Chapter 358: Lost Continent's Reclamation; Death of the Seven Sins
All things considered, Lady Envy had the most peaceful death compared to Wrath and Sloth. But this was no longer important to her still precariously living teammates, who feared that they might be next.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
You know what? Scratch that. They 'will' be next. It's just that the order of their deaths is yet to be determined by the humans.
As expected, Lady Envy's death made it more difficult for the rest to resist the relentless attacks of the humans. The fact that she was no longer there to assist them or save them injuries that will have a considerable drain in the energy reserves meant that their deaths were approaching faster.
Even Gluttony's spongy body wouldn't be able to take much more of this. Lust was suffering immensely with him within this fucked-up storm that Cassandra created. It didn't matter what they did; sustaining injuries was a certainty for both of them. And although they're being healed swiftly by their vast yet dwindling energy reserves, the pain made it almost impossible for them to think any further.
Sir Greed was still being harassed by both Old Man Jin and Garrick; sometime Lissandra and Anthony will join in this bullying as well. Sir Greed was so vexed that he couldn't use all of his awesome items because they're deliberately preventing him from doing so.
He could've done so much if he was given a chance to. It might even be possible for him to turn the entire situation around. Unfortunately, the humans were determined to grasp complete victory over this battle so they could only continue to harass him.
Clink! Boom! Crack!
In a rather surprising display of wit, Charles shocked both Gluttony and Lust. He caught them off guard when he ordered one of his drones to sneak close to them and self-destruct. The shockwave and impact of the explosion sent them flying along the storm, and the higher they went up, the fiercer it got and the more painful it became.
"ARRGGGHH!!! NOOOO!!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"
Lust's pitiful wails echoed through the prison. Her previous bravado and confidence were completely stripped off from her. In the face of her incoming demise, she truly wasn't below begging and groveling.
However, the humans turned deaf to her wails. Their hearts were closed to their suffering, unable to feel any form of pity. They wouldn't take any prisoners or slaves here. All of the sin demons must die.
The storm fiercelu ravaged her body, and not in a way she preferred it either. The pain was too much for her to think clearly. All she could really think about was the comparison between their treatment of her compared to lust.
Why did they kill her so gently but be so ferocious when it comes to her? Was her existence so depraved and sinful in their eyes that they treated her like this?
She didn't want to come here either. She's just forced to. Where is all of this animosity coming from?
The fact that this was her line of thought on the verge of death meant that she truly never understood what her kind did to humans and to many other races, for that matter. In terms of this alone, she couldn't compete with Lady Envy, and it's also the reason why they treated her differently.
Gluttony is suffering just as much as she does. Maybe more because of her huge body, especially since he was the team's designated shield.
This torture seemingly lasted for years in their perspective, but in truth, only five minutes passed. Still, the deed was done.
Shortly after Lady Envy's death, Lust and Gluttony followed her. However, their destination wasn't the same.
Gabriel personally lit up their souls, purifying them with pure sunfire and sunlight before turning them into pure essence souls. Not a trace of their identity was left; all was burned to nothingness by the golden light and flames. He kept the souls for safekeeping, and them joined the others to round up Sir Greed.
Unable to rely on King Pride for any assistance, Sir Greed died facing the combined might of their enemies. Forget about igniting his soul and causing a devastating explosion; even his right to move was stripped off at the last moments of his life. And just like how Lust and Gluttony died, Sir Greed was also burned by Sunfire and Sunlight.
That's six of the Seven Deadly Sins dead. The only one left was King Pride.
But when they turned their attention to both Chrissy and Erica, they saw that their concern wasn't necessary at all.
They saw the previously frightening and overpowered King Pride wrapped in pure white chains. He now has a muzzle on his maws, and his claws were clipped dull, courtesy of Chrissy, who's grooming the big kitty. The goat head and snaketail on his body were gone, as were his wings.
His overgrown fur and mane were trimmed neatly as well. If it weren't for his feral expression, his scarlet-dyed eyes, and his fearsome struggle, everybody would've mistaken him for a domesticated lion beast.
A mount, to be more precise.
All kinds of threatening sounds were coming from his throat. He struggled fiercely in his bindings but couldn't escape.
In his haze, he watched as his fellow sin demons were killed one by one. He couldn't truly care too much about their well-being or what happens to them after death. What he wanted was to devour their sins and make himself more powerful.
There was a strange compulsion within him telling him to do so. It was so powerful that he was unable to resist it, especially in this current state of his.
Unfortunately, he could only forget about doing any of this. He couldn't even produce enough force to break the chains that bound him; how could he even begin to think about devouring the sins of his fellow demons?
Moreover, the humans were very thorough with their procedures. When they asked Gabriel to purify the souls of the sin demons, it also included their sins. They most likely did this to prevent King Pride from devouring any of them and getting more power for himself. And it turned out to be the correct decision.
"Hey, girls!" Fiona walked towards both of them. Despite being under pressure for so long, she still exuded the same confidence that she normally had.
"What's up?" Chrissy asked.
"Mind telling me what's your plan with that one?" Fiona inquired with a trace of concern leaking through her tone. "No offense, but the plan was to slay all of them, you know? No exceptions."
Chrissy's face fell. She then looked pitifully at Erica and asked, "Can we really not keep him? I'm pretty sure I can tame him. He's already addicted to my blood, you know?"
"Stop being naughty," Erica scolded her. "And don't ask me. Even if you ask Cedric, he won't allow you to keep this one. It's too unstable and volatile. I'm sure you'd fine better ones out there, so let go of this one, yeah?"
Chrissy looked bummed at this, making Fiona feel rather strange. She truly wasn't expecting that this girl would be so bold to entertain the idea of raising King Pride as a pet.
She always knew that Chrissy was somewhat strange, but she never expected it to go this way too. The others who were listening also felt the same. Fortunately, Erica was here to be the voice of reason here, and it looks like Chrissy couldn't defy her or Cedric for that matter.
"That's a shame then," Chrissy sighed before snapping her fingers.
In that instant, the chains that bound King Pride move. It squeezed him so tight that he exploded into a gory puddle of flesh and black blood. The chains then emitted a bright white light courtesy of Erica. This light purified the remains of King Pride, erasing him completely from existence.
She fetched the King Essence Soul extracted from his body and gave it to Fiona for safekeeping. Neither she nor Chrissy needed this, so it's better to give it away.
And with that, all of the Seven Deadly Sins were slain.
All of them, except Chrissy and Erica, felt a wave of relief flooding through their entire bodies. The deadliest threat to humanity was gone. Killed by their own hands. This time, they proved that they're capable of doing something without needing to rely on Cedric.
The fact that the prison was now opening up meant that they completed their task. They did it. They won. They still needed assistance from others, but for the most part, they managed on their own.
This victory will stay with them for a very long time. However, now is not the time to celebrate just yet.
As the cage disappeared, they were now able to sense the situation outside. They discovered that the war isn't completely over yet, which means that they can't rest yet because the soldiers still needed them.
However, rounding up the stray animals was a far simpler task compared to slaying the sins. They could afford to take it easy at this point.