Myths Reawakened

Forest wiped away the red wine on the corner of his mouth. There was no saint in the world, and morality wasn’t a requirement for the Anointed One. Still, the Anointed One had to at least have a sacred side. He couldn’t be completely lacking in sanctity!

Forest shook his head. He saw nothing in Wayne that would suggest that he was the Anointed One; on the flip side, he could name a thousand reasons he wasn’t.

In other words, Wayne didn’t seem like the Anointed One. He was barely a human.

“Well said!”

Forest agreed with himself. He asked the Lord of Pride in Hell if there was a misunderstanding. An Anointed One like Wayne was not only difficult for the angels to accept, but he, a demon, also found it difficult to wrap his head around. He couldn’t understand it. It seemed to defy common sense.

Pride’s answer was simple: impossible, absolutely impossible.

“Indeed. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth...”

“How absurd. That bastard is the Anointed One!!”

“No wonder the reincarnated angels couldn’t find him. Given how far away he appears to be from the title, it’s impossible for anyone to recognize him.”

“Tsk, tsk. Hesione must have known a long time ago, but has been keeping the secret to herself. Our old friend has a plan!”

Thinking of how Hesione had been hiding the truth and secretly serving the Anointed One, Forest couldn’t hide his glee. The Śārim were fighting among themselves. Heaven would soon fall into disarray.

His glee, however, was short-lived. He suddenly remembered that without his ‘help’, Hesione would have never found the Anointed One.

“Oh, no. I shouldn’t think like that. Because of my evil plan, Heaven is destined to break into a civil war.”

“Yes, I’ve personally brought about Heaven’s civil war!”

That’s the Lord of Pride for you!

He puffed his chest out, going back to congratulating himself. He looked forward to the day Heaven broke out into a war. Hearing the message from the Pride in Hell, he tilted his head and looked into the distance.

“What is Wayne doing...?”

“Good question!”

“To be honest, I don’t quite understand. He’s beating Auriel up, hard.”

“Do I have to show you just because you ask me to? Haha... You know what I’m asking, don’t you?”

“Yes, the Anointed One beating up a Śār is a once-in-a-millennium spectacle. Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to enjoy the same entertainment?”

“My condition is simple: send me more thoughts. I need to get stronger.”

“Do you even have to ask? Getting killed by him, of course. You don’t know how strong he is now. If he sees through me, I’ll be dead.”

“How am I supposed to amuse myself if I’m not strong enough? The weak can only be the amusement for others!”

***

Suburban Londan.

Wayne hovered up in the sky as Bat Demon, pontificating about how lies begot deception and anxiety begot fear, blaming the latest additions to the Seven Deadly Sins on the Seven Sacred Virtues.

The mockery hit hard.

Having a demon lecturing them from the moral high ground, especially when the demon was spitting facts, pushed the reincarnated angels over the edge. They skipped the trash-talk and jumped right into the fight.

The four reincarnated Sacred Virtues were deceitful in covering for each other with lies, and their anxiety over Heaven’s pressure, Hell’s comeback, and the Anointed One’s prolonged absence led to fear.

Lies didn’t cause breakdown. Truth did. They could not allow the demon to keep going!

With blazing aura, Auriel unleashed infinite light with his sacred lance, summoning a massive projected cross to stake Bat Demon onto it.

He had been busy looking for the Anointed One, then spent the rest of his time reclaiming his power in Heaven. He didn’t share Hesione’s problem of having an equal share of herself with Mona, so he was able to grow rapidly stronger at an observable rate. He was now the strongest among the seven reincarnated angels.

Auriel was confident that he could banish the Lord of Deceit.

Crack!

The moment Wayne beat his wings, thick darkness rushed out. The devastating energy enveloped the entire cross with unstoppable momentum.

Light faded away, replaced by darkness. The crack spread until the magnificent cross brimming with holy intent shattered in the blink of an eye.

