Chapter 23: The Arrival of Envy, the Golden Dragon

A warm morning sun spilled across Tokyo. The city buzzed—cars honked, trains roared overhead, and giant screens flashed advertisements in every direction.

Out of the thin shimmer of light between two buildings, she appeared.
Long hair of soft pink fading into snow-white flowed behind her; golden eyes reflected the glass towers around her. The air itself bent under her presence.

Envy, the Golden Dragon, had finally descended into the world of humans.

She looked around in silence. Steel beasts rolled along the road, humans pressed glowing rectangles to their ears, and the sky—once home to dragons—was now crossed by great metal birds.

“What… are these?” she murmured, stepping aside as a motorcycle zipped past.
“Humans never had such toys before…”

Her expression was calm but confused, like a goddess visiting a world she no longer recognized.

When she reached a massive video screen in the heart of the city, she stopped cold. A smiling newscaster was speaking inside the glowing box.
Envy’s eyes widened in alarm.

“There’s a person trapped in there!”

She pressed both hands to the glass below the screen, panicked, until a young man passing by chuckled.

“Miss, that’s just a broadcast—video footage, not a prison.”

“A… broadcast?” she repeated blankly.

The man laughed again and walked off, leaving her staring upward. For the first time in centuries, Envy felt something strange—uncertainty.

She wandered aimlessly through the city, her golden aura carefully sealed to avoid notice.
Everything around her moved too fast. Humans who once trembled before dragons now lived in peace, building towers that reached the clouds.

“They’ve changed… more than I ever imagined.”

A faint pulse of dark mana tugged at her chest—the familiar energy of the Black Dragon.
She followed it instinctively, moving through the crowd until she spotted a young man standing before a shop window filled with game consoles.

Kanata Tendou.

He was holding a small, round disc in his hand, smiling faintly as if the entire world didn’t matter.

“So this is… the Black Dragon’s energy? That boy?”
“What is he doing… performing some ritual?”

She leaned closer, watching from across the street.
Kanata simply paid the cashier, waved politely, and left the store with a bag of games.

“…He purchased a circle called ‘disc.’ A ritual object?”
“Humans truly have lost their minds.”

Still curious, she followed him for a while—until a drunken man stumbled into an alley nearby, cursing at the world.
Envy tilted her head, watching him. Then she stepped forward, touching his temple gently.

“Sleep. Show me what this era has become.”

Golden light flickered through her fingers. Memories flooded her mind—cars, planes, the internet, the endless march of human progress.

She gasped and drew back, trembling.

“So much time has passed… Humans no longer remember dragons. They tell our history as myths for children.”

She walked back into the street, looking up at the clear blue sky. Laughter, chatter, and music surrounded her. Families walked hand-in-hand. Children chased one another with balloons.

“They’ve grown… peaceful.”

For the first time, her resolve wavered.

“Am I still the same creature who wished to destroy them? Have I become the relic instead?”

A child suddenly stepped off the sidewalk, a speeding car heading straight toward him.
Without thinking, Envy moved—gold light flashed—and in a heartbeat, the boy was safe in her arms on the opposite side of the street.

People applauded. Someone shouted, “That was amazing, miss!”
Envy stared at the boy, at the tears of gratitude in his mother’s eyes.

“…So this is the ‘peaceful life’ Obsidian spoke of.”

She smiled faintly—an expression that hadn’t touched her lips in centuries.

Night fell. Neon lights painted the city in color.
Envy wandered again, now weary, uncertain where to go. When a group of drunken men cornered her in a narrow alley, she said nothing—only stepped back nervously.

“Hey, sweetheart, lost your way?”
“Pretty dress… come spend some time with us.”

“Please… don’t.” Her voice trembled—not from fear of harm, but from disgust at what humans had become.

They reached for her.

“Stop.”

The voice was firm, cutting through the air like steel.
A shadow stepped into the alley — Kanata, his eyes narrowed.

“You heard her. Leave.”

The men laughed—until Kanata’s fist connected with one of their jaws. The next fell before he could even react. Within seconds, all of them lay groaning on the ground.

Envy stared in shock. The same pulse of mana—dark, ancient—beat within him.

“You… you saved me.”

She stepped closer, her golden eyes softening. Before Kanata could speak, she wrapped her arms around him. The contact froze him in place; her warmth was real, her heartbeat steady.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, her tone trembling with emotion.

Kanata blinked, utterly confused.

“W-wait, who are you?”

She lifted her head, a faint smile on her lips.

“My name… is Envy Angra.”

Kanata’s entire body went cold.
The name he had feared for weeks—the being the dragons warned him about—was standing right in front of him, embracing him as if he were the only person in the world.