Myths Reawakened

A shrill, sinister laughter echoed as twisted shadows spread across the ground like writhing tentacles or billowing demonic fire. At the edge of the darkness, a demon with black wings hovered in the air, his limbs as thin and pale as dead branches and his face half-hidden behind a distinctively hellish mask.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Oracle High Reverend Weaving. I’m not here on behalf of Pope Ludwig.” Wayne had transformed into a demon convincingly with his incomplete Philosopher’s Stone.

He had been using this form often to intimidate Hesione. You wouldn’t want to do this and that, would you, Śār? After enough practice, he had gotten his disguise down perfectly, playing a demon with ease.

The incomplete Philosopher’s Stone had come from the Papal State and had been Archibald’s favorite disguise. Angels had to maintain a virtuous image as righteous figures, and clandestine activities would be out of character. But doing the same things as a demon? They had no qualms shifting the blame.

Later, the stone changed hands to Wayne, who found it equally useful for dirty work.

The Papal State’s craftsmanship and the official endorsement from a Śār guaranteed the quality of Wayne’s disguise. Weaving couldn’t tell that Wayne was acting. He genuinely thought that he had encountered a demon in the middle of the night.

His heart sank with a creeping sense of dread. Someone had laid a trap for him.

“Who sent you? Ludwig, Baker, McCarey, or Senna?” Weaving demanded, rattling off the suspects he could think of.

“Senna!” Wayne answered without hesitation.

“So it’s either Baker or McCarey, or maybe both.” Weaving seethed silently. They had agreed to compete to become the pope fairly, yet someone had resorted to ambushing. Since the other side had made the shot first, he had no intention of holding back from retaliating in kind.

The Church of Nature’s headquarters were located in Ostarrichi, the back garden of Prussia. As an Oracle High Reverend, Weaving had recently been in close contact with Prussian leadership, providing substantial technical support. He knew a few things about their research programs.

One look at Wayne’s demonic form told him that the Prussian leadership was also involved in the assassination attempt. He said coldly, “Our partnership is at a critical stage. What do you gain by turning on me now?”

“As expected of an Oracle High Reverend, nothing gets past you.” Wayne let out a chilling laugh and made up a false identity for himself based on the intelligence he had gathered tonight. “I’m acting on the order of the Waffen-SS Inspectorate. My superiors decided that your project isn’t cost-effective and that working with the other Oracle High Reverends offers greater strategic value.[1]”

“And?”

“The other side demanded your head before they would supply the tech. Oracle High Reverend Weaving, for the Führer and the glory of Prussia, we must ask you to make a small sacrifice.” Wayne spoke in a reverent tone, his chilling voice sounding almost holy.

“I’m an Oracle High Reverend of the Church of Nature. You must have lost your minds to ambush me at the very gates to our headquarters.” Weaving’s rage translated into laughter. He had always known that these people had become fanatics from the brainwashing, but he hadn’t expected them to be this insane, acting with no concern for the consequences.

“You’re the naive one. They’ve already made the arrangement to make sure that your disappearance won’t have consequences.”

“Bastards, Ludwig is in on it!”

Furious, Weaving raised his left hand and reached into a black rift. When he pulled his hand out, there were five rings on his fingers. Four of them were each golden, red, indigo, and cyan, representing the four elements: earth, fire, water, and wind. The ring on his thumb was a muddy white, representing the Astral Plane.

Without any visible motion, Weaving froze the surrounding space and conjured what looked like a spatial barrier. The cube spanned a kilometer in each direction, welding the enclosed space into a single whole to prohibit entrance and exit.

He wanted a captive. He would drag the demon to the headquarters to confront Pope Ludwig.

Splash!

The twelve edges of the cube began foaming at the seams, gushing torrents of Astral Beasts’ flesh. The highly corruptive white foam rained down like a sudden downpour. Wayne, Ottilia, and Regina stood beneath the rain. The white droplets slid off them like mercury, as harmless as ordinary rainwater. The flesh of Astral Beasts showed none of its corruptive property.

Weaving tensed. The enemies had come prepared, which meant that a traitor at the church had leaked information on him, allowing them to make targeted preparation.

“Kekekeke—”

Wayne threw his arms wide, letting the cold rain pelt his face and even opening his mouth to swallow the white droplets. “How delicious. It seems that Oracle High Reverend is dying to end this fight.”

As soon as he said that, Ottilia and Regina completed their transformations. Two succubi emerged, with horns curved backward from their foreheads, black fleshy wings unfurling from their lower backs, and slender tails coiling around their long, taut legs like serpents. Their faces were breathtakingly beautiful with square pupils in their eyes. The black form-fitting garments hugged their perfect figures, in stark contrast with their pale, practically glowing skin.

The first time Ottilia and Regina transformed, they had struggled to control their power. Influenced by the common stereotypes for succubi, the demonic energy had led them astray, and their interpretation of succubus allure had been street-level.

It was thanks to Wayne’s correction that they realized that being a succubus wasn’t about being a lady of the night, nor was it about being coquettish. A succubus who couldn’t captivate a broad audience had no market value.

Now, they were able to master their energy. Gone was the air of a woman working on the streets, replaced by a cool, ethereal elegance that lifted their charm to a new height. In combat, they exuded a passive mental influence.

