The Sins

by Pegaz A

  John would need to push thousands of units of Toxin Power per second while speaking on the pedestal below. It was a steep price to pay.

  Looking down, each person on the ground floor was standing shoulder to shoulder, only inches between them. They were packed as tightly as possible, like a can of sardines on steroids. The balconies below him were all full of people standing in the same manner as those on the ground floor, jammed in as tightly as possible. Above them were people standing on swords, floating midair. They were not shoulder-to-shoulder, but the distance was not much better off.

  So this is what 15 million people look like.

  There were too many people for John to check with Immortal Eye, but he did a light scan anyway. Everybody he saw had the memory manipulated status. Jeremy had been very thorough, it seemed.

  John flew closer to the middle of the stadium, garnering himself some dirty looks. People thought he was crowding. Boy, were they in for a surprise.

  Ignoring the looks sent his way, he flew to the stage and then descended. As he landed, he stepped off his decoy sword and onto the empty stage.

  The crowd fell silent.

  John had thought about what he would say while standing on this stage for months. To become the sect master of an assassin sect, he needed to show his strength rather than speak politely. Pushing thousands of Toxin Power into his throat, he spoke.

  “Most of you don’t know me or remember me. I was the only disciple of the previous sect master, Jamie Cooper.”

  The crowd stirred a little, but most of them remained silent.

  “Those who were grand elders before my master was murdered might have been notified of my identity. I am a Sider!” John’s fervour grew as he now bellowed into the haze of people. “Eighteen years ago, Jeremy May murdered my master and forced me to run. It became clear to me then that, to become the Rogue Sect’s master, all one needed to do was kill the current sect master.”

  John brought out Jeremy’s head from his Storage Space. The crowd was really stirring now, but John just increased his volume, howling into the crowd.

  “I killed Jeremy May to avenge my master!” He held the head by the hair, lifted it up high. “I am the new sect master, and I have the sect master token! If anybody wants to challenge me, I’m standing right here!”

  John dropped Jeremy’s head, drew both his nano swords, and released a wave of the most concentrated killing intent that he could muster. The people nearest to John tried to run in the opposite direction, stumbling over each other as fast as possible. Those in the air flew higher to avoid the sheer amount of killing intent.

  Beneath John’s feet, the entire stage froze over. The ice grew thicker and cracks formed all around the edges of the stage a few seconds later. The killing intent covered John’s body in a thin, blood-coloured veil at first. It folded in on itself as it got thicker and turned into a darker colour. John pushed his fire, earth, water, metal, and wood elements inside the killing intent veil and caused them all to mix while using his Toxin Power.

  The veil turned black, which made his right, yellow eye shimmer all the brighter. After a few more seconds, the stage underneath his feet shattered into hundreds of icicles.

  The debris cleared, and to the crowd’s surprise, John was left floating there without a sword.

  John pumped a million Toxin Power into his throat, causing it to split and heal. He clenched both fists in pain as his throat and voice box were being ripped apart, but carried on.

  “If nobody challenges me within the next two minutes, then you consent to me being the sect master!”

  His voice caused the ground up to 500 feet away to quake and crack. The weaker sect members throughout the whole stadium fainted, and those flying by sword were pushed back by the voice’s vibrations.

  When all had calmed, nobody moved, spoke, or even breathed.

  After a minute passed, John heard a voice.

  “I disagree!”

  It was a man who looked to be in his late thirties or early forties and was flying in the air with a sword underneath him. John checked him out with his Immortal Eye.

  Daniel Morgan

  Rank: 6

  Level: 5

  Sin: 204,734

  Status: Memory Manipulated

  John knew who this man was because of the memories he absorbed from Jeremy. This man was Jeremy’s only disciple, and like John, he was after revenge for his master.

  Without speaking, John teleported in front of Daniel. Hanging midair, he swung his nano longsword. He aimed directly for Daniel’s neck. The sword picked up speed because of the throttle skill and sliced through Daniel’s neck like a hot knife through butter.

  Blood showered everywhere. John wrapped his threads around the head before it dropped and teleported back above the stage. He now lifted both Jeremy’s and Daniel’s heads with threads for all to see, blood pouring down onto the ground.

  Pushing another million Toxin Power in his throat and enduring the pain, he shouted once more.

  “Anybody else? You have one minute left!”

  There were 15 million people inside the stadium and not one person spoke or even moved for a full minute.

  John smiled, pearly teeth shining against the black veil surrounding him.

  In the eyes of the crowd, he truly was a demon.

  With no other challengers, he put his swords back into their sheaths and cut his power supply. His appearance slowly regressed until he was back to normal. To complete the transformation, John changed back into the Rogue Sect’s black and silver Daoist robes. His gauntlets changed into the silver wrist bands he frequently wore and the mask turned into an earring.

  Smiling, John pushed Toxin Power in his throat, but only enough for everybody to hear him.

  “Thank you for electing me as your new leader. Now, wake everybody up. What I have to announce will need everybody’s undivided attention.”

