Myths Reawakened

Who am I? Where am I from? Where am I going?

What is the meaning of life? What is life? Why do people live?

Sandrine sat up, confused. Looking at Wayne’s expression of joy, she wondered who this man was and why she felt such an intense feeling for him.

Was he family, or an enemy?

Her heart thumped, compelling her to take deep breaths like a fish out of water. The oxygen allowed her memories to rush back in. Her stiff thoughts integrated with her body. Her complete Golden Triangle became balanced once more.

She had come back to life!

“Thank Goddess, High Reverend Sandrine. You finally returned to us.” Wayne grabbed her hand, overcome with emotion. “Do you remember me? I’m Wayne, an Oracle High Reverend from the headquarters. Receiving your SOS letter about demon sightings in Palis, I rushed over as quickly as I could and banished the demons, saving your life. I’m your savior!”

“...”

“Why aren’t you saying anything, High Reverend?”

“I’ve never met anyone as shameless as you are.”

Sandrine yanked her hand back and staggered to her feet. Sensing that she was in Wayne’s vitality field, she swallowed the curses at the tip of her tongue, worried that he would kill her to silence her.

She wasn’t Wayne’s match even at the peak of her power, much less when she had only just recovered physically, her thoughts still weakened. In his territory, she wouldn’t be able to get help even if she screamed her throat raw. Wayne could just frame her as a demon’s pawn who had betrayed the church, and she would die with a sullied reputation.

“Speak, High Reverend!!”

“Thank you for saving my life,” Sandrine said stiffly. “You must have worked hard to banish the demons.”

That’s more like it. You know what’s good for you.

Wayne recovered his composure now that he had brought her back to life. He disintegrated his vitality field and slumped down on the office chair.

Back in her office, Sandrine finally allowed herself to relax. Though calling out for help still wouldn’t do her much good, at least people could hear her now. Wayne might want to avoid killing every follower who rushed in for her.

She had taken a deadly punch to her nose as retribution for her nosiness. Now, she no longer looked at Wayne with disdain. The pretty boy hadn’t reached his rank with heavy investments, nor was he Pope Senna’s lapdog. He had earned his status with raw power. Even at headquarters, he would be one of the topmost fighters.

Sandrine felt a chill in the nape of her neck. She was this close to dying for real. Judging a book by its cover, it turned out, could be lethal. She shouldn’t have believed the rumors.

She just wanted to know which bastard spread the rumors that the pretty boy was Senna’s boy toy and had slept his way to power.

“High Reverend, I’ve checked and confirmed that you’re not a demon’s pawn, with no signs of a demon’s control in your thoughts. However, there’s still a possibility that you’ve defected voluntarily because you want to go to Hell.”

Wayne put his feet on the desk. “Don’t relax just yet. You’re still under suspicion, and I could kill you at any time.”

“Oracle High Reverend,” Sandrine said meekly, her expression wry, “Whatever question you have, I’ll answer.”

“Should’ve said that earlier, but you just have to make me give you a beating.”

“...”

“Oh, it’s not so much a beating but one single punch. You collapsed just like that.”

“Do you want your answers or not, Oracle High Reverend?”

Sandrine cursed Wayne out silently for pushing further. She would’ve fought him if he didn’t completely overpower her.

“What, could I not criticize you after saving your life? You haven’t paid the medical bill!” Wayne huffed. Only when he saw Sandrine’s visible frustration and barely suppressed grievances did he nod in satisfaction. “Now, tell me what’s going on. Since when are you Pope Senna’s follower? Who’s the recipient of your message?”

“I’ve been following Lady Senna for a long time. On the surface, I work for Pope Ludwig’s faction, but...”

Sandrine was truly in the same boat as Wayne. When Senna was still an Oracle High Reverend, she had recruited Sandrine with the justification that Ludwig would leave sooner or later, and Sandrine had to pick a side. Sandrine was an open supporter of Ludwig, but she had been supporting Senna to become the next pope in secret.

Wayne had read Senna’s memories, but with no interest in the snakes at the church, he had unconsciously ignored Senna’s social circle and thus didn’t recognize Sandrine.

Sandrine, on the other hand, had assumed that Wayne was a boy toy Senna had put in a position of power, wielding his authority with no self-awareness. That was why she had withheld information from him, looking down on the newly appointed Oracle High Reverend.

A boy toy should do what a boy toy does. There are things you shouldn’t be privy to!

“The moral of the story is that when a riddler gets beaten, they more than deserve it,” Wayne concluded.

Sandrine’s white robe had been stained by her blood, and probably a good volume of her brain matter. She kept her fury to herself and continued, “The carrier pigeon was going to contact two High Reverends of the Life Alliance. We found out that demons were the Black Axiom Sect’s backers, and Archbishop Theo of Saint Sulpice might have defected to the demons’ side. Thus, we set up a trap and used the demons to weaken the Church of Heavenly Father’s presence in Franc, allowing the three churches to divide the benefits...”

“Lady Senna knows about this.”

“Senna knows?” Wayne asked, raising an eyebrow.

She hadn’t told him. Had she gotten arrogant? Ever since she acquired Elemental Mantra and learned that she was the Nature Knight in the inner world, she had gotten more audacious... No, she had simply reverted to her old self.

