Myths Reawakened

The human and mandrill stared at each other for a moment. Then the mandrill broke the silence. “The Pope won the first few times, pushing his power to the peak. It’s not that he cannot win, but he cannot win all the time. It’ll undermine the church’s development.”

“You’re right. I thought so, too.” Senna nodded in agreement, wondering about the strength of the two candidates from the Franc district.

The High Prophet had not gotten involved before. Those two candidates had to be something else.

“Moreover, I’ve received a revelation from the Oracle. This Holy Maiden selection is crucial. A great war is going to break out in the human world. Unlike the previous world war, this one will truly determine the winners and losers...”

The mandrill’s voice dipped low. “The war will lead to more wars and reshuffle the power dynamic of the world. The churches cannot avoid getting dragged into it.”

“It’s true of the Church of Nature, our allies from the Life Alliance, and the Church of Heavenly Father, which has been lying low for years. By then, the human world will be crawling with demons...”

“The Pope cannot determine who the Holy Maiden is. The war of faiths will be so dangerous that the church can’t afford to have an untalented Holy Maiden.”

As the mandrill pontificated about the greater good, Senna nodded every few seconds. What she actually thought, though... was that if the High Prophet supported Veronica instead, she would support the High Prophet.

She was practical like that.

“High Prophet, you said that a war would break out soon. The Pope will stop suppressing his rank and leave the human world for the Divine Realm...” Senna paused. “That is a possibility, right?”

“That’s right,” the mandrill confirmed. “The Pope will not stay in the human world for that much longer unless he doesn’t care about his life. In a few years, the church will elect another pope.”

“Who do you think will be best suited for the role, High Prophet?”

“I believe that Oracle High Reverend Senna will be the right choice. You’ve contributed much to the church, and you possess great power. On top of that, you’re also an apostle blessed by the goddess, with dragon blood on top of that...” The mandrill rattled off compliment after compliment.

“High Prophet, to whom have you made the same speech?”

“No one else but you.”

Then I’m not the only one.

Senna boldly assumed that he had said the same thing to all Oracle High Reverends. Nodding with a smile, she returned the favor and complimented the High Prophet. The two of them quickly finalized their partnership and created an alliance.

After that, they turned away and parted ways.

An agreement on paper could be torn. A verbal agreement...

Well, it was better than nothing since the promise had been made. Still, it was as believable as someone saying that they would pay back the money they owed in a few days.

***

Number four mansion.

Wearing an apron, Veronica was making afternoon tea in the kitchen. The typical young lady wasn’t much of a cook, so she was only making simple snacks, at best edible.

In comparison, Vera was ready to enter a marriage. Everything she made was delicious. She would make a perfect team with Kristen, who would make a good mother.

Wayne entered the dining room with a package and opened it. Inside was a bottle of dragon blood.

“Veronica, I’ve got something good to show you.”

“Wait, let me kill these eggs first...”

“???”

Wayne didn’t understand, but he didn’t dare to make a comment or pose a question. He hid the dragon blood in his sleeve and looked through the other items in the package: a few books, a few maps, a letter, two black tights, and a full bag of magical gems.

He rolled out the tights to inspect them. The black fabric was cool to the touch, likely made of magical metal with good elasticity. They were each designed for men and women—for him and Veronica.

He opened the letter. It opened with a detailed description of the tights.

They were forged with drake scales for top-tier defenses and elasticity, ensuring that the wearers wouldn’t burst through their clothes and be left naked after transforming into an elf or a half-dragon. Moreover, the tights could be reshaped by thoughts, thus allowing the wearers to transform them into everyday clothes.

The greatest advantage of the fabric was its heat resistance. With it on, the process of purifying one’s bloodline with dragon blood would no longer lead to embarrassment.

“Nice. It’s perfect for Veronica.”

Wayne quickly shoved the two tights into the drawer before continuing to read the letter.

Senna was among the leadership of the church’s headquarters, making her part of the rule-making process. Not only was she not a stranger to Holy Maiden selection, but she was also one of those who created the tests.

