His arrogant was that of insanity and delusion. Never had a human been more arrogant in the face of an Immortal, let alone an assembly of Immortals. That prompted the Demon Lord Envy to question if the Prince could be this arrogant and nonchalance without URLOX backing.

The Prince patted Envy’s shoulder, telling Envy that he was delighted at Envy’s conclusion. Envy faked a small shudder, shrinking his body to give away an air of servitude and weakness, assuming his usual humble stance. In his mind, Envy was pretending that he was talking to Pride, if Pride had a bigger bloat of an ego, if Pride was more mad than Sanguine, and if Pride was more wrathful and vengeful than Wrath.

“Wine?” The Prince snapped his fingers. A crystal flagon with a ruby tinge liquid inside on his left and two transparent goblets on his right. He wore a warm smile, nocking his angle chin toward Envy, making an offer.

Envy shook his head, committing to his role of looking terrified.

“Great, you have just saved me from embarrassing myself. No matter how hard I tried, I could only create something similar to wine in taste and odor. I cannot get drunk or having a hangover no matter the amount that I drank.” The Prince laughed in deprecation and drained a mouthful of that ruby color liquid, waving his hand. A table and chair appeared.

“How do you like the view from here, Envy?” The Prince knocked himself down on his chair and put his legs on the table as if he has finally got to rest after a day of hard work.

“Enviable,” Envy replied slyly, did not give the Prince his true thought.

“WAIT?” The Prince put down his goblet, eyes wide and round, “You want to take the same test as they did?”

“Test?”

“Yeah, test. Did I say something strange?” The Prince furrowed his brows, looking extremely confused. “Oh, I see. You mean to tell me that you want to challenge all of those tests, and not just one. Right?” Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” That mask of muddiness disintegrated faster than a snowflake in a great fire, be replaced with a look of joy and pure childlike excitement. The Prince put his goblet down on the table. And about to snap his fingers.

Envy raised his voice a panic, “What are we talking about?” Defending himself, inadvertently let his true thought leak out. The Demon Lord of Thousands Faces was suspecting that he was about to be dropped in a torture cell soon if he kept being silent… this wretchedness of a human.

“Test, what else? I was asking if you are enjoying the sight of these brain dead morons taking their test. You replied, Enviable, which make me think that you wanted to challenge all of these tests. Could I be wrong? NO WAY!!!”

Envy immediately realized that he has made a serious mistake. There was a disconnection between the Prince’s word and his expression. His expression betrayed a mask of dastardly delight but his words and voice were innocent and good.

“You just said that you were testing them…”

“Yes, what else does it look like to you? I am obviously giving them a test,” the Prince scratched his chin, turning his sight on those torture cells that he has created.

What test?

Envy trained his sight on Sinintee, the Great God of War and Civilization himself, who has been trapped inside a cesspool for over several decades, unable to utter a word of curse, unable to open his eyes, unable to open his mouth or release that tight pinch on his nose. He lived his days in the darkness of that smelly cesspool, fearing that thick and muddy liquid of feces would enter him. Then, Wonten, whose face bloodied with newly carved eyeholes and a newly pried mouth hole. Then Wrath, whose head has become a faithful instrument of music on that stage for an exact century while being cheered by that crowds of billions of people. Then, Pride, who was but a shadow of herself, donning a maid cloth, servicing a clone of the Prince with all the respect in the world. Then Sanguine, with his Whisperer and his strategist, who were singing, dancing and praying with those lunatic puppets of his inside that mirror hall. Then Xaara, who has only learned to free his mouth from the lock of time, cursing and swearing, hissing with a maddened fury while still hovering inside the abandoned checkered hall.

This is torture! Envy held himself back from retorting. He slyly appealed to the Prince’s bloated ego, “Why would you give them these tests?” while looking confused and afraid.

“Wait, hang on. I thought the reason that the Divine Dream exists are for people to be tested, to see how worthy they are, am I not correct? That’s how you people selected your past champion, am I wrong?”

Envy nodded his head by the sheer force of reflex. The Prince “Am I wrong?” was spoken with the most unabashed and unapologetic of a tone, with the solidity of power and confidence. His “Am I wrong?” was more like “That’s the truth, isn’t it? I know that I am right.” A very self-explanatory of a question and an answer.

