His eyes opened to a ceiling he faintly remembered. A loud cowboy was yelling for him downstairs. As he moved to leave the bed, he discovered his hands were strangely wet. Looking down revealed where he gouged into his own palms. "I haven't done that for months." He thought back to the last moment he was conscious and shuddered. "Why did that bastard have to use fire."
Ryuji got out of bed so he could start pacing around. As he did so, he thought about his situation. He previously thought that these instances where he dies were just prophetic dreams or his mind playing tricks. But now, thanks to the painful trauma he just endured, he can safely say that they're not. "This isn't how it worked the last two times. Instead of going back minutes, I've gone back hours. Is it random every time? Or do I return to the easiest point to overcome my situation?"
Ryuji stood still trying to think as hard as he could about it. But in the end, he couldn't come up with anything concrete. Shaking his head, he continued to think aloud. "The attack won't begin until somewhere around seven. It should be four right now. I've got three hours to form a plan to take that bastard down." With renewed resolve, he headed down the stairs into the living room.
"Ah, so he lives! Took you long enough, pardner! We were about to start placing bets on whether or not you were still breathing."
Ryuji smiled, glad that he was still in this world. He was still here only thanks to the newfound power he possessed. It reminded him of playing a video game and finding a hard level. The only difference being that this time losing not only hurt but was traumatizing. 'I will pass it this time! All we need is a plan.' He looked to see that Rhea wasn't sitting down at the moment. "Hey Jessy, where's Rhea?"
Jessy put down the hand of cards she was playing Marie with and answered him. "She's just in the bathroom I'm sure she'll be back soon."
Queen mocked him without looking away from her hand. "Are you that entranced by her that you need to know her whereabouts at all times, Hero?"
"Will you stop it! I guess it can wait until after she gets back. I don't feel like explaining it twice." Ryuji walked off the staircase and took a seat on the couch.
A hand squeezed his shoulder as Dot walked past and sat next to him. "What could you possibly have to tell us? Oh, wait. Is it because you had one of those dreams?" With a laugh, she started slapping her own knee. "Was it so good you needed to get off your chest because if so, count me in as totally interested!"
Ryuji sighed heavily. Usually, he liked the comments Dot made but right now, he had more important things on his mind. "No."
"Are you all good? You look like you're about to burst a pipe."
"Whats Ryuji about to burst?" Rhea walked into the room with a smile on her face.
For a second, Ryuji felt relieved. She was still alive. But then an image flashed through his mind. A depraved memory he had no intention of ever reliving. Her brain and skull in pieces on the ground. A hole where her face once smiled. He swore he wouldn't let that happen again. With a face that made Dot look concerned, Ryuji marched over to where Rhea was standing. "I have some important news."
Rhea looked over his expression before nodding and sitting down at the table. She looked over once everyone had gotten situated and asked. "What's the news?"
Ryuji opened his mouth and then realized something, how was he going to explain this to them? They looked at him expectantly while he opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. "I know this might seem... strange, okay? But you have to listen to me! In a few hours, there's going to be an attack at the central plaza. We need to get done there as soon as possible and help people evacuate!" He looked around at the girls. Jessy had an eyebrow raised. Queen looked as if she was seriously worried about Ryuji's mental state. Dot seemed more or less apathetic to the whole situation. The only one who looked serious was Rhea.
Her hands were locked together tight on top of the table. She peered at him with grave eyes. "How do you know, and who is going to do it?"
All eyes were on him. He gulped before responding. "You wouldn't believe me about why I know. But I can tell you that the one behind the attack is one of the sinners, Envy." He waited for more questions to come, but Rhea instead stood up.
"I'll believe in what you said, so come with me to help secure the people's safety."
Ryuji's face lit up. "You guys believe me!"
Rhea's face softened slightly. "It's not as if I lose anything by believing in you, Ryuji. If you're wrong then no one will have gotten hurt. If you're right then I can save lives."
Jessy fiddled with the revolver in her holster. "We've known each other for a whole year pardner and in that time I can't recall a time you've lied to me. Why would you start now? And about something this important?"
Dot who had been attempting to build a house of cards finally put the last card on top completing her construction. She looked at Ryuji with her usual shark smile. "I couldn't care less if you were lying! Anything to get me out of this boring house. Oh, maybe I can find a book store while we're out."
Ryuji scratched his head. "You know we're not going out for fun, right?"
