The Sins

by Pegaz A

  John’s face twisted into a malicious grin, which he caught sight of in his reflection.

  “But once there is a person who wins 1,000 matches in a row, bring the person to your castle to treat him to a meal and congratulate him.” His voice was low and raspy, almost a whisper. “The cook you’ve hired will poison him to death during the meal. You will kill this person and make sure the body never sees the light of day. Unless you trust the cook with this secret, then kill him afterwards too.”

  Augustin’s glossy eyes stared blankly into nothingness as he received his order. The man nodded, and as John finished talking, his eyes drifted back to consciousness.

  Business done, John teleported into the sky and flew back to Gaening Dynasty. When he arrived, he told Humban the same order as Augustin and then left.

  John then flew toward the Idera continent and went to the southwest capital of the Wrambet Empire. He made the same deal with the king, following the basic formula he set into place.

  From there, he headed north towards Mebet Kingdom, and then to Craya Kingdom. Within a few weeks, he’d sent almost the entire world spiralling into imminent chaos and war. All that was left was to wait and see who would make the first move.

  About a month later, the first battle in the war started. It was between the Ucopis Dynasty and the Gaening Dynasty on the Cretora continent. John heard about it when he was travelling back to check on things. He eventually found the place of the battlefield, where he hovered in the air to watch the two masses of warriors clash.

  As the armies fought, John was keeping an eye on his sin count. Because he was next to where the sins were generated, he could see it was going up by the thousands per second. He could only smile.

  Hopefully, they each have plenty more men, or else I’ve wasted my time. Even if one side wins the war, the arena idea will make sure my sin count will keep rising, though not as much. The other three kingdoms in the Idera continent should have their armies ready for a fight in a few weeks, too.

  Since there isn’t a second kingdom on Odron, I can’t do this plan with them. Maybe in the future, when I’ve introduced them to boats and other technologies, but not just yet. Until then, there’s nothing for me to do here now.

  John did have a question he wanted to be answered, though. Why did this planet not have any Life Power? From what he knew, the small black orb he got from the Anti-Assassin sect’s planet and stashed away had created Life Power for the planet. Since this planet had none, did that mean there wasn’t a black ball in the centre of this world?

  He had nothing to do besides wait for sin points, which meant he could spend a day or two to figure this out. Even though he didn’t need to breathe to survive anymore, it would still be much easier to drill down using his threads rather than to teleport. He formed a plan in his head.

  John flew around the continent to find a place at least fifty miles away from any village, town, or any place where humans dwelled. He wound up at the top of a tall, rocky mountain.

  John stood at the top and looked around, enjoying the view. With his Scan, John found what looked like goats jumping around on the rocks of the mountain. The animals had six horns at the top of their head, which they used to smash the mountain into smaller pieces. He couldn’t help but gawk at these creatures who then proceeded to eat the rocks.

  Weird creatures… I wonder if they are the reason humans avoid this place?

  Deciding to step into action, John flew up a hundred feet in the air and created a giant drill beneath him using all one million of his threads. He had to spin it left and change the spins direction when the threads tightened to the point of breaking, but he travelled down quickly.

  Chapter 36

  Deflecting Metal

  John dug through the planet’s outer crust and kept going, making sure the hole didn’t collapse. After another twenty minutes, John found himself in the mantle of the planet. There were minerals all around him and not a single drop of Life Power. As the softer metals and elements became exposed to the air, they hardened. John reinforced them with his earth element, too.

  An hour later, John was a few thousand miles down the planet. He expected to reach the outer core’s liquid metal soon, so he prepared to make a pillar with his earth element to help. However, as his threads dug deeper still, they suddenly snapped. John could only blink in shock as his broken threads faded away.

  Knitting his brows, John descended to the place where his threads were broken. He landed on the ground and saw a small piece of metal peeking out of the ground, about an inch in diameter. All around the piece of metal, other metal ores lay in hiding. For some reason, his drill was unable to break past this layer of ore.

  John created a sword made of threads and used the throttling technique to push the sword towards the singular piece of metal. To his dismay, the blade of the sword shattered and the threads whisked away once more.

  What is this metal? It destroyed my threads like they were nothing. How much of this metal is here?

  After freeing up a little more space by getting rid of some of the regular dirt and rock, John walked to the ore in question and used his hands to dig the dirt and rocks around it. He dug the hole around it big enough for a person, exposing all of the metal. There was enough of it to coat the entire area.

  Standing up and looking around, John let his brain contemplate. Does this metal only affect my threads or does it cancel Life Power or Toxin Power altogether?

  John made a bullet out of a single unit of Life Power and shot the metal below his feet. The bullet disappeared as soon as it touched it. Next, he made a bullet from Toxin Power and shot the floor for the same results.

  John lifted his finger and made an Explosion attack from a single unit of Life Power at the tip. Before the attack could even trigger, it disappeared as soon as it touched the metal.

