Myths Reawakened

First research institute.

Wayne, disguised as Christian, paced around the office anxiously like he was near the end of his patience. Director Roel, who had pulled an all-nighter, sat in his office chair with his arms crossed, his head bobbing up and down as he dozed off.

Bam!

Wayne slammed the table with a hand, startling Roel into falling off the chair.

“Gen-General, what’s wrong?”

“Have you really submitted the report?” Wayne widened his eyes. “Why hasn’t the Führer summoned me?”

Have you not overestimated your value?

“General, the Führer is in charge of the entire nation. From the frontline to matters of the general public’s livelihood, he needs to sign hundreds of documents every day. You only need to wait,” Roel said in resignation. “Are you not going to go home and rest? If you’re not yourself when the Führer summons you, you’ll be making a bad impression.”

“Alright, I’ll go home and sleep.” Wayne nodded. “I am a little sleepy.”

From the corridor outside came the uniform sounds of boots hitting the floor. Two soldiers in SS uniforms opened the door, and an officer walked in.

“Brigade Commander Christian?”

“I’m Christian.” Wayne took two steps forward, frowning. “Allow me to correct you. I’m Division Leader, not Brigade Commander.”

“You are now,” the officer said with a wave. The two soldiers produced a document and a new uniform. “Congratulations, Brigade Commander Christian. The Führer approves of the progress you’ve made. This is rightfully yours.”

Wayne signed the assignment paper and handed it back, standing to attention with his right arm raised at a forty-five-degree angle. He declared in a devoted tone, “Heil mein Führer!”

Thud!

They all stood to attention at the same time.

“Heil!” xN

They had confirmed through the salute that they were on the same side.

The officer placed a briefcase in Wayne’s hand, pointing at the two soldiers around him. “From now on, they will be your personal guards, in charge of your safety. Burn the documents in the briefcase after reading them.”

With that, the officer turned around and left, with no delay whatsoever.

Strangely, he didn’t feel like a human to Wayne, but more like a robot. It creeped Wayne out. Moreover, the two average-looking guards assigned to him also felt inhuman.

Putting aside his doubt, Wayne headed to an office and opened the briefcase. One document was an appointment for him to take over an orphanage. The exact work he would be doing wasn’t detailed. It only said that he would know when he was there. The other document was a letter of recommendation. After the promotion that would grant him a higher salary, he needed to undergo a six-month further training.

There was no summons to meet the Führer. Loyalty was the best reward for loyalty. Anyone who wanted to become better at their work would receive an endless supply of work from their leader.

“Orphanage...”

Wayne frowned. He had thought that Christian’s identity would give him a chance to get close to Hidler, but it didn’t. It seemed that the bullet the man had taken hadn’t left a deep impression on the Führer.

That made sense. Hidler had been bar-hopping for years in his early days, giving countless speeches. There must have been no shortage of people who had taken bullets for him. For a mediocre talent like Christian to become a brigade commander of the SS was already quite a sentimental move on Hidler’s part.

Wayne didn’t press for a visit. Taking his two guards, he hopped on a car and headed to the orphanage.

He would see what the work was!

***

Orphanage.

Wayne looked at the dark projected space before him, panicking and worrying that it would turn out to be a projected mirror space.

“General!”

The orphanage director came up to him, dressed in the long white robe of the Church of Heavenly Father. He looked to be in his fifties, with a kind, approachable smile.

Wayne showed him the written appointment. The director seemed to know Christian, though, and he returned the document after only a glance. “General, it’s your first time at the orphanage, so you may not know the secrets of the place. Let’s walk and talk...”

Wayne felt the familiar feeling again. Something about the director was unnerving. It took some time for him to realize that it was the Uncanny Valley effect. The military officials, his guards, and this director—none of them were human.

“Um, you—”

“Just call me Paul.”

“Paul, forgive me, but you seem...” Wayne said tentatively. “I’m not sure how to describe it, but there’s something strange about you. You make me uneasy.”

“General, it’s confidential information I cannot tell you,” Paul said with a smile. “I believe you should have been given a letter of recommendation, too. That’ll tell you the truth you seek. I hope you’ll have a good time.”

He looked creepy when he wasn’t smiling and creepier when he smiled.

“Are you a demon, Paul?”

“No, I’m more than that.”

“...”

Wayne didn’t object to the confident claim, beginning the onboarding process instead.

“General, you’ll be in charge of the orphanage from now on. There’s a specialized laboratory and interrogation room here, as well as a group of special soldiers under your command. They’re loyal.” Paul handed Wayne a gun with a serious expression. “Take this. They’ll follow all your orders unconditionally.”

Seeing the confusion on Wayne’s face, Paul said with a smile, “I’m not authorized to tell you much. The truth is in the recommendation letter. You’ll know when you know.”

Damn riddler, get out of Berlo!

