Chapter 65: Sin Devour
【Black Vatican】
HP: ? / ?
Stamina: ? / ?
Faith: 0 / 0
Class: Level 3 Priest
Belief: None
Alignment: this world's sin
Talents: Affinity (Sealed), Piety (Sealed), Reflection
Base Attributes: Strength 60, Dexterity 60, Intelligence 105, Constitution 60
Civilization Attributes: None
Combat Attributes: None
Skill: Sin Devour
...
“What is this…?” Mo Tan merely glanced at his character panel and paid no further attention. He shifted his gaze to Bannai’s face, which was almost speechless, feeling his ineffable fear and trembling, and sighed with some disappointment: “Is the answer silence?”
The assassin, who just minutes ago held power over life and death, was now on the verge of collapse. His body trembled under the black sky, his soul wailed in the backlash of sin, and the fresh blood on his body felt like a thousand pounds, constantly trying to crush and grind him down…
But Bannai couldn't even fall. He could only stand as if sculpted, held in place by a hand that exerted no force, meticulously savoring a madness and despair he had never experienced in his life. It was a madness a thousand times greater than Bannai's own, and a despair that all his slain prey combined could not rival.
“It seems this is your purpose.” Mo Tan showed a very pure smile, calmly gazing at the Marshall Family’s personal assassin: “Unable to control your sin, and even being devoured by its backlash…”
He withdrew his hand, touched his forehead with a slight sense of confusion, and suddenly murmured to himself: “But why can I control it?”
At that instant, Bannai, suddenly able to regain control of his body, immediately disappeared from Mo Tan’s sight.
“It’s certainly reasonable for the weak to want to escape…”
Mo Tan, however, smiled and spread his hands, then activated the only skill he could use at that moment, saying softly: “But your outcome will not change. Sin cannot be escaped.”
【Sin Devour】
Active Skill
Mastery Requirements: Black Vatican, ???
Cost/Restrictions: None
Effect: ???
【Note: None】
Mo Tan was somewhat bothered by the three seemingly cool but utterly useless question marks in the skill effect. The strange mastery requirements and the suddenly serious note also felt out of place, but he didn't overthink it. He knew what he should do…
Bannai’s fleeing figure suddenly appeared a dozen meters away. His ability to maintain forced Stealth for at least half a minute was instantly broken, and then a sound seemed to echo in his ears…
It was a heartbeat. Bannai, who had fallen to the ground, heard a heartbeat. A deafening heartbeat roared madly in his own chest, and at the same time, a heart-wrenching wail resonated in a non-existent place within his body. It was his own voice.
“I am very curious.” Mo Tan watched Bannai, who was suddenly overflowing with wails and roars from within, and slowly clenched his fist: “What do you feel right now, enduring the dual collapse of both body and soul…?”
Endless pain and torment!
Every organ, every drop of blood, every cell within Bannai became brutal and frantic in his own sin. They seemed to desperately want to obliterate their owner, constantly mutating and self-destructing while also ceaselessly rampaging, as if trying to break free from the body's confinement in an irrational manner. The survival instinct common to all life seemed to become a burden at this moment, making every structure composing this body incredibly furious!
His heart, which had long shattered itself, continued to rampage even in its broken state. His two hundred and six bones seemed to want to see the great world outside, even twisting into something bizarrely sharp like a twisted rope just to break out and see the sun!
On the soul level, however, it was much simpler. The constantly echoing wails seemed to be brewing something in the torment…
Bannai looked at Mo Tan, his eyes full of pleading. This man, completely broken under his own sin, only wished for death at this moment. But unfortunately, before he could convey this message with his eyes, those two windows to his soul exploded directly, leaving only a pair of bloody, empty sockets.
The most tragic thing was that he was still alive…
Mo Tan stood there and watched for a full minute before the hellish scene before him gradually subsided. Bannai began to swell…
Literally swelling…
His body swelled larger and larger like a bloody, fleshy balloon, and his soul, completely devoured by sin, had reached its limit…
“I always thought I was quite a gentle person~” Mo Tan chuckled self-deprecatingly: “But now it seems I’m not quite like that…”
A sudden explosion spread, destroying almost everything within tens of meters. Bannai finally found release. Although he had lost his sense of time, being kept absolutely conscious, this ritualistically long death finally came to an end…
Mo Tan looked down at Ned’s corpse at his feet, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately said nothing.
Aside from them, everything around had been almost completely leveled by the Sin explosion. Not to mention Bannai’s remains, not even a blade of grass or a single tree was left.
After a long silence, Mo Tan suddenly walked away. His movements were not fast, but his speed, boosted by his High-Rank Dexterity of 60 and unfathomable Stamina, was not much slower than Bannai’s earlier.
A moment later, he appeared near the border of Marshall Territory and gently raised his hand to press down on a terrified orc.
...
【You have disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect.】
...
At the same time, a pale-faced Shuang Ye staggered to the spot where Mo Tan had just left, collapsing beside Ned’s corpse, sobbing uncontrollably.
She had heard a violent roar from afar earlier and noticed that the combat state, which should have lasted a while longer, had disappeared. So she quietly doubled back, wanting to figure out what was going on.
Soon enough, she saw the scene before her: a large amount of scattered blood, a small clearing forcibly leveled by the previous explosion, and Ned’s body covered in wounds.
Bannai and Black Vatican, however, were nowhere to be seen…
The girl tried sending a message to the latter but received no reply. She looked around blankly, her heart gradually filled with an unprecedented loneliness, an experience she had never known in nearly twenty years.
Shuang Ye, who had always believed she could live perfectly well on her own and never thought of interacting with others, now felt a strange panic. She had merely returned to her most accustomed state, yet it felt different somehow.
