"Lientenant, should we slow down ? The Wyvern may see our speed as a threat !"

"No worries Garlar ! Do you truly believe we pose a threat to a Wyvern ? There is no time to waste when such a being is coming in our lands. This is an historical moment Garlar ! We are the first to welcome one of the Fallen Virtues in more than three millennia ! This is an honor for us ! let's haste even !"

"Careful Lieutenant, you're showing pride right now !" Garlar interjected. The two stared at each other for a few seconds and exploded from laughter.

"Ahahah ! Sure, pride ! Only the Mad Brothers still believe we humans have to live without any feelings, emotions or anything that makes us human. What a bunch of lunatics... clinging to outdated beliefs..." the man slapped himself and his face straightened.

"Alright Garlar ! Look sharp ! Show respect and do not speak unless you're given permission. We're not only seeing the Hero party Divine's Executioner Themselves but also the Divine's Executioner Themselves. I know it's stressing and exciting but we have to maintain an image."

Garlar nodded seriously. He wouldn't disappoint for his first true mission.

...

Sun Mane. Are the people of your country supposed to fly ? I see two persons riding some kind of winged serpents. They are not armed but they are definitely coming towards us.

"Huh ? Well I don't see anything. Are you sure ? Can you describe them to us ?"

Krh...

I forgot not everyone has the same vision as me. Well, silver shoulder-plates. A blason on their tunic, some sort of cross with a ring around it. A big feather on their helmet. Does that help ?

"It does. You can rest assured, they are friendly. Her Holiness' direct messengers. Let's keep up the pace then.

Raya nodded and continued forward.

In the meantime, she looked at the landscape. Small settlements that looked like tiny dots from up there. Some time ago, she would have found this view beautiful. But now... The gaze of the Drake Sin of Wrath was a sad one.

Grey and white painted a bleak world in the Wyvern's eyes. Only the pitch black hearts and minds filled by sins and the red Wrathful fire appeared as colorful existences.

Two decades ago, in another life, Raya would have enjoyed such sight with Liz, holding her in her own arms, whispering 'I love you.' in her reddening ears. Oh, times had changed. In twenty years, Raya had became a creature of myths, a traumatized child, a child soldier, a mass murderer, an incarnation of unholy desire...

If the two could encounter each other again... Raya prayed to the higher entity out there that Liz would not see her differently because of what she had done.

Sigh...

"Young Raya. Everything's going to be fine. You won't be alone."

Raya felt the goblin hero patting her on a scale with a slight smile.

"We're close, we can see them. Hell, your senses are impressives young miss !"

Let us meet your countrymen. I am curious to see your nation. I need to know how much sin it holds.

The two parties went closer to the other. The two emissaries' eyes betrayed shock from seeing the sheer size of the Wyvern. But they kept their professionalism and each one went at one of Raya's sidesn at a reaspectable distance to avoid being hit by a wing, or feeling wind pressure from the flapping. One of them began to speak.

"O Hero companions, O divine Executioner, we pay our respect. This is Garlar, I am Masoc. We are emissaries sent by her Holiness Kari to escort you safely and secretly in the capital. We will guide the way, please follow us."

The man's voice should have been drowned by the winds and the speed at which everyone was flying. But a small grey stone he was holding prevented that. This was a Mana-Talkie. A coslty and precious magic artifact that allowed two magic stones to amplify voices and even transfer sound directly to another stone.

A very useful device during battles or for holding conversatiosn without any traces.

Raya's pupil thinned and her 'riders' felt her body temperature in alertness. They looked around, seeing nothing.

Messengers ! Look up North. Were you expecting someone else or is are these unknown guests ? I will ask you to take my companions on your rides. There is something intriguing.

The Wyvern went in the direction she was pointing towards. After a minute or saw, she could see...

A flock of harpies ?

They seem lost... Such simple beings. Free of sins. Alright. Shoo shoo. Don't worry girlies, I won't eat you.

The flock had visibly been frightened by Raya coming too close to them for their comfort and hurried away.

Time to go back. We lost enough time.

...

"For these last few minutes, we will need to fly relatively low to avoid being sighted. Do you see this watchtower ? Near it, there is a small clearing. This will be our landing point."

"Well, the trip was surprisingly calm. I wonder still. You stopped to see... some Harpies, is that right ? Why ?"

