Myths Reawakened

Second floor of the hotel.

Where the second floor should be, the originally spacious and bright corridor was left in ruins. The smell of dust and blood permeated the air. The collapsed ceiling was covered in smoke stains and splattered blood. By the crumbled walls and broken doors lay a few cold corpses, their greyed eyes widened.

Filomina arrived with her sword, her eyes blazing with fury. No matter who the ambushers were and who their targets were, it was undeniable that the Church of Moonlight had suffered great casualties. If the Windsor Ministry of Magic was to blame, she would make them pay with blood.

The noises of a fight came from ahead of her, the intense clashes accompanied by continuous screams. Filomina tapped the floor with the tip of her foot, her blade drawing a silver line across the air as her figure flickered like a phantom.

At the far end of the corridor, past the corner, the members of the Church of Moonlight had been cornered into a storage room, using human shields to block the worn metal door. Their other selves from the inner world threw themselves at the door like mad dogs. Even without access to their mana, they were physically powerful due to their enhanced life essence, enough to tear down a wall or two. The storage was barely holding together.

Seeing faces of despair identical to theirs through the holes, the mad dogs reacted with even greater malice, charging at the storage room with mindless abandon.

A light silver flash drew a smooth line in the air, and all at once, their piercing howls came to a sudden halt, their heads falling off while their limbs spasmed. The mirror shattered, and the figures disappeared.

“High Reverend!”

The five survivors were beside themselves when they saw the valiant leader they had been waiting for. They were all injured, and their smiles were bleak.

Filomina felt a heavy guilt when she looked at them. “I’m sorry. I’m late.”

“High Reverend, what is that magic?”

“Our mana is sealed...”

“Everyone’s dead...”

Filomina silenced them with a gesture. “They are us from the inner world. I just encountered myself and barely got away from her.”

“The inner world?!”

It was their first time hearing about it.

“The mirror world is a world existing opposite to the Chosen Land, a world abandoned by gods...” She gave a simple explanation, her brows furrowed. “We can’t use our mana because our enemies have created an anti-magic domain. They will not give up so easily. Since you can’t fight, prioritize protecting yourselves. I don’t want to see more of you get hurt.”

A sense of defeat weighed them down. If they died fighting, they could accept it; that would simply mean they weren’t strong enough. But dying because of an underhanded trick like this? It was beyond frustrating.

“Who are our enemies, High Reverend?” one of the five survivors asked.

“I can’t tell for sure yet,” Filomina responded gravely. She had her guesses, but couldn’t voice them without evidence.

“High Reverend, an anti-magic domain has been set up around the hotel, and there’s the threat of the inner world, as you explained. The enemies will have encountered the same situation after getting in. How are they going to keep attacking?”

“It’s not as simple. If they dare to do this, they must have their way of bypassing the negative effects.” Filomina sighed in resignation, considering what she should do. She remembered the Gold-rank mages on the fifth floor. Someone else was caught in the ambush. If they could work together to fight the enemies, it would be mutually beneficial.

After all, the enemies clearly didn’t plan to leave any survivors with the way they staged the ambush. They had reasons to work together. Moreover, if Filomina was right, the Gold-rank mage was likely a member of the Church of Heavenly Father. Luzerbourg belonged to the church’s territory, so they could pressure the ambushers.

At some point, Filomina had already considered the Windsor Ministry of Magic the culprit, but it was absurd. She didn’t understand why they would attempt to kill them. How would breaking off with the Church of Moonlight benefit Windsor in any way? Or had members of the Church of Darkness and Church of Death infiltrated the top management of the Ministry of Magic?

Moreover, Filomina was curious about who the Gold-rank mage on the fifth floor was. She had seen the sacred flames with impressive purity, but with the barrier projecting their mirrored versions, where did the person with Death faith come from?

She didn’t have any answer, but she didn’t want to sit around doing nothing until the enemies came knocking. She opened the suitcase and checked the items inside: Book of Moon Shadow, Manuscript of the Forgotten, flesh of an Astral Beast, Ring of Fire Element, and a bottle of sealed dragon blood!

The five treasures were part of the Church of Moonlight’s collection. The higher-ups of the Windsor Ministry of Magic requested payment, and each of the five of them asked for one item.

Among them, the Book of Moon Shadow was no doubt the most precious, containing the faith magic of the Church of Moonlight. Although the content had been significantly cut, it was still invaluable.

In order to better develop in Windsor, the Church of Moonlight had made a decision that went against the will of their predecessors, reluctantly offering an abridged version of their most closely guarded secret text. In comparison, the other items might be precious, but their values didn’t match the book since they weren’t connected to any faith. Dragon blood was one example.

There were no giant dragons in the Chosen Land, and no dragon blood circulated in the market. Only a few churches had some stored, their sources unknowable. The only consensus was that the blood came from a long time ago.

