POV: Rai Shinsei
As four of the Seven Sins stood before us, unnecessary thoughts of doom clouded my judgement, but with a calm, deep breath, I managed to regain my composure and resolved myself for the worse as I swallowed dryly.
"Aria. Arthur and I are going to try to push them away from Sarah. Once we do that, I need you to heal Sarah until she regains consciousness. Everett, I know you're scared, but I need you to protect Aria until she finishes healing Sarah. Do you understand?" I ordered gravely as Arthur activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, raising alarm within every member of the Seven Sins as they solely focused their attention towards him.
"So it was you who defeated Greed-"
"Get your foot off of her head." Arthur demanded sharply as he suddenly appeared in front of Lust and attempted to end her life with a single slash, however, only the tip of his blade tore into her flesh as she barely avoided death by spacing herself away, prompting her to sharpen her gaze towards Arthur.
"You disrespectful-"
"Tranquility." Arthur uttered as he swiftly appeared behind the Seven Sins and sheathed his sword, causing a variety of slashes to appear across their bodies as Lust and Sloth managed to evade most of his attack, but as for the remaining two, they weren't so lucky as they received the blunt force of the attack.
Their blood splattered into the air as they groaned in pain until they turned to face Arthur, who remained calm, despite being at a disadvantage as he positioned himself into a two-sword style stance while Lust seethed with rage.
Taking on all four of them is pushing it, but…
I never would have guessed his swordsmanship would be on this level.
"Lust, calm yourself. This boy isn't normal. If he's able to take down Greed with little to no effort, then the chances of us winning against him is slim-"
"Shut the hell up Sloth. I'm going to kill this brat and dismantle each of his friends one by one afterwards!" Lust screamed in exasperation as she activated her Aspect and released her Aspectual Force, which was conquered by Arthur's, but despite the difference in their power, there wasn't an ounce of fear within her eyes as she used her Aspect to steal Arthur's swords away from him.
"What can a brat like yourself do without your precious swords?!" Lust asked mockingly with a condescending grin as Arthur's swords gravitated towards her, however, Arthur sprinted towards Lust faster than she anticipated as he landed a sharp uppercut into her chin, but to her surprise, his punch was nullified as her body tensed in confusion.
"What-"
As she struggled to comprehend the phenomena before her, she suddenly flew upwards into the air from Arthur's delayed attack as he caught both of his swords in the midst and positioned himself into a two-sword style stance while his aura began to surge around him.
"Ascension." Arthur uttered as he tightly gripped the handle of his swords and launched two slashes of wind towards Lust, who was vulnerable in the air as she tried to evade his attack, however, she was only able to evade one of the slashes as the remaining slash tore into her chest, causing her to wince in pain as blood splattered into the air from her wound.
As Lust fell towards the ground, Gluttony and Envy activated their Aspects and released their Aspectual Force, which was effortlessly conquered by Arthur's formidable Aspectual Force as they nervously watched Arthur with caution, but despite Arthur's unparalleled strength, Sloth remained unfazed as he smoked a cigarette and watched from afar while Lust landed onto the ground with a scowl.
Lust then rushed towards Arthur as Gluttony trailed behind her while Envy stood in the backlines and began shooting a volley of aura-imbued projectiles towards Arthur, who remained poised despite being overwhelmed with multiple threats as he gathered his breath.
"YOU IMPUDENT BASTARD!" Lust screamed, infuriated as she tried to snatch Arthur's swords once more, but to her surprise, they didn't budge from Arthur's grasp as he positioned himself into a two-sword style stance.
"Eviscerate." Arthur uttered as he spun his body in a rapid motion, creating a large whirlwind of slashes around him, forcing Lust and Gluttony away as his attack left a variety of cuts and gashes across their bodies.
Arthur is holding his own, but at this rate, he's going to exhaust himself.
I need to take care of Sloth before he intervenes.
"Aria, I'm going to fight Sloth and when I do, I need you to heal Sarah. Everett will protect you while Arthur and I hold them off." I said as I took a deep breath before setting my eyes onto Sloth, who noticed my gaze as he finished his cigarette and tossed it onto the ground.
"Rai, you don't stand a chance-"
"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 their coordination and Aspects are slowly cutting the difference in strength and eventually, Arthur will burn through his energy reserves until he reaches his exhaust limit. If I take on Sloth, he should be able to defeat the remaining three on his own." I replied as Aria remained anxious.
"Trust me. I'll defeat Sloth and Arthur will defeat the rest of them. After that, we'll all go home safely." I added with a smile as she nodded and rushed towards Sarah along with Everett while I approached Arthur.
"It seems you're struggling. Do you need any help?" I asked sarcastically as Arthur took a moment to recuperate.
"Did you come over here to mock me?" Arthur remarked with a grin as we began walking towards the Seven Sins, who directed their bloodlust solely towards us.
"I'll take on Sloth and I can trust that you'll defeat the other three?" I asked as Arthur cracked his neck.
"Who said I needed your help?" Arthur replied as the two of us sprinted towards our respective opponent within the Seven Sins.
"Don't die on me, Rai!" Arthur added as I ran towards Sloth, who was intrigued by my actions.
"What can a mere boy like yourself do without your Aspect?" Sloth asked with a condescending grin as I quickly approached him.
"You're about to find out." I replied as Sloth threw a right feint and followed up with a sharp uppercut towards my chin, but to his surprise, I weaved his arm by swiftly sliding beside him as I tried to land a left hook into his ribcage, however, Sloth caught my fist with his hand and tried to pull me towards him with the intention of landing an overhead punch.
"You're open." Sloth said as he tried to smash his fist into my head, however, I freed myself from his grasp by yanking my arm away, disrupting his balance as I landed a sharp high kick into his chin, disorienting his senses as I then followed up with a one-inch punch into his chest, seizing his breath as he staggered backwards while I rushed towards him, refusing to give him a moment to breathe, however, 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 across the ground.
"What a bother." Sloth said after clicking his tongue in annoyance.
POV: Arthur Kojiro
As Rai and I went our separate ways, I ran towards Lust, who used her Aspect to lift the scattered debris within our area as she began launching them towards me, however, I sliced through each of them swiftly as I approached her and tried to slash her chest, but to my misfortune, Envy's volley of projectiles prevented me from advancing any further as I was forced to evade her attack.
This is annoying.
After I evaded Envy's merciless volley of projectiles, Gluttony appeared behind me and tried to pierce through my liver by lunging forward with her knife, however, I dodged her lunge with a nimble side step as I tried to slash through the back of her torso, but to my surprise, Lust used her Aspect to restrict my arm as she then followed up with a roundhouse kick into side of my torso, causing me to wince in pain as I slid backwards across the ground from the impact.
How can I win this?
They're all significantly weaker than me, but their coordination and Aspects are becoming too much for me to handle alone.
Envy isn't outside of my range, but I won't be able to get anywhere near her because of Gluttony and Lust's relentless assault.
If I try to attack Lust, I have to avoid Envy's precise projectiles and Gluttony's attacks from my blindspots.
And if I try to attack…
Wait, why am I overthinking things?
"ARE YOU FINALLY SCARED NOW, YOU LITTLE BASTARD?!" Lust asked with a sadistic grin as she was elated from my momentary indifference, however, she suddenly froze in place with cold sweat beading across her forehead as I felt a smile creep onto my face while my aura began to surge.
All I have to do is win.