Myths Reawakened

“You’re...”

“Wayne?!”

With rolling dust as a backdrop, Isabella looked up with shock. It had only been two years, and she still remembered Wayne’s face and speech patterns, but his power made her doubt her memory.

He seemed stronger than her!

She was already a Gold-ranked mage, and Wayne had been a mage apprentice two years ago. Had she seen wrong? Was the dress shoe perhaps an amazing magical item?

The Scalpels around her lived up to their reputation as elites. After only a moment of surprise, they rushed up to surround the mutant, keeping their distance while casting magic again to restrain it. It went as smoothly as their previous mission.

The monster went flaccid after the outburst, dropping weakly with no strength to put up any resistance. Under a seal it couldn’t break out of, the monster, having reverted to human form, whined as vitality drained from its body. All the water evaporated, rendering it a mummy, then ashes. It departed so hurriedly that it didn’t even get to say, “I’ll be back.”

This doesn’t make sense! xN

The series of unexpected events left the elites skeptical. They looked at Wayne strangely.

Based on their years of experience as first responders, such unusual happenings must stem from unusual circumstances. The person who had suddenly appeared at the crime scene and stood out like a sore thumb was likely to be the mastermind.

Criminals had the bad habit of visiting their crime scenes to appreciate their masterpiece.

Sensing her teammates’ suspicion, Isabella frowned slightly. She found Wayne suspicious, too. His power had grown too quickly, so it was most likely that someone had assumed his identity. If someone wanted to get close to her, however, they had little reason to disguise themselves as Wayne. While Isabella knew him, they were only acquaintances.

She picked up the dress shoe from the ground and inspected it. It wasn’t a magical item, just a regular shoe. The handmade shoe was nothing special aside from being expensive.

She raised her guard further, trusting her instinct’s that this mysterious man wasn’t Wayne, but someone in disguise.

A gust of chilling wind rustled the tense atmosphere. Wayne made a face, realizing the problem. He reached into the Void and rummaged through his personal storage.

Everyone took a step back. Isabella got into a defensive stance and made a gesture with one hand behind her back, waiting for the mysterious man to make a move.

The enemy was powerful, at least a Gold-ranked mage. If they made a mistake, they could meet their end here.

Clink!

“Ah, how careless of me. My scepter and ID as an Oracle High Reverend have fallen to the ground.” Wayne raised an eyebrow with a slight smile, holding himself like a typical leader. “Hey, errand boys. What are you waiting for? Don’t you see your cue? Do you want to keep your job?!”

“???” x7

Soon after, the members of the surgical strike unit lined up with Isabella in the leading position. Chest puffed out and hands pressed to the seams of her pants, she looked straight ahead, sweating in panic.

They had confirmed that the scepter, ID, and badge were all legitimate. Wayne was an Oracle High Reverend.

“Roll call!”

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

“...”

“Seven!”

“How impressive of you to attempt the assassination of an Oracle High Reverend in the dead of night! What’s the Palis District trying to do? Where’s your High Reverend? The Scalpels are stabbing at the heart of the church’s headquarters. Is this your attempt at rebellion?”

Wayne put his hands behind his back as he paced around. He knocked No.7 in the chest and snapped, “Challenging your superior with no regard for the church’s rules? I can’t stand rebellious sorts like you. You show no loyalty and should all be executed by gunshot...”

“No, when in Franc, do as the veteran revolutionists do. You should all be put under a guillotine.”

Wayne went from No.7 to No.2, knocking each of them with a fist. When he reached No.1, Isabella, he unfurled his fist and swung his claw at her.

Sweating buckets, aren’t you?

When Isabella kept her eyes fixed, Wayne huffed and put his hands behind his back again. “Look at you. This is supposed to be a straight line, but it becomes wonky starting from you... Not a team player... No discipline at all...”

He wasn’t just spouting nonsense. Having lost weight, Isabella now had such a pronounced bust and bottom that she singlehandedly distorted the straight line.

She lacked discipline and self-control, making trouble for her colleagues and undermining her superior’s concentration. She damaged the church’s image in the followers’ eyes, leading to severe problems in society.

Someone like her should reflect seriously on herself in her superior’s room!

“Isabella, since you’ve made an effort, if not a real contribution, during your years of serving the church, I’ll let you off the hook with a slap to the wrist. However...”

Wayne had always been good at acting as a leader, affecting the right sarcastic, harsh tone. “This mistake has serious repercussions and could undermine the order of the surgical strike unit. Punishment has to be dispensed.”

“You’ll write a five-thousand-word self-reflection titled ‘The Oracle High Reverend I admire’. Keep everything objective and realistic rather than making up lies. Tomorrow night, come to my room and read it to me. Do you understand?”

