Myths Reawakened

Seleucia didn’t dare to answer that question. She looked at Ines with distaste and unfriended her, categorizing her as a stranger.

“I forgot to tell you. I was the one who guided Wayne to your place of slumber, and I tempted him into putting you down this evolution path...” Ines continued her assault. “Though I never expected you to lower your pride, you should thank me.”

Seleucia flew into a rage. Their friendship capsized and sank like a submarine. She said through gritted teeth, “Boss, I’m going to duel her.”

“Come on then. When you’re being spanked, make sure to cry out loud.”

“Shut it.” Wayne muted Ines; her lips closed and vanished altogether so that she couldn’t talk.

He glanced at Seleucia. “Request denied. No private fights are permitted. My house, my rules.”

It was meant to protect Seleucia. She had been asleep for too long, and with her Laws stripped from her, she was nothing but a regular demigod at this moment. She wouldn’t be Ines’s match. It would be too sad for her to lose a debate and then a physical fight with overwhelming disadvantage.

“I may be new, Boss, but you favor her too much.” Seleucia didn’t know that Wayne was being considerate of her. She only knew that Ines was allowed to speak her mind, and Seleucia wanted that.

She didn’t want to win a promotion by lying down like Anastasia. She couldn’t do it.

“So you know you’re a newcomer. Asking for status without giving away anything? How mighty the Goddess of Sky is!” Ines raised her right hand. A red mouth had opened on the palm. “Vassals differ in their level of intimacy with our master. You’ve made no effort or contribution. Why do you think you could compare to me? I’ve been keeping Wayne happy every night!”

Ines boasted proudly with mockery in her beautiful eyes. Wayne only had to think with his tentacles to figure out that she was once again manipulating Seleucia.

It was nice. Leaders loved a considerate subordinate full of malice. She was an indispensable villain on the team.

Seleucia deflated when Wayne didn’t stop Ines. A taxpayer cannot compete with a sexpayer or someone who went above and beyond in that aspect. She asked for no privileges in the family. She only hoped that Wayne wouldn’t force her to pay her tax in an alternative way.

It was her bottom line!

In the living room, Ines abused her power like a cunning psychopath to her leader, tarnishing the image of the Goddess of Darkness. The Holy Maiden, who had jumped ship, couldn’t reconcile with the revelation.

It seemed that no followers truly understood their goddesses. Everything was in their heads, and the actual goddesses could be worse than a regular person.

Seleucia was eager to prove herself after being put down repeatedly. She took a deep breath and said, “Boss, where’s the closest Church of Storm and Thunder? I haven’t found traces of them on my way here.”

“What are you trying to do? Getting revenge before you’ve even recovered?”

“No, I’m your vassal, so without your permission, I will not start a war of faith,” Seleucia said loyally. “I’m only going to collect intel so that you’ll have an absolute advantage in the coming war.”

Life was so hard that even the dense Goddess of Sky had learned to be eloquent.

“What war of faith? You underestimate me.” Wayne closed his eyes. “I once promised you that as long as you offered me your loyalty, I’d give you a world with no God of Storm and Thunder. Do you remember?”

“Yes.” Seleucia nodded vehemently. She had willingly cast aside everything and started anew to secure such a world.

“I’ll give you that now...” Wayne murmured. Under Seleucia’s confused gaze, he opened his eyes after a moment and let out a drawn-out sigh. “Alright. The God of Storm and Thunder no longer exists in this world.”

“???”

Seleucia was thoroughly confused. She was half convinced, but the incredible energy required for it to happen was far beyond her imagination, and she found it surreal.

“Not only has the God of Storm and Thunder ceased to exist, but the church and scripture are also gone,” Wayne said seriously. “The Lord of Storm and Thunder has even been erased from history. No one in this world remembers his name and former glory.”

“You must be exhausted, using so much mental power at once to manipulate reality.” Ines took a black handkerchief out of her pocket and went up to wipe the imaginary sweat on Wayne’s face.

Blinking, Anastasia joined and showed her concern.

“I’m fine. I’m not as exhausted as you imagined. I’ll be good after some rest.” Wayne held them in each arm and smiled like a god king.

“How is that possible? I didn’t feel anything...” Seleucia looked at Wayne in shock. He had wiped out a god with his mere thoughts and modified time and everyone’s memories. She could never imagine such incredible power.

She felt useless, and she came to understand why the Goddess of Darkness had chosen to win her status with her body. It was because she had nothing else to offer.

She could do the same, Seleucia thought. Wayne had honored his promise and completed her revenge. With that heavy weight lifted, she could look for a new goal in the future.

The image of her vying for Wayne’s attention with Ines surfaced in her mind. She shook her head, dispersing the scandalous thought and warning herself not to succumb to bad influence. She had to be valuable in some way. As long as she was powerful enough, her faith would need her!

Moreover, she couldn’t just take Wayne’s words for it. What if he was teasing her? The Lord of Storm and Thunder was the biggest villain in her mind, after all, so there was no way he would just be wiped out by Wayne’s thoughts.

She should ask around to make sure that the Lord of Storm and Thunder had been erased. Then it wouldn’t be too late for her to believe Wayne.

“Do you doubt me, Seleucia?”

“Oh, no.” Seleucia shook her head.

“I don’t blame you. Words are just words. I’ll show you the evidence.” Wayne patted the two women on the bottom before standing up and beckoning Seleucia over. “Follow me to the basement. I have a treasure to give you.”

