Jonas thought he could dodge it, but that Sin Sorcery that Howard had conjured was much faster and contained more velocity than the young Crusader had anticipated. He threw his body to the side, but that didn’t stop the explosive-like ball of flames from striking his shoulder. It contained so much force that it knocked Jonas off his feet and sent him flying until he hit the stone ground with a sickening thud.

As fresh blood poured from a wound on his head and stars appeared in his eyes, Jonas assumed that being next to an exploding missile might be a comparable pain to what he was feeling at that moment. He let out a moan of pain as his skin continued to melt because his shirt was on fire.

Jonas twisted on the spot and began rolling, and the damp, mossy floors were wet enough to help extinguish the flames, but as he stood up and pulled his smoldering shirt off, Jonas looked in horror at his skin. His entire shoulder was red, blistery, and bleeding, and it looked like half of his body had just been hit by an incendiary grenade.

“Jonas!” Yuki yelled, but just as she turned her head to look, Thomas made his move, preventing her from going to help.

Jonas was gritting his teeth as his eyes began to water, and he had trouble breathing through his nose because the smell of burning flesh and hair made him dizzy.

“You took it like an undefeated champ,” Howard laughed as he raised the second ball of flames up and down, playfully showing his control over it, “You see this, Jonas? This beautiful ball of flames is True Sin.”

“So, your Original Sin is fire, and you learned to conjure those balls of flames?” Jonas looked miserable, and his eyes were watering. Still, he was interested in seeing the advanced powers of another Sinner, as he had only witnessed Old Louie's ability to heal.

"Very astute, Jonas. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve, but this is the power I created and discovered. You could have reached this level with more time, but unfortunately, I'm killing you today. You have a great talent for Sin, and you can fight, but you're too much of a headache, and it will only get worse if I allow you to grow. I'm going to kill you today, and there's nothing you can do about it," there was a coldness in Howard's eyes that Jonas knew to be the look of someone ready for murder, and he felt a bit of fear when the complete picture of Howard's ruthlessness hit him.

"You're not the only person in this city that knows True Sin, Howard," Jonas exhaled a deep breath. 'Let it rain blood from my wounds, let it heal me,' and he remembered the bit of Sin Sorcery he had performed in his fight against Bannji. His Sin Scars glowed, and blood began to pool from the wounds on his shoulder. The red crimson coated his smoldering wounds, and Jonas felt instant relief. It was like he had spread miracle medicine across his body. It wasn't just the burns that had been soothed and partially mended, but all the broken bones, cuts, and abrasions he had received earlier were healing at the speed of the naked eye.

Howard had no idea what was happening. To him, it looked like Jonas had started bleeding profusely and was seconds from death. However, once the blood dried, Howard noticed that the wounds on Jonas' torso were healing. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell agape.

"Oh, Jonas. You've hidden well, haven't you?"

"I'm more surprised you hadn't noticed yet. I've been using Sin Sorcery during my matches. Haven't you been watching from your elite VIP box?" Jonas was surprised when he saw Howard give him a pitying look.

"You think me and the other gang leaders watch the fights? Poor Jonas," Howard grinned. "We play poker and get our dicks sucked by prostitutes. None of us watch the fights, Jesus Christ. We don't give a fuck who wins or loses because it's a game to us."

At first, Jonas felt a bit sick and offended. However, he thought about what Howard said as it made him realize something.

"I think you're such an amateur at Sin that you didn't realize your fighter was using it right under your nose. I'd expect that when you're a nobody with no master. You'll never take the Sin Assessment, and you'll never take the Hell Challenge. You're a fucking loser in a suit, and after hundreds of years in Hell, all you have to show for it is a house in the sewers and some tiki torches coming out of your hands."

"Enough," Howard didn't look perturbed by Jonas' words, but his eye violently twitched. Howard Hurts wasn't spoken down to by slaves, ever. "Time to die, Jonas. A little bit of blood isn't going to stop that," Jonas watched as Howard wound his shoulder, and he prepared to dodge the attack.

The fireball exploded like a cannonball and instantly crossed the distance between them. Jonas tried to dive out of the way, but it seemed as if Howard had predicted the direction he would move, and the flame hit Jonas straight in the bare chest. It exploded on impact and sent him crashing against the wall. He gasped for air and felt his eyes roll back into his head.

Jonas slumped against the stone wall, and smoke rose from his body. The impact had indented his chest, and most of the flesh had melted: revealing a disgusting slimy layer of skin and muscle. He couldn’t breathe properly because his lungs felt like they were collapsing, and the burning fumes from his skin made the insides of his nostrils burn.

“I’d like to see how your healing abilities stack up against my Flames of Wrath,” when he reached the foot of Jonas, who had propped himself against the wall, he crouched down and began examining the wounds.

“Impressive,” Howard mumbled as his finger painfully dragged against the burning mess that was Jonas’ chest, “Your skin is trying to heal, but my fire isn’t like ordinary flames made from burning gasses. Wrath fuels my flame, and my leftover Sin is still burning through your body, and your Pride can't heal it.”

“Shut up for a second,” Jonas’ voice was just louder than a whisper. “I can’t focus on healing when you're gabbing in my ear.”

“Let me help you then,” Howard smiled, and he pressed his hands against Jonas’ chest. The young Crusader felt brutal pain, like Howard was branding him with hot metal. Jonas writhed and screamed as he fell to the floor. “I can do much more than just throw fire," Howard stretched his hands out and grasped Jonas’ calves, who screamed out in pain because it felt like a Hellhound was biting his leg. It was more than just a burning pain: it was like some painful force was invading every cell of his body while terrorizing the natural order of things. “How about that pretty face,” Howard laughed as his hands slowly crept up Jonas’ body, but just as he was about to press down, something hard hit him in the back of the head. An iron baton bounced off his skull and knocked him over, and Jonas heard Johnson's voice.

