Chapter 1099: 1098: Eyes of Envy

Simon sat on the surface of the sea without moving.

Rain kept falling on him. Cold sweat ran down his back beneath his robe, and his breathing was still slightly rough. His heart was beating faster than it should have been.

It was not from exhaustion.

It was from what he had just seen.

The darkness. The thousands of pale eyes. The cold hands holding him as though they had all the time in the world.

And that voice.

’Shadow.’

Simon’s brows slowly drew together.

What was Shadow?

Was it a living being? A being stronger than the gods he had faced in his past life? A powerful Daemon from an age long forgotten… from the time of Lilith?

Or was it the Shadow Plane itself?

Then another thought came to him, and his eyes narrowed.

’Could it be the ancient Shadow Monarch?’

The voice had said that he killed "the one who would have worn my crown." There was only one person that could refer to.

Thorgan.

And Thorgan had the potential to become the next Shadow Monarch.

’So does that mean the Shadow Monarch isn’t actually dead? Or was that a remnant of him? His soul? His spirit? Some part of his power that still lingers in the Shadow Plane?’

Simon didn’t know.

And the questions didn’t stop there.

Could this being attack him?

If it could, how? Through his own shadow? Through the shadows around him?

Was his shadow even safe anymore?

And why had this happened at all?

He had devoured many demons and Daemons with elemental affinities. Elder Mulon’s ice. The ram-horned Daemon’s earth. The coral-jawed Daemon’s water. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

’Is the shadow element different from the others?’

Or was it because of who he had taken it from?

Thorgan, who might have become the next Shadow Monarch.

Ilvara, a Shadow Walker whose affinity went beyond the S grade.

Both of them were special to the shadows. Perhaps that was why.

Then would he face something similar if he killed a demon, a Daemon, or even a human with an affinity beyond the S grade? Would fire, wind, or ice also come for him one day?

Or was this only limited to the shadow element?

Simon had so many questions and thoughts swirling in his head.

But he had no answers.

He knew nothing about it, and he had no way of knowing which guess was right.

’If only Lilith was here.’

But she was still somewhere in Vhal-Sar.

Simon exhaled deeply.

Then he looked down at his shadow with narrowed eyes.

It had stopped trembling. It lay on the surface of the sea beneath him, dark and still, exactly as a shadow should.

He spread his perception into it carefully.

Nothing.

He couldn’t sense any danger from it. No foreign presence. No eyes looking back at him.

But that didn’t mean it couldn’t become a danger to him in the future.

Simon’s frown deepened.

The problem was that there was nothing he could do about it. How could he be wary of his own shadow? How could he be wary of every shadow around him?

There were shadows everywhere. Beneath every table, behind every door, beneath his own feet every moment he stood in the light.

If he tried to stay wary of all of them, he would be living in paranoia for the rest of his life.

Simon clicked his tongue.

"Tch."

He ran a hand through his wet hair in frustration.

"Fuck it."

He let his hand fall.

"Whatever it is, if it comes for me, I’ll deal with it then."

Worrying about something he couldn’t see or understand would only weaken him.

But he still needed to be certain about one thing.

Simon closed his eyes and entered his sea of consciousness.

The black sea spread out beneath him, calm and seemingly endless. Seven stars floated above its surface, exactly where they had always been.

Simon didn’t relax yet.

He moved across the sea slowly, inspecting every corner of it. He checked the surface. He sent his perception into the depths. He examined each of the seven stars one by one.

There was nothing foreign.

No darkness that didn’t belong to him. No pale eyes. No cold hands.

Only then did he release a breath of relief.

’At least it didn’t follow me in here.’

Then he turned his attention to the star that had baptized him.

Inside it floated the new rune. It was shaped like an eye half sunk into shadow, with a pupil as thin as a crescent moon. Beneath it was the thin chain that had once belonged to Shadow Eye, stretching away into the darkness of the star.

Eyes of Envy.

Simon placed his palm against the star.

A stream of information flowed into his mind.

It didn’t come as words. It came as understanding, like an instinct that had always been inside him and had only just woken up.

Eyes of Envy had been born from two skills.

