Myths Reawakened

In the back, Obed was unable to catch up with Wayne, and the Astral Worm was getting close. He nocked an arrow and twisted around to use a divine art.

A pale projection of the Goddess of Moonlight emerged, spreading her arms to create an unbreakable barrier of pulsing light. Then Obed shot two arrows to project the divine might of the Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Nature. The three sources of light formed a vitality barrier to block the Astral Worm.

That was his strongest defense!

Meanwhile, Wayne had rushed to the shattered platform. In a dazed state, Filomina sensed that they had left the area of frozen space. Pushing through her exhaustion, she summoned her four cards and cycled through the moon phases, forcing the Gate of Truth open.

Boom!

The Astral Worm chewed on the vitality barrier. Sensing the imminent escape of its prey, it roared and writhed even faster, catching up with Obed in only a few moments. It didn’t let the free snack go to waste. Although the man wasn’t the main course, he would make a good appetizer.

Inhale!

The torrential storm sucked Obed in. He fell toward the Astral Worm’s maw, his tattered robe fluttering. The incredible suction peeled his flesh from his bones, making him scream in pain. Staring death in the eyes, he made a last gamble by tossing his longbow into the worm’s bottomless esophagus.

The bow was a rare magical item with sophisticated craftsmanship, the likes of which Wayne would claim as his lost treasure at first glance.

Hum—

Dark red, pale white, and deep green fires intertwined, generating and cycling through the powers of destruction and creation. In the end, the eerie flames combined into dark grey and morphed into a giant dragon with massive wings, hurtling through the Astral Worm’s esophagus.

The dragon was incredibly hot and destructive, enough to distort space. Although the Astral Worm had thick skin and flesh, allowing it to resist the flames, it still wriggled in pain like it had swallowed heated coal, the inside of its mouth secreting dark green fluid.

It endured the pain and continued to inhale everything, devouring Obed’s bones and flesh. The powerful suction made it seem like there was a black hole in its body, preventing even a legendary mage’s thoughts from escaping. As the green fluid extinguished the fire, the Astral Worm swallowed the thoughts and the shattered long bow.

It felt like eating a dessert with a shell. While it was delicious, the mouthfeel left something to be desired.

Meanwhile, the main course the Astral Worm salivated over was busy squeezing through the Gate of Truth. Filomina had pushed herself to open a narrow opening, but Wayne wasn’t satisfied. He patted her behind and pointed at the obelisk, asking her to take it with them.

Impossible. Filomina couldn’t do it. However, in her dazed state, she did whatever she was told to do, especially when the instructions came from her young boyfriend. Ignoring her body’s protest, she attempted to broaden the opening.

The moon cycled through the phases. The overexhaustion of her thoughts and mana knocked her out, and blood gushed out of her mouth and nose.

The space where the Gate of Truth existed lost control. The obelisk fell through a black crack to an unknown location. Wayne’s keen eyes caught glimpses of a deep blue ocean.

There was no time to pick it up. Wayne rushed through the Gate of Truth with the three women in tow.

When the Astral Worm arrived, the gateway had shut closed, leaving it enraged and frustrated. It sprayed dark green fluid to mark the feasting spot. Next time, it would have him!

Its prey would surely come again. It could wait. The delicacy would be its to enjoy!

***

Cathedral of Full Moon.

The dark domain vanished with Obed’s death. The projected ruined city was gone, too, leaving the cathedral empty. Moonlight shone through the extravagant stained glass windows, illuminating the statue of the Goddess of Moonlight in clarity.

A large eyeball lowered three beautiful women to the ground. Wayne sent Shadow Nightmare away first thing and transformed his tentacles back into his limbs, ready for his final enemy, the Thousand-Eyed Demon!

Obed hadn’t dragged the demon’s thoughts into the Astral Plane, so the demon had to be alive, hiding in some corner. However, five minutes passed as he pretended to be helpless, and the demon never showed up.

“Escaped again?”

Wayne huffed in frustration. How did that keep happening? The demon was too difficult to kill.

After making sure no demon was around, he unmerged with the Book of Greed and tore a piece of cloth off Filomina’s mage robe, putting it around his waist to barely cover up his weapon of destruction.

