Myths Reawakened

“Calm down, Mikhael,” Lahr warned. “Do not let the Seven Deadly Sins influence your thinking.”

Mikhael took a deep breath and recovered his sunny smile. “You’re right. I do pay too much attention to Hesione. Her visit to the human world has not gone well. She’s lost her purity and become thoroughly tainted. Without knowing the prophecy, she won’t ever get into contact with the Seven Deadly Sins, will she?”

Mikhael met the dragon’s eyes with his own curved ones. His warm smile and cold gaze made Lahr shudder.

“Mikhael, only you and I know the prophecy. There has never been an Anointed One, and I have not told Hesione the truth,” Lahr said. “A god in the human world who’s human-like but not human and has come back to life—that’s my lie. There is no such person in the world. You were there, and you heard me telling Hesione the false prophecy. I’ve never contacted her in private since then.”

There had never been a prophecy about the Anointed One. The Heavenly Father’s successor had to be His most talented child. The Heavenly Father wasn’t going to let an outsider take all the legacy He had worked hard to build.

Heaven’s future would be one of the two: Mikhael, who was the strongest, or Hesione, who was most favored.

After interpreting the prophecy, Lahr gave it a good thought and chose to bet on Mikhael, telling him the whole truth. Following the prophecy, Mikhael reincarnated as a human and led a life in the mortal realm, learning the Seven Deadly Sins there.

That included but wasn’t limited to producing offspring. It was part of being human, and he had to do it whether he liked it or not.

The three criteria of the Anointed One were an intentional ploy to waste Hesione’s time, keeping her looking for a human that would never appear in the mortal realm.

Resurrection, a god in the human world, and a human-like non-human. Each of the requirements was difficult enough to meet, let alone all three. There couldn’t be a human like that! Even if there was, a god wouldn’t care about being the Anointed One.

“But what’s the deal with the Lord of Deceit, the demon by Hesione’s side?” Mikhael said in a hardened tone. “She’s abandoned her purity to approach the Seven Deadly Sins, even swearing that she’s found the Anointed One. What is she implying? Does she truly not know anything?”

“...” x2

After a silent staring contest, Lahr shook his head. “Calm down. You’ve lost your trust in me because of the Seven Deadly Sins.”

“That’d better be the case. Unlike the useless Auriel, I hope that you’ll stand with me forever.” Mikhael slowly faded out of existence. “Lahr, I’ll take down Hesione at once. If this is truly a misunderstanding, I’ll apologize to you personally and honor my promise to make you the viceroy. On the other hand...”

Mikhael didn’t finish the threat, allowing Lahr to fill in the blank.

Once he was gone, the sacred dragon closed his eyes and murmured, “You pursue only authority and power, losing your original humility. Or perhaps you’ve only ever been humble to Father. You learned of the prophecy first and knew that you couldn’t meet it...”

“On top of that, you acquired the Seven Deadly Sins. Your time in the human world was even worse than Hesione’s. I regret a little that I chose you over her.”

“Unfortunately, there’s no turning back. I can only live with my mistakes. After all...”

“Hesione is so lacking in ambition that she never even aims to become the leader. She’s worse than you in that regard.”

***

Ninth Heaven, Supreme Heaven, Heaven of Crystals.

The heaven was divided into two parts: the temple and the garden. Together, they were known as the Temple Garden.

While the garden was vibrant and beautiful, the Heavenly Father wasn’t going to sleep on the grass, nor would He sleep in the trees. Just as Hesione had said, a god had to behave like a god and project a high and mighty image. Otherwise, lesser beings, with limited intelligence, wouldn’t understand a god’s confusing behavior. Being a god involved two key points: divine might and divine grace!

Both punishing lightning strikes and merciful rain were a lord’s gifts. Subjects shouldn’t be allowed to think on their own. They should just be made to accept everything.

That was why the Heavenly Father shouldn’t sleep out in the open. He had to be unreachable and haughty, given the most perfect and luxurious palace in the world.

After a look at the two not-yet-mature sacred trees, Wayne followed Hesione to the divine temple. In Hesione’s words, it was supposed to be his residence.

The palace accounted for one third of the planet’s surface, consisting entirely of pure, flawless crystals. Every wall and every floor tile looked crystal clear, reflecting the changing light and shadow in the environment. Like dreams given form, the place glinted with a divine, surreal light.

The palace was vast on the inside, with a domed ceiling adorned with a variety of gems, simulating the rise and fall of the sun, moon, and stars. Pillars of light propped up the dome. There were also murals depicting the process of the Heavenly Father creating the Chosen Land.

The core area of the palace was also the heart of the Heaven of Crystals. Beams of light shone down from the dome, manifesting a dignified, weighty throne. Across from the throne sat a white magic circle that symbolized protection, and the seven statues around it represented the Seven Sacred Virtues.

Infinite divine might and divine grace inspired fear and a sense of insignificance, compelling one to lie prostrate at the throne.

Hestia got to her knees. The moment she faced the throne with her eyes closed, she looked beyond holy. Even her lewd figure seemed respectable.

