Myths Reawakened

“Holy, that’s creepy!”

“...”

Filomina paused, giving Wayne a sweet smile—or she tried to, but it was forced and embarrassed.

Wayne belatedly recognized the veiled woman who had stunned him with her beauty. What was going on with the tentacles? And the hardened half of her chest seemed capable of killing someone at impact. Were all her assets artificial implants?

Suddenly, she became much less attractive to him, falling off his list of first loves, which he refreshed every day. As a result, Mona was added to the list.

Filomina held her sword in one hand and another dragon-blooded soldier in her other hand—her five tentacles. With her thoughts, she further banished the mutation in her body.

Glancing at her increasingly supple chest, Wayne realized what had happened and volunteered his help. Besides, the sword looked familiar!

She looked remarkably young, despite her other self from the inner world being old.

Wayne charged toward another dragon-blooded soldier to draw his attention and immediately kicked him in the crotch, using so much force that Wayne’s entire calf sank in. Whether the soldier had every man’s weakness or not, he stilled temporarily, allowing Wayne to step on his knee and give the crocodile head a flying knee kick.

When the dragon-blooded soldier flew into the air, Wayne’s ready fist hit him in the torso with bursts of spiraling currents, knocking him toward Filomina.

Having just corrupted a dragon-blooded soldier, she accepted Wayne’s offering with a smile. The mutation in her chest, back, and neck lessened, returning to smooth human skin. Only her arm remained in octopus form.

Since her right hand had come into direct contact with the flesh of an Astral Beast, its mutation was the most serious. She only had herself to blame for going so far, with the intention of killing her enemies at the price of her life. Otherwise, her arm wouldn’t have transformed so completely.

As the number of dragon-blooded soldiers dwindled, Filomina gradually recovered her normal human form. When Wayne offered her the last of the soldiers, her mutation was now limited to the tentacles in place of her right hand.

She slumped down against the wall, her face pale and her breathing quickened, which were signs of thought exhaustion. An illness hit suddenly and powerfully yet receded slowly. It was more difficult to resist the corruption of the Astral Plane. She knew she was near her limit.

Compared to her struggling thoughts, she was more worried about something else. She looked at her tentacles in concern. Now that she had run out of dragon-blooded soldiers, there was nowhere else for the Astral Beast’s flesh to go. It was tracing its way back to her body with increasing fervor.

Left unchecked, the resistance of her thoughts would crumble, and she would quickly turn back into a hideous abomination.

When Wayne approached her, she let go of her sword to cover her chest and nodded politely. “Thank you for your help. I’m Filomina of the Church of Moonlight.”

“A mage of the Church of Moonlight? It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Jack, a local happening to pass by.”

He knelt before her and offered to help her up. Filomina looked at her left hand, which was covering her chest, and then at her tentacled right hand, flashing him an eyeroll.

Wanna take the octopus tentacles? If not, no thanks.

She didn’t take his hand. Checking Wayne’s white shirt, she spotted the bullet holes with no blood, concluding that he could ignore bullets.

There would be various ways to do so were magic permitted, and Wayne’s state wouldn’t have caught her attention, but they were inside an anti-magic domain. He had to have rendered the bullets useless with his physique alone.

The Gold-rank mage was powerful!

Noticing her gaze on his shirt, Wayne pulled back in realization and took off his shirt to hand it to her. “Miss Filomina, put this on if you don’t mind.”

“You’re a real gentleman.”

Filomina accepted the shirt and covered her body with it.

Mona came up to them, looking at Filomina with irritation. She hadn’t covered herself with her master’s shirt yet!

Filomina, on the other hand, noticed the blade and gun Mona was holding, her expression turning complicated. It was the weapons of her other self, who was likely dead now—no, if she was killed, the weapons would be gone, too. She was likely robbed.

Filomina chose to play dumb. Jack had helped her out of her predicament, so it was only right for her to thank him. It wouldn’t make sense to mention his character flaws. Moreover, she needed to ask for more favors, so it wasn’t a bad thing that he was a collector of magical items.

“Mr. Jack, you’re a Gold-rank mage of the Church of Heavenly Father, aren’t you?” Seeing the white battle outfit Mona was wearing, Filomina believed she had made the right deduction. She quickly continued, “My companions and I were ambushed. My five companions are still being chased down. Since Luzerbourg is part of the Church of Heavenly Father’s territory, I hope that you’ll help save them.”

Her breathing grew heavy, and the right arm not covered by the shirt swelled up.

Wayne frowned. “Ma’am, you’re seriously injured. Are you sure you’ll be fine?”

Filomina shook her head and picked up the longsword on the ground, handing it to him slowly. “Take this sword. My companions will listen to you. Moreover, they are carrying a black briefcase. I hope you’ll keep it from the enemies.”

I like generous people like you!

Wayne raised an eyebrow. He would like to say that she wasn’t beyond saving, that she should believe in a medical miracle, but his hand reacted faster than his mouth and took the single-edged sword.

“Don’t worry. I’m known for my trustworthiness. By taking your payment, I will make sure to turn the enemies into a neat line of corpses. Even without the payment, I cannot let them do whatever they want in our territory as a member of the Church of Heavenly Father.”

Filomina broke into a grateful smile and slowly closed her eyes. “Please do not bring my companions here. I don’t want them to see me in this hideous state. If you don’t mind, please help me part from this world as a human.”

“Of course. You pay, so you get the final say.”

Wayne glanced at Mona, telling her to quickly bring him the briefcase and the enemy’s head. When he turned back to Filomina, her right arm had transformed back to octopus tentacles, the slimy appendages climbing onto him and coiling around his neck.

Mona walked away one step at a time, dragging her feet.

Wayne snorted, murmuring, “Interesting.” He tore off the tentacles and patted Filomina on the shoulder. “Ma’am, relax your thoughts and remember your human form. Your condition isn’t so serious that you’re beyond saving.”

Filomina opened her eyes blearily. All she saw was white. She felt a cool touch, and something seemed to be sucked away from her. Perhaps it was her vitality.

Then she remembered something and spoke in fits and starts, “The mask... their masks... can get you out of here. Don’t get close to me. You’ll be corrupted...”

She was a good woman. If they ever crossed paths again, it would be nice to get to know her better.

The patient had given him information and a bribe, so as her physician, he immediately began treatment. His back split vertically, and four tentacles reached out, coiling around Filomina’s octopus-like appendages, drawing the mutation’s corruptive energy into his body.

It wasn’t difficult to cut out the ailment. In a sense, her mutation was a form of evolution, only she couldn’t withstand it.

Back on Dragon Heart Island, Wayne had tried to consume dragon blood to evolve into a dragon boy, but the Book of Greed disapproved, and his attempt failed. The book believed the dragon blood to be beneath him!

The same happened this time. The book looked down on the Astral Beast’s flesh and refused to let it assimilate it. The power was thus rejected from his body, falling to the ground in the form of chunks of flesh.

The surgery started smoothly, and he was able to quickly cut out the corruption. However, he hit a wall after a while. The Astral Beast’s flesh wanted to live. Realizing that it had met its bane, it started to play hide and seek with him inside Filomina’s body.

The chase continued. Whenever he got some, he swallowed it. He couldn’t afford to waste too much time, though. His chest opened into a vertical line, and the great eyeball’s gaze enveloped Filomina.

As he expanded his thoughts, an indescribable whisper reached the depths of her soul, rattling and nagging her. The whispers were giving her a headache. She frowned in pain, her thoughts rising and floating. She saw the Astral Plane and felt like she was beginning to understand everything.

“Don’t let your mind wander, ma’am...”

“Remember your human form!”