Perfect Avatar-Chapter 225: Sinful

A new day greeted the land of beasts, taking away the thousands of lives lost the day before. The dawn sun scattered its purple rays over the sleeping town where the inhabitants were gradually regaining consciousness after a burning night.

When it came to fieriness, one place stood out among the rest, a building next to the neighborhood bearing the Colosseum.

In front of this building, the sleepy-faced locators were murmuring among themselves, mostly worried about a certain event from the previous night.

"It’s... it’s calmed down?"

"The heat too, the temperature is normal now..."

" What happened ? Was it a fire?"

They were talking among themselves, above their heads, the deserted building still gave off a little smoke from a disastrous event.

One of the rooms in particular had its window burned to the ground, revealing the completely charred interior. Inside, an interesting scene was unfolding.

Sitting on the bed, his eyes wide open and his skin roasted, Dora stared at the wall.

All around, the room was completely destroyed, as if after a cyclone of fire.

He looked around, the setting of a war scene always carried a heavy and powerful feeling of melancholy, but this one was more shocking to the young boy. He let out a deep sigh, releasing a bit of smoke in the process.

"... What the hell?"

Beside him, the girl was lying, facing the other side of the wall and clutching the remains of a destroyed cushion to her face.

"...Oh my God..."

"I hope you’re ashamed."

"Urgh... shut up..."

"Do you know the worst? I remember everything."

Mercy sat up, picking up the lambs from the sheets to cover her body.

"S-stop! I-I don’t need to hear that!...What did I do? What the Hell happened?"

"You want to talk about it ?"

"...Please no."

"Oh don’t play the saint now, you don’t have your place in heaven after that."

Mercy placed the pillow against her face and lay down, if she could disappear now, she would without hesitation. For his part, Dora was more worried about the reaction of the other Personas.

His mind was torn between the joy of his new light of hope, his fear for his comrades, and a new sense of satisfaction at having endured what had happened better than with Zuri, even thought if he felt that he needed healing, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to do it.

"Oh, yeah, I still have to teach you all about pressure stuff. Let’s... Ah, stop being a wimp now, it’s no big deal!"

"It is!"

She turned onto her side, gripping the cushion tightly.

"...It’s...It’s not like me...I didn’t... well, I wanted it, I...I...but...holy shit."

"I thought you would live without regrets for now?"

"I have no regrets!...It’s just...aren’t you too casual about it?"

"...Just use a little of your own pressure, you’ll soon return to your new default mode."

"...Ah? You mean this...strange heat?"

She sat back, trying to relax a little more. Her face was turning slightly redder, but not from her new power.

"Well... that was... wild. I didn’t know I could go off the rails like that... I... It was..."

"Foolish."

"...You didn’t seem to hate it."

"I have 2 problematic Personas in me, I’m not normal... and also everything is going according to my plan so what would I have to complain about?"

"...So you liked it too!"

Dora massaged his shoulders then ran his hands through his hair, the light of the rising sun entering the room providing a showcase of the scars and bite marks all over his body.

"Yeah, I like how durable I am."

Mercy sank back into bed, face buried in the cushion. A little later, people dared to enter the building without noticing the two shadows emerging from a dimensional hole on another street.

Dora and Mercy, dressed in new outfits materialized by the first, left the place and the surrounding area and returned to the inn in which they were supposed to meet the others.

They entered the place where the 3 girls were waiting for them around a simple breakfast. Seeing them, their reaction oscillated between embarrassment for Iris and Morgiana and a small frown for Lilith.

They sat without saying a word, and no one else dared to speak. Mercy, rubbing the table with her index finger, looked at the wall. At the end, Morgiana coughed to break the ice.

"Ehm... So... we... are you okay? You look more... tanner than usual."

Mercy opened her eyes wide, the speed of her fingers on the table increasing.

Dora glanced at her and replied.

"A monster tried to kill me in the weirdest way possible, but I won."

Iris spat out the water she was drinking. She stared at Mercy in disbelief, the girl’s body starting to shake.

"27 times." Dora finished killing Mercy who hits the table with her head.

"What the hell?! Mercy???" Iris shook her friend whose hair was shining again.

"...I hate you."

"The most reasonable thing you’ve said in two days, let’s not waste time on this, we need to talk about the next phase of our plan."

Dora surveyed the area before devising a strategy.

"Now, as you may have gathered, Mercy became a pseudo-Avatar of Wrath. You were the most compatible on this path so it was just a formality. Now, the good thing is that from what I feel, there is no magical power in you."

Mercy looked up, looking surprised.

"No magic...I...I feel like I don’t have the...same power as before, yeah...but I thought I couldn’t use magic mainly because of the red mist."

