Myths Reawakened

Rumble!

The hydra writhed and moved with a speed that belied its massive size. Every whip of its long tail conjured a heated gale, and its slithering body left red molten ditches on the ground. Facing a giant beast that was in itself a calamity, Oscar’s subordinates couldn’t put up any resistance. Before the hydra even got close, the heat dried them to a shriveled state, and they collapsed and ignited at once.

Oscar could not stop the hydra’s rampage despite his best efforts. Amid the impossible heat, he cursed out harshly.

From his hiding spot behind a tall wall, he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the black tadpole symbols on his arm as the hydra charged toward him. Mysterious incantations turned his eyes blank and grey in a way that only a corpse’s eyes were.

A blazing sea of fire swept toward him and overwhelmed him, reducing everything to ashes. Amid the flames, the hydra burned, vanishing along with the sea of fire.

The burned area was covered in black and red lava. The incredible heat melted the towering, rampart-like walls, and the air distorted, as if space itself were disturbed.

White skeletal feet stepped on the molten lava and moved toward Wayne. In that split second, Oscar had borrowed the divine power of Death’s avatar and entered a state of lifelessness. It was similar to the state Wayne was currently in, unkillable and impervious to injury and pain. However, the great heat of the fire prevented him from keeping his flesh and blood. He was permanently turned into a skeleton.

Wayne smirked and said maliciously, “Let me guess. Once you run out of the borrowed divine power, will you collapse and topple face-first, or will your skeleton fall apart?”

“Neither!” Oscar stepped out of the lava, his white skeletal feet picking up pace on solid ground. “I’ll take over your body. You’ll be the one to die!”

Oh, the avatar’s divine power could possess someone?

Wayne clicked his tongue. Another trivia that he didn’t need to know.

Seeing Oscar charging his way, he didn’t even try to get away, but instead reached out to grab the skeleton’s skull. With incredible power, he forced the skeleton to kneel, its bones clacking noisily.

“Got you,” Oscar said in joy. It was simpler than he had imagined. He seized Wayne’s arm in a vise-like grip with his two skeletal hands. Death energy surged, manifesting a black-robed figure behind Oscar, which brought its scythe down toward Wayne.

The scythe passed through Wayne before scattering into mist, and the projection faded. The now skeletal Oscar’s bones cascaded to the ground. Wayne weighed the skull in his hand before tossing it away.

Nothing special!

Had he not turned himself into an undead, it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to deal with a Silver-rank mage of the Church of Death, but now, he was effectively a father scolding his son. He didn’t even have to do anything but wait for his opponent to self-destruct by attacking him.

With the elite of the Church of Death wiped out, Wayne turned to the dazed skeleton soldiers behind him. They were still awaiting their orders; he should give them one.

Danger!

Bang!

The moment Wayne sensed the danger, he felt a heavy blow to his shoulder, sending him flying sideways. He rolled twice before catching himself, looking up at the source of the gunshot while holding his numb arm. There, riding on a skeletal horse was a skeleton... sniper!

What kind of combination was that? Had the game been updated without him realizing?

Wayne couldn’t believe it. He swore to acquire two guns for himself after he returned to Londan. He wouldn’t be the Death Knight in the future, but the Death Cowboy, decapitating people with a lasso!

The alarm bell blared in his head again. Wayne rolled to the side. A bullet hit the spot he had been, with smoke rising from the bullet hole. Frequent footsteps and the clip-clop of horse hooves grew close. Two heavily armed skeleton riders appeared, making Wayne gasp in shock. They led an army of skeletons on their warhorses, pulling off a display of power he had wanted to do back when he first transformed into the Death Knight, but didn’t.

He was so envious!

The skeleton soldiers circled him. The ones that had been on standby joined the group as well. The three skeleton riders didn’t disappoint as Sebastian’s pride and joy. They were intelligent enough to identify their enemies and could issue direct orders to the skeletons.

“Nice figurines...”

“They’re mine now!”

Wayne drew Shadow Nightmare out of thin air. The blade was pure white like snow, reflecting light and his skull head. Black armor had also emerged to cover his undead body. The moment the knightly sword was in his hand, he completed his transformation.

A portal opened. Julia, the undead warhorse, responded to the summoning call of Shadow Nightmare, getting to her knees and waiting for her master to get on her back.

Wayne mounted the horse and raised his longsword. The cape of Death energy behind him fluttered even though there was no wind. The ruby adorning the pommel glinted, unleashing tremendous waves of Death energy that swept through all the skeletons.

Two skeleton riders dismounted and held their hands to their chests, getting on one knee. The skeleton soldiers stood to attention, raising their weapons to salute him. The sniper holding the vantage position quickly landed, the impact breaking its skeleton apart. Before it even picked up its head to put it back on, it held its skeletal hand to its ribcage and bowed.

Oscar, who had been tossed aside on the ground carelessly, stood back up, breaking a rib bone and raising it high.

“How is that possible?!” a voice exclaimed in surprise from a nearby wall. While it wasn’t loud, it was impossible to ignore in the silence.

“Why are you hiding? Get over here.”

White light flickered in Wayne’s skull as he turned to the source of the voice. The moment he made the command, Mana rushed to the undead horse and dropped to the ground, attempting to kiss Wayne’s boots. But Julia kicked him away.

Even I haven’t done it today. It’s not your turn!

Mana looked visibly excited after the kick. How wonderful. It was a hoof print left by the Death Knight’s mount, which might as well be a sacred mark of Death. Many would get on their knees to receive the same blessing.

He was never washing his face!

“O great Death Knight, messenger of divine oracles, master of the underground catacombs...” Mana knelt back down, rattling off the many titles before getting to the point: “His Ex—Bishop Sebastian is currently working on the seal of the obelisk. The stone tablet will soon be extracted.”

Mana was going to say ‘His Excellency’, but caught himself at the last second. While the Bishop was that to him, facing Death’s chosen knight, Sebastian didn’t deserve an honorific, not even a simple ‘mister’.

“Good. I’ve witnessed your loyalty. Keep working hard, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely.”

“Thank you for your generosity. It is our greatest reward to serve you.” Mana was pleasantly surprised. He couldn’t help but ask, “Honorable Knight, why did you punish Oscar? What did he do wrong?”

“Raise your head, and I’ll tell you the answer.” Wayne loomed over him, slowly raising Shadow Nightmare.

Mana gulped, carefully looking up at Death’s chosen knight from close distance. He did his best not to offend the knight.

Swish!

Following a flash of white light, Mana’s head fell to the ground, his eyes filled with shock. In his last moment, he wondered why his head had parted from his body.

I’m dead? Why? Why did the knight kill me?

Is it because I tried to kiss his boots without permission? But I didn’t manage to!

He couldn’t figure out the reason. The more he thought about it, the more resentful he became, and in his rage, he turned into a skeleton soldier wielding a rib bone as a curved blade, standing next to Oscar.

Wayne didn’t know that if he had waited a little longer, he might have witnessed the power of the last avatar of Death—the Executor, also known as Zorn the Wings of Winter.

“Lead the way. I’m going to meet Sebastian!”

The skeleton soldiers arranged themselves into two lines with the three skeleton riders leading the procession on their mounts. Cold light danced in their eye sockets as they escorted the Death Knight to the obelisk.