Myths Reawakened

“No, you have to be an angel.”

When his two colleagues both denied what they were, Archibald created a barrier to block mana disturbance and held a Sacred Tome of Golden Law up before Kael.

“Mr. Poirot, Mr. Wayne is undoubtedly an angel. That is for certain,” said Archibald. “As for you, I believe Wayne’s eye for people. If you don’t believe him, place your hand on this tome, and the Golden Law will respond to you, awakening the stigma deep in your soul.”

“Enough already. Don’t tell me too much, especially not such important secrets. If I’m not an angel, you’ll kill me to silence me.”

Kael shrugged. He couldn’t be a reincarnated angel. He was certain that if the sacred tome reacted to his soul in any way, it would be because of all the stains in his track record.

The moment his palm lay flat against the sacred tome, Holy Light descended. Pure holy power rushed into Kael’s body through his arm. The sacred tome’s light surged, engulfing him whole. An intangible power rolled out, and the screen of Holy Light extended sideways, enveloping Archibald, too.

Such pure Holy Light, eternal and sacred!

Looking at the light, Mona chanted the scriptures under her breath, her eyes glinting, and the stigma on the back of her hand triggered without her intention. Seeing the reaction of a fellow angel servant, Titus also activated the stigma on her hand, joining the chant.

Wayne had nothing. He watched the spectacle of angel reunion as a complete outsider. Amid the intangible sacred light, he saw two vague figures walk into the Gate of Heaven. They started human-shaped and then became distinctly inhuman.

“Two?” Wayne blinked, turning to Archibald, who was also engulfed by the Holy Light, and then at Titus and the stigma on the back of her hand. He huffed. No wonder Archibald was this handsome. He turned out to be another reincarnated angel.

That settled it. While angels took various bizarre shapes in Heaven, looking barely humanoid or entirely inhuman, once they reincarnated, the male ones were tall, and the female ones were handsome. All of them were a ten in terms of looks.

Wayne couldn’t see inside the gate clearly, but he could make out a few random shapes gathering around the two visitors, painting a lively scene.

A moment later, the surging Holy Light receded. Archibald put away the Sacred Tome of Golden Law, the cross stigma on his forehead slowly fading. He said with a smile, “Mr. Poirot, do you still have any questions after seeing your own soul?”

“Yes!” Kael made a face, feeling a strong aversion to being an angel. He would much prefer being human.

“What question?”

“You said that the sacred tome would trigger a reincarnated angel’s stigma deep in their soul, but I don’t see mine. I don’t see anything.” Kael lifted his shirt to prove his point. There was no stigma on his face, chest, arms, or back.

The more he looked, the more worked up he became. Yes, this was it. To prove his innocence, he tugged on the waistband of his pants and declared while looking down, “Not even this place—”

Holy shit, it’s here!

He looked at his shortcoming and saw his stigma on an absurd part of his body. He couldn’t believe it.

“...” x4

The freak of an angel left the other four speechless. Archibald, especially, couldn’t bear to look at Kael.

Usually, angels’ stigmata would appear on relatively visible parts of the body, such as the face, arms, back of their hands, or back. Cases like Kael... Well, he supposed it took all sorts of angels to make Heaven.

“Wait, he doesn’t have a stigma!”

Kael pointed at Wayne. Everyone present had one. Archibald’s was on his forehead, Mona’s and Titus’s were on the back of their hands. Only Wayne didn’t have one.

So don’t look at me like I’m a germ. Wayne’s just like me. If you find me troublesome, you should find him troublesome, too. I won’t suffer this treatment alone.

Kael’s attempt to drag someone down with him came so out of left field that Archibald failed to catch up. He explained with a smile, “We can control whether a stigma shows or not. Just because Wayne doesn’t want to show his doesn’t mean he has none.”

Mona nodded. Indeed, she had examined Wayne’s entire body and proven Archibald right. He had hidden his stigma.

“Moreover, Wayne’s stigma is shown on Sister Mona’s body. After they made a contract, Sister Mona is able to use the Golden Law in Wayne.” Archibald educated Kael on the common knowledge of angels.

That’s from the Pride Altar, the Golden Law of An—uh, whatever, I’ll stop wasting my breath, Wayne thought with exasperation. The Papal State was determined to pin the label of angel on him, and even a real reincarnated angel had prepared an excuse for him. What point was there to keep resisting?

Kael wanted to resist further, but Wayne patted him on the shoulder and shook his head.

“Give up. Even I, a fake reincarnated angel, am treated as the real deal. You should just accept it when you’re a real one.”

“You’re one to talk. You haven’t accepted it,” Kael grumbled, insisting on his initial claim. If Wayne wasn’t a reincarnated angel, he wasn’t, either.

“Mr. Poirot—”

“Just call me Kael.” Kael waved his hand dejectedly.

“Kael, you’ve been asleep for too long, and thus your power stagnates. I hope you’ll return to the Papal State with me to quickly grow stronger,” Archibald said solemnly. “A total of seven reincarnated angels have descended to the human world, you being the last one we found. We’ve lost our memories due to the reincarnation process and don’t know why we’ve descended, but the fact that seven have been deployed must mean an important mission. You have to retrieve your great power from your time in Heaven so that you can face the coming crisis.”

Wayne frowned. Archibald called Kael the last one because he had included Wayne, but Wayne knew that he wasn’t an angel. In other words, there was still a reincarnated angel at large.

