"Your power is already impressive, young Wrath. Untamed, but impressive. You melted my prison with such ease..."

  Yeah. But I'm still unfamiliar with it. I tire myself too much when using my Fires. And this is a problem. When I was facing the sinner emperor, a lot of my power was just being thrown around...

  The Sin of Pride looked at his junior as they walked in the forests of the Papal States and started walking again. The duo had kept silent for the most part during their march, allowing Manticore to see the sun again after so long. The fresh air brought by the light breeze and the sun's heat were a blessing to feel on his fur.

  Peace for now. Raya hoped this would st for a while. She hoped that no nation would try anything funny. Other problems were here now. The demons were close to western Elfort and the world didn't need pointless conflicts.

  "Don't worry about throwing your power around for now. It is your Nature. Wrath is difficult to harness. Fureur was the same as you. It took him almost five centuries to properly use his powers when we became Sins. You'll learn. And besides, I am a great teacher. I can help you. And I am sure the rest of my siblings would love to do so too. Except... Diligence you surely understand why, right ?"

  Right. The Sin of Sloth. And thank you for the offer. I appreciate it very much.... Ugh- I hate this. Raya growled after a moment of silence.

  "Hm ? What's the problem Raya ?"

  The Wyvern pointed to a nearby small chapel with her tail.This. Whenever I get close to something with a divine aura... My Wrath calms down all of sudden. Pope Kari, the one I've told you about, told me that it must be me reverting to Patience temporarily. I hated this at first, but now that I can get back some emotions, I'm not totally against it. Still feels weird though.

  "Oh, don't worry. It's as that pope says. It's perfectly normal. All of us hate it, but we got used to it."

  Raya hummed for a moment and yawned. Manticore's answer was a reassuring one. So that was part of the Sins.

  "By the way. You've already told me about Marka's current situation, but how do you pn on dealing with it ? The demons are normally none of our concern, but the Hero of this era is far from ready to face them. Elfort was strong in my memories, but I don't know if this still holds up today. And now, you freed me, you introduced yourself during that war and the world will learn about your alliance with the holy nds. The world will not understand this, and they will lose trust in religion. Very few know of our holy nature after all."

  Yes. New problems are arising as others are dealt with... That's unfortunate. But at least... Word will spread. The Papal States will be free of any war. My influence will protect the nation. And you are here too, now. No-one will want to mess with us. The only remaining problems will the the otherworlder who possessed the heir of the empire... And as you said, the demons.

  "... Thoughtful. Young but thoughtful. Fureur wasn't very smart, but you on the other hand, can use your brains." Pride fake-mocked jokingly. "Joke aside, what you said was true. No-one would be foolish enough to wage war on a nation backed-up by camities in the flesh. We do have time to prepare. A month at best, but a month is still better than nothing."

  Hm hm. I hope we wont have to intervene too much against the demons. That would dey our goals, again. And that would anger me... Speaking of goals, which Sin should we awaken next ? I don't sense any of them nearby.

  "A discussion for ter. It's best to let your allies know of our pns to coordinate."

  Yeah...

  The two Sins didn't noticed the faraway padins, priests and magi who were aiming to enter the chapel. They all marveled at the sight of Heavenly Patience and Humility. A sight to behold.

  -

  "Oh man... The Academy feels empty now. There's still quite a few students but still."

  "Well, a decration of war was a big deal. We're not on Earth now. Lots of students here were wealthy commoners or nobles. They made up like... half of the student body."

  "So they had the means to flee the country. Makes sense."

  Ramiel, RaviK and Margos were strolling in Stallion's halls, gathering everything they needed on a small cart. Skill scrolls, mana crystals to increase their flow rate, items and everything they deemed useful.Now that they came clean from Raya's trials, the clergy had deemed that they could do as they pleased, as long as they followed the holy nds' ws.

  The trio of otherworlders guided by the Holy Sword, profited from this to gather as many things that would empower them quickly. With permission of her Holiness, they even managed to get access to the academy's dungeon. Only the safest levels when they weren't under supervision, but this was still a good way to gather experience.

