Myths Reawakened

The pale bat had a pair of fleshy wings. Being a newborn, the body was only palm-sized if the wings were excluded, with wrinkled skin all over as if it had been submerged in water for a long time. It had no limbs, no head, and therefore no facial features save for the vertical eye on its chest.

Bats were one of the symbols of Pride, the first of the seven deadly sins. Using the Lord of Pride’s altar to create a clone, it made sense that the result would resemble a bat. However, Wayne felt like the reference was getting out of hand. First, he was a Wayne who was given the name Bruce. Now he had a bat...

He looked at the single eye on the bat’s chest. When their gazes met, he felt a connection between them that seemed to exist in their blood. The last time he felt this way was, well, a few seconds ago, when he made eye contact with the Book of Greed.

“So ugly!”

Based on the mainstream standard of beauty, the one-eyed bat was hideous in a special way because it was especially hideous. Considering the bat had his blood, Wayne corrected himself and described its appearance as unconventional rather than ugly; it was vividly human-like and uniquely novel, creative in its creation.

“All newborns are wrinkly. It’ll look better after growing up,” he muttered to himself while studying his hellish clone. He heard the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s voice in his head.

“Injecting the clone with more thoughts can accelerate its growth. Hurry up. Once it can take control of this territory, it’ll have matured. Then you can exert your control through it.”

“Master, please give me a moment.” Wayne increased the amount of thoughts he injected into the clone, expressing his respect from the bottom of his heart.

He had thought that in this materialistic society, great philanthropists like the Lord of the Void were becoming extinct. He never expected the Thousand-Eyed Demon to follow in the former legendary mage’s footsteps, going even further with his altruism.

Demons and evil gods made better business partners. The evil ones were each more generous than the last. In comparison, the Church of Heavenly Father of the righteous faction was just like those damn capitalists who were better off hanged from lamp posts as an ornament. They had no money to give and no life to spare, and when cornered, they would just sell their behinds—knead or squeeze it, whatever goes wherever, even inside.

What is this? The ass version of ‘whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also’? Bah, how high society!

“Hurry, Bruce. Inject all your thoughts into it,” the Thousand-Eyed Demon urged. His clones kept giving him bad news. An angel had descended through the Golden Law, and negotiations with the three free mages hadn’t been as successful as expected. Only one potential collaborator was secured.

Multiple forces were searching for his true body and getting closer. With the Death Knight still nowhere to be seen, the Thousand-Eyed Demon had given up hope and now viewed Bruce’s clone as his trump card. As long as he could endure this counterattack, he would descend to the mortal world in all his glory.

Just one more step.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon sat on his throne. The one step he was missing was the most difficult to take. He hoped that everything would go smoothly with no accidents.

Upon reaching Londan, he had immediately rushed to the entrance of the gates of hell and found the altar and partial territory the Lord of Pride had left behind. Just because others couldn’t find it didn’t mean that he couldn’t. As a demon, this posed no challenge to him.

Victory was within reach. He just had to sit on the throne and wait.

He didn’t let the imminent victory go to his head. Looking at his fellow demons’ failures, each time it had been because of their premature celebration of their successes; they ended up failing at the final step. When that happened, they always said the same thing:

“I was so close!”

The complaint had gotten so old. The Thousand-Eyed Demon had heard the line countless times until his ears were calloused. He didn’t want to fail here and become hell’s latest laughingstock, which was why he had made multiple plans, including his alliance with the Death Knight, the attack on the Church of Heavenly Father, Geoff, and Bruce.

They were all distractions. There was no army of magical creatures or an inverted pentagram leading to hell. Everything was meant to buy time so that the Thousand-Eyed Demon could succeed with the final step. As long as no accident happened, he would win.

He resented the Death Knight for not honoring his end of the deal, showing no ounce of knightly spirit. If the Death Knight had guarded the first level of his territory, he wouldn’t be racing against time so anxiously now.

“Once my true body descends to the mortal world, no...”

The Thousand-Eyed Demon glanced at the rapidly growing white bat. With the new body crafted by the Lord of Pride, he wouldn’t need his true body. It would be more like a clone.

The Golden Law of Angel and the Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins. Combining the characteristics of both heaven and hell granted the new body infinite potential, more so than his original shell. He smiled wordlessly at his incredible prospect.

“Kekeke—”

***

The dark domain contracted. Obed stood with his longbow raised. Having returned to youth without using an aged appearance to hide his elven features, he appeared so beautiful that it looked as if he’d stepped out of an oil painting. His deep blue eyes were like the night sky in summer, sparkling with starlight yet profound like lake water. They were quiet and humble, seemingly able to accommodate all light. His figure was tall and elegant, his temperament...

TL;DR. He was beautiful like an elven prince. Due to his delicate features that leaned feminine, he would also pass as an elven queen.

Having slain the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s clone, Obed didn’t seem joyful at all. Cold light glinted in his eyes as he gripped his longbow, waiting for his two colleagues to show up.

Five minutes later, Planck and Bourne appeared at the same time as if they had reached an agreement in advance. Planck’s beard was singed, while Bourne’s suit was disheveled. Both had gone through a fierce battle.

Obed’s expression darkened as he gritted his teeth. “Who is it? Which of you worked with the Thousand-Eyed Demon?”

“Not me.”

“I didn’t!”

Both legendary mages vehemently denied it, swearing and insisting that they had drawn the line with the demon, not even blinking when faced with the temptation.

“Then what took you so long?” Obed demanded.

“The enemy was too strong.”

“I’m too weak!”

Obed’s chest heaved violently, clearly showing his fury. He shot Planck and Bourne a vicious glare. “I’ll write this in my report. You had better both refuse the demon. If I discover either of you lying, I swear I’ll make you pay with blood.”

“You know me, Obed,” Bourne declared solemnly. “I never waver when it comes to such important matters.”

“Why are we the only ones being written in the report? Can’t you, Obed, have made a deal with the demon—” Planck snorted, but quickly changed the subject when he saw Obed’s icy expression. “The Thousand-Eyed Demon’s clones were destroyed, further weakening his consciousness. I feel like he’s buying time. We need to quickly find his true body. Everything has been going too smoothly so far.”

“If you know he’s buying time, why didn’t you—” Obed stopped himself. This wasn’t the right time. He flicked his sleeves and let the matter go. “You two, go back now. I’ll get the rest done. Remember, the Free Mage Alliance only exists because Londan does!”

With that, his form became blurry before fading like moonlight.

“What’s wrong with him? That old boy doesn’t trust us? Do we look like we’d easily fall for a demon’s temptation?” Planck protested.

“I won’t, but you’re another story.” Bourne refused to be lumped together with Planck.

“There’s no one else here, Bourne. Obed’s gone. Tell me, did you make a deal with the demon, and how far did the negotiation go?”

“I said I didn’t!”

“Like I’d believe you. Even I almost said yes. You definitely couldn’t resist.”