That had been the scariest moment of his life.

Thankfully, he would eventually go on to find that the ash did in fact have an end, and that he had not been trapped in some inescapable land of death. It took a while but he ended up finding some notable landmarks that he used to return to the Heavenly Sun Flame.

During the journey, he had asked the System about what had happened and it had congratulated him for obtaining the Eye of Cremation, which was supposedly 1 of 10 Evil Eyes, Ranked 7th.

It was completely unexpected but it was also a thing of joy. All forms of power were welcomed and he absolutely would not be rejecting it because it was called ‘Evil’. Still, it was better to figure out how it had happened so he tried to ask more. It was here that he was met with the common silence from the system.

The only question that gained an answer was ‘Why me?’ and the response had been: ‘Your desire for ashes.’

He didn’t know what that meant. He didn’t understand how his rage had led to him obtaining the Eye of Cremation, but he absolutely did not forget what led to his rage. Just remembering it provoked his anger again and it refused to let up, so by the time he had returned to the Sacred Land it was sky high.

People came to greet him, some with confusion on their faces, some with surprise and some with happiness, but he had ignored them all. He immediately flew to the territory belonging to the humans to find the man, not caring about the possible consequences.

In the end, he DID find the man, and in fact he had been talking to Liyanda at the time with a goofy smile on his face. The reverence and adoration on his had been clear to see, and the lack of care and boredom on Liyanda’s face had also been visible to all. But it did nothing to reduce his steeply climbing killing intent.

Somewhere in that moment, his new eye had begun to soak up his Mana, and in the next moment, the man was covered in blue flames, screaming his heart out in delicious agony that finally satiated something in Pharaoh that had been starving like a ravenous rat.

When he soon landed on the ground, it was in his Enlightened Form, and very purposefully on the remains of the man whose name he still did not know.

Liyanda’s eyes then had finally changed, no longer bored and instead showing interest in his new eye, as if the man she had mated with had not just died before her. It could be called heartless, but to be honest, he didn’t know what he would do if she showed grief. All he knew was that it would push him over a certain edge of no return.

They stared at each other in silence before he eventually returned to his true form and flew back to his own territory without a word.

It was after that that they had formed the proverbial ‘unspoken agreement’ to avoid each other at all costs if they didn’t have to attend a meeting with the Heavenly Sun Flame.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Ha.

Many years had passed since back then and it could be said that their relationship had mended. But they had never really apologised to each other. Their relationship was… bittersweet. It brought him unexpected joy at times that he secretly cherished, but it also broke him at times.

Technically he should have long tossed someone like that out of his mind, however, no matter how many times he tried, he could never stop her from plaguing his thoughts, never stop thinking about the perfection that she so effortlessly displayed.

Suddenly, the hand he was restraining broke out of his hold and poked him in his cheek again.

His eyebrows dropped and his eyes rose up in exasperation.

“What are you thinking about?” Liyanda asked.

Pharaoh swatted her hand away in annoyance, but on the inside he couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly his mood had shifted because of her. Well, it wasn’t like something like that was anything unprecedented, but it was an eye opener each and every time nonetheless.

“I think I saw the Devourer.” He replied after a short pause. “My Evil Eye was reacting strangely.”

“Oh?”

Liyanda turned back to the sea but she couldn’t see the rumoured giant snake.

Everybody had heard about Jörma the Devourer, the supposedly strongest creature from the Fortissimum Continent if you didn’t count the alleged goddess. She was a Beast Empress who ruled over the Snake species and a few other subsidiary races, and held dominion over the centre of her continent.

This alone was enough to catch everyone's eyes, but what those with secret knowledge valued above everything else was the tales of the power of her 3rd Eye. If Pharaoh and Liyanda were right about its identity then that meant that Jörma also had an Evil Eye.

Could this be the reason for Pharaoh’s reaction? Did the Evil Eyes share a deeper connection than just their composition and name? What would something like that mean?

Liyanda turned back to look at Pharaoh but more specifically at his Eye of Cremation. It didn’t look any different to her but she had felt Pharaoh’s abnormal discomfort earlier. Something was wrong.

The possibility of Pharaoh in serious danger crossed her mind and it immediately affected her heart rate. She didn’t like that thought, but she also didn’t like how much the thought affected her. It was normal to worry for a friend or even a mere fellow fighter, but her emotions for Pharaoh always transcended normal boundaries and that was hardly a good thing.

Pharaoh was… perfect. She could not deny that. He fit the ideal that she had for a man to the tee. She even secretly liked that he was a Beast and not a fellow Human. There was a carefully controlled ferality in him that did something for her. She wanted to see what would happen if Pharaoh, the always cold and restrained man, lost control of his desires and unleashed his passion with full force on her body.

At this point it was foolish to pretend that she didn’t desperately want him, but she would never act on those silly desires because she knew they could never come to fruition. There was too much risk involved.

So despite the strange ethereal connection between them, she had tried to cleave the image of Pharaoh from her mind at almost any cost all these years. Because of that, she had even done things that she never wanted to do, but in the end it had all been in vain.

She cared for him. Too much. And now she feared that it would affect her on the battlefield, causing unpredictable issues that she did not have confidence in dealing with.