Filomina went through each of the items in turn, gaze lingering on the flesh of an Astral Beast and the dragon blood. After a ponderous moment, she held the bottle of flesh in her hand.

“High Reverend, what are you doing?” A Silver-rank mage noticed her action and volunteered, “If you’re using that, I should do it in your stead. As you subordinate, it’s better that I shoulder the responsibility.”

Filomina rejected him, “I’m a Gold-rank mage. Even though I can’t access my mana now, my thoughts are strong enough to suppress the corruption. I won’t be influenced by it from prolonged exposure.”

“But what comes after?” The Silver-rank mage smiled bitterly. “How are you going to extract the flesh? If your existence goes down the wrong evolutionary path, it’ll be difficult to correct.”

“I have a solution!” Filomina responded confidently. This wasn’t the time to worry about side effects. They had to survive first.

She already failed her duty when she lost half of the team members she had brought from the church’s headquarters. She couldn’t lose more of them. It was her obligation and commitment as a leader.

They took a break with the briefcase protected in their center. Then Filomina led them to the fifth floor of the hotel.

It wasn’t technically the fifth floor since Death energy had ravaged the space, leaving nothing but the fringe of the battlefield behind. Looking down, three levels of the five-story mirrored hotel had crumbled, and it felt like standing on the edge of a cliff when they looked down into the dark pit.

Not finding their potential ally, Filomina was worried. She hoped that the Gold-rank mage had somehow reached a truce with their mirrored version so that they could all band together to face the mysterious enemies.

Boom!

A great noise came from behind them. The outer walls and windows of the hotel shattered, and more than ten figures in black robes slowly emerged.

Filomina turned around. The four leading figures were wearing white masks to conceal their faces, which seemed to be magical items connected to the barriers, allowing them free passage through the mirror projection and preventing them from being influenced by the inner world. The other eight robed figures didn’t have masks on. Holding themselves with the composure of professional soldiers, they were each armed with a submachine gun.

They came prepared, obviously with the knowledge of the anti-magic domain.

Getting a clear look at them, Filomina gestured at her team to retreat to the corner before saying harshly, “Windsor Ministry of Magic, isn’t that right?”

Chester scoffed. “You’re welcome to think that, or you may consider us dark mages from Franc. Our identities do not matter. You’re all going to die today.”

“And if I destroy all the goods?” Filomina pushed back.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Our mission is to kill all of you and stop the Church of Moonlight from entering Windsor.” Chester spoke vaguely, not giving her any information. Since the more he talked, the more he could make a slip, he waved eight soldiers over to form a line, pulling the triggers to fire at their targets.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—

In such a narrow corridor, submachine guns were king. Their firepower could dominate the battlefield and bring death indiscriminately. Due to the anti-magic domain, Filomina was unable to bring up her vitality barrier. Facing the incredible firepower, she had no choice but to retreat behind the corner.

The eight soldiers were well-trained. They maintained their formation while advancing, following up on each other’s shots to ensure that their suppress fire was thorough without wasting a single bullet. Filomina had to find an alternative. She gestured at her five teammates to escape with the briefcase, destroying it if necessary. She would stay behind to cover their retreat.

The five survivors knew that they would only slow her down here. Praying that she would come out of the conflict alive, they fled toward the staircase with the briefcase.

The armed soldiers reached the end of the corridor, whirling around to aim at the place Filomina should be hiding, but saw no one. Suddenly, the wall beside them exploded, and silver blade auras cut through the air smoothly like flowing water.

Filomina vaulted over the broken wall, leaving afterimages with her swift motion. Her longsword slid across the eight soldiers’ necks as she flew past them. Without stopping, she bolted toward the other end of the corridor.

Behind her, the eight soldiers’ necks split open, but no blood came out. White foam-like flesh writhed and instantly mended the injuries. Four dark barrels aimed at Filomina, raining down bullets at her back, but ending up piercing nothing. It was only her afterimage!

Behind a wall, Filomina wielded her sword with her other hand, her right arm drooping. Her gaze turned even colder. “Alchemy to modify lifeforms. It has to be Windsor Ministry of Magic...”

She glanced at her bleeding arm. Without hesitation, she crushed the bottle that sealed the flesh of an Astral Beast, stuffing the gunshot wound with it. Only magic could counter magic. Since her enemies tampered with evolution with no concern for consequences, she would do the same!

“Chase her and secure her body. I have to confirm her death,” Chester ordered, going another way to chase down the briefcase, leaving three colleagues behind to command the soldiers.

As a fellow Gold-rank mage, he had heard about Filomina’s reputation. The crazy woman might seem graceful and dignified, but when cornered, there was nothing she wouldn’t do. Just in case, he went for the easier prey, the Silver-rank mages.

After Chester left, three masked men led the eight soldiers to pursue Filomina, cursing and insulting her in an attempt to anger her so that she would get reckless and confront them head-on.