"No, from what I’m feeling... it seems like all your magical power has been converted into physical power. Hm, let’s take that scythe you can summon for example, you’ve never used one, right? But look how suddenly you’re so skilled. It’s due to the power of what makes us Avatar, a natural talent for one power... except for me. Now you’re at the top of the food chain, beneath you there is everyone and above you only 6 Sin Avatars. Congratulation"

Iris and Morgiana gazed at Mercy with a desire to celebrate, yet this particular moment seemed too ludicrous for them to express their approval.

Anyway, Mercy looked at the palms of her hands, with a growing smile.

"Thank you... It’s really amazing... I really feel like I can do anything... I don’t feel the weight of my body, but I feel my heart so much... and it feels really good! I want to fight again, I want to see my maximum... if I have a maximum... I... I... maybe I could even... face a Player?"

She looked at Dora expecting a sign of approval, but it was a hand gesture that answered her.

"We’re not there yet. I only trust what I know, and what I don’t know is what lies beyond this Rift. For now, let’s focus on the plan as planned. You need one more thing to awaken, judging by the fossil’s words: a part of Wrath’s soul."

The girls exchanged glances, wearing slight frowns on their faces. Morgiana discreetly observed the people in the restaurant and uttered softly.

"Um... you mean like... kill him?"

"...We’re not there yet neither. I need to get the most out of something and I’ll do it best with a well-known method. Part of the soul is most likely a blessing, so a once you are blessed by him, your awakening should..."

Mercy hopped on all fours onto the table, inches separating their faces.

"I can get stronger than that?!.... eh?...oh! S-sorry."

She went down slightly embarrassed. Dora sighed and took one last look at the door.

"That’s the idea, but... We’re going to do things my way. I want more things before we proceed to execute Wrath, and what I want now is... the awakening of Wrath’s second candidate."

The girls were surprised at first but following his gaze, they met the eyes of the last of them, too silent from the start.

"Lilith?" Morgiana whispered.

The young girl slowly lifted her head, her intense eyes fixed on Dora.

"Yes, apart from Mercy, I feel like you’re the closest one to resonate with Wrath’s frequency. Your soul is flawless, but you’re still human."

He folded his arms, his gaze shifting to Iris and Mercy. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"The key for a soul to transform is to endure the pressure of a Sin for a prolonged period, these two have been under the tutelage of Sloth, so they are already ready, you and the others, however, only received minimal training, probably until you reached the S-rank. You possess the quality, but lack the quantity."

Lilith’s eyes narrowed, she parted her lips and spoke in a soft, composed tone.

"So you’re saying that I can’t awaken as well?"

"You can, I will simply use my own pressure. You will also need to acclimate yourself to Wrath’s energy but once you do, you will just require a catalyst, like Mercy."

He gazed at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"I cannot let Wrath discern my true nature yet, so let’s do this during the night instead. I will subject you to my pressure for as long as necessary until your transformation occurs."

Suddenly, Lilith’s expression shifted. She widened her eyes as her lips parted briefly.

"Eh?.... you mean... we will spend nights together?"

The other three girls flinched and turned towards her. Dora narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"I am impressed by your sense of priorities, all of you. Yes, we will spend nights together, yes, most likely in close proximity since I require you to be ready as quickly as possible, but no, it is not the horror you are imagining."

His explanation was resolute and clear, however, something within Lilith had already withered.

"... What if I refuse then? What if I decline to join you? Or even allow a gladiator to kill me?"

The gazes upon her turned anxious and troubled. Morgiana grasped her arm.

"Lilith?! What are you..."

"You said I was flawless? You said you needed me? But you don’t want to give me anything in return? Why should I continue to follow you? You do not truly require me, do you? You just think that 2 pawns are better than one!"

She rose from her seat, her aura emanating from her body and causing a gust of wind to sweep through the room.

"L-Lilith!" Iris shouted, both she and Morgiana standing up.

Meanwhile, Dora and Mercy remained seated, with Mercy keeping a watchful eye on Dora’s reaction, although her attention was fixed on Lilith.

Unfazed, the boy felt a new wave of pressure, similar to Wrath, but he knew its source was in front of him.

"Does this mean that you’re not fighting for yourself? Is everything you do connected to me? Don’t you have a personal desire?" he asked.

"...I do have one wish... but it was taken from me by others," Lilith replied.

She placed her hand on the table, which instantly cracked. Mercy was about to stand as well, but Dora raised his hand to stop her.

"Lilith, if you need this Dora to remain motivated, I can offer him to you. However, be aware that we are also pawns in the hands of another Dora, and he won’t tolerate any of you."

"...Yes, I know... I already know," Lilith leaned closer to him, causing the table to fracture even further. "But I also understand that I won’t gain anything if I don’t try."

Gradually, her aura subsided and the wind died down, but now all the customers’ eyes were fixed on her.

"I will lose my humanity, I will cease to be normal, I will receive the blessing, and I will become your pawn to kill him... but in return... every battle I engage in will be a bet against you."