Chapter 287: 295

Palan’s eyes narrowed at Raea. His three tails stopped lazing about and gazed at her as well. “What did you just say?” he asked. His eyes shimmered and turned purple like Raea’s.

“What would you do,” Raea said and took a step forward, green smoke billowing from her body. With every step she took, the dirt beneath her feet blackened and softened into ooze. The green smoke accumulated above Raea, forming a vaguely humanoid shape. She stopped in front of Palan with her hands on her hips. They stared each other down, neither of them willing to turn their gazes away. Raea lifted her arm, placing a finger on Palan’s chest—above his torso-mouth—and finished her sentence. “If I killed your sister?”

Palan snorted as his purple tail flashed, biting Raea’s arm. She didn’t flinch. An oily sheen prevented the snake’s fangs from piercing her skin. There was a lighter layer coming off the snake’s fangs, but Raea’s was overwhelming it. The light around Raea’s arm began to expand, forcing Palan’s tail to widen its jaws. “Originally, greed was mine,” Raea said as she moved her arm. She slapped the purple tail, causing it to crash into the ground and burying its head underneath the soil. “Don’t try to use my own powers against me.”

Dark clouds formed in the sky, and a lightning bolt shot towards Raea for breaching the contract between herself and Palan. A solid dark-green hand rushed out of the cloud of smoke above Raea’s head and caught the lightning. Its fingers wriggled as if it were crushing leaves, and the lightning crackled before dispersing. Raea and Palan raised their heads. The smoky figure in the sky was solidifying, turning into a faceless figure similar to Raea’s from before she evolved. Palan furrowed his brow. He debated on throwing a rock at Raea’s head to stop her like he stopped Melissa, but killing Raea was akin to killing himself.

“An angel of patience should be able to forgive everyone who’s wronged her,” Raea said, keeping her eyes on the figure above their heads. “I’m surprised I hadn’t turned into an angel of wrath a long time ago. I never forgave myself for having envy. I hated myself for not living up to my parents’ expectations. I couldn’t forgive my own flaws.” The face of the figure squirmed as the blurry outlines of eyes and a nose appeared. “Envy was why I was banished from the capital. I always tried to hide it, tried to feel happy for others’ gains. I even developed kindness because of it, but I knew it was always there. Eventually, it came out—I resented myself for it. I told myself I’d rather die than embrace it.”

Raea lowered her head and sighed while closing her eyes. Her eyes opened as she brought her hands in front of her stomach, palms facing the sky. Black flames flickered into existence. “But now that I think about it, isn’t it the same thing as wrath?” she asked, entranced by the fire dancing on her palms. “Wrath empowered me. It’s one of the seven major sins. Like envy. Why should I be afraid of my own powers when you’re not even afraid of it?” She faced Palan. “I’ve seen you use my envy to make bags upon bags of poison powder, but I wanted nothing to do with it. If I ignored it, maybe it’d go away. That’s what I thought about it.”

The figure’s face solidified as the eyes and nose finished forming. Lips appeared, curling into a smile. It was a reflection of Raea’s face from before she evolved. “I thought it’d be fine if I just hid it,” Raea said. “I thought nothing would come of it when I started developing feelings for you. You’re a demon. I’m an angel. Nothing should’ve happened between us, right? You even got my sister killed. There should’ve been no reason for me to fall in love with you.” Raea’s eyes glistened as her hands cracked and clenched, the black flames exploding outwards and traveling up her arms. She bit her lower lip. “But I did. It’s stupid, but I did. The stronger my feelings got for you, the more my envy of your sister grew. You love her, but you don’t love me. I told myself to give you time. You’d eventually fall for me as well if I was sincere enough. But now, after hearing you call me a tool, I don’t know if you ever will. There’s only one empty spot in your heart, and it’s occupied by your sister.”

The smoky figure shrank as it fell from the sky, landing behind Raea. It smiled at Palan, as if thanking him, before hugging Raea from behind. Its mouth opened and closed, speaking words into Raea’s ears that Palan couldn’t hear. Raea’s body shuddered, her eyes shutting, as the figure began to merge into her body. Palan leapt forward, but collided against a barrier formed by greed. Before he could try to break down the barrier, it disappeared along with the smoky figure. Raea’s eyes opened, hints of green flashing in her purple pupils.

“You understand where my problem is coming from, right?” Raea asked. There was something different about her voice, but Palan couldn’t put his finger on it. “If I can’t have your love, why can someone else have it? You’d hate me if I killed your sister, wouldn’t you?” Raea’s wings spread open as she took a step forward. Green feathers were mixed amongst the red ones. “I know you would because you killed mine.”

“What are you planning on doing?” Palan asked.

Raea didn’t answer him, stroking her feathers with her hands instead. “Am I a monster, Palan?” Raea asked. Black flames drifted out of her red feathers and green mist floated out of the green ones when her hand passed over them. “If I said I was going to Hailing Academy to enter their portal to Eljiam to find your sister and kill her, would you believe me?”

Palan’s eyes widened. A dome of black light engulfed the dirt mountain, spreading out from Palan’s body. Raea sighed, her expression dimming as an invisible weight pressed against her body, forcing her feet into the ground. “It really does make me sad that you think of me that way, you know?” Raea asked and smiled at Palan with tears in her eyes. “I wouldn’t do that to you, even if I’m envious. Rationally, I know killing your sister wouldn’t make you love me. I’m not stupid, no matter how often you insinuate it. Didn’t I just say I resented myself for having envy?”

She lifted her hand in front of her chest, flexing her claws. They glowed red as she heated them up with black flames. “I’m sorry, Palan,” Raea whispered. “I really am. But I already said it. I’d rather die than embrace my envy.”

“Stop!” Palan shouted as he rushed forward. But it was too late. Raea’s hand had embedded itself into her chest, piercing her own heart, setting her chest ablaze. The dome of dark light disappeared as Palan grabbed Raea’s body. “Raea!”

He reached into his bag and pulled out an orb of kindness. He ripped Raea’s hand away and activated the orb, closing the gaping wound, but black flames continued to burn around her heart, reopening the injury. Palan swore and lifted her up, running towards the hole in the ground. He had to find Pyre—the old coot would know what to do. Raea’s labored breaths slowed, but her eyes still struggled to stay open. Palan’s face was warped with concern. Even if it might have been more for himself, it still made her happy to know she could cause him to feel that way. And when her eyes could stay open no longer, she died with a smile on her face.

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