I was... interested in their pureness. Beings with a simple mind... are almost free of any sins... Instincts are more forgiving, creatures who hold few thoughts are not burdened by doing evil or good. Maybe this is the fate of this world. Beasts and primal demi-humans instead of humans, dwarves and beastmen. How amusing.

"How does that work ? That whole sin system. Seems interesting."

Beings of choices... whose functions do not only include surviving and reproducing can all be burdened by the weight of their choices.

These choices are not good or bad in themselves, do not make such a mistake. Their consequences are.

A selfish lord keeping the grain of his farmers in his region, some may believe this to be a sin of Greed. But it can very well save lives and be more beneficial than a kind soul giving a loaf of bread to a beggar in times of need.

And as time passes, the weight of consequences pile up in a person's life.

The Drake Sin of Wrath has the duty to destroy and send to Hell the souls of beings whose decisions led to an irreversible somber path. That is the truth of the nature of sins.

"I... see. That is certainly a new vision from what we are being taught. Her Holiness may have very interesting exchanges of point of view with you.

Thank you for your insight, Divine's Executioner. Oh, here we are. We should prepare for landing."

---

"Halt ! You are not allowed to go any further !"

"Ha ?! But I had a rendez-vous with the pope ! There must be a mistake !"

"There is no mistake ! Her Holiness annuled every meeting she had this afternoon. An urgent matter regarding demons came up and she will be away for the rest of the day. Come back tomorrow."

"But..."

"I. Will. Not. Repeat. Myself. Go away student. You should be studying for the entrance exams instead of strolling around."

Well that's fucking annoying. This shouldn't be happening, right ? Feels like the plot is completely getting thrown out of the window. but I still need to grow and I just lost an opportunity right there.

This is supposed to be the last day where I can get a fragment of my sword's pommel... But it's way too important, it has a big part of the sword's power. And without it there are some secret loots I won't be able to get. I'll lack power. And if I lack power right from the start, there's no way in hell I'll grow enough to stand up to late game bosses.

Welp... This is really bad but I'll have to break in I guess. Alright holy sword. This is for a greater good. Can you turn me invisible ?

----------------------------------------

"No. The awakening of one Sin shouldn't be a problem. What is a problem however is that the amount of sins I have felt after awakening. It definitely is enough for two or three other Fallen Virtues as you call them, to awaken.

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But for some reason, they did not awaken. I feel a connection but they are trapped somewhere, somehow. Something is preventing them from being born again, from choosing an Avatar even.

An extrenal factor. The interference feels ancient. One with the touch of the divine I would say. I feel few sin from this country as a whole, I do not believe the Papal States are responsible for this."

"That is mostly concerning, Raya of Wrath. If someone can truly use the power of the divine to go against its wishes, I fear that we may have a bigger problem than the return of demons. Who would be able to do this ? The only people who can use holy magic are popes and the Heroes. My predecessors were fully devoted to the divine and the traitorous hero of the last demon war doesn't fit the bill. It has only been fifty years. Not ancien at all."

"Hehe~ I would never have thought that a pope would use such a normal language. It seems everything I've read and heard up until now was a load of bullshit." Raya chucked as the hero party, the pope and herself were walking in the catherdal's underground.

The initial meeting had been a bit awkward. The pope was a stuttering and a blushing mess. She didn't really know how she had to talk to someone quite litteraly sent by the divine eons ago, even if that one was technically a toddler. Everyone ended up making some useless small talk until everyone got annoyed and decidede to drop any kind of formal tone.

"To be honest, maintaining formal language is just something we do to impress visitors so that they thing we are of the 'holier than thou' type. It works so we've been keeping up with the bullshit for the past two or three thousand years. Plus speaking formally when we're alone is the best way to create rifts between subordinates and the higher ups. Sin of Pride, you know what I mean..."

"Well that's anticlimatic..." the Wyvern said, confused. She turned around and frowned. "And what the hell ?The moment I stepped in the building all my Wrath went away. And I can see colors again ! That's weird as it can possibly get. I guess that it's because I'm sprititually close to the divine or something like that. In any case. What did you want to talk about ? And why so deep underground ?"

"This world. I have a feeling Hero Sun Mane and the others explained its situation already. You will have very few aid, as possibly the last Fire Wyvern but more importantly as the Drake Sin of Wrath. Apart from us, the Immolators and a few factions that follow the Sins will help you the second they learn of your awakening. But in top of the rumors spread by the former kingdom of Astria, the Wyverns who strayed from The Wrath created their own myths about Fire Wyverns.

