Chapter 1196 The Dark Prince's ReverseScale A few hours later, just as William finished having dinner with his mother, Superbia asked him to talk in private with her and Invidia. The Half-Elf agreed because he wanted to know what the "leader" of the Seven Deadly Sins wanted from him after they had chatted with his mother that afternoon. Superbia told him to meet them in a location that was three miles away from the Sacred Grove. William thought that the two sins asked this of him because they didn't want to feel intimidated by the ladies that were always by William's side. The two Sins were especially wary of Astrape, Bronte, and Titania, whose strength was something that neither of them couldn't gauge. "I'm here," William said as he arrived at the promised location. "What do you want to talk about?" Superbia smiled before reappearing in front of William to deliver a blow that contained the full power of her divinity. The Half-Elf only had time to move his body to the side at the unexpected surprise attack that he didn't see coming. "Got you!" Invidia, who was standing not far from William, shouted as a whip-like weapon coiled itself around William's leg. "This is what you get for ignoring me!" The whip turned purple and William immediately felt a stinging pain on his leg. It was also at that moment when a series of notifications appeared on his status page. < You have been poisoned by the Divinity of Envy > < Your reaction time will decrease drastically > Before William could even finish reading the rest of status ailments that had been applied to him, he saw Superbia's fist out of the corner of his eye and immediately used his fist to deflect it to the side. Right now, William's strength had been temporarily degraded to that of a Myriad Beast, which allowed the two Deadly Sins to fight him on even ground. A series of powerful explosions rocked the surroundings as William exchanged blows with Superbia. Although he was able to turn his body around, he was unable to move from his spot as if was being held in place by an invisible force, which prevented him from dodging, or escaping. Left with no alternative, he met Superbia's blows with his own, making the latter flash a devilish smile, as if she had met an opponent that she could go all out on. Invidia knew that something must be done in order to break the stalemate. Although she didn't hate William at first, the Half-Elf's attitude of ignoring her had made her quite resentful, so she decided to teach him a lesson that he would never forget. The Sin of Envy lunged at the Half-Elf with the intention of punching his face until she had vented her frustration. William sensed her sneak attack, so after blocking Superbia's attack, he twisted his body around to deliver a kick to the approaching green-haired beauty to send her flying. However, just as he turned around to deliver the blow, he saw a pink-haired girl with her arms pulled back in preparation to punch him. The momentary lapse in judgment due to seeing someone he loved appear in front of him caused William to receive Superbia's blow from behind, and Invidia's blow on the chest. The Half-Elf endured the pain, and unleashed a barrage of punch and kicks, which forced the two ladies to back away from him. "Heh, it seems that you really like Gluttony," Envy, who had taken Chiffon's appearance, said with a smug expression on her face. "Although this appearance is a bit stuffy for my taste, I don't mind using it if it will make you suffer." Superbia didn't say anything because this was one of Invidia's ability. The Sin of Envy could freely change her appearance for a short period of time, and even gain the power of the people whose form he had taken, with the exception of the power of their Divinities. For example, she could use Chiffon's Martial Art Skills, but she couldn't use the power of her Gluttony, which could eat almost anything in existence. "Wait, I have a better idea," Envy said before changing her appearance to Princess Sidonie who was the most beautiful among all of the Deadly Sins. "this suits me better, right?" By default, Envy could copy the appearance of the Seven Deadly Sins without any problems. In order for her to copy someone's appearance, she should have seen them personally first and imprint their image in her mind using her divinity. She could use the faces, as well as the powers, of those whom she had copied with her Divinity for an hour everyday. One could even say that she was the most flexible fighter among the Seven Deadly Sins because of this specialty of hers. This was why Felix was the most interested in her because if he managed to gain Invidia's Power, he could practically infiltrate the alliance and wreak havoc within their ranks. Superbia knew about this, so she decided to take her away from Felix, and prevent her from being deprived of her powers. Using Princess Sidonie's appearance, Invidia created two giant fireballs and hurled them at William. She wasn't afraid about burning the Half-Elf to a crisp because she believed that if he couldn't even handle this attack then he was no better than Felix, whom they had betrayed. "You shouldn't have done that," William said in a voice that was colder than a block of ice. "You went too far." The Half-Elf felt angered when Invidia took the form