Not to Wayne, though. He was not a man of faith.

Whatever Ines dared give, he would take. If Hesione stayed silent and pretended to be Mona, he would stand up and go harder. If he was asked to sense a god’s divine might and divine grace, he would say that the god had simply taken the lead in an evolution; outside of that, there was nothing special about said god.

Then he would say that every dog had its days. By conserving strength and avoiding direct threats, he would outpace said god one day. Going fast on a straight path was nothing. He only needed one curved turn to secure the lead.

“Anointed One!” Hesione looked at Wayne with blazing, fanatical eyes, bowing to invite him to take a seat. He was to wait for the Seven Sacred Virtues to pay him respect.

Holy, this isn’t a chair I can just sit in. What if the real Anointed One jumps out when I sit down? How am I going to explain it?

Wayne shook his head, worried that a glowing figure would come out and beat him up, shouting, Who do you think you are? Claiming my seat?!

“Anointed One, we’re in Heaven. Mikhael and the others will be here at any time. You should maintain the dignity of a god—”

“What’s going on? Why are there so many flies buzzing around? It’s noisy.” Wayne swung his hand around his ears. When he saw Hesione go pale with anger, he emphasized, “I’m really not the Anointed One. I can’t just sit down. Someone will die.”

“You are the Anointed One,” Hesione said, convinced. “Every clue points to you. If not you, who else would qualify?”

You aren’t wrong.

Wayne frowned as he inspected the chair, suddenly finding it very appealing. After some hesitation, he decided to sit down.

He had come all the way here. What if he was the Anointed One?

He turned to Hesione. “Let me be upfront. You asked me to sit down, so if anything goes wrong, you Seven Sacred Virtues will take full responsibility.”

Hesione nodded. As long as he was willing to sit down, it didn’t matter.

“I’m sitting down then.”

Wayne carefully walked around the chair thrice, stroking it with a hand. It didn’t glow like a divine artifact finding its master, nor did it shine like a divine artifact trying to drive away a fiend.

“What is this? Is it just ignoring me?” he muttered, sitting down.

Hesione watched in admiration as he became one with the chair, going to stand on his left with excitement. “Anointed One, what do you feel?”

“It’s too hard for my ass.”

Hesione’s eyes twitched. It felt like iced water was poured onto her burning chest, making it smoke. She put on a smile and said, “Try to reach it again. There must be something—”

Before she could finish, Wayne grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his embrace, sitting down with her. Hesione had gotten so used to sitting on his lap that even before her brain registered what was happening, her body had already found the most comfortable fit.

Sitting sideways, she had one arm around Wayne’s neck, their chests pressed together and their faces only inches apart. Hesione panicked. Such sacrilegious action shouldn’t take place in a sacred site like this. She tried to get up, but Wayne kept her down. She was so terrified that all color drained from her face.

“Stop moving. You’re making it worse,” Wayne grunted.

“No, not here, please. How about the garden? That’s better than here.” Hesione’s voice cracked a little.

“What are you talking about? Pull your mind out of the gutter.” Wayne slapped her on the backside. The sound echoed in the palace, garnering Hestia’s glare. Her face seemed to be saying, Come at me and let go of the Śār.

Wayne didn’t pay her any attention. He was fully focused on the chair underneath him. Strands of Holy Light wrapped around him and Hesione, demonstrating large chunks of the Golden Law for their perusal.

Wayne learned quickly, wolfing down everything. Dazed, Hesione hurriedly jumped out of his arms, worried that she would interrupt the Anointed One’s learning. She stood on the left of the throne with a reverent look on her face.

The Holy Light dispersed, and the knowledge was gone.

“Huh?!”

Wayne was flabbergasted by the sudden interruption to his feast. It had felt like the divine throne recognized him.

“Denying me all of a sudden? What does this mean? Why didn’t you do that earlier? I thought I was the Anointed One,” he grumbled, staring at Hesione and drawing a deep breath. “Nothing happened when I sat down, but as soon as you sat down, the chair reacted. Could it be...”

“...That you are the Anointed One?”

“What?!” Hesione waved her hands after the moment of surprise, hurriedly explaining, “Anointed One, my loyalty to you is unquestionable. I’ve never held such an unrealistic fantasy.”

“Oh, no. I’m not questioning your loyalty,” Wayne said. “You’ve done it that way, that way, and that way. You’re the most loyal one in all of Heaven.”

“Anointed One, would you not say that in this place?” Hesione’s eyes were red.

Wayne stood up and pressed her down on the seat. “We’ll know if you’re the Anointed One by testing it. If the chair glows, you will not turn against me. There were many times when you were the one who initiated things, in particular that time when I recited the Sacred Tome. You lunged at me and—hm.”

The rest of his words were muffled by Hesione’s hand. He only shrugged and stopped speaking when she widened her eyes like she was ready to ensure mutual destruction with the Anointed One.

Hesione refused to sit back down and desecrate divinity, but lacking raw power, she ended up being picked up and shoved into the seat.

It didn’t react!

Both of them felt their racing hearts settle.