Myths Reawakened

Auston furiously fiddled with his silver coin.

“At least you know when to stop. I’ll continue. The goddess didn’t choose me. I took Shadow Nightmare.” Wayne glanced at Auston, determined to outdo him. “The Death Knight in Palis is now the Headless Footsoldier. His head was taken by the demon alliance, and unable to control himself, he sent his horse and sword to Londan before he could make an irreversible mistake...”

“I happened to pass by Shadow Nightmare. It looked okay and went well with my image, so I drew the sword and became the Death Knight.”

Wayne’s tone became mocking. “Unlike you, who’s untalented but still forcibly kept Twilight Despair to stay as the Darkness Knight shamelessly, I’m so magically gifted that Shadow Nightmare pursued me and refused to let me go. I only accepted it and became the Death Knight reluctantly because I pitied it.”

“And unlike a certain someone, I’m not cursed. I can transform into the Death Knight and back to myself at will, without any pain.”

Disgusted, Auston shot back, “Anyone can talk. You’re the Death Knight, so you can just say anything without proof.”

“If you don’t believe me, let’s bet on it. Take Twilight Despair out, and I’ll transform into the Darkness Knight here and now.”

“Fine, I’m in!” Auston accepted eagerly, not wanting to give Wayne the time to back down. With the silver coin of good fortune, anyone would be asking for humiliation by entering a bet with him.

“Master, maybe—” Megan tried to intervene. They were like the same side of the same coin. There was no reason for them to go after each other. They should show more maturity.

“Don’t interrupt me. I’ll see how great his talent is!” Auston shot her down. Wayne was becoming more and more of an eyesore, reaching peak eyesoreness today. He scoffed, “What’s the bet? And your condition?”

“If I manage to transform into the Darkness Knight, you have to keep the secrets for me when I mess with other women, and you have to put in a good word for me before Master and Veronica.”

Wayne had hidden his dagger in a very short map. As soon as it opened, the dagger was revealed, only the blade was coated with honey to tempt Auston[1]. “On the other hand, if I fail, you’ll be my father from now on. Whatever you say, I’ll do it. The Death Knight’s power will be yours to command. Promise.”

“...” x2

The stake was so high that Wayne risked losing everything, and Auston began to have doubts. Looking into the mirror, he knew that he wouldn’t have gone all in without feeling certain of his win, so...

So what? It was an offer so good that Auston couldn’t find it in himself to turn it down.

Besides, Wayne was already the Death Knight. How could he possibly turn into the Darkness Knight without taking off the existing mantle? It wouldn’t make any sense! If he could just change his class like that, it wouldn’t be the swords that were trying to please him, but the Goddess of Death and the Goddess of Darkness.

Why would the two goddesses lower their pride for a scumbag? Impossible, absolutely impossible! Auston had endured endless torment to gain the power of the Darkness Knight. The Goddess of Darkness wouldn’t just act out of character and offer the power to Wayne on a silver platter.

He would win this bet!

“Fine. Let’s bet on it.”

Auston wasn’t going to turn away a son who volunteered to call him father.

“I don’t trust you. Write it down!” the two of them said at the same time before turning to Megan. “Megan, what are you waiting for? Get us pen and paper!”

Megan despaired. She wanted nothing more than to record these two men’s ugly side and play it for Silvia and Veronica. See, these are the men you’ve picked. One is the Darkness Knight, and the other is the Death Knight. Neither are decent people!

Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that.

A moment later, Megan penned two versions of agreements for them. To ensure that the agreements could be shown to Silvia and Veronica at any time, she excluded their secret identities, as instructed by the two scumbags.

Wayne and Auston each signed one before entrusting both to Megan. Once the bet was decided, the winner would get his version.

Auston put down the silver coin and summoned Twilight Despair from the void while enduring pain, offering the greatsword to Wayne with a pale smile. “Time for you to put on a show, genius!”

Wayne inspected it closely. Twilight Despair was all black, opposite to the wholly white Shadow Nightmare.

“Hurry. Hahaha, I’m in pain.”

“You’ve been laughing nonstop...”

Laugh while you can. You’ll soon be crying!

Wayne narrowed his eyes and merged with the Book of Greed. While Auston laughed out loud in pain, Wayne clutched the hilt of Twilight Despair and raised the signature weapon of the Darkness Knight.

His eyes glowed black. Darkness spread from Twilight Despair to the rest of his body, solidifying into pure black armor and devouring the light on Wayne. The power turned all of his mana black.

