Chapter 1533 Envy [2]
Their meeting was as coincidental as coincidence could be.
Envy was currently at the top of a steep slope that was practically a cliff. Trying to climb it with nothing more than the strength of one's body was difficult, but she'd managed it and made it to the trial waiting for her at the top.
She could already see the cave in the distance. It was still a little over a hundred kilometers away, but its light blue glow illuminated the mountainside, making its location clear to all.
She was still in the middle of the trial at that time.
Damien made his way up the same cliff, however, his physical abilities were far superior to hers.
After all, to climb this mountain as the tree wanted, one couldn't use mana to assist their movements.
The only time they could use their strength was when they needed to fight.
Damien's physical body was preposterous. It had evolved past what was possible with a mostly human form, but because of his Void Physique, all the qualities of his physical body were contained within the form he desired.
As such, Damien could do things that others couldn't do without mana easily with his physique alone.
That was why he scaled the mountain so fast.
The weather didn't affect him, and the snow and ice didn't inhibit his speed at all.
Powered by monstrous capability that genuinely couldn't be matched anywhere in the Heavenly World, Damien rushed until he managed to reach the same place where Envy was.
And he scaled that cliff before she could even finish making the choice presented to her.
Damien's entrance wasn't quiet. He wasn't expecting to see anyone here, so he didn't really hold back.
A massive amount of snow was thrown into the air, and a small avalanche tumbled down the mountainside below. He practically stood there and shouted, "Look at me!"
Envy turned around, and when her eyes managed to peer through the thick cloud of white, they immediately widened into saucers.
It was the man that still haunted her nightmares.
Did Damien really embarrass the 4 Evils to that extent?
The answer was no. Their battle was short and concise, and hardly anyone got too injured.
However, Damien's casual, nonchalant behavior as he left was the start of their nightmare.
The torture they'd endured after, the betrayal they felt as they were thrown away by the man they gave their loyalty to, all of it was attributed to Damien.
So naturally, all four of the Evils had thought about what would happen if they met him again over and over again.
Wrath wanted another battle.
Lust wanted to tear him apart.
Gluttony was still as silent as ever, but there seemed to be a subtle change in his demeanor whenever Damien was mentioned.
And Envy…
Envy didn't ever want to see him again.
Her power was always based on stealing power from others. That was how she managed to get so strong.
Of course, she never had the chance to make physical contact with Damien, but that didn't mean she didn't glimpse the power he held.
She glimpsed it. So much so that it still haunted her soul.
In that moment when Damien controlled their mana, there was a tangible effect that the others seemed to miss in their shock.
To Envy, it was a lot more pronounced, since she'd specifically worked to train her sense of touch to the best it could be.
She felt like she was being consumed by a swarm of ants.
Thousands and thousands of invisible hands grasped her body and refused to let go, as if clearly telling her that they could kill her whenever they wanted to.
The others didn't understand what had happened that day. Even when they talked about it afterward, none of them acknowledged that Damien truly did the most obvious thing that came to all of their minds.
But Envy was different.
She didn't doubt his capabilities.
She knew exactly what he'd done.
In that moment, all the Law in the world, no, the Heavenly Order itself was under Damien's control.
That was not something they could handle. Not then, and not now, after Damien had been given plenty of time to grow stronger.
She felt genuine fear when she looked at him, but she was frozen in place.
She couldn't fight.
But she couldn't flee either.
Not in a place like this.
She just stared at him, bewildered and terrified, like a lost lamb in front of a tiger.
And Damien…
What was he to feel from that?
The emotion in her eyes wasn't hidden at all. He recognized it before he even recognized her.
And more than that, one couldn't forget that he could read her existence.
Envy of the 4 Evils. The first time Damien met her, she truly did resemble her namesake.
Her heart was filled with green. Jealousy towards her peers, jealousy towards other people's talent and fortune, jealousy towards the world.
It was a disgusting heap of negativity towards anything and everything. It was an envy that bordered on greed.
She wanted everything others had. She wished she had it instead of them.
Even though her station was so high, her authority was so vast, she still wanted more after seeing how people like Malevalon Straea could live.
Her name was both a reminder of her origins and a mark of shame.
The Envy he saw in front of him now was not the same person.
It was almost miraculous how a single person had changed so much in such a short period of time.
Envy's heart was no longer clouded. It seemed like she'd lost all ambition.
Her desires were like her heart used to be, extremity clouded by doubt.
She didn't know what she wanted, but she didn't want to experience the things Malevalon and Malefice Straea forced her to experience ever again.
She wanted peace.
Perhaps she'd been shocked into reality, but Envy's mind now was truly something Damien couldn't believe.
Even more so since it was completely genuine.
'What did she have to go through to become like this?'
For all of her ego and confidence to be shattered, for all of her ambition and greed to be abolished…
Damien moved forward.
Envy stepped back, but she wasn't fast enough to do anything. Because of her chaotic mental state, she even forgot she could use mana.
Damien grabbed her head. He could see how scared she was, but he wasn't planning to kill her.
Instead, he delved into her memories, reading her existence.
He encountered almost no resistance at all.
'She's been traumatized beyond belief.'
That much could be told from the surface alone.
The woman was haggard, and despite being a powerful God, she was acting like a harmless mortal.
But her external appearance…
The things one could see by looking at her could hardly alert one of the type of trauma she suffered.
Damien definitely wasn't ready.
Because the things he saw in her existence, the things that had been mostly erased from her memories but engraved in her soul as fear…
Seeing those things, even Damien had the urge to vomit.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