Auriel felt a tingle in his scalp. The demon was unusually strong. If a part of his thoughts was this much of a threat, once he descended with his main body...

The thought was too alarming for Auriel to investigate. He raised his lance and rallied the agents of justice to follow him into the battle.

“Wait.”

Wayne raised his hand. As Auriel and the other reincarnated angels stared at him with frustration, he locked down space with a wave and kindly explained, “This is a fight between Heaven and Hell, a rivalry between angels and demons, and a clash between the Seven Sacred Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins. It shouldn’t involve the mortals. You don’t care about that because you’re used to being elevated beings above the mortals, but I care.”

Auriel’s face flushed with suppressed emotions. He cared about that, too. Even if it was just for the reputation of Heaven, he had to care about the innocent lives as a Śār.

Unfortunately, his limited power prevented him from caring. Worried that isolating the space with barriers before the fight would exhaust too much of his power, leading to total failure, he had opted to skip the process.

“You may begin now. I’ve locked down this area so that no civilians will get hurt. You’re welcome to go all in,” Wayne said calmly. “You’re angels, and angels should be righteous. There are things you cannot put into words lest you seem hypocritical, so I’ll say the words for you...”

“There’s no place for chivalrous spirit when dealing with demons. For justice, come at me together!”

We don’t need you telling us that!

Auriel growled. He had never entered a fight that left him so frustrated. Holding his lance before his chest, he flapped his wings, shrouded by blazing Holy Light. He morphed into a blurry cross as he charged at Wayne.

Wayne caught the lance with ease, his calm darkness contrasting starkly with the surging Holy Light. The great demon lord had gained the upper hand over the Śār with absolute advantage.

Auriel growled, using his full force but unable to push the lance further.

“Justice without teeth isn’t justice at all. Since you cannot punish sins, you are not justice.”

Wayne tightened his fingers. Under Auriel’s gaze of terror, he took the sacred lance away.

The next second, following a flash of white light, sharp pain shot through Auriel’s chest and spread to the rest of his body, forcing a low cry out of him. Holding the lance, Wayne had pierced through Auriel’s chest and suspended him in the air. His golden blood dripped down in stuttering drops.

“See? Justice is crying, while you cannot do anything...”

“How about this? Rather than letting justice suffer, why don’t I represent justice for you? I can protect her and keep her from ever crying again.”

“Kekekeke—”

Wayne laughed brightly, swinging a heavy fist swirling with black energy at Auriel’s face. The angel flew backward, splitting the sky in a streak of white light. He slammed into the spatial rampart. Following the loud bang, he fell and landed on his face.

Hesione looked at Wayne with glinting eyes. Her overimagination led to her feeling inspired by every sentence out of Wayne’s mouth. The path to redemption was right ahead. Her soul trembled with immeasurable pleasure.

“What are you waiting for, Hesione?” Gerar shouted.

The demon was too powerful for Auriel. All reincarnated angels had to put everything on the table in this battle. He suggested Hesione put aside her grievances, as this wasn’t the time to continue her rivalry with Auriel.

Hesione broke out of her reverie. Indeed, according to the script, she should be fighting to the best of her ability right now. Her admiration could wait.

Three streaks of shimmering light sliced through the night sky. Hesione, Gerar, and Vilkul circled Wayne from three directions, targeting his vital parts with their weapons of choice—sword for Hesione, and lances for the two Cherubim. Their weapons blazed with volatile sacred flames.

Fred had not followed them into the fray. Knowing that he would only be dragging them down with his limited power, he opted to conjure a magic circle of Holy Light to apply buffs to the four Virtues.

The buffs didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Given how big the gap between him and the Seven Sacred Virtues was, his support wouldn’t even be the icing on the cake; it would only be an extraneous decoration.

Swoosh!

