The Last Circle-Chapter 8: The Gift of Guilt

[Secret uncovered. You have acquired an artifact!]

"A secret?" he repeated aloud, whispering under his heavy breaths, struggling to calm down, let alone stand, after being ignored by the hellbound beast. "There was no mention of secrets..."

Well... perhaps that's why it was called a secret.

"But an artifact is nice," he continued, reading the notification over and over, as though it were his prized possession. He looked down to the bottom of the display, seeing that he could learn more about this secret.

With a few mental commands, he navigated to a portion of the system that otherwise remained out of access, as though it were a secret itself. Truly, the way it was set up, it indicated that this was something that had to be found merely by accident.

The panel occasionally underwent chromatic aberrations despite being on the same tab, followed by some flickers and distortions, which created a hollowing sensation within his chest. Nevertheless, he saw a singular entry that read:

[The Gift of Guilt] Description: Avoid an encounter with a creature of darkness by erasing Sin. Discovered by Wretched Nameless One.

Nameless's fiery eyes flickered, as though rekindled. He repeated the words to himself, dedicating it to memory, contemplating on them. The hellbound beast was a creature of Hell born of the darkness, that much he knew for certain, but avoiding encounters through erasing Sin was not something he ever considered. In fact, it wasn't even something the system hinted at, hence the secret.

'So by asking God for forgiveness,' he swam in his thoughts, rubbing his chin as he looked side to side, 'I erased Sin, and then the hellbound beast ignored me... There's something deeper to it, isn't there?'

He continued walking, letting his mind dwell on it as he checked around the corners, making sure that nothing was around. Though there were more strange noises further into the chasm, he knew that he was safe for the time being, and so he quickly progressed onward.

'I have so many sins piled up though... so how did it not attack me even then? Was one act of repentance more powerful?'

He remained silent for a while, his brows knitted in a light frown, his heartbeat grew heavier, and the foul stench of blood and saliva occupied every corner, causing his face to scrunch up. Sometimes, he even had the horrible experience of stepping in such thick and bubbly saliva that blended in with the dark floor.

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But with enough time dwelling on the matter, an epiphany caused him to halt, and he spent a moment piecing together the puzzle he was so keen on understanding.

He tapped his thumb and ring finger, opening his inventory, seeing two occupied squares out of the many more he could scroll through.

'Those are the seeds, but this second one...' he looked at the icon possessing an obsidian fragment—jagged and glowing with a faint crimson hue, 'is that the artifact?'

He reached for the tile and pulled it out of supposedly thin air. In his hands, it bore an incredible amount of mass, forcing him to use all his strength just to hold it up, and it spanned from his wrist to his elbow in the shape of a stretched out triangular pyramid.

Slowly, he set the obsidian fragment on the ground, getting a good feel for the jagged edges and fractures around its weathered faces. Whatever it was, it filled him with a sense of guilt, like the weight of a mountain pressing down on his head.

As he held it, the display underwent a chromatic aberration and automatically navigated to the expanded view of the artifact, letting him read through the text regarding its existence:

Item Name: [The Shard of Sin]

Item Type: [Artifact (Secret)]

Item Description: [Long ago, before the creation of man, the jinns reigned over Earth. With it, an esteemed and pious jinn was granted audience with God in the presence of the angels, allowed to serve with them, until he would forsake his exalted status for mere envy at the creation of man; the authority man had been given over Earth. With his envy, he forged a symbol out of his sins, marking his eternal descent into wretchedness and as evil incarnate.

Within the shard, faint whispers of an undulating sea of sins can be heard, a testament to its accursed and unholy birth.]

Item Effect — "Sin Veil": [Conceals the holder's presence from the lesser creatures of Hell birthed in darkness. Stronger effect is granted through repentance or holy actions.

"There is no pride in revealing your sins. Hide them and repent, for God loves even the repenting sinner. Verily, He is the most forgiving."]

With his epiphany, Nameless dropped to his knees with ragged breaths, keeping his eyes shut as his head hung low, holding onto the Shard of Sin. His arms and fingers jittered occasionally, as though he were suffering a minor epileptic shock.

His mind was a raging storm, with flickering images of what he could only assume was his past life, being proud of his sinful nature. Whether the sin was something minor like saying a bad word, insulting, or lying, his past self was proud to have exercised such concepts.

A few moments would go by of him stuck within the loop of memories, where nothing could shake him out of his vision, not even the rumbling of more hellbound beasts that ran through the chasm; not their bellowing that tainted the air in their murderous intoxication; not even the falling rocks. Until he'd fall on his back, as though some invisible force struck him square in the chest, nothing would shake him out of it.

'This is it!' he told himself, huffing and puffing as he laid on the rough and sharp ground, littered with broken stones. 'That was the meaning!'

With an aching head, he looked up whilst laying, seeing that the panel hadn't closed, and read:

[Would you like to equip the Shard of Sin?]

***

With his new artifact trailing over his back in the air, Nameless found himself moving through the Vagrant's Pass with unexpected ease. There were many instances where he found himself in the presence of the hellbound beasts and various other creatures of Hell, though he had a better time escaping them now.

With the power of the Shard of Sin, he found that the item effect did in fact make it harder for the hellbound beasts to notice him. In fact, it did wonders. He could even have a staring contest with the beasts, and despite the searing pain they'd suffer by staring into his eyes, they still wouldn't be able to locate him. It was as though he was veiled in an invisible cloak, blending in with the environment perfectly, so long as he kept his distance.

At time's, however, he'd eventually have his spree of luck end, with some twists and turns having a hellbound beast sneakily hiding around, waiting to get the jump on its victim.

These such instances would end up in him having to fight, but it wasn't entirely a waste of effort. With each hard fought battle he demonstrated his resilience and cunning—and a heap ton of luck—he'd make use of the naturally hazardous environment to do the dirty work for him.

Just like right now, he found himself running through the labyrinthine chasm, making sharp and sudden turns that confused the hellbound beast hounding after him. Sometimes, the beast's momentum would work against it, ending up in it slamming against some pillars.

The sounds of its cracking bones, its arms that dragged through the ground, and its roars of pain was music to his ears.

He grinned, looking back as he skidded to a full stop, watching as it recovered from the impact as he thought:

'All that's left is to have it crash into another pillar.'

He retraced a bit of his steps, taunting it by remaining just out of reach of its furry arms. His plan worked like a charm, earning its full focus with what little remained of its many eyes, sending it into a blood-crazed frenzy.

Nameless would continue running, narrowly avoid protruding rocks that wanted nothing more than his spilt blood, until he'd come across another sharp turn.

With his earlier taunt of staying just out of the reach, the hellbound beast would have the false notion of having finally caught him as it just barely grazed Nameless's swinging arms, and then it would suddenly be lights out for it as it crashed into another pillar.

Nameless, who laid on the ground after diving off to the side, would slowly get up and take a look. Having learnt his lesson the first time, he made sure not to celebrate too early, and quickly went to the wreckage, making sure that each eye was stabbed with a sharp rock, until he'd finally get the message:

[You have slain a Sinner Hellbound Beast!]

[The Shard of Sin whispers...]