Chapter 176: The Seven Deadly Sins
"How could I have been so careless?!" Sebastian inwardly blamed himself while making his move. He signalled Asura, telling him to kill the people releasing the poison.
Asura"s lifeless eyes glowed red. He waved his hand downward once, and all six of his short swords flew like arrows. They changed courses mid-flight like living beings, scattering throughout the party to kill all of the targets. It happened so fast that all twenty-four people didn"t even know how they died.
"Franz, Asura. We"re abandoning the previous plan. Both of you, go and kill the one with the Wrath Card! You should be able to sense it, right? Don"t hold back, and please be careful. The Wrath skill can deal continuous damage to everyone within a kilometer radius!" Sebastian shouted as he gave them their task.
"Don"t order me around. Do whatever you want, but this problem has nothing to do with me," argued Franz.
"If you succeed, your debt will be cleared!!" Sebastian had no time to argue. Casting a spell while talking at the same time took more effort than usual.
The moment they heard that, Asura and Franz took off flying toward the west going as fast as they could, aiming for the wasteland near the Desert of Death.
Sebastian wanted to fix this problem as soon as possible. It was his fault that the Seven Deadly Sins cards were released to the outside world. Sure, he didn"t care if they caused problems for others. However, it turned out that his current master, Sila, was directly affected by their release. Not only did one person collect all of the remaining cards, but he was also Sila"s greatest enemy.
"I should have been suspicious ever since I found out that Ramiel was serving him. Ramiel was with me when our master sealed those demons, so he should know both the weaknesses and the strengths of each card. Moreover, if he used his unsealed ability, the Power of Rebirth, the deadly sin demons wouldn"t be his match."
For the record, Sebastian and Ramiel"s original master personally sealed all of the Seven Deadly Sins within their cards. Then, before he left the mansion, he left the cards in Ramiel and Sebastian"s care, along with granting them equal portions of his power.
Ramiel obtained an ability called "Power of Rebirth" while Sebastian got "Power of True Death." These powers were sealed until the day came when they met the worthy person who could awaken their true strength.
Similarly to Sebastian"s Power of True Death, Ramiel"s Power of Rebirth had several limitations. It wasn"t a combat-oriented skill. Rather, it was a power that could forcefully revert any being into its sealed state.
In the case of the Seven Deadly Sins, no matter how strong they were, in the end, they were just cards. Montra didn"t even need to waste his army on his journey to acquire all five of them.
Though, this power wouldn"t work on the beings that were affected by the Power of True Death.
As for the Power of True Death, it was a dangerous ability that wasn"t inferior to the Power of Rebirth. Usually, the monsters in Monster Soul would resp.a.w.n given enough time. However, if they died while being affected by the Power of True Death, they would disappear from the world permanently with no way to come back to life.
The only power that could negate this was the Power of Rebirth. It could be said that the two powers were balancing each other.
The first action Sebastian took was imprisoning Venom within a cage made of bone.
He was more concerned about the disaster that would befall the world when all seven cards were brought together.
"O, dear three great G.o.ds; Nyx, the G.o.ddess of the Night, Erebus, the G.o.d of Darkness, and Hypnos, the G.o.d of Sleep. Your humble servant asks of thou, please grant us the night to cover the sky, the darkness to cover the earth. Every destination I reach shall be yours, and every wave of thou hand shall grant eternal sleep to my enemies. Twilight Dimension."
Black magic particles were emitted from Sebastian"s palm and soon expanded, becoming four swirling vortexes that were drifting toward the battlefield. As soon as they got close, they started swallowing the main players.
The black holes changed their shapes and became dimensional doors, still hanging above the battlefield.
Sebastian levitated near the doors and explained the situation to those who were left behind. They were Burapha, Hermit, Nednapha, Ratri, Sangdao, Varee, and White Swan.
"I have to maintain the four gates simultaneously so my hands are already full. The ones who just disappeared have been separated into groups that give our side the advantage and placed within special dimensions. Please hurry up and kill the enemies outside so that you can join the ones inside. While you do that, I"ll be giving instructions to the others currently fighting within the dimensions."
There was no time to waste. Sangdao and Varee began hunting while Nednapha helped them from the rear. As for Burapha, he followed Sila"s instructions and visited the table where Cross, Shueria, and Fargo were sitting. He took out the remaining antidote for the poison.
"Big Brother Sila said that you guys were here and he wanted to ask you three for help. He also said that he would like to wash away all the resentment between him and you, Mister Cross."
Even though Cross hated Sila to the bones, who he hated the most was naturally Montra, who personally came to crush his guild and everything he had. Montra even went as far as using poison on him right now. Therefore, as Sila had proposed, Cross was willing to temporarily forget what had happened in the past with Sila, though he made no promises about what happened once the situation was handled.
