliating to consider.

"Wow, everyone here is more incompetent than I thought." Uomen's words struck hard at the hearts of those who cared; it was impressive how enormous his arrogance was, so much so that it formed a wall preventing him from being affected, and so strong that it became a sword through which he could affect everyone else. It was a horrible thought, but it felt like he was at the top of a tower, miles high, untouchable and invincible.

"Tiffany, what is your virtue?" The child asked, the blue-skinned girl looked at the child, took a deep breath, and, as if she were ashamed, sighed.

"I... came to destroy Will.' No other words were necessary; it was already clear why.

"Your virtue is the smallest of all; you may sit down." And indeed, it was extremely small; the virtue of Will was not a sphere but a point floating in the air, and Tiffany then took her seat.

"That's already half of us." Mordame commented with her mocking smile again. "We still have ten more companions to meet."

The ten waited until the eleventh emerged. From a distance, it was the most disturbing being they had ever seen; where its eyes should have been were two holes, half of its nose was missing, its mouth was stitched shut, it had pointed ears, its hair was a collection of needles, its skin was a reddish-pink, and it wore a cloak resembling a sherwani, though much more medieval.

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Its voice was terrifying, a rasping whisper, as if it were constantly giving its last sigh. "Many call me Ordep, and I have a question for all of you... What frightens you more?'

Even Uomen shivered at the creature's question; before, they had all exhibited confidence, pride, and determination, but with Ordep's mere appearance, everything was shattered.

"Fear? Why do you want to know that? " Ygritte asked after gathering her courage. In an instant, Ordep turned its neck sharply toward her, making it crack, almost as if it were as stiff as a corpse.

"Fear reveals much about the human psyche; I can get a deep understanding of a person's personality based solely on their own fears, and it's quite entertaining to see them lose their composure." One by one, it scrutinized them, analyzing their actions, expressions, attitudes, and appearances. "How interesting; so many faces, such different phobias. But who impresses me the most..." In a shadowy flicker, Ordep disappeared as if carried by the wind, and when they realized it, it was behind Chin, so tall that it cast a shadow over the toy. "Tell me, little doll, are you afraid?"

"...Of your ugly face." The toy replied seriously, not blinking, just staring fixedly at the monster. "Get away from me; I don't like you."

"Kihihihihi, interesting, very interesting."

"Hey, Creep Show." Lord V'huluver shouted from his chair. "You frighten me; sit down in your chair."

"But good sir." Ordep fell hard to the ground and began to crawl using only his arms. "I don't even know which of these is my chair."

The lord pointed to the questions with his finger; Ordep stared at them and smiled, crawling again toward the girl. He ran his thin, dry hands across the child's cheek.

" What a beautiful girl I see here. Answering your question, can you tell me which of these is the dream? You know, I feel a certain frustration regarding this particular virtue." The girl violently pushed his hand away from her cheek, making the creature look at her with an even more wicked expression.

"Your virtue is the wine one; please, take a seat." The poor child was genuinely grateful when the monster listened to her. She didn't show it, but she was terrified; that beast was malevolent, and she couldn't shake that thought.

The eleven waited until the twelfth arrived. He was a young teenager with short brown hair, thick glasses, a giant black and yellow striped scarf, and wearing a long coat resembling a school uniform. The boy was a bit sweaty in the middle of everyone, trembling slightly as he looked fearfully at the others.

"Kihihihi, Kihihihihihihi." Ordep laughed in a frightening manner, sensing the newcomer's dread. Chin was not at all pleased with how the monster was tormenting him, so the doll decided to lighten the mood.

"Welcome, friend!" The doll shouted in a high-pitched voice, startling the teenager, who took a few steps back to distance himself from the toy and the monster. "Calm down, we're all friends here... I mean... part of us is. Anyway, my name is Chin. Do you want to play a little later?"