  RaviK even suggested inviting Aro and Cire de Lune during their dungeon expeditions, which proved to be an excellent idea. Cire could fill in uh... Liz'a's and Frea's pce at the same time. Aro was an warrior with explosive bursts of speed and strength. A gss cannon who could assist Ramiel and RaviK to deal with enemies by fnking them.

  Right now, the two elves were away, maybe having a date or meeting up with people who could get the party equipment.

  | That should be enough. Don't forget you can't use as many skills as you want. We're not in your videogame. There's a limit to how much knowledge you can gather. |

  "Yeah. We've noticed too. It's getting more difficult to learn anything new now. We were talking about switching our priorities to leveling up now. We must gather more experience. More muscle memory. More instincts..."

  | Wise choice. You should try sparring for now. At least until the elves come back from whatever they were doing. RaviK. I've noticed something during the st few battles. Why did you ditch your adamantite gloves ? They amplified the strength of your mana punches much more than what you currently can do. |

  "Ah... About that." the teen responded "It's because... it's trash. Neither adamantite nor mithril handle shocks well. They don't handle anything that's not magic. Everytime I punch something, the aftershocks of my strikes creates fractures in the gloves. They don't st long and are expensive to maintain so I decided to stop using this equipment altogether. Instead, I aim to improve my mana flow rate, and my resistance to pain. If I train to punch bare-handed, my bones will get stronger over time. And with healing magic, hurting myself lightly ain't really a problem."

  "Wait, so that's the scraps of metal you sold at the wandering merchant, right ?" his twin questioned and RaviK nodded.

  "Those were... Lamias. They had good stuff. A shame they're already leaving in a few days though."

  "Hero Ramiel ?" an unknown voice reached the trio's ears. "May I have a word with you ?" a bishop holding a tome asked, adjusting her gsses.

  "Yes ? Ask away. We're all ears."

  "Oh right. The heirs of the Union are your companions. Hmm, it would be improper to separate you... Very well, Hero. I was sent to pass a message from her Holiness. Pope Kari is asking you if you desire to take part in the reunion of post-war negotiations, with the Empire's representatives..." the clergywoman expined as she took out a small scroll. "

  "..."

  "Her Holiness wanted you to know that... Liz'a de Wandermer, the next-in-line for the succession will be present. The negotiations will take pce in the Cathedral, at the zenith of two days from now on, and their aim it not only to receive compensation for the losses and damages, but also to... question Liz'a de Wandermer about her otherworldly nature. Unlike you, she hasn't been deemed..."

  "Yeah. I understand that. The Sin of Wrath has yet to look into her heart. Tell her Holiness that I will be present. Along with RaviK and Margos, if that's fine by you."

  Both twins made a thumbs-up gesture and the woman nodded. She thanked everyone and went away to carry the answer.

  After a while, Sky spoke up.| I was wondering... Now that the situation has settled and that Raya of Wrath is on our side, wouldn't that elf girl, Frea, be willing to come back ? What if you tried to send a missive, or get to Elfort before the Demons arrive ? |

  "It's worth a shot. But what if she doesn't answer ? If she left like that, she may not appreciate that we're trying to reach out again." RaviK countered.

  | Well, helping out her country might make her a lot less hostile at our attempt to reconnect. |

  "That's actually a good idea. We could ask Pope Kari about that during the meeting."

  "Why not today ? We still have time. Besides, we don't have much to do apart from sparring. And I don't think my brother wants to spar for now. We just had diner."

  "That's true..." RaviK nodded.

  WHAT THE FUCK ?! Why were there otherworlders here ?!

  "I don't know ! And why so many ?!"

  Come out ! You bastard pigs !

  BOOM-

  "We'll crush you !"

  ROAR- !

  What the fuck ? That was not a game anymore... Help. Someone...PLEASE-

  "Found. You."

  "No- ! CHAT ! HEL-!"

  CRUNCH-SLAM-

  The lion-like monster chomped down on an undead's body, and sent it crashing in a tree far away. Meanwhile, the dragon-looking one had started spitting fire in the form of fireballs to weed out the pyers who hid in the forest.

