Chapter 794 – Unwanted Reward

A ripple of nervous laughter moved through the nobles.

Forced.

Thin.

Lux turned his attention to the rest of them.

"Anyone else?"

Casual.

Almost bored.

He felt the Envy field trying to recalibrate. Trying to recover from the disruption. Trying to reignite competition.

But something had shifted.

The comparison had inverted.

They weren’t measuring themselves against each other anymore.

They were measuring themselves against him.

And that?

Was dangerous for Vira’s control.

Lux rolled his shoulders once, stepping back toward the center of the arena, relaxed, composed.

Son of Greed.

Son of Lust.

CFO of Hell.

And right now?

Impatient.

He glanced briefly toward the edge of the arena. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’Corvus,’ he called silently.

A beat.

Then...

’Artifact’s fully active. You have maybe minutes.’

Lux’s expression didn’t change.

But inside... the board had shifted.

And this little theater?

Was officially over.

No one answered him.

Not a single noble stepped forward. Not Wrath, not Pride, not the background noise that had been so eager five minutes ago. They stood there in that polished arena like expensive statues who had suddenly realized statues couldn’t fight back. Pride had been kneecapped, literally. Wrath had been outmaneuvered.

Lux stood in the center, hands relaxed at his sides, breathing slow, posture open. Casual. Approachable.

Then Vira stood.

And the arena shifted again.

"I guess," she said lightly, her voice regaining its silk coating, "that makes Mr. Vaelthorn the winner."

The nobles parted for her without being asked. Her steps were smooth, measured, every movement calibrated for effect. She descended from her seat like a queen stepping onto a battlefield she technically owned, wine glass now abandoned, expression composed but tighter around the edges.

Lux summoned his infernal jacket back onto his shoulders with a flicker of dimensional shimmer. The fabric settled perfectly against him as if it had never left. He slid his arms into the sleeves, adjusting the cuffs with deliberate calm.

’Let’s end this clean.’

Vira stopped in front of him.

Close.

Too close for politeness.

Her gaze lifted to meet his, eyes sharper than before.

"I guess..." she began softly, just loud enough for the nobles to hear, "you got what you want."

A beat.

"I’m yours for the night."

The air froze.

Oh.

The nobles reacted immediately, some stiffened, some masked disappointment, some tried very hard to look like they weren’t internally screaming.

Lux?

Lux almost laughed.

He swallowed it down.

His lips curved instead into a slow smirk.

"No."

Silence.

Not shocked silence.

Offended silence.

"I need to refuse," he continued lazily, brushing nonexistent dust from his sleeve. "Since... I don’t like... the reward."

The smirk deepened just slightly.

Vira’s pupils narrowed.

The Envy aura around him pulsed instinctively, tightening as if trying to reassert itself.

Lux’s gaze flickered for half a second.

’System. Break the Envy thread.’

[Command Confirmed.]

The system flared.

Not visibly dramatic, but internally it was like a glass web snapping in unison.

The threads coiled around Lux’s aura shattered.

The pressure vanished.

Vira staggered.

It wasn’t theatrical. It wasn’t a fall. Just a subtle shift in balance. Like someone who had been leaning unconsciously and suddenly lost resistance.

Her eyes widened.

"You..." she breathed.

Her aura flickered wildly for a fraction of a second before stabilizing.

"You were just pretending."

Lux inclined his head slightly in a small, polite bow.

"Not pretending," he corrected gently. "It’s called professionalism."

The nobles looked confused.

Vira looked furious.

Lux exhaled slowly, letting the air leave his lungs in a long, almost tired breath.

"I did it because you’re the royal heiress of Envy House," he continued calmly. "The one who is... solid."

The word carried weight.

Even if he didn’t mean it as praise.

"Even if I don’t like you," he added bluntly, "I need to keep my composure."

A ripple went through the nobles again.

Direct.

Too direct.

Vira’s composure cracked slightly at the corners.

"You don’t like me?" she asked, voice dangerously soft.

Lux huffed lightly.

"Envy House bears special conditions for its heirs," he said, voice lowering slightly, not loud, but clear. "You strip each other’s power. Build networks just to dismantle them. Steal status. Steal leverage. Sometimes even each other’s titles."

His eyes held hers.

"Many promising heirs end up as slaves or servants for others Envy. Sold. Broken. Used."

The nobles shifted uncomfortably.

He wasn’t wrong.

"And it’s sad," Lux finished, shrugging lightly. "Honestly."

He stepped a little closer, not threatening, just enough to make the point intimate.

"I prefer someone more reasonable. More intelligent. Less drama."

His smirk sharpened.

"Less... attention whore."

It was soft.

But it landed like a slap.

Vira snapped upright.

"What did you say?"

Oh.

There it is.

The elegance cracked fully this time.

The nobles stiffened.

Lux tilted his head slightly.

"You heard me."

Her jaw tightened.

"You... Maybe you are Greed," she said coldly, voice losing its sweetness entirely, "but you are in my domain. So you need to control your tongue."

Ah.

Threat territory.

Her aura flared violently.

The Envy field spiked.

The sigils around the arena ignited brighter, reacting to her surge.

And then... She changed.

Her elegant form distorted, not grotesque in a traditional sense, but wrong. Envy didn’t transform like Wrath or Lust. It fractured. Her skin took on a slick, reflective sheen like polished jade cracked by internal veins of darker green. Her eyes multiplied subtly, not physically, but perceptually, like every angle of her face was watching at once. Shadowy silhouettes flickered behind her form, reflections of other versions of herself, thinner, taller, sharper.

Beautiful.

In an unsettling way.

But not appealing.

Lux’s eyes flicked over the transformation clinically.

Envy’s demonic form wasn’t brute. It wasn’t sensual.

It was comparative distortion.

Her silhouette shifted slightly to mirror Lux’s height, then Arctyros’s shoulders, then someone else’s posture before settling into something elongated and unnatural.

The nobles stepped back instinctively.

They hadn’t expected escalation.

Lux remained still.

Her voice, layered now, echoed slightly as if spoken by more than one throat.

"You insult me. In my domain."