"Well... I'm sorry, but... I don't want to... or rather... I don't think it's going to work... I mean... I don't know... uh... well... sorry... I-I..." Mordame gathered all her strength not to laugh at the boy's expression, but still couldn't hold it back, turning her face slightly to cover her mouth with one hand and laughing until she turned red, which only made the boy more embarrassed. Rhoj didn't even try to suppress his laughter. Ygritte didn't hide her impatience with the boy's delay in speaking and stared at him, stressed; he could feel her disappointment and started to tear up.

"Come on, can't you speak?" Uomen asked, causing the tears in his eyes to finally fall.

"That's all I needed..." Lord V'huluver commented. "Why are you crying, kid? Did someone here did something to you?"

"N-No... it's not that... I'm sorry... I-I-I..."

"Poor thing." Misshapp remarked. "Don't you see he's shy? Someone bring him some water."

"There's a puddle right there." Octo pointed with one of his tentacles. "My human friend, you can quench your thirst with one of those; it's drinkable."

"She didn't mean to say to drink from the puddle." Tiffany murmured, her head resting on her arms on the table.

"Hey, what's your name?" The little girl asked, making the young boy look at her.

"I w-w-would like to be called Nightmare... p-p-please, what is the... the... v-v-v-virtue of creativity?"

"Creativity... tell me, why would a harmless boy like you want to get rid of a virtue so much?"

"...................."

He didn't answer, didn't have the strength to reply, didn't want to respond. The child then sighed.

"OK, you're looking for the violet virtue, you can..." He didn't wait for her to finish, just ran toward his virtue and sat down.

The twelve waited for the thirteenth to arrive. It was a young Asian girl, around 13 years old, who tied her medium-length hair in a ponytail. She wore workout clothes, her skin was grayish with freckles on her face, and from her forehead emerged a small horn, like that of a unicorn.

"Hello, people!" she said, making a peace sign with one hand. "Elaine-san here, how are you all?"

"So much joy." Misshapp and Tiffany said together, in completely opposite tones. Elaine quickly noticed the questions floating in the air.

"Do I just need to answer that? Okay. My virtue is that of animals; is there anything else I should share?" The girl was ready to respond to her question when Chin intervened.

"You also need to give a brief reason for why this specific virtue."

"Seriously? That's such an invasion of privacy. But fine, alright... if I had to sum it up... I hate those worthless scumbags. Is that okay?"

"More than perfect." The child said. "Your virtue is the brown one; you can take a seat."

"Okey dokey." she said, turning back to her spot. The thirteen waited for the fourteenth to arrive. But this time, it was different; she did not appear with a light shining from the center of the space. No, the next person had a rather triumphant entrance.

A part of the cave ceiling literally exploded and collapsed; except for a few, the group was caught off guard by this, and from the cave's opening emerged an angel. She was a woman with hair as golden as the sun, with blue eyes like the sky, wearing a white dress like a nymph, barefoot, adorned with gold bracelets on her arms, and two enormous wings on her back. Undoubtedly, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

"So you came, Angela." the child commented, showing familiarity with her. The lovely maiden surveyed the room, gazing at each person in turn.

"You're all ugly... I don't know how I feel about that." Angela hovered over everyone and landed on a chair with a yellow sphere, already demonstrating that she knew perfectly well what her seat was.

"I must say, madame." Uomen commented, the angel looked at him with disinterest, which would deeply irritate him if she weren't so... "You are, by far, the most perfect woman I have encountered in my entire life."

'Yes, your skin is so smooth." Elaine remarked, fixated on the new member. "What products do you use? And your hair... my God, you're so hot..."

"I know that." Angela replied with an angry look. "But stop talking about me; I didn't come here for that. I'm just here for the virtue of joy. So the sooner we sort this out, the better. From what I can see, we still have about six more people to come, and I don't want to be stuck here for too long."

'You weren't made of light." Tiffany commented, still leaning over the table, and Misshapp seemed to follow her train of thought:

"You weren't reincarnated by little Lily like the rest of us?"

"No." She replied curtly. "I didn't die, so I didn't need to be reincarnated. It wasn't necessary for me to be recreated like all of you." Then the angel's gaze fell on the little girl. "Or rather, almost all of you; you didn't need that either, did you?"

