Envy and the Entrance Exam

“You and me, we need to talk,” the Prince said with a cultured smile on his lips.

With one sentence, the Prince made Envy doubted his intention. “You and me, we need to talk.” That sounded to Envy’s ears like a request. Too weak. Too humble. Too fake. The Prince was in the position of power. He was holding the grip of power over Envy’s fate. It just felt wrong to Envy that the Prince would make a request when he could simply command.

“But first, I need to deal with them first,” the Prince finally added, that cultured smile turned into a savage grin.

Yeah, that’s right. I knew you would do something like that. Envy has finally realized that the Prince’s “You and me, we need to talk,” was his way of rousing up the expectation in Envy, making Envy believed that he was being his equal in power. And the “But first, I need to deal with them first,” was his mockery at Envy for thinking that the balance of power between the two of them was equal.

Since the beginning, the Prince held the power to make every decision and every demand. With that small trick, he reminded Envy of that.

Had Envy been someone else, he would have fallen for that trick and flustered for real. But regardless, Envy betrayed a flustered look through his gesture alone, mixing it with a little bit of terror and helplessness. Envy stayed quiet, fearing his voice would betray his true thought to the Prince.

As Envy has expected, the Prince left the transparent room in nonchalance, leaving Envy behind, waiting, need not confirm of Envy’s opinion. It was the old, “We only talk when I want to talk,” trick. This move was nothing new. Pride often employed this trick to wave her power and authority over the other Demon Lords.

Being a subordinate of Pride, Envy has become used to this trick. Human, Envy cursed internally.

Arrogantly, the Prince displayed his power the same way that Pride would, with that absolute belief in the miracle granted to him by URLOX. He allowed Envy to watch the taste of the miracle that he conjured. Equally detestable as Pride, Envy thought. The Prince did not just openly display his miracle for Envy to see, he rubbed it at Envy’s face.

From the transparent room, Envy watched his siblings twisted their visage in the darkness of madness and rage, spewing curses at the human who made them suffered.

But not all torture cells were created equal and not all darkness was made equal.

Wrath’s torture cell was the largest and grandest of them all, a stage for music to perform, a square to contain billions of people. On that stage, a clone of the Prince stood, holding Wrath’s broken horn in place alongside the several other clones of himself, each manning a different kind of musical instrument. Envy could identify the drums and those instruments that the Prince called guitars, bass, and organ among the many. One clone stepped forward, grabbing the mike and addressing the crowd of billions of people who attended that musical concert.

“They said that besides from being the mightiest of the Demon Lords, Wrath was the biggest moron of them all. You know what? I don’t think so. Because I am looking at Stupidity in the face, you, my stupid people. You are the definition of stupidity. This Demon Lord? He’s faking it. I will prove it to you all that Wrath is actually a smart boy all along. In fact, when this concert end, Wrath will be among the smartest of these Demon Lords. WHAT SAY YOU, MY STUPID PEOPLE?”

That crowd of billions erupted, the drumsticks then started clacking, Wrath’s bloody head banging against the stage, the drums sounded and the most unholy musical concert began. That clone of the Prince did not sing, he growled, he roared with the same fury and ire that Wrath displayed. Watching Wrath being toyed and tortured in such a ridiculous manner, Envy could not help but feel a surging wave of anger toward the Prince.

It should have been me, the one to make him suffer like that. It should have been me.

Flokí’s cell was the smallest and darkest, just an empty room wide enough for Flokí to fit his body in, nothing else, just Flokí and that isolated unbreakable darkness.

Xaara was still inside that abandoned checkered hall, left behind. Alone, all by himself, locked in the rigidness of his body and the delay of time, hovering, edging bit by bit in the air toward the central position of the checkered hall. Envy made a mental estimation that Xaara would reach that place within a few weeks. For an impatient soul like Xaara who titled himself as , there was no crueler torture than that, being trapped by his slowness.