No nation will be kind to you. We managed to implement Hero Sun Mane's courses because of my influence, under the pretense that I'd supervise them but there will be hostility against your purge. And against the awakening of the other Sins. We're underground to get you something too.

Everywhere where our religion has roots, you will be recognized with... where is this thing ? No, that's not it. Ugh... A bone ? Why's it here ? Food ?! Who stores food with sacred relics ?! Why's there a chair ? Huh..."

Everyone sweatdropped at the pope's antics. If you took of the religious robes and the light armor, she was an adult with the mentality of a teen. Raya pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn't expect this whole thing to be so messy.

"Well I've got it at last ! Here it is !"

"A necklace ?"

"It is ! But the stone has been infused by divine aura. Everywhere you'll present it in one of our churches, you'll be welcomed with open arms. very useful when the time comes for you to travel and awaken the other Sins !" Kari explained proudly while holding the ornament and presenting to the ceiling.

Right. A teen in a adult body.

"Well thanks a lot. this will sure come in handy. You... talked about food when we arrived. It's been a long time since I ate something tasty... I don't want to be rude but I'm pretty hungry."

...

"She sure is lively your Holiness. A whole different sight from what we saw during these two days around her. She's lively. Full of joy. With flaming passion."

The pope had led Raya and the others in her personal suite and now everyone looked as the Wyvern feasted on delicacies she thought she'd never taste again. She didn't touch the vegetables nor the pastries but the piece of meat on the table were disappearing at a rapid pace. Ham and sausages, she torched with gentle flames. Steaks, porterhouses and tenderloins, she doused in fire to give a crust. Grease and fat, she gulped down endlessly after melting blocks whole in her mouth.

She was pratically radiating happiness at this moment.

"What do you think of her guys ? I like her already. She truly follows what we are wishing for. A world of no sin. A shared... futile dream from what she told you..." the religious woman said as she smiled sadly.

"It's a nice change, to see her acting like that. She's not even twenty but already greatly affected by the powers of The Wrath. It's burdening her mind.

There are more things I won't talk about with her around but she's been through a lot for her age. These experiences surely made her mature way faster than any other child. Even by Wyvern standards.

Never in our conversations, I felt like I was speaking to a Wyvern toddler. We were conversing with an old being. I'll fill-in an official report. You'll know the details there. But is just as we suspected, Astria made a move and paid the price. There's going to be movement, maybe from the empire, maybe from the Plateaux."

"Imbeciles. We warned them several times. Leave the other countries get the cake. It's burnt and inedible anyway."

Ragnar turned to the party's former partner and let out a rough hum.

"Have you looked into the candidates' profiles ? The entrance exam is tomorrow and I wanted the point of view from another party. I know that you officially don't have control over our academy but it's still in your nation.

Is there anything you noted in particular ? There are big shots this year, like this era's Hero candidate. He even has a holy sword. Plus there's the future ruler of the empire too. I just met an instructor who saw her. She's got some power but she's horrible at controlling it."

"Ragnar, still as worried as ever.

Seems this batch is full of royals. Liz'a de Wandermer, RayiK and Margos of the Thalassa Union and the next elven head shaman from Elfort. Big shots with big heads ? I hope not. They certainly won't be. They represent their respective nations after all.

Royals are usually not the problem. It's their clique and Heroes... we thought you-know-who had changed his way fifty years ago, do you remember ?"

"Hm. So we have to keep an eye on this Ramiel ? Noted."

----------------------------------------

What was that ? A ploy ? Was this in the game ? A ploy to revive the Seven Deadly Sins ? And the Papal States were involved ? Nononononono !

Bad. The situation was bad. Ramiel was springting towards his dorms. He didn't see the person the pope was talking to but everything was bad. He had to tell someone. He had to tell Liz'a at least.

Would he even become an official Hero if the pope herself was working with the Sins ? Wait... but they said that demons weere a problem.

What's the whole situation ? Calm down Ramiel, calm down, you were a gamer. Don't stress like that. You'll talk about this to Liz'a just before that. Then you'll rest until the entrance exams and organize everything. At least I got the sword pommel. I'll assemble the two parts in the dorm...