  No point testing it with Toxin Power. This metal cancels all Life Power or Toxin Power attacks, but what about other types of attacks?

  He knelt down on one knee and touched the floor with his hand. Using his metal element, he found he could manipulate the metal any way he wanted. Skimming the metal, John separated a cubic foot of it then stood up. He picked the metal cube up and weighed it, finding it quite light.

  The cubic foot of metal weighed less than a pound; John even wondered if he could use his mouth to blow it away.

  While holding the metal cube, John pushed Toxin Power out through his hands, but as soon as the Toxin Power got close to the metal, it was pushed back and to the sides before disappearing.

  John used the fire element in his right hand, and the metal melted almost instantly. He used the metal element to turn it back to normal, then used water element on the cube. As soon as the water touched the metal, it dissolved.

  John made another cube, held it with both hands, then tried ripping it with his bare hands. To his surprise, he ripped the metal in half using barely any strength. Using the metal element to put it back together, John then used a little strength and managed to crush it. The metal deformed at the sides and exploded into little bits.

  Could this metal be the reason Life Power isn’t on the surface of the planet? But I can’t imagine this metal covering the whole outer core of the planet. On the plus side, this metal would have been perfect to use as a shield or armour against immortals, if it wasn’t so soft. Any of the elementals, a low ranked sword, or even bare hands could destroy the armour.

  It could be useful for some situations, though… But it would need to coat a much stronger metal for that to work. Might be more effort than it’s worth, though. I’m sure there’s a rune out there that will disrupt an immortal’s use of Life Power. Still, I’ll take some of this metal in case it becomes useful later on.

  He walked to the mass of this metal, knelt down, and placed his right hand on its surface. He used his metal element to transport as much as he could into his Storage Space. At first, he only made a 6-foot gap. What surprised him was the metal was over 20 feet deep.


  After a few more seconds of stashing, he broke through to the other side. That was when he felt air rush towards him; it was full of Life Power. He also saw a light shining through the hole which surprised him.

  John realised the Life Power was trying to escape towards the surface. He quickly climbed through the opening then touched the metal above him and around him, using his metal element to close the hole up again. The air immediately stopped rushing towards him, but he could still feel the Life Power.

  John looked down and got the shock of his life.

  It was an open area; John could see miles in every direction. There was a green colour at the bottom that he assumed to be trees and other plants. There were giant metal pillars miles in diameter, holding up the dome-like ceiling made of the same metal.

  From what John could see, the metal that destroyed and deflected the Life Power covered the whole roof in different thickness. The pillars connecting to the roof had the same colour, so John assumed the pillars were of the same material.

  The air was full of Life Power—so thick that it became mist-like in some places. Even in the centre of the Sword Sect, the Life Power did not transform into a mist. Wanting to get a better look at the plants growing at the bottom, John turned Life Vision and Immortal Eye on.

  He saw hundreds of life auras below him. He was stunned to the point of being stupid.

  ???

  Rank: 6

  Level: 7

  Sin: 24

  ???

  Rank: 5

  Level: 9

  ???

  Rank: 7

  Level: 2

  Sin: 294

  There are immortal creatures living on this planet! The creatures Rank 6 and above have enough intelligence to know something is wrong and generate sin points, too! Could they be humans? Can humans even live here? I’m too far to recognise the outline of the creatures.

  I’ve found the reason Life Power isn’t on the surface of the planet. Are all planets that don’t have Life Power on the surface the same way? Or am I just lucky or unlucky to find this place?

  I must be careful if I want to explore this area. I can’t fight every creature here, and I don’t even know how far this place goes on for. These creatures could be the low ranking ones in this area, too.

  John decided to explore the open area and flew along the top of the dome to keep out of sight from the creatures below. There were more life forms crowded together in the dense patches of Life Power mist. He wondered if they were cultivating.

  After travelling a few miles in one direction, John saw the trees had gotten taller and thicker. There was a mist around the trees, too, so John headed towards them.

  That was when he saw what was between the trees. It was a tall stone building covered in vines.

  Chapter 37

  The Creatures

  John was still near one of the metal pillars but could see a structure covered in vines. There were gaps in the vinery where he could see patches of the ruins underneath; it appeared to be a structure entirely made of stone. At the base of the vines, his eyes took in what looked to be a door. The vines grew around the entryway and crawled inside the building rather than covering the stone that stood before it.

  It was through pure luck that John could see the building from where he was. He turned on Life Vision and Immortal Eye again; there were a few creatures deep within the structure itself.

  John was a little taken aback by the shape of the life auras which he could make out after getting much closer. The figures were walking on two legs and had two hands, so John assumed them to be either humans, monkeys, or an ungodly combination of the two. The strongest one seemed to be a Rank 7 Level 9; it even had a handful of sin points.

  Taking a gander away from his immediate surrounding area, John found hundreds of life auras with the same shape within a mile radius.

