POV: Rai Shinsei
As the four Cardinal Sins stood before us, unnecessary thoughts of doom clouded my judgement for only a moment until I took a calm, deep breath as I resolved myself for the worse with a dry swallow.
"Aria, Arthur and I are going to try to push them away for Sarah as once we do that, I need you to immediately heal Sarah to the best of your ability until she at least regains consciousness."
"Everett, I know you're scared and I don't blame you at all for it, but I need you to protect Aria until she finishes healing Sarah. Do you understand?" I ordered gravely as the two of them nodded while Arthur activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, raising alarm within the members of the Cardinal Sins as they solely focused their attention towards him.
"His Aspectual Force isn't normal for his age. I won't be involving myself with that monster." Sloth voiced as he separated himself from the ground and jumped onto a nearby branch of a tree, watching from above as he rested his back against the tree.
"Sloth, you're such a coward." Lust remarked with a sigh as Sloth began smoking a cigarette while his eyes fell upon me.
"I don't mind being a coward if it means I can preserve my life, but there's something amiss about those teenagers." Sloth replied as Arthur unsheathed his second sword and planted his back foot firmly into the ground.
"I'm not in the mood for your riddles, Sloth, but it seems we've figured out who defeated Greed-"
"Remove your foot from her head." Arthur demanded sharply as he suddenly appeared in front of Lust with the intention of ending her life with a cross slash, but only the tip of his blades tore into her flesh as she barely avoided death by spacing herself away, forcing her to begin taking Arthur seriously as she sharpened her gaze towards Arthur.
"You insolent little-"
"Tranquility." Arthur uttered as with a swift dash, he appeared behind the three members of the Cardinal Sins and sheathed his swords, causing a variety of slashes to appear across their bodies as Lust was only able to evade the slashes aimed for her vital spots, but as for the remaining two, they weren't so lucky as they received the blunt force of his attack.
Their blood splattered into the air as they groaned in pain, eventually directing their resentment towards Arthur, who remained calm, despite being at a disadvantage as he positioned himself into a two-sword style stance while Lust began to seethe with rage from being wounded.
He's taking on three members at once whose power each rivals that of a B-Class hero, although…
I would have never guessed his swordsmanship would be on this level.
"Lust, let's relax a bit. This boy obviously isn't normal. If he's able to take down Greed with little to no effort, then the chances of you winning against him is already slim-"
"Shut the hell up Sloth! I don't need rambling from someone who is too scared to even fight. I'm going to kill this brat and dismantle each of his friends one by one afterwards!" Lust screamed, furious as she activated her Aspect and released her Aspectual Force towards Arthur, who was unfazed as his own Aspectual Force reigned supreme over the area, but despite the difference in their power, there wasn't any fear within Lust's eyes as she used her Aspect to steal Arthur's swords from out of his grasp.
"What can a swordsman like yourself do without your precious swords?!" Lust questioned with a condescending grin as Arthur's swords gravitated towards her, however, Arthur didn't waste a moment as he sprinted towards Lust faster than she anticipated, allowing him to land a destructive uppercut into her chin, but despite the forceful sound generated from his attack, it was ultimately nullified as her body tensed in confusion.
"What the-"
Amidst her struggle to comprehend the phenomena before her, she suddenly spiraled upwards into the air from Arthur's delayed attack as he grabbed both of his swords from within the air and positioned himself into a two-sword style stance, channeling his power from within as his aura began to surge around him.
"Ascension." Arthur uttered as he gripped the handle of his swords with immense force and launched two slashes of wind towards Lust, who was completely vulnerable within the air as she was forced to accept the fact that evading his attack fully was impossible.
With a miraculous last-second spin, Lust was able to evade one of his slashes as for the remaining one, she was forced to take the blunt force of the attack fully as it tore into her chest, causing her to wince in pain as her own blood splattered into the air from her severe wound.
As Lust fell towards the ground, Gluttony and Envy immediately activated their Aspects out of fear and released their Aspectual Force towards Arthur, who remained unfazed as their Aspectual Force was worthless in the face of his own.
Cautiously, they watched Arthur as Sloth remained unfazed, enjoying his cigarette from above as Lust landed onto the ground with a scowl.
With the threat of Arthur Kojiro existing before them, they began to move in sync as Lust took advanced towards Arthur first, with Gluttony trailing behind her while Envy spaced herself away and switched the firing mode of her gun, changing it into what appeared to be an assault rifle as she began firing a volley of aura-imbued bullets towards Arthur, who remained composed, despite being overwhelmed with multiple threats as he gathered his breath.
