Myths Reawakened

Moskau... no, Moskva[1], as the capital of the Rus Federation, was absurdly vast, just like the Rus Federation, with an absurd number of churches. From a vantage point, the spires of the churches would dominate the view.

Valuing efficiency as much as he did, Wayne disliked dragging things out. The moment he sensed Ines’s thoughts, he sought her out.

She wasn’t far away. Wayne traced her to a church fifty kilometers east of the headquarters of the Church of Darkness. When he stepped in, Ines, dressed in all black, had her hands clasped before her chest, surrounded by kneeling clergy members from the Church of Heavenly Father. They recited the scriptures from the Sacred Tome and praised the great Goddess of Darkness.

(는_는)

This is so wrong.

Wayne suspected that he had stepped into the wrong dimension, so he closed the door before opening it again, and he saw a completely different scene: the clergy members were working on their own thing as Ines, dressed in all black, prayed before a cross. She looked so devout that it was as if she were confessing her sins to the Heavenly Father.

How nice of you to play along!

Though the scene was still weird, it was much better than the earlier one. At least it was less grating.

Wayne strode toward the cross and bowed slightly out of his respect for the headmaster of the school next door. Since Hesione called the Heavenly Father ‘Father’, He was another father-in-law to Wayne. There couldn’t be anything wrong with showing respect to his in-laws.

After the bow, Wayne saw that Ines was still praying. He couldn’t help but pat her on the backside. “Stop already. You aren’t a regular worshipper. If Heavenly Father takes this seriously, you’ll become His subordinate god.”

“No, he’s gone,” Ines opened her eyes and said.

“Are you sure?”

“...”

Ines wasn’t too sure, and she wasn’t alone. All other named gods, the surviving losers of the War of Faiths, and even the demons from Hell believed there was something suspicious about the Heavenly Father’s departure.

He was gone, but who knew how far He had gone? Perhaps He was watching right from the sideline!

The Chosen Land was the Heavenly Father’s territory. That was for certain. He was the ultimate winner of the War of Faiths and had advanced to the very forefront of evolution. All deities feared His might and kept a wide berth from Him.

That was proven by how the deities had continued to keep a low profile and never dared to steal territories and followers from the Church of Heavenly Father on a large scale, despite knowing that the Heavenly Father was gone. Even though the deities had numerous ways to descend to the human world, they only ever considered descending through an Anointed One or a Holy Maiden after careful deliberation.

That showed how great His influence had been and still was.

Wayne was very interested in the Heavenly Father. He speculated that the Heavenly Father had chosen the evolution of the Astral Plane, with the ancient god or the ancient gods as His goal. Wayne based the speculation on the angel’s strange appearances. He had no decisive proof. Since Ines was more than a small corrupted part of the goddess’s thoughts, he decided to ask her about it.

“The Heavenly Father has forged a path to godhood, and you have, too. Do you all fear Him so much because deities exist in a hierarchy, too?”

“How would I know anything about an esoteric matter like that?” Ines sighed. “You know me. My memories have been erased.”

She was weak, helpless, and pitiful. There was nothing she could do even though she might be humiliated by perverts at any time. Oh, how harsh life had been to her!

As if I’d believe you! Wayne rolled his eyes at her.

“If you don’t want to talk, fine. I was going to exchange information with you!”

“What information?”

“You must be able to tell that I’ve become a legendary mage. I’ve made significant progress in my evolution.”

He pointed at his chest. When he reached Gold rank, his silver cross had been broken apart before reassembling into a golden triangle. The Book of Greed had also changed, developing the form of the Pale Knight.

After he reached Legendary rank, his triangle remained, and the book hadn’t changed. The only difference was that his life, void, and self had grown leaps and bounds in quality.

He would have to reach demigodhood for substantial progress, it seemed.

That, however, didn’t stop Wayne from fooling Ines. Since she coveted his body, she would buy any blatant lies from him.

As expected, Ines immediately bit her lower lip and made eyes at him, taking a page out of Senna’s book. “Wayne, godhood is completely beyond me. Without the relevant memories, I can’t just make things up. Demigodhood, however, I do know like the back of my hand. I can trade that with you.”

“No thanks. Seleucia will tell me.”

“She had only just gone down the path of demigodhood...” Ines didn’t think Seleucia would have much to offer. She had met her demise too early, and what she had learned was all but outdated.

Wayne didn’t push. He had dropped the bait. If she wanted to bite, she would.

Ines didn’t. She put on a frosty, haughty look and stared at him like he was a piece of trash, as she had done before. Her attitude couldn’t be described as anything but derisive.

It didn’t work very well, though. She was using the face of Vichy, the former Darkness Knight. If she were wearing her own face, perhaps the act would be unexpectedly potent.

“Ines, I can’t reach Ana or Seleucia,” Wayne said bluntly. “You’ve arrived in the Rus Federation together. Where did they go?”

“They considered me a nuisance and left me behind to investigate the obelisks.”

“Why?”

“Because I was a nuisance!”

“...”

She made so much sense that Wayne couldn’t say anything about it. He flooded her with his thoughts and checked her recent memories, seeing an unhelpful ragebaiter provoking Seleucia into furiously challenging her to a duel.

In the memories, Ines not only acted against the mission, but also taunted Seleucia sarcastically all day long. If not for Anastasia, the two would’ve gotten into a fight.

What a shame. He would like to see that.

