"What's taking so long?!" The voice came from behind Zyssara. Followed by footsteps, and with it emerged a familiar face Finn had not expected to see at all.

It was Ezgar.

Alive, in flesh.

His crimson scales brighter than before—yellow eyes sharper as well. One of his horns was missing. His entire expression completely different from before. He looked like one of those cartoon characters that changed after getting out of prison.

He wore jet-black armor with a few gray highlights, and black aketon underneath. The armor only covered his chest, knees, shoulders, and part of his arm. A sword hung sheathed at his side—a completely different look from their last encounter.

He walked forward, metal armor clicking with each step, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his face locked in a tough expression.

'This guy is full of crap—he has to be posing.'

Ezgar looked down at Zyssara walking along the tongue until standing just behind her, at about the same height.

She looked at him with a somewhat annoyed expression, rolling her eyes. "Can't you see I'm having fun?"

"This is not the time to be having fun—"

"Yo!"

Ezgar's demeanor completely froze, his eyes widening at the familiar voice. "No…"

Smirking, Finn called out, "Long time no see, Ezgar! Glad to see you're still alive and kicking!"

Ezgar's eye twitched at the sight of him, stepping back slightly. "You said that already!"

"On the giant chicken, oh yes—I remember it like yesterday." Finn's smirk grew devilish.

Now there was only fear, horror, and disgust on Ezgar's face.

Zyssara looked between Finn and Ezgar, now curious. "What do you two have going on? You both seem well-acquainted~"

Shaking his head frantically, Ezgar snapped, "No! Absolutely not! I do not know the slightest thing about him—except that he's a no good little devil!"

Zyssara put her index finger to her lips, thinking about what that might mean.

That was until another figure emerged from the mouth of the stone head.

"I think that he is the man Ezgar kept complaining about when I freed him from the flying pig," a feminine voice spoke — smooth yet oddly mechanical, like a rapper's autotuned vocals… but attractive.

A female figure stepped forward, her skin white as snow and hair pitch-black, tied into a high ponytail. Her eyes glowed an unnaturally bright pink, and there was something unsettling about her mouth.

Her body was wrapped in torn black cloth that barely covered her chest and crotch. Across her pale skin were mouths — sharp white teeth and yellow tongues that twitched and flickered, hungrily tasting the air. Her fingernails were pitch-black, like obsidian.

'What the hell…'

Ezgar snapped his head toward her. "You don't have to mention that!"

The woman opened her mouth — yellow tongues writhing — and dropped something into it, chewing. "Why not? You gave me something really delicious to eat."

"Now that woman must know what a good meal is, ho ho ho," Chunkus added from nowhere, rubbing his belly proudly.

The girl licked her lips. "And you look delicious. You could fill every part of me up."

Chunkus's hungry grin immediately dropped, replaced by wide-eyed horror. He began backing up slowly. "I'm no meat. I eat meat."

"So do I." Her eyes glimmered. "And you happen to be meat."

"What is it that you all want?!" Theron's voice cut through the chaos, commanding and sharp. "There's nothing here for any of you. So what is it you're really after?"

Zyssara turned to him, her expression playful and venomous. "Wasn't it obvious? I said it earlier to that boy. We're here for the Envious One~" Her tongue flickered like a serpent's. "I thought someone like you would already know this."

Theron's expression darkened instantly. Silvara's too. "I never thought…" he muttered under his breath.

"You should have thought sooner, old man," Zyssara teased, giving him a wicked smirk. "We're here now—you should've seen it coming."

Finn blinked, completely lost, looking between them all.

Then it hit him.

That cocoon. That grotesque, pulsating monster thing—

It wasn't just some random creature.

It was one of the Seven Sins.

The sin representing—

Envy.

Discovering this realization, Finn finally understood how grim and serious the situation really was. This wasn't looking good for them at all.

Theron stood frozen, just as shaken—but for him, it was worse. Much worse. His rank, his position… it all meant he knew what this entailed. Something Finn couldn't possibly grasp yet.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," Zyssara said with a smirk, "we have things to attend to~"

Her golden eyes shifted toward the cocoon that Chestelle was still playing with like it was a stress ball.

Zyssara began to move—gracefully stepping off the tongue of the stone head and onto the muddy ground. As she did, more demons emerged from the darkness of the mouth—bigger, bulkier, and far better armored. Some even towered over Ezgar.

