Chapter 168 – Crossing

Myne who had immersed herself in Wrath launched a heavy blow.
On the other hand, Shinn’s red tentacles prevented me from dodging.

「『You’re in the way』.」

Cutting the tentacles off, I rushed toward Shinn, who had taken a giant red slime form this time.

[Whoopsie, your opponent is not me.]

Saying so, he once again submerged into the ground.

[Eris, tell me where Shinn is.]

[Right there.]

She shot at a spot darkened by the shadow of the building with her black bayonet.
There was indeed a reaction. Red liquid overflowed from under the ground.

[Good, that will do. Be careful of Myne, as she has lost herself in the Wrath skill at the moment. When the timing is right, I’ll support you with Phalanx and Phantom bullets.]

[『Counting on you』.]

[Meanwhile I’ll also make sure Shinn won’t interfere too much, so it’s better to take the fight to a more open area to make my work easier. That’s why…]

[『Don’t get in your line of sight, right?』]

[You guess it. Ahahaha, I can easily tell that the Crossing is in effect. Your voice is overlapping with Greed’s]

Even in such a situation, Eris could still joke around.
But I suspect that Eris herself was also in Crossing state. Because the way she moved is obviously different than how she usually does.

‘Crossing’ is a term to refer to the state when the wielder of a mortal sin weapon synchronizes with their weapon.
In other words, in my current state, I was both myself and Greed.

Two minds in one body. And the black sword itself felt like it was part of my body.

And the biggest advantage is…
I could actually block Myne’s attack with relative ease now.

Each of our clashes emitted a shockwave that caused the surrounding buildings to start crumbling.

For the first time since the fight started, I was on the dominating side. Being able to push Myne back because she grew slower with each axe strike.

[Myne, I’ve grown stronger as well.]

She might not hear me at the moment, but I said it anyway.
Her current state was similar to when the Gluttony skill went out of control.
I knew, because by merging with Greed, I could also access parts of his knowledge.

Although I said out of control, it’s actually not fully released yet. I concluded that I should defeat her before the Wrath is fully released.
At least, this time I was her only target.

Even with Eris still standing behind me and Shinn around, Myne’s gaze was only locked on me.

Crossing pretty much gave me access to not only Greed’s knowledge, but also his combat skill.
In addition to that, it’s like having two brains that work together.
Well, my only gripe was the fact that Greed’s voice sometimes overlaps on top of my own when I speak.

The mind synchronization finally completed. In short, I could demonstrate the full effect of Crossing now.

[Here I come, Myne!]

Again I used the black sword to fight the rampaging Myne.
I could certainly match power with her now, but even then it’s only within a certain threshold.
Just as I twisted my body, a gunshot rang from afar.

The bullet hit the black axe in the handle. I didn’t miss that the shot caused Myne’s grip to loosen a bit from the handle.

I came here with the intention to fight with all I got. I’ll apologize as many times as I need to when everything is over.

[Guh!]

My kick found its way to Myne’s stomach.
I don’t care anymore about the method I used.
Her small body crashed into a building back first.

I gave pursuit almost immediately. I was hoping that my kick and the shot earlier would cause her to let go of Sloth.
But her hands were still firmly holding the black axe.
That level of attack would no longer cause an opening on Myne.
Because she is…

Myne emerged from the rubbles with ease, as if nothing had happened. She made those heavy debrises look as light as feathers.

The next moment, Myne already swung her axe at me topdown.
When I twisted my body to evade, her kick was already waiting for me.

This time it was me who ended up buried under the building debris.

[I knew it… unlike me, she’s a natural.]

(Indeed, this Me is very confident when it comes to battle. However, Myne was genetically made for that sole purpose. And her compatibility with the mortal sin skill is even greater than me. That’s why she didn’t end up like Luna.)

[Luna and Myne have different skin tones…. The reason why they considered themselves siblings…]

(You already know. They’re born at the same laboratory… in the test tubes. They were created from the same base gene. However, each of them were subjected to different kinds of operation. Therefore, despite being genetically identical siblings, they looked different physically. By the way, this Me was in a different laboratory back then)

Since our thoughts were synchronized, I could see parts of Greed’s memories in my mind.

That memory I saw when I killed Haniel (Luna). About a group of children being tested by humans in white lab coats inside a lab.
Greed had a similar memory. In one of his memories, he met Luna during one of the experiments. They clicked immediately and got along well.