“Headshot!” He smiled because his talents as a former marksman had managed to save Jonas for just a moment. Howard blinked as he tried to ignore the bleeding pain from the back of his skull, and his vision was still cloudy, but he slowly recovered while a searing rage filled his body as he stared daggers at Johnson, who was grinning at him from across the room.

“I’m going to melt your fucking face off, slave. “Wait here, Jonas, while I go murder your friends,” Howard got up, cracked his neck, and marched toward Johnson.

“Fuck,” Jonas whispered as he lay on the cold stone floor and watched Johnson run for his life. He could barely breathe, let alone move, and it was by some miracle that he hadn’t passed out from the pain. Maybe God just wanted him to suffer or witness the deaths of his friends while freedom was so close. ‘Let it rain blood, heal me! These burns won't stop me,' once again, blood seeped from his wounds, and Jonas exhaled a moan as the crimson liquid soothed his skin. “Yuki,” Jonas tried to call out, but his voice wasn’t loud enough.

“Howard, help!” Thomas looked worse for wear as he had finally exhausted everything he had. He was backstepping as he tried to block three attacks, but Yuki put everything she had into a roundhouse kick that struck him across the chin and sent him crashing against the floor. It didn't knock Thomas unconscious, but it had taken most of his remaining energy.

Howard arrived just as Yuki was preparing to deal the finishing blow, and the two began a quick exchange of attacks as he tried to keep her, Jaden, and Pete from circling and getting to Thomas.

The assistance had been enough, and Thomas clambered to his feet as blood poured from his nose and swollen face.

A strangled cry shocked them all out of their stupor, and everyone watched the massive figure of Ralph on top of Garth while Ahmed, Simon, Bannji, Theo, and two other slaves pinned down his arms and legs.

The greatest cage fighter in all of Little Wrath City had met his match against the combined efforts of so many people, and even someone of his caliber was unable to endure such circumstances. Garth’s eyes began to bulge as he felt the massive arm of Ralph wrap tightly around his neck, and he angrily struggled as hard as he could while his Sin Scars glowed as brightly as ever. His vision began to dim, and his head drooped against the floor.

“Get off of him!” Howard screamed. “Thomas, go help Garth,” Yuki made a move, but Howard jumped in her way, and his presence was intimidating enough to stop them all in their tracks.

Ralph let go of his opponent, and although he wanted to choke the life out of Garth, he knew that Thomas would instantly kill the weaker slaves like Theo if he didn’t get up to help. Ahmed still looked quite banged up, but he had new life from the few minutes of rest he had taken earlier.

“And then there were two,” Yuki snarled at Howard. “Still sticking by your statement that you're enough to stop us all?” Howard’s expression turned a bit ugly as he prepared to attack. “Come on, Howard. Use your flames. You can still use them, right?” It seemed as if she had struck a chord, and Howard licked his lips.

“You’re right. I can,” Howard said. “I have enough juice left for a few more.”

“But then you’ll be all out of Sin, right? “I knew something was off when you started torturing Jonas with your hands. That power you used must be costly.”

“You were always one of our most talented fighters,” Howard nodded approvingly, but it seemed like he was buying time. Suddenly, he felt someone press against his back, and turning his head, Howard could see that Thomas was facing half a dozen bloody slaves.

“Fucking cunts,” Thomas snarled as he stood back to back with his boss. Jonas' forces had entirely outnumbered them.

“Looks like we’re in a pickle, Tommy,” Howard chuckled.

The room had gone very silent while a dozen people surrounded a battered Thomas and a tired-looking Howard, who both stood in the center of the room.

It was an extremely morale-boosting scene, and as Ahmed took his place in the encirclement, he shared looks with the rest of his fighters.

“Are you okay, Jonas?” He called out.

“Oh, fucking great,” Jonas’ voice was much louder than before because he was concentrating on healing his burning wounds. Seeing that his good friend was still alive and kicking, Ahmed knew it was time.

“Howard, just let us leave. We both know you can’t stop us.”

“How many will I kill before you bring us down? Even like this, I’m confident I can kill over half of you.”

“And how about with us?” An unfamiliar voice called out, and everyone turned their heads to see bloody figures stumbling toward the encirclement. It was Michael Davis and Rodney White.

“Listen,” Mike said while holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. “Originally, I thought you guys had no chance, but I’m willing to help as long as you have no complaints.”

“We’re slaves, just like you,” said Rodney. “I want out of this place too.”

“Fine,” said Yuk. “Any objections?”

“None," said Ahmed. "You’re fucked, Howard,” he smiled while watching Rodney and Michael join the encirclement.

However, those two fighters weren't the only ones to wake up from their beatdowns. Don Marino, Carl Prince, and Billy Von Trip finally pulled themselves together while Garth began to stir in his sleep. The victorious grins on the slaves' faces faltered a bit.

It looked like another round of brawling was about to begin, and Howard felt much more confident because there were five on his side, and it was only a matter of time before his number one fighter woke up.

Just as the fighting was about to start, a loud boom echoed off the large door that led back to the gang, and it was so loud that it caused all the fighters to turn their heads in surprise. Another boom rattled the door, and Jonas knew the door wasn't locked and wondered why the person on the other side of the door didn’t simply open it.

“What the fuck?” Howard looked confused as he stared at the banging door, and although the rest of the weaker Sinners couldn’t feel anything amiss, his instincts were screaming in protest.

The person on the other side hit the door so hard it broke off its hinges. It wasn't a person that had been banging on the door because something unbelievable ducked its head and entered the room.

"Maldread," Howard's face turned white, and his terrified voice was just above a whisper.