Chapter 38
He lay on the cold, rugged floor. A foul odor clung to the air around him. Slowly, he pushed himself up in the empty alleyway beneath the night sky, lit crimson by the blood–red moon.
"Wh…e…re… am I?" Oliver's thoughts trembled as he looked around.
"Every living being is guilty of at least one sin," a deep voice cut through the dead silence.
Oliver turned and saw Lugh sitting on a chair, one leg crossed over the other. His cold crimson eyes—darker than the moon—looked down at him without pity.
"Mhhm—!?" Oliver tried to speak, but no sound left his mouth.
A memory flickered—
his hand brushing against one of his female friends; her immediate recoil; his forced smile as he pretended nothing happened.
(Wh–what's going on? Why can't I speak!?)
"I, too, am guilty of a few sins myself," Lugh continued, his voice sinking heavily into the air.
"Hhm—mhh!?" Oliver tried again, but his throat remained silent.
Another memory surfaced—
a young woman backing away from him in fear, her voice failing as terror choked her words. Oliver remembered the cold satisfaction he felt when she was unable to call for help.
"You are guilty of the sin of lust. Aren't you? … Oh, right—you can't speak. I made sure to destroy your voice box."
Lugh's lips curled slowly.
Oliver's eyes widened.
(Sin… of lust…? Does he mean—no… no!)
More fragments came rushing back—
the way he had stared at Lisa… at Merlin… at Sreya. How he justified every thought to himself.
Nothing more, nothing less—but enough to darken his heart.
Fear welled inside him.
Another flash—
a family's horrified faces as he approached them; their pleas; their terror. Oliver always looked away from the memory—but now it forced itself into clarity.
Lugh's smile faded.
"She cared for you as a brother. She lost trust in her father who put her through this. You were one of the only people she trusted—yet all you wanted was her body. You tried your best to get under her skirt. But she is not weak. She is the second-in-command of the Dark Kingdom."
Oliver's expression turned pale.
(She… she was part of that organization!? That—!)
His right arm twisted suddenly—then burst in a spray of blood.
Oliver collapsed, screaming soundlessly as his vision blurred.
(IT HURTS—IT HURTS!!!!)
Another memory stabbed through him—
a group he once traveled with… bodies falling… his betrayal… the terrified cries he ignored.
His other arm tore free. His hair turned pale grey.
(Gah—!!)
Another memory—
the countless voices he had silenced… the endless suffering he had caused… all of it rushing back in a tidal wave he could no longer deny.
His right leg erupted, slamming him against the wall.
More memories—
faces begging, hands reaching out, desperate, terrified. He had granted none mercy.
"You are the worst of the white elves. Their leader… the one who led the kidnappings," Lugh said, rising slowly from his chair.
(NO—PLEASE—SPARE ME—!)
The pleas in his mind were drowned by another memory—
the countless times others had begged him for the same mercy. His heart had remained unmoved.
"You are guilty of the sin of lust. Literally," Lugh said as the red moon intensified its glow. Oliver's skin blackened, his ears sharpened.
(My… true appearance… it's coming out—!)
Lugh's eyes glowed bright red.
"UNVEIL."
Oliver's Source materialized, shimmering violently as he collapsed from blood loss.
"You who ignite the fire of attraction in men… you who strip the modesty of women… come to me. I call upon the Sin of Lust—Aphrode."
The Source burst.
A three-foot staff—bronze-brown like rusted metal, crowned with a sphere captured in ruby-pink vines—fell into Lugh's palm.
Tears of pure terror streamed from Oliver's eyes as Lugh lifted him by the neck.
(I… don't want… to die—!)
"Killing countless… degrading women through Aphrode… working with the Church… I doubt even half your crimes have reached my ears," Lugh said calmly.
(Please—! I'll apo—)
A crack echoed through the alley.
Lugh dropped his lifeless body to the ground.
The red moon above remained silent.
The silence soon followed.
Lugh stood there– his shoes drenched in blood. Unshaken calm loomed over his face as he glanced down at the lifeless elf.
His right arm glowed.
With a green flicker his arm caught fire.
A pale emerald green flame shined through intensified moonlight.
"The ones who feel the most Envy are the dead. Envying those who live. Their wish to burn those who live gives them a chance."
Said lugh as the flame materialized into the sword with a jagged tip blade forged from obsidian like metal. Venidia.
He pokes the dead with the jagged tip of his blade. Green–emerald like veins on the blades pulsing as his voice pierced the dampened silence "Call of Envy"
Veins on the sword pulsed brightly as the dead body of Oliver was set ablaze.
The fire consuming his skin. Evaporating his mana and blood as he slowly was lifted . His bones cracking. Him gritting his green jaws. His pupils burnt black before shining with green flame.
The newborn soldier of Envy bowed before lugh.
"From this moment on. Your Envy will burn my enemies. The flicker that lits up the flame will burn only when I call for you, Olive." Said lugh as he rested the flat of the blade on olives shoulder resulting him in bowing with crazed smilie.
"Olive!" As lugh called he snapped to face his master" your first mission.. gather information on the true king of Reinstern kingdoms" understanding his masters demand he laughed creepily with a obedient nod before vanishing into green flames
Lugh sighed.
He Turned.
As his gaze fixate at the sky. the moon shined intensely.