  I was excited and too focused on the building and the shape of the monsters. What was that old saying back on Earth? If you’re too focused on a tree, you will miss the forest? It’s a good thing I didn’t turn Life Vision off again!

  Excitement pumping through his veins, John couldn’t help but smile as an idea popped in his head.

  John flew closer to the building. He turned Life vision off in one eye, causing the three-dimensional effect he discovered back when he was mortal to come back. In one eye, John could see the life auras of the creatures through the trees. With the other eye, he only saw the trees. As he flew closer, John stopped above the building. From this proximity, his Scan could see it properly in its entirety.

  The structure was built using small stones, some unknown concrete-like substance holding them in place. The building itself was two stories high, about 25 feet long and 15 feet wide. It had a window on the side near the top, which John couldn’t see before. Vines were growing inside the windows instead of over them, just like the door.

  John teleported on top of the building, hovering just above the roof. Immediately, he looked around for any nearby creature that might spot him and alert the rest. He didn’t touch the roof in case it crumbled or made a noise that alerted the creatures below him. It was a life or death game of hide and seek with those things around, and he didn’t want to take any chances.

  With the Life Vision skill and his Scan, John could see one creature sitting down in the middle of the top floor while two were lying on the ground floor. The creature on the top floor was moving his arms from the ground towards its head. John saw that it was eating some kind of fruit.

  Now switching his focus to his Scan, John was surprised to find out that the creature wasn’t a human or a monkey. It had two arms and two legs, but it had yellow fur with black stripes. John felt the hair on his neck rise. These beings had antennae on their heads and big eyes that looked like a fly’s.

  The one he was staring at in particular was pushing some dried fruit inside its terrifying mouth, using its two fangs on the side to push the food in faster. There was a long, thin neck carrying its misshapen head; John could see it moving its head left and right, looking for something. It turned its head a full 360 degrees and back at one point. The goose bumps along John’s arms prickled.

  In the middle of the body, it had a round tail that was a few feet long. The creature was sitting on the tail while it was eating, but with John’s Scan, he found a long claw inside the tail. John had no doubt that it was much like a hornet’s stinger both in function and structure. As if to complement the notion of this creature being a monstrous hornet, John took note that there were wings on its back, folded neatly. The creature had them tucked in tight, probably so they wouldn’t get in the way when not in use.

  Is this thing an evolved form of a hornet? It’s a good thing there isn’t any Life Power on the surface, then. If there was, the humans would get slaughtered. Worst case scenario is that they figure out a way to the surface. If they’re sentient, they could maybe figure out a way to use the teleport runes to get anywhere in the universe. All mortals would be slaughtered.

  Lifting his finger up, John generated a single thread and made it crawl towards the window. The thread curled down the roof, through the window, and headed directly towards the creature. When the thread touched the creature, John used his Memory Manipulation skill and then made his thread disappear.

  ???

  Rank: 7

  Level: 2

  Sin: 294

  Status: Memory Manipulated

  John smiled for a brief second, but the smile quickly melted into a wary frown.

  How does this work, then, since it isn’t a human? While it has enough intelligence to know right from wrong, I don’t know the extent of its intelligence.

  Let’s try this first.

  John used his Memory Manipulation’s Voice skill to whisper his order.

  “Come to the roof, and do not make a sound or alert any of your kind in any way possible.”

  John watched the creature through the roof with his Life Aura and Scan. As John finished speaking, the creatu
re stood up and crept to the window. It crawled up to the roof with unsettlingly jerky movements from its long, spindly limbs.

  John’s heart would have stopped had he not believed so firmly in the Memory Manipulation skill. Before him stood the towering mutation. They stared intensely at each other, meeting face to face for the first time.

  So it could understand me and follow orders. Excellent... Unless it couldn’t and it was the skill translating the order? Either way, this could work.

  Disregarding his new playmate, John made two more threads and had them creep towards the two sleeping creatures on the ground floor. He then used his Memory Manipulation skill on them. Before long, John had a whole row of the creatures standing before him on the roof. John ordered them to stay as he crept into the top floor of the now-empty building.

  Inside, the vines were everywhere. John couldn’t see more than a few patches of stone through all of the vines that coated the place. There was another door to the right of where the wasp creature had enjoyed his meal, but the vines completely covered it. It was only through his Scan that John was able to see the other room, which was also full of vines. Unlike this room, however, it seemed to be full of books. John wondered how the pages were holding up. They had to be so old that they might threaten to disintegrate if he blasted his way in.

  How long has it been since humans lived here? I’m guessing the wasp creatures can’t read and write. Then again, I don’t know how intelligent they are, so maybe they can. But even if they could, they weren’t the ones who built this place. It had to be humans.

  John walked towards the vine-covered door and touched a thick vine with a single finger. He then turned the Absorb option on.

  The thick vine withered and turned to ash a second later. John lightly touched the rest of the vines covering the door. He had to be as careful as possible. By the time he disintegrated every vine on the door, he was completely accustomed to the process.