She had always been a bad woman. She was an extremist among radicals and a radical among warmongers. She would love to lord over everyone as the Queen.

Wayne knew that her regression in personality was partly his doing. He had told Senna to be herself, and his indulgence had emboldened her. She did not care about anyone other than him.

It wasn’t a serious problem. He could whip her into remembering her place.

Sandrine continued to explain the situation. The three churches of the Life Alliance and the Church of Heavenly Father had been controlling all of Franc’s world of magic, working together while working against each other openly and in secret. They had maintained their complicated relationships of entangled interests for centuries. It was almost impossible to separate them now.

If one dared to look, they would find a snake den.

Given the circumstances, the Life Alliance had been unable to drive the Church of Heavenly Father out of Franc, but the demons brought opportunity. They descended and destroyed the Church of Heavenly Father, so the Life Alliance could only divide the now unclaimed faith between them. Wouldn’t that be a nice story?

Wayne’s expression darkened with exasperation. Though there were things Sandrine hadn’t gone into, he could read the subtext. The wicked plan of facilitating the existing chain of events was meant to wipe out the Church of Heavenly Father’s presence in Franc. Once the Life Alliance succeeded, the clergy members in Franc would all be doomed. At least tens of thousands would die.

He had nothing to say about the conflicts between faiths. He respected everyone’s autonomy over their own fate and could put aside his urge to help others. It was better not to intervene since wasted effort might end up attracting trouble.

However, it annoyed him that the Life Alliance had implicitly allowed the Black Axiom Sect to develop and eat away at the Church of Heavenly Father.

He didn’t care about the church itself, but the church had a large following. If the demons gained control fully and used the followers in a large-scale sacrificial ritual, the consequences would be dire.

He lowered his feet and curled his fingers at Sandrine. “Your nose is a little sunken in. It seems that I haven’t mended you right when I reforged your body. Come and let me redo it.”

Sandrine shook her head vehemently, retreating to the door and grabbing the door handle. If Wayne put a hand on her, she would scream.

She wouldn’t mind mutual destruction!

Wayne glared at her. His thoughts shot out in the form of intangible tentacles to grapple her and lift her off the ground, gagging her mouth to stop her from calling out for help.

“Hmph...”

She was forced to open her mouth further. Her unfortunate encounter with the invisible tentacle monster made her white robe cling to her body.

“I don’t think you know who you’re talking to. If not for Senna, I would’ve killed you already.” Wayne cursed silently. Indeed, he shouldn’t look into everything in case he found something.

Sandrine wanted to keep him out, but he insisted on looking into the matter and ended up discovering Senna’s crime.

He couldn’t hold his vassal accountable since she was a stunning sex-payer who always overpaid him and made sure to double the pay when she missed a payment. Even with this finding, he would at most punish her in private, keeping everything under wraps.

He had to clean up her mess.

Wayne let go of Sandrine with a wave. Since he couldn’t take care of Senna, Sandrine would have to be the punching bag. “It’s unbecoming of a District High Reverend to be so skimpily dressed when you represent the church in Franc!”

I’m not skimpily dressed.

“How dare you talk back?!” Wayne glared at her. “You weren’t properly dressed when you bent down and seduced me. I thought you were a proper lady because of your serious demeanor, but your behavior is inappropriate and lewd.”

Sandrine blushed. According to her investigation, Wayne was a pervert with a reputation. She suspected that he had been peeking at her, so she had tried to seduce him for the greater good. Why would that make her shameful? She hadn’t done it willingly!

It was a strategy to learn more about the enemy. She hadn’t expected Wayne to stay while showing no weaknesses. She definitely didn’t expect him to turn the matter against her and call her lewd. If he found it inappropriate, he shouldn’t be looking!

Wayne scolded her for half an hour, calling her mean-spirited, shameless, greedy, petty, despicable... using all the adjectives that could describe himself.

Sandrine cursed him out silently. Aside from his power, there was nothing good about him.

“I’ll get to the point. Terminate the Life Alliance’s plan and contact the two High Reverends. I want to meet them.”

“That won’t work. Lady Senna—”

“Ha, she should be worried about herself!”

“...”

What exactly is your relationship?

Sandrine had thought that Wayne was Senna’s pet and a legendary mage who only reached his rank thanks to others’ investments, but after taking the punch, she wondered if she should imagine Senna and Wayne in a different position.

Wayne would be on top.

If that was the case, she had to re-evaluate the power dynamic at the church’s headquarters.

Taking a deep breath, Sandrine said meekly, “Oracle High Reverend, there are three churches in the Life Alliance, and the Church of Nature has no power over the other two churches. Even if we step out now, the other two churches will only double down for profit.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just arrange a meeting, and I’ll convince them.” Wayne shook his head with his eyes closed. “The Life Alliance’s plan is too dangerous. Before you succeed, the demons will have succeeded. How are your actions any different from those of an accomplice? I’m not risking the lives of the many just so you can pursue your own benefits.”

Do you actually care about the public?

Sandrine was surprised. She didn’t expect the ruthless bastard who would take lives without hesitation to be a kind-hearted bastard.