Myths Reawakened

Palis.

The war encroached upon the city like dark clouds. The newspaper published bad news from the frontlines, each and every printed word incited anxiety in the general public. Social order fell apart due to the war, which led to more crimes and further deterioration of order. The entire city—no, the entire country, became shrouded by foggy darkness.

Bar.

Stolas, the Lord of Night, put two glasses on the bar, dressed like a bartender. He had long, silky, black hair. In the human world, his vessel was a handsome young man.

His two patrons were Enguema, their top combatant, and Mattea, their HR head. The former assumed the form of a burly man, while the latter appeared as an elegant lady in black formal dress.

They each represented different social classes, so they looked like an unlikely trio who wouldn’t have usually sought each other out for company—unless the lady was involved with both men.

The Big Three of the demon alliance were wavering.

“I just received a strange piece of information. You may not believe it,” Stolas said with a frown. “When the One-eyed Demon patrolled the underground catacombs, they ran into a woman shrouded in Death. After a fight, the woman left a letter meant to be sent to Saint Sulpice’s Cathedral.”

“What does that mean?” Enguema downed his liquor, urging Stolas to refill his glass.

“That woman must be a member of the Church of Death,” Stolas said while filling Enguema’s glass to the half. “I don’t know much about the church. I’m guessing that she’s here for Death Knight Rognes.”

“Fill it properly—forget it. Just hand me the bottle.” Enguema lost interest immediately after hearing that the woman was from the Church of Death. It was just a little church in the human world. It couldn’t possibly take Rognes’s head from them. Ha, did they think they were demons incarnate?

“She was the one who killed the Troll, wasn’t she?” Mattea elegantly sipped her wine.

“Should be her.” Stolas nodded seriously. “She’s a powerful legendary mage who’s defeated Andrius and erased the thoughts he sent to the human world. The loss is significant.”

“Andrius has always been trash,” Enguema interrupted dismissively. “If his territory weren’t so far from mine, if we shared a border, I would’ve taken his land.”

Among the Big Three, Stolas was the brain, Mattea was the honeypot, and Enguema was the brawn. The brawn usually came with an intellectual deficiency, but Enguema was the Lord of Greed’s son. It wasn’t easy to be a demon lord’s son, and he had been cautiously avoiding showing any signs of a working brain.

Stolas strongly suspected that Enguema was no less intelligent than he was; only Enguema had been playing a brainless thug convincingly.

“The woman from the Church of Death has been corresponding with Saint Sulpice’s Cathedral. The letter mentions three reincarnated angels from the Papal State, and she’s been in talks with them to form an alliance.”

Stolas handed Enguema a second bottle. “The angels are after us, while the woman is aiming to rescue the Death Knight. As they share a common enemy, they’ve agreed on the framework of their partnership.”

“Hasn’t Saint Sulpice’s Church fallen under our control?” Enguema said irritably. “Did they betray us?”

The Black Axiom Sect had put in quite a lot of work to subdue the Palis’s branch of the Church of Heavenly Father, yet the reincarnated angels came and took it back as soon as they arrived. It was arrogant of them not to respect the fruit of others’ labor at all.

“We’ll take care of them tonight and see how powerful they are,” Enguema suggested. “If we have to, let’s just eliminate them.”

“I suspect foul play...” Stolas glanced at Mattea. “The assault against the Church of Nature’s head office failed. We were going to send out false information, but the succubus vessels were completely wiped out. We’ve wasted the cannon fodder.”

“You’re overthinking, Stolas. Whether there’s a trap or not, we have to face the reincarnated angels sooner or later.” Enguema lowered the now-empty bottle. “I’ll go check tonight. The Gate of Hell has opened by a crack. If we can get the angels’ blood, we’ll make progress.”

“Calm down. If it’s a trap—”

“I’ve made up my mind!”

Watching Enguema go, Stolas nodded to himself. Good, he would find out if there was a trap.

Once Enguema disappeared out of the door, Stolas turned to Mattea with a frown, watching her savor her wine. “What about you? You don’t seem to be in a hurry. What are you planning?”

“The human world offers such scrumptious treats that even I, a demon, can’t help but want to get lost in it,” Mattea drawled. “I plan to enjoy it a little more before the Gate of Hell opens.”

I don’t believe you!

The two clinked their glasses together. After exchanging a few more words, they found themselves in the washroom, with a sign placed outside that said, “Cleaning in progress.”

That was the culture of Hell. They did not preserve their energy before a great battle like the angels of Heaven did.

***

Saint Sulpice’s Cathedral, night.

Threads of blood energy swarmed toward the cathedral. The eerie blood magic induced the lightheadedness of blood loss, making those inside feel like they would run out of blood at any time.

Standing before a floor-to-ceiling window, Auriel frowned at the large group of demon pawns suddenly appearing. The demon had come prepared. In the distance was an intimidatingly powerful energy source. Though it wasn’t one of the Seven Demon Lords, it wasn’t a regular demon.

