POV: Rai Shinsei
With Greed suffering from a fatal wound, everyone was able to take a moment to breathe as I watched Arthur approach Greed, but amidst his walk, he shot me a glance of disappointment before shifting his focus back towards Greed, who was clutching his chest with a grimace of pain as I placed my sword back into its scabbard.
What was that about?
"I'm quite greedy? Isn't that ironic." Arthur remarked with a disdainful grin as he smashed the handle of his sword onto the back of Greed's head, causing him to collapse face-first onto the ground as he lost consciousness in the midst.
Arthur then sheathed his sword and deactivated his Aspect as we all gathered around Everett, who was slowly regaining his composure as Aria finished healing him while I kept my eyes on Greed, making sure that he was out for good.
It seems it's over for now.
"Arthur, why did you wait until Everett was getting strangled to death to use your Aspect?! He could have died!" Aria chastised as Arthur glanced at me before apologizing to Everett, who casually brushed it off, but as Aria continued to scold Arthur, I glanced at Sarah, who has been unusually quiet ever since we arrived as I noticed her trying to suppress her body from trembling in fear.
That's not good.
Sarah is incapable of fighting in her current state and as time passes, there could be any member of the Cardinal Sins lurking around as we speak.
"Everett, if you're able to move, we need to leave now as we're abandoning this mission." I ordered with urgency as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Good point. I'll take the lead just in case another enemy appears." Arthur replied as he took a deep breath and began sprinting ahead at a speed where we all could follow behind, following the faint trail that was connected to the exit of this forest as the rest of us followed a meter behind him, but within a minute of running, I noticed there was a member missing from our group as panic arose from within.
Wait a minute…
Where is Sarah?!
I turned around in hopes to find her lagging behind, but to my dismay, Sarah was unconscious, bathing in a puddle of her own blood as I locked eyes with a tall, beautiful slender woman whose foot rested on Sarah's head as a smug grin crept onto her face from witnessing my consternation.
"SARAH!" Aria screamed in distress with her eyes widened in horror, prompting Arthur and Everett to turn around.
"Are you serious?!" Everett exclaimed nervously with a sickened expression as Arthur sharpened his gaze.
Can this mission possibly get any worse?!
How is it that everything has gone wrong?!
"Although Greed is on the verge of death, I find it strange that none of you seem to have any injuries. I would have expected this from a hero, but all of you are nothing more than just mere teenagers." The woman stated as she eyed us curiously, but despite her unwanted curiosity, I clicked my tongue in frustration as I knew exactly who this woman was, nonetheless, her three comrades that stood behind her as I quickly observed them.
The woman using Sarah's head as a footrest was none other than Lust, who stood around two inches taller than me with a beige complexion, long silky black hair that was recently straightened with seductive purple eyes and a frame similar to that of a curvaceous model.
Her attire consisted of a bloodied white dress shirt with a loose black tie as her topwear was complemented with slim black slacks and black short heels.
Gluttony was rather short, standing barely five feet tall with a pale complexion, short magenta hair with side-swept bangs that was paired with forest green eyes and a plain bandaid across her nose.
Her attire consisted of an oversized black hoodie, a short, forest green pleated skirt with two sheathed daggers that were wrapped in bandages around both of her thighs and rugged black boots.
Envy stood a few inches shorter than myself with a golden complexion, curly black hair that was kept in a short ponytail as she allowed a few curls to rest across her forehead.
Her eyes bore a caramel brown hue that was framed with black glasses and a black neck gaiter that covered her mouth and nose as her attire consisted of a skintight black tanktop, black fingerless gloves with a thin black belt paired with black cargo jeans and black heavy duty boots as her weapon of choice was a unique black sniper rifle.
Lastly, Sloth, who stood around the same height as Greed, though his frame was smaller than his as he bore a tan complexion, short curly black hair that was slicked back with a few loose curls remaining across his forehead.
His eyes were a hazel brown hue with dark circles underneath them as he had a prominent sharp jawline for his defining feature.
As for his attire, it was more sumptuous than the rest of his comrades as it consisted of an open black trench coat with a tailored black suit underneath it.
Four members of the Cardinal Sins are standing right before us and yet, Sarah is bleeding out fast from one of her organs being punctured.
Time isn't on our side.
I glanced at the rest of my team to check on their conditions as I found Everett trembling in fear while Arthur remained unfazed, but as for Aria, her anxiety soon turned into animosity as her bloodlust was solely directed towards Lust, who stared at Aria with a sadistic grin as her sole purpose seemed to be provoking Aria's rage.
That's not good.
We can't have her losing her composure.
She's our last hope in terms of healing as she's the only one who can save Sarah.
We can't afford to have her losing her cool now.
"Aria, I understand your anger, but you have to calm down." I advised, but my words only seemed to further enrage her as she glared at me in exasperation.
"My best friend is lying there, straying closer to death with every passing second and you expect me to calm down?! Nonsense! I won't tolerate those scum to mock her anymore!" Aria cried out with tears welling within her eyes as her Aspectual Force spiked momentarily as well as the golden aura enveloping her body, prompting her to try and flash towards Lust, who remained still as she welcomed Aria's arrival.
Aria, you fool!
"Aria!" I hollered as I grabbed her from behind with one arm and yanked her into my grasp, preventing her from being killed as Arthur suddenly appeared in front of us and deflected an incoming sniper bullet that was aimed towards Aria's head with one of his swords.
"Woah~" Envy remarked, surprised by Arthur's feat as he landed onto the ground while I struggled to restrain Aria, who eventually calmed down as I continued to hold her within my grasp in case she lost her composure again.
"Listen to me, Aria. As you said earlier, time is not on our side, but acting rashly is not the way to go about this as if it wasn't for Arthur, you would have died. Do you understand?" I reproved softly as Aria eventually nodded, allowing me to release her from my grasp as she slowly began to regain her composure.
"You're right. I'm sorry about that." Aria replied as she wiped the excess tears from her eyes while I shifted my focus towards the four Cardinal Sins that stood in our way in order to fully assess our unfavorable situation.
As things are now, our chances of making it out alive are slim to none.
They know we wouldn't dare leave our teammate behind and even if we choose to run away, only Arthur would be able to escape as the rest of us would be caught within seconds if any of them were to use their Aspects and since Greed's power was stronger than his supposed Threat Level, then I assuming the rest of them will also be the same.
With Sarah incapacitated, our options for escaping are now out the window.
So as of now…
It's either we fight for our lives or die.