'Ahhh.... I'm tired.....' Hori thought with a calm mind, her eyes now shut. Still embraced by this new character.
The man said out loud with Hori in his arms.
"Poor kid.... her heartbeats slow."
He spoke as they stayed in the air. Eventually landing on the floor below, causing a loud boom upon contact.
The dust settled revealing his design.
He appeared to be a muscular 30 year old man wearing a fitted black shirt, his masculinity oozing out as his huge body stretched the fabric to it's very limits.
His legs wore the iconic American army camouflage pants with big black boots stomping from his every step.
His hair coloured dark brown, styled simply as a buzz-cut.
Stylish black shades hid his eyes, yet you could see the seriousness on his face.
The camera pans to his right beefy arm, it wore a black badge with a bold writing in white 'B' similar to Eric Adams but this time a single letter.
Lastly, a Colonel necklace rested on his chest, followed by a golden cross resting lower on said part.
He glanced to the side with his shades reflecting the background. "Oi! Hataki!!"
The soldier yelled referring to the men in black.
'So that's what they are.... those men...' Hori's eyes still closed, drifting between un-consciousness and death, she was miraculously still alive.
Narrator - Hataki are members of SHO, the Sin Hunting Organization who are not Priests.
They are in charge of everything except from fighting Sins and Sinners. Crucial things like evacuating injured, cleaning debris and so on.
Narrator finally spoke after suddenly disappearing.
"I'm glad....you're still... alive Narrator."
Hori spoke softly.
Narrator - I'm surprised you still are! And don't talk to me!
The female voice nagged.
The man called a Hataki who walked forward. "Take this girl to get medication!" The Priest holding Hori ordered.
The Hataki's eyes turned watery upon seeing him. "Sir Scott!!"
Tears of joy flew as he rushed in for a hug.
"Shut up and take her before she dies!!" Sir Scott scolded.
Hori glanced and saw how these men looked. The uniform the Hataki wore was a simple black overall with gold lining and buttons, there is a writing on their back "SHO" And the kanji for "Cleaners" is written boldly on their chest.
Finally, Their inner wear is a compulsory dark red hoodie. Hataki are always found wearing a black cap, gloves and nose masks to hide their identity, since they aren't big shots like Priests they prefer to keep their identity a secret.
"Sir....Scott?" Hori tried calling out to the man as blood gushed out of her mouth.
"Hey now, don't speak! Your lungs are damaged." Sir Scott handed Hori as if carrying an egg over to the Hataki to get treated, his gentle gestures despite such an intimidating build.
The Hataki carefully carried her on his back and took a sprinting stance.
"You both shouldn't die okay?!"
Sir Scott wished them good luck and waved goodbye.The Hataki quickly began running to safety at impressive speed.
'So fast...!' Hori was shocked.
Heavy breeze quickly brushed her long dark blue hair as they kept running.
Narrator - Hataki are very fast, despite being ordinary humans with no enhancements, they can reach speeds of about 20.3 mph. This is because they are trained to quickly evacuate the injured.
Hori panicked tapping the Hatakis back."Wait! Haruki...!" She wheezed then continued. "Haruki-san is.... still!" She tried her best to speak to no avail.
"Didn't you hear Sir Scott?! Don't talk!" The Hataki yelled cutting her off. Hori kept quiet, but not for long. She forcefully released herself from the Hataki's back and fell to the floor.
Her waist fell flat on debris, making a cracking sound. "Ouch....that hurts!" She winced rubbing her ribs.
"You idiot!! What are you doing?!" The Hataki screamed. Trying to drag Hori back, he clinged on her shirt forcing her to have common sense.
"Please....! Sir.... follow me, a friend of mine is injured somewhere....!" She said as tears came down from her eyes, Hori pleaded to the Hataki to search for Haruki.
"Your friend's probably already been evacuated! So let's go, your gonna die if you don't get that wound treated!" He scolded.
Hori insisted, attempting to speak only to throw up whatever blood she had left.
"Dear God, your gonna die!! Let's just go!!"The Hataki tried reasoning with her. Hori ignored him and began to crawl, continuing her search for Haruki as the Hot Springs burnt to ash.
"It's just like that time with the Sinner!"She began talking to herself, referring to her first encounter with a Sinner, that Sinner of Sloth.
