Myths Reawakened

“Astral life...” Envy’s true voice came from the deep sea. “No, it should be Heaven’s power. You’re a reincarnated angel...”

“Who are you, and what’s your real name in Heaven? Why haven’t I heard of you?”

It was natural to see an Astral life as an angel in Heaven. The two were similar in style, and since the Heavenly Father had gone down the path of ancient gods, the angels He created were very likely His vassals—or, of course, they could be prototypes He had created in his pursuit of evolution.

“I don’t have a real name in Heaven. I’m but a human.”

“...” x2

Envy didn’t press. The demon god pulled the black chains back to make the three demonic creatures meld together while howling. They turned into a black greatsword for the demon god to wield. The now giant Pale Knight raised both hands horizontally. His palms and fingers elongated to form two pale blades.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The black and white giants stomped toward each other, every step triggering quakes that shook the world.

The demon god raised one hand to solidify space and accelerate the passage of time, causing the Pale Knight’s body to collapse into sludge. The large eyeball contracted suddenly, gathering tremendous thoughts into a thread to hit the solidified space, creating a crack with a clang.

Wayne’s immobilized body turned into white foam and seeped through the crack, recombining into a giant Pale Knight the next second. Wherever the intangible tentacles passed, they blended into space itself tauntingly, turning everything white inside out.

The Void’s corruption was potent, in a league of its own compared to any other lifeforms. However, Envy had never seen a more corruptive Astral life than Wayne. Not even his old friends—the angels of Heaven—could compare.

The Pale Knight swung its reconstituted right hand to slash at the demon god, who raised his own sword to parry the attack. As the black and white collided, a thunderous explosion rang.

Space shattered, and turbulent black currents cascaded down randomly like rivers of death, sweeping across the sky and leaving immeasurable traces.

The Pale Knight raised his left hand. The sharp bladed arm he had tucked to his side shot out, thrusting at the demon god’s head.

The demon god caught the weapon with wind blades generated by the friction of his palm and five fingers. Sparks sputtered at the moment of contact. Suddenly, he felt the pressure disappear. The sharp blades the demon god had parried with his sword and caught with one hand melted without warning, the splattered white foam lunging at the demon lord from all directions like tides.

The white foam replicated endlessly and grew in volume, overwhelming the black demon god and rushing toward the Infinite Ocean. The demon god struggled within the white foam as innumerable tentacles wrapped around his limbs and neck, pulling in four different directions.

The demon god’s body was unbreakable, but the parts that were in contact with the white foam were mutating into the paleness of the Void.

The Seven Deadly Sins should be unrivaled, but they put up a sorry resistance and ended up swept away by the white foam, blending into the white ocean.

Do you have nothing to say, Teacher Envy?

If not, allow me to take the mic!

Tides of white foam stirred, rising into a pale tsunami that reached the clouds in the sky. The tides split into distinct layers. The monstrous eye aimed and hit the demon god with strange whispers.

In raw power alone, Wayne wasn’t close to being Envy’s match. In corruption, however, Envy couldn’t rival Wayne under any circumstances.

If possible, Wayne would like to avoid showing his true form to the Seven Demon Lords. If he won, he would have demonstrated his power, but if he didn’t win, he would be a rare specimen to collect.

Envy had invested too much. He had locked down space and summoned his main body to make sure Wayne couldn’t run away. If he didn’t run, though, things would get even worse.

Envy had threatened to recruit hundreds of succubi with his own money to humiliate Wayne. As his harem knew, he was an animal with endless stamina. With so many succubi ganging up on him, the fact that he wasn’t human would be exposed sooner or later. He would rather do it on his own.

The nonstop whispers filled the demon god’s ears and rushed to Envy’s main body in the Infinite Ocean. However, the whispers couldn’t immediately reach the massive sea monster due to the restriction of the domain.

The large eyeball paused, committing the observation to his memory. Wayne wondered how a Divine Realm would respond to his corruption since Divine Realms were greater than a demigod’s domain and a Divine Domain.

That told him why Ines didn’t fear his corruption and could even manipulate the corrupted thoughts. Of course, it would also depend on the targets of the corruption.

Solsknar, as a demigod, had his own domain, and it was a Divine Domain created with faith. When he faced Wayne, though, Wayne could ignore the resistance of a Divine Domain and suspend Solsknar with tentacles to make him listen to his lecture. Envy, on the other hand, was able to block Wayne with his domain.

It showed the foundation that the Seven Demon Lords had accumulated. Solsknar was akin to someone who had gotten rich overnight rather than old money. He couldn’t compare to Envy.

Rumble!!

The white foam devoured the demon god and took all the information of the Seven Deadly Sins. Wild white waves rushed toward the Infinite Ocean with the momentum of victory. The paleness seemed unstoppable.

At the bottom of the Infinite Ocean, the massive beast conjured soaring black waves. The black and white waves collided and entered a gridlock. The white waves seemed endless, with the white foam growing exponentially stronger every second and corrupting the black water at contact. Unfortunately, the Infinite Ocean was literally infinite, with no border in sight. Unless a god intervened in person, no one could erase Envy’s existence.

Time passed. The black tides surged all of a sudden as two black octopus tentacles reached out of the deep water, each massive enough to block out the sky. They wrapped themselves into a ball, using Hell’s Authority and Envy’s omnipotence in his domain to lock down space and compress it into a ball. Mattea’s territory became as small as a marble, about the size of a fingertip.

Inside, the infinite space contained the ocean of white foam, trapping it. Once the solidified space faded away, the black vortex that drew in the Infinite Ocean disappeared, too.

The territory that had belonged to Mattea, the Abyssal Spider Queen, wilted and fell apart. Then the space contracted and closed, erasing the territory fully.