Where the three weapons crossed, Wayne faded into nothing before appearing behind Vilkul. Seemingly ready for it, Vilkul turned around while gathering powerful sacred flames at the tip of his lance, melting space and thrusting at Wayne’s six-eyed head.

Wayne caught the lance with one hand and crushed the flames.

Incredible power streamed down the lance, proving to Vilkul why Auriel had failed to even endure one hit from Wayne. It wasn’t that Auriel didn’t want to resist, but that he couldn’t.

Wayne smiled at Vilkul before tearing into space with Auriel’s lance, creating large swathes of black turbulence. Like a cat toying with a mouse, he slowly thrust the lance toward Vilkul’s chest.

He gave the angel so much time that Vilkul just had to fly away with his wings. But to do that, he would have to let go of his weapon. Unwilling to submit to the demon, he erected a powerful ward before him with surging aura.

Wayne thrust downward slowly. Vilkul’s defense broke apart like papier-mâché, unable to stop the tip of the lance from moving down further. Just then, Gerar plunged from above and swung his lance at Wayne’s head with both hands.

Wayne smiled, raising his lance to block the attack.

With a boom, blinding light and violent shockwaves rippled out, stirring space into a volatile sea of roiling waves. Hesione charged at Wayne from behind with her Oath Sword, making a flurry of slashes to cut the spatial waves. Once his back was within reach, she thrust the Oath Sword toward his heart with golden light flickering in her eyes.

Facing the Anointed One’s trial, Hesione decided to do her best.

There was a white flash. A pale long tail snaked around Hesione’s body and suspended her in the air, revealing her curves. The sharp black tip of the tail lunged at Hesione’s face like a hissing venomous snake.

Hesione raised the Oath Sword to block it. Under Wayne’s overwhelming power, the blade grew closer and closer to her neck.

It had only been half a month, yet Wayne’s power had grown so much that he seemed like a different man. Hesione didn’t find that surprising at all; it made perfect sense to her.

The day the Anointed One came back to life, he was already a god. He had only pretended to be ignorant and weak to redeem the Seven Sacred Virtues. Even now, the Anointed One was pulling back to leave them with hope, encouraging them to work together to defeat the demon.

Would they be defeating a demon? No, they would be defeating themselves—their deceit and fear. Only by putting their selfish desires aside and facing their lies and anxiety could they grasp the light of hope. That was the Anointed One’s true intention.

That further strengthened Hesione’s admiration. She came to another epiphany.

“Good work. Don’t let go!”

Flapping his six wings, Auriel, covered in filth, glared at the unbeatable demon with fierce eyes, opening his Eye of Judgment to shoot out a ray of golden light.

The divine light of holy intent entered Wayne’s body, yet he appeared unharmed after a momentary stagger.

Auriel looked on in disbelief. “How? This... this is impossible.”

(⁄⁄⁄ꇴ⁄⁄⁄)

Idiot, Hesione thought. Heaven’s blade is never going to work on the Anointed One.

She was so lost in Wayne’s nonsensical argument that every lie sounded positively divine to her ears, and through her overactive imagination, she took the warnings to heart, her face flushed and her soul trembling from excitement. It felt as if the Anointed One were personally baptizing her and leading her to Heaven.

It was thanks to her grappled state that no one noticed her strange reaction. They assumed that she had been pushing herself to break out of the restraint.

“It’s no use. You’re beyond deceitful with your lies. The more deceitful the Seven Sacred Virtues are, the stronger the Seven Deadly Sins will become—and I, too, will become stronger.”

He tilted his head and looked at Auriel. “If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to try again. I promise not to dodge.”

Roaring furiously, Auriel activated his Eye of Judgment to relentlessly bombard the demon.

As he had promised, Wayne took every hit squarely without even attempting to dodge. In fact, he hoped Auriel would continue.

Unfortunately, Auriel had to stop. While he wasn’t panting like a dog, he had exhausted so much of his power that he looked thinner.

(›´ω`‹)

It felt like his body had been emptied.