The Four Evils.
They were titled as such for obvious reasons. Actually, they were the ones who chose such a title before anyone ever called them by it.
They were born and bred by evil. They grew up in the lawless zone, surrounded by people who had no concept of morality.
And the people they became because of that environment were something they were proud of.
At the end of the day, they survived.
They conquered evil by becoming the epitome of it, and as people who were chosen to serve the great Malevalon Straea, they were truly deserving of their title.
Their names had been lost with time.
Now, they were only known by the names given to them by the public.
'Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, and Lust.'
Four of the seven deadly sins. They'd become perfect representations of their namesakes.
And while Damien didn't have too much knowledge on the 4 Evils themselves, he was more than aware of their power.
'I can do this.'
It sucked that he had to face them. They were definitely weaker than Malevalon, but they were Gods among Gods, people whom even other Gods feared and worshipped.
Damien couldn't easily get past them. Even if he could, he couldn't do it quietly.
'If I want to escape properly, I need to kill at least one.'
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions kept coming. Mana kept wildly populating the atmosphere, leaving Damien with less and less space to maneuver through unharmed.
'They're all attacking, but it's really only Wrath.'
The explosive power all came from him.
Lust's abilities were more mental, while Envy and Gluttony didn't have explosive power.
Wrath had extreme physical strength, along with a terrifying ability to weaponize "force" itself.
Every time Damien's barriers were struck by his power, they got weaker.
Or rather, Wrath began to understand the inner workings of those barriers through the force transmitted to him.
It became harder and harder to block his attacks as time went by, because the more he understood Damien's barriers, the easier it was for him to adjust his force to destroy them.
And he wasn't aiming for Damien himself.
'Wrath is just trying to expose me. I think in normal cases, the second Lust's mana touches an enemy, they win.'
Damien had met and fought a lot of people with mind control and mental manipulation powers before. Actually, they used to be his most hated kind of people, because they would take away the freedom of those they influenced, including himself.
Lust was on a different level compared to them.
She was one of the rare few who managed to establish Godhood with mental manipulation alone.
Her power was truly something terrifying. Even Gods found it difficult to resist her, let alone a Demigod like Damien.
'I should be fine.'
Thinking about it realistically, Damien didn't think he'd be affected by her power.
'But others…'
His eyes narrowed.
To start a war with Straea, the 4 Evils needed to die.
And for the 4 Evils to meet their end, Lust had to die first.
'Okay.'
Envy was an assassin-type. Her main speciality, however, was the ability to copy other people's abilities.
As for Gluttony, nobody had a real understanding of his power, but from Damien's experience with the deadly sins, Gluttony was definitely the most dangerous.
'I have to be careful of them.'
Damien was still rapidly moving through the air.
The 4 Evils below had stopped their brainless attacks, probably out of boredom.
They would approach Damien soon enough so he could no longer avoid confrontation.
But that was fine.
Because Damien was also of the mind to fight head-on.
He immediately teleported to the ground before they could act.
His leg raised up in the air before slamming down with immense force.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive shockwave spread from his body, throwing up clouds of dust.
The 4 Evils were strong people. Just this much wasn't enough to faze them.
Damien knew that too.
In fact, his dust clouds gave Envy the opportunity she was waiting for.
To copy someone's ability, she first needed to have physical contact with them.
Seeing how Damien couldn't see her, she hid her presence and snuck around, approaching him from the back.
At the same time, Wrath charged from the front, both distracting him and trying to steal Envy's kill.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two bursts rang out as both Wrath and Envy attacked.
But the target they struck…
…was not a target at all.
In the few milliseconds that Wrath's fist was flying through the air, Damien narrowly avoided it and danced on the tips of his toes, slipping past him.
Envy was standing behind them. She should have seen Damien's movements, but her eyes seemed to skew for a moment.
It was like an illusion, or an afterimage. Damien's body blurred and moved, but at the same time, it stood still, as if he had no idea they were trying to kill him.
She misjudged the enemy because of his apparent strength, and because of that…
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two attacks hit nothing but air.
And Damien had already made his way to Lust.
She was his target.
And she seemed to be aware of that too.
It wasn't rare for them to meet an enemy who underestimated Lust's control abilities.
If they were fighting as a group, the enemies usually attacked her or Gluttony first.
But that was a mistake.
There was a reason they hung back, and it wasn't because they were weak.
Sensing Damien's approach, Lust controlled her pinkish fog to cloud the atmosphere, enveloping several meters of the area around her.
If he wanted to attack, he'd have to fall into her realm of control, and if he decided to go for Gluttony either…
Lust grinned.
'Once again, the prize is mine.'
The 4 Evils were on good terms with each other, but they were also each other's greatest rivals.
Lust knew she'd get this kill, which meant she'd be the one who gained Malevalon's praise and reward.
The thoughts of that moment clouded her mind. She was already too assured of her victory to pay attention to Damien before he was under her control.
Was she stupid?
No, she was just unaware.
Because Damien was already behind her, wasn't he?
His arm was already outstretched and covered in mana, aiming to kill her, wasn't it?
Gluttony noticed before she did.
His eyes widened, as did his mouth.
It formed a massive cavity larger than the size of his entire body, a startling sight that the other Evils had gotten used to by now.
Damien hadn't, but he'd already committed.
Watching Gluttony out of the corner of his eyes, he moved his arm to strike.
His mana went wild into the air, signaling his presence to Lust.
She whipped around, an expression of shock in her eyes.
And the first thing she saw…
A beautiful burst of mana, so bright that it blinded her.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Damien's mana exploded into the air only centimeters away from her face.
And at the same time, Gluttony attacked.
Wrath and Envy charged towards Damien from the back and the side.
Amidst all of this, he began to wonder…
'...was attacking right now really the right idea?'
