She tightened her grip on the bow.
"Stay behind me."
"Why?" Sienna asked.
"Because I'm the only one not being affected."
And indeed… Elenya was perfectly alert.
No sluggishness.
No yawning.
Ethan's eyes widened.
"Of course… Elenya is an elf. They have natural resistance to mental enchantments."
Sienna raised a hand.
"Great, archer girl. Your moment to shine. You lead."
Elenya took a deep breath and moved to the front.
With every step forward, the humans looked closer to collapsing.
She pulled them along.
Prodded them.
Called them by name.
"Sienna, focus."
"I am focusing, I'm just lazy to—"
"DON'T sleep. Walk."
"Jay, lift that shield."
"It's so hea—"
"LIFT IT."
"Ethan, don't fade."
"Just… two seconds…"
"No. Get up. Now."
Emanueru stumbled as they reached the stairs of the central hall.
Elenya grabbed his shoulders.
"You're with me. Breathe. Don't fall asleep."
Ethan rubbed his face.
"If this keeps up… we'll collapse before we even find the boss."
Elenya narrowed her eyes.
"Then we find the boss before that happens."
She pushed the massive doors open.
The hall revealed itself.
And there he was.
A man — or something close to one — sprawled on an absurdly comfortable throne.
Pillows.
Blankets.
Silk cushions.
A massive censer exhaled a soft blue smoke.
The being yawned.
Long.
Dragging.
"Hmmm… visitors… what a bother…"
It was Seroth, the Sin of Sloth.
Half-lidded eyes.
A limp body, as if made of rubber.
A blue aura pulsed around him like sleepy waves.
Elenya felt it in her skin: that was the source draining the city.
Sienna tried to make a sarcastic comment, but nearly fell asleep mid-sentence.
Marcus held his sword as if it weighed half a ton.
Ethan barely kept his staff upright.
Emanueru swayed.
Jay dropped to one knee.
Seroth smiled lazily.
"You're… tired… come rest… with me…"
Blue light spread across the hall.
The humans began to fall.
Sienna dropped to her knees.
Jay let the shield slip from his hand.
Ethan leaned against the wall.
Marcus nearly blacked out.
Emanueru collapsed into a seated position, fighting to keep his eyes open.
Elenya remained standing alone.
Seroth watched her slowly.
"Ahhh… an elf… too resistant… how dull…"
Elenya raised her bow, eyes sharp.
"I won't fall that easily."
Seroth lifted his hand without effort.
"Then let's see…"
The blue smoke thickened.
The floor vibrated.
From it rose three creatures made of sluggish aura — dragging shadows that moved like slow ghosts, yet carried real strength.
Elenya stepped back, adjusting her stance.
She was alone.
With everyone else unconscious.
Facing an entire sin by herself.
Sienna murmured, barely conscious,
"Archer girl… it's on you…"
Elenya inhaled deeply.
The world shrank until only two things remained:
her target
and her arrow.
"Let's begin."
Seroth didn't move quickly.
He made everything feel slow, heavy, inevitable.
Elenya ran — light, agile, determined — every movement precise.
The first shadow lunged.
She slid sideways and fired an arrow that pierced its spectral chest, dispersing it.
The second tried to grab her from behind.
She jumped, spun midair, and fired downward.
TCHUU!
Another enemy dissolved.
The third shadow was larger.
It surged forward like a wave.
"Not today."
Elenya planted her foot, drew the string with full force, and released an enchanted arrow.
TCHAAAA!
The impact split the shadow in half.
Seroth yawned.
"What… unnecessary effort…"
He raised his hand.
Blue waves surged toward the fallen allies, trying to drag them deeper into eternal sleep.
Elenya's eyes widened.
"NO."
She sprinted, slid across the floor, and fired three arrows in rapid succession.
TCHUU!
TCHUU!
TCHUU!
The waves dissipated.
Seroth raised an eyebrow.
"Hm… annoying…"
Elenya clenched her teeth.
"Good. Because I haven't even started."
She closed her eyes for a brief moment.
And remembered the boy saved in the city of Greed.
The blacksmith who returned to work.
The family reunited.
And she remembered the group… collapsing beside her.
"I won't let anyone fall again."
When she opened her eyes, they glowed.
She channeled mana into her arrows, concentrating a living green energy — ancient elven power.
"Seroth."
The Sin opened one eye.
"Hm?"
"Wake up."
Elenya fired.
The arrow crossed the hall, tearing through the blue smoke and striking his chest.
Seroth choked.
The aura around him weakened.
The allies gave their first signs of waking.
Sienna muttered,
"Okay… my face hurts… but I'm alive…"
Jay slowly lifted his shield.
