Myths Reawakened

In the corner, Wayne conjured more black smoke, breathing out fluctuating faces.

He had always been good at special effects.

“Aghhh—”

Amid the writhing black smoke, a pair of sickly yellow eyes opened. A terrifying pressure came down as a powerful gust swept through the laboratory, the visible shockwaves shattering the vials and toppling the instruments.

All of the researchers lost consciousness from the hit.

Christian broke out of the metal shackles on the stone platform. While his legs remained unchanged, his upper body had increased in overall size with bulging muscles. His long hair reached the floor, spiky like a hedgehog. His blackened face, twisted features, and sickly yellow eyes made him look like a fiend corrupted by Hell.

There was no hellish mask, red lips, or pale skin. Any expert would say that Christian’s evolution had failed. He was neither human nor demon, and if he entered Hell, he would be nothing but cannon fodder to fill the trenches and sacrifice himself on the frontline.

Christian disagreed. He clenched his fists, his sharp nails piercing through his palms. He felt powerful.

This was true power! He succeeded!

“Who is it?”

Sensing movement in the shadowed corner, Christian whirled around, his yellow eyes drawing two glowing trails in the air. He growled like he was going to devour someone.

He paused when he saw no one—or no complete person, to be more precise. There was only a single head hovering in the air, with nothing below the neck.

Wayne pulled off his hood and said solemnly, “Such incredible power. Even I have to admit inferiority. Which demon lord has descended to the human world? If the Führer sees you, he’ll surely make you the air chief marshal immediately!”

“Hahaha—”

Christian hadn’t gained the power of Hell, yet he had contracted the shortcomings of demons. He laughed proudly while pointing at Wayne. “You’ve got a good eye, Head. Unfortunately, Führer should be the first person to see my perfect form. You have no right to the privilege. I’ll crush you with my own hands.”

“Even if you kill me, you have been seen. Your Führer is going to come second to me no matter what.”

“...”

“Right?”

Rooooar—

Swinging his arms, Christian launched himself with the tip of his foot, his fist splitting howling wind and shooting right at Wayne’s face.

***

Crack!

Hestia crushed a magical puppet with a stomp. There was already a tall pile behind her. Looking at the grey space ahead of her, she frowned deeply.

Not long after Wayne left the church, a great number of SS soldiers had surrounded the church, all regular humans. Not wanting to create more trouble, she and Derrida had slipped away easily before the encirclement formed. Then they kept getting found, only managing to get some breathing room after they were away from the downtown area.

Downtown Berlo seemed to be shrouded by a mysterious power that was hostile to outsiders, especially the three reincarnated angels on the wanted list. No matter where they went, they attracted attention. Not even a disguise could free them from the pursuit.

Realizing that, Derrida and Hestia stayed away from the downtown area, filing the information away.

It wasn’t until nightfall that they rushed into the city center at the top of their speed, heading straight to an orphanage identified as a target by the intel. It was funded by the Church of Heavenly Father, taking in homeless children to teach them theology and make them the Heavenly Father’s most devoted subjects.

According to intelligence provided by the local Church of Heavenly Father, the orphanage was suspicious. Clergy members often went missing, and there were sightings of strange, unusual forms. Further investigation was advised.

Since their infiltration plan had failed, Derrida and Hestia barged in through the front door instead. Though they knew this was likely a trap, they still stubbornly charged in.

Past a spatial barrier, an army of over a thousand puppets stretched before them. They were mediocre fighters at best, disassembled into parts in no time.

Hestia forged a path with a punch, but when she saw the grey world past the second barrier, she hesitated.

“The projection of the Abyss...”

The Abyss was the paradise of the Seven Demon Lords. Each demon lord had constructed a luxurious palace in the Abyss, including Pride and Lust. It was also known as the Seven-layered Abyss.

Among the seven layers, the most famous one was the seventh abyss, the Lost Paradise. Created by the Lord of Lust, the paradise was said to house countless beautiful succubi with multiple checkpoints and layers of defenses, funneling one into the embrace of the ultimate boss—the Lord of Lust, the master of the succubi.

To this day, no males had ever managed to walk out of the seventh abyss on their feet. Those who had crawled out on all fours were all left with serious psychological trauma that made them swear off sex and lose all of their carnal desires.

Whether it was true or false was difficult to tell. Rumors, though, usually weren’t the truth.

As a reincarnated angel, Hestia remembered marching into Hell with her fellow angel and seeing the Abyss from afar. She didn’t know much other than the fact that the Abyss was a lifeless zone located below Hell.

During that battle, the Seven Demon Lords had retreated to the Abyss. Unable to conquer it, the army of angels had no choice but to give up on wiping the demons out.

Though they had won the battle, they hadn’t achieved the goal of the war. They opted for the second-best option and sealed up Hell completely, making sure that no demons could lay a hand on the human world.