Where were they hiding? It couldn’t really be him, could it?

Kael smiled bitterly. That was what concerned him the most. He lacked ambition and any grand plan for his life. To someone like him, the responsibility that came with a great status was nothing but a burden. He didn’t want to be a reincarnated angel!

“Mr. Poirot!” Archibald stared at Kael, his righteous gaze making Kael want to look away. “While I was still a regular man, His Holiness told me that with great power came great responsibility. I’ll say the same to you today.”

...Holy, don’t say that! What is His Horniness’s name? Ben Parker?

“I understand. It’s just... too sudden. I need time to wrap my head around everything.” Kael sighed, checking his wristwatch. “I have a date. I promised a girl that I would dance with her today. It’s not too late to meet her yet.”

“Kael, you can dance with her once you’re back from the Papal State.”

“That won’t do. She’s a conservative girl, and she’s getting married tomorrow. Tonight is my last chance.”

“...” x4

Maybe he really isn’t a reincarnated angel.

“Alright, be quick.” Archibald’s handsome face stiffened like he was constipated. He turned to Wayne, hoping that Wayne would help convince Kael.

Why are you looking constipated already? Once you see the girl he’s dancing with, you’re gonna have hemorrhoids.

Wayne rolled his eyes, coughing into his fist before addressing Kael seriously, “There are many benefits to being reincarnated angels. Once you join, you’ll be assigned a personal assistant. It won’t be a dream to succeed both in work and in love.”

He pointed at Mona and Titus. “Believe me. You can always trust His Horniness’s taste.”

Kael huffed dismissively. Wayne went up to him and whispered, “Members enjoy personalized benefits. If you have any requests, just tell His Horniness. The Church of Heavenly Father’s reach covers the entire Chosen Land, with millions of clergywomen. You’ll certainly find love.”

“Fine, I’ll trust you this once.” Kael nodded seriously. He turned to Archibald, who was clearly exhausted because he was too lost in love. “When are we heading to the Papal State? Tomorrow?”

Father, please kill this embarrassment with a bolt of lightning!

Archibald rolled his eyes and said weakly, “No rush. I need to stay in Londan for a few more days.”

“Fine. Then I can still go to my date tonight.”

Satisfied, Kael left the hotel. Only children focused on a distant love; he wanted both the immediate date and the ones in his future.

After he was gone, Archibald said in a long-suffering tone, “Wayne, are you sure we haven’t got the wrong person?”

“Give up. He just entered Heaven. This is what you angels are like.”

“Shouldn’t it be us angels?”

“No, I’m not an angel.” Wayne waved a hand in denial, once again clarifying his stance. He then said with a smile, “I didn’t expect Sir Archibald, envoy of the Papal State, to be a reincarnated angel. You’ve hidden yourself well. If you didn’t expose yourself today, I would still be in the dark.”

Archibald shook his head. “You knew about it already.”

“When did I know? How do I not know that I know?” Wayne snorted. “We’re friends. I should’ve cut you out of my life for lying to me for so long. I’ll compromise for world peace and consider this a debt you owe me. What do you say?”

“No.” Archibald was too shrewd to accept the debt. He worried that Wayne would make an outrageous demand he couldn’t meet. He lowered his voice and said, “I know you knew about me, and I know you went easy on me that night. You recognized the demon as me.”

It was you!

“So it was you!” Wayne raised an eyebrow, making an expression that suggested he had known about it. No wonder the demon’s suicide seemed so suspicious, no wonder the demon gave him loot before death, no wonder the demon had the Parchment Sacred Tome, which should’ve been in the church’s possession.

“Wayne, you’ve already gotten the rewards. Please spare me the humiliation and don’t go into it further.” Archibald smiled wryly. “And I must explain myself, whether you buy it or not. I went to Saint George’s Church to scout out the place for you. I wanted to see if the Windsor royal family had more hidden tricks.”

“I believe you.” Wayne nodded. He believed that if Archibald had won, he would’ve claimed everything, but since he had lost, he was there to test the water for his friend.

It was a universal way of doing things, and Wayne had done the same. Why would he doubt Archibald?

Meanwhile, Kael walked down the streets and hailed a taxi. He had talked about looking for love in the Papal State, and his body was anticipating the day to come as soon as possible, but deep in his heart, there was still disbelief.

“I’m an angel...”

“Dear patron, where are you heading? Hell?”

The taxi driver looked at him through the rearview mirror with a meaningful smile. As the driver stepped on the pedal, the car shot into a dark abyss, going on an accelerated free fall, as if they were heading straight to hell.

Fear flashed through Kael’s eyes. Tremendous dark power swarmed up to him, overwhelming him and taking his breath away. A few seconds later, Kael’s eyes rolled back into his skull as he blacked out. A sacred, inviolable consciousness radiated from his body.

In an instant, the taxi disintegrated. Both the darkness and the taxi driver were reduced to dust by an intangible power.

‘Kael’ stood on the street with an expressionless face, his eyes glinting with a golden light as he looked up into the distance.

If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back.

He saw a pair of dark, somber eyes. He murmured, “You found me in the end. What now? Why are you looking for me?”

“As expected, you’ve recovered your memories...” The eyes of darkness looked down, uttering Kael’s name in Heaven. “Gerar...”

“We meet again!”