"<Subjugate>. <Submit Your Soul To Me, Pledge Your Undying Loyalty And Heed My Every Command>. <Now, Awaken, Apostle of Envy>," I chanted, a burst of energy erupting around the fresh corpse and rising up, before taking shape.

It formed a body, a pale, fair glow shining out, glowing, spiky dark blue hair forming over the top of the figure's head with the sides and back of the head bare, bright yellow eyes appeared on the upper half of the face, with the whites of the eyes black.

Streaks of Negative Energy swirled around the figure's neck, before forming the same tattoos his now-dead body had.

More Negative Energy erupted around the figure's body, wrapping around it in the form of clothes, a sleeveless black trenchcoat over a blank tank top, and black trousers and boots, with black wristbands forming around both wrists.

Apostle of Envy

Name: [ ]

Age: 27

Gender: Male

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 91 KG

Skills:

Negative Energy Generation

Pilfer

Stealth, Strike, Double Strike, Triple...

Stats:

HP: 851

MP: 645

Strength: 857

Agility: 1238

Vitality: 845

Perception: 1194

Power Level: 938,300

<Acquired Apostle of Envy>

<Please Designate a Name>

"From now on, you'll be known as...Invidia," I remarked, as he bowed his head.

"<Yes, I understand, Boss>," He replied with a nod.

<Hidden Skill: Subjugate Locked>

He has all the Skills he did when he was alive, and he also has the Negative Energy Generation ability he presumably got from the Archdemon, his stats and Power Level are also the same numbers he had today.

What's Pilfer, though? Guess I'll check later.

"Tell me, do you have any reservations about serving me, Invidia? You clearly despised me," I remarked bluntly.

"<I'm sorry about that, Boss. That kid, he...he messed with my mind somehow, I only realized it now, after you resurrected me in this new form, my mind has never felt so clear. You saved me, so I am yours to command, however you see fit>."

Hm, fascinating, it's as though he's a completely different person. And 'that kid' he mentioned, he must be talking about the Archdemon. I should take him to the Union and question him about that.

Now, then...

"Before I leave, it would be a waste not to consume your body. <Dev-...>...," I began as I withdrew Invidia, before trailing off as someone grabbed my arm.

"You know, that's probably not the best idea."

"Hm? Ah, Rex. It's been a while," I greeted him, as he let go of my arm and backed away warily.

"Uh, question...how long before you get back to your normal state?"

"Less than two minutes."

"Aw, man, looks like we missed the action. I was looking forward to firing off a few explosions," A familiar voice echoed out.

"Yeah, that would've been a terrible idea, don't fire off explosions in the middle of a public area," Responded Rex dryly.

Ciel Campbell, the champion of the last edition of the HCC, and the reason why I finished as the runner-up.

"Come on, babe, why do have to rain on my parade all the time?" She sighed wistfully.

Hm?

"Oh, what a surprise, I didn't know the two of you were dating," I remarked, Rex tensing before narrowing his eyes at Ciel, who averted her gaze sheepishly.

"Yeah, because it was supposed to be a secret..."

"Oops, my bad, sorry," Smiled Ciel apologetically, before adding as Rex let out a sigh of exasperation, "To be fair, it's more like an open secret, a lot of people online have been speculating that we're a couple for a while now."

"Ah, I see now, she's the girlfriend you were complaining about the last time we met," I surmised as I recalled my last encounter with him.

"Wait, what?" Frowned Ciel, as she glanced inquiringly at Rex.

"I-I, uh...he's just kidding, that's all," He muttered nervously.

Hm...it looks like that was something I wasn't supposed to say.

"Now, then, I take it the two of you came here to see what the commotion was all about, is that right?" I asked them.

"We got a call from our Guildmaster, he asked us where we were, and we happened to be close by, so we rushed over. I bet some of the other Aces might show up before long too.

Though, seeing that you've already handled it, I guess that won't be necessary," Replied Ciel, before bringing up her I-Watch display and adding, "I'll let the Guildmaster know, before he deploys anyone else."

I see, the Union and Guilds must have been alerted through social media, by the people who were recording the fight, and-...oh, looks like Enrage is wearing off...

.

.

.

.

.

"Whew...that was good timing, I almost consumed the corpse before you showed up," I sighed in relief.

Yeah, it wouldn't have been the best idea to do that while being recorded, and it isn't ideal that clips of me using Subjugate are probably all over social media by now.

It's a good thing Rex showed up when he did, or I definitely would've proceeded with using Devour on Trent's corpse.

The Union will probably want to dissect him and find out exactly what was done to him, I almost screwed that up...the logical nature of my state of mind while using Enrage is inherently selfish, at its core.

The logic is based on what would be the best course of action for me, and mostly disregards everyone else.

Maybe I should've gone with Arouse instead of Enrage, it would have still been more than enough to overpower Trent.

"What are you doing?" Inquired Ciel curiously, as I put the corpse into Treasury.

"Preserving the body, I'll take it to the Union and hand it over to them. I'll also need to report this whole thing...should probably let my Guildmaster know too," I muttered, as I sent texts to Charlotte and Isla, before shooting one off to Aria as well.

Alright, with that done, I should get going.

"Seems you've got this covered, so we're going ho-...," Began Rex.

"Oh, absolutely not, this is way too interesting to ignore! Come on, let's tag along," Grinned Ciel, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him along as she followed after me.

"Do we have to?" Responded Rex with a groan of dismay.

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