“So, I gave them a test, to see if they are worthy. They all want to have me as their champion, I gave them a test to prove themselves if they are worthy of my service or possess the entry level of qualification to be my leader,” laughed the Prince, shrugging his shoulder in disappointment. “Until this moment, still none has passed the test, quite disappointing I would say. Because you replied, Enviable, I was under the assumption that you intend to prove your worthiness to me. I did not realize we were talking about different things.” The Prince heaved a sigh, a long and sarcastic of a sigh, “My bad.”

Envy found himself stupefied. Wait, so this is not your declaration of war?

The Prince was back to drinking again as if snacking on the confusion shaded on Envy’s face. One goblet-full of wine, two goblets, three, and four, and before long, he drained the entire flagon of his ruby color wine. “God, sometimes, I wish I could be drunk and stupid while being inside this dream,” the Prince wore a crestfallen smile, “There is too much disappointment. And the fact that I have predicted these disappointments before they happened is a major disappointment in itself. And predicting is not even my main job…”

The Prince took his sight away from Envy and observing his clones and his prisoners from his seat instead. “When I found Niwdar’s daughter presence inside my dream, I accused her of trespassing. She kept beating me and telling me that her presence inside my dream was something that I should be grateful. She kept telling me that it was a great privilege and this is how you immortals have given out your test to us, mortals. I did not believe her words readily. It is always my nature to doubt. But then, I saw Bloodbeard’s zeal and listened to the description of his dream. I know that there is truth in her words. And then, even Death, she came to my dream and gave me a test. And then as I have expected, all of you, who came into this dream to watch my fate, to see I fail my test and become Death’s champion. You are here.”

As the atmosphere became cold with a sneer, a monster reared its head at Envy, “You know what I thought? Funny. This is funny. This is absolutely funny. All I see is a great crime, an act of intrusion on someone’s privacy, a deception, a pyramid scheme, a disgusting act of brainwashing, you people have the balls to claim that it is an entitlement, a PRIVILEGE,” a brightly lit smile spread wide and thin on that monster’s lips, “On what ground, what qualification, and what right do you people claim that your intrusion into someone’s dream is a great privilege to that person? On what qualification do you have to give me a test?”

The Prince drummed his fingers on the table, shooting his dagger glare at Envy.

“I don’t mind being tested at all, in fact, I loved being tested because I will be reminded just how great and awesome I am again whenever I pass my tests. It is extremely gratifying to find out that I am just as great as I think I am. It is always gratifying to be reminded of how great you are again. But taking a test from a bunch of unqualified people is a different story. I don’t like being tested by a bunch of unqualified people. Why? Because even if I passed those tests, there is no meaning. If the test givers were a giant blob of bogusness, that test itself is bogus. There is no gratification in passing such test. Taking such a test is a waste of time. Tell me Envy, can you even feel gratify when you pass a test while knowing that the test is bogus?”

Again, by the sheer force of trained reflex, Envy shook his head before he completely understood the question.

“That’s the first reason why you are here and not THERE right now,” the Prince flexed his thumb, directing Envy’s sight toward the sorriness of a sight that was Flokí, a shadow of Flokí who was talking and laughing to himself in that darkness. “At least, you know that your so-call-TEST is a load of BULLSHIT.”

Envy’s head became blank. This madness, this arrogance…. He was hitherto under the assumption that he had a role in the Prince’s future plan and thus making his own plan on that assumption.

“But the fact that you people are so convinced that this so-called-Divine Dream is a privilege, and you kept entering my head regardless of my repeated warnings, I decided to play along to see if my perception were warped or not. You don’t know how wrong you are until you put your belief to the test. So, I test my own belief. I want to see if I were right and you and your people and this whole world were wrong all along. I made Death gave me the most difficult test that she could possibly hand to anyone. Can you guess what test I requested?”

You are insane… Envy cursed in secret, realizing that he has been blinded all along. His senses were keen and acute, but Envy did not see through this human for what he was. You are insane… Envy was blinded by his thought and assumption.

“Since you and your brain-dead friends are adamant that by simply being an immortal, you have the qualification to test me, I gave myself a try at it. So time, that’s simple, isn’t it? That is the first nucleus of immortality. He who stood the test of time is an immortal. Here I am. A human who has stood the test of time.”

