“Step forward and be purified”. Those were the last words Igorath heard before his surroundings disappeared and he was surrounded by endless white.

“What… is this…” He whispered in shock as he looked all around him.

Zeld was a member of the proud Minotaur race and he had been blessed by the Phoenix of Envy 11 years ago, his might was something that many envied but for him it was not enough. Above his head were the Avatars of Envy and that was a position he desperately wanted. The power they held made him shake with fear but it also made him seethe with rage.

He was more worthy than many of them and it was plain for any to see. The fact that they had been graced by that power rather than him was a ridiculous insult. As a Minotaur, his strength could trample most of the other races in the same cultivation rank, so if he became an Avatar he would have been one of the greatest killers alive. And yet, despite this clear truth, the power of an Avatar had eluded him for a full 11 years. It was a disgrace.

What was even more humiliating was that there were many creatures from inferior races that had become Avatars. In fact, the Avatar of Envy who was currently commanding him was a GOBLIN, the lowest of the low! What sense did that make?!

He hated Zeld with a burning passion and there was nothing that he wanted more than to squash the ugly goblin beneath his hoof.

Alas, before his awaited ascension, engaging Zeld in anything resembling violence was simply looking for death.

But that did not mean there was nothing he could do. Other than raising his own strength, he had been having secret dealings with another Avatar called Undorath. Undorath was another Avatar of Envy and he allegedly had a slightly better similar assimilation level as Zeld, but more importantly, he was also a Minotaur.

It was actually uncommon for races to still stick together after Envy took over everything - at least as far as he was aware - but a few of them did and the Minotaurs were one of them. However, they did it very secretly and he was starting to think that others did the same. In fact, Igorath himself had not known that the Minotaur race were still allied together until Undorath had first contacted him.

Apparently, a Minotaur called Thundarack was their leader and it was he who had created the secret alliance. Igorath knew him very well. He was one 9th child of their race’s Demon King and his prospects had been infamously pitiful, however, when the Phoenix of Envy appeared everything changed.

No one knew what had happened to Thundarack because he had disappeared and many thought that he had died and become someone’s prey. When a Monster kills you the only thing left of your body would be ashes, so when someone went missing, it was usually assumed that they had become just another pile of ashes amongst the hundreds of thousands that filled the continent.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

But then in shocking fashion, Thundarack reappeared and in the same day killed his entire family, including his Demon King father. It was something that - at the time - made less sense than a Goblin becoming an Avatar.

In any case, it was this stunning traitor that had decided to make a Minotaur alliance under the Phoenix of Envy, and Igorath had been surprised when he heard about it. He had never come into contact with Thundarack before but even he had heard of the various tales pertaining to that ruthless solitary creature. Who knew that such a being was making allies behind such a vicious exterior?

Nevertheless, it was not something that he could deny, even if he wanted to.

Undorath was one of Thundarack’s subordinates and they had been planning on welcoming him into the fold because of his talent; Apparently that’s what they did. They sought out promising Minotaurs to take into the group and helped them become Avatars of Envy. Their plan to help him supposedly had something to do with Zeld and Igorath was all too happy to comply.

He had been dreaming about finally overcoming Zeld in this war and wiping away his shame, he hadn’t even paid attention when the chimeras took flight as thoughts of his promising future filtered through his mind, but then all of a sudden a golden flash illuminated the sky and then a gigantic flying beast suddenly began erasing all of their chimeras with a single attack.

And as if it wasn’t shocking enough, an even more ridiculous beast that nearly covered the sky appeared and then there was another flash. Before he could react, he found himself in this… place.

What was the meaning of this?

Nothing that had occurred for the last 5 minutes made sense. He felt like he was dreaming. Only in his dreams would he see ridiculous scenarios like this. But… he was perfectly lucid. He had never once dreamed and knew that he was dreaming. What below Envy was going on?!

“Hey- Ah. I… can really speak… This is not a dream. What is-”

*BUM!*

Once again a golden light snatched his attention. He swiftly looked up and raised his arms to defend himself but all he saw was a giant floating symbol. It was golden… in… colour… and…?

…Wh-..-at?

I’m… di-...zzy…?

Before he knew it everything went black.

…

Zeld watched in shock as all of his subordinates simultaneously had their green eyes switch to gold as their facial expression fell slack.

“Wha- Urgh?!” A sudden pain struck his head and blurred his vision. He immediately leapt backwards and flared out his Spirit Sense to look for the attacker but found no such thing. That left only one possibility.

He hurriedly looked up at the giant sky-covering phantom beast, but as soon as he locked as with it an even greater pain struck his head that caused him to flinch in pain and fall onto his bottom. This time his vision was more than just blurry, he was practically seeing everything in triple and his peripherals were darkening.

He shut his eyes tightly to try and shake off the discomfort, but when he opened them again, all he could see was endless white.

“Redi…culous…”