222 The Threat of Envy

Gaia looked upon most of the various groups to make sure that she had their attention. But of course, that was just a manoeuvre to make herself look more important; after all, she already had her Spirit Sense spread across the entire gathering, it was pointless to move her head when she could already see all.

Nevertheless, in the game of gathering attention and asserting lofty demeanours, she was scoring points.

Each of their rulers met her gaze with varying emotions. Some indifferent, some worried, and some excited, but they all were earnest to hear what she had to say. That was all she wanted, so she began to speak.

"To cut the suspense, I will keep things short and precise. We, no- the entire World, is under dire threat." A few eyes widened at that but she didn't pause to accommodate their surprise. "There is a disastrous menace growing in the South and its powers are rising so quickly that it would soon reach the point that it would be able to subjugate or simply destroy us all. That threat is known as the Phoenix of Envy, or just Envy."

"And as some of you can already guess, our guest from another Continent over here is part of the same Phoenix race, in fact he is the progenitor of their race and is as old as magic of this World like some of us here. His name is Chad and he must be treated with respect."

Everyone turned their gazes to the visitors from the West Continent with either interested or nonchalant eyes and Chad returned their stares with a simple nod. Gaia continued.

"Envy can be considered as a traitor of his race that went rogue after committing a heinous crime." Gaia knew that the likelihood of the people listening to her knowing what the word 'crime' meant was all too low, but the context of her sentence should assist them in understanding what she meant so she continued.

"Unluckily for the Phoenix race, Envy received bouts of fortune that allowed him to grow and grow until he was powerful enough to challenge the Phoenix King to a war."

Actual gasps rang out at that. She wanted to ignore them to save face for the Phoenix King but someone interrupted before she could.

"goddess you jest! How can a descendant challenge the power of their ancestor?" The question was asked by one of the Celestial Elephant Beastkin, something she expected from the little fellows who were obsessed with Apis, but the murmurs of support annoyed her, especially when one of them came from her own side.

She turned to the left and looked at the blue scaled female Dragon who had snorted as if she also believed that what she said was a joke, or perhaps she believed what she said and was mocking the Phoenix King. It was the Water Supreme Dragon, Misali, the one who almost died trying to fight Chad and 9 Flame Queen when they had first appeared, despite having the backup of other Supreme Dragons.

Noticing the gaze of her goddess, her face crumpled into one of guilt and fright, but Gaia didn't do anything further. Instead she continued speaking.

"I do not jest. In actuality, I am told that Envy isn't quite Chad's descendant, but one of the…" She briefly considered exposing Chad as an ex-chicken (most weren't aware) but decided against it. Such a thing would only result in some disdain from a few of the races which she didn't have time for.

"...bird's that he was born with. Chad later became a Phoenix, and the crime that the jealous Envy committed is related to the evil method that he performed to become a Phoenix of a different kind… an Ice Phoenix."

Some people immediately looked at Aliana, identifying her blue coloured features and cold aura for what it was, but thankfully, nobody said anything.

"But eventually, his diabolical fortune came to an end and he was caught by the Phoenix King, who chose to torture him in an isolated cave with eternal flames, where he would burn forever. Or so everyone thought…

Like a slap to everyone's faces, 2 or so years into his punishment, the Ice Phoenix unlocked a terrifying power. A power so great that it allowed him to rival the potential of the strongest gods. This power is called Envy, and it is 1 of the 7 Deadly Sins."

It went without saying that many eyes began to glow with passion. Power was the most important thing in this World, or at least this era, and everyone wanted to obtain it. What was more enticing than power that rivalled the strongest gods?

Suddenly, a deep and ancient-sound voice spoke out. It was loud and many covered their ears with irritation. "goddess Gaia, you as the goddess of creation, should be amongst the so-called strongest gods. Does this mean that you can deal with this… Envy?" It was Apis, the Celestial Elephant who spoke.

Gaia sighed in response. "Everybody knows about my past. I, the goddess of creation, created much of what you all see. At my peak, I could erect or dismantle mountain ranges, spawn or evaporate oceans, generate or destroy continents, and could even create life. I created much of your species before Magic was even allowed to prevail in this World. Killing someone like Envy? Done with a single thought. Alas, I was betrayed…

To keep things short, my divinity was rendered and I am now a shadow of what I once was. It will one day return to me, as I am an everlasting god, but that will take time. Time that I do not have if I want to deal with Envy alone. After all, the powers that Envy has allow him to gain power quicker than I do since his influence can spread much faster.

Do you all remember the day of the Green Horror?"

It took a moment, but eventually, many eyes dawned with realisation, before an expression of, well… horror took place on their faces.