  John watched as it took some time for everyone to settle down. Many had fainted, and it took a large group effort to make sure everyone was conscious and listening. Things eventually calmed down. John said not a single word and patiently waited for everybody.

  Finally looking around, John made sure every person had woken up before he spoke.

  “Things will be different now. I am not going to run this sect the same way Jeremy did.” The crowd had his full attention, and he had theirs. “First, Jeremy’s 90% tax on your rewards for every mission will be reduced back down to how it was when my master ran the sect, which is 10%.”

  John could hear people whispering when he paused his speech. He could hear how happy they were which made him smile a little.

  “Most things will return to how they were when my master ran things. This is to honour his memory.”

  More whispers.

  “However, there is one thing that will change and many of you will be confused from hearing this announcement, so please wait until after I’ve finished my speech before you talk to the person next to you or shout questions at me.”

  John took a deep breath.

  “As of this moment, the Rogue Sect is disbanded!”

  Chapter 28

  Speech

  John heard murmurs of all sorts shiver through the crowd at an exponential rate. The talking grew louder and louder; some members of the audience caving in to panic. Chaos was beginning to sprout. John had to stop the noise before it grew into action.

  “Quiet!”

  Instantly, all 15 million members fell back into silence, freezing at John’s word. Those at the front and next to the destroyed stage had moved their arms as quietly as possible to wipe the sweat off their foreheads for fear of the drops hitting the floor to make a noise.

  “What you don’t know is that our sect’s name has been leaked! They’re using our own blood oath against us.” John swept his gaze across the mass of people. “To counter this, there will be a new blood oath. I’ve disbanded the Rogue Sect, but a new sect is taking its place. It will be a new sect, but we will do
things like the old ways. Investigators will determine if a target is worthy of a contract, and we will only take action once this has been established.”

  John continued his explanation, delving into a little history as well.

  Over 300,000 years ago, a Sider became the sect master. This Sider brought the assassin sect from a distant planet to this planet, which was at the centre of the universe. After he relocated the sect, he renamed it to the Rogue Sect.

  The mortals then took root on this planet, and 90,000 years ago, the Rogue Sect Master created the four mortal kingdoms in the hope that mortals would become stronger and join the immortals, thereby joining the sect. However, it was sometime between then and the present time that someone created the Nobody Organisation. This organisation was the mortal version of the Rogue Sect’s assassins.

  “And those of us who are from this planet most likely joined the Nobody Organisation when you were mortal, too.” John smiled at the people. “So I’m happy to announce that from this day onwards, the Rogue Sect is renamed to Nobody Sect!”

  The crowd bustled again but quickly quieted down.

  “While it isn’t the most elaborate sect name, it works well with the new blood oath I have in mind.” John was a sucker for puns, but it was also a good loophole. The people under the oath would be able to get away with saying things like ‘I’m a nobody’ without triggering the oath. “Now, I want to ask everybody a question... In this universe, what is the most renewable source of income that we can exploit?”

  John looked around and saw people whispering to each other in response. After a few seconds, a handful of people shouted out things like assassination, blackmail, mining Life Stones, and various others. Raising his hands and then lowering them to signal for people to quieten down, John spoke again.

  “None of those are the right answer. Assassination targets are one-time contracts; blackmailed families will run out of resources; and Life Stones are not infinite either.”

  John searched the crowd, eyes finally landing on Luke in the distance. He grinned before looking back at the crowd.

  “The real answer is... information!” John bellowed. “There is information generated every minute inside every city, town, capital, or even inside a small family estate. There is information on every planet throughout the entire universe! There is always something going on that somebody else would pay to know about.”

  The crowd chatted away. John looked at one of the higher ranked members floating on a sword and pointed at him.

  “You!” he called out. “If I told you I’m selling information about somebody who has plans to kill you, would you buy it?”

  “Yes!” the man shouted in reply.

  Pointing towards somebody else, John shouted at another member.

  “You! If I told you I had information about somebody who is plotting to hurt your family, would you buy it?”

  “I would!”

  “Information we gather can be sold to the right people for the right price. Even normal information about new monsters, cultivation techniques, or wars will sell to the right people.” He waved his hands out, and the crowd seemed to love it.

  The building enthusiasm egged John on, so he continued explaining his plan. “I want to set up a second department to handle the information. They will need people on every planet to gather information, as well as a steadfast communication system that we can rely on to be ours and ours alone.”

  John could see the excitement all around him. He could feel it in the air, like a wave of electricity. A smile was not enough to capture his enthusiasm as the crowd backed his ideas.

  “I have found another Sider to work on this with me.” John waited for the crowd to calm down a little more; to make sure he had their full attention. “His abilities will make it possible for all the information to be transferred and stored using spheres rather than parchments, saving precious time and resources. I’ve already invited the new Sider to join the sect, and he accepted the invitation to become the newest member of the Nobody Sect. Luke, get up here.”