With the blonde's question, everyone looked at the little child, who remained there, motionless. She prepared to open her mouth to speak when a light appeared in the center; the fifteenth one was already coming. Everyone focused their attention on the man who appeared in the middle. He had messy, tangled hair and wore medieval clothing like someone from the upper class. He had two fangs protruding from his mouth like a vampire, and his eyes were animalistic, with elongated pupils instead of round ones, and emerald green irises. A serpent emerged from his collar and coiled around his neck.

"Ssssssssssso beautiful." commented the man as he looked at Angela, who simply sighed in stress. "Would you do me the honor of a dancssssssse?" When he drew out the sound of the letter S, it resonated in everyone's ears like an alarm, making them feel dizzy. He walked over to Angela and knelt in front of her, guiding his hands towards her feet. The woman jumped into the air as high as she could, even before the man had the chance to touch her.

"Listen here. If there's one thing I do not allow anyone to do, without exception, it's to touch me. I'm repulsed by that, so don't do it again."

"Offfff coursssssse, fair lady, I won't repeat that acssssstion for now. Would you be able to tell me who issssssss in chargssssssse here?"

"What an annoying noise." commented Mordame. By not holding her tongue, she was the first to voice what everyone there was thinking. It was hard to tell if the comment bothered the man or not, as he merely stared at her with a neutral expression. - ... Hey, tell us more about who you are and where you came from...

"Me? I'm Kessssssssssna, I couldn't even ssssssssay where I came from ifffff I wanted to; I'm jussssst ssssssseeking couragssssssssssse. - With each S lingered, it was increasingly nauseating; it was exhausting and stressful to listen to him. Angela pointed with her finger to the seat with a gray sphere, which Kesna quickly occupied.

The fifteen waited until the sixteenth arrived. Like Octo, he had an animal-like appearance, a quadrupedal lion. The first thing he noticed was the five empty seats.

"Which of these is nature?"

"AAAAAh, the lion spoke." screamed Octo, horrified while hugging Chin. "An animal that acts like a human, what a ridiculous thing."

"Animal?" The lion then looked at his own body, spending some time sniffing and observing. "I see, you have a great sense of humor, Lily, turning the man named Leo into a lion, very funny."

It was hard to tell among the murmurs whether he was being sarcastic or if he really found it entertaining. He whispered various things to himself, thinking and conversing out loud. Ângela and the child quickly realized they wouldn't get anything more from him, pointing out the green sphere as being nature.

The sixteen waited until the seventeenth arrived. The light that appeared in the center didn't dissipate afterward, for the man who remained there was radiant; he was a knight, his armor completely white, and his helmet covered his entire face—there was not a single part of his body visible, not even his hands, which were gloved. Beneath his armor, there was an extremely strong and celestial glow, as if the armor were trying to contain a star within itself.

"Eight women." The knight's voice echoed, distorted, but not in a sinister way, rather in a beautiful, divine manner. Not long after he spoke, a bouquet appeared on the table in front of each woman present. Upon touching the object, they realized it was made of plastic, not real flowers.

'I would call you a gentleman, but I think the plastic ruins it a bit." Commented Mordame, examining the gift.

"Flowers? Why would I want these?" Rhoj threw her's away.

"They're pretty... but I don't like them much." Ygritte said sadly and guilt-ridden.

"AAAAAi, I LOVE IT. LOOK LOOK TIFFANY! MINE IS RED!!" Misshapp shouted, raising her bouquet to her daughter, who again did not reciprocate the same excitement.

" Mine is blue... this is how he must see the bitterness of my soul."

"I wish I had my phone to take a picture of this." Elaine said, embracing her gift. "it's so beautiful."

Ângela was the only one who didn't even try to touch her bouquet; she simply stared at it suspiciously.

"A question." said the child dryly. "Why plastic?"

"Because that way you'll never need to replace them. It's as simple as that."

"And who are you?" Uomen asked; it was the first time the emperor had shown interest in someone's name, not out of admiration or being impressed, but because he recognized the man as a potential threat.