Envy realized that the Prince was telling him, “Get it out of your head, with or without the backing of Death or URLOX, this would happen regardless.” The Prince saw through Envy’s blindness and corrected him. The Prince who stood in front of Envy was not entitled to any special power or privilege. He seized those power and privilege with his hands.

“So, what is it feel like to pass the test of time? Very gratifying to be honest. Because I almost failed, had it not for a push of a brother at the end. It felt great to pass such a test. I cannot tell you just how great and awesome the elation that I felt at that very moment. Such an elation could not be produced from a bogusness of a test. So, I thought, Maybe, these guys know what they were talking about. Maybe, these guys are right. Maybe, this Divine Dream is a blessing. This Divine Dream is a privilege. Maybe, I have been mistaken all along.”

This is beyond the arrogance of a human, Envy thought.

“Thus, I gave myself another test, to see if I could become the god of this land, the god of this dream. Because that is your belief, right? You people have the qualification to enter my dream because you can perform a real miracle. Am I not correct? Here I am. Inside this dream, I am a human who can perform real miracles and produce magic as great as any god. Therefore, I have earned all the qualifications to give people tests through a Divine Dream according to your belief, am I wrong? No, I am not. Because you people are immortals, you are great, you can perform miracles, you can grant people the gifts of miracles, you can give them magic, and thus, you had the qualification to enter their dream and gave them a test. Am I not correct? Yes, I am. Yes, I am correct about that. Otherwise, I fail to see how you justified coming into someone’s head and giving him a test,” the Prince spoke with a fervent passion fueling his speech, the same kind of passion that Sanguine and his subordinate Demon Lords were running on to sing and dance in that mirror hall.

“But, hold on, I thought, What am I doing here? To be honest with you, for years, I forgot why I took these tests and earn these qualifications in the first place. And then, I remembered. I wanted to test if this so-called Divine Dream is a crime against mankind, a load of bullshit, and if I were correct about it. I have earned my qualifications to give a Divine Dream as a test to people. Therefore, I am giving them their test,” the Prince pointed his finger at the mirror hall’s direction.

“They claimed to be the avenging angels of madness. They claimed to be the Embodiment of Madness. If that is true, they are at the end of the path. They are madness itself and the master of their trade. They cannot be madder than they have already been. They cannot be more insane than they already were. I had a lot of expectation for them,” the Prince smiled in sarcasm, “How disappointing! Can you imagine it? The fact that they are currently reaching an arrest at that low level, singing and laughing mindlessly like that, it’s the biggest disappointment. They cannot even arrive at my level of madness. How disappointing! I thought that I have finally found my kind among these immortals. How disappointing!”

That finger then quickly pointed at that cesspool of a torture cell.

“In front of me, he claimed to know war better than anyone else in this world. He claimed that war is the core of perfection. He claimed that war is the foundation of civilization,” A hideous laughter doubled the Prince.

“So I let him have a taste of what war is like, what war smells like, what war tastes like, what war sounds like, what war looks like. I told him, Show me how you are going to perfect the art of turning that shit into civilization.” The Prince allowed that hideous laugh to take him, gasped himself out of the air, “He closed his mouth. He pinched his nose. He closed his eyes. That’s weird, I thought. I thought he loves wars. I thought he could turn war into civilization. He only needs to open his eyes, releases that pinch on his nose to free his hands, and fills his belly with those feces that he loved so much because that is what war is. The moment he did that, he would realize that I have left the key to escape that cesspool at the bottom of the floor. And when he escapes that cesspool, my stupid people would be there to congratulate him and convert themselves to his faith. And that is what civilization looks like.”

So, you have picked a fight with him for real. This is madness. How could you possibly win this war if you picked a fight with both sides?

“He could have been the first God in the history of Gods to taste what war taste like. Can you imagine the disappointment I felt when I watched him remaining like that for how many years now? Two decades? Three. Four? That does not matter, does it? It’s apparent that he could not stand it, the taste of war that he babbled about, the smell of it and the sight of it. All this time, he was only bullshitting to everyone.”

That laughter slowly died in small gasps of air and a quiet sniffle, “Envy, you look like you have a problem with my tests. Do you?” A smile gloating on the Prince’s lips, a bright and warm smile, no longer cold and hideous with sarcasm.