“Understood.”

Isabella groaned silently, still confused about the situation.

Her biggest question wasn’t about Wayne’s ridiculous power jump, but his rise in status. Becoming an Oracle High Reverend when he was nothing two years ago? Not even nepotism could explain it.

Wayne’s master and Isabella’s previous superior, Silvia, was still a District High Reverend. How did Wayne suddenly become an Oracle High Reverend?

She couldn’t find an answer.

“On behalf of headquarters, I’ve come to Palis in secret to take on an important mission. It’s strictly confidential. Anyone who dares to spread the secret will be put to the guillotine. Do you understand?”

“Understood!” x7

“You’re dismissed.” Wayne pointed at Isabella darkly. “You, stay. It’s been two years. Let’s catch up tonight.”

The elites were heartbroken to see him take their team captain away, their minds falling into the gutter. The dishonest Oracle High Reverend might be taking their white moonlight to make her a slave in his bed!

Meanwhile, Wayne arrogantly marched toward the barrier with his hands in his pockets, Isabella trailing after him at a short distance. She had a bitter look on her face, her streak of dark green hair drooping. She looked like a captive.

If it were daytime rather than the night, a good Francan would have intervened to save her, and because they were in Franc, they wouldn’t be bravely intervening for justice, but using it as an excuse to begin a romantic encounter.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I don’t know what to say...” Isabella sighed. “Are you really Wayne? You’ve changed so much that I still find it hard to believe.”

“Oh? How did you know that I’m now a legendary mage?”

“What? A legendary mage?”

Isabella’s eyes widened. She had thought that she was bold to assume he was now a Gold-ranked mage. She had thought that Wayne, having made the progress too quickly, must have an unstable foundation, so she, with all the experience she had accumulated on the frontline over the years, would have an advantage over him. Her chance of victory would be around seventy percent, or at least sixty percent. It wouldn’t be fifty-fifty.

To her surprise, though, she had underestimated him. He was a legendary mage already.

“How else would I have become the Oracle High Reverend?” Wayne asked teasingly. “You don’t think I’ve earned my promotion by bedding the Pope, do you?”

“I’ve never thought that...” Isabella hurriedly explained. The previous pope, Ludwig, was no longer in charge, and the acting pope, Senna, was Silvia’s master, which made her Wayne’s master’s master. It would be too far-fetched for such a scandalous relationship to be true. Not even the gossip column would make up such a story.

Comparison bred dissatisfaction. The lesser goods would be tossed out, and the lesser person would die of an inferiority complex.

Isabella wasn’t someone who compared herself to others, but the fact that Wayne had become a Legendary-ranked Oracle High Reverend in two years made her feel such a gap between them that she found it difficult to accept. She felt like a piece of trash.

Her satisfaction when reaching Gold rank seemed like a laughable overconfidence now that she thought about it.

Her sigh was music to Wayne’s ear. Back then, he had been a mage apprentice forced to seek shelter in the countryside by a certain bigshot in Londan, like a real pushover. Isabella, a Silver-ranked mage, had seemed like a powerful individual.

Things changed quickly. In less than two years, he had become a strong individual in Isabella’s eyes.

Should he drop Elemental Mantra by accident?

Wayne stroked his chin, pondering whether he should take the chance. Probably not. He had done enough posturing earlier, which Isabella hadn’t digested fully. Doing too much and filling her until she was overflowing would be a waste.

Once Isabella had come to terms with the revelation, he would go another round!

Stepping out of the barrier, Wayne saw Mona glancing at Isabella with a teasing smile, her arms crossed.

“Boss, your old friend is indeed heavyweight,” Mona said sarcastically.

Her assets looked incredibly heavy.

“Um, it’s complicated. I can explain.”

“You swore to me.” Mona rolled her eyes. “I’ll be frank, this beauty does not suit Kael’s taste...”

“She wasn’t like this two years ago. It’s magic. She used magic.” Wayne interrupted her and introduced the two women. “This is Mona, my secretary. Mona, this is Isabella, an old friend of mine. We once fought an evil god ruling over a chicken egg sect together.”

“Hello.”

“Um, hello.”

Mona was beyond frustrated. She knew that her business tonight was already a failure because of the sudden introduction of Wayne’s old friend.

She heard Hesione giving her a friendly warning in her head, telling her to open her eyes to Wayne’s perverted scumminess. He had countless lovers. She should break up with him before a child was conceived.

Mona huffed. She would not tolerate insults against Wayne, not even from herself. “Stop playing a good person. You’re now one of his lovers. I’ve been watching. You’re always part of the orgy!”

The truth cuts deeper than lies. The insightful observation rendered the Śār speechless.