"Call me Orf. If you want to know more about me, I can tell you that I am from the United States of America at the beginning of the 21st century. I prefer to remain silent if you don't mind, but if you'd like to talk, I won't take that away from you. I don't speak about my life or any of that; I just want to enjoy all this eternal time I will have with you."

"And what is your virtue?" Ordep asked, tilting his head on his shoulder, causing a decrepit cracking noise.

"Ironically, I came here in search of time."

"Kihihihihihi... that's truly interesting, indeed, kihihihi."

"Your virtue is that reflective glass sphere; you may sit down."

The seventeen waited until the eighteenth arrived. A fencer, wearing a uniform and with her sword sheathed, was missing only a helmet, revealing her medium-length brown hair. She kept her eyes closed, with a gentle smile of closed lips on her face; she appeared kind and welcoming.

With her eyes still closed, the woman drew her sword and faced each of them one by one. She raised her blade toward Uomen, then Orf, and finally the child.

"You three... I believe you might have a chance to defeat me. So I ask you, do you plan to betray me?"

"I can see she is a attention freak." Mordame commented to Octo, who was by her side; the humanoid octopus just chuckled a little.

The three to whom the question was directed stared back seriously, knowing she wasn't joking, and even they recognized her strength. Then, Orf, Uomen, and the child replied, respectively.

"I would never do that."

"I wouldn't have a reason to do that in the first place."

"Even if I answer you... will you trust me?"

"No." The fencer replied without losing her smile. "My name is Gaya. You know, I came here to rid myself of the being that tried to torment me my entire life."

"Keeping in mind the virtues that remain..." Angela commented while fiddling with her hair. "I assume you're talking about death? If so, your virtue is that sphere made of blood."

The eighteen waited until the nineteenth arrived. Apparently, it was a teenager, but it was impossible to tell their gender; they wore skin-tight clothes over their body, with the sleeves torn to reveal bandaged arms. What made it so difficult to discern about the newest member was that they... had no face, or hair. Their head was just a head, without a nose, mouth, eyes, wrinkles, or freckles. The only thing that was present were their ears. Yet, even without a mouth, the person managed to speak.

"Hello to all of you." It was the voice of a young girl; she twirled back and forth in the center of the hall, and one by one, she began to point at each person present, naming their name, country, and time period. Until her finger finally landed on the child. "And you are called Lalá; surely the virtue on your table is hope... isn't it?" She commented, finally revealing the girl's name to everyone there, and Lalá shot her a dirty look while the girl just laughed.

"My name is Narf; I come from a certain time in the 20th century, from Germany." As if it were a joke, the girl laughed heartily, and the only other one who laughed along with her was Mordame.

"You must have such an interesting story."

"You can't even imagine. Now let me see." Placing her index finger where her lower lip should be, Narf looked around, gazing at the two remaining virtues, one made of gold and the other black. "Well... it's obvious which of these is knowledge. So, if you give me a moment." Jumping from side to side, Narf headed toward her chair.

The nineteen waited until finally, the last one arrived. A teenager with red eyes, she wore glasses, had straight, long brown hair tied at the ends, and donned what appeared to be a modern school uniform with a long red cloak over it. She said nothing; as soon as she saw the chair with the empty black sphere, she walked over and sat down.

.........

"Well... what do we do now?" asked Elaine. Lalá sighed and began to explain.

"We are the twenty generals that Lily... saved, granting us this chance to seek our own revenge, as well as hers. Each of us has suffered in our own way due to some virtue, and thanks to her, we have the opportunity to turn everything upside down. Only us, and no one else, will forever show the reality of what it means to play with people's lives. When I give the signal, attack your own virtue in front of you."

All twenty prepared to strike, and when Lalá signaled, they unleashed everything—their frustration, their anger, their bitterness, their guilt, their sadness, and their exhaustion—casting it all upon the virtues before them. They weren't collapsing the world, but rather the very reality.

Now you know who the deceived ones are; you have a sense of who Helena and her friends are dealing with. I wonder what judgment will you impose on these twenty lives? Remember, they are generals of an aberration, but they are also the deceived ones.