of his wives, and used their appearance to attack him. Invidia's power was so real, that even if William knew that she wasn't really his wife, his body, soul, and mind, still treated the Sin of Envy as if she was one of his wives who had died for him. This was the true power of Envy's Divinity. Perfect Replication. Even if you know it was fake, your entire being will still recognize it as real. The Half-Elf summoned a dark blade and slashed at the two fireballs, making them explode. He then unleashed a backhand blow behind him, blocking Superbia's attack from behind. Suddenly, several shards of ice rained from the heavens, forcing William to cover himself in a dome of black flames. "All Hail," Invidia said with a smile as she stood on top of a floating snowflake. Her long-light blue hair fluttered in the breeze, and her gaze filled with triumph made the rage in William's heart grow by leaps and bounds. "What was this lady's name again?" Invidia said while rubbing her chin. "Ah yes. It was Ella. This body feels so light and powerful. I like it. What's wrong, Dark Prince? Ready to apologize to me now?" "Apologize?" William laughed a laugh that was filled with anger. "You are the one that should apologize. No. I will torture you first before I accept your apology. There are some faces in this world that you shouldn't touch!" Suddenly the ground shook as William decided to fight without holding back. "I didn't mind if you attacked me because I was ignoring you," William stated. "But to have the audacity to use the appearance of my wives…" The ground underneath William's feet broke apart, and rock, and dirt slowly rose as if they were being pulled up by an invisible force. "And Ella' face…" The shaking intensified as a kilometer-long crater suddenly expanded around the Half-Elf. "This only means that you prepared yourself for what's coming next, right?" Without another word, a powerful explosion erupted around William as he flew towards Invidia who had taken Ella's form. Everyone important to him was his reverse scale, and Invidia had touched it not once, not twice, but thrice, making the Half-Elf unable to control the rage he was holding back. "Die!" William said as he unleashed his most powerful punch that could obliterate an entire mountain. "Overwhelming Strike!" Everything happened so fast that Superbia wasn't able to react on time. She could only gaze in horror as William charged towards her friend who was frozen in place due to William's bloodlust and killing intent. Just as Invidia saw her life fly past her eyes, the deadly fist stopped only an inch away from her nose. "Sh*t," William stated because he really couldn't force himself to punch the face of the person who had raised him since he was a baby. However, his attack was more than enough to make Invidia's eyes roll up into their sockets as she fainted due to fright. The snowflake supporting her body disappeared, and she was about to fall when William reached out to grab her waist to prevent her from falling. Invidia was still holding onto Ella's appearance, so it was very hard for the Half-Elf to see his adopted mother suffer, even though he knew that she wasn't the real Ella. 'What a scary Divinity,' William thought as he glanced at the lady in his arms. After making sure that she had only fainted, William then shifted his gaze at Superbia who was looking up to him from the ground. "Had enough?" William asked in annoyance. "Yes," Superbia replied. "It's time for us to discuss things." Superbia and Invidia attacked William in order to gauge whether he was worthy of their services. Right now, the world was divided into four factions. The Faction of the Heir of Darkness The Alliance The Holy Order of Light. And, the Faction of the Dark Prince. Superbia knew that they couldn't return to Felix's side, nor could they join the alliance. Trying to join the Holy Order of Light was also not an option, unless they had gone batsh*t crazy. Since that was the case, their only option was to jump to William's ship, and help him win the war that had already started in the Central Continent. However, the two Deadly Sins wouldn't recognize someone that was weaker than them. Because of this, they decided to fight William head-on, while his strength had been lowered to that of a Myriad Beast. The two of them were surprised that, despite the fact that he was at a complete disadvantage, he was still able to fight the two of them to a standstill… that was until Invidia used the faces of the people most important to him, causing the Half-Elf to go all out against them. "Um, do you mind if you return her to me?" Superbia asked as she looked at William who was seated on his throne, and her unconscious friend, sitting on his lap, with her head resting on his shoulder. "No," William replied. "I am waiting for her to either wake up, or return to her normal appearance. After that, I will torture her for a bit." "You know that she will only use the appearance of your other wives to prevent you from torturing her, right?" "You have a point, but you're forgetting something. I don't need to do it personally." A moment later, Astrape, Bronte, and Titania appeared beside William's throne. "The three of them will torture her for me," William stated. "Enough idle chatter. Let's talk business."