Myths Reawakened

A thin mist spread across the houses scattered along both sides of the road. With barely any lights on, the village was unnaturally quiet except for the occasional dog barking. Due to the millipede infestation, the villagers had retreated home early, their usual evening entertainment halted.

The mist the millipedes emanated carried mild toxins. While a few dozen or even a few hundred wouldn’t pose a threat, they would be harmful to the nearby humans once they hit a certain number. The poisoning manifested as drowsiness and fatigue. Prolonged exposure would result in the poison seeping into the bones, turning someone’s flesh and blood into the most delectable feast for the millipedes.

To the southeast of the village was an abandoned granary, collapsed in one corner from years of neglect with weeds growing around it. Aside from the occasional secret lovers, few people ever got near. Recently, even fewer came. Everyone was too tired and drowsy to engage in the entertainment, despite it being good for both physical and mental health.

The millipedes had built their nest underneath the granary, a dark, damp environment conducive to their reproduction. Rustling noises sounded across. At the far end of the nest, a door concealed a lamp’s light.

The narrow, oppressive tunnel was barely wide enough for one person to crawl through while bending over. Past a wooden door, the space opened up considerably into a laboratory. It was ten square meters big with nothing but a workbench, a chair, and countless bottles and jars filling the remaining space.

It wasn’t easy to be a dark mage. They were like rats, despised by everyone, with bounty hunters specifically going after them.

But the dark mages themselves didn’t see it that way. They had their noble pursuits and saw themselves as above the mainstream, calling themselves pioneers of freedom who broke the constraints of traditions, finding joy and fulfillment in ancient alchemy.

They believed that they were rejected not because their methods were cruel, but because their pursuit of truth broke the monopoly of the established classes, and the mediocre masses of the magical world were simply jealous of their talent.

Quinton was one such dark mage. Originally an entomologist at Cambrook University, he was obsessed with insects and other arthropods, discovering infinite potential in them and firmly believing them to be the true rulers of the natural world. The arthropods that had existed since the primeval times, especially, were ancient, mysterious, and fascinating.

He was so devoted to his research that he forgot to eat or sleep. As a scholar unconcerned by the mundane needs in the world, his research generated no monetary value and was difficult to raise funds for, a pure passion project sustained out of sheer love.

Until one day, a mysterious figure approached the struggling Quinton. The person didn’t give him funding, but an alchemy book and a statue that was half human and half bug.

From the alchemy book, Quinton gained knowledge, and from the statue, he gained mana. His thoughts became corrupted in the process, and he developed a preference for dark environments like bugs.

He focused on studying the millipedes, building his laboratory in Southern Cambrook and attempting to resurrect the ancient millipedes with alchemy while in hiding. The bottles and jars contained the failed creations. Then a fog came, helping him achieve a breakthrough.

He successfully created two types of millipedes.

One had astonishing reproductive ability and, due to the fog, developed mysterious mutations that allowed it to generate mist from its body. The other was massive in size with an impenetrable shell and incredible strength and bite force.

The first type was responsible for the infestation in Southern Cambrook County, a highly successful experiment. The second type didn’t have the same luck; they required an endless supply of fog as nourishment, or they would quickly die.

To protect his masterpiece and bring himself closer to perfection, Quinton conceived a mad idea after praying to the statue: he would merge himself with the arthropods through alchemy.

The experiment was a great success. Through repeated modifications, Quinton had transplanted a millipede’s segments onto his own body and gained the ability to control the swarms. Now, he looked just like the human-millipede statue. He gained more power from the mist and became deeply convinced of his elevated existence, making him more obsessed with millipedes.

Later, Quinton met the mysterious person again, who praised his rebirth and reminded him to stay hidden.

The mysterious person told him about the magical world, a messy one full of tedious rules. With Quinton’s rebirth breaking many preconceived notions about evolution, he would inevitably face opposition from the mindless masses, especially the self-righteous mages. Once they found him, his experiments would go up in flames.

Quinton heeded the warning and kept a low profile, never making any major moves and instead focusing all his attention on research—until today, when a group of ten people launched an investigation into the millipede infestation.

Unlike the previous entomologists, these people came from the magical world. If he didn’t silence them, they would inevitably bring more attention to the matter.

Then, Quinton failed to silence them. Half of his children died, but he couldn’t afford to grieve. He frantically moved his laboratory.

“Specimen 584, the only remaining one of its kind, extremely precious. Absolutely cannot be left behind.”

“Specimen 001, the first ever specimen. Too significant to abandon.”

“Specimen 6921, a mature specimen, with ongoing research...”

“Special specimen SSNI...”

