Myths Reawakened

The clinical trial ran for five days. Wayne and Senna studied, while Celeste was studied. They all had a bright future ahead of them.

With a smart division of labor, efficiency was exceptionally high. Celeste bounced back and forth between heaven and hell, devoting himself to science to point Wayne to a clear path. He became living proof that once evolution began, it couldn’t be stopped.

However, as the god who granted the evolution and the owner of the faith, Wayne could choose not to accept a follower’s faith.

It hadn’t been possible before, but after gaining the Pale Nest and the form of the Pale Knight, Wayne had made progress with the Book of Greed and now had more wiggle room. With Senna’s assistance, Wayne found a solution.

The secondary corruption in the original plan proved unfeasible. Both the white foam of the Pale Nest and Senna’s flesh and blood possessed an extreme desire for faith. Even if Wayne left them alone, they would evolve on their own.

Thus, he could only choose to grant the evolution and then, based on the experiment data he gleaned from Anastasia, controlled the corruption. He could change the flesh, but never tampered with the thoughts.

While changing the flesh, he would renounce the offered faith and seal it, using the Pale Nest as a substitute for the faith’s representation.

Simply put, evolution was irreversible, but the Pale Nest could be used to receive and manipulate faith in Wayne’s place, serving as his idol and manifestation in the human world.

Wayne, as the foundation of faith, represented absolute truth, unseeable and ineffable. The Pale Nest, as the representation of faith, was a truth that could be comprehended, making it observable and describable.

With Pale Nest serving as a buffer, Wayne would have much more room to direct the evolution.

Whether it was for Juno or Silvia and Veronica, even if they encountered irreversible evolution in the future, their faith would be directed at the observable Pale Nest and its comprehensible truth, rather than Wayne himself... the god.

“What a shame. If only I’d advanced to Gold rank a little earlier.”

Wayne looked at Senna with regret. If he had found the solution earlier, she wouldn’t have become what she was now. That said, if Senna hadn’t become what she was now, she wouldn’t have assisted Wayne so wholeheartedly, and they wouldn’t have arrived at the solution today.

Senna shrugged with a look of deep regret, saying pitifully that she hoped her faith wouldn’t dwell on his guilt. What good were guilt and apologies for? She wanted something tangible. He couldn’t just bow in apology and think that would make everything okay! Ridiculous, did he really think that he wouldn’t be held accountable for his wrongdoing?

Senna was dishonest and shrewd, not the typical seductress. Wayne couldn’t do anything about it since he didn’t want to impose more restraints and strip away what little autonomy she had. He left her alone.

There was no turning back, so just let it be!

Later, in the laboratory, Juno lay on the cold examination table, covered by a white sheet. She looked expectantly at the chief surgeon, Wayne, and readily signed the document he handed over.

Juno Jones / Elizabeth Windsor.

Both names and identities expressed their willingness to bear all consequences of the evolution. Nothing was left to chance.

Before beginning, Wayne gave her a few more warnings. Once he confirmed that Juno had no other questions, he pressed his hand to her forehead, summoning the Pale Nest with his thoughts.

His palm melted, the white foam flowing into Juno’s ears, nose, mouth, and eyes, granting her evolution and corruption to change her life form. At the same time, he guided his thoughts into her body through the Pale Nest, murmuring incessantly to make her remember her human form while boldly envisioning her evolution.

Juno’s only goal was to become an angel, so her path was self-evident.

To help her achieve her goal, Wayne also granted her the power of the Golden Law during the evolution. The information had come from the Sacred Tome of Golden Law and the Lord of Pride’s altar. The latter, especially, was an incredibly precious resource. It was Wayne’s way of repaying Juno. He had to do it because she had called him to tip him off.

Juno slowly floated up. The white sheet slid off to reveal her slender, beautiful figure. Wayne had no presence of mind to appreciate it. He closed his eyes to sense the changes in her body in case something had gone wrong.

The process wasn’t exactly turbulent, but there was a false alarm. Juno craved the might of angels with such ambition that even the sacred scriptures of the Golden Law that Wayne possessed couldn’t satisfy her. He had to make corrections through the Pale Nest so that Juno would face reality and stop dreaming of becoming a primordial angel immediately.

That would be too outlandish. There weren’t even ten such angels in all of Heaven.

