Myths Reawakened

Bam! Bam! Bam—

Darkness slammed again and again into the ground like a sledgehammer. The rising black mist obscured Auston’s form, so only his furious growls and cathartic laughter could be heard.

The Auston of the inner world was on the verge of breaking down. After exerting revenge, he had lost his purpose in life. He chose to let his thoughts run wild and let negative information influence him. It didn’t matter if he turned into a monster.

Or it shouldn’t matter, but that wasn’t the case now.

After the thunderous slashes, Auston emerged from the localized darkness with crimson eyes, stalking toward Wayne murderously with Twilight Despair in his grip. With Wayne’s inner self going offline, Wayne had taken over and transformed into the familiar form of the Death Knight.

A Wayne who was the Moonlight Knight left Auston half mad, while a Wayne who was also the Death Knight was a sight Auston could not tolerate.

William shielded his delicate boyfriend with the Dawn Doctrine, snarling, “Auston, calm down. You’ve killed the killer of Aunt Silvia. The Wayne behind me is innocent. They aren’t the same person.”

“I know, but he lied to me!” Auston raised his sword at Wayne and bit out, “When we met, you claimed to be the Moonlight Knight and said that you weren’t the Death Knight in the surface world. Then what is this?”

“Auston, I’ve recovered Master’s body. Megan’s keeping it safe now.”

Auston’s sword-wielding hand stilled, and the crimson in his eyes faded significantly. He shook his head and said, “If not for you, the Wayne of this world wouldn’t have become the Death Knight.”

“I lied. I fabricated the lies to make him die with greater pain.”

What, you’re killing his heart before killing him?

“How do I know that you aren’t lying to me right now?” Auston pressed.

“You’re too smart for me to fool you, aren’t you?”

“...”

That wasn’t terribly convincing. Were it one of the Dragonbloods of the Lando family, Silvia or Veronica, they would nod and proudly say that they wouldn’t be fooled. Auston was a different story. Unless he was willing to turn a blind eye, it was difficult for Wayne to deceive him.

The inner Auston was just like the surface Auston in this regard.

When Auston insisted on demanding an explanation, Wayne sighed and thrust Shadow Nightmare into the ground. “Fine. William, hand me the Dawn Doctrine. I’ll show this old man what a real genius is!”

William nodded vehemently. Breaking out of his Sun Knight form, he sent Dawn Doctrine into the Void with a wave, right after which Wayne drew the divine weapon and transformed into the Sun Knight, radiating light under Auston’s surprised gaze.

“You’re amazing, Wayne!”

“Oh, you’re strong, too, William.”

Hearing the two men’s conversation made Auston’s head go blank. First, Wayne was the Moonlight Knight, and then he turned into the Death Knight. Now, he even assumed the form of the Sun Knight. What exactly was the Wayne of the surface world?

“Do you understand now? Do you see why the Goddess of Darkness would sleep with me?”

Wayne raised an eyebrow, burying Dawn Doctrine, White Night Creed, and Shadow Nightmare into the ground before him. He pointed at Twilight Despair in Auston’s hand. “I’m chosen by all five goddesses. In the surface world, my father and I take turns playing the Darkness Knight to give each other an alibi. If not for my helpful tip, Master would still be kept in the dark about you.”

Frowning, Auston tossed Twilight Despair to Wayne. He caught it and quickly turned into the Darkness Knight with black light washing over his body. The ease suggested that it was far from the first time.

Auston stayed silent. He didn’t seem intent on taking the divine artifact back and instead strode toward Megan. He would carry Silvia’s remains back to the Lando Estate and bury her in the grove with his own hands.

Wayne followed him with a frown. Auston’s red eyes were filled with the catharsis of successful revenge and the relief of recovering his wife’s remains, but there was no anticipation for the future. This man was ready for death. The moment Silvia’s remains were buried would be the moment he went into an eternal rest himself.

Wayne looked at Auston with complicated feelings. He didn’t understand devotion in love, so he had always thought following one’s love to death only happened in old tales. The Queen was still charismatic, and Megan, the substitute butler, looked identical to Silvia. Were Wayne Auston, he would have been holding a woman in each arm while riding on a female dragon.

Wayne could not be as heartless as Auston. He was too kind to reject the women around him. He was willing to bear the accusations of scumbaggery if it meant those women were happy.

Since he lacked talent in heartlessness and could never act like Auston, he respected Auston for his devotion and was willing to let him die for love. However... what about Megan? If Auston died, Megan would most likely follow him.

That would be terrible!

Wayne would like to persuade Auston out of the idea, but didn’t know what to say. After taking two steps, he spotted the undead warhorse standing nearby, all alone and helpless like she had been abandoned.

“Come here, Julia. I’m Wayne.”

***

Grove, Lando Estate.

Day had broken. Sunlight shone through the mirror in the sky and poured secondhand warmth into the inner world. Auston had buried Silvia last night and was now standing wordlessly before her tombstone. Behind him was Megan, joined by Wayne, William, Filomina, Anastasia, and Sophelia, here to attend the funeral. Julia, the undead warhorse, was tied to a wooden post outside the grove.

