Sinner System-Chapter 422: Sinners and Demonsbane (Part 1)

"Come on, just one? Pretty please?" Requested Ciel hopefully.

"No. Seriously, how many times do I have to say it? For the last time, Ciel, I am not going to let you hit me with a giant explosion," I responded firmly.

"Why not? You should definitely be able to survive it with how strong you are now," She pointed out confidently.

"Even you should realize how insane and unreasonable of a request this is," Chimed in Rex with a sigh.

"I definitely don’t think there’s a guarantee I’d survive, and even if there was, it’d still hurt like hell at the very least," I added dryly.

"You get it, don’t you, Ariella?" Remarked Ciel, as she glanced at Aria for support.

"Yeah, no. Please don’t explode my boyfriend."

"Well, this sucks..."

Today’s the 30th of December, 2170, around midday. We were currently in the middle of a joint training session between the Sinners Guild and Demonsbane Guild, we’d held one with the Diva Guild a few weeks ago too.

We need to get everyone as strong as possible, as quickly as possible, because the tides are starting to shift now.

Last night, it was confirmed, multiple Dungeons among the last wave to appear deviated from the new standard patterns that have consistently persisted for almost a year now, several cases of Dungeon Bosses that were stronger than anticipated appearing were reported.

And since the entrances to the Boss Rooms seal up now, retreat was not an option. A few parties were wiped out, though those Dungeon Bosses were eventually defeated after stronger parties were deployed.

Among the rest of the parties, they scraped through, but not without casualties. Some only had one or two survivors.

And all these Dungeons were either Low or Mid Level, with High Level Bosses appearing the former and Critical Levels in the latter.

Since the number of Dungeons is still relatively low for the time being, lower level Dungeons are regularly being used to ease rookies into the job, so a number of the affected parties had higher ranked Hunters accompanying them.

Otherwise, it could’ve been a lot worse.

It shouldn’t be long before a larger number of Dungeons start appearing, with greater levels of intensity and unpredictability.

The HUC is already working on adjusting the minimum requirements for raids.

And we can’t forget about the trick the Demon Lord used last time, manipulating the Mana Currents so that he could infiltrate Sanctuary Theta with a Dungeon.

Apparently, the Mana Currents reverted back to their normal flow a couple of days after I was taken to the Monster world, and it hasn’t happened again.

Maybe that’s something the Demon Lord can’t do too often, or maybe he needs to meet certain conditions or something, but it certainly isn’t something we can rule out.

We need more firepower...even among the X-Aces, not everyone is capable of handling a Calamity Level Monster by themselves, so if multiple Calamity Levels appear at the same time, it could get real ugly.

Over the last couple of years, a record number of Awakened with Ace Potential have appeared, but most of them are still too young, and the rest have either only just graduated or haven’t been Hunters for very long.

It’s been over a year since Brid and Iqra joined our Guild, and while they have reached Ace level in terms of power, they’ve still got a lot of room for improvement. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Looks like the others are starting to wrap things up. They do look pretty worn out, I think they’ve worked hard enough for today. Kai, mind summoning Ira?" Aria asked me, as she stood up and stretched her arms out with a smile.

"Sure, let’s wrap up the joint training session with this. Now, <Emerge, Apostle of Wrath: Ira>," I chanted, before he appeared before me, kneeling down on one knee with his head bowed.

"<How may I serve you, Chief>?"

"Aria needs a sparring partner, would you mind filling in?"

"<Of course, I shall do my best to provide a worthy challenge>."

"Cool, let’s do this," Grinned Aria, before approaching the training area as she slammed her fists together with a gleam in her eyes, Ira following after her.

"That guy’s Aura is insane...the fact that you can summon someone that powerful is crazy," Sighed Rex, the barrier forming around the training area as Aria and Ira took their places.

"This really is a bummer...you guys have gotten way too strong, you dodge all my explosions, and you refuse to take a hit. I just want a nice, big, satisfying boom," Muttered Ciel, as she slumped back in her seat.

"<Hey, Boss. We wrapping up for the day>?" Inquired Invidia, as he walked over with Luxuria and Superbia.

I had them spar against and train the other members of the Guild, as well as the members of the Demonsbane Guild. Ciel sparred against them too, I had to resummon each of them because she was ballistic with her explosions.

It seemed like she was really letting loose, but evidently, that wasn’t enough to satisfy her...because after she was done sparring against them, she immediately began pestering me to let her hit me with an explosion.

"<Ariella’s fighting Ira again, huh? This should be fun>," Remarked Superbia with a smile.

"<You really think so? I’m not so sure...I mean, Ariella beats him everytime>," Pointed out Luxuria, right as a bright, fiery flash burst out, Aria unleashing her full power.

Crimson flames erupted around her gauntlets as an intense, fiery glow surrounded her entire body, streaks of Negative Energy swirling around her as her wings and tail appeared. The whites of her eyes turned black as her teeth sharpened into fangs, her nails turning black and extending out into claws, three horns appearing on her head.

"You ready?" She inquired with a smile.

"<Yes, I am>," Nodded Ira, the dark blue glow of Ether erupting around him before wrapping around his body, his feet floating up off the ground...