"Envious of the world, she Walks Softly."
No one in the academy knew the truth. But Crystal was missing, and he doesn't even know who the suspects are.
The truth?
She was taken.
During a quiet lunch, Prince Varuna's subordinates had poisoned her drink. Not with something ordinary—but with a complex blend of foreign anesthetics, created over months with the help of scholars from different kingdoms. They had planned it in secret, obsessed with her resilience.
Crystal's unique skill—Soulbound Contact—prevented anyone from touching her unless she allowed it. So they didn't touch her. They used her only friend to pass the cup.
When the poison took effect, she was dragged underground. The academy's silent and lawless place.
There, in a rotting basin beneath the academy, they bound her in chains. Silence.
She didn't understand.
"Why do they hate me? Is it because I'm a demon? Because I'm close to Rudra…?"
No answers came. Only pain.
Far above, in a different world of quiet stars, Rudra sensed something was wrong. Crystal never returned. No message. No goodbye. Only the ache of emptiness.
He turned to the small serpent coiled around his wrist—his pet snake, Eras, a scarlet vine-like creature with gentle crimson eyes.
"Eras… find her."
The snake slithered into the dark.
The next day, Rudra was summoned by Dean Selenus.
"We'll be traveling," she told him. "To the Taras Empire. The guardian of the Sovereigns' book is there. If you still wish to learn, come prepared."
Rudra nodded. "Thank you, madam."
Before leaving, he returned to his room. On his desk, he left a simple note.
Crystal, if you return… I'll be back soon. I'm just chasing answers.
But I need to know everything about you
So next time I can reach you.
He didn't know that note would sit in silence.
The journey to Taras was long, but beautiful. Towering trees, floating gardens. Spires touching clouds. But Rudra's heart never settled. A storm brewed behind his blindfold.
On the third day, they reached a modest hotel near the scholar's district. There, they met the guardian of the book—Roland Grey, a thin man with sharp glasses, grey eyes, and fingers stained with ink and pollen.
He was a researcher of flora, fauna… and the Three Queens.
Rudra assisted him in silence—cataloguing plants, mixing samples, recording glyphs. His calmness impressed the scholar.
Later that evening, Dean Selenus pulled Roland aside.
"Ask him about Sarpavana. Gauge what he knows."
Roland returned and sat beside Rudra with a soft smile.
"Something strange is happening in Sarpavana," he said. "You've heard of it, I assume?"
Rudra replied without pause. "Only rumors. The Queen went into seclusion. As for the Forbidden Forest—if it truly is open now, I would still not enter. The beasts that dwell there are not ones born of nature."
That was all the answer they needed.
Roland handed him a single, rusted key.
"The book is yours. Study it well. And take care, boy. The winds are changing."
Rudra and Selenus returned to the academy two days later. But the world was already on fire.
Sarpavana was burning. The three empires—Taras, Ariel, and Surandha—had launched the invasion without waiting for Selenus's reply.
Forests were being razed. Ancient beasts are silent. The barrier began to break.
Deep within the Sarpamukhi volcano, where the Three Queens' Flames connected in a sacred triangular formation, stood a central flame.
Saki stood alone in that chamber. Pillars crackled. The volcanic wind howled.
She opened her palm.
In her hand, a drop of blood—Rudra's blood—gleamed like liquid starlight.
"Forgive me," she whispered, "but it's time."
She poured it into the central flame.
At once, the entire chamber pulsed. Flames surged into the pillars. The other Queens stirred. The legacy awakened.
Back at the academy… Eras returned.
Without a word, Rudra followed the snake deep into the underground ruins.
There, hidden in the filth, he found her—Crystal. Bound. Bleeding. Silent.
The air was thick with rot. Even the rats looked sick. The air is filled with dread and death.
He stepped forward, unbound her, and pulled away the cloth covering her mouth and eyes.
She looked up at him—just once—before fainting in his arms.
He held her close.
No words.
No mercy.
And somewhere, between two burning worlds, Envy found its vessel.
The moment Rudra saw Crystal—bloodied, broken, trembling in chains—something inside him shattered.
His emotions boiled, spiraled, erupted.
And then, everything in the Eleanora Domain stopped.