What's the exams about by the way ? the game never said what the questions were abou... Oh shit, I need to study stuff. Noooooooo !

"Ramiel ? What are you doing here ? And why are you sweaty ?"

Perfect... Liz'a !

...

"What ?! You- ?! Nevermind that ! Why did you even break into the cathedral ?! If what you just said is true you could have died ! Imagine for one second that one of them saw you ! These guys are former members of the Hero party ! You've got the holy sword but you're not fucking invincible ! You're not the freaking game protagonist, this is real life ! There no respa-! Huh, forget it, you wouldn't understand..."

"What ?! Huh ?! Wait ! Hold-on ! How do you know that ?!"

"I- what ?!"

"Y-you're a player too ? Please, tell me ! I-is that why Liz'a or you or whatever was acting weird ?!"

The two stared at each other like idiots for a good whole minute and Ramiel finally decided to break the silence.

"Okay so. Let's resume this. We... are both players of Sins of Marka..." Liz'a nodded. "We were reincarnated as two of the protagonists, namely Liz'a de Wandermer, heir of the empire and the hero candidate Ramiel." she nodded again. "And for now, we're kinda following the general plot, right ?"

"Not reaaaally ? Kinda ? Well so far I've encountered most of the roster of this year's students. It matches the game setting. But there was a staff member I spoke to. It definitely didn't match the Liz'a protagonist route."

"Now that you're saying this, a senoir student helped me too... and it wasn't in the plot either. There's something else I need to confirm. We both are players in the bodies of the protagonists. but there are other protagonists too. Do you think...?" Liz'a was already nodding.

"Huge chances there are others. Us two isn't just a coincidence. We can just try to get close to them and test if they react to something only a player would know. But a problem we'll encounter is sharing secret stuff like skill books, artifacts and treasures now. Not everyone can get a limited item after all..."

"But the biggest threat is the final boss. Obviously. We need to find a way around this. And moreover, we don't even know if the plot will derivate like we experienced or not. That's a troublesome variable we got here. And with what I jsut heard, we probably don't have a lot of allies in this country. Do you think your connections would allow you to dig out some truths behind this ?"

"Well we don't have concrete evidence. And if you, an unrecognized Hero candidate speaks against the religious state, it's going to end badly for you. Not only everyone's going to demand where you get your evidence from but nobody's going to trust someone who broke into the hiliest territory of the world. So nope. No way in hell I'm doing that."

"Fair." Ramiel shrugged. "I suppose our greatest avdvantage is general knowledge about the wolrd. We'll have to get much stronger than that. Let's go with this. We wait until yesterday, intereact with the other protagonists and see if they are like us.

Then from now on, we stick together and grow stronger. We'll have to go around the whole world to get the game's secret items but the plot is filled with events that ease things up.

After this, we graduate from the academy and we enter late-post game, we kill the demon king, come back here to stop the pope and the other persons from reviving the Seven Sins. And more importantly, since this isn't the game I doubt we'll have pot armor, we try to avoid any point of plot encounter with Raya until we're strong enough."

"Seems like a solid plan. Approved."

"Oh by the way. Since we'll be together most of the time, let's at least learn each-other's names. Mine was Luka." Ramiel flashed a smile with his hand outstreched. A hand Liz'a grasped, then shook firmly.

"Liz. So much for a coincidence."

"Heh. Who knows ? Maybe it's fate."

"Sure. We'll be the first to finish the game. Let's save this world. Let's kill Raya."

"Huh by the way, do you know what's going to be in this test tomorrow ?"

Several students in the dorms hear a mysterious noise this afternoon. Some kind of muffled, ghostly "Nooooooooooooooooooo !"

A poor soul who encountered misfortune surely.

---

"Hm ? What is it ?"

"Bra."

"What ?"

"Bra. You'll need a bra. Not just your torso scale-plates. You'll need clothes to begin with. You are pratically naked."

"No ! I refuse. They're clearly enough for me. It's pratical, it's better than armor and it's free."

"It's no fair. You get an in-built bra with your scales... but one day you'll see. That won't be enough. You'll come back crawling to us, with back pain because of your unfair boobs. Seriously, do all female Wyverns win the boob lottery ?"

"WHAT ?! They're not that big ! It's medium premium ! And I didn't even want to become female ! Now let me eat in peace ! Get out ! I'll carbonize you !"

"Tee-hee~"