Sin Collector Cultivator

6. City Without Light

"Cover your head, Lyra. That silver hair of yours is too conspicuous for a place as foul as this."

Arion stepped through the giant stone gates of Xandros, his shadow lengthening under the fading sunlight. This city was a dark mirror of Oakhaven—larger, grander, yet its air was thick with the scent of cold sweat and stale despair.

Lyra pulled the hood of her tattered cloak roughly. "I know how to disguise myself, Arion. Stop ordering me around as if I were your personal servant. These chains are insulting enough."

[Notice: Vessel's heart rate increased by 15%. Irritation level detected: High. Recommended: Ignore for energy efficiency.]

"Did you hear that? Even the System suggests I ignore your whining," Arion said coldly, his dim purple eyes scanning the crowd ahead.

"That thing in your head is just as annoying as you are," Lyra hissed, her hand brushing the hilt of her hidden shadow blade. "Why are we here? Xandros is known as the 'City of Blessing.' The Alliance claims this place is living proof that the Karma system works perfectly."

"Look around you, Lyra. Use those 'genius' eyes you're so proud of," Arion pointed toward the center of the square where a large wooden stage had been erected.

On the stage, a dozen men and women were chained by their necks. They wore torn silk garments, showing the remnants of a shattered noble dignity. A fat man in gold-embroidered robes shouted beside them.

"Come, virtuous gentlemen! Redeem the karma debt of this family! The Valtore family has fallen into moral bankruptcy because their ancestors stole the sect's holy water! Buy them as labor slaves, and you will earn ten Good Karma points every day!" the merchant bellowed.

Lyra froze, her steps halting. "That’s... that’s insane. The Valtore family has been regular donors to the Sky Sword Sect for three generations. How could they become 'Sinners' overnight?"

[System Analysis: Karma Fragmentation Detected. The Valtore family is innocent. The Sect forcibly seized their assets and labeled the process as 'Purification of Past Debts.' Cosmic Falsehood Level: 92%.]

"So that’s how it works?" Arion asked softly, more to the System than to Lyra.

[Correct, User. By creating artificial 'Sinners,' the Alliance can harvest energy from the people who buy these slaves. The buyers feel like heroes for 'saving' sinners, when in reality, they are merely feeding the energy parasites at the center of the continent.]

"What did you just call them? Slaves?" Lyra asked, her voice trembling with rage. "In the sect, we were taught they are 'Children atoning for mistakes.' The word slave is considered taboo."

"A very beautiful mask to cover the chains," Arion smiled thinly, an expression that looked foreign and cruel on his face. "Do you feel it, Lyra? Behind their prayers and the holy faces of the city guards, there is a boiling sea of emotion."

"I feel it through your chains," Lyra gripped her wrist. "It smells... gray. So much regret."

"To you, this is a market. To me," Arion took a deep breath, his eyes glowing brighter, "this is an infinite buffet."

"You really are a monster, aren't you?" Lyra whispered, staring at Arion in horror. "You actually enjoy all this suffering."

"I don't enjoy it; I need it. System, report collection status."

[Environmental Scan Complete. Area: Karma Slavery Market. Estimated Latent Hatred Units: 45,000. Estimated Regret Units: 32,000. Malice Delicacy Level: Mid-to-High.]

"Use 'Inhalation Passive.' Suck up every drop of emotion leaking from these people. Don't leave a single speck of dust for the Alliance," Arion commanded.

Suddenly, a cold wind that could only be felt spiritually swirled around Arion. His outward appearance remained the same, but metaphysically, Arion had turned into a small black hole. The gray and blood-red energy from the slaves on the stage began to be slowly absorbed, pulled by an invisible systemic gravity.

"Arion, stop!" Lyra grabbed Arion's arm. "The woman over there... she’s looking at you. She’s trembling."

A young woman with a rose-shaped birthmark on her neck—a member of the family being auctioned—stared at Arion with hollow eyes. Her tears flowed, but as her energy of regret was sucked away by Arion, her previously tense face suddenly became relaxed... completely blank.

"Why did she become like that? Why does she look like... a living corpse?" Lyra asked frantically.

"Because pain is the last thing that keeps them human," Arion replied emotionlessly. "I am taking that pain. Without it, she is nothing but weightless flesh."

"That’s soul theft!" Lyra shouted, drawing the attention of several guards near the market gate.

"Hey! You there! Show your identification plates!" shouted a guard in armor marked with a sun cross.

Arion looked at the guard flatly. "System, is he 'holy'?"

[Subject: City Guard Unit 04. Latent Crimes: Raped three slaves last week. Official Karma Status: Exemplary Disciple. Dissonance Status: Extremely Foul.]

"Wait, Arion," Lyra tried to mediate. "We’re here undercover. Let me do the talking."