She coughed then continued,"I've always....had good. intuition!"
This was infact true, Hori has a convenient feeling for when situations are dangerous, it is also applicable to when things aren't just sitting right.
This helped her trace the source of the eerie feeling during her first encounter with a Sinner.
She stopped crawling, her mouth stammered in disbelief.
Her eyes sighted Haruki's body mangled on the floor. The Hataki besides her slowly looked up only to see a large pile of rubble gathered on his body.
Both large and small intestines exposed on the ground, brain matter leaking out as his cold corpse laid to rest. Haruki was dead.
"...is... that your friend?"
The Hataki asked Hori who was silent, all life in her eyes were gone, tears flowed as her heart ached. Her very first friend, who she hadn't properly repaid for such kindness...was dead.
She crawled closer to his corpse and tried to somehow remove the debris. The Hataki stood there in panic, they needed to get out of here.
"Hurry up and help me!" She yelled at the Hataki, her one functional eye now crying buckets.
The man paused before speaking honestly. "....look...kid, he's obviously dead." The Hataki said with terror in his eyes.
Hori continued removing the rubble, ignoring her bleeding stomach.
The Hataki stood there, simply confused on what to do. But his priority at the moment was to evacuate Hori at any cause.
He let out a long sigh.
"What the hell?" He finally bent to help her, they forcefully pushed the piled up rocks and they clatter to the side.
At last Haruki's body was visible, Hori rushed and checked his heart beat. Obvious enough, there was no pulse.
She couldn't accept it, her nails dug into the ground as she folded her lips.
The Hataki tapped her shoulder, bringing her back to reality. "We...should get going...." The Hataki softly said, empathy on his face despite it being hidden by a cap and nose mask.
Hori stalled then looked at him.
"Can we at least carry his body?"
She pleaded.
"Look, I'm gonna say this once!People die all the time because of Sins! So don't go mopping around because one guy died!! Now stop crying and let's go already! This place is burning down!"
The Hataki forcefully carried Hori back on his back and began running away. She rested her head on his shoulder, still in disbelief of what just happened, 1 minute she was enjoying a bath with a new friend, suddenly all this went down. So this was the danger a Sin posed.
---------------------
The air was thick with heat as Sir Scott walked with unwavering resolve. His Leather boots dragging along the floor with silent rage.
Smoke blinded the scene as the smell of dynamite wafted from the explosion.
The Priest stopped upon feeling the presence of evil.
"Oi... You're the one responsible for this?!" He shouted with fury, his mouth in disgust and his eyes hidden from the sunglasses.
The creature turned, its glass skin cracking from excitement as a devilish grin formed on its empty face. "Sin of Arson at your service!!" It replied bowing. Obvious enough, given all the fire and destruction, this was the Sin of Arson.
Time - 10:32
'He caused all this damage in such a short time.' He thought to himself, seeing charred corpses and debris laying on the floor. The Priests stomach lurched, feeling guilty for the death of innocent people.
'This is why they should post more Priests at rural areas! I had to run all the way from Tokyo, of course I couldn't make it!
He scratched his head bending down. Having a moment of silence for the lives lost today.
The Sin became giddy. It was sure that this "Sir Scott" was strong. Absolutely ecstatic from a promising bout.
Narrator - The strength of a Sin is determined by how frequent their Sin is committed. Arson doesn't happen so often so he isn't that strong.... quite the foolish fellow to be eager fighting Sir Allen Scott.
Sir Scott surveyed the surroundings, searching if any civilian was still around, luckily the 6 Hataki sent to the scene had evacuated all, leaving the Priest and the Sin standing at the battlefield. His focus returned to Arson, staring holes with no hint of play whatsoever.
"Ohohoho!! I'm feeling such blood lust from a human!" The Sin complimented Sir Scott for making it flinch, seeing as he had no openings to charge in.
It calmed down and decided to actually calculate.
'I might need to use my blessing for this guy! He's definitely strong judging from the aura emanating-
"What was that?" It shuddered again, the Sins train of thought was interrupted by an uncomfortable feeling.
The Hataki evacuating Hori happened to pass by, with our protagonist staring directly at the Sin. Dread ensued as she acknowledged this creature killed her friend.