Wayne was disappointed that he didn’t get to see a cat fight between two beautiful ladies, but outwardly, he said coldly, “You did it on purpose. You want them to leave you behind.”

“That’s not true. I just find Seleucia an eyesore. It’s the twentieth century, yet she’s still trying to bully me as a superior.”

“I only saw you deceiving her, emphasizing many times that the disappearance of the Lord of Storm and Thunder is related to me. She’s completely brainwashed now.”

“Doesn’t that make her more loyal to you?”

Well, thank you!

Wayne knew that this woman wouldn’t have helped him intentionally. That was clearly a way to tame Seleucia so that she would make a fool of herself.

“Where are they?”

“Since we parted ways, I haven’t—”

“You must know!” Wayne interrupted.

“Wayne, all of me belongs to you, including my thoughts and memories,” Ines said pitifully. “As you could see, I don’t know where they are.”

Who are you trying to fool? You won’t even call me Master!

The contrast was staggering. Compared to Ines, the intellectually challenged Seleucia had so many good traits.

He didn’t even have to talk about Anastasia, his white moonlight. His goodwill for the Church of Darkness mostly stemmed from her, and even what little fondness he had for the Goddess of Darkness was because of Anastasia.

“I don’t understand, Ines. You have the best followers and the best Holy Maiden, but why are you such a wretched goddess?” he said with a frown.

“Wayne, are you judging the Goddess of Darkness?”

“You are the Goddess of Darkness!”

“Won’t you believe that I’m your vassal?”

“...”

“What?”

“Let’s confirm it then.”

Wayne took Ines to the confessional and managed to convince the clergy members to leave. He put his arm around her slim waist, pulling her into his arms.

As their gazes met, Ines’s eyes froze over.

Unfazed, Wayne ordered, “Turn back into yourself rather than using this face.”

“Even if you claim my body...” Ines huffed, turning back into the appearance of the Goddess of Darkness. The dark-skinned goddess was even taller, slimmer, and more stunning than Anastasia’s elven form. She looked the part of a goddess.

Wayne lowered his head. When Ines didn’t pull away, he hesitated, unsure whether he should continue.

“Why? Is that all you’ve got?” she sneered derisively. “If you can’t walk the walk, don’t waste my time—hmph...”

Two minutes later, Wayne walked out of the confessional, smoothing his slightly rumpled clothes. He had tried it. She was indeed his vassal. The way she melted and clung to him was comparable to Senna, but...

She shouldn’t just be Ines. What went wrong?

The prideful goddess wouldn’t have made out with him. That Wayne was certain of. He guessed that the Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts coexisted with Ines’s, so she could become the Goddess of Darkness when needed, while remaining as Ines the rest of the time.

That was the only possibility he could think of.

“Another question. Why did you lure me to the headquarters of the Church of Darkness?” Wayne asked calmly. “Tell me your plan, and I’ll decide if I want to step into this trap.”

Ines walked out of the confessional with pursed lips, turning back into former Darkness Knight Vichy. Her clothes were neat, with no wrinkles.

It was clear who had been the one struggling earlier.

“Speak.”

“I’m still savoring the kiss.”

“...”

Wayne couldn’t believe her. He glared at her face and imagined a red health bar above her head.

←→←→←→ A＋C

↓→ A

→↓← B

↓→↓← A

“Alright.” He sighed, feeling much better now.

Ines curled her lips into a smirk and asked in concern, “Bottling up anger is bad for your health. You need to vent. Why not vent on me? I’ll be the perfect target.”

“Nah, you’re an elderly god who is several thousand years old. You’ll be able to take a whole planet.” Wayne waved in rejection, admitting that he wouldn’t be her match. He stopped humoring Ines and headed to where she had parted ways with Anastasia and Seleucia based on her memories.

It was a church two kilometers away, quite close. What a coincidence!

Smiling, Ines followed at Wayne’s side, taking his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. “Though we’re all your vassals, you care about them much more than you do me, and you purposefully show it to me. I’m jealous.”

“Yeah, whatever you say.”

Wayne quickened his pace. Ines pulled the pity card immediately like the professional guilt-tripper she was. He was sure that she would use up a whole roll of guilt wire to trip him next.

As expected of you. You never stop molding people!

The Goddess of Darkness’s targets included Anastasia, Ivan, Auston, and Seleucia. The Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight might be on the list, too. That much was clear in the design of the headquarters of the Church of Darkness. Wayne didn’t believe for a second that the Goddess of Darkness hadn’t manipulated the two goddesses; perhaps She had even victimized Her ally, the Goddess of Death, and the Goddess of Nature.

Wayne shuddered. It turned out that the Goddess of Darkness was the ultimate thrill-seeker. Everyone and everything was on her list for manipulation. The unlucky souls in the church earlier were no exception.

His thoughts wandered astray. “Did Darkness Knight Vichy kill herself because she couldn’t take it any longer?”

“No, there’s another reason her thoughts disappeared.” Ines quickly covered her mouth. “Oh, no. That’s a secret I shouldn’t tell.”

I’m gonna silence you by stuffing your mouth one day!

1. Here, the author references a meme of a German song about Moscow, Dschinghis Khan’s Moskau. The raw says “screw driver” because the song has become a meme in China with purposefully misheard lyrics, and Moskau (Moscow in German) becomes “screw driver (luo-si-dao)”. It’s a joke with a convoluted explanation. I decided to keep only some of it by referencing the song. ☜