Sinner System-Chapter 520: Final Dungeon - Third Floor (Part 3)

"Be careful, guys, this area is pretty toxic. Brid, get ready to heal everyone once we’re close," I called out, as I glanced at the toxic fumes flowing out of nearby lakes and streams.

The Monsters on this floor, Serpentoises and Hydras, are species with poisonous abilities.

Serpentoises are basically giant tortoises with long, snake-like necks and heads, and they secrete a power venom from their fangs.

As for Hydras, they’re several times worse. They’re much bigger than Serpentoises, and they have six heads.

And whatever environments they reside in inevitably turns toxic, they secrete toxins from their pores, effectively sweating poison, and they have seriously potent venom in their fangs too.

With that in mind, I think it’s a relatively safe bet to say that the Sentinel on this floor has even stronger poisonous abilities at its disposal.

In which case, it’d be best if either me, Aria or Jaden got selected to fight this thing. All of us are immune to status effects, so poison won’t affect us.

Aarav has High Status Effect Resistance, but that might not be enough, depending on the potency of this Sentinel’s poison or venom.

And as for Iseul, since she’s a Mage, she doesn’t have any resistances, so she’d be the most vulnerable against poison out of us X-Aces. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Cleo is also immune, while Ciel has the same resistance Skill as Aarav, but the two of them are likely out of the equation for now.

As for the Aces, well...let’s just hope that Petrus’s Shadow Magic will be enough to keep them safe. Because if not, frankly speaking, they’ll almost definitely die.

"Ugh, I’m starting to feel kinda woozy, and not in a good way," Frowned Iseul, stumbling slightly.

"[Antidote], [Heal]," Chanted Brid, her expression easing as he nullified the poison.

"Thanks, appreciate it. Though, the weaker versions of those Spells should be good enough. I may not have a resistance Skill, but my body’s naturally resistant to toxins thanks to my alcoholism, so the effect isn’t too severe," She responded with a wry smile.

"H-Huh maybe I-I should take up alcoholism too...I-I don’t feel so good," Sighed Jax, his face pale.

Brid was quick to heal him too, a bit of color returning as the poison faded.

I happened to have face masks in Treasury, so I made a couple of copies and gave it to them, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much.

Gas masks would probably be a lot more effective, but I don’t have those, because, well, why would I?

"While we aren’t affected, this isn’t exactly pleasant. The toxic stench is pretty overwhelming," Remarked Jaden, scrunching up his nose.

"Agreed, it’s pretty bad. Too bad we don’t have a Wind Mage with us, they might have been able to divert the fumes and smell away," Aria sighed wistfully.

"I mean, I could put up a telekinetic barrier around all of us," Offered Jaden thoughtfully.

"No, don’t. You should conserve your energy," I pointed out objectively.

"Yeah, he’s right. Knowing how powerful the Sentinels are, we can’t afford to take any chances," Added Aarav with a grimace.

It’s still kinda wild seeing him all serious, instead of constantly trying too hard to crack dumb jokes. Not to mention the fact that Iseul has been sober this whole time.

I suppose this just emphasizes the gravity of our current situation.

"How much further is it? Feels like we’ve covered a fair bit of ground now," Spoke up Cleo.

"<It should not be too much further ahead>," Responded Ira, leading the way.

We should run into the other Apostles about a hundred meters ahead of where the Sentinel is, it’s too bad I don’t have any way of sensing them.

And communication with them is one-way, I can sort of talk to them by focusing and directing my intent to them, but they have no way of responding, other than destroying themselves to forcibly withdraw back into me.

I directed an intent to have them clear a path for us and then hang back to wait for us. And so far, it’s looking like they pulled it off, we’ve walked past a number of piles of Monster corpses, but we haven’t encountered any alive.

Plus, considering that none of them have withdrawn back into me, that should mean that they haven’t had any real trouble.

"Hey, I sense a few presences up ahead, just under a hundred meters, I think it’s the other Apostles," Cleo informed me.

"Then, it shouldn’t be much longer before we reach the Sentinel on this floor," Surmised Aria, a sense of tension falling over the group.

The Aces were especially on edge, with grim looks on their faces. And considering the situation, fair enough.

As we continued making our way towards the Sentinel, it wasn’t much longer before we ran into the other Apostles.

Invidia, Luxuria and Ai had taken a fair bit of damage, Superbia had sustained a few scratches, and Acedia was mostly unscathed.

"Good work, guys, I appreciate your efforts," I greeted them with a smile.

"<Glad we didn’t let you down, Master>," Responded Luxuria with a thumbs up.

"<You should be careful, though. The area around the Sentinel is especially toxic, the space within the ring of pillars is essentially a poison marsh>," Superbia warned us.

"That doesn’t sound good, here’s hoping that one of us who aren’t affected by poison gets selected for this fight," Replied Jaden warily.

"Let’s keep moving. Brid, Jax, stick close to Petrus. Petrus, the instant the ring of pillars starts to expand, drop down into the shadows with both of them," I reminded him, as I glanced back at the Aces.

"Got it. Although...not to sound pessimistic, but I have some serious doubts over whether this’ll actually work," He responded with a wry smile.

"Well, you never know. We’ll just have to hope for the best...and prepare ourselves for the worst," I remarked, before we pressed on, covering the final stretch of this floor as we steadily approached the Sentinel...