Myths Reawakened

If the love of your life is a man, what does that make me?

Filomina sat up in shock. Yes, he... but... Since Wayne was Windsorian, she couldn’t easily dismiss his words.

You like men? Suspicious, she lifted her hands and raked her fingers through her hair, stretching like she had woken up at dawn from her sleep. She looked at him with alluring bedroom eyes.

Wayne met her gaze with an impassive face while Little Wayne greeted her enthusiastically.

You almost fooled me! Filomina smothered a chuckle, pleased with his reaction. “Who’s Clark? Is it someone you’re bothered by?”

“I don’t know him, but I have a feeling that he’ll become my lifelong rival,” Wayne said seriously. “If you’re interested, you’re welcome to look into him.”

Who knows—what if there is a Clark in this world?

Filomina filed that away in her mind and leaned down to rest on Wayne’s chest, finger drawing circles on his skin. “Again, I’m telling you not to be the Anointed One. It has nothing to do with me being the High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight. I’m warning you as a person: gods will not tolerate disrespect!”

Wayne remembered that, but only believed half of it. Rather than gods not tolerating disrespect, it would be more accurate to say that the strong’s dignity should not be challenged!

He had never changed his stance on gods, considering them the strong who made the era. The five goddesses and the Heavenly Father, as well as the fallen Storm and Thunder, were all gods. The former created the faiths of the new era, enjoying endless glory, while the latter fell from grace and became lost in history, even losing their name to obscurity.

Gods were not eternal; gods also met their end!

And gods weren’t omnipotent and omniscient.

He could list several examples, such as the Death Knight. Were gods omnipotent, why didn’t the Goddess of Death save Her knight, but instead leave him at the mercy of a group of demons? If gods were omniscient, why would there be two Death Knights in the human world, and why would his false oracles be allowed to circulate, leading to the faith of Death in Londan becoming a faith of fairness and justice?

Both were convincing evidence, especially the former.

Gods might be indifferent, but the demons manipulating the Headless Knight might as well be teabagging the Goddess of Death. If even that didn’t bother Her... well, if gods were such pushovers, why would there be a war of faiths? They should just stay in their corners and play with themselves if they were so nonchalant.

Wayne didn’t understand ‘gods do not tolerate disrespect,’ but he understood his own interpretation.

“Stop touching me. I’m talking to you,” Filomina said seriously. “Pull out of the competition. You can’t become the Anointed One.”

“I’m being truthful with you, Mina. I’m competing for your sake.”

“???”

“See? Once I become the Anointed One of the Church of Nature and surrender myself to you, the Church of Moonlight will effectively be tainting Nature’s Anointed One at the price of the purity of one High Reverend. It’ll be another achievement under your belt, and you’ll become the Pope of the Church of Moonlight.” Wayne’s imagination ran wild, and the more he thought about it, the more concrete his fantasy became.

He was Filomina’s boy toy, and once Filomina became the Pope of the Church of Moonlight, he would be a boy toy fornicating with the Holy Maiden behind her back. What a solid plan!

“So, you’ll be pinning Nature’s Anointed One under you in half a year,” he said while nodding vehemently. “Doesn’t that excite you?”

(눈_눈)

You’re out of your mind!

Filomina didn’t care about sitting on Nature’s Anointed One. She gave her young boyfriend a harsh punishment. She had not changed her mind. He had to give up now unless he had a death wish.

“Alright, I’ll stop messing with you. I’m not actually interested in becoming the Anointed One. I’m only participating to take care of my master’s enemy.” Wayne briefly explained the reason.

Filomina sighed in relief, but then said jealously, “You treat your master so well. To my knowledge, she’s your stepmother, isn’t she?”

“Um...”

“Your biological mother?!”

“...”

Wayne rolled his eyes. It was widely believed that he was Auston’s illegitimate son, and there was yet no consensus on whether Silvia had given birth to him. He didn’t know how the rumor was popularized, and absurdly, most people believed it.