Lyra took a step forward, trying to put on the cold face typical of an elite sect disciple. "We are travelers from the southern border. Our horses died, so we had to travel on foot. Do not interfere with our business, Guard."

The guard laughed, approaching Lyra and looking at her shabby cloak with disdain. "South? Travelers? Girl, in Xandros, anyone without a home must report to the Prayer Hall to have their karma weighed. Unless you want me to throw you into the underground slave pens tonight."

"You dare threaten me, you lowly human?" Lyra’s hand was already on the hilt of her sword.

"Lowly human?" the guard unsheathed his spear. "I am a servant of the law of karma! Who are you to—"

Arion moved before the guard could finish his sentence.

It wasn't a punch, just a light tap on the guard's shoulder. However, the black seal on Arion's forehead momentarily glowed a sharp purple.

"Correction: Your debt is overdue," Arion whispered right in front of the guard's face.

The guard froze. His eyes widened, and black veins suddenly bulged on his neck and face. His scream didn't come out; only a sound like gas escaping his lungs. All his fake 'goodness' was stripped away in an instant by Arion's System, letting the weight of his past sins strike his soul without protection.

"What... what did you do?" the guard fell, shivering violently on the ground, his face filled with absolute terror. "Why... why do I see them... those women... they’re coming back..."

[Siphon Success. Absorbed 400 units of personal Malice. Subject is experiencing Hallucination of Sins. Mental Damage: Permanent.]

"He will continue to see the ghosts of his victims until he starves to death," Arion said coldly, then stepped over the trembling body. "Come, Lyra. He isn't our primary target."

Lyra stood stiffly, watching the people in the market begin to crowd around the fallen guard. Fear spread quickly through the air, and Arion only smiled, absorbing that fear like a traveler drinking water in the middle of a desert.

"We’ve only been here ten minutes and you’ve already driven someone insane," Lyra followed behind Arion hurriedly. "You’re drawing everyone’s attention."

"Wrong. I am distracting them. With one small chaos, the frequency of hatred in this city rises drastically. System, how much energy have we collected in two minutes?"

[Earnings in Progress: 4,500 Malice Units. Energy Pool: 21,700. Warning: A very concentrated wave of 'Pure Regret' detected from the East. 300 meters from here.]

"Is that a new power-up source?" Arion asked.

[Highly likely. The energy quality is stable, yet surrounded by a thin layer of holy insulation. That is the 'Scent of Regret' you are looking for. Location name: Red Silk Brothel.]

"A brothel?" Lyra frowned. "Such a place is allowed in the Holy City?"

"The brothels here are named 'Sanctuaries of Sexual Atonement.' This is where the daughters of fallen nobles are forced to serve sect elders as a way to cleanse their bloodline's sins," Arion explained as he continued walking with steady steps. "The nobler their origin, the greater the 'purification' of their karma."

"This place is truly disgusting," Lyra clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms. "My sect... the Sky Sword Sect sends female disciples here?"

"Only those considered rebels," Arion replied without looking back. "Or those who lost in internal politics."

Arion suddenly stopped in front of a magnificent three-story building. Red silk curtains hung from the windows, and a nauseating scent of perfume mixed with spiritual incense filled the air. At the threshold, a gold sign read: Serving for Re-Purification.

"I smell it now," Arion closed his eyes. "Not ordinary regret. This is the scent of someone who has completely given up, yet whose soul refuses to die. A healer who has been broken."

"Serafina?" Lyra whispered, remembering a name she had once heard in the Alliance records as an outcast Royal Physician.

"Her name is irrelevant to me," Arion stepped into the building. "Only her pain is what I need."

A male servant with excessive makeup immediately blocked them. "Pardon me, Master Traveler. This place is specifically for guests with high-class Good Karma certificates. You look like beggars who—"

Arion didn't wait for the servant to finish speaking. His hand shot forward, grabbing the servant's neck. His energy pressure was so great that the floor beneath their feet cracked.

"Tell the owner of this place," Arion's voice sounded heavy and layered. "I do not bring gold or karma certificates. I bring the end of all the karma debts you manage."

[Danger Detection: Brothel owner detected. Level 3 Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator. Name: Mama Jinn. Wickedness Points: Infinite.]

"Good," Arion released the servant's neck, who now fell choking. "It seems this place needs a little 'correction'."

Lyra drew her sword, which was shrouded in black mist. "You’re going to slaughter them all, aren’t you?"

"Only if they try to stop me from getting my energy intake," Arion walked up the fragrant sandalwood spiral staircase.

With every step he took, dark energy leaked from the soles of his feet, turning the expensive sandalwood into black charcoal instantly. The fragrance turned into a scorched smell.

"System," Arion called out softly.

