Chapter 359 - The Problem
While Gasha and the others were trying to solve their problem, Irus was still sitting in front of the other Adventurers.
After Gasha left, everyone fell silent. No one was uttering a single word, not even a question for the Sin. The atmosphere went heavy, and they were afraid to anger Irus.
"I take no offense," Irus suddenly said, making everyone relax in their seats. "But I don't think you understand your position here. You all need to know that you must defeat the Five Palaces. The seal had been unlocked, the once sleeping Abyssal Nebula had seeped out. You already know that the Kings were corrupted with the same darkness. They will soon come here to find that darkness and consume it."
Frederick looked at Luck who had the same expression in his face. Both of them were looked distressed for a few seconds, before they covered up with a stoic expression.
"Tell us all about this later," Fredrick said to Lance. "We need to go do some errands. I don't think we'll be back soon."
"Okay," Lance said, returning his attention to Irus.
The Sin was smirking as he watched the two men retreat. He shook his head in amusement, and continued, "Since you all have the Blessings, I will train you on how to effectively use those. In my own very inaccurate calculations, you have about a year before the Kings start to make their move."
He focused his attention on Connor, Ed, and Hope, "In this one year, the three of you will become the ultimate weapons that will weild both the powers of Eternals and the Deathly Sins."
"B-But why just us?" Connor asked. "We're a five-man party. We can't leave Elliot and Lance behind."
"Who says about leaving them?" Irus grinned. "You two have those powers, but these two have an equal or even greater potential than you three."
Elliot widened his eyes, warning Irus about their secret. The Sin winked at him to assure him that he had got this, "But right now you have to know the reason why the Sins were pathetically weak. I wasn't included in this because I wasn't in that chamber."
"So?" Elliot asked, ushering Irus to continue.
The sin rolled his eyes and scoffed, "So impatient. But here it is, the Kings made a pact on the chamber where the other Sins were taken to. The pact was that they shall gain their powers to avoid getting corrupted the Abyssal Nebula. Of course, this didn't work so they ended up becoming so strong but still corrupted."
"You mean the Five Kings divided most the powers of six of the Deathly Sins?" Connor asked. "I've fought one of the Sins, and if that wasn't their full power, I'm scared. I was barely able to defeat Mystique, you mean there's a creature out there that's ways stronger than that?"
"This is where I come in," Irus smirked. "I will help you all become so powerful that each one of you can face the Kings."
"We prefer to work as a group," Connor smiled awkwardly, fakeness written all over his face. "We've been a party that had been together since the start of most our Adventurer journey."
Irus stood, towering over Connor. "You talk a lot don't you?"
The boy gulped in fear. He bit his lip and looked away, "Whatever's fine with me."
"Good," Irus said. "Now, I would want to talk to Elliot in private. I will answer any question after our talk."
After this, the crowd dispersed while Elliot walked towards Irus. The boy looked at the man who was two whole feet taller than him. Irus stood there, looking back at the boy, both of them unable to utter words.
"Let's go to a private room," Irus suggested. He turned around, and scoffed seeing that the inn was destroyed. "Of course it's like this."
With a swish of his finger, Irus made the wood panels and other parts of the destroyed inn glow with a black light. The debris levitated, hovering closer to them and rebuilt the inn by itself.
"Usually, it takes three to five people to fix a building this size," Elliot gasped in awe. "You are indeed powerful."
"Basic things," Irus rolled his eyes. He gestured for Elliot to go upstairs while he walked to Madam Locraine, "Mama, could you wait for me here? I will only talk to Elliot for a few minutes. I won't take long."
"Take as much time as you want, my child," Madam Locraine smiled.
Irus nodded at this and followed Elliot to his room. Since he had been awake in Elliot's consciousness this whole time, Irus knew the way to his room.
He walked inside and immediately fell to his knees. "How is this even possible?"
Elliot saw this and tilted his head to the side in confusion. "W-What do you mean?"
Irus groaned. He slouched his body, arching his back while his entire body was covered with a black light. It started to shrink until he was the was the size of a young boy.
"Y-You're…" Elliot trailed off, covering his mouth in shock. "You're so tiny!"
"Shut up," Irus rolled his eyes. He swiped his hand in the air, this time enclosing them into a cube made of a transparent black aura. "Now, we can talk."
"How did you exactly get inside the Manual?" Elliot asked without hesitation. "And those skills, were those yours or the Manual's? And am I the first owner? Why were the other Sins so afraid of you, and last lastly, can you give me more powers?"
"One by one please," Irus scoffed. "I'll answer your question, and then you'll answer mine."
"I don't know if you have any question for me," Elliot said. "I don't have anything special within myself."
"I don't know how I was transferred to the Manual. Now for my question," Irus muttered, completely ignoring what Elliot said. "What is your origin?"
Elliot stared at the Sin. He scrunched his face and pouted, "I didn't know my father, but my mom is human."
Irus quirked his brow up, trying to find the fault in Elliot's answer. When he found none, he shrugged and answered the rest of Elliot's question, "The only skill I provided were the raw blueprint of the Blessings of the Sins. The Manual took over those and kept it to itself, even naming it after the user."
"I was mainly unconscious before you, but there were two people that I was able to reach out to before you," Irus said. "The reason the other Sins were so afraid of me because they were corrupted, and I could finish them off with a more painful death. Then, no. I'm afraid I can't give you any more. I barely did anything back then except for give you part of my powers. But since I'm not bound to the Manual anymore, I can't provide you more."
"Okay. But let's go back for a bit," Elliot nodded in understanding. "Do you know what the names of the ones before you were?"
Irus paused. He looked at Elliot and shrugged, "The first one was Dannison Lexter and the second was Reginald Fuller. I believe the second one was part of the famous guild from before."
"Pentos," Elliot said with a whispered voice.. "Reginald was the Creator before me."