"Fine. I still hold a grudge against both Sila and Montra, but today I will help deal with Montra"s lackeys. Tell Sila later that he and I still aren"t allies."
"That should be plenty. As for Mister Fargo and Mister Shueria, Big Brother Sila said that you two aren"t his enemies. He hopes that you will join forces with us and help everyone get through this."
Both men nodded, then Burapha sent the antidote powder into the mouths of all three.
The trio frowned at its bad taste and found that they were slowing regaining their strength. Now, the remaining amount of antidote powder in Burapha"s hand was only enough for a single person.
Burapha was about to store the bottle of antidote in his system window, but Sebastian shouted at him.
"Mister Burapha, please use the remaining antidote to cure the person to your left, three tables down the row! The man wearing the white wuxia clothing!"
Burapha obediently followed the instructions and dashed to the designated table. However, once he arrived, he frowned and looked back at Sebastian.
"Mister Sebastian, are you sure that you mean this guy?"
"Yes. There"s no time to explain. Cure him, and help us fight the enemies. The army at the forest is already approaching."
"...Really? This guy? Lomyok?"
Burapha tapped the last gram of powder into Lomyok"s mouth before helping Varee, Sangdao, and Nednapha defeat the enemies in the gathering party.
As Fargo, Shueria, and Cross completely regained their strengths, Sebastian shouted instructions at them.
He had seen Fargo"s strength before and realized that Cross was a strong undead similar to him. Regarding Shueria, he didn"t know how this person came to possess his master"s heart. In any case, Shueria was considered the third person he had seen who had a part of his dear master.
"Mister Fargo and Mister Silver Knight, please go into the second gate, sirs. As for Mister Undead, please go into the last one. We are racing against time and have to defeat the enemies as fast as possible."
"Shouldn"t we enter different gates?" asked Fargo.
"I don"t have time to tell you the details, but please believe my words for once, sirs."
As such, Shueria and Fargo no longer asked further questions. They jumped into the second gate, which was the gate that swallowed Beluga and Elso.
As for Cross, he was looking at the last door.
"This is the gate that absorbed Lone Wolf, right? Even though I don"t want to admit it, there is no way Lone Wolf will lose in a one-on-one fight. Shouldn"t I go with the blue mage?"
Cross was referring to Bluebird. From the perspective of everyone who had been watching, among all the players who were swallowed by the black holes, Bluebird was the weakest.
Nevertheless, Sebastian could sense that a battle didn"t break out in the dimension where Bluebird was present. That was why he wanted Cross to go help Lone Wolf instead.
"Against Envy, Mister Lone Wolf can"t win by fighting alone, sir. Our side should have two people at least, though there can"t be too many. The best course of action will be sending our top two strongest people to fight."
Sebastian guessed that Cross was the type who loved to be praised, so he cleverly used the word "strongest" to urge him. As he had intended, Cross stopped hesitating and jumped into the last gate.
"So far so good. Wrath is strong in a prolonged fight. With Asura and Franz working together, there shouldn"t be a problem. As for Envy, with more than one but less than three decently strong people from our side, we should have a chance to deal with it.
"Mn. It"s correct that Mister Sila should fight against the user of Gluttony alone, and it"s fortunate that Mister Blue isn"t engaging in combat with the user of l.u.s.t. He will just die should that happen. Lastly, against Sloth, the more the better, especially since the user seems to be magic-type. With that many people from our side, it shouldn"t take long for us to defeat them.
"With all five of them separated, they won"t be able to help each other. This way, our side will surely win. It will just be a matter of time. The only concern left is the approaching army."
In fact, this was a very dangerous move prepared by Montra. If the Five Dragon Warlords fought together, the Victorious Wolves Sect and their puny alliance would be completely annihilated.
However, what Montra overlooked was Sebastian"s knowledge regarding the abilities of the Seven Deadly Sins and the existences of Asura and Franz.
Although Montra had prepared a backup plan, this miscalculation was simply too severe. From now on, only time could tell the result of this battle.
Meanwhile, the man in white wuxia clothing was finally able to move. He stood up and heard a voice in his ear.
"Excuse me, sir, are you the super famous Deity Lomyok?" asked Sebastian.
The man unfolded the fan in his hand. Lomyok was calm and unaffected by the battles, as if they weren"t even there.
"That"s right. I"m the Deity Lomyok. The most handsome, courageous, and coolest man in the universe."
"I"m your fan, sir, and I have a trivial request to ask of you."