Space shattered with a crack. Renata walked through the opening with Gunther in tow.

She cocked her head when she saw Wayne. According to Gunther, this young man was her colleague. It was unfortunate that he didn’t remember his time as an angel, or they would be able to reminisce about it.

“Are you alright, Mr. Wayne?” Gunther came up and asked.

“Don’t ask such an obvious question. Do I not look alright?” Wayne huffed. He remembered Renata. The angel had made him suffer last time. If he hadn’t been lucky and resourceful, he would’ve been sucked in by the gates of hell.

“The traitor in the Ministry of Magic is Vice Minister Obed Windsor. He opened the Gate of Truth and got eaten by an Astral Worm...”

Wayne summarized what happened and shook his head. “That’s how villains always act. They have the advantage, but they just have to do something to court death. There’s no stopping their self-sabotage.”

The more Wayne thought about it, the more he found it laughable. Obed had opened the Gate of Truth and ended up inviting an Astral Worm to feast on him, leaving no body behind. At the same time, the terror of the Astral Plane warranted caution. He would have to learn from the example.

Gunther thought differently. Wayne claimed that an Astral Worm did it, but he didn’t buy it. The truth was that the angel had killed the legendary mage!

Yes, that’s it.

Gunther was at least shrewd enough not to expose Wayne when Wayne had found an excuse to cover up the ‘truth’. He asked, “Mr. Wayne, did you kill the Thousand-Eyed Demon?”

“No, I thought you did.” Wayne turned to Renata.

Renata shook her head. Gunther then said, “The Thousand-Eyed Demon is dead. All his thoughts have been erased. We didn’t do it...”

There’s someone else? Wayne wondered. “Are you sure that the demon has died rather than escaped?”

Gunther glanced at Renata and said with certainty. “I’m sure. We arrived a little late and found nothing left of the Thousand-Eyed Demon. We thought you had killed him.”

“I didn’t.” Wayne fell silent. The mantis was unaware of the oriole behind it while stalking a cicada. He suspected that another legendary mage of the Ministry of Magic had killed the demon. No matter how he thought about it, the most likely motive would be to silence him.

Obed had an ally!

The ally had been involved in Obed’s plan throughout and met the Thousand-Eyed Demon during the process. When they saw that Obed was facing a complete defeat, they decisively killed the demon to cover their tracks.

“But no, they didn’t enter the Astral Plane or the vitality field. Why were they certain that Obed was going to lose...” Wayne muttered to himself. The internal conflict within the Ministry of Magic was too complicated. Everyone betrayed everyone, and everyone was a political enemy of everyone, prompting them to backstab each other. There was no telling whether it had been Obed’s ally who killed the demon.

So, who was it?

Wayne couldn’t figure it out, so he decided to leave the question to Auston. He might know something he didn’t.

***

Ten minutes later, Vice Minister of Magic Yvette arrived late to find the Church of Moonlight in shambles. The corners of her mouth barely went up before she put on a concerned face, striding up to Wayne to ask about what happened.

Wayne told her the abridged version of the story. Yvette’s jaw dropped. “Obed? How could it be him? Wasn’t it Planck?”

“Which Planck?” Wayne asked in surprise. “The director of the Red Leaf Asylum?”

I don’t know him very well. Can you explain in more detail? It’ll be wonderful if he’s dead. Then no one will be coming for the antique silver coin.

Yvette asked for confirmation that Obed had become an Astral Worm’s dinner in the Astral Plane. Then she thanked Gunther and rushed back to the Ministry of Magic. She had to hurry, or Planck would be beaten to death.

Before leaving, she quietly reminded Wayne, “The High Reverend is unconscious. This is your best chance to win her over. Representing the Ministry of Magic, you have to make her feel warm and at home.”

She nodded pointedly and patted Wayne on the shoulder.

Wayne wasn’t sure how to feel.

He had mocked the Pope for lacking tact and the High Reverend for lacking brains when they always resorted to honeytraps, but lo and behold, the Ministry of Magic was the same.

He was Mona!