  This was a disaster. No-one had expected any creature to charge straight at the group of pyers, thinking the numbers of people might deter any monster from attacking.The party was made up of about two hundred pyers after all. A now nearly dead streamer and her viewers, who had joined in to discover Sins of Marka II together.They had decided to tweak their character lore around to end up together. A fallen knight turned into an ghoul and her loyal followers. Moreover, nobody here was weak. There were a dozen pyers who had an innate level of more than twenty thanks to their lore. Most of the bunch had powerful skills that so far, had allowed them to trample any daring creature that felt threatening.

  But now, they were trapped inside of the game, because of the person who made that strange announcement... The chat was still active, so the undead streamer could see and learn in real time that the situation back on Earth was far from a joke.

  This wasn't a prank. This was true. Pyers would die in real life if they died here now. People had already perished...

  After learning of the seriousness of their situation, the members of the group had decided to erect temporary fortifications and a camp to pass the night. They would attempt to exit that dense forest the next day. Several scouts had been sent and some among them had reported that a city was not too faraway.

  That's when the two monsters spotted the group. A weirdly-colored chimera and a red reptile with wings. Some had called it a Wyvern. It didn't matter. It was red, had wings and could spit fire, so it was a dragon.

  Worst of all, they were... sentient. They were holding a conversation. And their conversation was a bone-chilling one. Not only these two creatures knew there were otherwordlers now, but they actively aimed to kill them.

  Wasn't the coding a bit too advanced ? Was this even a game ?

  "What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuc- AAAARGH-" another pyer screamed out as the chimera's snake-tail bit into him to drag the body in the dust. Then it began to spray venom around, wilting flowers and leaves everywhere. The sharp cws were ripping apart armors and flesh and the lion head was roaring, sending powerful sound-waves to burst bodies left and right.

  The other monster was occupied to blow everything around itself up. It was smashing its wings on the ground, creating explosions that shook the earth, and occasionally sniped fleeing pyers with well-aimed fireballs. Its scales repelled any attack and the tail sent dozens flying with each strike.

  Fucking hell...

  Any kind of formation had been destroyed the moment the first tail swipe crushed the vanguard. Two hundred people, with thirty-sh tanks had become one hundred and seventy people, with no tank at all. Then the first fireball had exploded the mages behind. And everything fell into chaos.

  Ever since that fateful minute, everyone of the streamer's bunch fell into despair and madness, all under the horrified eyes of thousands of people back on Earth. Today's hardware allowed in-game sensory feedback and sharing... And unfortunately for the viewers, the smell of burning flesh, the cries of despair and shouts of panic were things the livestream transmitted, for all to feel.

  "A nightmare... It's a nightmare..." someone muttered as they melted from the snake's acidic poison.

  "How did it come to this..." another cried before being crushed by a scaled wing.

  The streamer gathered the st bits of her strength to look up at the gruesome scene."The world... must know, everyone... So that we can be saved... Please ! Rey the message ! Rey it !" the woman cried out. "They must save the pyers who can be saved !"

  "A-Appraise !" a pyer managed to let out for everyone to see.

  Manticore, Beastly Sin of Pride.The one who teaches Humility through crushing his foes and with the aid of overwhelming power.

  I am the One who stomps over one's Pride.

  LV: none

  Stats: none

  Titles:- Beastly Sin of Pride.- King of beasts.

  Raya, Drake Sin of Wrath.The Sin of destruction and death.The one who gave Patience up and turned it into a purifying inferno. The one who sets abze all that is sin.

  The BckFme that shall consume the world.

  LV: none

  Stats: none

  Titles:- Drake Sin of Wrath.

  What...So those were... endgame bosses ? The ones beta testers had mentioned...Was there any way to... win ? Against this ?

  DIE !And the stream ended as the terrain and the people drowned in a sea of crimson fire.

  "Alright. That mana flowpath goes here. Need to think about pouring divine energy soon to start the link..."

  Alright. That's enough for today.