"For a fan, Sir Lomyok can always grant a wish. Especially for you, since it is rare for me to have a male fan. The majority of them are always jealous of my handsomeness."
"The thing is, I would like to ask Sir Lomyok to take care of the army of five thousand players who are approaching us as we speak. For this great task, only Sir Lomyok can handle it, I believe."
"That"s only natural. Not to mention five thousand, even five million is fine by me. Where should I start?"
"I"m truly glad that you are on our side, Sir Lomyok. Now, I am going to cast a spell. Could you please help me by repeating what I say, sir?"
"Hmm? Why me? This handsome one can"t understand." Lomyok combed his hair with the foldable fan in his hand.
"Ah, others are simply unable to do this task, Sir Lomyok. Only the most awesome, handsome, and elegant person can show the true power of this spell. That"s totally you and you alone. Really, please. Kindly empty your mind and recite my words."
Even a whale dances when praised. Lomyok was fascinated by the praises. He unfolded his fan with a faint smile. "Well, that can"t be helped."
Sebastian released a sigh of relief. The spell he was about to cast had a ridiculously difficult condition to use it. To cast the spell successfully, the spellcaster needed to be a member of the undead race, and, more importantly, had to be insanely stupid. That"s because the spellcaster had to become a sacrifice by willfully reciting the incantation of the spell themselves.
In the beginning, Sebastian planned to use Cross. However, after thinking about it again, he believed using Lomyok would be far easier.
Sila found himself in a dark and rectangular room similar to where he had trained in the Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins. There was no furniture, only someone standing in front of him.
The man was wearing a metal executioner helmet, covering his entire face except for his eyes. The upper part of his body was naked, showing off his bulky muscles. In his hand, there was a black javelin made of psychic power, which Sila sensed somehow resembled his Dark Psychic Corrosion.
If memory served him right, he remembered this person was the one who activated Gluttony before they were both transported into this dark place.
Sebastian"s voice could be heard in Sila"s head, similar to how the system sound rang, causing Sila to understand that the mastermind who sent them into this separate dimension was none other than his butler.
"Mister Sila, this is me, Sebastian, speaking. This conversation is only one-way, so please just listen, sir. Gluttony has the ability to swallow without limit. When active, all damage that the user deals will increase the user"s health, qi, magic, psychic power, defense power, and attack power. Therefore, fighting him in a one-on-one match is our best bet. Please take care to not block or get hit by his attacks, sir."
As soon as Sebastian finished speaking, the communication was suddenly cut off.
Sila became more vigilant. It was fortunate that Sebastian warned him first. Otherwise, if he didn"t know this information, he might be pulled into a brawl, exchanging attacks against the opponent until it was too late.
Meanwhile, Lost Ghost was confused about why he was here. Nevertheless, since his opponent was in front of him, he stopped thinking about something so trivial. Out of thin air, he summoned dozens of javelins and launched them at Sila, while Sila quickly used his footwork to evade.
Inside the second gate, there was complete chaos. In the beginning, it was a battle between Beluga, along with Elso, and Trick Master. Since it was a two-against-one, the battle should have easily ended in Beluga"s favor.
However, inconceivable to the two of the Mountain Thief League, Trick Master who was alone suddenly multiplied and turned the battle into a two-versus-two.
While Beluga and Elso were contemplating which one of the two Trick Masters was the real body, Fargo and Shueria suddenly appeared inside the dimension.
Elso showed a stern expression, preparing himself for a three-way battle. Nevertheless, Sebastian"s voice rang inside the four"s head.
"All four of you, please listen carefully, sirs. Your common enemy is the wizard who is the owner of the Sloth Card. Don"t waste your time figuring out which is the real body, since both of them are real. The Sloth skill enables the user to make a complete copy of oneself with the same will and personality as the user. There is no obvious countermeasure. Only, you should focus your attack on either of them. Furthermore, when the duration of the skill comes to an end, all of the acc.u.mulated damage will be transferred from the body that leaves to the body that remains. Therefore, you must defeat one or prolong the fight until thirty minutes pa.s.s."
Sebastian"s voice cut off, leaving them in silence. Then, Beluga stared at Fargo and Shueria.
"The four of us fighting together like old times. Doesn"t this bring back memories?"
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that we will have to cooperate one day," said Fargo.
"I still don"t trust you guys," said Elso.
"I don"t care about sides anymore. The only person I serve is myself. I decided to give you a hand this time simply because these guys picked a fight with me first," Shueria said with indifference.
Beluga heartily laughed before sending a party invitation to Fargo and Shueria.
"Anyway, welcome to the Temporary Whale Team. When this mess comes to an end, let"s drink first before deciding to become enemies again or not."