The letter specified the importance of the maps and gave away the test questions, mentioning the magic books as the example answers. Wayne and Veronica were advised to quickly learn the faith magic and divine arts in the books.

Since Senna wasn’t the only one creating the tests, she couldn’t guarantee that they would pass after learning everything in the books. She could only promise that, outside of Wayne and Veronica, no other candidates would be able to answer the test questions she came up with.

“Geez, you sure know how to play with the rules,” Wayne grumbled wryly, glad that his master hadn’t become someone like Senna. “Strange, Master got her dragon blood from Senna, so Senna should be quite thick-headed as well. Did she meet someone like Auston, too?”

“Bastard, who are you calling thick-headed?” Veronica emerged from the kitchen with a tray, shooting Wayne a glare. She had heard the scumbag talk behind her back. If he didn’t stop, he was not getting any of the snacks she had just made.

Wayne dropped the topic wisely, picking an interestingly shaped snack and popping it into his mouth. The left part was sweet, the right part was bitter, and the center tasted like nothing.

How was it possible for a snack to taste like three different things? It wasn’t a perfume with top, middle, and bottom notes!

“How is it? Is it good?”

“Yeah, it’s close to Vera’s level.”

Wrong answer. Veronica punched him in the face. She knew that her cooking wasn’t good, but after all the work she had put in, the only right answer was ‘it tastes good,’ no matter what he actually thought.

“It’s not good, but I like it...” Wayne picked up the plate, inhaling the snacks and licking the plate clean. Grimacing, he said, “I stand corrected. It’s amazing.”

That’s better!

Veronica huffed, picking up the map to check it. “What is this? A walkthrough?”

“Something like that. We have a backer in high place, after all.” Wayne put the letter away and quickly headed toward the basement. “Come with me. There’s one thing I can’t show you here, or our two neighbors may see it.”

He wondered what package their neighbors had received.

Noticing Wayne’s grave expression, Veronica quickly followed him. She glanced back at the plate that had been licked clean better than a dog would lick their bowl. There was an added skip in her steps.

In the basement, Wayne turned on the lamp and drew a magic circle on the floor for appearance’s sake. Then he suddenly turned around and opened the bottle containing the dragon blood.

Veronica’s pupils contracted. She never expected the scumbag to get her again.

Three times. He had done the same thing three times, yet she always fell for it. Fire swept toward her, leaving her clothed in nothing but flames. She stared ahead blankly, giving up on thinking.

Wayne leaned in and took a good look, clicking his tongue in amazement. As expected of him, he had only had her for a few days, and the dragon-blooded girl had already grown. The growth rate was so impressive that they could expect big things in the future.

“Huh, I’ve been checking you out for so long. Why haven’t you cursed at me?”

Wayne urged when he didn’t hear her curse with her insufficient vocabulary. He knew that after the multiple enhancements, Veronica could now speak during the process.

“Mother told me not to reward you without a good reason.” Veronica gave him a derisive look like she were looking at a piece of wet waste.

What have you been teaching Veronica, Master?

Your student and Auston aren’t the same. How can you equate us?

Wayne scowled. When he noticed the smug look on Veronica’s face, he huffed and hurried back to the living room to fetch the battle suits made of drake scale from the drawer. He put on the one for men and touched Veronica. With its fire resistance quality, he was able to boldly embrace her from behind.

“Where-where did you get the clothes?”

Veronica stammered, moving her neck with difficulty to look at Wayne’s naughty hands. Then she looked at the female version of the battle suit draped on the chair, quickly putting two and two together.

The clothes had come with the dragon blood.

She fumed, seethed, and raged. After three enhancements with dragon blood, she was now able to move her body during the process. In slow motion, she turned around and knocked the scumbag down, mounting him to beat him up.

“Pervert! Scum! Bastard! Trash!”

“Die! Die—”

Rewards might come late, but they were never absent. This time, it was even doubled due to its delayed offer.