--
Seeing Lady Envy collapsing and seemingly giving up resulted in varying reactions from both parties.
Her fellow Sin Demons refused to accept this. They kept telling her to get up and continue fighting. They absolutely didn't want to see her give up just like this. They didn't want her to die in this foreign world. But most importantly, they didn't want her to die because they knew that without her, their chances of survival would drop even lower than they already are.
There is a reason why Lady Envy was the second one to succumb. Truth be told, in terms of endurance and combat wit, even King Pride would have to give way to her. But Lady Envy had been covering for others simply due to the fact that they're in this together. She suffered and recovered from injuries that would prove fatal otherwise, and this drained her faster than everyone else.
She didn't even hesitate to put herself in between a life-threatening attack and Lust, despite her obvious dislike of her simply because they're allies.
But the true reason behind her collapse was the psychological burden that has always pressured her.
See, Lady Envy wasn't born a demon. She was originally from a world called Peaceful Mother Lands, a world just like Prime Earth. When she was but a young moth, the Demon God and his lackeys landed on their world and killed everything she knew and loved. She was enslaved and was reincarnated as a Demon Moth Lady.
Usually, the enslavement would've erased all of her memories, or at least replaced them with new ones that heavily favored her new people. What they didn't know is that she's always been special. Her mental strength has always been a cut above the rest, even before she was turned into a demon. She didn't know how, but their brainwashing didn't work on her, though she acted as if it did.
She buried her memories deep into her heart, especially when she's facing the Demon Prince and Demon God. She was forced to do many unsavory things in the name of her new identity. Things that kept her up at night and psychologically tortured her for a very long time.
She also buried her talents, only showing enough to be favored but never too much that might attract their suspicion.
Despite this, Lady Envy never yearned for revenge. She didn't have the means nor the power to do so. The space pirates were too strong, and she's alone; how could she possibly entertain such thoughts?
Moreover, being a sin demon, her thoughts are always at risk of being seen by her superiors, so even if she wanted to enact her revenge against them, it'd be a miracle if she could do something before they could react.
No, Lady Envy didn't want to live for the sake of revenge. She just wanted to make the most of her new life. But even this proved extremely challenging as her new people were always pushing the bottomline of her morals.
The only light she had in this disgustingly new skin of hers was Rom'er, her beloved.
Like her, Rom'er wasn't born a demon either. Their backgrounds were pretty much the same.
The reason why he left such a deep impression on her was because he bested her in combat when she, along with a group of demons, descended into his world. He was one of the best there, and back then, she wasn't a sin demon yet. He didn't just defeat her; he has also defeated many other demons too.
Now she doesn't owe them anything anymore. She's free to go. Her only regret is that she wasn't able to see Rom'er one last time before she dies.
For the last time, Lady Envy looked at the humans.
Her silent and peaceful surrender was understood by them. Her gaze met the eyes of that shabby-looking old man with a sword. He saw her nodding towards her, and a gentle smile appeared on her face for the final time.
Swish!!
A flash of silver flooded her vision.
Despite the outraged and desperate attempts of other Sin Demons to prevent her death, Old Man Jin's sword cleanly severed her head from her shoulders.
Lady Envy felt her vision blurring, but strangely enough, it wasn't painful. If anything, she felt unprecedented peace. She instinctively knew that the old man did his best to kill her in the gentlest way possible.
She then felt a searing heat afterwards, but only for a brief second. It then turned into a warm embrace that seeped through her very soul.
'I didn't expect death to be this peaceful. How wonderful.' She marveled with her continuously blurring thoughts.
In her final thoughts, Lady Envy felt as if she were shuttling through space. She didn't know where she's headed, and she's also powerless to stop it.
She seemed to have recalled how her entire life has been, seemingly spending a long time in doing so while also vaguely being aware that her perception of time was now skewed.
In her daze, she seemed to have met the person she's longing for before she died. She could tell that she's crying in regret, shame, happiness, and relief all at the same time.
She saw Rom'er, but he wasn't a demon this time. He looked like what he was previously; he's even wearing the same clothes as he did when they first met. Lady Envy also instinctively knew that she's no longer a demon either.
Rom'er opened his arms, and she flew towards him. She hugged him so tight that it almost seemed that she wanted to fuse their bodies together.
Both souls smile in comfort and relief together, feeling some kind of release and freedom as their final memory before they rest.
Acala looked down on the clump of prisitine King Essence Souls on her hands with a gentle smile on her face before tucking it away at the most secure place on earth where nobody could harm them anymore.