Contrast was the key to enchanting people. Between gaudy succubi and haughty succubi, only those too lazy to work wouldn’t know which to choose.

Weaving found himself surrounded on all fronts by three demons who were immune to the corruption of Astral Beasts. His rage at the traitor within the church peaked. He sneered, “Those two are vessels for the Lord of Lust, but you? There’s no demon lord like you in Hell!”

Wayne cackled menacingly. “I’m the SS’s finest creation. As for which demon lord I correspond to... That’s a secret I can’t divulge.”

“I’ll interrogate your thoughts myself!” Weaving exclaimed.

With a wave, he summoned the four elements. Earth, fire, water, and wind swirled around him in four-colored currents, infusing the flesh of Astral Beasts to animate the mindless white foam that had operated entirely on instincts, giving it shape.

Roooar—

Howls reverberated as the writhing white foam reacted with the four elements in mysterious ways, sprouting limbs and morphing into independent entities.

Wayne made a soft sound of surprise and marveled, “As expected of an Oracle High Reverend and the finest among legendary mages. My intel isn’t accurate enough. You’re too strong.”

Weaving scoffed.

“However, I’ve received enhancements before coming here, so your little toys won’t be a threat.”

Wayne flapped his wings and took a step forward. His gaunt, bony body suddenly swelled as a vacuum formed within him, generating powerful suction. As soon as he parted his crimson lips and opened his mouth beyond human limit, a terrifying suction generated a storm and pulled all the white foam into his belly.

The newly formed Astral lives had yet to stabilize before the storm stripped the white foam off them layer by layer. Soon enough, they shrank until vanishing altogether.

Wayne was like a large cauldron, while the Astral beings were like knife-cut noodles. From Weaving’s point of view, the mysterious demon had not only consumed the flesh of Astral Beasts without being corrupted, but had also devoured elemental energy like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.

He stared in horror at his elemental rings. The fire ring pulsed with the most fear. At the slightest pull from the suction, fire led the other three elements into a suicidal charge at the demon.

“So you were the Lord of Gluttony’s vessel, adjusted specifically to counter me...”

This can’t go on!

Weaving cursed at the complication. The Prussian leadership’s research into Hell had reached a bewildering height. If he insisted on holding back to capture a living captive, he would be the one subdued tonight for his hubris.

Hum—

Infinite darkness unfurled from Weaving, spreading and filling the entire cube. It was his vitality field!

It was the mark of a legendary mage and their pride, a skill that dragged the Astral Plane to descend and reforge three-dimensional space into a mage’s domain. Within the domain, a legendary mage was a god. Perception could be warped at will, and elemental energy could be reshaped into any substance.

The more knowledge a legendary mage acquired, the more their vitality field grew in power. At the moment of their ascension to demigodhood, the field would become reality itself. Their vitality domain could then change reality, allowing them to bestow their knowledge on others and alter the very nature of their existence.

With his vitality field conjured, Weaving thought he had secured his victory.

The three demons were vessels for demon lords, with no ranks to speak of. Their power derived from each demon lord’s corresponding cantos from the Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins; they were essentially man-made familiars.

Without a mage’s rank and unable to grow stronger through training, they had no worthy strengths aside from their brute force.

After all, the vessels were made to summon demon lords. Without the thoughts of a demon lord, a vessel was nothing but a vessel.

Weaving’s thoughts shimmered, and the lush forest of his world was suddenly swept by a howling gale. Wayne and his two succubus companions drifted aimlessly through the air, their senses scrambled to prevent them from locating Weaving.

“Tell me, which high-ranking member of the Church of Nature is working with you?”

“Great Führer, it’s Pope Ludwig and the three Oracle High Reverends, Baker, Weaving, McCarey...” Wayne responded in a daze.

Under the skin of the demon, the large eye of Greed opened wide.

In that instant, the vitality field was fully exposed to Wayne. He shared his perspective with Ottilia and Regina to allow them to see reality, while feigning sensory confusion and an inability to break free of the vitality field’s control. His two succubus companions would deal with Weaving in the meantime.

Wayne could be a tank or an attacker, was immune to the corruption of the Astral Plane, and remained unaffected by the vitality field. He was far too powerful for Weaving to survive him.

He didn’t plan on finishing Weaving off tonight. He wanted the Oracle High Reverend to walk away and return to the church, which meant he had to avoid unleashing his full force and overwhelming Weaving.

Crack!

Regina cracked a thorned whip conjured with hellish energy. The black whip tore through the air like a hissing viper, aimed straight at Weaving’s throat.

Weaving hadn’t anticipated that Regina would resist the control of the vitality field. Caught off guard while he was interrogating Wayne, he moved to dodge, but wasn’t fast enough. He could only raise an arm to shield himself. The thorned whip ended up coiled around his neck and arm.

Roaring flames burst out. Spreading through the poisonous barbs that had penetrated his skin, the fire seared his flesh, making him hiss in pain.

Then the tail end of the whip transformed into a venomous snake with black scales. Opening its maw wide, it lunged at Weaving’s neck and sank its fangs in.

Venom injected!

1. Waffen-SS is the combat branch of Schutzstaffel, a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. ☜