Marcus leaned on his sword.
Ethan took a deep breath.
Emanueru forced his eyes open.
Elenya shouted,
"NOW! EVERYONE ON HIM!"
The group advanced — slow, but standing.
Jay blocked a blue wave.
Marcus cut through the aura trying to pull him back down.
Sienna summoned two wolves to distract the Sin.
Ethan cast controlled blue flames to sever magical defenses.
Emanueru formed blades of light to pressure the enemy.
Elenya ran along the flank.
Jumped.
And midair…
Drew the string to its limit.
"FINAL!"
The charged arrow pierced Seroth between the eyebrows.
His body turned into blue dust…
…as if he were finally resting for real.
A fragment shimmered on the floor.
Elenya caught it before it hit the ground.
When Seroth fully dissolved, the entire hall seemed to… breathe.
FRAGMENT OBTAINED — (4/7)
The heavy smoke faded like morning mist.
Sunlight returned through the windows.
The air grew lighter.
And for the first time since arriving…
Silence.
But not the dead silence of sloth.
A living silence — something about to awaken.
Then came the sound.
Small.
Weak.
But enough.
A sigh.
Then another.
And another.
Throughout Somnaris, people began to open their eyes.
A man sitting on the curb stared at his own hands, confused.
A woman sleeping over a counter slowly lifted her head.
Children in school yawned — not from magic, but from waking up after too long a nap.
And then, as if an invisible thread were pulled…
The entire city woke up.
Some cried immediately.
Others looked around, unsure of what they had lost.
Others hugged their families, afraid to fall asleep again.
One scene made the group stop.
A girl, about eight years old, ran — still groggy — and jumped into her mother's arms.
"Mom! I thought you'd never wake up!"
The woman, tears streaming, held her daughter with desperate strength.
"I thought the same… I couldn't… move…"
Elenya pressed a hand to her chest.
It was always like this.
Cities awakening — and with them, lives that had almost been lost.
And that was exactly why it was all worth it.
Jay looked around, moved.
Marcus crossed his arms, hiding the impact.
Emanueru simply smiled, light, as if a weight had been lifted from the world.
Ethan released a long sigh — the sigh of someone who carries too much responsibility, but keeps going.
Sienna, of course, commented:
"At least they woke up. Everyone was looking like Jay after overeating in Gluttony."
Jay rolled his eyes.
"Don't start."
But even he smiled.
The group was invited to rest at the old inn, now full of life.
People talked.
Moved.
Organized things.
Everything felt… normal again.
Sienna threw herself onto a bed with theatrical exaggeration.
"Finally a place where no one's trying to hypnotize me or put me to sleep forever."
Jay sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.
"That sloth was strong… I can barely stand."
Ethan massaged his shoulder, exhausted.
"Seroth was powerful, but subtle. That kind of magic destroys a city without anyone noticing."
Elenya stood by the window, watching Somnaris fully awaken.
Children running.
Men working.
Women gathering fabrics, shaking off dust, chatting.
"I like this," she said softly. "Seeing people live again."
Emanueru smiled.
"You were incredible. Without you, the whole city would've been swallowed by sloth."
Sienna lifted her head from the pillow.
"True. Archer girl shined. But I still prefer when I'm the star."
Ethan laughed.
"Of course you do."
Marcus stretched.
"Well… recover your strength. The next fragment won't come easily."
The next morning, the group gathered at Somnaris' exit.
The residents said goodbye with gratitude, offering baskets of fruit, cloaks, and flowers — everything they could give.
Jay smiled.
"They care again. That's good."
Ethan carefully stored the newly acquired fragment.
"Four recovered. Three left."
Marcus pointed east along the road.
"The next city… I heard rumors while people were waking up.
They talked about a place where everyone competes, where no one can stand seeing someone else have something better."
Sienna crossed her arms.
"Great. After the city that eats too much and the city that does nothing, now we're visiting the city of jealousy."
Elenya adjusted her bow.
"Envy."
Ethan nodded.
"Probably the most toxic sin of all."
They continued down the road.
Sunlight illuminated the horizon.
Suddenly, Ethan stopped.
A bluish light appeared in the air before him, spinning like a small vortex.
"Again?" Sienna muttered.
The light opened…
…and a fragment of parchment appeared before Ethan.
FRAGMENT OBTAINED — (5/7)
Jay raised an eyebrow.
"How did we get a fragment without fighting?"
Marcus scratched his neck.
"Did someone else defeat a sin?"
Ethan studied the item, suspicious.
"No message. No system notification… nothing."
Sienna shrugged.
"Then we'll just have to find out ourselves."
They quickened their pace.