Wayne took the small, intricate handgun. He didn’t know much about firearms, but based on Christian’s memories, this should be a Walther PPK.

Christian’s original gun was the iconic Luger semi-automatic pistol, popular for its craftsmanship and exclusivity due to the small production output.

“General, the orphanage was renovated a few years ago to house demon vessels...”

“Among them are a good number of vessels for demon lords, but only Wrath and Gluttony have been willing to descend...”

“Relax, they aren’t as powerful as you expected, and our country isn’t as weak as you think. All this time, we’ve been keeping the demons under control!”

Paul’s discordant facial features lit up with confidence. He interrupted before Wayne could say anything, “The letter. It has all the answers you want. I can’t tell you about anything but the orphanage.”

“Alright, I won’t press.” Wayne felt the letter of recommendation in his pocket, making up his mind to catch up on what he’d missed today. He was beyond curious what exactly Prussia had done that they didn’t even see demon lords as real threats.

“Last night, two angels barged into the orphanage and tried to destroy all the demonic vessels. The demon lords were drawn out, and an intense fight broke out. Many vessels ended up destroyed, and the two demon lords were banished to Hell.”

“The demon lords were defeated?” Wayne put on a disappointed face. “I’ve finally gained the power of demons, but demon lords turn out to be defective. How am I going to face the Führer, and how do I offer him my power...”

“What about the two angels? Have they fled?”

“No,” said Paul. “We caught them alive.”

“Catch them alive?!” Wayne’s eyes widened. He remembered Lust incarnate and her lewd body. Was there already a line for her?

“Yes, they sealed themselves up. It’ll take quite some time to break the seal.” Paul led him to the orphanage’s backyard and pointed at the director’s office. “You’ll be working here from now on. I’ll hand over the director’s duties to you. It’ll be some time before you put on the uniform again...”

“The two angels are locked up on the bottom-most floor in the bunker. The entrance is in the bedroom adjacent to the office.”

“Um...” Wayne took the key, momentarily at a loss.

“What’s wrong, General?”

“I’m not sure what I should do,” Wayne said awkwardly. “I feel like I’m taking on a difficult mission.”

“Your job is to guard the demon vessels and stop them from leaving the orphanage. At the same time...” Paul lowered his voice. “Guide the angels and demons into destroying each other. Not now, though. Wait for your orders. In the meantime, do your best to keep the angels under control.”

(一`´一)

Paul might not believe it, but Wayne already had one angel under his control. It wouldn’t take much for him to make the two angels locked in the basement do his bidding, too. For example, he could just transform.

“I don’t understand very well, Paul. I was taught the importance of the vessels, but according to you...” Wayne trailed off, shrugging. “Alright, I get it. Just check the letter of recommendation, right?”

“Yes,” Paul said. “We have ways to control angels. This mission isn’t as difficult as you believe it to be. This is a chance. The Führer has high hopes for you and wants you to seize this precious opportunity.”

The demons represent Hell, and the angels represent Heaven. Even in the human world, there’s the Church of Heavenly Father, a prominent faction. Are you sure this is an easy mission?

Putting himself in the Führer’s shoes, Wayne suspected that he was being used as cannon fodder.

After all, if Prussia didn’t even treat demon lords seriously, he, a demon vessel, was unlikely to be valued despite the successful transformation. Since he would be useless anyway, it would be smarter to exploit the last of his value.

Wayne regretted choosing Christian as his disguise. It had been a misguided decision made based on insufficient information. He was getting more and more distant from the Führer’s office.

“I understand. I won’t disappoint the Führer!” Wayne said passionately.

He followed Paul on a tour around the orphanage, including the bunker and the basement where the two angels were kept. In the pitch-black chamber, black chains wrapped around two cross-shaped stars. Inside the shimmering light and shadow, silhouettes could be barely made out.

“To control the angels, the seals have to be broken first, which will require the sacrifice of numerous demon vessels. You have to extract sins from their bodies and use them to corrupt Holy Light.”

In the director’s office, Paul handed Wayne the secrets of the orphanage, giving him a keychain with a good number of keys and telling him to keep it on him.

Wayne looked for the key to the archive, raising an eyebrow. “There are ways to create demon vessels in the bunker. May I produce demons on my own?”

“General—no, Director, you’re in charge now.”

“Good, finally an answer I could get without the letter of recommendation.” Wayne wiped his forehead even though he hadn’t sweated.

After Paul left, Wayne made a round with his two guards. The orphanage was large, with a total of three hundred people stationed. Half of them were clergy members with eerie smiles, while the other half were soldiers guarding the bunker. None of them were normal.

The actual children had been transferred to other orphanages after the renovation. There were neither boys nor girls here. The only ones housed in the orphanage were demon vessels.

Wayne led his two guards into the projection of the Abyss. The construction site was bustling with activity as the vessels organized themselves for the manual labor, entirely unlike a demon’s pawns.

They were loyal to the Führer, not any demons.