Inori's eyes widened, horror silencing her scream behind a clamped hand.
'Th... that's, a Sinner. It's a Sinner. That is a real sinner! Oh goodness, th... they're real!' She placed her second hand on her mouth, as if not to let her thoughts blurt out.
The last thing Inori needed was that thing out for her head.
'That is a Sinner!!!' She still repeated her self, this was her first time seeing one in real life.
Sinners are humans who'd gone too far, drowning in their own darkness. The 'curse' which plagues this world mutated mankind into abominations, their twisted forms echoing the Sins that consumed them.
Inori's eyes locked onto a living, breathing example: a monster born from unrelenting wrongdoings.
She slowly backed away from the scene to prevent getting spotted.
As she slowly walked away she thought to herself.
'I know what that thing is, and judging from its design resembling a snail, it's a Sinner of Sloth...'
She swallowed then continued.
'Just calm down, you've read about them in books, Sinners don't just attack irrationally when not hungry, and from the looks of it, it was already devouring a man.'
Inori held both shoulders shuddering from fear, with cold sweat enveloping her skin.
' I....I don't want to die....'
She mentally panicked as she quietly pleaded for her father's rescue.
'I... I have to calm down, if I want to go home, I just have to find a telephone, and call Father!'
The dread didn't stop tho, soon enough her vision got hazzy and the sight of the road in front became a blur.
Finally, enough space was between the two, Inori and the Sinner. This was her chance, she attempted a full on sprint but was stoped in her tracks by a sentence with 7 words.
" 'For the... for the wages.... wages .... wages of sin... is d-d-death.' "
The phrase ran through Inori's skin, immediately stoping her from running.
It came from the Sinner, Romans 6:23. That was all these creatures could say.
Time was up.
Not uttering a sound, The Sinner of Sloth was now stationed behind Inori. Seeing it up close, the creatures face looked slightly human. Slightly.
Inori slowly brought her hands down and gulped.
Its lips curled into something too wide to be human. Revealing rotten gums and yellow teeth.
Blood dripping as it had just finished it's earlier meal, now....on to the next.
'This is all wrong...!'
Inori's scream was caught in her throat, the Sinner of Sloth leaned in for a closer look at its new victim. As their eyes locked her blood turned cold standing directly in front of the creature.
'....Today is my special day... we were going to spend the whole day together....!'
She thought to herself as the Sinner slowly opened its jaw.
Inori didn't flinch, simply clenching her fists in annoyance.
She waited a few seconds more, until its head was only mere inches away.
The warm breath from its open mouth wafted around her face, emitting a disgusting aroma.
''A bit closer...' Inori whispered to herself, steeling for the unthinkable. With a swift motion, she jammed a small rock into the Sinner's right eye!
"RRAAAHHH!!!" The monster roared, its human-like hands clawing at the wound as it recoiled in agony. Inori must have acquired the rock when she was observing the Sinner from an alley.
Instead of seizing the opportunity and doing the obvious.
She began to lecture as if provoked, her voice shaky but loud as she trembled with anger and fear.
"I...I may not understand....w-what is happening.....where I am nor how I got here...."
She paused.
"B-but listen to me....you false man! I am the daughter of the greatest Priest in human history....I will not die by the likes of you!" Inori declared.
Although terrified, it would be a dishonor to her father to have such a pathetic death. Sinners of sloth were the 3rd weakest of the entire kind. Slow, dull and extremely common.
"...,d-death?"
The Sinner asked with only one functioning eye, tilting its head in confusion. Sinners did not understand human speech, so it wondered what the human girl was blabbering about.
They both froze, calculating their next move. Crows perched on rooftops, silent witnesses to the standoff. Above, the sky darkened, heavy with impending rain.
Inori's hands knotted into tight fists, her eyes boring into the creature as her mind careened between desperation and denial.
'Do I fight it? I have zero combat experience.... but, I managed to damage its left eye!"
She contemplated.
The brief flicker of pride was snuffed out by cold reality. 'Tch! Who am I fooling? I can't beat a Sinner!' Inori quickly made a run for it!
" 'WAGES! DEATH!!!!' " The creature's thunderous roar shattered the air as it chased after her! its slime-coated belly rippling like a grotesque wave as it slithered after her – a monstrous, man-devouring snail.
Inori's heart pounded in her chest as she ran with all her strength, not daring to look back.
The monsters shell glistened with blood—it was catching up at an impressive speed!
"NO! NO! NO! Why's it so fast?! It's a Sinner of Sloth, for crying out loud!" Inori's panic surged as she sprinted towards the bridge where her attempt to wake up was proved fruitless.
The creature's slime-slick belly propelled it closer, closing the gap with nightmarish speed.
Bash!
The Sinner smashed through a pillar supporting the construct in a shower of debris, sending Inori flying. She crashed 5 meters away, her back smashing into a stack of empty crates and used cigarettes.