The fact that Auston had never made a rebuttal in public, at least not strongly enough, showed that the old man might have a hand in it.

“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s my master, nothing more. She’s neither my stepmother nor my biological mother, but she does treat me like a son.” Wayne patted her on the bottom, not once bringing up the word ‘mother-in-law’.

Filomina gave him a pointed look. “High society and its debauchery. You nobles lead a complicated life.”

No wonder Wayne had told her to tolerate Silvia; she did have to do that, considering their relationship. They were going to be in-laws after all!

“You—forget it. As long as you understand.”

Wayne gave up on explaining himself, essentially admitting to being Auston’s illegitimate son with his silence.

***

That night, a passenger flight landed at Londan Airport. A harbor worker, an old shoemaker, and a factory worker walked out, stepping into the thick mist.

“There’s something strange about the mist...”

“It’s the Mist Domain!”

“It’s sealed.”

“Even with the seal, the leaked four elements are abundant. How prosperous the human world is...”

“Marius, your master has signed the addendum clause. Do not do anything unnecessary. Our only target is the Death Knight.”

“You are in no position to order me, Caim. I know what I must do.”

Three figures walked amid the thick mist, their disheveled appearances slowly changing back to the trio of big hunk, gentleman, and noble lady. It was human nature to care about one’s appearance, and the same was true of demons. Their image mattered to them.

Marius, the burly familiar, took a deep breath, greedily absorbing the four elements in the area. “The Death Knight is hiding in Londan. It won’t be difficult to find him. I’ll go to the base of the Church of Death to wait for him. How about you?”

“The knight is powerful. I suggest we collect information on him first to come up with a strategy that exploits his weaknesses,” Caim, dressed like a gentleman, responded.

“The former Death Knight was powerful, but with his power divided in half, and with his successor gaining Shadow Nightmare not long ago, he wouldn’t be our match.” Marius gave Caim a derisive look. “Your cowardice dishonors your master!”

Caim didn’t rise to the bait. He looked sideways at the alluring noble lady in a black evening gown. “What do you think, Juliette? Are you going to ambush the Death Knight with Marius, or collect information with me?”

Juliette lifted her wide-brimmed hat to show her captivating, graceful face, curling her black lips into a smile. “I’ve finally come to the human world. There’s no rush to throw myself into work. I’ve decided to enjoy my time first.”

“Trash!” With a scoff, Marius turned around and walked into the thick mist, disappearing into the darkness.

“Good luck, Marius. I hope you give the Death Knight a memorable greeting from hell.” Caim pressed a hand to his chest, watching the cannon fodder among them leave in a gentlemanly manner. Then he turned to Juliette and offered a hand. “Juliette, would you like to enjoy the riches of the human world with me?”

“No thanks, you’re too dangerous...” Juliette vanished into the darkness.

“It’s better this way. Rather than being on guard against each other, it’s better to each do our own thing.” Caim sighed. Such was the way of demons. Even with the same mission, none of them trusted each other.

There was another reason that they separated: to appease the other demons, the three familiars’ respective masters had volunteered to give up parts of their territories and signed an addendum. According to the original contract, the human world would be shared by the alliance of demons, and the addendum stipulated that the three familiars were forbidden from developing faith in their respective masters after descending in advance.

An alliance was formed for easier betrayal, and similarly, a contract was signed to be broken.

Demons had a low moral standard and no credibility to speak of. A contract was the only way they could give each other trust, but while it served as a restriction, it also liberated them.

A simple contract could be interpreted in many ways, and a complex contract would be riddled with loopholes. Demons, with their lack of a moral compass, could always find a way to achieve their selfish goals without breaking the contract.

Caim’s master had assigned him another mission, and he believed the same was true of Marius and Juliette. The three familiars were always going to act separately. There was no point in staying together.

“But first...”

Caim turned in the direction Marius had disappeared, concealing himself in the darkness. “Both you and your master are fools. Let’s test how much divine power the Death Knight has left with your life.”