Myths Reawakened

Boom!

At the heart of the Frozen Land, the black mountains shook. As if a massive beast were rolling underground and releasing endless energy, tremors rippled outward like waves, causing the aurora above the Land of Seal to tremble along.

“So loud. What are they doing over there? Twice in a row...”

“A second bomb?”

Wayne peered at the swamp of Death, trying to see something through the edge of the crack, but outside of the sudden brightness of sunlight, he saw nothing.

“Don’t worry. The three chosen knights are powerful,” Anastasia said, unprompted.

The chosen knights of Nature, Sun, and Moonlight had been guarding the Frozen Land, seemingly defending without attacking because they were at a disadvantage. However, they didn’t lack the ability to counterattack.

Because of the seal, the initiative had always been in the hands of the chosen knights. They could advance and attack or retreat and defend, holding their advantage. However, they worried about leaving the rear unguarded, which was why they hadn’t taken the offensive.

The Darkness Knight had arrived at the right time. Even though his power was insufficient, he provided irreplaceable strategic significance.

Then came Wayne, who was three chosen knights at once, and Anastasia, who possessed the divine powers of three knights; they were more than enough to defend the rear and withstand the shockwaves in the aftermath of their offense.

Victory was in sight. There was nothing to fear!

“I wasn’t worried, but hearing you say that suddenly made me nervous,” Wayne grumbled. He hoped that she hadn’t just set up a flag.

As soon as he said that, the Death energy covering the seal site shuddered. The whispers became increasingly clear.

“Huh?!” Wayne made a sound of surprise and looked up at the sky. Others might not have noticed, but he clearly recognized the whispers, and they weren’t coming from the crack below the seal.

“Thoggua has started to fight back. Defend the seal site. We cannot let anything distract the knights.” Anastasia manipulated Death energy to maintain stability with Death’s divine arts. “Mr. Wayne, prepare to take control of me. Don’t worry about my thoughts and just proceed according to plan.”

Wayne nodded, but continued looking at the sky. Something was amiss. The source of the whispers was wrong!

He sent a telepathic message to Senna, ordering her to protect Silvia and Veronica. With her body and thoughts corrupted by him, Senna didn’t fear the whispers of an ancient god’s vassal. She could remain clear-headed no matter how noisy Thoggua got.

Senna didn’t speak, but she did express her desire for a reward.

Wayne rolled his eyes and agreed.

At this moment, the yellow-robed figure had reached the fringe of the camp, and Shadow Nightmare could be summoned at any time. Wayne had made thorough preparations.

Crack!

Above the camp, energies of three colors interwove into a brilliant aurora. The dancing curtain of light illuminated the camp and protected everyone from being completely corrupted by the whispers. The aurora was also the second seal that the three chosen knights had applied together in case Thoggua woke from slumber.

However, the threats weren’t inside the Land of Seal, but outside.

A spatial fissure suddenly tore open. An intangible giant hand descended from the sky, distorting the aurora and tearing the light apart into scattered particles. From behind the crack, massive tentacles rolled out, accompanied by impenetrable fog that covered the sky in a dark gloom.

“That’s the world beyond the Ocean of Mist...”

Wayne saw the black mountains through the fissure with his sharp eyes. The black mountains had originally belonged to the Frozen Land on the South Pole. It only became the landscape he had seen beyond the Ocean of Mist after the chosen knights decapitated Thoggua and sealed the head separately.

Now, the separate space had suddenly returned, using the terrifying energy originating from the fusion of the spaces to attack the aurora.

Gulp!

Wayne quietly swallowed. Beside him, Anastasia stared blankly at the sky before reassuring him, “It’s alright. Although the aurora is a seal for the interior, it’s also a powerful defense against external threats. Thoggua cannot break through from the outside.”

Contrary to what she said, there was a hint of panic to her tone.

Crack!

There was another explosive sound. In the brilliant sky, another black crack opened, and large swathes of tentacles rolled out, ravaging the aurora until it became distorted and dim. To Anastasia’s disbelief, several more fissures were emerging, covering the entirety of the Land of Seal for an expansive assault.

“Those are Thoggua’s body parts, sealed separately. They’ve all returned?!” Anastasia was shocked. She mobilized the Death energy around her and sent it toward the sky. That was akin to breaking one wall to fill the hole in another, however. Without Death energy covering the swamp, the low whispers became louder and more solid, converting the material energy in their surroundings into tentacles with suckers.

“Mr. Wayne, use the powers of the chosen knights in my body.”

“No, I have a better way!”

Wayne stared intently at the sky. The Death energy the Headless Knight had left behind was limited, not enough to stop the transported space from devouring the aurora.

Heart sinking, he urgently asked, “What about the three chosen knights? How are they? If you can contact them, hurry and tell them to return.”

Thoggua’s head alone illustrated the problem. The seal had been stabilized, yet it had suddenly awakened, distorted space, and arrived at the Frozen Land, where the main body was. The same had happened to the other body parts. They appeared while the three chosen knights were on their expedition. Even Veronica would’ve recognized that Thoggua and the three knights had coincidentally chosen the same tactic: backdooring to attack the enemy base.