She mustered her strength, wiped away her tears, and laboriously moved Ned’s corpse to the center of the clearing, then slowly walked back along the path she came from.
Shuang Ye's steps were not fast. Having not rested well, her stamina and magic were nearly depleted, coupled with her emotional fluctuations, which left the always intelligent and calm girl somewhat dazed. But she still did not stop…
Even facing the worst outcome, she wanted to do a little more.
But when she truly saw Yinna’s corpse, she still couldn't stop her tears from falling like broken strings down her cheeks…
The beautiful elven ranger leaned against a small tree, her head bowed as if merely sleeping. A few crystal-clear tears seemed to still cling to her long eyelashes. Her longbow, broken in two, lay quietly beside her, forming a tableau with a few small flowers stained red with blood near Yinna’s hand, like an oil painting.
But no matter how warm the color palette, it could not awaken this elven girl who seemed to be only feigning sleep.
Her heart had been simultaneously pierced by several blades from behind. Although she hadn't suffered much torment, it still exceeded the limit of all possibilities.
“Sister Yinna, is it too late to call you that now?” Shuang Ye gently embraced the girl before her. She remembered that because she was smaller, this lively elf, who in human years might even be younger than herself, always tried to trick her into calling her ‘sister.’ And Shuang Ye, of course, had never once let her have her way…
To become stronger, besides the game with that guy, there was now a new reason.
Shuang Ye laboriously picked up Yinna, carrying her broken longbow, and slowly walked towards the clearing…
Then she turned back and found Salazar lying in a blooming pool of blood.
It took nearly an hour to bring him to Ned and Yinna…
Returning to the starting point, the orc who had revealed the traitor in Fenrir Squad was gone. She only saw Krab, a faint silly smile still on his face.
The big guy was heavy, and the petite girl almost didn't get him to the others until the sun was about to set.
Digging four deep pits with a few basic earth magic spells, Shuang Ye silently buried her companions one by one. Finally, she collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, and was forcibly disconnected by the system in her fatigue and grief, curling her small body and falling into a deep sleep in the makeshift game pod…
The thoughtful AI, NAVI, seemed to notice its owner was a little cold and silently raised the room's air conditioning by a few degrees.
...
Now, let us turn back time a few hours.
【Reconnect initiated…】
【Connection complete, loading character information】
【Welcome back, chaotic evil Mo. Innocent World will now load. Good night.】
...
Within the Shavin Empire, on the edge of the Banser City ruins
Mo stood quietly on a high slope, gazing at the desolate and bleak cursed land not far away, and the city on that land, now completely silent.
Banser City, once known as the Pearl of Shavin, had been tragically massacred on a night not long ago, alarming the imperial family. After small-scale reconnaissance attempts proved fruitless, the Shavin Emperor immediately dispatched large search and rescue teams, followed by a noble investigation group led by Bart Gallos. He also had the Grand Duke, who held the title of High-Rank Archmage, bring several High-Rank clerics of the Huiye Sect, tasking them to uncover the truth of the matter.
As of today, the reorganized independent investigation unit has been stationed next to Banser City, but its true leader is neither the brave and skilled Viscount Tyr nor Duke Gallos, nor is it a cleric…
But a seemingly perpetually masked, obscure young man.
“Why are you on so early today?” Ji Xiaodao appeared silently behind Mo, saying softly: “The clerics haven’t finished purifying Banser City yet. According to the High Priest, the number of vengeful spirits he senses here is astronomical. What exactly did you do before…?”
At this moment, she was no longer in her previous novice attire. Her waist-length silver hair was neatly tied back, and beneath her wide robe was a light half-plate armor. The several enchantment patterns and numerous intricate openwork carvings, which did not reduce its defensive power, clearly came from elven hands. A pair of black short swords hung crossed in their scabbards on her back, and at her waist was still the Black Curse Rapier that Mo had first given her.
A hint of worry always lingered on the girl’s somewhat cold face. She vaguely knew what Mo intended to do, and she knew that even a slight misstep in the process could lead to irreversible ruin…
“Something unexpected happened.” Mo waved his hand casually: “You go back first, and tell Gallos for me to keep those soldiers in line.”
Ji Xiaodao hesitated, then finally nodded and quietly turned to leave.
“Something interesting seemed to have happened just now.” Mo suddenly chuckled with great interest: “Not only can he use my power… but he can also change his alignment. That skill called Sin Devour, even I don’t have it.”
He raised his hands, as if deep in thought, and after a moment, suddenly curved his lips: “Is this how you use it?”
A roar seemed to erupt not far behind him, followed by a cacophony of startled cries.
【You have acquired skill: Sin Devour】
The system prompt sounded in his ears. Mo lowered his hands with satisfaction, looked up at the dark clouds that perpetually lingered in the sky, and murmured: “It seems this world can bring me quite a few surprises… Good, this is how it should be.”
With that, he turned around, intending to make a symbolic inspection and then thoroughly question Gallos about the situation in the Imperial Capital. Unexpectedly, a distorted magical fluctuation suddenly emanated from mid-air. A moment later, an old man with white hair and beard abruptly appeared in the sky.
This person, at a glance, was not an idol-type like Jia Deka, whose appearance had little to do with the word ‘mage.’ Just by the mastery of space magic he displayed, this old man had to be at least a Sage-level existence, one level stronger than Duke Gallos, the most powerful person here.
“My respects, Master Fara.” Mo bowed slightly to the old man who slowly descended before him, performing a courtly Shavin Empire etiquette: “Please forgive the Duke and me for not knowing of your visit in advance.”
“Who are you?”
“You may call me Mo, or by the title Duke Gallos has graciously bestowed upon me… Sin Duke.”
Chapter 62: The End
One more chapter expected this afternoon.