Sinner System

Point-of-View: Cleo Nova

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I shot towards the Ice Magic user, slicing his Imp’s head off with a sharp, narrow whip of blood, before blasting his Pixie through the chest with a piercing beam of blood, killing them both before they could make a move.

I unleashed a sharp burst of blood as the man fired a sharp icicle at me, shattering it to pieces before forming a shield of blood to my right as the other one fired out a blast of lightning at me, along with his lizard.

As I blocked the lightning, I drove my left hand forward and extended out a spike of crystallized blood, plunging it into the middle of the man’s chest, eliciting a sharp cry of pain.

It’s strange, even though this is the first time I’m using this ability, I have an instinctive understanding over it...

The man then howled in agony as I rapidly branched the spike out inside his chest, riddling his lungs and heart full of holes.

He coughed out blood with an agonized wheeze, his arms slumping to his sides as his eyes rolled back, before collapsing onto his knees and falling over as he went limp.

"And that just leaves one," I sighed, turning my gaze to the Lightning Magic user as he and his lizard unleashed blasts of lightning at me again.

Once again, I blocked the attacks with a shield of blood, before shooting the lizard through the head with a pressurized bullet of blood, destroying it and extending several blood tendrils towards the man.

He began to scramble away, but he was just way too slow.

I grabbed hold of his wrists and ankles, tying up his limbs before pinning his arms to his sides and wrapping another tendril around his mouth, a muffled cry ringing out as he fell over and hit the floor with a thud.

Hm. In hindsight, this Spirit Fusion might’ve been overkill. Didn’t even need to use Incisio, Partial Monstrification or any of my Skills. Honestly, even if I’d fought bare-handed in base form, this would’ve been an easy win.

I’d feel bad if they weren’t total assholes.

"Right, like I said before, I’ve got questions for you. But based on that defiant, hateful glare you’re giving me, it looks like you don’t plan on cooperating. Well, that’s fine. Never tried torture before, but I suppose now’s a good a time as any for a new first. Hm...maybe if I break a finger first?" I suggested, taking hold of his right index finger and giving it a sharp twist, a loud crunch ringing out as I snapped a couple of bones, a muffled cry of pain ringing out.

He’s still glaring, maybe I should keep breaking his fingers one by one? Oh, wait, ripping off fingernails is supposed to be an effective torture method, right? I’ve also heard that skinning and pulling out teeth are good options. Alright, let’s try them all, until he-...

I stiffened and spun around as I quickly hopped back onto my feet, sensing a presence behind me. My gaze darted about, trying to spot the presence, but I didn’t see anyone. What the...?

"<Hey, relax, it’s just us! The Boss sent us to find you guys>," Came a familiar voice, before two figures came into sight.

"Oh, Invidia and Avaritia, it’s you guys! Thought it was another enemy. I take it this means Kai is okay? Wait, what did you mean by ’you guys’? And-...?"

"<Woah, slow down. One question at a time>," Responded Invidia with a wry smile.

"<Master and Miss Ariella are fine. And evidently, you are too. But we still need to find Miss Ciel and Mr Jaden>," Explained Avaritia.

"Okay, got it. Hm, maybe this guy knows something. He’s pretty stubborn though," I frowned, as I glanced back at the man.

"<Nah, don’t worry about that. The Boss captured three guys and questioned them earlier, he got all the info he wanted out of them>," Invidia informed me, before adding curiously, "<So, uh, if I may address the elephant in the room...why do you look so different? Ava here tracked you by your scent, but I didn’t turn us visible right away because I wasn’t sure it was really you>."

"<Hm? Hey, I did not give you permission to shorten my name, that seems disrespectful to Master>," Frowned Avaritia apprehensively.

"<My bad, no disrespect meant. I mean, I doubt the Boss will care, but just to be safe, I’ll ask him>," He replied sheepishly, before turning his attention back to me, "<So, what’s with the new look>?"

"Oh, I tried out this Spirit Fusion thing, took it for a test run. But these guys are so weak that they didn’t really make for great test subjects," I sighed wistfully.

"<Yeah, the Boss and Miss Ariella were summoned to the castle. Those guys were total dicks to them, so the Boss summoned us to wipe them out. We dealt with the whole lot in, like, thirty seconds>."

"Hm, if Kai already interrogated a bunch of people, I guess I don’t need to," I mused, before firing a blood beam through the man’s skull to finish him off.

Yeah, probably shouldn’t torture someone if I don’t need to. It’s also a little concerning the way I felt a sense of anticipation and thrill when I started, I don’t think that’s a side of me I need to awaken.

"<Hm? I detect several scents rushing this way, they must be backup. I doubt they’d pose any real threat to us, but Master told us to keep a low profile>," Remarked Avaritia, her snout twitching.

"<Yeah, we should get back, it’s been a while since he sent us out. This city is pretty fucking massive, and we still need to find the other two>," Responded Invidia with a nod, right as I felt the Spirit Fusion reach its limit.

"<That was magnificent, Master, you handled those fools with such ease. But who and what are these two? They seem similar, yet quite different, to Spirits>," Remarked Carmilla, staring curiously at the two Apostles.

"I’ll explain later. For now, let’s get out of here."