Wait, no. This is Thoggua moving their own base!

It was a good tactic, but Wayne didn’t know whether Thoggua had made preparations in advance, or if it was a simple coincidence that they had chosen to launch an attack on the same day as the three knights. If it was the former...

Wayne clenched his teeth. “Lady Holy Maiden, can you contact the three of them?”

“I can’t. It’s too far,” Anastasia hurriedly said. “Use my body. Through their powers, your voice should be able to reach them.”

“Pardon me.”

Wayne wasted no time. He lifted the black robe and removed the magitech puppet’s chest panel, pressing his splayed hand to the three magic stones. Drawing the green mana of Nature, he contacted Moula first.

***

“What’s going on? Why did the crack in the projected space suddenly close?”

Against the backdrop of booming golden light, Moula frowned deeply at the route that had suddenly vanished. A possibility occurred to him, making his face darken.

Darienne silently raised her bow and shot a pure white arrow. It pierced the void and vanished at the end of starlight. Her thoughts traveled with the arrow. In the next instant, her silver eyes radiated light, and she flickered and vanished.

Whoosh!

The knight in silver armor traversed space, returning to Moula’s other side. She said with a blank face, “The space has been locked down. I cannot break through the Vassal Realm of the ancient god.”

She turned to look at Leo, who was slaughtering monsters all around him. The Sun Knight was unstoppable, evaporating any monster that came close to him. Even after he dried the blood and remains with heat, however, Thoggua’s creations continued to reproduce endlessly. Even if only vapor remained, even if the molecular structure of their existence had changed, the monsters could always revive and procreate.

“I’ll try to break out...” Moula said, thinking of the great danger threatening the Land of Seal. But then he suddenly stopped and turned to the edge of the darkness. “No, that’s the root of all evil. Only by eliminating it can we end this.”

“The three of our power can’t eliminate it. We need two more,” Darienne said. “And what about the Land of Seal? Many remain there.”

“Perhaps that is the goddesses’ plan...” Moula thought of Wayne’s face. “I wanted to save him, but instead... Damn fate, I ended up putting him in harm’s way.”

Darienne fell silent for a moment. Then she turned to the depths of darkness. “I’ll trust you one more time. Hurry. If Wayne can hold on long enough, we may return just in time to save him.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“It must be so. He promised to become my successor. If he dies, don’t expect to play cards with me again.”

“Darienne, he told me the same thing...”

“Your strategy is flawed, so he’s mine now.”

***

Darkness’s seal site.

Auston looked up at the sky, where the aurora twisted and peeled away. The outer seal was precarious. Taking a deep breath, he raised Twilight Despair high.

Formidable Darkness roared out from his body like a beast breaking free of shackles. The wild, surging black light formed a heavy curtain, isolating all light and firmly enveloping the entire Land of Seal.

There was no light or sound. In this darkness, only a terrible energy continued to surge, sometimes sweeping like gusts and sometimes coiling like tentacles, merging into the three different colored aurora to join the resistance against the tremendous force of spatial fusion.

Auston trembled as he endured unprecedented pain. Darkness ravaged his body and twisted his will, and pain intensified his desires, making him extraordinarily volatile. The soul-crushing agony was becoming unbearable.

Compared to the despair that would come once the two spaces fused, no pain was too much to bear. His wife and daughter were both in the camp. He would take even ten times, dozens of times more pain willingly.

The intense pain was like a steel blade, cutting into his nerves. He stood in place numbly, losing control over his limbs. He could feel nothing but pain.

As his body swayed and was about to collapse, the black dragon transformed into human form and wrapped an arm around the Darkness Knight’s waist, helping him hold Twilight Despair up.

Auston looked down and saw Megan’s face twisted in pain. Through that face, he saw Silvia. He resolved himself instantly.

He could take much more pain.

***

Death’s seal site.

Wayne switched between the three types of mana, but couldn’t contact any of the corresponding chosen knights. He couldn’t sense their existence, as if they weren’t in this world at all.

“Can you reach them, Mr. Wayne?” Anastasia asked urgently.

“No, I can’t find them.”

Wayne looked up at the sky. Darkness merged with the aurora. Although it didn’t completely reject the returning spaces, it did miraculously slow down the spatial fusion. Inspired, Wayne realized what he should do.

Seeing his calm expression, Anastasia grew anxious. “Mr. Wayne, this isn’t the time for sacrifice yet. Please don’t do anything unnecessary.”

“Don’t fret. You’ve all misunderstood me. I’m dead afraid of death, and I’ll be the first to run away when danger strikes.”

Wayne inserted one hand into the void, raising an eyebrow at Anastasia. “I can’t see the three knights, so by the same logic, they can’t see me, either. That’s actually a good thing.”

“What?!”

Anastasia froze, sensing a powerful Death energy flooding toward her.

“You-you are...”

“As you can see, I’m the Death Knight!”