"Not so fast!" As everyone else got up from their seats, Queen remained seated. "I'm not risking my life for nothing, especially for you."
Ryuji, confused, confronted her. "Why not!? Do you know how much bloodshed this Envy guy is going to cause!?"
Queen looked into eyes unflinching in her resolve. "Yes, I know. We learned about them at the Academy, remember? They are the seven apostles of Sin. Each one supposedly reports to the Primeval god himself. And each of those seven is treated like natural disasters, unstoppable. We don't even know what his authority is! Simply put its suicide."
Ryuji's teeth grated together. Rhea looked unfazed. "I'll pay you as much as you want. I'll pay, so get up and start helping!" Gone was the shy and nice Rhea. Now the Sword Saint stood in front of them in her full splendor. "He may be a natural disaster, but he is one man! I will put him down. Everyone, we're going to evacuate the people to the outskirts of town. There are shelters for such occasions like this. Two of you will stay with them, just in case. The rest will come with me!"
The five of them walked out of the house with downcast faces save for one. They marched towards the plaza and danger.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
A man stood in an empty plaza. The sun still hung in the air as twilight approached. He had just arrived after coming to an exciting idea. But now he stood in an empty, boring, ordinary, and subpar plaza. His mouth scrunched up in anger before releasing into a smile. Three figures approached the square, each carrying themselves with confidence. One he noticed was markedly less so than the others. He would pick on that one when things ended. "Do what I do the pleasure of this great meeting?"
Rhea drew her sword without hesitation. "I've come here to slay you, Envy! Your centuries of hurting innocent people end here." Queen and Ryuji stood next to her, ready to help. "I need you two to stay out of this unless I say otherwise. If you hop into the fight, you'll hurt me more than help." Both of them nodded and stepped back.
Envy drew his dagger with a smirk. "Ooooo, cocky, aren't you? If you think you can take me, then come on! I love showing the strong just how weak they are."
Rhea lunged forth, closing the distance. Her Reaper struck out and bounced off his dagger. With a faint from the front, she appeared beside him. "Cut!" A great torrent of destructive energy rang out of her sword.
With a pivot, Zelus dodged the blow before countering with his own. "Surox!" His dagger pierced forth, but Rhea glanced the attack off with her sword parrying it. Behind her, buildings that once stood now collapsed from missing their supports. A line of destruction that Ryuji couldn't see the end of, sprawled out in the direction he struck. He clicked his tongue. "Then how about some magic, you over talented bitch! Behtarin."
Her eyes opened wide. With her highest speed, she darted in the opposite direction of her opponent. His smile complimented the madness gleaming in his eyes. A bright light situated in the sky that wasn't there before expanded before collapsing. With its breakdown came an explosion that Ryuji had witnessed before. The nearby roofs were torn off as the walls collapsed in on themselves. The fire spread throughout the sky, catching neighborhoods and districts aflame. A pillar of destruction stood as a testament to Zelus's power and insanity.
Zelus stood next to his creation unharmed, while a singed Rhea stood quivering with ragged breathing. Ryuji's own breathing turned for the worse as well. Looking at the flames he had personally experienced, he couldn't help but lose himself. A gentle hand placed itself upon his shoulder. He looked to see Marie full of anxiety. With a smile he could barely muster, he attempted to console her. "I'm fine, thank you."
"Ah, so you survived that, did you? Good! I would be super~ disappointed if you perished from such a trifling thing. What are you doing over there huffing and puffing? Come, come! Didn't you say that you would slay me? I'm still very much breathing." Zelus taunted Rhea with his hand.
Wordlessly she raised the legendary sword above her head. Mana congregated to the blade, shaking the very air. Zelus looked on with a smile. She gripped the sword and swung it down. "Aftidan." The ground that stood between the two flattened down as an invisible force crushed it.
Zelus stopped the force in its tracks with his dagger. Appearing next to him, Rhea lashed out. His eyes full of shock, Zelus watched as the blade got closer to his head. He dodged the strike just barely. Rhea followed it up with another one almost instantly. Without room to dodge, Zelus had no choice but to take the attack.
"La Buris!" Rheas sword surpassed sound as it lopped off his arm.
A smile formed on his face as Rhea went to strike again. "I knew it." His dagger slide across her face as he ran past her. A ridge opened upon her profile, and her left eye and ear were destroyed. "And now for Sacred High Heal!" Nothing happened. "...Huh?...Huh!?"
