Sinner System-Chapter 518: Final Dungeon - Third Floor (Part 1)

"Yeah...I agree. You guys don’t need to walk on eggshells, this...this isn’t the time for me to mourn. So, I’ll put all my focus into playing my part in conquering this Dungeon, and putting an end to this war. Right now, my responsibility is to do everything I can to make sure that Rex’s sacrifice won’t be in vain, it’s as simple as that," Responded Ciel, a fierce look on determination in her eyes as she clenched her fists.

"I suppose the first thing we should address is the ring of pillars and ensuing roulette. Clearly, there’s no escaping it, and since Cleo wasn’t dragged into the last one, that probably means that you’re likely exempt from fighting the Sentinels until everyone else has had a turn," Spoke up Iseul.

"Doesn’t that mean us Aces are pretty much guaranteed to die at some point or another?" Responded Jax, a look of dread on his face.

"Not necessarily...there are five Sentinels left, and five of us X-Aces who have yet to fight. So, there is a possibility that we’ll be able to make it to the top floor without you guys having to fight any of the Sentinels," Pointed out Aarav.

"Somehow, I don’t have a lot of faith in those odds. And even if that is how it ends up going, we’ll be doomed to fight the Demon Lord, assuming he’s also got the whole ring of pillars situation up on the top floor," Replied Brid with a grimace.

If only I could store living things in Treasury...that might have been enough to keep them safe from the roulette selection. But since that isn’t possible, there’s no point in mentioning it.

"Hey, Petrus, you can drop down into the shadows, right? Can you take others down there with you?" I asked him.

"Well, I can manage one person, maybe two if I really concentrate. Also, I can only stay there for about ten seconds, probably five or less if I take more than one person with me. If I exceed that time limit, I get forcibly ejected out of the nearest shadow, along with whoever else I took with me," He replied with a shake of his head.

"I see...when the ring of pillars expands, there’s a delay of about a couple of seconds before we get teleported in front of the pillars and the roulette begins. In which case...the instant the ring of pillars expands, drop down into the shadows with Brid and Jax. It might end up being pointless, but it’s worth a shot at least," I suggested, trying to be optimistic.

Frankly, we can’t afford to lose our Healer and Enchanter here, we won’t stand a chance if we’re exhausted and injured by the time we reach the top floor.

Actually, without the healing and Mana and stamina restoration they bring to the table, we might not even make it to the top floor to begin with. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I’m cautiously optimistic about this...if the three of them drop into the shadows before the roulette begins, and remain their for at last a few seconds after it begins, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll be able to avoid getting drawn into it.

Of course, I could just be grasping at straws here, but I don’t have any better ideas, and it doesn’t look like anyone else does either.

"Hm...yeah, I guess it is worth a shot. It’s not like we have any other options," Replied Petrus, looking pretty skeptical.

There’s no way to enter the shadows other than through his Magic, it could possibly be counted as a separate dimension...so, I don’t think it’s completely baseless that this could work.

But I suppose I shouldn’t get my hopes up too high.

"By the way, we aren’t going to wander around this floor like we did in the last two, right?" Chimed in Aarav.

"No, I’ll have the Apostles split up and search the area, while we rest and conserve our energy. And lastly, we should discuss-...," I began.

"Oh, hey, I figured it out! I just need to run my Mana through it, and I can control it perfectly. This feels kinda disconcerting though, these whip-tails feel like they’re a part of my body. They feel weirdly familiar, like I’m moving my own limbs," Called out Jaden, as the whip-tails floated up, extending out and swinging across the air.

He then narrowed their shape, turning the edges and tips razor-sharp, the whips slicing through the air, before he reverted them to their original shape and retracted them back down.

"...as I was saying, we have one more thing to discuss, Ciel’s new boost in power. Oh, and I was also going to say Jaden’s new weapon, I figured we could brainstorm and help him figure out how to use it, but it looks like he’s already picked up on it," I remarked, before glancing at Ciel.

"I don’t know what happened...power just started flooding into me, I didn’t even notice it at first, until it began surging like crazy. My body feels really different, it’s hard to put into words," She frowned in response.

"Yeah, before, your build was more strength-focused and a bit on the lower side in terms of agility, but now, you’re physically perfectly balanced, you’ve got equal parts in both strength and speed.

Which shouldn’t be possible, at least not naturally, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that your body physically isn’t a hundred percent human anymore. Though, I’d say it’s closer to evolved than, like, deformed or mutated or something," Surmised Aria thoughtfully.

Yeah, I’d say that’s more or less accurate.

"I see. And how powerful am I now?" She responded, staring at her hand as she clenched her fist.

"Your base Power Level is over four million now, and it’s overall close to five million if we factor in the twenty percent boost you get from your Personalis Arma," I informed her.

"For real? That’s a massive boost! But...the Sentinels have Power Levels of above seven million, right? But she was totally overwhelming Slasher, so I thought for sure she’d become even more powerful than that," Recalled Jaden with an intrigued look on his face.