“Hmph, it’s not you choosing me, I’m the one choosing you. Know that it’s an honor.”
Envy snorted and snapped her fingers. On Martha’s wrist, two green snakes rose up, biting each other’s tails to blossom into a green flower bracelet identical to Raon’s.
“Uuugh!”
Martha immediately grabbed her wrist and began trembling all over, obviously feeling Envy’s power.
“My power isn’t as gentle as the others. Especially, because your competitive spirit drew in jealousy, you’ll have to fight for the rest of your life.”
Envy licked her lips again as if she’d predicted this and found it amusing.
“Fight for the rest of my life?”
Martha locked eyes with Envy and twisted her lips.
“No, your power will soon kneel before me.”
She grinned coldly, as if she’d accepted the pain in an instant.
“You are captivating. Good. Let me be a bit more generous.”
Envy smirked and snapped her fingers again, making the green flower bracelet on Martha’s wrist shine even brighter.
“Grraagh!”
Martha bent over, unable to lift one shoulder as the pain intensified.
“Let’s see if you can withstand it.”
Envy laughed scornfully, tilting her chin.
“…….”
Raon didn’t stop Envy and quietly watched as Martha struggled.
‘Looks like Martha’s won Envy over.’
Envy had only given Martha a tiny bit of jealousy before, out of a favor to him, but now she’d truly bestowed her complete power over jealousy. Martha’s defiant spirit seemed to please her, too.
“Good. Just wait a bit longer….”
Martha grinned, baring her white teeth. She growled at Envy like a beast. The resolve not to lose was clear in her aura.
“…….”
Burren watched that scene, his sword hand trembling. It seemed jealousy of Martha and disappointment in himself had hit him at the same time.
“Hmm.”
Raon narrowed his eyes at Burren.
‘I want to grant Burren the power of a demon lord too.’
It didn’t look easy.
Most of his closest subordinates had now received powers from the demon lords and were growing rapidly. He wanted to give Burren that strength too, but for now, it seemed impossible.
‘The ones left aren’t ordinary.’
The remaining demon lords were the lord of greed, Greed, and the lord of pride, Pride.
Both had been acknowledged as rivals by Ras, so gaining their powers would be truly difficult.‘Especially Pride would be impossible.’
With Grid, there was at least a small amount of acquaintance, so it might be possible, but he had never even met Pride and since Pride was related to Eden’s Heavenly Demon, it didn’t seem likely to grant him any power.
‘Then all that’s left is Grid.’
He let out a short sigh as he pondered how to communicate Grid’s greed to Beren.
“This is done.”
After teaching Martha how to use Envy, Envy came back to stand in front of him.
“What was that war with the archangels you mentioned earlier?”
She wiggled her finger, as if interested and wanting a proper explanation.
“There is an entity trying to bring archangels down to the continent. You probably know—”
Raon began his explanation, certain that Envy would know about Derus.
“Hmmm! I see.”
Even while listening, Envy wasn’t particularly surprised or taken aback. Just as it had seemed at first, she seemed to have expected the archangels’ descent to some degree.
“Alright. I’ll participate in that war. But…”
She raised her pale finger.
“Don’t interfere in my fights. And I’ll take some trophies with me.”
Envy tilted her chin as if signaling she had her eye on something in the war with the archangels.
“As long as you don’t harm people, you’re permitted.”
Raon nodded calmly.
“That’s good. Tell Ras not to show up and to keep hiding out.”
With a snap of her finger, as if she was ready to leave, a green dimension opened up behind her.
“When the war breaks out, unleash Envy and break that bracelet. If you do, I will personally show up.”
Envy pointed at Raon’s green flower bracelet.
“And…”
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Martha, who was struggling with Envy’s power.
“My attraction to that girl wasn’t just competitiveness.”
Envy shook her head to say there was more than just rivalry when it came to Martha.
“Then…”
“There’s quite a lot of jealousy too. Truly human, pure jealousy.”
She licked her lips as if it would be delicious.
“Hey! Shut up and disappear!”
Martha ground her teeth, her face red.
“I was about to leave anyway. May you continue to be happy in your jealousy.”
Envy gave a light wave and disappeared into the green dimensional door. As she left, the massive demonic energy that had been raging around quickly faded away.
“Hoo…”
Martha also let out a thin sigh, seeming relieved as controlling the power of Envy became easier once Envy was gone.
“Now all that’s left…”
Raon was smiling faintly and turned to look behind him at the dragons.
Kwadudududuk!
With a gruesome, chilling noise of flesh being torn and bone being crushed, Dragon Lord’s long neck snapped in two and fell to the ground.
Kuaoooooo!
Vartius, in his true form, seemed to bite down on the Lord’s neck with his giant jaws and burst it. In the dragon Lord’s lifeless eyes, pain and shock still lingered and scattered away.
Puuuuuuuh!
Vartius closed his eyes, his whole body soaked in the Lord’s blood. Raon could feel his mana and soul growing exponentially stronger. Dragons shouldn’t have the power of cannibalizing their own kin, so it was quite a mystery.
-It is determination.
Ras exclaimed as he looked at Vartius.
-To kill, with his own hands, the leader of his race who he respected more than anyone, and to accept the Lord’s failings as his own, vowing that such errors will never happen again—this resolve has fueled that dragon’s growth.
He nodded, saying it was similar to a warrior losing themselves in trance and awakening.
-How interesting. It feels like a proper dragon has finally emerged after a long time.
Ras nodded, recognizing Vartius not as prey but as the mediator of this continent.
“Haaa…”
Vartius reverted from his true form to a human form and descended to the ground. Although he bore the shape of a human, his entire body was drenched in blood.
“Raon Zieghart.”
Vartius, breathing roughly, stood before Raon.
“Yes.”
Raon briefly closed and opened his eyes.
‘Now it’s time to explain.’
Vartius and the other sacred dragons behind him were those who had started a war to overcome the tyranny of the ancient dragons that had abandoned their mediating duties. It was right to explain to them at least a little about his relationship with the Demon King.
“I am—”
“Let me speak first. No, let us speak.”
Vartius took another step forward, adjusting his blood-soaked clothes. The other four dragons straightened their backs and looked at Raon as well.
“Thanks to you, we were able to stop the Lord’s crimes. Thank you for allowing us dragons to remain the mediators of this continent.”
Vartius put his hand over his heart and knelt down.
“…What?”
Raon had been about to explain about the Demon King, but closed his mouth tight.
“You have our gratitude, Raon Zieghart.”
The other four dragons behind Vartius also knelt and bowed their heads deeply in the same gesture.
“You…”
Dragons, those called the absolutes and mediators of the continent, were showing human gratitude in human form, and it moved him beyond words.