From all the pieces of evidence presented to him, Envy guessed that URLOX has given the Prince the power to turn anything he could think of into reality within the boundary of a Divine Dream.

Now, he’s immune to any form of attack inside his dream. URLOX, you are really unfair. Envy could only complain in secret. Envy then trained his eyes to Sanguine and his two subordinate Demon Lords.

Sanguine, the Embodiment of Madness. Rasahlu, the Whisperer of Madness. Yasubotay, the Reflection of Madness. The three of them were locked inside a large mirror hall. As they looked at their reflections from the mirrors, a clone of the Prince came to greet them.

“After I came to this world, I encountered nothing but disappointment. This world is the FUCKING perfect provider of disappointment. But the three of you Musketeers just took the cake. You redefined the word Disappointment for me. Sanguine, you called yourself Sanguine? For someone who should have been the Embodiment of Madness, I found that you are too sane. You are TOO FUCKING SANE. Same for the two of you, you with a bunch of mouths and you the genius with two brains, I found that the two of you are TOO SANE. The three of you have TOO MUCH SENSE inside you, TOO RATIONAL. I am completely heartbroken and disappointed. I AM DISAPPOINTED. The three of you are TOO FUCKING SANE. And yet, you dare to call yourself the avenging angels of madness? WHAT A JOKE! Amateurs, be grateful! Since you don’t know a jackshit about madness, let me show you what madness feels like, what madness looks like, and what madness sounds like. If you want to play mad, at least be good at it. Rejoice Demon Lords, I am giving this tutorial to you for free. FOR FREE. RE-FUCKING-JOICE! REJOICE, Demon Lords!”

Just like that, that clone of the Prince disappeared, leaving Sanguine and his subordinate in a short-lived respite of silence, letting them doubt until the true avenging agents of madness revealed themselves.

“REJOICE. REJOICE. REJOICE.”

Those thousands of wailing heads that adorned Sanguine’s long arthropod torso stopped wailing and started laughing instead.

“REJOICE. REJOICE. REJOICE.”

The strong laughed in the hedonism of mockery. The brave laughed in the ire of vendetta. The young laughed in the darkness of hysteria. The orphans laughed in the maddened state of indifference. The widows laughed with the hollowness of void. The saints laughed in a hymn of the unholy. The saintesses laughed in the purest and unadulterated display of erotism.

“Cling not to your sanity and REJOICE.”

“REJOICE. Pray be Madness for he is your lord and savior. REJOICE.”

Amidst that symphony of madness, Sanguine howled, a howl of a wounded beast, violently twisted and thrashed his long arthropod body against the mirror floor in agony. His millions of jagged tentacles turned on Sanguine, dissecting, mutilating and injecting that poison of insanity into his spectral body.

“REJOICE. Pray be Madness for he is your Prince. REJOICE.”

“REJOICE. Pray be Madness for he is your Ender. REJOICE.”

“REJOICE. REJOICE. REJOICE.”

As the poison of insanity poured into Sanguine’s spectral form, unclothed bodies pour out. Naked men. Bare-breasted women. Bare-butted children. Newborn babies. Titan, Human, Dwarves, Elves, Dark elves, High Elves, Orcs, Garuda. Intelligent Races. Arachne, Faun, Naga, Kobold, Draconian. Intelligent Monster Races. The past champions and loyal puppets of Sanguine bared the weight of their madness on him.

“REJOICE. Pray be Madness for he is the inevitable. REJOICE.”

“REJOICE. REJOICE. REJOICE.”

Sanguine howled as agony twisted him. Never had Sanguine been weaker than this. Never had those insane puppets been stronger than now. Like a horde of starving beasts, like those black locusts of Gluttony, those freed puppets of Sanguine fell upon him with the sheer weight of their insanity, clawing, biting, tearing, grabbing, hitting, nipping, and crushing that quivering centipede shape of Sanguine to the reflecting floor. Those insane puppets fell upon him while chanting their maddened laughter.