They looked like the ones Finn remembered from the wizard tower—except these ones looked like the premium edition versions.

'Damn it…'

Finn knew they couldn't let them get their hands on the so-called Envy sin—or whatever that cocoon thing was exactly. But how the hell were they supposed to stop them? He could make them trip… sure. But that was about as useful as throwing a banana peel at a tank.

The mouth-girl's eerie pink eyes turned toward him, locking on for a few lingering seconds. It was enough to make Finn's skin crawl. Then she looked away—directing her attention toward Ezgar.

"What did he do?" she asked flatly.

"He took down Celemothy and my entire squad," Ezgar said, glaring at Finn. "With the help of…" his eyes drifted down to the ground, where Majestria lay unconscious. "…her."

The mouth-girl's expression shifted—surprised, like she'd just spotted a free meal left out in the open.

While they were distracted by the sight, Zyssara continued forward—her eyes locked on the cocoon. And of course, Chestelle was still there, rolling around on it like it was a pile of bubble wrap.

Zyssara stared at her in disbelief, utterly baffled at why anyone would rub themselves on something so… incomprehensible.

"Move," Zyssara commanded, her tone cold and sharp.

"Never!" Chestelle yelled defiantly—before proceeding to roll even harder on the cocoon.

Giving Chestelle an annoyed look, Zyssara lifted her arm—and from her sleeve, a snake-like body slithered out. It wrapped tightly around Chestelle and yanked her away from the cocoon like she was nothing more than a squeaky toy.

Chestelle hit the ground with a wet splat, mud flying everywhere in glorious cinematic chunks.

With her out of the way, Zyssara stepped toward the cocoon. Her forked tongue flickered in anticipation, tasting the air as the serpent-like limb slid back into her sleeve and vanished.

She extended her pale arm, fingers curling slightly, ready to claim whatever was inside.

But right as her hand reached for it—

A scream ripped through the air from behind her.

Zyssara's head snapped around just in time to see the woman who'd been unconscious only moments ago—now very much awake, and furious.

"I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Majestria's voice thundered across the field, raw and divine.

She looked up at the massive stone head and then to the crowd of demons before her, her disgust nearly tangible. "WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?! THEY REEK OF SIN AND FILTH!"

Her fists clenched, glowing with power, divine light sparking from her fingertips.

Zyssara exhaled through her nose in irritation, eyes narrowing. She gave Majestria only a brief glance—deciding she wasn't worth her time—before turning her focus right back to the cocoon.

Of course Majestria had to wake up now. Out of all the times she could've risen from her divine nap, she picked the moment when a small army of demons and a literal snake dominatrix were standing across from them.

First problem: Finn wasn't ready.

Second problem: he had no idea what to expect from her. Would she attack the demons? Him? Both? Maybe she'd just smite everyone for fun. Who knew with her?

Still, a tiny spark of hope flared in his brain. She had single-handedly wiped out an entire slime horde and a giant monster before. So she could handle this too…

Right?!

The demons tensed, weapons drawn and muscles coiled. The mouth girl grinned like she was about to enjoy a buffet of souls. The air thickened with the promise of violence.

Then—

Thud!

One of the demons suddenly faceplanted into the mud like a sack of wet laundry.

Everyone froze.

Ezgar blinked, his eyes darting to the collapsed soldier—then to Finn. Realization struck like lightning, his pupils shrinking in horror.

"DON'T LET HIM TRIP YOU!" he shouted, pointing straight at Finn.

The field went dead silent.

The demons all stared blankly at Ezgar, confused by his outburst. One of them—the unfortunate curious type—stepped forward, tapping its toe on the mud like it was testing for landmines.

Finn's eye twitched. 'Snitch!'

Without wasting another second, Finn swung his arm out with all the unsure confidence of a man who had no idea what he was doing.

THUD!

The curious demon instantly ate dirt, face-first into the mud. The sound echoed like justice itself.

For a single, sacred heartbeat—silence.

Then chaos detonated.

Every demon unsheathed their weapon, shouting in fury, while Finn frantically flailed his hands like a malfunctioning traffic cop, tripping whoever dared to move.

Mud flew. Weapons clanged. Screams erupted.

And just like that—the battle began.

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