Chapter 1534 Envy [3]
The 4 Evils were all different people. The way they thought about life and the way they reacted to external stimuli were different.
Wrath was more suited for his namesake than any of the rest. His immediate reaction was rage. He directed his anger at anything he could find until he could stop thinking about the things he didn't want to think about.
Lust was more reserved. Despite her title, she was not such a person. Rather, she isolated herself from the world when she needed to cope with something. It would become hard to see her until she'd found some peace.
Gluttony was strange. He never seemed to show any emotion, but there was definitely something going on in his head.
Nobody could understand him, but Envy could see that there was something going on in his mind.
And as for Envy herself…she overcorrected in a sense. Her entire desire for chaos was overthrown by a desire for peace, and anything related to her old life made her weaker.
Regardless of how they dealt with trauma, regardless of whether those methods were constructive or destructive, the fact couldn't be denied that they'd experienced something extremely traumatic.
Damien wasn't the only one who could dilate time. That was something he learned when he read Envy's existence.
Just as he'd bent time so he could spend more of it with his family, Straea had altered its flow in its prison system.
Anyone being tortured or imprisoned in those cells would experience time at a rate far longer than in the ordinary world. That meant that despite only a few years passing since they'd been abandoned by Straea, the 4 Evils spent a lot more time than that in prison.
What were they being tortured for?
Even they didn't know.
Perhaps their lives had been spared because they'd become sacrifices for some cause, but the Straea Clan only planned to cripple their Divinities and leave a lasting impression on their souls.
They, unlike everyone who had come before them, were spared.
But every time something related to practitioners was mentioned, they'd react violently. Envy was only able to make this trip because she was on her own, searching for a way to save her comrades.
The methods used to make sure they'd remain like that for the rest of their lives were monstrous.
Regular torture techniques couldn't compare. Hell, even the creative ways Damien had used to torture people seemed like child's play compared to what the Straea Clan had done.
Many of those methods were unspeakable, unmentionable. At the tamest level, they were already committing atrocities beyond anything Damien could imagine.
The torture lasted for almost ten years. By the time it was over, the 4 Evils that the world knew had been erased.
And most importantly…
'...they weren't left alive without reason.'
Damien slowly calmed himself, pushing the cruelty that he witnessed out of his mind.
The Straea Clan never let anyone live. Its people were even willing to kill children if they acted out of line.
The 4 Evils didn't live because the clan finally found some semblance of mercy.
They were alive because they were being used for something else.
'These four carry seeds inside of them.'
Rather than seeds, it was better to call them fragments.
They felt something like the dark material Damien had faced when he was in the Trial World, but at a far more advanced level.
'Is it supposed to possess them, or are they supposed to use it for power?'
The answer was neither of the two.
These fragments were literal pieces of a singular object, but that object was not an individual.
Still, it had some sort of connection with the Sacred Abyss Universe.
And by what Damien could understand…
'...it has something to do with "Descent."'
Whatever the case was, the fact remained that the 4 Evils had become test subjects for the people they once served was true.
And the fact that they were no longer the people they used to be was the same.
'Still, they're dangerous people. If Wrath loses control, if Lust loses control, and if Gluttony…well, if Gluttony does anything, there'll be trouble.'
The only one who was really harmless right now was Envy.
'But is it worth ending them…?'
Damien had been forced to evaluate his morality once again as he'd climbed this mountain. It felt like this was yet another test.
Unlike the others, however, this one had real-life consequences.
And when reality was added into the equation…
'...fuck.'
Damien sighed. In the end, he wasn't as cold-hearted as he liked to believe.
He couldn't just turn a blind eye to this situation. Not that he'd seen it.
"What are you here for?" He asked, taking his hand off of Envy's head.
She stood, shaking, unable to respond.
'Fuck.'
Damien sighed again and used his mana to clear her head, allowing her to answer his question.
"M-my friend…to heal my friend…"
Damien nodded. It was as he expected.
"You don't need that fruit for that."
He needed the Harmony Fruit. On the other hand, Wrath's problem didn't require such a drastic solution.
Damien raised his hand into the air, ignoring the tree's desire for him to not use mana.
The miracle of creation showed itself on Ice Luan Mountain that day.
Energy coagulated into a ball on Damien's hand that then shaped itself into something like a pear.
The energy turned from blue to a yellowish-gold color. It compressed and hardened until its exterior lost its luster, becoming more natural.
A material object had formed from the energy. A fruit similar to a mango.
However, the fluctuations coming from that fruit were intense, filled with vitality beyond its small form.
"Take this and feed it to him. He'll be healed, though, he may not get his Godly strength back."
Envy looked at the fruit in his hand before looking back up at him.
She wanted to question the miracle she'd witnessed, but she was too close to the fruit to say that it was fake.
No, it was absolutely real.
Had this man just…created something out of nothing?
This was the person they were trying to kill back then?
She almost wanted to laugh.
It truly was hilarious.
She'd gone through all the work of climbing this mountain only to be given a consolation prize before she could even finish her journey.
Sure, this was enough to heal Wrath, but she couldn't get rid of the bitter feeling in her heart.
Still, she grabbed the fruit out of Damien's hand, cradling it in her own.
He nodded.
"I'll send you back to the ground. Get that back to him as soon as you can."
Envy nodded shakily, and without further ado, Damien enveloped her with spatial mana and sent her away.
When she reappeared, she found herself in the hideout that she and the other Evils had been using as shelter for the past year since they were released from Straea.
And truly, if it weren't for the fruit in her hand, she would've thought all of it was a dream.
It may have been an inconsequential meeting from its first appearance. It seemed like it had ended too soon, in an anticlimactic way even to Envy herself.
But that was just because she didn't know.
That wasn't the last time she'd see Damien.
No, instead…
Their next meeting would be sooner than she could ever expect.
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