It flinched and searched for the source of that irritation unable to sight her.
Sir Scott stood there confused as the Sin twitched about as if angered.
Arson dismissed the feeling and returned his attention to the Priest. 'Whatever... what was I saying again? ahh yes about using my blessing or not...
" ...on second thought....this guy doesn't look too strong, he's full of openings!" He was referring to Scott who was surprisingly still not attacking, simply standing still as if waiting for Arson to strike.
"Best I save it for last!" So the Sin concluded to fight without using this "Blessing"
As it flexed its muscles to attempt an attack, a sly smile spread across its face. But little did he know something interesting was about to happen. The air seemed to vibrate with an otherworldly energy as something fascinating was unlocked - Dark Frame
The world around the two transformed in an instant. The vibrant colors of the background drained away, replaced by a dull, monochromatic haze. The only points of color remaining were the Sin of Arson, its lit head burning with an intense, malevolent glow, and Sir Scott, his huge figure radiating a fierce determination.
Narrator - A "Dark Frame" This visual shift is of unknown origin. Gotten to signal the transition into a heightened state of awareness. Its activation marks the beginning of a spectacular display of power and skill, as the characters involved prepared to unleash their full potential.
Arson squealed. "Dark Frame?! Ha! I guess I'm about to do some cool shit!!" The Sin yelled confidently. It wasted no time and dashed towards Sir Scott, nearly melting debris from its movement alone!
Their distance, almost instantly closed, Arson attempted punching.
The backgrounds saturation returned to normal, revealing the scene at hand.
"...what the...?" Arson said in disbelief. He had been decapitated seeing as Sir Scott was holding Arsons bottle head by the cap. Its flames burnt closely to his face, light reflecting on his black shades.
'What kind of speed is that.... It happened so fast it didn't even hurt...' Its confidence from earlier slightly wavered, Sir Scott was no normal Priest. 'He's strong.... well whatever!'
The Sin regenerated its full body in an instant!
Scott still stood in silence.
Arson maneuvered his waist to face Scott, landing a devastating kick!
Scott's body easily passed through buildings surrounding the hot springs.
Arson jumped and followed suit, now angered by the Priests calm demeanor.
They both land at the 5th building Scott reached from the kick, luckily the structure wasn't in use so there were no civilians.
A news chopper approached the scene, with a logo "Live 'Bouts" written boldly at the side.
Its blades sliced through dust as they came closer and closer to certain doom.
"This is live at the battlefield! Sir
Allen Scott is currently engaging the Sin of Arson!" The Japanese female reporter yelled,
Her camera man still in disbelief that they were both this close to an actual Sin.
The pilot contributed to the noise, yelling. "Ma'am! We can't go any closer!!" Only for the reporter to reply excitedly.
"No! We haven't gotten a close up yet!!" She said, almost elated witnessing the Sin of Arson.
Arson looked at the helicopter, flying about 20 meters above them and said out loud.
".... idiots, all humans are idiots!"
His gaze returned to Sir Scott, as he pointed his sharp index finger to him.
"But you're the biggest idiot!! Don't you know an ordinary attack can't kill a Sin?! Aren't Priests meant to know at least that?! Or are you just fucking with me...what the....where'd he go?"
Indeed, Sir Scott suddenly vanished. For a moment, there was silence. Then the sound of Arsons body hitting the ground echoed through the air.
The Sin had been beheaded again.
They both stayed there in silence as its blood dripped from the head.
"Again?!!!!!!!!!!!?!!???!!!!"
It yelled at the top of its lungs! Sir Scott was truly doing this on purpose.
The Sin quickly regenerated its body for the second time and kicked the Priest with even more force than last time!
Scott used his hands to slow down. He stood up to dust himself like a gentleman, adjusting his shades with his right gloved hand.
Sir Scott finally spoke, his voice calm but menacing. "That's the second time now...after the third I'm killing you." He said nothing but the truth. Scott was clearly looking down on Arson.
The Sin stood, its posture worsening as its back crouched.
"Huh?" Veins appeared on its body, slightly shattering it's glass skin.
"You arrogant little bitch!!! The fuck do you think you are??!!!!!!I'm gonna roast your balls and gobble them up!!!" It was insulted, just who did this Priest think he was?
