Arc 3 – Leviathan: Envy (Chapter 4 of 7)
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Lucen sat beneath a rusted metal crane by the pier, soaked to the bone. His fingers trembled—not from cold, but from pressure. Leviathan hadn't just attacked.
He'd whispered.
And worse, he'd made sense.
Lucen stared into the oily sea. The waves weren't moving. They stared back.
Suddenly—
The water split.
Not crashed, not splashed—parted, like curtains of reality being pulled aside.
And there, standing on the seabed, were three figures.
Lucen froze.
His old monk mentor — Master Eshun.
His city friend — Reya, the girl who gave him his first job.
And the third—
Lucen's childhood pet ram, Baru, walking like a man on two legs, stitched with kelp and coral.
Their eyes were green.
"You chose this," Reya said. Her voice came from everywhere.
"You let us die."
Lucen took a step back.
"No," he whispered. "This is a trick."
"You envied the life you never had," Eshun said. "So you destroyed the one we gave you."
Lucen's hands curled into fists.
But the voice that came next shattered everything.
It was his own.
From behind him.
He turned.
And saw Zaqel Fallmoon.
Not just a reflection.
A full, flesh version of himself — but taller, horned, grinning. Regal. Devilish. With green flame curling off his shadow.
"Do you know what envy really is?" the devil-Lucen said.
"It's not wanting what others have.
It's believing you should've had it first."
Lucen's breath caught.
Zaqel walked around him slowly. Hands behind his back. Green-crowned. Cloak dragging across the wet stone.
"They call me Leviathan's puppet, but he merely held a mirror. I am your hunger. The version of you who doesn't settle for forgiveness. Who doesn't pretend you can buy redemption in quiet jobs and cheap apartments."
Lucen lunged forward — but Zaqel melted into sea spray.
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Scene – Leviathan's Illusion World: "The Parade of Almosts"
Lucen fell again — not physically, but mentally.
He was now in a city.
But not his.
It was CoreCity, twisted.
Buildings shaped like thrones. Statues of his devil form lined the roads.
People bowed to him — smiling, weeping, praising him.
Every screen flashed:
ZAQEL — THE TRUE KING.
LET HIM ENVY NO MORE.
He stumbled through the streets, watching versions of himself walking in gold robes, drinking wine, seducing queens, killing villains with a flick of his finger.
Lucen stopped in front of one screen.
It showed him… holding Reya's hand.
She was alive.
And she looked proud.
Behind them? A burned world. Cities crumbling. Smoke in the air.
Zaqel had saved them — by conquering.
By letting the envy win.
"What would you rather be, Lucen?" a voice whispered.
"Loved in shadows?
Or feared in the light?"
Lucen's knees buckled.
He almost said it.
He almost admitted he was tired.
Tired of being misunderstood. Hated. Judged. Tired of pretending the weight didn't matter.
But then—
A bell rang.
Soft. Gentle.
Like a temple bell from the hill.
It cut through the fog.
And from it, a memory rose.
Master Eshun's voice.
"When you feel jealous of the sun, child, remember — even the moon can light the path at night. And the moon is never afraid to be second."
Lucen's eyes burned.
He stood.
And he rejected the crown.
The green glow hissed around him. The screens shattered. The false parade faded.
The sea screamed — as if Leviathan himself had been wounded.
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Scene – Return to Reality
Lucen opened his eyes.
He was still on the pier. His body hadn't moved.
But his mind had returned sharper, stronger — and now glowing faintly.
A new rune carved into his chest: Fortitude. It pulsed softly.
He didn't defeat Leviathan.
Not yet.
But he'd refused the gift.
And that… was a blow.
He looked to the sea.
"You want envy? You want to drown me in mirrors?
I'll show you what a cracked mirror looks like."
He turned away.
For now.
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⚔️ End of Chapter 30