Going through each of the specimens, Quinton realized that he couldn’t choose. The entire laboratory was his life’s work, and every bottle and jar a treasure with equally high value. All were priceless to him.

Boom!

All of a sudden, the ground shook violently, and the laboratory trembled. The containers holding specimens crashed and shattered, the formaldehyde solution flowing everywhere, and the specimens he treasured scattered across the floor.

Bewildered, he switched his perspective with the millipede swarm outside the granary, discovering the ground swelling and rising as a net of interwoven vines unearthed the entire laboratory.

The mages had found him!

Quinton didn’t feel any fear, only anger at the destruction of his laboratory. He let out a growl and commanded his millipedes to launch a suicide assault at the intruders.

Familiar flames scorched the sky, the heat distorting the air. The dry, scorching environment made the millipedes deeply uncomfortable. One by one, they curled up until they withered and burned.

Several millipedes over three meters long burst out of the ground. They were the laboratory’s strongest guardians, impenetrable and immensely powerful, the apex predators from primeval times that Quinton had resurrected. However, it turned out that being impenetrable wasn’t equal to being invincible. Even the most ancient apex predators feared fire.

Under the targeted assault of the flames, the giant millipedes’ chitinous shells cracked, their legs turning red and carbonized. After only a few seconds, gases hissed out of their bodies, and they curled up and burned to ashes.

“Bastard, look what you’ve done!”

Quinton rushed out of the collapsed laboratory, his crimson eyes locking onto the self-righteous intruders, his chest heaving as he breathed out hot, agitated air.

What the hell is that? Human? Bug?

It’s too evil-looking!

Wayne’s scalp tingled at the sight, and he broke into goosebumps. A millipede’s segmented body had replaced Quinton’s lower body. The high temperature had burned away the white lab coat he wore, and along both sides of his chest and abdomen, rows of legs writhed, making rustling sounds.

He could accept tentacles, but not bugs, especially not a size-up one that had merged with a human. He summoned large swathes of vines with a wave of his hand to wrap around Quinton and slam him hard to the ground.

“Huh, it’s over already? The villain of the week is weak!”

The battle ended in mere moments—if it could even be considered a battle. Wayne had simply demolished the place, violently destroying the property owner’s life’s work and slapping him.

With the battle over, Darcy and Keith led their subordinates in to clean up. They went through the laboratory and packed the intact containers. As for the rest, since none of them knew enough about arthropods to distinguish between the important specimens from the unimportant ones, they selected a few oddly shaped bugs before burning the rest.

Soon, a mage made the most significant discovery: the statue!

The statue was half-human and half-millipede, just like Quinton. That drew Bishop Keith’s attention. After studying it for a while, he confirmed that it was an evil god from hell.

“Thousand-Eyed Demon!”

Wayne looked at him with figurative question marks floating over his head. Bishop, aren’t you mistaken? Where are the thousand eyes? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call it Thousand-Legged Demon?

Hell was heaven’s mortal enemy, and when it came to the evil gods in hell, Bishop Keith was the expert. Wayne supposed he wasn’t in any place to question the man.

He was just curious. The dark mage worshipped an evil god in hell and created an infestation in Southern Cambrook, and Bishop Keith just happened to invite Darcy to investigate together? Was there a possibility that Keith had known early on about the evil god’s follower and brought Darcy along as a human shield out of the concern that he wouldn’t be strong enough?

“Archdeacon Wayne, this incident involves evil god worship. Could you leave the dark mage and the statue of the evil god to the Church of Heavenly Father for custody and safekeeping?” Keith asked solemnly.

Wayne waved his hand generously. “Sure, sure, but I have to confirm with the Londan head office first before I can proceed.”

No problem at all, but let’s follow the proper procedures!

Keith watched as the statue was loaded onto the bus. He circled Wayne a few times, but when Wayne didn’t seem willing to budge, he turned to Darcy.

Brother, give me a hand here.

Don’t brother me, you heretic. Watch your mouth. Can’t you see that my boss is right there?

***

That night, the group returned to Cambrook City without any major accidents. Keith immediately contacted the Londan diocese and explained what happened with the Thousand-Eyed Demon and its statue. The statue was now in the hands of the Church of Nature, and he lacked the power to retrieve it. He hoped that the Archbishop would send someone to handle the matter.

Moreover, their previously fruitless investigation was linked back to the Thousand-Eyed Demon. The dean was right. Evil god worship was spreading within Cambrook University.

“Bishop Keith, Nature’s Archdeacon in Cambrook County is named Wayne, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You may request his assistance in the investigation. Whatever demands he makes, no matter how excessive, you must satisfy them. Make sure he accepts the request.”

“Why—”

“Don’t ask questions. Follow orders.”