At that moment, the smaller eyeball of Darkness on the Book of Greed’s cover suddenly opened, becoming much more pronounced than the eyes of Nature, Moonlight, and Sun, almost rivaling the eye of Death.

In the living room, the black light dissipated. Wayne had transformed into the Darkness Knight. Holding Twilight Despair, he lowered his voice and spoke like someone with throat cancer, “I am... ahem, how about it, Auston? Genius is incomparable to regular people. I’ve acquired the power of the Darkness Knight.[2]”

“...” x2

Megan gaped as the Death Knight turned into the Darkness Knight, so shocked that she forgot to breathe. She knew that Wayne was a genius and that his original bloodline granted him endless potential, but it was absurd that his talent applied to divine faiths, too.

Was he a bastard son born from the goddesses? From both Death and Darkness?

Auston also struggled to recover his jaw, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. It felt like he had been struck by lightning, leaving his heart empty. His smile dropped, and he looked beyond lost. Despite being a free mage without faith, he felt ruthlessly betrayed by faith.

He suddenly noticed that his curse of Darkness was lifted, and so was the pain. He felt light, no longer needing the silver coin to suppress Darkness’s power.

It made him panic. He could endure pain, but not the loss of power. He tried to beckon Twilight Despair over and reclaim the power of the Darkness Knight, struggling like a fish out of water, but it was no use.

Wayne’s lips quirked up. He let go of the power of Darkness... and transformed again!

“Hey, I turned back, and now I turned into the Darkness Knight again. It doesn’t hurt at all. There’s no curse.”

He smugly taunted Auston. Angering Auston wasn’t the goal... well, he admitted it was his goal, but he was also experimenting to confirm that Auston hadn’t lied to him.

The Headless Knight was able to kick him out of the Death Knight disguise with a thought all the way from the city across the ocean, Palis, preventing him from summoning Shadow Nightmare. However, Auston couldn’t do the same. Even when he was so close, he couldn’t take Twilight Despair back, which proved that he wasn’t the Darkness Knight the goddess had handpicked.

Auston was only able to transform because of his expertise in sweet-talking women. He managed to convince the Goddess of Darkness to give him a chance to please Her—through the curse, the little game of pain.

Wayne placed Twilight Despair in Auston’s hand. No matter how Auston adjusted his grip, he could not transform. It wasn’t until Wayne reverted to himself that Auston was finally able to reclaim the joy of painful power.

Wayne laughed heartily, pulling the two agreements from Megan’s stiff hand and tearing the one he had signed, leaving only Auston’s written promise. Wonderful, he would go mess with a woman as soon as he left.

With Auston transforming into the Darkness Knight, Wayne was no longer able to sense the sword. Neither was chosen by the Goddess of Knight, so when one transformed, the other couldn’t.

Wayne didn’t tell Auston that, of course. He put on a haughty face that said that Auston was only allowed to transform by his merciful permission.

Wonderful!

Wayne felt like he was on top of the world, inhaling the freshest air. The psychological satisfaction was better than any pleasure, even more so than getting intimate with Filomina.

He couldn’t help but launch into another bout of laughter. He drew Shadow Nightmare and transformed into the Death Knight, demonstrating to Auston how versatile he was.

“Why?” Auston transformed back in confusion. He no longer understood this world. He gulped and said in a trembling voice, “Why do the goddesses love you so much that they would allow you to be two knights at the same time?”

“Individuals differ, and I’m one of a kind. You’ll never understand what it’s like to be an original bloodline. You’re just a regular Silver-ranked mage.” Wayne patted Auston on the shoulder condescendingly. “Work hard and try to retire as soon as you can. Veronica and I are hoping for you to babysit our children!”

He cackled as he walked out the door. It was a happy day. He decided to celebrate by kissing Veronica all night.

Before he could take more than two steps, he heard a whoosh and sidestepped to dodge Auston’s dropkick.

“How shameless! I knew you would pull a surprise attack!”

“Bastard, you owe me a kick.”

“The Death Knight kicked you. Why are you retaliating against me? Just because I’m an honest man?”

Megan watched them in silence. The family had been shrouded in darkness, and now, death was also in the mix. They had no future.

She missed Silvia and Veronica.

1. This is a play on the idiom, “When the map is unrolled, the hidden dagger is revealed,” which is a reference to Jing Ke’s assassination attempt against Qin Shi Huang during the Warring States Period. It means that one’s ulterior motives are revealed. ☜

2. The ‘I am’ part is written in English in the raw for comedic effect. Obviously, he was going to say, ‘I am Batman.’ Or maybe the full version, ‘I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!’ ☜