Myths Reawakened

“Oh, what are you rubbing? Have I interrupted something?”

After Ines said that, Wayne would like to say that Ines had come at the right time and took each woman into his arms with a satisfied smile. However, he couldn’t.

Seleucia was so obedient and meek that even Wayne, who fancied himself a ruthless capitalist, didn’t have the heart to exploit her, putting her in the same category as Do and Julia instead. For the opposite reason, he didn’t want to hold Ines; she, with millennia of experience, was not to be trifled with. The car cost too much to maintain, deterring him from ever driving her.

Ines stared at him with a suggestive smile before glancing at Seleucia, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you would be generous enough to give her the Divine Domain rather than keeping it as a safe house. Is this an investment in the future?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Wayne shrugged without a direct response.

Ines didn’t push. She turned to the idiot instead. “Seleucia, you should be thanking me. Without me leading the way, you would’ve never met such a good master or acquired a Divine Domain.”

Seleucia frowned, turning away and murmuring her thanks.

She actually thanked me! Ines snorted silently in amusement, but it didn’t feel as satisfying as she imagined. Seleucia was so staggeringly stupid that manipulating her didn’t feel satisfying.

Ines suspected that it had something to do with Wayne’s corruption. She had the same experience. When she didn’t restrict herself, her corrupted thoughts wanted nothing more than to pull Wayne into her body.

She narrowed her eyes and scoffed, “Seleucia, I have to tell you the truth by this point. Your master isn’t a god, and I had ulterior motives when I guided him to you. The God of Storm and Thunder fell way back, during the War of Faiths.”

“Your master has been lying to you. He craves your body and has been doing everything to put you in his bed!”

“Oh,” Seleucia said calmly.

“Oh?” Ines scowled. “Do you think I’m lying?”

“What else? Why would I believe you?” Seleucia didn’t even waver. She knew who had been treating her well. Ines might have guided Wayne to her with malicious intention, but Wayne was different. She knew for certain that Sett had died at the hands of her faith.

He craved her body? Ridiculous. Her faith had used that as a threat when she was defiant in the beginning, but he had never brought it up again. He was clearly a good master with no carnal desire.

Besides, even if Wayne did desire her, she wouldn’t oppose it. Loyalty was only loyalty when it was absolute. She could do it at any time. She hadn’t offered only because she knew that she was too dull for her faith to want her.

Ines, on the other hand, had been making eyes at Wayne. Clearly, she was the one who wanted him.

She had been flaunting her charm. How contemptible! She even twisted the truth. How shameless!

Seleucia put several labels on Ines and removed her from her list of ‘acquaintances’, moving her to her blacklist instead.

Ines shook her head in resignation. This source of entertainment had been exhausted, with no more value to be extracted.

“Ines, what’s wrong with you? Where’s Vichy’s body? Did you destroy it?” Wayne saw right through Ines. While the face was Vichy’s, the shell was filled with writhing paleness.

“I’ve suffered so much, Wayne,” Ines whined, wiping pale tears from her face. “My slaves have turned against me. First, Solsknar wanted to become my subordinate god, and then Darkness Knight Vichy joined him. They have not only betrayed me, but even used violence against me...”

“Vichy stole the body away. If I hadn’t run fast enough, I wouldn’t be here with you.”

“The despicable Listener and Avenger have been plotting to claim my Divine Realm, too. If you don’t help me, I’ll be homeless.”

Seleucia nodded. To her knowledge, the Goddess of Darkness was doing quite well right now and was one of the few deities who had survived the War of Faiths. If even the Goddess of Darkness had trouble controlling Her subordinates and sought Wayne for help... It was in line with Seleucia’s belief that her faith was omnipotent.

“Do you have that many enemies?” Wayne replied in a hardened tone. “Tell me, where is their headquarters?”

“In the Divine Realm of Darkness,” Ines said pitifully.

“How dare they not tell me when they’re staging a coup? Don’t they know that I’m a professional rebel?”

“Wayne, I’m in a really tight spot. I can only rely on you...”

“Ha.”

Wayne’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. He would have to be mad to trust Ines. He was pretty certain that the Listener and the Avenger had already been tamed thoroughly. Solsknar, the Devourer, was obviously in the process of molding since he still dared to speak behind the goddess’s back. However, Wayne provided a more cost-effective option, and abandoned by the goddess, Solsknar became a bearer of gifts to Wayne instead.

Wayne didn’t understand. Solsknar was a subordinate god with great potential. If he succeeded, he would increase the capital of the Divine Realm of Darkness. Why would Ines sacrifice him? Had she, under Seleucia’s bad influence, become stupid enough to think that Wayne would willingly join the Divine Realm of Darkness as the Devourer, slaving away for Her?

It didn’t make sense. Wayne knew that he could go very far with his existence, and he would never work for anyone. Ines should know that, too. The fact that she had lured him to the Church of Darkness to make him confront Solsknar, sacrificing a talented potential subordinate god, had to be a means to an end rather than an end in itself. It was only the beginning.

Wayne didn’t voice his question. He knew that she wouldn’t give him an answer.

“Don’t you have a lot of questions to ask, Wayne?”

“No.”

“Ask away. Maybe if you ask, more questions will follow.”

“Since when are you so talkative?”

“That’s a simple question... Hey, wait for me.”

