Return Of The Strongest Player

The concept of sins and virtues was abstract. 

It was usually applied to life-forms, and judged their actions and which part forged their existence. The concept of sins and virtues was the center of one's existence, and what crafted their being.

Manipulating the sins and virtues was a very difficult task. But it was something the Lord of Sins had achieved.

However, there was one ability that merged with the Lord of Sins' original, inherent skill, propelling him to his position. It was an ability that allowed him to influence the sins and virtues of one's existence to a certain amount.

[Heavenly Sin Manipulation].

"Mason, give me mana!" Arthur shouted. The spikes were an inch away from his body at this point. He needed to act fast, and he needed to act now. It wouldn't be long before the spikes dug into his skin.

After that, his story within the tower would have ended before it even began.

"Here!" Mason shouted, hurling around 30% of his entire mana reserve towards Arthur. The crimson-eyed couldn't absorb it, as the mana would unintentionally cause [Mana Overload] to occur.

However, although he couldn't absorb the mana, he could still manipulate it.

The method through which Mason sent the mana was through a stone. A stone influenced by the process of Mana Infusion, which allowed a person to store mana within an object for later use.

It was usually used by scientists and researchers, but was a common tool for warriors, too.

As the stone fell into Arthur's hands, he immediately willed a significant amount to bend to his movements. The crimson-eyed man used the external mana to activate his skin, [Heavenly Sin Manipulation].

At that moment, he touched the [Jail], which was created through Karen's mana.

Although this wouldn't be possible naturally, Arthur used the majority of Mason's mana to force the [Jail] into providing him with some of Karen's mana. Using Karen's mana, Arthur forged a link to her existence.

It was a risky tactic, but he had to try.

Once the link had been forged, Arthur inflicted [Judgment Regeneration] and [Heavenly Sin Manipulation] simultaneously.

[Judgment Regeneration has been used.]

[The Sins and Virtues of the target are being examined.]

[Target has 63% Sin and 37% Virtue.]

[Mediocre de-buffs are being applied.]

Then, once the results appeared, Arthur used [Heavenly Sin Manipulation]. Since Ms. Gomez's power didn't compare to Mason's mana, it was not too difficult to manipulate the results, and skew them in Arthur's favor.

[Heavenly Sin Manipulation has been used.]

[The Sins of the target have shifted.]

[The Virtues of the target have shifted.]

[Target has 75% Sin and 25% Virtue.]

[Massive de-buffs are being applied.]

'Fuck yeah!' Arthur screamed in joy internally before using his fist to smash the spikes. Blood dripped from his fingers, and the spikes dug into his skin. However, due to the massive de-buffs, the [Jail] shattered.

The process was only possible due to the sheer advancements of Mason's mana. Arthur's mana could never influence the Sins and Virtues of a powerful human so drastically. In fact, the crimson-eyed man could barely shift a sheep's Sins and Virtues by 1%.

That only displayed how powerful Mason truly was.

As the [Jail] shattered, Gregorio immediately leapt towards Karen. Now that she wasn't protected by [Jail] and had lost most of her power, defeating her was quite simple. Arthur had done it.

'That bastard…' Mason let out boisterous laughter as he thought about the shit the crimson-eyed man pulled. 'No wonder Gregorio was so enthusiastic when he recruited him. He's a fucking maniac.'

"Run, Arthur!" Gregorio shouted, and the crimson-eyed man shot towards the exit.

His mana reserve was low, and his body was heavily injured due to the spikes. However, if he hadn't done even a single of those things, it would've resulted in Arthur's death. The stakes were too high.

His calf muscles were begging for mercy, while his fist and arms were impaled by spikes.

[Judgment Regeneration] was preventing him from collapsing, but for how long would that last? It wouldn't last long.

'I still have one trump card, at least,' thought Arthur, letting out a sigh of relief. After a few seconds of running, he successfully escaped the banquet hall, in which so much had occurred in mere minutes.

The students had all left the school grounds, and the members of the Ainsworths remained. 

"Who are you?" One of the members of the Ainsworth family approached the crimson-eyed man, who'd exited the place which Mason and Gregorio entered. The forces of the Ainsworths had been ordered to remain outside.

They were confused, but heeded the words of their superior.

However, they hadn't noticed Arthur enter, so his exit was quite suspicious. 

"I am the mole," replied Arthur. "The spy allied with the Ainsworths and the Jester Organization."

"Arthur!" Jake's voice echoed across the area, and the dirty-blonde haired man quickly approached Arthur. 

"Did you bury her?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good," replied Arthur casually. [Judgment Regeneration] was working at a rapid pace, slowly draining Arthur's mana. However, the crimson-eyed man had no time to waste. It was only a matter of time…

"You're the spy, huh?" One of the members of the Ainsworth Family approached Arthur with a haughty expression. "I don't like it when people pretend to be something they aren't. Our executive would never hire a child."

Arthur quickly retrieved the card Xavier had given him. "Here."

Another member approached and validated the card. "This belongs to Xavier. He's speaking the truth."

"Shit, he's really the spy?" 

"Yeah, it seems like it. Isn't he a little too young? Why did our executive hire that guy?"

"No, he didn't hire him. Our executive personally told me they're allies. I wonder how he allied with the Ainsworths."

"Guys, make sure to inform the head of the Ainsworths if people try to enter the school building, okay?" Arthur ordered. The forces of the Ainsworths contemplated for a few seconds whether to accept orders.

However, when one person nodded, the others followed.

"Jake, come with me."

The time was finally ripe.