The typhoon gradually draws near as the force impact becomes stronger and stronger, making movement extremely limited. Dongwoo and Howon didn’t manage to reach the school in time as Dongwoo’s flight abilities are heavily restricted from the strong winds blowing against him, forcing him to prematurely land ahead of their destination.

The other gatekeepers along with Himchan arrives minutes later however the wind barrier is too strong to be penetrated and walking straight into the gale means an assured death. Everyone feels as powerless before the draconic prowess as it swallows up the school, breaking it into pieces. Countless of screams could be heard as they notice, though barely visible with the strong wind of people being propelled into the air, twirling around the winds of the typhoon.

Sunggyu tries to enter the wind dome with himself barricaded by a force shield but even with the strong defense, the wind is stronger. None of their powers are able to neutralize it but the summoner himself.

Then, red eldritch lights emits from within the eye of the storm and in the next instance, a strong force is felt, dragging everything and anyone into the eye. Howon switches to Hoya immediately and digs his leg down into the ground with a strong stomp. With inhuman strength, he is able to stand his ground from the absorption. Everyone else takes use of his powers and hides behind the muscled male. Sunggyu puts up a force barrier to ease the stress on Hoya’s body and with the combination, they manage to stay safe.

They watch as the typhoon slowly being into the eye of the storm where the red eldritch lights are being emitted. Something within is eating up the draconian power and the gatekeepers could not be thankful by it however it seems that that power isn’t able to differentiate allies or foes as it consumes everything.

When most of the typhoon’s strength got sapped away, visibility returns to the group and they could finally see the thing that ate the wind. It’s not human nor does anything that could have exist in this plane of world. Its form is grotesque and large, seemingly like giant blob of slime, coated with a disgusting vomit color. It doesn’t have eyes, ears nor nose but only a mouth – seemingly large enough to consume anything. It is the mouth in which is and eating up the debris of the school and whatever is left from the wake of the typhoon.

The consumption is completed at the giant monster lets out a huff, in which seemingly sounding like a sigh from all the eating. Myungsoo’s features darken as he remembers the Sin that resembles such power. There is only one in which possess such hunger and greediness to feed.

Gluttony.

“Look! Over there! I think there’s someone there who’s still alive.” Woohyun points at the direction where a boy is crouching from his injury but alive nonetheless from the looks of his posture. With no more wind to restrict their movement forward, they quickly rush towards the victim. Sunggyu manages to catch the boy as he begins to succumb to his own injuries.

“Hey, are you alright?” Sunggyu shakes the boy and is thankful when he heard a groan. Sunggyu glances towards Myungsoo and the latter nods to the wordless instruction, knowing what to do. Myungsoo takes out a dagger from his boots that he’s wearing, makes a slit by his wrist and let the red liquid drip into an open wound of the boy. The boy’s wound quickly closes up and his once hectic breathing soon calms down.

“Hey… isn’t this one of classmates? He’s a transfer student. I think his name is… Songjung? Or was it Sunjoong?” Dongwoo asks.

“It’s Sungjong, you dinosaur.” Hoya corrects and smirks when the elder whines at the nickname. Howon doesn’t do such teasing but when Hoya is out, the latter couldn’t help but enjoy teasing the flying gatekeeper. Their bickering is halted when the boy flutters his eyes open and looks around as if he’s lost.

“W-where am I? There’s a strong wind and… and… is it just a dream? Oh my god, there’re so many people in the air.” Sungjong mutters under his breath as he clutches his head, trying to push out the disturbing images he had seen. Woohyun frowns and pulls the boy into a warm embrace, giving the boy a few pats on his back.

“Looks like he’s one of us.” Myungsoo exclaims as he points at the exposed shoulder, showing the birthmark. He looks up at the monster and quickly gathers everyone to prepare.

“Never though that I’ll be seeing us seven together again but we have to do this. Three gates are still sealed and whilst this is to our advance, we should reseal the remaining four with just the seven of us. We may survive the ordeal since it’s just four rather than seven of them. We’re reborn for this purpose and we should complete now to prevent any more casualties that have already been made through the battles.” Myungsoo announces and instructs everyone, even including the lost and confused Sungjong to stand in the shape of a heptagon.

Instantly, a magic circle appears beneath their feet and glows in bright white eldritch lights, illuminating the surrounds even under the bright sunlight. Four surging sounds are heard and the gatekeepers notice four pillars of light appearing from difference locations, seemingly the four gates that was opened. They are soon joined with three more pillars of lights – those that aren’t opened yet.

The lights glow in full force and just as it seems everything is over, the light diminishes instantly and the pillars of light disappear. The whole world shakes as the sun disappears from the sky and earth plunges into darkness. In the midst of the darkness, the gatekeepers could see a separate world in the sky, like two worlds that is about to collide against each other. That world is not unfamiliar to the gatekeepers for they have seen it countless of times in the world of dreams – grey landscapes with blackish colored waters.

It is the Land of the Gods.

To be continued in Chapter 41: The Eighth Sin (Part I)

A/N

Plot twist! And thanks for staying with this story (Though it has been a very long journey)!