Now vexed it decided to go all out. "Work of the flesh!!"
Arson made a hand sign as if turning on a lighter, the imitation was quite detailed despite it's now burning rage.
"Cinder!!!!" It was furious as fire enveloped its body. Arson had activated it's blessing.
Meanwhile sir Scott still remained calm, just staring, his black sunshades making his expression unreadable.
"He finally activated his blessing huh?" Scott spoke to him self arms crossed, seeing as Arson was getting charged up.
The Sin adhered to its name, ordering a swarm of fire to dance at its finger tips. His dry voice cackling with a new sense of confidence.
Sir Scott sighed and dropped his arms. 'Of course it's fire, I mean it's the Sin of Arson.'
He reasoned, then a faint smile appeared on his face before saying. "Boooooring~!" Scott teased.
"Aaaaaarrgggghhhh!!!!!die!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It only provoked the Sin even more!
Boom!!
Arson propelled him self with a mini explosion, moving at an impressive 500 miles per hour!
'Good, he's lost his temper.' Scott thought, cheerfully heading towards the Sin with equivalent speed.
Narrator - Sins have very high ego, so they can be easily angered when looked down on.
"Buuurn!!!" Arson brought down a pillar of fire on Scott, one high enough to incinerate an entire building, leaving not even the metal works behind.
Scott easily dodged, leaving the flames to melt the structure in his place.
Arson switched attacks and launched balls of flame!
Their speed certainly high but nothing extraordinary. Scott dodged effortlessly again and again, mocking the Sin as a smile tugged at his lips.
"At the end of the day, it's just to shoot out fire." Scott lectured while evading the fire balls like a seasoned warrior.
'tch!' Arson cursed gritting his sharp teeths in annoyance, Sir Scott was right, his Blessing was a one trick pony, nothing like the creatively complex abilities other Sins owned.
"Told you it was boring." Scott whispered, standing confidently at the Sins back. Arson flinched from fear, when and how did such a large human get behind him.
Scott held Arsons head quickly and tightly. "Please wait-
The victorious Priest passed his hand through arsons chest removing his heart in one go.
Dark red blood nearly Black, dripped from the Sins corpse as its lit head finally went off.
"Black blood, knew he really wasn't strong." Scott said out loud seeing the damage Arson caused.
Narrator - A more convenient way of determining a Sins strength is through blood quality. The more red the blood is, the stronger the Sin is. So a Sin with almost black blood is EXTREMELY weak.
Sir Scott faced the throbbing heart in his palm. The vitality produced reverberated through Scotts body, almost as if it were still alive.
The design for these creatures core is similar to that of a humans heart. Except this organ is literally heart shaped rather than the natural pinecone-like structure.
Sir Scott secured his victory by burning the Sins heart with a mysterious golden flame, it was enveloped with a beautiful bright glow, incinerating the heart to nothing.
"yaaaawn~" He stretched his hands to the sky waving the News chopper hovering over.
The reporter ordered the camera man to zoom in. "It seems that Sir Scott has successfully eliminated the Sin!! As expected of a Bishop!!"
The News reporter announced happily, another victory for humans. By a BISHOP no less.
The celebration is interrupted by the sound of marching.
11 hataki run to the scenery to clear rubble and evacuate any civilian that hid in fear.
A high pitched voice spoke with care. "Sir Scott! Are you injured?!" It was a female Hataki.
It's usually hard tell the gender between Hataki since they were caps and nose masks.
But their voice and eyes help distinguish.
"Oh, I'm fine. Please evacuate everybody quickly."
He said with a smile.
"SIR YES SIR!!!" The group of Hataki yelled in unison and bid him farewell, bowing their heads in appreciation for his services.
"Man, I love how Sir Scott finishes fights so quickly!" A male Hataki said while carrying some rocks.
"Yeah, it leaves little damage and it's easier to clean!" Another, while helping an injured up.
"Kyaaa~!! Sir Scott spoke to me today!!" The female that just conversed with him squealed while bandaging an injured leg.
"Ehhh? Don't you have a boyfriend, Mitsu?" Another teased.
"Shut up!" She snared.
Narrator - Only Hataki's know each other's real names, Priests and civilians just call them "Hataki!" Their very unappreciated. Now.... What is our Protagonist doing....