With the course correction, Juno quickly found her evolution path. Her body overflowed with white foam and slowly expanded. The swollen limbs and pale torso were a far cry from what a normal human would call beautiful. She looked like a corpse with decaying bacteria running wild due to a failed immune system; the putrid gas she was pumped full of made her unrecognizable.

Then, the Golden Law began correcting her!

Juno’s Holy Light and the evolution that Wayne had granted her began to transform her according to her desires, with the support of the Golden Law. The process was much like the process of Wayne granting Ottilia and Regina the power of Hell, allowing them to transform into succubi.

However, both Juno’s angelic evolution and Ottilia and Regina’s hellish evolution bypassed the original faith. It would be fine if nothing went wrong, but if something did, the original faiths would definitely demand copyright fees.

The Heaven side was manageable. Wayne could transform and barely pass off as a high-ranking angel’s alter ego. Hell, on the other hand, would be troublesome.

It was common knowledge that there was only one origin for succubi in Hell—the Lord of Lust, one of the seven demon kings. Even if she was willing to negotiate, her appetite would be enormous.

There was no point in worrying about the future now, though. Wayne focused on the present, observing the changes in Juno while collecting data to increase the success rates of future procedures.

He was ashamed to admit that Juno was also part of the experiment. Everything Wayne did was paving the way for Silvia and Veronica. The two women were the ones he absolutely could not make a mistake on.

Golden light surged. The scriptures of the Golden Law circled Juno like ribbons, reshaping her bloated body and draping her in holy radiance. In the eyes of devout followers, Juno was divine. In Wayne’s and Senna’s eyes, this was merely a fake shell.

Soon, Juno’s body returned to its original stature. The white skin covered her entire body, not so much normal human skin but a bodysuit. Her limbs were slender and powerful. Her overall form had grown past two meters with elongated limbs.

A pair of white wings unfurled from her back. As the ribbons of Golden Law rotated, the wings pulsed with light, raining down visible waves of energy. At the tips of the wings, several black feathers formed and fell to the ground.

Juno’s angel form didn’t have obvious sexual characteristics, only a slight protrusion around the chest area so that the torso wasn’t completely flat. Her head was a triangular avian skull formed by writhing white foam. There were no ears or eyes. Her entire face looked like a triangular mask, the pale complexion having a metallic shine to it.

As the bands of Golden Law converged, a cross appeared on the white mask, with a golden eye at the center of the cross. Juno’s mouth was below the triangular mask, lips a pale, cool color. It was the most humanlike part of her entire body.

The bands of Golden Law contracted and disappeared, marking the end of her evolution.

“Easier than expected...”

Senna looked at her faith. He had so easily created an artificial angel with a stable form. This far exceeded the capability of a demigod. Her faith had grown again.

What about in the future? How far could he go? As his follower, growing stronger alongside him, what would her future entail?

Senna gulped quietly. She had a feeling that she would become obsessed with this man even if he hadn’t changed her.

Her desire was so intense that Wayne could sense it loud and clear while still connected to the Pale Nest, his amplifier. He shot her a warning look, telling her to behave.

Senna was restless. He had promised to reward her thoroughly if the experiment succeeded.

“It’s barely a success. We still have to observe her further,” Wayne said with an expressionless face. “I’ve guided her thoughts through the Pale Nest, so the Pale Nest would be her faith. Although she isn’t aware of that, there’s still a risk.”

“I understand. The Pale Nest’s followers aren’t your followers, are they?” Senna came up to Wayne from behind and pressed her softness against his back. “You’ve done well enough. Silvia won’t turn out like me. If you’re still afraid, become a true god. Nothing can go wrong if she believes in a true god, right?”

Senna bluntly spelled out Wayne’s concern. “But there’s nothing to do about my condition. What you’ve promised me, you must give to me.”

Is this how you talk to your faith? Wayne grumbled silently.

“Don’t think about what your faith has given you, Senna. You should reflect on what you’ve given your faith.”

“I’ve given my faith everything.”

...Fair.

When Senna rubbed her hands together with no blush or fluttering heart, Wayne sighed. “Let’s have a date first. I’ve reserved a place for a candlelight dinner. I hope you’ll honor me with your presence.”

“A candlelight dinner?” Senna paused in surprise, her cheeks slightly flushed. “Why the formality? If Veronica finds out, she’ll misunderstand.”

“So that’s a no?”

“It’s a yes!”