“THRONE? Forget it. GAME? Forget it. Crown? Forget it and REJOICE. MADNESS IS THY CALLING. REJOICE.”

“REJOICE. Pray be the Prince of The Alliance. REJOICE. He is your Ender. He is your Madness. REJOICE.”

“REJOICE. He is your one and only Savior.”

“REJOICE. REJOICE. REJOICE.”

Rasahlu and Yasubotay stood, watching, spellbounded by the horror of lucidity as their leader Sanguine being stomped into a squirming centipede in front of their eyes by none other than his own puppets and trophies.

When Sanguine’s frame was stained red with his pouring blood and his skin was black with the shade of his poison of insanity, a quiet pearl of laughter escaped him. His puppets became still, rejoicing in the briefest of the moment. The Embodiment of Madness has finally tasted madness. But it was merely the beginning, only a decade has passed, there are more to come.

“REJOICE. REJOICE. REJOICE. His name is Madness and He is your Prince,” the maddened puppets beat their prayer into the puppet master. “REJOICE and embrace him, for He is the beginning and the End. REJOICE. Embrace him, for he will be with you from now and onward. REJOICE.”

The puppets and the puppet master laughed, slowly training their maddened eyes on the stone cold form of Rasahlu and Yasubotay. “REJOICE.”

Their turn has come and they knew it. If there was anything that can save them from those freed puppets of Sanguine, it would be Madness.

“REJOICE.”

Those puppets fell upon the pair in the same manner that they did to Sanguine.

“REJOICE.” “REJOICE.” “REJOICE.”

Envy could only sit still in his seat and feel that surging wave of envy emanated from the hidden depth of his own body. URLOX could have granted this power to Envy, but they granted this power to the Prince instead.

Entitled son ofa bitch, Envy cursed in secret, turning his eyes elsewhere. This transparent room has provided Envy with an endless supply of entertainment and an endless source of envy. This room made Envy delight and frustrated at the same time.

Inside her dark, wet and smelly cell, Pride, that golden lioness broke down to tears for the first time in her entire life, completely shattered, beaten and defeated. Her glorious armor stripped. Her wings torn. Her legion of wing lions could not hear her voice. Her miracles were denied inside this dream. It also did not help that Lust has betrayed her so readily, mindlessly chasing after a human’s dick. Even Pride’s prized strength became less than that of a human child. Like a human child, Pride wept helplessly.

That scene filled Envy with a most morbid pleasure that he had ever felt, something like an orgasm that Lust has always talked about. And yet, knowing that it was not him who did that to Pride just brought out the worst of Envy’s frustration. Even when Envy was still moving that dodgy woman’s pieces in secret, he could not bring Pride to that low.

And yet, you…. You spoiled brat…Envy guarded his mouth carefully, knowing that he was without a doubt being monitored. The Prince, as arrogant as he was, he was detailed with action. A detailed person would not leave a stone unturned. Envy knew that he was being tested. Thus, he played along.

Magnamor had his eyeballs repeated popped and recovered in endless loops.

Wonten gained two eye holes and a mouth hole.

Sinintee was locked inside the dirtiest of a cesspool, completely submerged up to his head, cannot even breathe or talk, fearing that shit would get into his mouth and nose.

Nobody was spared from the Prince’s ire. Not Wonten, not Niwdar, not Sinintee, not Magnamor, not Munezee, nobody.

Munezee was forced to watch his creations being defeated, tortured, and completely whipped into something else, something less than Demon Lords, something less than Immortals.

Envy had to actively keep his mind off the endless source of entertainment provided to him by the surrounding environment and focusing on the future instead. The Prince was obviously milking out his revenge while this Divine Dream was still happening.

He has stopped the progress of time to lash out his fury at every being who dragged him into the Great Game. He must have understood that once this Divine Dream ended, the wrath of every immortal of this world would fall upon him. He must have had a plan. This entitled son of a bitch must have made his preparation a long time ago.

