Halo had no reason not to listen to Seraphim. Not only had she risked her life to save them against a Beast Sinner, which was also a Crawler, but she’d once again let him take her hard-earned Sin Fragnt.
So Sunday, Halo called it.
Turning this Sinner into his clone cost him a full ten Sin Fragnts, but he knew it would be worth every penny.
Seraph’s injury wasn’t severe since Sunday’s strike missed her vital organs, allowing her healing ability to kick in easily.
Their attention went elsewhere.
Unlike humans, Sinners were the embodint of their Flaws and Purposes. They had no Only Sins, leaving their strength and abilities to be determined by the Flaws and Dominant Skills they obtained and what their Purposes required.
This ant Sunday ranked higher in the Crawler hierarchy, considering it was stronger than Tough, who was also a Crawler. Or at least, that’s what they thought.
Halo traded the Sin Fragnt he obtained from Sunday, but unfortunately, it had nothing to share. Not even a hint of what it truly was.
He initially believed this would take a while. Since secrets worked like mories, once obtained, they were shoved into your brain as one of your own. But he waited an entire night with nothing to show for it.
Now, he was seated in the Grand Hall alongside Liam and Seraph, his hands folded across his chest. Seraph had bandages wrapped around her torso.
"Hold on... if only Toddler and Perverted Sinners can beco Crawlers, then why do we have Beast Sinners too? Do they just... wait it out?"
Before Liam could get a response, Seraph spoke up:
"I think Fade of Bridle is in this castle sohow. If he’s truly dead, then his body must be buried sowhere."
Halo turned to Seraph, her faded blue eyes gently darting on the floor.
The rumors said Fade of Bridle, a legend of this castle and probably the creator of Crawlers, had been killed by another legend, Kysa. Though it seed unlikely given how strong Fade of Bridle was, Halo found himself believing it now.
Every Crawler was sohow attracted to the castle. Based on what they saw yesterday, Sunday’s body went through a tamorphosis the mont it got close enough to the castle. Without a doubt, its new form would’ve been stronger than the previous one.
With their previous discovery about whatever turned Sinners into Crawlers being airborne, it all clicked for him.
"True... his decaying corpse must be sowhere within these walls, and the stench alone could be what turns them. It sounds absurd, yet if the Sinners revered him as one of their own, it’s disturbingly plausible."
Seraph clenched her fists.
"We need to find him!"
Halo raised a subtle eyebrow, and Liam frowned.
"What do you an? The castle isn’t showing itself to us, rember?"
Liam asked with a skeptical look.
"I know..."
The words left Seraph lazily, as though she was already losing hope.
Halo glanced at both their faces in disappointnt.
They had to make this happen: find the corpse and destroy it. Tough opponents would clearly be heading toward the castle, just as they already had.
And they knew that if nothing else, there was a gigantic Sinner none of them could defeat, they’d already seen it. Worse, the gods were brutal.
Any fatal damage to the castle could fail their Purpose, which ant death. They needed to eliminate the larger threats.
"Why are you all losing hope? The castle never said it wouldn’t show its true nature, we’re the ones who decided that."
As soon as the words left Halo, Seraph, and Liam turned to him.
Halo exhaled.
"This castle has countless rooms, many still unexplored. Even if we find nothing, we’ll make it reveal itself to us one way or another."
Halo turned to Seraph and locked eyes with her.
"Rember, Purposes are trials... you said that. If that’s true, then the castle isn’t our enemy. It’ll help us, but only if we et its conditions."
Seraphim nodded repeatedly with a smile.
However, Liam stole the mont with his hesitant tone.
"Wait... if the Crawlers wanted the corpse, why didn’t they take it before we showed up? I was here first, and there wasn’t a single one around."
Liam’s words shattered Halo’s motivations imdiately, and he began to massage his temples with an annoyed smile.
Liam was correct, this was sothing he had forgotten. As far as he knew, Crawlers had been attacking the castle for years now. In fact, according to so, the Crawlers and the castle couldn’t be told apart. This ant Halo’s initial conclusion wasn’t as justified as he thought.
But amidst his thoughts, Seraph spoke.
"That couldn’t be it... the Crawlers haven’t been coming here for so ti now."
Halo turned to her with a darkened expression.
"I was told Kysa wiped them all out... that’s why the Crawlers weren’t seen anymore. But when Liam said otherwise, I thought the stories were lies. Now I’m not so sure... maybe the legends were true after all."
Liam frowned.
"Is it possible the Crawlers are trying to create sothing powerful enough for Kysa? Maybe that’s what’s forming over the Inferno Moist land."
Halo was taken aback for a mont.
This made sense to him. From what he’d heard about Kysa, that woman was like a giant, so her speed had to be slow. And both of the higher-ranked Crawlers they’d killed, Tough and Sunday, were fast, with speed as their Dominant Skill.
If true, the Crawlers were trying to create a monster powerful enough to exploit Kysa’s weakness and beat her.
Halo sneered.
"So what should we do now? Look for Kysa?"
Kysa was a monster on her own, but Halo had no desire to fight such a powerful Sinner.
"No... I think the Crawlers send Beast Sinners just to see how fast we are. Tough was fast, Sunday was faster, and the next one’s gonna be even faster."
The mont Liam spoke, Seraph seized the spotlight.
"None of that changes the mission. If they need Fade of Bridle’s corpse, we’ll find it and hand it over. Priority one is the castle’s safety, not his remains."
Halo smiled. He wasn’t sure about this, but this sounded the most logical.
"Heck yeah. Let’s show them how it’s done."
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