Myths Reawakened

Hearing Ottilia’s complaint, Wayne grimaced and struggled to find the words.

“Speak!”

“Would you not believe that Master Silvia is Veronica’s actual mother?”

“Are you going to keep lying to me?”

“Right. I can’t deceive you any longer.” Sighing, Wayne pecked Ottilia on the forehead. “You’re right. Master Silvia is my mother. She gave birth to me after ten months of pregnancy.”

“I knew it.” Ottilia nodded. “Or it wouldn’t explain your resemblance to Mr. Auston.”

Hesione shook her head. You’re too green, young woman. While the holy mother is the holy mother, the father...

The Anointed One had only allowed the resemblance to preserve Auston’s face. It might be an act of compassion or a manifestation of his wisdom.

Seeing Hesione shaking her head, Ottilia seethed, pointing at her lips.

Kiss me here!

Wayne, of course, had to grant her request. He lowered his head and kissed Ottilia deeply right before the three reincarnated angels. Hesione kept her face neutral, Hestia looked furious, and Olga seemed confused.

Regina made a face. As an outsider, she felt like Ottilia was getting competitive for the sake of being competitive, all because of their boss’s scheme.

Wake up. Boss brought three beautiful ladies here for exactly this reaction!

Ottilia wouldn’t listen. She just knew that she was entitled to this intimacy.

She had earned Silvia’s stamp of approval!

***

Holy Maiden of Darkness’s manor, twelve o’clock at midnight.

In the living room, the Holy Maiden of Death lay on the sofa reading a book with a luxury sleep mask on her head, dressed in a light dress. There was a bucket of popcorn beside her. The way she kicked her fair legs back and forth showed her good mood.

This was the kind of life that a Holy Maiden should enjoy. She hadn’t been living. It was some bitter lemonade she had been making.

The goddess? Even if the Divine Realm fell apart, Rognes and Wayne would prop the sky up. What did the falling sky have to do with her, the Holy Maiden of Death?

The Holy Maiden of Death could no longer be of any use. With Wayne providing for her everyday needs, she had become a slacker with no ambition to speak of, and she slacked off with a clear conscience.

Upstairs, Hestia was still watching the door.

She felt a little better today since she wasn’t the only one standing guard. Vichy, guard number two, and Olga, who had joined recently, sat with her and played cards with her at a small table outside the door.

Given their similar circumstances, they got on like a house on fire without prior history. The corporate slaves shared their sob stories over poker. They weren’t particularly good at card games. Hestia and Olga were novices. Vichy had been the one who suggested a game—more precisely, it was Wayne’s demand. He ordered her to get better at cards because she would need it.

Vichy didn’t dare disobey him, so she had been practicing poker whenever she had time. Unfortunately, her diligence failed to overcome the limitation of her talent. She lost ten out of ten card games she played, differing only in how badly she lost. Sukra mocked her for being a merciful goddess at the table.

Sukra had taken all of Vichy’s allowance!

Darienne would’ve lost even her divine artifact to the Holy Maiden of Death.

In the bedroom, Wayne had just put down Anastasia, serving a dark elf cream puff hot. He started up another oven for a six-winged angel cream puff.

Cream puffs, also known as profiteroles, made a good dessert after the main dish. It would be too sweet and heavy as a main dish. Following the tradition, savory dishes should be served before the dessert, such as hand-shredded chicken, spicy boiled chicken, chicken breast, kung pao chicken...

Hesione had gotten used to the whole process. As Filomina had sarcastically commented, Purity had become so experienced that one had to question the legitimacy of the Seven Sacred Virtues in Heaven.

“So, do you understand now? Do you see that I’m not the Anointed One?”

Hesione thought wordlessly for a moment, observing the Anointed One, who possessed the Seven Sacred Virtues but never talked about any of them. “Anointed One, you once said that the purity of the heart is true purity, while a purity that only cares about appearance is false, and a purity that refuses to acknowledge its filth is a great sin in the world. Hypocrisy isn’t one of the Seven Deadly Sins because it’s a hidden part of the Seven Sacred Virtues.”

“Have I said that?”