Those thousands of puppets of Sanguine were not converted in a matter of a day or a second or weeks or months. The Prince must have already converted them and liberated them long before he tossed Sanguine and his bunch into that mirror hall. Every cell, every torture room was designed differently. Every Demon Lord was tortured with a different method. Even the time flow in each and every cell was different.

And yet, he summoned Envy to this room instead. Therefore, Envy must have a role to play in the Prince’s future plan.

He must have made his preparation a long time ago… Suddenly, a strange question crept into Envy’s head, “A long time ago?” It was a strange question because Envy would not expect himself asking this question. It was a strange question because nobody had paused to ask it.

“All the way from back then?” Envy quickly hid his gaping mouth behind his hands. Envy made an assumption, a mere guess, but he did not dare to believe it. “Assuming that he had predicted this situation would happen when that dodgy woman’s niece met him…”

A realization came to Envy.

“Always assume the worst.”

“Always assume the worst would happen to you.”

Envy has finally remembered that the Prince did say that, twice with the same grin on his lips. “Entitled asshole. Such arrogant,” The Doppelganger swallowed his curse before it could come out of his lipless mouth, convinced that the Prince did all of that amount of craziness because he had URLOX’s backing.

“He has already made his preparation since then, and he had no qualm about telling it to us. Such arrogant. He openly picks a fight with everyone, the Arbiter included… This is madness.”

Envy’s thought was suddenly brought back to that mirror hall where Sanguine, Rasahlu, and Yasubotay have resided for over hundreds of years, dancing, singing and laughing alongside the naked puppets without a trace of intelligence left inside them.

“Since you don’t know a jackshit about madness, let me show you what madness feels like, what madness looks like, and what madness sounds like.” When the Prince said those words, he did not imply those freed puppets. He meant himself.

More insane than Sanguine, more furious than Wrath, more arrogant than Pride. Envy cursed himself for taking so long to realize something so apparent. That’s why there was no room for envy inside him. He is simply incapable of understanding envy.

It was then that it became apparent to Envy that these acts of torture and imprisonment were not out of vengeance. “His first declaration of war as well as his mockery. That means the official version of his declaration of war will come out soon.”

The Thousands Faces Demon Lord rolled out his triple-branched tongue for the first time since he was summoned to this transparent room. Envy has understood why the Prince’s taste, smell, and look was so disturbing. He was transparent of envy and yet, filled with everything else.

This is unfair URLOX. He’s already like this and you granted him even more miracles? This is like totally fair, totally not broken at all. Envy internally complained at the Creators. His voice sounded like someone else, a voice of a person that Envy kept hearing from the Prince’s memory.

“What am I looking at?” Envy asked, realizing that the events and tortures that he has witnessed might not be all real. Pride, for instance, perhaps that lioness has never broken down and cried like that. And perhaps, Niwdar has not been mocked and beaten like that. Perhaps Sinintee was not thrown into that cesspool.

Envy started to doubt that the Prince even needed him in this war and if Envy had a place inside the Prince’s grand plan at all. “Lust has already been brought. Who else?”

Envy has finally realized that he was being tested from the very moment he was summoned to this transparent room.

“What madness is this?” It finally became transparent to Envy that the Prince was trying to contact with that dodgy woman when he desecrated her altar. “Every Demon Lord is being trapped here, inside this dream.” That dodgy woman would not miss such a chance.

Envy shuddered, “Kharigan!!!”

That detestable symphony of chaos filled the transparent room, that quiet, but steady, cold and unmindful rhythm. The Prince has returned to the room. His hands clapping, “Marvelous, simply marvelous, to reach that conclusion on your own with so little of hints.” A human’s laughter has never been so dark. But darker was his applause. Since, no sound in the world could be more insidious than the clapping of hands in Envy’s ears.

Never again, Envy’s ears could stand the sound of applause.