Wayne stepped out of the Divine Domain, ordering Seleucia telepathically to restore the Divine Domain and integrate the Laws to grow stronger as quickly as she could. She was also tasked with stopping any outsiders from entering the Divine Domain. Aside from Anastasia, no members of the Church of Darkness could enter, especially not the Goddess of Darkness!

The Divine Domain would be very useful to him. He didn’t know what his future would entail; the Divine Domain could serve as a contingency.

There were too many potential enemies in his way. He didn’t know where the goddesses stood yet, so he couldn’t put all his eggs in the same basket. The Divine Domain of Storm and Thunder would be one of his escapes.

He had formulated numerous plans, from Plan A to Plan SSIS-999[1], in case of any emergency.

***

Headquarters of the Church of Darkness.

The Great Sage Basilica had been rendered a ruin. Once the higher-ups of the church gathered, Ivan ordered his people to conduct an emergency evacuation, trying to dig up Great Sage Kane.

Observing the energy of Darkness in the area, the Oracle High Reverends soon located the most important treasures of the basilica: the statues of the two subordinate gods and the murals of the Goddess of Darkness.

As for the Great Sage, the traitor could rot under the rubble for all they cared. Even if they found him, they would just spit at him.

Anastasia was highly respected in the church and had managed to resolve the misunderstanding with a few choice words. Wayne thus became the Goddess of Darkness’s messenger, planted in the Church of Nature as Darkness’s spy.

The Holy Maiden had sworn on her purity and her faith, so the Oracle High Reverends couldn’t help but believe her. They also swore to keep the secret to protect their undercover agent.

That also proved Pope Ivan innocent.

Just then, Wayne teleported to the heart of the rubble. Beside him was Ines, who could enter the church’s headquarters freely, even without the Philosopher’s Stone.

“Sir Wayne’s back. Lady Vichy, too?”

“Fool, he’s an envoy of the Church of Nature!”

“Oh, right. I almost spilled it...”

Wayne looked at the friendly higher-ups of the church in confusion. Receiving a telepathic message from Anastasia, he realized what had happened. As expected of his white moonlight. She had so many fans that she was even more highly regarded in the church than Pope Ivan.

He didn’t say anything when the others suddenly treated him like he didn’t matter. He placed the Philosopher’s Stone in Anastasia’s hand.

He had already toyed with it enough. It was nothing special.

Seeing his daughter with the stone, Ivan finally allowed himself to relax. He glanced at the ‘Vichy’ by Wayne’s side from his peripheral vision before lowering his eyes, keeping silent. Earlier, he had run into another Darkness Knight Vichy, who asked about Wayne’s residence. Ivan had told her honestly that Wayne lived in the Holy Maiden’s residence. Vichy immediately left on her own.

The two Vichys were obviously not the same person, but any thought involving the goddess would be blasphemous, so Ivan didn’t dare to say anything or ask any questions.

Thinking of the degenerate scene that would be taking place in the basilica tonight, his heart clenched. The goddess had already gotten to the third body. When would this madness end?

Ivan scowled so hard that it looked like he was mourning a dead man. Wayne strode up to him and said, “The Great Sage was a traitor who had committed numerous serious sins, earning himself the goddess’s scorn. You may decide the exact sins he committed.”

“I understand.” Ivan nodded. The fact that Kane had threatened to tear the goddess to pieces alone justified his death.

“Tsk, Your Holiness is so obedient.” Ines came up to Wayne, speaking sarcastically. “Are you serving the Goddess of Darkness, or the Church of Nature?”

Ivan broke into a cold sweat, speaking carefully, “Darkness is my only faith, and the goddess is my only master.”

“Yet you listen to everything the envoy of the Church of Nature says.”

“That-that is... the goddess’s will.”

“Are you certain about that?”

“...”

Ivan broke into goosebumps. How could he be sure? How was he going to ask for confirmation? Even when he was face-to-face with the goddess, he wouldn’t dare to ask.

“Your Holiness, you know too much,” Ines said darkly.

For some reason, Ivan blurted out, “Mr. Wayne, you haven’t been to the warehouse of the headquarters, have you? We have a big collection. May I take you on a tour tomorrow night?”

“That’s more like it.” Ines took Wayne’s arm with an approving expression.

“Why tomorrow night?” Wayne asked. Delay could lead to bad consequences. In case the demons broke into the headquarters tonight, he suggested that they head to the warehouse now.

“Because you may be busy today...” Ivan said, pained. “There aren’t enough guestrooms at the headquarters, so we’ve arranged for you to stay in the Holy Maiden Basilica. I hope you don’t mind.”

Wayne’s expression turned solemn. “As expected of you, Your Holiness. You’re a man of great foresight. I will be busy today and won’t be free until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“It’s all for the goddess. As long as She’s happy—”

“Ahem!” Ivan coughed into his fist. There were things Wayne could say, but he couldn’t hear. He would like to kindly ask Wayne to spare him the details.

“Alright. I’ve just taken out the treacherous Great Sage after a difficult fight, expending great effort to finally kill him. If there’s anything else, we’ll talk tomorrow night. I need my rest now.”

He yawned, following Anastasia to her living quarters in the Holy Maiden Basilica.

What a coincidence that he was given the upper bunk above Anastasia’s bunk.

What an even more absurd coincidence that there was nothing separating the upper bunk and lower bunk.

1. This is an incredibly obscure reference to a Japanese adult film. ☜