“No…”

“That saddens me. I only make my test difficult because the reward for passing my test worth such difficulty,” the Prince stood from his chair, fixing his cloth, “I will name anyone who passes my test my King. I will devote myself and stop at nothing until I put that person on the Great Throne,” the Prince swore in solemn. “It saddens me that many have already dropped out of my test and none have shown any promise of passing my test.”

What madness am I looking at? Envy gaped. Somehow, he knew the question that the Prince is about to ask him before it happened.

The Prince reached out his hand, cupped and straddled Envy’s chin with a most beautiful of a smile blossoming on his lips. “So, Envy, the Great Thousands Faces Demon Lord, will you take all of my tests and pass them and make me the happiest Champion in the history of the Reign of Chaos?” That was the most beautiful smile that Envy has ever seen. It was so inhumanly charming.

Had the Prince asked this question to Lust, she would probably be foolish enough to do that, Envy thought, and she would be crazy, stupid and broken at the end.

“I would not dare,” Envy doubled his back in a hurry. A Champion who chooses his own Master, what madness is this? His lipless mouth felt a strong and compelling force to spread wide and thin to such thought. And it did. So, he had to double his back to hide it in the most natural reaction.

The Prince wore a crestfallen smile, “I could never get used to being disappointed even after being trapped inside this dream for such length.” His hand was still straddling Envy’s chin with affection.

Was Envy anyone but himself, he would probably lose his mind and rescind his decision to take away that crestfallen smile on the Prince’s lips and replaced it with that most beautiful smile again.

But he was Envy. All that he felt was a mix of admiration and hatred, envy. The Creators chose their Champion well. Among the roster of their Great Champions, they chose the Prince.

And they were rightly so, Envy thought, clearing his throat, looking into the Prince’s dark eyes for the first time. “Why are you telling me all of this? Why did you get me here and not there?”

A light of excitement glistened within the Prince’s eyes, “I’m glad,” he said. “Finally, we can speak without pretension and lie. Finally, we meet, finally.”

Envy came to the realization that he has just spoken his mind for the first time since he met the Prince. For a short moment, he thought about going back to his humble and terrified look, but no, he has decided not to. There was something inside him screaming at Envy to quit looking miserable and weak in front of this human. That something gushed out, erasing Envy’s reason and better judgment. He stared at the Prince in defiance.

“Let’s introduce to each other again. I am Fearless, the Prince of The Alliance,” the Prince cackled, matching Envy’s defiance with his open display of arrogance.

“Envy, Demon Lord of the Thousands Faces,” Envy matched the arrogance emanated from the Prince’s voice with his mixed emotions laid bare.

The Thousands Faces Demon Lord tucked his triple-branched tongue out. He was the Doppelganger Demon Lord, the only one of his kind, the Embodiment of Envy. The entirety of his body was now anointed in the mud of envy, fuller and thicker than ever, with the clear reflection of one man on it.

Never had Envy found himself envious of a human. Demon Lords, yes. Gods, yes. But human, this is the first time. Human is mortal and mortal is weak. Why would a Demon Lord be envious of a human? That thought of scorn no longer existed inside Envy.

Through his triple-branched tongue, Envy submerged himself in the hidden world of envy. There stood the reflection of a human who was so full of everything else to know envy. The taste of such inhuman madness emanated from that human was far from repulsive. It had an acquired taste, a fine delicacy. The odor of such baffling arrogance resembled Pride, but better, thicker. That envy-free color that filled him no longer had that disturbing feeling about it.

Envy, for the first time since he came to be, he saw his reflection as a human. Envy was not just envious of this human because of his disposition as URLOX’s Champion.

EVERYTHING. Envy had finally understood that. I WANT YOUR EVERYTHING.

Pride was an afterthought, that lioness in maid cloth, she was something like his first love, his first target, meant to be. Pride, Envy would never forget her even if he has already moved on to his next target. Wrath was something like a side dish to snack from time to time. Even Niwdar, Death, and that dodgy woman could not make Envy felt like this. Wonten and Sinintee could not provide Envy such fire.

I WANT TO BE YOU, BUT BETTER THAN YOU WILL EVER BE.

Wearing his arrogant smile, the Prince extended his hand, gesturing a handshake. Envy grabbed it, knowing this handshake could potentially kill him. NOT IF I BECAME YOU FIRST. Little it mattered to Envy.

SO STAY PERFECTLY AS YOU ARE, AND DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME UNTIL THE END. Like they have already did.