Ryuji looked on in confusion. 'This is exactly what happened last time... but this time there are no hostages! She can win this! I know she can!' He believed in the girl that, in his mind, was stronger than anything.
Rhea turned around and looked at the psycho, who was slowly falling into a panic. Her face was in extreme pain, but she didn't care. Caring was a luxury that normal people have. She felt renewed strength as she focused on him with her one good eye. "Die."
"Now, I would like you to please hold it." A hand redirected her blade. In between the two was a man. His hair was short and the same color as Rhea's. He wore a white cloak with a complete white wardrobe. His presence was almost ethereal as if a light breeze might carry him away. His most discerning feature was his dead golden eyes.
"Wrath!? Thank sin that you're my friend! That woman over there is giving me trouble. Would you be so kind as to take care of her for me?" Zelus stopped the bleeding of his stump but couldn't regenerate it. He looked pleadingly at Wrath, who in turn gazed at him with a dead face.
"I would not consider you, my friend. If anything, we could be considered very loosely to be coworkers. I judge this off the fact that in the past two hundred years, I have seen you approximately twice, and one of them is right now. Therefore I believe that a normal person would consider you thusly." He spoke with a flat voice that never changed. His face remained much the same as his voice.
"What is going on!?" Ryuji shouted his question to the man who shouldn't be here. He wasn't here last time, so why is he here now? These kinds of thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to make sense of the situation.
"I will explain it accordingly then. I am Furor, the sinner of wrath. I was out with my wife on a nice date. Or at least that's what I think someone normal would feel about it. Our date had almost ended. She wanted us to visit this city because of its romantic exploits. I complied because that's what a good husband would do. Before our date could naturally, an explosion that was caused by Envy interrupted it. As such, I came here to exact my rightful anger upon the unjust party."
Anger welled up in Ryuji. He couldn't tell if it was the flames or the stress, but he was beginning to lose it. "That's your reason!? Then attack Envy if you know he was the one who did it! What are you waiting for?"
Marie stopped him before he ran up to the three of them. "If you go now, you won't be helping anyone. We wait until the new one makes his move." Ryuji begrudgingly agreed, and the anger within him faded away.
Furor looked directly at Ryuji before turning his attention to Rhea. "Certainly what you say makes sense. I did consider that option. But let me explain the thought process leading me to this conclusion. A normal person has four options. One: Take your anger out on your wife. A normal person would never attack his wife. Second: Attack random people who have nothing to do with it. A normal person would never attack innocents. Three: Attack the cause of the explosion, and Four: Attack the target of the explosion. Of the two options left, one involves attacking a coworker. I believe a normal person would swallow their anger for their coworker and instead use that anger to take down the enemy of his fellow man. This is why I shall be attacking you, red-haired woman."
Zelus sighed before walking away from him and towards Ryuji. "You are as wordy as ever. You could have just said the last two sentences, and we would have understood fine."
Rhea sneered and pointed her sword in the direction of the green monster. "Where do you think you're going?" A fist came barreling towards her gut. She dodged but immediately caught by the other fist. Rhea lashed out with her sword, but the assailant already backed away. She went to take one step but faltered. Her head felt wobbly. "How? I took one hit. It wasn't that even that strong..."
"To reveal that information to you would put my authority's power into jeopardy, and any smart person, no matter how emotionally distraught by this situation, would not reveal such a thing." Wrath stood poised with his fists raised, ready for her.
Envy stared smugly at the two in front of him. "Now, you two will sit here patiently while my friend deals with the bitch."
"Can... I sit as well~?" From behind Ryuji and Marie came the voice of a little girl. A short woman with lilac hair walked forward with a dark expression. "You know Zel... if you wake me up again, I'll get angry~!" Her words slurred and were slow, making it hard for Ryuji to discern most of what she was saying.
Queen's face went stiff. "That's the girl from yesterday!" Ryuji looked back to see and realized Marie was right. It was indeed the girl sleeping on the bench.
"Oh? So you've met her? Shouldn't you be more discreet, Aergia?"
A presence that felt like it could flatten him came from the little girl. He could feel the ground rumble and shake. The girl's eyes burned through him even though she was looking at the man behind him. "You've woken me up Zel... don't think I won't destroy you if you berate me. I can... only take some much... humility~."
"Who are you?" Queen fearlessly asked a question of the intense little girl.
A frown slowly made its way onto her face. "I'm... Aergia the slothful sinner~."