“Blood Tyrant Enguema...” Auriel murmured. “Our location has been compromised. Who notified the demons?”

They had cleaned up the cathedral inside and out. Auriel couldn’t figure out who the traitor was. He looked at the rolling dark clouds above the cathedral’s dome, a darkness rising in his heart.

He had wanted to stay hidden to take their enemies by surprise, but they became the ones caught off guard instead. Things weren’t looking good.

“Śār Auriel, I’ve found the Prince,” Olga said. Dressed in a white clergywoman outfit, she stood tall and slim with an air of intelligence and elegance about her. “He’ll gladly follow us back to Londan.”

Auriel nodded. It didn’t matter if the Prince was willing; the point was to make sure Hesione had nowhere to return to.

“Shall I erase the demons?”

“Don’t go all out and don’t demonstrate your full power. It’d be better for you to be defeated because of a mistake. Let the demons celebrate for now...” Auriel gave out the orders. Since their hiding place had been exposed, they could no longer stay in Saint Sulpice. They had to move tonight.

Olga nodded and walked away.

Half an hour later, Olga found Auriel and Fred in an alleyway, face covered in ashes. “Śār Auriel,” she said gravely. “There is a traitor among us.”

“Why did you say that?”

“Before I said anything, Enguema talked,” Olga said. “He knew that there were three reincarnated angels at the cathedral.”

Auriel froze, immediately suspecting Hesione.

Hesione might not sell them out, but Wayne, who was impersonating her, was highly suspicious. It took only one meeting for Auriel to realize that the man was a demon roaming the human world. His was the eighth deadly sin, Dishonesty. Shamelessness or deviousness would work, too. Whatever negative descriptor fitted.

The Pope had to take responsibility for allowing someone like him to take Hesione’s purity!

Thinking back, though, while Wayne had the motive to pit the three of them against the demons, he didn’t have the capability to do it. He, Fred, and Olga weren’t going to provide Wayne with the information, and they had moved after they parted ways with Frey, the only traitor among them.

The clergy at Saint Sulpice’s Cathedral had undergone a housecleaning. Archbishop Theo deeply regretted his sins and would commit suicide after the Gate of Hell was destroyed so that he would go to Hell.

There was no undercover agent who could give Wayne the information.

It couldn’t be the Princess and her fiancée. They weren’t able to return home because of Wayne. The hatred they had for Wayne was the hatred of losing their country.

Auriel couldn’t find an answer. He wondered if he had overthought it.

For the next two days, they kept moving, but every time, demons found them the very night, which compounded Auriel’s confusion.

In the chapel, he looked at the cross statue while listening to the dark howling outside the window, shaking his head.

“Śār, the demons know where we are. If we keep waiting, we...” Olga prodded in a roundabout way, asking Auriel what solution he had.

That’s easy. Just tell the demons where Hesione is!

That was what Auriel thought, but he didn’t say it. He was a Śār of principles, so it was beneath him to throw his fellow angel under the bus.

“Send the Princess and Prince away,” Auriel said. “Let’s head to the underground catacombs.”

“Are we not waiting for Śār Hesione to make a move first?”

“No, they...”

Auriel trailed off, at a loss for words. The situation was too complicated to be explained simply, so he wouldn’t do it. He had to admit that Hesione had changed a lot after her reincarnation. She had gone from a staunch follower of rules to a hypocrite. Even when facing demons, she was able to stay quiet for a prolonged period.

He didn’t want to think about who had changed her. He couldn’t put such depravity into words.

Boom!!

The cross on the chapel’s rooftop rippled with radiant white light. A blazing white pillar shot toward the sky, sweeping the dark clouds away and radiating tremendous holy intent.

A vortex of white light expanded from the pillar of light, shaking space and pouring out sacred flames that could burn everything like mercury. Wherever the flames passed, only the pawns of the Seven Deadly Sins were burned to ashes, while the vegetation and buildings remained.

“That energy...”

Hidden in the dark, Enguema murmured in surprise. Sensing the Śār’s energy, he fled without hesitation rather than staying and fighting the angels head-on. That would lead to certain death, and he would have to be mad to do that.

“Come. Let’s follow him. He’ll lead us to the Gate of Hell.”

Auriel watched Enguema from a distance. He no longer intended to hide. They would take over the underground catacombs tonight.

They hadn’t figured out what was going on with the demons, so it was unwise to barge into the demons’ territory. If they were unlucky, and the Seven Demon Lords were gathering for a meeting when they barged in, things wouldn’t be pretty.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t keep hiding. He was a Śār. Enguema didn’t deserve to make him flee so many times.

Auriel believed that he wouldn’t be alone. If Hesione even had the tiniest bit of shame left, she would show up at the underground catacombs.