[Ready, User. Opening Second Sin Vessel Radar... Detected in the topmost room. Subject Name: Serafina. Emotional Status: Absolute Destruction. Physical Status: Weakened due to karma poison.]

Arion stood in front of a black wooden door carved with a distorted sun symbol. He could feel the vibrations from within—the vibrations of a soul begging to be stopped.

"The aroma is magnificent," Arion muttered.

"Stop talking as if she were food, Arion!" Lyra bumped Arion's shoulder, her disgust peaking. "If you won't move, I'll be the one to open this door."

Lyra kicked the door open.

Inside the luxurious yet dim room, a woman sat in front of a shattered mirror. She wore a pure white robe that contrasted sharply with her surroundings. Her long hair hung down, partially covering her pale face. In her hand, she held a small crystal bottle containing a glowing green liquid.

"Do not enter," the woman's voice was soft, yet filled with a despair capable of crushing the heart of anyone who heard it. "My family's sins are already too heavy. Do not let your presence here be dragged into the hell I have created for myself."

"Serafina," Arion entered, his dark presence causing the candles in the room to immediately extinguish. "I am not interested in your sins. I am interested in how you store them."

Serafina turned slowly, her gray eyes appearing blind yet full of a thick light of regret. "You... your aura... you are not human, and you are not a god. You are emptiness."

[Analysis: Target ready for harvest. Please note: The poison in that bottle is Forbidden Root Essence. If she drinks it, she will detonate her own karma energy, leveling a city block.]

"Why are you just standing there?!" An old woman in a wide silk dress emerged from the shadows behind a pillar. It was Mama Jinn. She held a barbed whip powered by spiritual fire energy. "How dare you disturb the special guest in my house! Guards! Seize these bastards and turn them into dross in the mines!"

Twelve heavily armed guards rushed into the room from a side door.

"Arion, let me handle this trash!" Lyra lunged forward, her sword leaving black lines in the air that sucked the oxygen from the surroundings. "I’ve wanted to cut that fake sun symbol for a long time!"

Arion ignored the battle breaking out behind him. He walked straight toward Serafina. Mama Jinn lashed her fire whip at Arion.

Slash!

Arion caught the whip with his bare hands. His skin did not burn; instead, the spiritual fire was absorbed into his pores, instantly converted into Malice units by the System.

"H-How is this possible?! That is the Heavenly Holy Fire!" Mama Jinn shrieked, her face pale.

Arion twisted his wrist, pulling Mama Jinn until she fell to the floor. "So many wickedness points stored in that fat soul of yours. System, swallow this woman completely. I need an energy booster for the Second Chain."

[Executing command. Devourer of Falsehood: ON.]

A pillar of black smoke erupted from Arion's palm, enveloping Mama Jinn. The woman's scream lasted only a second before she shriveled into a clump of dust scattered across the marble floor.

"So noisy," Arion complained.

He now stood only a meter away from Serafina, who still held the poison bottle with trembling hands.

"Will you take my life as well, Black Angel?" Serafina asked in a raspy voice. "If so, please make it quick. I am too tired of seeing the truth covered by light."

Arion snatched the crystal bottle from Serafina's hand. He spun the bottle on his finger. "This liquid will erase all your suffering, but it will also erase all your potential as a balance for the world."

Arion poured the poison onto the floor. A toxic hissing sound filled the air, eating away at the thick wool carpet.

"I am no angel, Serafina," Arion leaned his face toward the woman, the chain mark on his forehead glowing brightly. "And I do not need your recognition. What I need is your loyalty in the midst of this hell. Give your regret to me, and I will give you a hand strong enough to uproot every life that oppresses you."

[Integration of the Second Karma Chain: 5%... Energy Accumulated... Ready for Initiation.]

Arion looked out the window toward the city of Xandros, which was still glowing outside. "Don't you want to see this holy city burn in dark honesty, Physician?"

Serafina stared at Arion with her gray eyes, which now began to shed tears of blood. For the first time in years, her regret no longer felt like a burden, but like fuel ignited by fire.

"Use my life... use my soul..." Serafina whispered as she knelt before Arion. "Redeem my regret with their blood."

Lyra stood on a pile of guard corpses, her breath coming in gasps. She stared at Arion standing over Serafina. In her eyes, Arion no longer looked human. He was the center of a storm that would sweep away the entire world she had known.

"A world without light," Arion muttered as he gently gripped Serafina's neck, beginning the process of binding the Second Chain. "We’ve finally found it."

[Notice: 'Aroma of Regret' skill unlocked. User's sensory range increased to 500 meters. All poisons within this radius will be detected.]

Xandros remained calm, unaware that its heart had just begun to be gouged out by someone they considered trash from the holy snow ashes.