Reign of Sins

Disposable Tools

I’m at the Queen’s office right now. It’s Saturday, and there are no classes. That’s why I don’t need to see the Seven Sins. I asked them what they were doing on weekends, but no one answered. They remove their masks and live like ordinary people for the next two days. 

To think that the Seven Sins have everyday lives aside from following the Void’s rules is a foreign concept to me. Maybe because I saw how they kill people without any guilt at all. If they’re not like us, the Phoenix, perhaps they have everyday lives. After all, they’re still a bunch of high school students. But they are the younger version of Phoenix, the Void's Sword.

I gulp the contents of the glass of beer.

“So, you came here to drink? I just want to remind you that this is my office, not a bar.”

When I looked back, I saw the Queen of the Void standing there. She is wearing a black backless dress, holding her eldest kid with her right hand. On her left hand is a champagne flute.

“Oh, where’s King Kiel? Why are you the one taking care of that snobby kid?” I pointed at the kid, who is now glaring at me like I’m a fly that he can kill in a snap. He’s indeed a Shiranui and a Loong molded into one. No doubt.

“He’s on a mission every weekend, so it’s my turn to be with Klen and Kyra.”

Since I don’t know what to say anymore, I nod and get another beer.

“Is it that hard to be Sector Seven’s leader?”

She sits in front of me and lets Klen play in the corner of the room. He’s not really playing, but he is reading something. I don’t want to know what it is. I might lose my mind.

I shook my head at what the leader asked me before closing my eyes. 

“No,” she said. “Taking the role as Sector Seven’s head is not the problem since you’ve been handling Sector Six for many years. It’s the Seven Sins, right? I told you, they can be quite a handful group.” She leans back on her swivel chair and looks at me like she knows something I don’t know.

“What?” I asked.

“Don’t attach yourself too much, or you’ll break. There’s a reason why they used masks.” She whispers as if she's in a daze... like she’s thinking of the past.

“What is it?” I leaned towards her, so curious why they wore masks. Not just in every mission but inside Trinity High as well.

I thought they are just afraid that there might be spies in the school. But with the caliber of their Dark Arms, fear is automatically not the reason.

“It’s not my tale to tell. By the way, stop drinking. I called for the Seven Sins. They are in the council room. We have something to talk about with Kiel.” She took the glass from me before drinking it herself. She smirks.

She’s really a sadist.

- - - -

Greed and Gluttony’s chins are resting on their palms with their elbows atop the table inside the council room when I arrived. Wrath’s tiny body lies on top of the desk while hugging her Dark Arms. Sloth and Pride are playing cards. Envy is fidgeting on a tablet while Alice is at the far end of the room. She’s wearing her mask from below her eyes to her chin while her hair hangs loosely. I am taken aback when I saw a chessboard in front of her like she is playing against someone... when in fact she is not.

While looking at all of them, I remembered the old Phoenix before the Taetoku Great War II.

The door opens, and there emerges King Kiel and the Fallen Angel, the Queen of the Void. Their faces are serious, which causes the Seven Sins to sit straight behind the round table.

Before they sit, they all place their right fist on the middle of their chest and salute. “Tenzegen!”

“Tenzegen, Seven Sins,” the Queen said before the married couple sits at the head of the table. The Seven Sins followed.

A blue hologram appears in front of us. Different faces greeted us, and they occupied the whole table. I recognize the faces in front since I’m also a sector leader.

“Normally, I let Grim deliver the mission to you. But not this time. Now, we are not just against a Dark Arms user. We are against a nation.”

 A face of a woman appeared. I know her. She’s the girl Nightwind’s guarding.

“Timtara Aurina Wilson, a doctor. She’s the main target of the Russian government. The reason is classified. I have heard that there are Dark Arms users from their line of warriors, and most of them are S-class users.”

The room is automatically filled with a dark aura, and all the Seven Sins stiffened. I think it’s because they heard of 'S class users'. According to my intel, there are different classes of Dark Arms users. The lowest is Class E then Class D then Class C then Class B then Class A and the highest which is Class S.

Out of all fifty Dark Arms, there are only seven Class S. I don’t know if we have a Class S user, but after watching them fight, I know their individual class is not lower than Class A. But knowing that there are users stronger than the Seven Sins and they are at the enemy’s base is terrible news.