(Oii, don’t peek at something needless like that.)

Greed was annoyed, but there’s nothing he could do about it.
After all, it’s not like our Crossing was perfect. That’s why sometimes our memories leaked unto the other’s mind.

[If Greed’s memory leaked in the middle of battle, it’ll be hard for me to concentrate]

(That’s why I told you that you lack mental training)

As for me, it’s great to learn something about the usually secretive Greed. But in this situation, the enemy won’t be lenient.

After this battle, Greed promised that he’s answer my question about the past. The fact that we had to use Crossing might partially be the reason behind this decision.
Finally I’ll be able to talk about various things with Greed.

[We’ll have to stop Myne first.]

I once again brandished my black sword against the Wrath-immersed Myne.
Her power is running rampant, but did she somehow still partially retain her reasoning?
There was barely any unnecessary move so far.

Her timing was also still precise now that I looked back.

[Myne!]

The fight resumed along with my shout.
Myne’s Sloth became heavier with each of her strikes.

If I blocked them with black sword, I would’ve been overwhelmed.
So I could only dodge, waiting for the moment where either Sloth or Myne reaches the limit.

I recalled the time when we fought Haniel in the past.
Myne said.
With each attack, Sloth would become heavier, and therefore gradually reduce Myne’s agility.

If that’s true, then there’s gotta be a limit somewhere.

When it becomes too heavy to be wielded, Sloth would be out of the equation.
It’s simple but difficult at the same time.

As far as I knew, Sloth only has one secret art, which is《Noir Destructo》.
Where it converts all of its accumulated weight into destructive power.

If Sloth manages to accumulate weight to the very limit, just how destructive it would be…. I just couldn’t imagine it. Not to mention that Greed pointed out to me that during the Haniel fight, Myne only used the bare minimum required to execute the secret.

So in other words, I need to push her into slowing herself down, while making sure that she had no window to use the secret.

As Myne kept attacking, her reaction time would also gradually diminish.
I just had to keep evading her attacks, with occasional blocking to check Sloth’s weight.
Will Myne ever forgive me for using this trick on her?

[Tsk, she’s already used to the timing.]

She shifted the timing of her attack, causing me to evade too soon.
I’ve been able to avoid her attacks because her attacks had been straightforward and done at a set speed. But now she suddenly changed trajectory and swung at my side!?

A gunshot rang from afar, changing the trajectory of the axe.

[Eris!]

The second shot was aimed at me. It was the phantom bullet.
This bullet produces the illusion of its target to confuse the opponent.

5 illusions were created. Not half bad!

Eris had shown me the bullet effect during our previous training session, but back then she could only produce 3 illusions at most.
The additional two illusions must’ve been the result of Crossing between Eris and Envy.

I too, am in a state of Crossing with Greed.

Therefore I had complete control over my stats now.

Dodging the black axe once more, I swung my sword at Myne’s flank.

[Greed! Adjust!]

Greed could freely adjust the black sword’s sharpness.
That’s why the sword could easily cut through steel. And conversely, it could also be turned into a blunt weapon.
I heard a dull sound. My attack connected.

I wondered to myself, it shouldn’t be that easy, right?

[Are you forgetting that I’m also here?]

The moment my sword was about to hit Myne, Shinn’s tentacle got in the way.
Eris immediately shot it, but she wasn’t able to get rid of it in time.

I lost the opportunity and Myne managed to get away.
She already swung the black axe again without a shred of hesitation. This time I had to block this strike with my sword.

Sloth was already at its twelfth stacks. Obviously it had become super heavy.
I swore I could hear my bones creaking due to the intense shock from blocking such an attack.

The black axe on Myne’s hand had reached an extreme weight. Ground would sink under her with each step she took.

Watching the current situation, Shinn, still in his slime form, laughed.

[Alright, the preparation is finished.]

Shinn proceeded to look around.

[Why do you think I was under the ground all this time? Do you think I was hiding? You’re wrong.]

When I blocked Myne’s strike once more, the ground started to tremble.
The red liquid bursted upward, creating a dome that covered the entire Grandeur city.

Even the artificial sun on the ceiling was engulfed.

[Now, this underground city is mine. It’s as good as my own body now.]

The ground started collapsing, replaced by reddish walls.