Following the gunshots, an uninvited newcomer arrived at the scene.

｜д•´)!!

Wayne peeked out and saw three robed backsides fifteen meters from him. If he caught them off guard, he could get three kills at once.

Mona followed him while holding her breath. When she peeked out, she saw one backside turning slightly to the side. She wanted to pinch it!

“Stay here. I’ll be quick. Without my order, do not expose the fact that you can use magic,” Wayne ordered telepathically.

He carefully approached the three robed figures. The situation was quite clear, so even a blind person would be able to tell that the robed figures were the villains. They were the ones who had set up the mirror barrier and the anti-magic domain, disregarding the safety of the regular people in the hotel to slaughter their targets cruelly. And they each had a submachine gun!

He moved stealthily for ten meters before suddenly charging; the resulting currents reaching the three robed men’s ears, they whirled around and pulled the triggers without thinking.

Whoosh!

He flew past them at incredible speed, his arms crossed before his chest in the form of two longswords. They writhed and dissolved into grey flesh to make the sneak attack before reverting to his human arms.

Three heads fell. The decapitated bodies didn’t collapse, but instead flailed around with their fingers still curled around the triggers, shooting bullets in all directions. Some hit the walls, others hit Wayne in the chest and the head. His face squirmed, his foamy flesh spitting the bullets out.

Fatal injuries would not kill him!

After killing the three mages, whose ranks he didn’t know, he realized that they were restricted by the anti-magic domain, too. He beckoned Mona over, taking the submachine guns from their owners and replacing the magazines. Since he was stronger, the original owners couldn’t protest the robbery.

“Do you know how to use this?” Wayne shoved a submachine gun into Mona’s arms. When she nodded, he said, “Well, don’t use it even if you can. Just hold it for me. Once I run out of bullets, pass me the gun.”

He wielded a submachine gun in each of his hands, feeling fearless. After he told Mona to stay back again, he went up to the corner.

To his surprise, the gunshots and the unlucky victims’ blood furiously gushing toward the ceiling did not faze the eight soldiers at all. They continued to chase after their prey doggedly.

“Then I’ll take the opportunity.”

Wayne fired at the eight figures. His two submachine guns sputtered bullets rapidly. In such a narrow corridor, there was no need for him to aim at all; he only had to shift the gun barrels to pelt the entire area with a dense barrage.

Caught off guard from the back, the eight soldiers collapsed.

Having emptied the magazines, Wayne tossed the submachine guns aside, planning to comfort the victims and check them for loot, but his danger sense suddenly tingled. The fallen soldiers smelled wrong. They didn’t smell like blood!

Under his shocked gaze, the eight soldiers slowly rose to their feet, their limbs stiff and their eyes empty like unkillable zombies, but they were even worse than zombies since headshots didn’t kill them.

Wayne saw the neck of one of the soldiers secrete white writhing tissue to mend the holes left by the bullets. He couldn’t help but suck in a breath.

“How creepy!”

Never said he didn’t have double standards. It was fine when he was the unsettling one, but not when he was on the receiving end of the creepiness, especially not when there were eight of them.

The eight soldiers rose to their feet and stayed frozen like they were waiting for orders instead of opening fire at Wayne immediately. Seeing that, Wayne raised an eyebrow and said, “Listen to my order and kill yourselves.”

It worked like magic. The soldiers turned to him and fired at him without thinking. Wrong order. They went for the kill with him as the target rather than themselves!

Wayne shrugged and stood his ground, innocently watching the bullets pierce through his body. When the eight soldiers realized that firearms couldn’t kill the monster, they gave up their guns and drew military-grade daggers from their waists, getting into pairs to circle him.

Boom!

There was a flurry of movement. One of the soldiers flew toward the far end of the corridor like a cannonball, his chest caved in. In mid-air, a large volume of white foamy flesh gushed out of his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.

Wayne heard the sound of bone breaking clearly, but it appeared that the soldiers had flexible spines. He thus labeled the eight soldiers as magical creatures.

He had seen similar magical creatures like them and had actually created some himself. Since they were highly humanoid in appearance, the uncanny valley effect didn’t kick in.

Wayne kicked away the soldier closest to him with overwhelming advantage in his speed and power, as well as skin thick enough to ignore the sharp weapons. He charged into the fray, sending white tissue splattering with every punch and kick, easily rendering the eight soldiers into inhuman forms.

The collapsed white clumps writhed. The eight soldiers rose at the same time, their muscles bulging and their height rising to two meters. An additional tail grew out of their back, covered in dense scales. Their hands morphed into claws.

Wayne stared at them in shock. He had seen a similar transformation, too, back on Dragon Heart Island and the Lando manor in Enrod.

“What is this, a whole batch of...”

“Dragonbloods?!”