Envy stood gravely with the marble in his hand. It felt like he could still hear the whispers. The lingering fright made him gulp.

He didn’t know what living weapon Heaven had developed. The fact that angels, including two Great Archangels, had descended through reincarnation was very likely related to Wayne.

“Heaven has conducted an experiment in the human world, and Wayne is the subject. Auriel and Hesione have descended to bring him back to Heaven...” Envy murmured, his brows furrowed. “I have to tell them. Wayne has an incredible tolerance for the Seven Deadly Sins. Heaven has developed a living Astral weapon to target Hell. Wayne is the first, but definitely not the last.”

With Heaven’s seal on Hell, all demons, ranging from the Seven Demon Lords to the lesser demons, would be prevented from leaving. If the living weapons attacked, they would all be wiped out in the confinement!

Cold sweat dripped down Envy’s forehead. “So that’s what happened. No wonder Hesione, who holds onto her purity, would willingly lose it. The monster has an impossible appetite. Not even Greed or Gluttony could compare...”

“No, that’s not it!”

Envy’s face twisted. Thinking of Pride’s prideful judgment and the five other great demon lords’ sarcastic remarks, he felt another bout of anger rising in his heart.

“Yes, Hesione has lost her purity for a reason—for Heaven’s honor. As an enemy, I should praise her for making a willing sacrifice. However, what is lost is lost, and what is impure is impure. That’s the truth!”

“I haven’t lied. I was wronged!”

“Hell still owes me an apology!”

Envy quickly came up with a story that benefited him the most, making sure that the other demon lords would raise their guard, and he would get his justice.

He quickly soared into the air, about to convene a council meeting of the great demon lords at once.

“Brother Envy!”

Solsknar hurriedly called out and chased after Envy.

Who are you, calling me your brother?

Envy stopped irritably, glancing at the bald man. “Solsknar? What is it?”

What? Am I not your dear brother anymore? Solsknar cursed at the demon’s frivolous nature. He put on a look of admiration and said earnestly, “Did you capture Wayne alive, Great Lord of Envy?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Nothing. I just want to know if Wayne’s dead.”

“Deader than dead!” Envy nodded, showing Solsknar the marble with a wave. “I’ll be frank with you. He’s a creation of Heaven and is born an inhuman. Your Goddess of Darkness has been fooled, so has the Goddess of Death. Heaven has great ambition. They want not only Hell, but also the Divine Realms!”

Envy puffed out his chest. By sealing Wayne, he had ensured order and the peace of the world. Everyone owed him life, the goddesses included.

He glanced at Solsknar. “Tell the Goddess of Darkness truthfully that Wayne and Heaven have fooled her. If She refuses to see reason, though, She’s welcome to visit Hell. We, the Seven Demon Lords, will make sure to get to know Her.”

So you’re the Goddess of Darkness. So what? If we all attack together, you may not be able to kill all of us!

Sensing the hostility in Envy’s tone, Solsknar smiled bitterly. He knew that he had lost his big brother Envy. “I will report to the goddess. Rest assured that the goddess will not come to Hell for a traitor.”

“She’d better not come!” Envy huffed, vanishing into the distant night sky.

Solsknar shook his head. The information was crucial, so he should inform his main body at once and have him report to the Goddess of Darkness.

No, there’s no rush.

He would inform the goddess later. If the goddess couldn’t forget about Wayne and still wanted to make him the Devourer, by telling Her, Solsknar would effectively be rescuing Wayne with his own words, liberating him from the hellish Hell.

It would be safer to wait!

With Wayne gone, Solsknar felt like the sky had cleared and brightened, and the water was no longer red. Even the scorching sulfuric smell seemed sweet and refreshing.

He took a stroll to his territory. After witnessing the fight between beings that could rival subordinate gods, he felt deeply ashamed about his arrogance. Why would he, in his good conscience, call the Lord of Envy ‘brother’? He was beyond ignorant. Envy had been toying with him!

Evolution trumped all. That applied to both the Divine Realms and Hell. Solsknar told himself that it didn’t matter that he couldn’t call Envy his older brother today. One day, he would make Envy call him older brother.

He would work hard, fight hard, and become a god as soon as possible!

While giving himself a pep talk, he flew toward his territory with renewed vigor.

After Envy and Solsknar left, a wobbly figure scrambled out of a fissure on the charred land. It was Mattea, the Abyssal Spider Queen!

She no longer lived up to her name, having lost her home and territory. Not only did she not have her Authority anymore, but she didn’t even have clothes to cover her private parts.

She covered her chest with an arm and looked at one particular dust particle in the fissure, ready to break into tears. Her territory wasn’t completely gone. The particle was her territory.

“Strange, I should be dead. Why...”

She looked down and saw nothing but a pale expanse and two purple circles. While her injury was severe, she was alive, which was a miracle.

This wasn’t the time to be confused, though. She tried to fly and ended up hovering two meters off the ground. She landed in resignation.

She was too injured to even conjure clothes with her thoughts, let alone fly.

“This isn’t a good place to linger. The demons in the neighborhood will soon arrive. I’m in a terrible condition. If they capture me alive...”

Her face darkened, already picturing herself getting chained in a basement. She hurried away.

Although she had gone to school with succubi, doing it willingly and being done unwillingly were two different things. The former gave her joy, while the latter gave her humiliation. The acts weren’t one and the same.

She didn’t realize that there was an unusually pale patch of skin on her back that looked like growths, like her skin had festered. It slowly writhed and opened to reveal a single eye.

“What a powerful demon lord. I won’t be his match without acquiring land in Hell and becoming a registered resident...”

“I’ll find the Bat Demon first. Only after rescuing him could I secure my registration!”