Wayne’s eyes widened. All his hard work had been in vain, but it was okay. He could keep going.

Beside him, Anastasia flipped over in a daze. Then a black light flooded her eyes. She fell silent at the sight of the six fluttering wings.

Ines, the Goddess of Darkness, had descended.

As an objective goddess, She took in the six wings and the stigma flickering on the tip of the woman’s tongue and concluded that she could only be Purity of the Seven Sacred Virtues—Hesione, a Seraph and a Śār.

The scandalous scene made Ines feel worse than descending into a cream puff. When had Heaven fallen so far?

Wait. Has Heaven noticed Wayne, too? And what’s the deal with the Anointed One? Is it another method of recruitment?

Ines’s sudden descent hadn’t been a coincidence. She hadn’t stopped paying attention to Wayne after returning to the Divine Realm with Her corrupted thoughts. She had left a trigger in Anastasia’s body—an automatic trigger.

When Kaleb and Siluk descended through the two goddesses, the slight divine energy that was polar opposite to Darkness had triggered Ines’s alert. Others didn’t know that the goddesses had visited, but Ines knew.

Kaleb and Siluk had been busy with their combo, so they would’ve never descended through their Holy Maidens without a good reason. The only thing in Londan worthy of the goddesses’ attention was Wayne.

Ines cared about Wayne a lot. Putting Herself in Her fellow goddesses’ shoes, She guessed that Wayne had caught the attention of Kaleb and Siluk, too.

Thus, Ines descended in person to confirm whether She should make an extra investment to ensure that the two wouldn’t replace Her as the main shareholder.

She opened Her eyes and sensed Her cream puff state, cursing out. Then She turned around and saw the six-winged angel, flabbergasted.

Kaleb and Siluk no longer mattered. They could at most send Holy Maidens to Wayne. They would never amount to much because they were too cautious. Heaven, on the other hand, had made a decisive move after a long time of inaction, deploying the Śār of Purity.

How could Wayne resist the temptation?

Still... what was it about the Anointed One? It seemed like something worth investigating.

Ines would like to hear more, but Wayne had been clenching his teeth wordlessly, while Hesione had been frowning wordlessly. Ines watched for a while, feeling distinctly out of place. She couldn’t go, but She shouldn’t stay.

Damn it, speak!

Looking at Anastasia’s depressed face, Wayne smiled and grabbed his white moonlight by the arm, pulling her in for a kiss. The press of their lips was somewhat unnerving to Ines, but curious about the Anointed One, She didn’t run away immediately.

They had kissed before. This was doable.

As they kissed, though, Ines noticed a serious problem.

Part of the Goddess of Death’s thoughts was inside Wayne!

Ines’s eyes widened. When did Aztimor invest in Wayne, and with such a high stake? Was She mad? This wasn’t what they had agreed on!

Ines knew the consequences of letting Wayne have Her thoughts. She had been through it once. Losing partial thoughts to him would be fine for Ines since Her main body was still in the Divine Realm, and Her divine will wouldn’t be influenced. Even though Her thoughts had been corrupted, She could control the corruption.

Death, however, had gone into slumber, and Her main body in Her Divine Realm was slowly dying, with no way to resist the corruption. Even if Her plan worked, She would wake up as Wayne’s vassal.

Ines couldn’t be more shocked. What was Aztimor doing? She claimed to have a plan, yet She had another plan behind Darkness’s back. How was that different from the way Ines had deceived Siluk and Kaleb? Where was the trust that should exist between goddesses?

Ines was so shocked that when She realized it, a groan was already escaping Her throat. Looking at the pretty boy’s approaching face, She got scared into leaving Anastasia’s body as soon as possible.

She had suffered a great loss because of Her moment of distraction.

(≖`‸´≖)

Wayne wondered whether he had imagined it, but hadn’t the Goddess of Darkness just run away?

“Impossible. She wouldn’t go so far for an investment. Could it be...”

“She has actually fallen for me?”

Wayne stared in shock. The theory was so far-fetched that Hell would have to freeze over for it to be true, but the facts pointed to only one explanation. Ines had kissed Wayne in the confessional, and today, She mustered the courage to impersonate Anastasia. She had hurriedly run away because She was too shy to keep up the act.