  BANG-BANG-

  They're still trying to break in ? Stubborn bunch. They even put their silly robots to work ! Still not going to make a difference though.

  "Alright. Let's say what forums are saying now. Hum hum hum~"

  -

  "..."

  Akram's silhouette tapped Their finger on Their virtual pod while reading through posts of game forums. All was chaos. Posts about footage of pyers dying in the most horrible ways, people who were begging for authorities to do something about the situation, people who still tried to enjoy the game despite the mess...

  But most importantly, was one specific post that appeared about two hours ago. Someone had managed to take a look at two of the game's final bosses. Something that wasn't supposed to happen... The Sins of Marka couldn't be apprasied by otherworldly powers...

  "Hm... That's- Wait. That's just fvor text..."

  Marka's god let out a breath of relief. For a moment They had thought that the pyers could access Their children's information. But thankfully the post was just showing text and descriptions on status windows. All of that was just useless fluff.

  They strolled around the building in which Sins of Marka II was being developed, watching Their fifty other avatars in their pods. They had assigned them to watch over Marka, and its grand events.

  Marka was calm, in a strange way. Apart from the commotion of the war and the demons marching in the Frosty Death, not much was happening. The war itself and its outcome had deeply shocked the nations of Marka. The actors of the conflict even more so. Even the faraway tribal Beastfolks had heard of the crushing defeat the Akwa Empire had suffered.

  The defeat was like a freezing shower for Marka. The strongest nation... defeated in a day. And now, the Papal States were backed up by a Sin. Maybe even two now.

  Their goal was to start creating missives, artifacts, items and other creations that would help Marka. The earlier They did it, the faster Marka would be free. And the faster Earth would regain its divinity.

  The only problem was Raya. Who knew how she would react to otherworldly objects ? A solution would be to sent small bits of Their divine energy in whatever They created... But Raya was Raya.

  "Taxi !" the avatar hailed after changing clothes.

  "Where to ?" the driver asked as he stopped his vehicle to prepare its GPS system.

  "This address." the avatar replied, showing a holo-screen with writings on it.

  "Alright miss. Hop on."

  ...

  The taxi drove off in the distance and the female avatar summoned its police uniform again. It then entered a tall building and went up pristine stairs. After a while, the avatar had reached her destination.

  "Apartment N°374. Jean Fernan." Alright. Let's see what I can find from my child's life here.

  With a burst of divine power, all sounds coming off the room vanished from existence, with another surge, the lock of the entrance magically opened and the avatar stepped inside. A normal apartment, of a normal young adult, who lived a normal life. Nothing special in most of the pce. Photos of Jean Fernan and an unknown woman, mostly together. A couple, most likely.

  An average-looking brown-haired man with a sharp face. Nothing special. But maybe an investigation about that woman would be necessary too...

  But what interested the avatar was the bedroom. Where all secrets were hidden.

  Click-The door creaked and-

  "What the..." the fake-officer let out, astonished by the sight before it.

  Aside from the bed, the desk, the antique computer and virtual pod... The room was filled with posters, figurines, artbooks of various videogames. About half of them were about... Marka and its people. There were posters of Six of the Seven Sins. Figurines of men of the empire, of clergymen, of various Heroes of across the Ages. Of several demon kings... Even of the woman in the pictures, dressing up as people from Marka...

  Was Raya obsessed with this game in her previous life ? How much had all of this cost... ?

  At some point, the avatar decided to dig around in the virtual pod and the computer. The firewalls and identification checkups were swiftly dealt with and that was it. Raya's past would be out in the open.

  "Let's see..."

  With a hand atop of the computer, another one in the virtual pod's wiring, divine power surged and every bit of data converged in the avatar's mind.

  Without full access to the divine power, the process would take long, but the avatar had time. It could wait. But already, the avatar felt knowledge flooding it.

  Raya previously lived as one of these livestreamers. As a self-procimed lore-hunter. Someone who invested their time, dug deeper and deeper into a videogame's story, with every bit they could find. In-game dialogues, descriptions, rumors, tales, books...

  Interesting...