The first was Shadow Eye, which allowed him to leave a piece of his perception inside a shadow so that he could watch and listen from far away.

The second was the skill he had taken from Ilvara, the one that allowed her shadow to record the shape, movements and fighting style of anyone whose shadow it touched.

Simon examined what they had become.

First, everything Shadow Eye could do remained.

He could still place an Eye inside any shadow he touched with his body or his own shadow. He could still see, hear, and sense demonic energy through it. And if he placed an Eye inside a living being’s shadow, it would still follow them wherever they went.

But now, an Eye could do more than watch.

If one of his Eyes was inside a person’s shadow when they performed a technique, that Eye would record it. Not just the attack itself, but how it took shape. How the energy gathered. How the technique formed, step by step, from beginning to end.

And once his Eye had recorded a technique, his own shadow could release an imitation of it.

Simon’s eyes slowly widened.

Then he went through the rest of the information, and they narrowed again.

There were conditions.

The Eye had to be in the person’s shadow before the technique began to take shape. If he placed an Eye in someone’s shadow halfway through a technique, the record would be incomplete. And if he only caught sight of an attack just before it struck, the Eye would gain too little to work with.

Watching a technique with his own eyes was not enough either. It had to be witnessed through an Eye, from inside the shadow of the one performing it.

’So I need to plant the Eye first.’

He could only hold one technique at a time.

Once his shadow released it, the technique would be gone. His shadow would have to record another one before it could attack again.

And if he recorded a new technique before releasing the old one, the old one would be erased.

The imitation also wasn’t free.

It would consume his own demonic energy, mental energy and shadow energy. The more powerful the original technique, the more it would cost him.

Its strength would depend on how much he could support.

Its completeness would depend on how much he understood.

And it would always be shadow.

If his Eye recorded a blade of wind, his shadow would release a blade of shadow. It would keep the same shape and the same execution, but any properties his shadow couldn’t reproduce would be lost.

Bloodline abilities couldn’t be recorded at all. Neither could special constitutions or unique authorities like Lilith’s True Dragon’s Authority.

Only techniques.

Simon withdrew his hand from the star and fell silent.

A few seconds later, his lips curled slightly.

’Interesting.’

It wasn’t a skill for copying techniques and keeping them forever. It was a skill for taking what an enemy had prepared and throwing it back at them in shadow form.

And in a battle, that could be the difference between life and death.

He could plant an Eye in an enemy’s shadow before the battle even began. He could watch them reveal their trump card. And when they believed they had the advantage, his shadow would answer with the same technique.

’Envy, huh.’

He finally understood the name.

It was the eye that looked at what belonged to others. The eye that wanted what they had and took it.

But the skill wasn’t complete yet. Simon could feel it.

Just like Shadow Eye before it, faint and unfinished lines extended from the rune before disappearing into the darkness of the star. Its evolution path hadn’t ended.

With the help of the Seven Stars Blessing, it would grow.

One day, he might be able to hold more than one technique at a time.

He might be able to create more than two Eyes. The Eyes might last longer and reach farther.

Perhaps his Eyes would one day record a technique without needing to be planted before it began.

Perhaps one day, he could release a stored technique directly from an Eye hidden in an enemy’s shadow, striking them from beneath their own feet.

And perhaps, in the far future, his shadow would no longer need him to command it at all. It might become fully independent, fighting beside him like a second body.

Simon looked down at his shadow on the sea.

After what had just happened, that last thought didn’t feel quite as comforting as it should have.

His shadow affinity had also risen to High A grade. Not long ago, he had tried to move his shadow and failed. He had told himself that if his affinity had been at least B grade, he might have succeeded.

Now it was High A.

’I’ll test it later.’

There were more important things to do first.

Simon opened his eyes and returned to the real world.

The rain was still falling. In the distance, smoke was still rising from Vhal-Sar.

He knew that time was running out, but if he was right, then he needed to be stronger before he could protect Vhal-Sar and kill their enemies.

Inside his body, the demonic energy of three Demon Kings was still waiting to be refined.

Simon drew his legs in and sat cross-legged on the surface of the sea. He placed his hands on his knees and straightened his back.

His eyes closed.

"It’s time to become a Superior Greater Demon."