It was a logical story with no flaw save for one questionable part: did Ines even know how to spell ‘shy’?

Wayne didn’t think so, but what if he was right? Darkness could come and go as She pleased. If She didn’t want to interact with him, She wouldn’t have done it.

“Ana,” Wayne said, stunned. “Does the Goddess of Darkness have feelings for me?!”

Anastasia’s eyes went wide. She realized that she had been possessed by the Goddess of Darkness earlier, and for quite a long duration.

“Hesione, that was the Goddess of Darkness!” Wayne turned to Hesione in shock. “She wanted me!”

“That is only natural.” Hesione nodded seriously. “You are the Anointed One, after all. It’s no surprise that the Goddess of Darkness would set Her eyes on you.”

She would like to advise Wayne to be careful. The Goddess of Darkness might try to secure Her place in Heaven by securing the spot on top of Wayne. However, the Anointed One was omniscient, so the Goddess of Darkness was doomed to come out with no gain. Hesione thus decided against giving a warning.

In fact, the Goddess of Darkness might be on his list of redemption targets. Feigning ignorance, the Anointed One had offered the goddess walking in darkness a helping hand as a mortal.

Wayne was so shocked that he finished off quickly.

***

Later, Wayne returned to the well-lit living room. He looked at the Holy Maiden lying on the sofa with dangling feet. He snapped his fingers, having his bodyguards carry the sofa and the girl to the corner of the room. She could get cozy there.

Also, what was she doing, reading a book with a sleep mask on?

Olga and Hestia transported the sofa to a corner. Then Vichy forged an impressive black high-back chair with Darkness, molding it with her thoughts. The aggressive style and sharp edges were a perfect fit for a villain.

Hesione didn’t think much of it. Based on the Anointed One’s history, he wasn’t a shallow person who cared about appearance, so the color of the chair didn’t matter. Hestia, on the other hand, believed that sitting on a chair of Darkness was an insult to the Śār and the honest life he had led. She draped the chair of Darkness with a white cover gilded with a cross.

“Nice chair. It suits me.”

Wayne took a seat. Across from him, Anastasia was calling out to the Goddess of Darkness with her eyes closed. Both tries met radio silence.

She opened her eyes and shook her head. “The goddess rejected me. She doesn’t want to meet you now.”

“That’s normal for the first time,” Wayne expressed his understanding. He told Anastasia to try again. If it didn’t work, they would stop.

The call went through this time!

When Anastasia opened her eyes again, She had become Ines, the Goddess of Darkness. She pulled a long face and stared at Wayne without saying anything.

(⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)

Bastard, why are you blushing? That was a misunderstanding!

But Ines was a mature goddess and knew that the explanation wouldn’t help. She used it to Her advantage instead, averting Wayne’s gaze and staring at the wall with a blush.

She saw the slacker Holy Maiden in the corner, wearing a white dress that looked like a sleeping gown.

No Holy Maiden would be in pajamas in the living room, in front of the opposite sex. Do you think you’re Anastasia?!

Ines came to a realization. The Holy Maiden of Death had come for an oracle. Aztimor had always been plotting behind Ines’s back. While pretending to be Ines’s close ally, Aztimor had been up to something!

Fine. You plot against your sister when she’s had a heart-to-heart with you. Do you wanna play? I’ll play!

Thinking of the thread of Death’s thoughts in Her possession, Ines narrowed Her eyes, considering whether She should hand it to Wayne to let him fully corrupt Aztimor. There would be no return for Death then.

She remembered that when Aztimor entrusted the thoughts to Her, She had explained that Ines had to keep the thoughts safe, or the two of them would suffer together.

Aztimor had another plan. That was for certain. Moreover, Wayne was definitely the key to the plan.

Ines trusted Her own eyes. Wayne was also an important part of Her plan. Since She could find him, it was no surprise for Aztimor to invest everything in him.

Now, the question was whether Ines should hand Aztimor’s thoughts to him. Would that be part of Aztimor’s plan, too?

“Damn it...”

What was the damn woman thinking? How could She see so far ahead?!