The entire land knelt. Teachers, nobles, even monsters—every soul dropped to their knees as an invisible pressure crushed the very air.
From deep within Rudra's spiritual sea, where a crimson throne floated amidst cosmic waves, a comet of red light burst forth—striking Crystal's forehead like a divine seal.
In that instant, a soft hand—gentle, familiar—rested on Rudra's back.
The pressure vanished.
"That's enough, honey," the voice whispered.
Rudra collapsed into unconsciousness.
"...Mom...?"
The woman who entered the Dean's office carried Crystal's body like a sacred relic.
Dean Selenus didn't have time to breathe.
Her knees buckled instinctively as the force of a divine presence crushed her presence into dust.
The Queen of Sin had arrived.
Her presence always activates the innate skill known as Queen's Nature [Majestic Nature]—a power so absolute that none could remain standing in her presence. All the heads will feel the ground at that time. It was not a command. It was the law of reality.
The Three Queens—Queen of Virtue, Queen of Sin, and Queen of Despair—were sisters. The innate skill of the Queen's nature is in their blood.
Not a single person in the realm had ever seen them from above. Only their heels.
The Queen's voice was cold, cruel, and commanding.
"This room is far too cramped."
She, with a gaze, obliterated the entire building, leaving only air and silence in its place.
Then she spoke, eyes glinting with violet fury.
"You must be careful how you deal with my son. If a single strand of his hair is lost… if something dear to him breaks… half the continent will burn into Ashes.
You're lucky it was me who came.
If it had been Demolias… you would've watched this continent vanish with your own eyes." She will wipe out the entire human race, and the human race can only live in the past tense
She turned, and the wind scattered behind her like fearful whispers.
"Handle this mess. If I ever return… it will be the end."
And then she vanished.
A few minutes earlier.
Far beneath the earth, in the sacred Queen's Flame Chamber, Saki stood before the massive glowing pillars.
Each pillar represented one of the Three Queens, and the heart of the flame belonged to Rudra's mothers.
She knelt and poured a single drop of his blood into the central flame.
The seals shattered.
The chamber roared.
And the Queens awakened.
Demolias, the Queen of Despair, emerged in frilly clothes with flower patterns. Her eyes gleamed like suns over the battlefield. At her side stood the Queen of Sin, silent and composed.
"Why did you break the seal?" Demolias yawned. "Let me guess. Another war?"
Saki bowed. "The empires are attacking Sarpavana… Your Majesty."
Demolias scoffed. "Even bugs know to stay quiet when the Queen breathes."
"The Queen… is missing," Saki added quietly.
The Queen of Despair's eyes narrowed. Haaah! Is she for real?
"Tch. So, it begins again." So annoying that thing.
You, maid, where is my cute and sweet son? I need to meet him.
He is in Eleanora's domain, your highness.
Oh, then you can leave from sight.
At present...
Moments later, the Queen of Sin returned, carrying Crystal in her arms.
"Demolias. Here. A gift."
Demolias tilted her head.
"A demon? No… wait. Primal Crystal Demons? I thought they went extinct during the Extraterrestrial War. I was what—eighteen? No, twenty? Whatever. Who is she?"
Our son's friend, I think she is close...
"Ohh~ well then. Say no more."
Demolias carried Crystal to her private chamber.
She stabilized her sea of consciousness, calming the violent flames of envy that threatened to consume her.
She dressed her in a robe of demonic dragon scales, coated her lips in phoenix blood, and her lashes with scorpion venom. A crown of shattered crystal horns was reforged into a majestic diadem.
Then she ignited the Erupting Void Flame inside Crystal's soul.
Her body shimmered.
Her power soared—reaching Sovereign at terrifying speed.
The Destroyer's Envy Flame had chosen its heir.
Crystal opened her eyes. A different girl… no longer afraid.
The Queen of Despair gave the final command:
"Oyy girl! Go west. Surandha Empire awaits you." Just burn the total empire.
The Queen's voice echoed like a funeral bell.
"I don't want to see even a grain of dust from Surandha by tomorrow morning.
From sunrise… There will be no Surandha, no Ariel, no Taras. In the east, there will be fewer nuisances from now on.
GO."