Myths Reawakened

A dense web of deadly rays swept across the sky and the land, peeling away space that shattered like mirrors. As space continued to collapse, the molten territory grew increasingly unstable. Raging torrents of magma surged toward the sky nonstop as enormous hands of shifting lava reached out desperately to seize the millipede and drag it down into a searing embrace.

The rays of light converged, severing the lava hands. With his thoughts suppressed, Wayne was unable to access his full authority as the lord. He could only rely on the tricks he had figured out to battle the Thousand-Eyed Demon.

He felt inadequate, but the Thousand-Eyed Demon disagreed. He firmly believed that the Bat Demon possessed exceptional talent, born with the perfect qualities to become a demon lord. It just needed to grow for a few years in the human world, and it would surely be able to fight its way back to hell and become more powerful than ever.

Thinking about how he had been the one to personally push the Bat Demon to such heights intensified the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s hatred. He was determined to drag the bat to hell, refusing to give it the chance to level up safely in the human world. As for whether the Bat Demon would rise in power once in hell, the Thousand-Eyed Demon wasn’t worried.

It was impossible, absolutely impossible!

Hell was a difficult place to be. Even he, a veteran demon, struggled to survive there. How could a complete newbie achieve anything? Just because the bat had talent? Oh, no. There was no shortage of geniuses in hell. Just wait to be wrung dry by succubi!

The Thousand-Eyed Demon put ninety percent of his attention on the Bat Demon while gathering power for a second round of self-detonation. That greatly reduced the pressure on Renata, allowing her to reach the gates of hell.

The dark vortex swirled chaotically. One powerful impact would open the gateway to hell from the human world. Once the gates opened, it would most likely attract some demons to descend.

Although there was a possibility of nothing happening, Renata didn’t dare to make the gamble. Worst-case scenario, the Thousand-Eyed Demon could have more plans; perhaps a demon lord was personally leading a great army and waiting to enter the human world on the other side of the gates.

Time was of the essence. Renata dispersed the sacred spear in her hands and stood atop a magic circle in midair. Her holy wings scattered feather by feather, transforming into more than ten chains that plunged deep into the dark mist, stopping the counterclockwise rotation of the vortex.

The chains alone weren’t enough. She needed to add a lock to the gates!

“Gunther, recite the Golden Law. Let more of my holy power descend,” Renata said slowly, speaking through the Sacred Tome of Golden Law to her contractor, namely Gunther.

Angels were servants of God, and priests were in the same position. Though both were servants, angels held a far higher status than priests due to their proximity to their Lord. However, their relative positions changed when a priest possessed the Golden Law.

Gunther, for example, had the Sacred Tome of Golden Law, allowing him to summon angels to the human world and give them orders. Angels could not violate the Golden Law and thus could not disobey his commands. In that regard, Gunther’s status was higher than that of angels.

Conversely, priests who held the Golden Law were tools in the angels’ eyes. When necessary, angels could sacrifice these tools to reach their maximum power in the human world.

Gunther didn’t refuse. Enduring the dizzying sensation of his thoughts running dry, he began reciting the Golden Law word by word. With all his energy devoted to it, he had to retract his wings of light. Amid the scorching heat and acrid sulfur, he relied entirely on Atori’s protection to avoid instant death.

Seeing the Archbishop preparing to sacrifice himself, Atori felt his chest tighten. He channeled his mana to Gunther to ease his suffering, but alas, that wasn’t what Gunther lacked. No amount of mana from Atori would help.

Meanwhile, to prevent the Thousand-Eyed Demon from detonating himself to bring about mutual destruction, Wayne piloted the Bat Demon high into the sky. Its tail coiled around the indestructible altar as he flew through the dense web of deadly rays. It was incredibly agile and fast, and it was going faster.

The territory lord’s authority awakened bit by bit, making the Thousand-Eyed Demon increasingly wary. No matter what, he had to drag the Bat Demon down to hell with him.

Over a thousand demonic eyes focused on the Bat Demon simultaneously. Deadly rays converged into a single beam that shattered space thunderously, crashing toward the Bat Demon with unimaginable destructive power.

Perfect! That was what Wayne had been waiting for. Beating his wings to hover in midair, he whipped his tail to hurl the altar forward.

Despite the tail’s slender appearance, it was remarkably strong. The angel could attest to the fact after getting choked by it. In that moment, she had nearly gotten decapitated; her body could’ve flown away without her head.

The altar shot through the air like a cannonball and collided with the deadly beam. As the altar became completely pulverized, the beam also disintegrated and ceased to exist.

How? The Thousand-Eyed Demon was stunned. The altar... it seemed far more powerful than he’d imagined, definitely not just a simple reincarnation tool.

Wayne didn’t understand it, either, but there were too many things he didn’t understand. He paid it no mind, instead beating his wings faster to flash right above the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s head.

Raising both hands, he commanded the entire territory to submit in the name of its lord. Air currents converged from all directions, and amid the turbulent atmosphere, a greatsword of lava over a kilometer long was pulled out of the molten sea. It had no edges, more like a red whip than a blade. As the Bat Demon’s hands swung down, the lava greatsword split the air with thunderous roars, crashing into the millipede’s back with unstoppable momentum.

The moment of contact heated the black exoskeleton of the millipede until it was red-hot, and a pungent stench spread.

The millipede writhed, letting out piercing screams as a section of its body got melted and burned through, plummeting toward the molten sea. The section of the body comprised a third of the millipede’s total length. Midair, it dissolved and reformed, reshaped by the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s thoughts.

A massive half-human, half-millipede being stood in the air. There were hundreds of writhing appendages on its lower body, their friction with the air making nauseating rustling sounds. On its upper body, the appendages extending from its torso wriggled. The head, enveloped in black mist, flickered with countless pairs of red eyes.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon conjured massive black curved blades with both hands and slashed at the Bat Demon, each a hundred meters long.

The Bat Demon flew away, raising both hands to lift the red lava sea. Unable to submerge the Thousand-Eyed Demon as intended, he transformed the sea into a giant dripping with red molten mud, which raised its fists to punch the demon.

The dark blades easily severed both arms of the lava giant, but the wave of magma crashing toward him tormented him, scorching his thoughts and making his soul feel the excruciating agony of being roasted. The half-human, half-millipede abomination swung its black blades to create a curtain of black smoke. Wave after wave of lava clung to it, burning the black veil until it glowed red.

Red hands tore through the veil. The lava giant charged at the Thousand-Eyed Demon. Though the demon swung his blades again, the blades were caught by the lava giant’s hands midway. Energy collided with thunderous reverberations, and the space around the two monsters teetered on the edge of collapse.

The Bat Demon calmly controlled the lava giant. His six golden eyes blazed with a murderous glint, and the hands gripping the dark blades suddenly clenched, crushing the two hundred-meter-long blades to dust.

The bat grew stronger again! How could it learn so quickly?

While the Thousand-Eyed Demon reeled from the shock, the lava giant threw itself toward the half-human, half-millipede abomination and wrapped its arms around it, trapping it as they both plummeted toward the red molten sea below.

There was a rumbling splash, followed by an echoing scream.

Having dealt with a third of the millipede, Wayne piloted the Bat Demon to soar higher in the sky. Glancing at the angel who had sealed and locked the gates of hell, he raised one hand. Two massive lava beasts rose into the air, clutching the head and tail of the millipede.

Air currents hissed. The millipede raged, its shell changing from black to red at a visible rate.

“Go to hell!”

Wayne made a downward gesture, and the lava hand hurled the writhing millipede toward the sea of magma below.