"YOU IMPUDENT BRAT!" Lust screamed, infuriated as she tried to snatch Arthur's swords once more, but her plan would fail as Arthur's swords didn't budge within his grasp, allowing him to position himself into a two-sword style stance as apprehension began to brew within Lust's expression.
"Eviscerate." Arthur uttered as he spun his body in a rapid motion, creating a large whirlwind of slashes around him, deflecting Envy's volley of aura-imbued bullets as well as forcing Lust and Gluttony away, separating them away from Sarah's body as his attack left a variety of cuts and gashes across their bodies.
I'll be honest.
I didn't account for Arthur to be this strong, but even if his strength rivals that of an A-Class hero, he's going to exhaust himself sooner or later as the techniques he's using requires a fair amount of stamina.
I'm glad he's able to hold his own, but there's no telling what will happen if Sloth intervenes, so for us to have even the slightest chance of escaping…
I need to take care of Sloth before he intervenes.
"Aria, I'm going to fight Sloth and as soon as I engage in combat with him, focus all of your energy into healing Sarah as Arthur created an opportunity for you to save her. Everett will do everything he can to protect you while Arthur and I keep them at bay." I said as I took a deep breath and locked my eyes with Sloth, who's been eyeing me ever since Arthur's fight began as he finished his cigarette and tossed it onto the ground below.
"Rai, I know your strong, but you don't stand a chance against Sloth without me-"
"Aria, you're the only one who can save Sarah from dying and Arthur has already fought Greed. Naturally, he shouldn't have any problem against them, but because of their coordination and the unique nature of their Aspects along with the fact that their Threat Levels are higher than we were informed, Arthur will eventually burn through his energy reserves until he reaches his exhaust limit. If I take on Sloth, Arthur should be able to defeat the remaining three on his own." I explained, but despite my composed state, Aria's anxiety remained.
"Trust me. I'll defeat Sloth and Arthur will defeat the rest of them. After that, we'll all go back to the academy safely." I added with a smile as she nodded and rushed towards Sarah along with Everett while I began walking towards Arthur, who took a moment to control his breathing.
"It seems you're struggling. Do you need any help?" I asked sarcastically as Arthur's eyes widened.
"Did you come over here to mock me?" Arthur remarked with a grin as we faced the Cardinal Sins, who directed their bloodlust solely towards us.
"Of course not. I'll take on Sloth and I can trust that you'll defeat the other three?" I asked as Arthur cracked his neck.
"Are you going to finally reveal your power?" Arthur questioned as there was a moment of silence until I sighed.
"I'm afraid there's not much to reveal unfortunately." I answered as the two of us sprinted towards our respective opponent within the Cardinal Sins.
"Don't die on me, Rai!" Arthur shouted as I sprinted towards Sloth, who was intrigued by my actions as he jumped down from the tree branch above.
"What does a mere boy like yourself expect to accomplish without the use of their own Aspect?" Sloth questioned in a patronizing manner as I quickly approached him.
"You're about to soon find out." I answered as Sloth sprung towards me with a right feint into an uppercut towards my chin, but to his surprise, I weaved past his arm by swiftly sliding beside him as I tried to land a left hook into his ribcage, although Sloth was able to catch my fist with his hand as he tried to pull me towards him with the aim of landing an overhead punch.
"You're open." Sloth mentioned as he tried to smash his fist into my head, however, I freed myself from his grasp by yanking my fist away, disrupting his balance as I landed a spinning high kick into his chin from a rather awkward angle, disorienting his senses for only a moment as I immediately recovered my balance and followed up with a one-inch punch into his chest, seizing his breath as he staggered backwards with a disconcerting gaze.
Refusing to give him a moment to breathe, I rushed towards him in order to continue my offensive pressure, but Sloth ended my advance with a swift back kick towards my chest, forcing me to block with my guard as the impact sent me sliding backwards through the forest bedding of the ground.
"I knew there was something amiss among you all and of course I have to be the one to deal with it." Sloth said as he rubbed the side of his chin in annoyance.
"What a bother." Sloth added as the two of us positioned ourselves into our respective fighting stance, waiting for one another to make the first move as a breeze of wind brushed through the forest.
At any cost…
I have to win.