  With no hesitation, Luke teleported onto the stage below John. His speed surprised many of the people, but what surprised them more was when Luke stood next to John. They both had silver hair. If people didn’t know they were Siders, then they would have thought that Luke was the younger brother of the new sect master.

  “This is Luke.” John smiled down at his partner onstage. “I am placing him at the head of the Information Department of the Nobody Sect.”

  There was a thunder of applause before John was able to peacefully quiet them down. Whether or not Luke was nervous was hard to tell, but the younger Sider’s eyes gleamed with pride.

  John explained how the Information Department would work. A team would collect information, then relay it to a home-based team via a communication device. The sect member on the receiving end would then record the information into a blank sphere that Luke created. When ten pieces of information were recorded inside the sphere, the members were then to send it to Luke, who would keep the information stored until somebody wanted to pay for it.

  The information gathering contracts would work in the same way that assassination contracts would; each member being paid only when the job was complete.

  Because of Luke, the sect’s library books would also be replaced by these spheres. They would also make it a point to expand these libraries, adding more and more to their collection.

  “Now, the last agenda for this meeting. I want you to raise your hand if you have ever had a run-in with the Anti-Assassin Sect members!”

  John looked around and found almost all 15 million people had their hands up. The amount surprised John a little, but John thought about how he never asked for a timeframe. If some of these people were hundreds or thousands of years old, and if the Anti-Assassin Sect members were thousands of years old, too, then it would be weird if they didn’t run into each other at some point. John didn’t know how old the Anti-Assassin Sect was.

  “All this time, the Rogue Sect members only killed Anti-Assassin members when they got in the way. But I come bearing good news. Before I came here, I went to their home planet and destroyed the Anti-Assassin Sect.” He heard the crowd gasp. “The only people I missed would be the members not in the sect during my attack. So, I am now declaring the remaining Anti-Assassin members to be hunted for life! To make things crystal clear, that means if you see a member, you attack and kill the member. If you bring their head and prove they were a member of the Anti-Assassin Sect, then you will get paid like a normal contract.”

  John made it clear that he wanted all of the Anti-Assassin Sect members eliminated. Everybody in the stadium—whether standing on the ground, in the balconies, or flying above the stadium—had mixed emotions. The new sect master had destroyed the Anti-Assassin Sect, leaving only wanderers with no home left. Most were excited to get rid of a long-time enemy, but at the same time, they felt worried. Everybody knew that the Adventurers Guild was known for being the peacekeeper of the human universe. If they found out their sect master did this, they could become hunted by the whole universe instead.

  John grabbed Luke by his collar and they both ascended.

  “I want to see the people who are in charge of every department. I’ll be at my master’s house.”

  Chapter 29

  Risks of Future Knowledge

  John brought Luke to his master’s home. Luke was surprised by the swords and armour used as decorations. The stained glass windows between each pillar down the hall impressed him, too. He didn’t have much time to admire the setting, however, as John strode quickly to a small patch of grass that looked like a lounge area. Luke hurried to catch up.

  They sat down on some nearby chairs. John took out a small table and the chess set, inviting the other Sider to a friendly game. As much as Luke wanted to explore around, he sat quietly and immersed himself in the game with ease.

  While they were playing, John checked Luke out with his Immortal Eye to make sure
he still had the memory manipulated status. To John’s relief, he did. John had to be extra careful with Luke because he was a Sider. He didn’t know if Luke’s system would get rid of the skill or not.

  While waiting for Luke to make his turn, John decided to ask.

  “Has your system changed since becoming an immortal?”

  “Yes, it has.” Luke looked up from the knight piece in his hand. “It now gives me immortal levels once I’ve learned a certain amount of information. The system separates the information into different sections. For example, one section is made up of the names of people and locations. I need 100 names for 1 point and need 100 points to gain a level in immortality.”

  Luke explained that after he reached 100 names, that section’s requirement for the next level would then increase. The other sections functioned similarly, but each had their own scale, and each was separate from the rest.

  “I see…” John had a grasp on the basic understanding. “Why don’t you go learn the names of the 15 million people inside the sect now, then. That’ll make it easier for you, right?”

  “Way ahead of you!” Luke’s face erupted into a grin. He’d already gotten a head start during the meeting, but still had many more names to learn. Excited to go off on his own again, he bid a quick farewell then dashed away. John could only laugh.

  Luke’s smart, but he’s a follower by nature. If I had said nothing, he would have just played chess with me all day. What a funny kid.

  I’m glad the Resistance’s status skill didn’t work on the manipulation status. I wonder why it didn’t, though? Is it because the skill says it removes any status that alters the body, but the manipulation didn’t alter the body but the mind?

  John put the chess set back in his Storage Space and leaned back in the chair, thinking more.

  Divination, the knowledge of the future, is scary. Even for me.

  The first divination the Anti-Assassins did was about me killing billions of people. Because they learned of the future’s knowledge, they tried to kill me to change it. This spurred a trail of events that eventually lead me to kill even more.