_Chapter Begins_
An angelic-looking being stood just a few meters away from a ghastly abomination that was entirely made of wood.
Of course, that wood was not of the mundane type. There were hundreds of runic letters that were carved on the wooden carapace of the monster, giving it defensive properties that only grew the more hits it took.
One single ability was all that the creature held, no more and no less. But that ability was so vast in use that it could practically cover up everything that the beast lacked.
This was what adapting looked like in its rawest form.
But all of that did not matter much, as the being that stood face to face with the monster was something divine in nature.
The purple light of Hell was pushed back by just her mere presence, as if she wasn't meant to be here at all.
The wooden abomination stared her down, its maw wide open and ready to devour. The thing stayed true to its nature, not backing down even when faced with an impossible opponent.
All that fury—all that madness and killing intent. It was all being emanated by the dreadful eyes of the wooden beast.
But all of those tense emotions that the abomination used to intimidate its foe were all useless. The only thing that met the madness of the abomination's eyes was… a smile.
It was a small but genuine smile that carried a tone of emotions that the wooden beast was unfamiliar with.
Not knowing how to react, the wooden monster stood still and stared at the girl below. There was a hint of confusion that could only be seen through its body language, as the monster did not have the ability to express itself any other way.
But then, the tense silence was finally broken by a voice.
A voice so delicate and warm, yet so chilling and intimidating.
"You stand here before me, unyielding and determined to win despite knowing how little your chances are. You are truly a brave soul—"
Her words were cut off by the giant arm of the wooden abomination. In a single swing, the entire crystal that the angel had been standing on burst into a thousand pieces, all going in different directions.
A few of these pieces hit the carapace of the wooden abomination and did absolutely no damage to it.
The crystal that the wooden abomination had destroyed was the same crystal that William had gotten his broken shard from.
And since the monster had already been stabbed by this specific crystal and its enchantments, that meant that it had already grown a line of sorcery to negate the damage.
The wooden fiend walked a few steps forward, stopping at the spot where the angelic woman had just been.
And to no one's surprise, she was nowhere to be seen.
The wooden monster did not turn around, as it expected the woman to pop out from the reflective surface of the crystal and attack its chest.
The wooden abomination was expecting this because this was the way that it had gotten hurt last time—by William's trickery.
A voice resounded from behind the creature, warm and welcoming as always.
"If killing me is what would bring you peace, then I would have no problem volunteering."
*******
A few meters away, William could not believe what he was hearing.
While dodging the claw of the wooden monster, the angel had jumped toward the direction where he was currently hiding.
And she was close enough that William could actually hear what she was saying.
And what he heard was…
"Is she stupid!"
William threw away any idea of keeping hidden from the angel, as his anger made him shout the sentence out.
His voice had definitely reached her ear, but the angelic girl did not pay William much attention. In fact, she didn't even turn around to face him.
Her back was wide open…
"The timing could not be better. I can kill her, right here and now…"
William smiled with sinister glee as his arm slowly rose toward the wide wings of the angelic girl.
But its ascension was quickly cut short… by his other arm.
His left hand held on tight to his right, preventing it from striking the angel.
Clenching his teeth, William let out a groan as if he was in pain.
"These emotions aren't mine… Damn you, Sin of Envy!!!"
He tried to fight back against the emotional manipulation that the Sin of Envy was using to get him to attack the angel.
She was just a few meters away from him, so the urge to strike and kill her was at an all-time high.
"Why does the Sin of Envy hate her so much!"
He couldn't keep it together anymore, he needed to…
"Kill her!"
His eyes shrank and glowed with a haze of purple.
Letting his left hand go loose, he let his other arm shoot forward with dreadful speed.
But in the end, he was too late… thankfully.
She had long since disappeared, as it seemed that the angel had once again engaged in combat with the abomination.
Now that she was far away once more, William slumped to the ground, letting out heavy breaths.
Gripping his chest, he couldn't help but let out a groan.
"I completely lost control. Is this how it's going to be from now on…"
He looked up at the dark sky of Hell, a dead expression on his face.
"I am going to be at the mercy of my own sin for the rest of my existence."
*********
She flew above the monster at sound-breaking speed, making it miss its swings over and over again.
"You really want to kill me… but is that really what would bring you peace?"
The wooden abomination paid no attention to her words, continuing to swing its lengthy arms up into the air.
It was obvious that it would not listen to her… it was only a monster after all.
She glided down right next to the eye of the creature.
"You used to be human once, right?"
The fiend swung its open maw toward her, but missed as her speed was just too much to handle.
Despite the fact that it was clear from the beginning that the angelic girl was much faster than the wooden beast, it was still strange…
The woman was dodging the attacks of the monster with less and less effort. It was as if the wooden abomination was getting… slower.
She flew close to the skull of the creature once more, completely unfazed by the madness that was buried in its eyes.
"Despite being consumed by corruption and getting turned into a monster, you still hold on to some of your traits."
She paused for a moment, and a single teardrop rolled down her angelic face.
"You still show determination to win no matter what… that was your strongest trait when you used to be human, right?"
The claw of the abomination came once more, but this time the attack was so slow that a mundane human could react to it—so of course the girl had no trouble doing so.
Her white wings flapped, and she landed right above the skull of the abomination.
She felt the hardened wooden carapace of the demon below her feet.
The demon in question made no move to attack her; it stood as still as a statue.
Seeing this, the girl wiped her tear away and smiled.
She caressed the wooden shell of its skull, like a mother would do to her child.
"I am sorry that this is the fate that you were brought to, and I know that true peace will forever be out of your reach, but…"
She lowered her head all the way down to the wooden surface of the creature.
"I can grant you the rest that you deserve. Living in constant madness, I know that it is torturing you. But I can make all that madness go away. All you have to do is… accept my kindness."
And as she said this, her soft pale lips made contact with the skull of the monster.
The two purple dots that once burned with madness inside the creature's skull finally began to fade away.
Its body, which had stood still up to now, began to slowly but surely crumble down to the ground.
As this happened, the girl above removed her lips from the skull of the abomination. At the spot where she had kissed it, there was now a lone white flower swinging from side to side with the fall of the creature.
She spread her wings and threw one last glance at the crumbling monster before diving up into the sky.
The wooden abomination fell down with a deafening thunderclap that spread miles throughout the crystal expanse of Hell.
The vile monster was finally dead…
Sitting on the sidelines, William stared at the corpse of the wooden abomination with widened eyes.
His nemesis was finally dead, and that made him feel…
"Why…"
He hit the crystal ground below, making it splinter in several places.
"Why give that vile thing such a peaceful death!!!"
This time, there was no emotional manipulation going on. William's head was clear and not at all being affected by the Sin of Envy.
He made sure that his shout reached the ear of the angel-like being that was also looking at the corpse of the wooden abomination.
She made no move for a few seconds, which made William ready to shout again.
But he didn't have to, as the angel slowly turned her head toward him.
They both made eye contact, and the angel felt a sense of familiarity as she looked into the eyes of William.
A small frown formed on her pale face.
The eyes of the young man carried the same level of hatred that she saw inside the wooden abomination. The only thing separating his eyes from the monster's was the fact that they lacked the madness that the wooden fiend had held.
But looking beyond his physical body and into his soul, she could see that the madness that he was missing from looking exactly like the monster she had just fought was there… hiding deep inside his soul.
"The Sin of Envy."
She could see the vile pest, squirming inside the soul of the man, trying to distance itself from the influence of her authority.
"So, this is the new Pillar of Envy."
It seemed that she would not have to search for as long as she had thought; that was good. The less time wasted, the better.
_Chapter Ends_