Like the divine artifacts, Julia differed from her surface world’s counterpart. She was numb and lifeless and lacked the energy and wits of the other Julia. She only carried out orders and never communicated with Wayne through thoughts.

Everyone was feeling sympathetic melancholy, aside from Sophelia, who was eager to leave for the palace after the funeral to refine her newly acquired divine blood and grow stronger.

A moment later, Auston drew Twilight Despair. Megan seized the blade. “Master, Mistress Silvia would have wanted you to live.”

Auston silently pushed her troublesome hand away, but then another hand gripped his shoulder with so much force that it put a frown on his face.

As soon as he turned around, he saw an incoming fist. With a loud bang, he flew into the sky, spinning before landing far away. Even after landing, he bounced and skipped across the grove, crashing through several trees.

Megan dashed over to pick up Auston.

“Why?” Auston returned with a hand pressed to his nose, glaring at Wayne. “This isn’t the surface world. I’m a stranger to you, and you have no right to dictate what I do.”

“You’re too selfish, Auston. You only think about yourself and ignore everyone else around you.” Wayne scowled at Auston. After agonizing over the matter, he decided to stop Auston from committing suicide. “Have you considered whether Aunt Megan would follow suit after your suicide? Sophe—oh, she probably wouldn’t do it.”

(눈_눈)

Sophelia stared. It was true that she wouldn’t follow Auston to death, but she was still part of the story.

Auston looked at Wayne coldly. “You’re the young master of the Lando family, so Megan should serve you as the family butler. You have the right to order her.”

“You just said that you were a stranger to me since this wasn’t the surface world. Now I’m the young master of the family again?” Wayne scoffed. There were two types of people whom he hated the most: those who had double standards, and those who didn’t let him have double standards. Auston was one of them.

When Auston couldn’t say anything, Wayne turned to Megan and met her rueful gaze. “Aunt Megan, tell Auston if I have the right to order you.”

“You don’t.”

“...”

(눈_눈)

It’s the right answer, but could you not hesitate for a moment? You’re so quick to answer.

“Auston, I don’t care that you want to die. To tell you the truth, I’ve wanted to be the head of the family for a long time, but you can’t die right now. You’ve been through the loss of your dearest love. Do you want Megan to suffer the same way?”

Wayne continued coldly, “Think carefully. If you die, she dies, too. Megan has been with you for sixteen years. Do you not care about her survival?”

Auston’s eyes were still red. He frowned deeply when he heard Wayne. He had always seen Megan as family. The way Wayne put it was too suggestive.

“You can’t die when there are other people who need you, just like how you needed Master. You know how difficult it is.” Wayne tried his best to convince Auston but quickly fell silent.

He was in no position to advise someone to move on from a pain he had not experienced. He was an outsider and a scumbag, so he had no right to lecture Auston. He was only trying to stop Auston from killing himself because he felt bad for Megan.

He had made his case. If Auston refused to change his mind, he couldn’t do anything but bury their bodies for them.

Of course, he was talking about the inner world only. If it were the surface world, Auston would not be allowed to die so easily. The Lando family had to stay together with no one missing!

Speaking of which, Wayne missed home. He took out a camera and snapped a photo of Auston and Megan. Since they were standing too far apart, he told Megan to move closer and act a little more intimate with Auston. He would develop the photos in the surface world and show them to Silvia.

Megan, emboldened by a powerful jealousy, grabbed Auston’s arm and held it to her chest.

Click! Click—

After a series of flashes, Wayne finally stopped, satisfied with what he had gotten. With such solid evidence, the Auston of the surface world would be launched into the sky even if he defended himself until his mouth ran dry!

Auston only pulled his arm back after the photos were taken. Because of the negative information in the world, he also felt intense jealousy for the Auston of the surface world.

“Hey, you. Your Majesty. Go stand there.”

“Yes, yes. That’s it. As expected of the Queen, you know how to pose for a camera...”

“Don’t be mad, Aunt Megan. I’ll take a few more pictures of you.”

“Oh, could you write more waivers for me? Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not going to take them back to the surface world!”

After the farce, Anastasia went up and appealed to Auston, “Sir Knight, you’ve had your revenge. Are you willing to get justice for your fellow members of the Church of Darkness now?”

“I’ve given up on the mantle. He’s the Darkness Knight now. Ask him.” Auston turned to Wayne. It seemed from his calm expression that he had given up on suicide.

Anastasia said in surprise, “But he’s the Moonlight Knight—”

Before she could finish, she sensed a flash of black light behind her. She turned around stiffly and saw Wayne swinging Twilight Despair around with impressive power. William applauded and cheered, always hyping up his boyfriend.

Meeting Anastasia’s gaze, Wayne weighed the greatsword in his hand and raised an eyebrow. “What, do you want it, Ana?”

“...”

“If you want it, just say it. If you don’t say it, how would I know that you want it?”

“I... want it.”

“You’re too quiet for that to be convincing, but fine. We’re in a special relationship in the surface world, so how could I possibly not lend you my help?” Wayne looked at Anastasia’s puppet body and then at William. “Come with me to Route 114. I have the walkthrough for speedrunning...”

He added silently, If the stage is still there, that is. Then I can make you two a little happier.

This was the most he could do given his limited power.