The Author's POV

'Is he sharper than I let out, or is he just stupid?"

Suriol pondered to himself as he gazed at the human standing not so far from him. In the previous few moments, right when he was morphing his body, he sensed a slight murderous intent coming from the human.

He thought that he would attack him.

If there was a time when he was most vulnerable, it would indeed be during his transformation, so Suriol found it surprising that he didn't attack him.

'Did he sense something?'

In truth, the human would have most likely suffered severe injuries or even died had he chosen to attack.

The fact that he didn't do anything had in itself saved his life.

Suriol was not so dimwitted as to allow the human to take advantage of such a glaring weakness in his defenses.

He was obviously prepared.

'This new body isn't too bad…'

Suriol shifted his attention toward his new body.

He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists before raising his head to look at the human who was staring back at him with a look filled with surprise.

The grin that was already on his face grew wider.

"This is the existence you envy?"

He asked while moving around in this new body of his.

Suriol was a member of the Envy clan. A Duke ranked one at that. What made the clan of envy the strongest of the other clans was the unique power a certain part of their members had.

Evny, Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Greed, Wrath, and Sloth; Each clan represented a sin, and with it, they were born with an innate power that was only unique to their clan, and that perfectly matched their sin.

In Suriol's case, his power was that of someone who, by looking through the memories of their adversary, could flawlessly imitate the person that their adversary envied.

In this case, it was the form that he had just copied.

It took a total of ten seconds for Suriol to get used to the new body, and when he did, he felt everything become clear as information started to flood his mind.

They were a bit scattered as there seemed to be something wrong with the person's memories, but they were enough for Suriol to absorb and assimilate with himself.

"…He is indeed a person worth envying."

He extended his hand, at which point a sword composed of tangible demonic energy materialized.

Suriol slowly assumed his position as he locked eyes with the human standing opposite him.

"Let us see the power of the human that you envy, shall we?"

Click—!

***

"Fuck off!"

Hein let out a resounding roar as his shield collided with a nearby demon, knocking the demon to the ground with a loud crash.

The next thing that he did was stomp on the demon's head with his foot.

Crack.

familiar cracking sound, he dashed forward, where

Booom—!

on the demons that were in front of him. The moment their eyes locked, both of them

"Huek!"

"Kuak!"

hand and

pileup on the ground of several severed heads due to the result of his actions. Hein manipulated the flame psyons in the air with the flick of his finger, and as a result, the demons' bodies burned to a crisp, exposing five unblemished

twice about destroying them as he stomped on

Bang!

"Ukh…"

a demon appeared from his right side and attacked him. He was, fortunately, able to block

'There's so many.'

five demons, and ten more were at him.

They seemed endless.

"Fuck this shit."

a resounding shout as he pounded his shield against

"Huaaa!"

Boom—!

of the opportunity that presented itself in that split second by pressing his foot against the

"Huek!

single break, he twisted his body and the head of a nearby demon detached, falling to

cores, Hein crushed the head of the demon with his foot and kicked toward his

whip, his foot smacked against a demon's

foot, shield, head…Hein used everything that he

like learning from Han Yufei wasn't that bad of an idea after

result

defending himself was not going to be sufficient. He needed to find ways to deal with his opponent, which was why he had asked Han Yufei for assistance; Han Yufei was happy to assist him in exchange

I think of it, this isn't nearly as bad as my time with Han

at the memory of his battles

was bearable at first,

at this point. Hein feared him

was manageable; however, after practicing some strange art, he became impossible to fight against. Not only would the training grounds be left in shambles, but

for his stamina to run out. However,

quite

to him that I have improved so

bitterly smiled and took a deep breath. Eying the demons in front

[Steel domain]

around his shield became brighter, and it wasn't long

once, the shields began to grow in size with the assistance of Hein's

he had five hovering shields,

'Down.'

gestured with his fingers, and the shields bowed with their apexes facing outward. All of this transpired in a fraction of a second, and with a twist of his hands, the shields began to encircle his body

forward and the radius

"Heek!"

"Hueak!"

shortly after as agonized screams

have time to care about this as he could feel his mana dwindling at an alarming rate. It was depleting so fast that

lot more

to grit

It sounded like a lot of time, but in reality, it was practically nothing in comparison to a war that would probably last quite a long

…If that wasn't all.

Boooom—!

felt a

"Urkk!"

to the ground in a helpless manner as he skidded