Based on how the seal had performed since then, though, the seal wasn’t as airtight as they had wanted.

Seeing the Abyss now, Hestia agonized over whether they should pay it a visit.

Thud!

Derrida folded his wings and landed, standing beside Hestia with his Sacred Lance of Heaven. “It’s so familiar,” he said with a frown. “I think I’ve seen this somewhere.”

“It’s the Seven-layered Abyss. The fact that you find it familiar means that you’re close to awakening.”

Speaking of awakening, Hestia couldn’t help but think of Wayne. She had been thinking about the stigma on his tongue. It should be theoretically impossible for that angel to share anything in common with Wayne, so she felt an innate aversion to stating the possibility. If it was true, however...

Remembering how Wayne had called her ‘Lust incarnate’, she could only wish for his speedy awakening. She hoped that he would recover his former glory as soon as possible so that they could all forget the embarrassing events that had taken place.

“Seven-layered abyss? I think I’ve heard that too...”

Derrida’s scalp tingled, and something prickled in his skull. He saw flashes of images in his mind.

Hestia looked at him with delight. “It seems that you’re remembering who you are. Good. That’s a good start. That right ahead is a projection of the abyss, and there may be projections of demons, too. It’ll be risky. Do you want to go inside?”

Derrida nodded. His instinct told him that once he entered, he would remember his real name and recover his memories from Heaven.

“Come on. Since we’ve come this far, it’s not an angel’s style to be deterred by demons!” Hestia unfolded her wings, her eyes turning golden. She was ready to launch an assault and destroy the projected abyss completely tonight. Raising her Sacred Lance of Heaven, she split the darkness with golden light, making it scream. She forged a path right into the depths of the abyss.

Derrida unfurled his wings and followed, scattering the sacred flames of the Golden Law. His presence gradually resembled Hestia more and more.

Facing the pressure from the abyss, his memories began to awaken!

***

Underground third-floor laboratory, first research institute.

Wayne raised his hand to catch Christian’s powerful punch, using his other hand to take off and cast Shadow Cloak back into his personal storage. Only in that moment did Christian realize that he wasn’t fighting a human head, but a human mage.

“Who are you? How dare you barge into the laboratory bunker!” Christian concluded that he had caught a spy.

“Who I am doesn’t matter.” Wayne put on a look of shock. “The point is you and your incredible raw power. I can’t believe I’m having trouble blocking it.”

“Hahaha—” Christian’s pride flared up. “Intruder, I should be saying the same to you. You can’t be a nobody if you can block my punch. State your name, and I’ll bury you with a tombstone.”

“Bruce.”

“Bruce?” Christian narrowed his eyes. “You must be a spy sent by Franc.”

Well, good guess. Your guess is only a few hundred kilometers off.

Wayne cursed under his breath. He had kindly decided to entertain the fool, yet the fool lumped him together with those white-flag wavers. How ungrateful!

He didn’t want to waste more time on the dull matter. Leaving a trail of afterimages, he punched through Christian’s chest, his hand protruding from his back. Christian looked down stiffly, his neck bones and spine cracking as they ground together. He couldn’t believe that the raw power he was so proud of would be as fragile as papier-mâché.

Shouldn’t he be promoted and become the Führer’s right-hand man?

“I’ll grant you the wish. In the name of Christian...”

Hearing ‘his’ voice, Christian looked up blankly and saw a face that was identical to his. Following a sting in his chest, he found himself enveloped by a large volume of white foam.

Wayne read Christian’s memories to confirm his new identity. It was more than satisfactory.

Years ago, Hidler wasn’t yet the chancellor, nor did he have a mustache. He became known as the speech fanatic in bars, attracting the scorn of the government.

Hidler later organized a protest march. Christian, who had been a young man, admired him greatly and joined the group of protestors. He ended up taking a bullet for Hidler.

That was how Christian got his job.

At the same time, it made Christian denounce his own weakness. He wanted to gain great power so that he could live up to the Führer’s expectations.

“You’re being a parasocial fan. It’s wrong.” Wayne transformed into Christian and examined his new form. It was too ugly. He placed his incomplete Philosopher’s Stone into his chest, molding a few cooler appearances.

Every single look was incredibly demonic.

“It’s still missing something...”

After some consideration, Wayne transformed back into a human, not yet deciding on a final form. Christian knew too little about the demon vessels kept by the Prussian leadership. If Wayne decided on a form right now, it might hinder his future infiltration effort. Just in case, he decided to make the decision when he came to it.

“Derrida, Hestia, change of plan. I’ve found another way to infiltrate the demons’ ranks. You can pull back now,” Wayne muttered, conjuring a gust of wind. When the researchers slowly regained consciousness, he spread his arms and cackled.

“Kekekeke—”

“I’ve succeeded!!”