Ines cackled, alerting Seleucia. She worried that she would lose her purity downstairs.

“What are you waiting for? Come on.”

“...”

Seleucia dragged her feet and moved slowly to the basement. Reaching the door, she closed her eyes to mourn her last shred of dignity.

“Goodbye, my bottom line. From today on, I’ll no longer be the—”

“What are you muttering about?” Wayne huffed, interrupting her derailing thoughts. He could guess what rude thoughts she was having.

Seleucia opened her eyes and saw three statues at the altar in the basement. The Venti cup... The biggest statue was of the Pale Knight, with an obscured face. The smaller one was the Pale Nest in a yellow robe. The smallest one was the Goddess of Darkness.

The statues represented Anastasia’s ultimate faith, surface faith, and former faith.

Seleucia didn’t know the history, so she considered the Venti cup as Wayne, the Tall cup as Ines, and the Grande cup as the other vassal, Anastasia.

She lost hope. Her colleagues were powerful, and she had nothing over them aside from her good looks.

Wayne stood before the altar and took out the four sealed obelisks with a wave. Two were accidental acquisitions, and two were from the Goddess of Darkness. All four were nature’s gifts to him.

Seleucia didn’t see anything special about the obelisks until Wayne connected his thoughts to her and transferred compressed packets of information to her. It was the power of Storm and Thunder!

Some of the Laws were familiar to Seleucia. They were the treasure she had lost, the Laws of Storm and Thunder that should’ve belonged to the Sky.

Seleucia extended a trembling hand. The obelisks were right within reach. “Is this the treasure you’re showing me, Boss?”

Wayne huffed. “What else? I told you that I wouldn’t force you to do anything against your will. Do you think I’ll go back on my word?”

At that moment, he seemed greater than anyone in Seleucia’s eyes. Her face became flushed with shame as she said with mortification, “I’m sorry, Boss. I misunderstood you. I-I... I’m too depraved.”

You’re not. In this house, your morals rank second. Wayne pulled a long face and said, “Then correct your mistakes. Ines is a madwoman. You deserve to be deceived for believing her nonsense.”

“I was wrong,” Seleucia submitted willingly, even bending her back in a bow. “You’ve not only granted me a new life, but also offered me such precious Laws. Rest assured that no matter what requests you make in the future, even if it’s against my will, I won’t say no.”

“Really?”

“Um...”

“Just speak your mind in the future. Don’t try to pay lip service.”

“I understand.” Seleucia took a deep breath and straightened herself, acknowledging her shortcomings. When she looked at Wayne again, her gaze showed not only her devotion to her faith but also admiration.

“I just erased the God of Storm and Thunder and looked into the two Laws,” Wayne said. “There are many things I do not understand, such as the faith magic that goes with the Laws and how to maximize their power. You once had them. Go through the knowledge and teach me.”

“I will not disappoint you,” Seleucia said with a serious nod.

In her eyes, Wayne’s understanding of Laws must far surpass hers when he could erase the Lord of Storm and Thunder in an instant and manipulate reality, even handing her the two Laws. He had only expressed an eagerness to learn to preserve her dignity and to give her a test.

In this onboarding process, the new employee had to submit a perfect answer sheet to prove her worth!

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Wayne said. “The information on Storm and Thunder isn’t complete. There are only four obelisks here. More Laws remain at large for you to seek out.”

So this is indeed a test!

Seleucia nodded to herself, unsurprised.

With Wayne’s permission, she unsealed the obelisks and absorbed the Laws she had once owned to strengthen herself. Her existence became hazy, and currents crackled in her eyes. Her power quickly grew.

Wayne envied her. Seleucia’s foundation remained. Her past defeat didn’t stop her from returning to her former glory. Meanwhile, the Book of Greed could eat anything, but did nothing but eat. With no user manual on how to utilize Laws, Wayne could only rely on raw power.

There had to be a concrete way to utilize Laws!

After a moment, Seleucia made a sound of confusion, looking dazed. “Boss, the Lord of Storm and Thunder has not died fully. Is this another of your tests for me?”

What now? He’s still alive?

Wayne stilled, but said with a frown, “You realized it. Clever. Since you know what I’m trying to do, do your best to clear your name and reclaim your lost glory on your own.”

“Thank you for your generosity!” Seleucia looked at him with bright eyes. Clearly, her judgment had been completely crippled by his lies.

“Learn diligently and find the God of Storm and Thunder as soon as possible. Be it a human or a god, everyone can only rely on themselves in the end.” Wayne gave her a few words of encouragement before warning her, “Ignore Ines. The angrier you are, the happier she gets. She’s not the full Goddess of Darkness and isn’t using her own body. You must have seen this form before. It belonged to Vichy, the Darkness Knight. You failed to take over her body before.”

“You misunderstood me, Boss. I never tried to take over her body.” Seleucia shook her head. “Her power far surpassed mine then. I was the one critically injured by her.”

“Really? But Vichy died, right at your doorstep.”

“That...” Seleucia became even more confused. “That can’t be. Back then, I escaped to my sky palace and even destroyed the access pathway to avoid her pursuit. Why would she die at my doorstep?”

Something’s fishy about the death of the former Darkness Knight!

Wayne narrowed his eyes. “Tell me more. What happened?”