As they had expected from Beluga, the party"s name was lame. Both former vice-leaders of the Royal Armament Guild accepted the invitation before they all scattered, surrounding the two Trick Masters who were now casting four spells at the same time.
The third dimension seemed to be the most peaceful among the four. Bluebird stood dumbfoundedly with Cheris who was in a black kimono. She was holding a short j.a.panese sword in her left hand and a katana in her right. She took a look around the room and her psychic sense swept all over it.
When she was certain that there was no one else, she asked, "Where is this place, Bluebird?"
"I don"t know either, Boss, but I guess it"s Sebastian"s work. By the way, how did you come here, Boss? You even have a card like the one Lone Wolf used."
"This card? Montra gave them to us Warlords recently. It should be top secret so I didn"t tell anyone, including you. Montra said only we know about the cards" existence. If this information was to leak, he would suspect that there is a spy among the Five Dragon Warlords."
"At the very least, you should have warned me that you were going to raid the gathering party."
"I didn"t know how many people were aware of the raid, so I decided to stay silent. Well, actually, I prepared the antidote with me, though I don"t think we need it anymore."
At that time, Sebastian"s voice rang inside Bluebird"s head.
"Mister Blue, I don"t know what method you used, but good job stalling for time. The l.u.s.t skill can... umm... it will be useless even if you know. Anyway, please try your hardest to stay alive as long as possible, sir."
Sebastian"s voice faded. Yardpirun noticed Bluebird making a tired face.
"What"s wrong?"
"Ah, nothing. I just feel like I"m being abandoned somehow..."
Both of them took their time to come up with future plans and exchanged news, including how to get out of this place without seeming suspicious.
In the last dimensional room, the atmosphere was greatly contrasted the peacefulness in the previous room. Lone Wolf stared at Zazae with great doubt, because this person was unexpectedly too strong.
After the first exchange of moves between them, Lone Wolf had to admit that he needed to use his full power in order to stand a chance against this man. He could feel the bottomless power dwelling under Zazae"s expressionless face.
Zazae was wearing a purple a.s.sa.s.sin garment. The hood attached to the clothing covered most of his facial features, but one could still tell that he was quite charming. On the clothing around his chest area, there were three stars embroidered. The weapon in his hand was a chain whip with a metal ball at the end.
Soon, Cross appeared within the room, causing both Lone Wolf and Zazae to feel suspicious. No one here could outright call someone else an ally, so they were on guard against a potential three-way battle.
"I will help you this time only, Lone Wolf. Any issues between us have to be settled in the future."
With Cross" statement, Zazae became more tense. Although he was confident in his ability, the two opponents in front of him were two of the Four Emperors, who were hailed as equals of his leader, Montra.
Lone Wolf gave a faint smile. "In the past, Zero and I joined forces against Montra and you. Now, it"s you and I sharing the same ambition to take down Montra, who has allied with Zero. Funny, isn"t it?"
"Huh! I told you this is only a one-time thing, not a permanent alliance. I still hold a grudge against Montra, Zero, Sila, and you."
"Haha. You sure have a lot of enemies. Well, how about focusing on the opponent in front of us first? You can take them down one at a time."
While they were talking, Sebastian"s voice rang inside Lone Wolf and Cross" heads.
"Envy is quite tricky, sirs. Its ability allows its user to copy the power of the people they are fighting against. As Mister Lone Wolf is a qi type, which is the same as him, he will have an easier time using your power. Fortunately, Mister Undead is a psychic type. Even if he can copy your power, he will have a difficult time using it.
"Please be warned that he can use your skills without having to spend even a little of his own energy. As such, fighting him will be similar to fighting yourself plus the opponent. My only advice is that you should rely on your proficiency with your skills and exploiting the fact that he can only use one copied power at a time."
Sebastian"s statement was verified by the heat radiating from Zazae. Both Lone Wolf and Cross were fully aware of this power.
"...Sun G.o.d Qi. You can even use my qi that easily? This battle will indeed be like me fighting against myself."
Lone Wolf started circulating his Sun G.o.d Qi as well, and the temperature in the room soon became intensely hot thanks to the two suns, though Cross wasn"t affected too much since he had already unleashed his psychic power that was sharp and cold like blades. Both of the swords in his hands began to shake and let out silent roars.
"I will teach you that power alone is not enough. For you to wield it, you have to possess both virtue and proficiency. Even if you are using my power against me, I won"t fear," said Lone Wolf, his eyes glowing orange.
In the meantime, Cross gave Zazae a gaze of contempt. "Heh. This is just perfect. Killing this guy will be like killing you. Beating him to death should serve as an appetizer before killing the real one, huh."