Sinner System

Point-of-View: Ciel Campbell

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I lunged forward as the Knight unleashed a rapid, roaring fireball towards me, which phased right through the right side of my stomach.

He stumbled back in alarm as I drove my Explosion Blade forward, hitting his right elbow and triggering an intense, powerful explosion.

An excruciating roar of pain rang out as I blasted his forearm off, which hit the ground and thudded away as blood violently sprayed out, his right side starting to swell up.

I then slammed my foot onto the middle of his stomach, eliciting a sharp wheeze from him as he coughed out blood, before I struck his chin with a vicious uppercut, his head jerking straight up, a few of his front teeth cracking upon impact.

Flames began to swirl around his left arm, but before he could make a move, I whipped my Explosion Blade across, hitting his left arm around the middle of his bicep and blasting it off.

As his left arm flew away and skidded across the ground, blood pooling around it, I sprang up and grabbed the sides of his head as I drove my knee up powerfully, slamming it square onto the middle of his face and breaking his nose, a couple of his front teeth snapping off and falling out of his mouth.

"N-No, thish ish...im-imposhible...," He stuttered as he stumbled back, before collapsing onto his knees, his face pale.

Looks like he can’t get back up. Well, considering how much blood he’s lost, I suppose that’s understandable.

"Guess it’s time to end this," I remarked, as the Knight coughed out more blood.

"<Yeah, Spirit Fusion will run out in about a minute, we should finish him off before that>," Replied Rex, as I stepped back and raised my arms up.

A look of terror and despair appeared on the Knight’s face as I generated a massive sphere of explosive energy, bathing the entire surrounding area in a deep red glow.

He trembled and shook his head, his voice cracking as he let out a cry of horror. I let out a slow exhale before launching myself high up into the air with an explosive burst from below my feet, swinging my arms down and hurling the massive explosive sphere towards the Knight.

An ear-splitting, deafening boom rang out as the sphere collided against the ground and exploded with devastating force, the energy swirling violently as it expanded rapidly.

I shuddered as chills ran down my spine, the force of the explosion reverbing throughout my entire body, as I kept myself in the air with brief explosive bursts.

Shockwaves erupted as the entire area shook and rumbled violently, the ground around the blast zone cracking and splitting open as a dust cyclone spiraled around the explosion, bits of dirt and rubble spinning around and flying out.

The explosion began to lose steam and fade away as I plummeted back down, a deep, massive crater coming into sight as I plunged through the dust, landing back down with a thud and letting out a slight cough as I inhaled some of the dust.

Oh, yeah, that was one hell of an explosion, what a delightful boom!

"<Looks like you haven’t changed in the slightest. Not so sure that’s a good thing>."

Heh, yeah...I missed this. I missed you. I love you so much.

"<Yeah...I love you too. Though, from my perspective, it’s only been, like, a couple of hours since I died>."

Speaking of which...I’ve got a lot of questions.

"<Understandable. Let’s find a safe place to talk, and-...>."

"That was way too close. We almost got caught up in that blast," Suddenly came Cleo’s voice, startling me.

"Oh, hey! Guessing you followed the booms to find me?" I greeted her with a grin.

Invidia and Avaritia are with her. That should mean Kai is okay too. Hope everything’s alright with Ariella and Jaden as well.

"<That’s a new one...based on that massive Aura, I’m guessing that one is of the Sentinels>?"

Mhm, yeah, that’s Avaritia, the Apostle of Greed. I forgot her original name.

"Huh, you sure look cheerful, aren’t you? And yes, the explosions were hard to miss, especially that last one. Also, looks like you can use Spiritual Magic too. What kind of Spirit did you link with?" She asked me curiously.

Huh, guess that means she can use it too.

"Wait, how can you tell?"

"Your hair’s all translucent and white, your eyes are red and your skin is glowing," She pointed out.

Huh? Oh, she’s right, I am glowing.

"<So, uh...what happened to her? She seems like a completely different person>."

Yeah, this is what she’s like once she warms up to you.

"<Hey, we should probably get out of here and get back to the Boss. We’re pretty close to where he is, let’s regroup before any more enemies show up. No way they’re not going to come investigate this place after that massive explosion>," Chimed in Invidia, looking around warily.

"Good point, we can talk after. Let’s get going," Nodded Cleo.

I followed after them as Avaritia led the way, making our way through the alleys to avoid being seen.

Hey, Rex, how long before Spirit Fusion wears off? I wanna surprise the others.

"<Usually about five minutes, which we’ve already reached, but since we’re not using any Mana right now, I can maintain it a bit longer. It’ll deactivate if you expend any Mana though>."

Got it, let’s maintain it until we regroup with the others. Speaking of which...

"Is everyone else accounted for, by the way?" I asked Cleo.

"No, not yet. Kai and Ariella are together, and these two found me about ten minutes before we came across you. So, that just leaves Jaden."

I see...hope he’s okay.

"<Here it is>," Remarked Avaritia, as she came to a halt in front of a dead end in a narrow alley.

She then turned towards Invidia, who nodded and closed his eyes, before she whipped her arm across and slashed his head off, his body fading away as his head fell off, before fading too.

Wha-...? Oh, right, they can’t communicate directly with Kai, so they’re alerting him by having Invidia return to him. Which means, Kai and Ariella are hiding in that Pocket Dimension thing they told us about.

A few seconds passed, before a portal opened up. I followed in as the Apostles and Cleo entered, Kai and Ariella coming into sight as we walked in, the portal closing behind us.