"Owww...!" Inori's hands flew to her back, trying to massage away the ache. The Sinner drew closer, its twisted face wearing a mask of fury.
Her chest heaved up and down, calculating what to do next.
'D....do I keep running? It's a straight road ahead, it'll certainly catch up with me.'
The Sinner was now directly in front of her, casting a large shadow that swallowed her whole.
Inori gulped then continued.
'Even with its limited vocabulary, you could tell it was agitated, Sinners of Sloth hate exercise after all.'
She quickly picked up an empty bottle and hurled it at the creature.
Crash!
The bottle shattered against its polka-dot-patterned shell—cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, exposing something soft beneath.
"RRAAGGHHH!!!"
The creature shrieked in pain, Inori knew Sinners of Sloth had a common weakness. Their shell! Just like actual snails, they were fragile like an eggs.
She grabbed another bottle—then another—throwing them one after the other, each impact splintering the shell further.
"I just need to hold it off… just a little longer!"
The bottles ran out.
She seized the crate itself and flung it with everything she had.
Bash!
Wood exploded on impact.
The Sinner staggered, its body leaking, trembling—yet still crawling forward.
"A Priest should be here any minute now! I know we've caused enough noise to attract help! Please!"
Inori pleaded as she shuffled away from the bleeding Sinner. With her glass ammunition reduced to zero, there was nothing else to throw.
One could only rely on these "Priests" gifted humans who served as executioners to Sins and Sinners. Humanities last hope against the unholy.
The Sinner dragged itself closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Then—
…it stopped.
A strange warmth brushed against Inori's skin.
She blinked.
'Huh?... the temperature just drastically changed!'
The temperature rose sharply, like standing too close to an unseen flame. Sweat beaded instantly across her face. The tiny hairs on her arms stood on end.
The Sinner recoiled, and for the first time since their encounter—
…it moved backwards.
"Is it retreating?" She asked breathing heavily, the temperature kept on increasing.
The Sinner finally dropped to the
ground and violently exploded! Human looking blood splattered on Inori and the walls, its organs misplaced around the entire area.
Inori flinched, raising her arms as something wet splattered against her arms. The force of it echoed through the empty street.
Its pieces then rapidly decayed with fire as it entered the ground, as if burning to the underworld. Within seconds, everything was gone.
Burned away. As if nothing happened.
Inori stood frozen, her arms still raised.
Her breath came in shallow bursts.
"…It's… gone?" she wiped her body in disgust as relief made it's way to her face.
Inori's legs buckled as she fell to the ground.
"Finally!!" She yelled as she laid down on the floor, finally catching her breath after running for her life. She couldn't see the Priest who just saved her but that didn't matter, she was alive.
Inori rubbed her shoulder that was slightly swollen, pity painted on her face.
"I… I thought I was going to die…"
She let out a weak laugh, though it didn't quite sound like one.
Thoughts swirled as she stared blankly at the sky.
"Oh, I should thank whoever saved me," Inori thought, lifting her head.
She stood up, dusting herself clean. Inori looked around for the priest that came to her rescue but couldn't spot anyone. Sinners don't just explode for no reason.
"....Ehm....is anyone there?!" She called out.
No footsteps.
No presence.
Just the dimly lit bridge.
"E-Excuse me…?" she said hesitantly.
Silence answered.
A second passed.
Then—
Ting~
A soft, metallic chime rang out—like the sound of a small bell in a quiet kitchen. In a flash of white light, someone appeared.
Literally manifesting from nowhere.
The figure spoke in a chirpy tone.
"Hey there miss, you alright?"
The mysterious man asked Inori, a youth with golden spiky hair that divided at the side, a foreigner of course, but his Japanese was as fluent as a local.
Inori stared up in awe, examining his image with serious precision.
He wore a white jacket, on it's back, a bold writing in kanji 罪人 translating to Sinner.
A sheathed katana rested behind his waist, its strap overlapping his simple sky blue T-shirt.
The man wore biker gloves on both hands, lastly a simple black and white bracelet on the right glowed an otherworldly light.
Inori quickly bent down to answer his question.
"Y-yes sir! I was looking for a telephone to contact my father but I suddenly got attacked!"
She blurted out the truth, the fellow may have been a Priest who saved her but Inori was more happy to finally talk to someone.
It was now 6:10 and the two stood in an area with poor lighting, making it difficult to read each other's expressions.
"You're not injured are you?" Approaching Inori slowly, he asked with a now soft voice not to scare her off.
As he turned his features, Inori noticed a black arm-band slightly loose on the right arm of his white jacket, with a bold writing 'AB' with English alphabets instead of the usual Katakana characters.
She dismissed the unnecessary details in his design as her mind slowly came back to reality.
"I.... assure you I'm alright..... just, tired is all." Inori's body trembled from the near death experience.