“How many? How many of them are Class S users?” Alice is looking straight at the king and queen.

Because of her disrespectful act, I said sharply, admonishing her with a sharp gaze and words. “Watch your words, Lust.”

“Pardon, Your Highness.” This time, Alice looks at me like she is just humoring me.

But what made me dumbfounded is the fact that the Queen of the Void and King of the Void did not take Alice's disrespectful action into action.

“There are three confirmed Class S Dark Arms users,” the Queen said. “We don’t have any videos about the users, but two of my knights gave their life to deliver the message that contains the information about the names of the Dark Arms.”

“What are the names of the Dark Arms, Your Majesty?” Envy interrupted.

The hologram changed from the doctor’s face to an image of three weapons.

“Shit!” Pride couldn’t stop but blurt out. 

I can see how their eyes changed since I couldn’t see their faces.

The first weapon is a massive boomerang with an uneven edge. The second is a giant hand fan which is an oriental-inspired design, and the third one is a chain.

“Do you have any information about these Dark Arms, Seven Sins?” The King asked.

Pride answered, “They’re the Kurenai, Sasaya, and Troya respectively, Your Majesty.”

No one is more knowledgeable about Dark Arms than the Seven Sins. After asking Sector Six about it, they only know limited information like forbidden information distribution.

“Before we tell you their unique abilities, you must understand the Classes,” Pride explained. “All the classes except Class S are the failures of the Dark Family. Originally, the Dark Family sought to create a superior weapon that could wipe out any civilization. They aimed for the Class S type of weapons. But as users are tested and weapons are created with alchemy and Artificial Intelligence, most weapons fail to meet the standards. The failed Dark Arms is divided from the weakest to the nearest to standard. All of the weapons failed except the seven weapons. And we are facing three of them in battle.”

Sloth interrupted, “Are you scared, Pride? You can hide behind me during the battle.”

Instead of feeling scared, Pride said with a severe tone, “There’s no need to be afraid when we all are ready to die in the first place, Sloth. Remember, there is a rule that if two Dark Arms users meet each other in battle, one must die. But if two Class S Dark Arms users meet each other on the battlefield, many must die.”

Gluttony immediately added, “We only have two Class S Dark Arms users. It means many of us will die.”

“Then,” Envy suggests, “It is wise for the Void to start another experiment in finding a replacement for us. Just simple insurance if we die. We know the rule. We rather die than let them have our Dark Arms.”

All the members of the Seven Sins nod their heads in approval.

I am in awe while listening since I don’t know what to say. There are two Class S here, and I think it’s Alice and Pride. The King and Queen remained silent. I realize that this team cannot be compared to the Phoenix in a way that the Seven Sins treat themselves as dispensable tools.

“Before we discuss our impending deaths, shouldn’t we answer the Her Majesty the Queen?” Wrath raised her hand like she is inside a classroom.

“Kurenai,” Alice said in a low voice. “Unlike the shown picture. It is a formless weapon transformed following the user’s will. The image must look like this because the captured knight is being chased by the Dark Arms user. A Kurenai is suitable for long-distance targeting. No one knows what the Kurenai initially looks like. No one lived to tell the tale, at least.

“Sasaya is both an alchemy and Artificial Intelligence infused weapon. Simply put, Sasaya is a chimera with an appearance of a puppy. But it can transform into a monster according to the will of its user. This is a living weapon. And Troyo is a specialized chain, and no, it is not for capturing. It is for command. Once the user pierced your mind, I don’t know how, but you are good as dead once it starts to tweak your mind. The user will give you any command, and you are bound to obey it. I haven’t heard much about this, but I am sure this is the most dangerous Class S Dark Arms.”

The Queen is in deep thought, and the King is typing something on the keyboard. While the rest of us are just listening to what Alice had said.

I couldn’t help myself anymore, so I asked Alice, “How did you know all of these?”

“Because it is a must to know all of these if you’re a Class S Dark Arms user. The Dark Family made sure of that,” Wrath answered me on behalf of Alice.

I knew it. Alice is a Class S user.

“What about the rest of the Class S? Is Lust the only Class S among the Seven Sins?”

“Lust and Wrath,” Pride answered. “The rest of us are Class A Dark Arms users.” A smile plastered on his face, especially when he saw my eyes widen.

This little kid is a Class S user?