Myths Reawakened

Crack!

Givenchy’s arrow shattered the energy shields in front of Sandrine—all ten of them. Sandrine hurriedly dodged the incoming attack, exclaiming in shock and terror, “Givenchy, you’re trying to kill me. Are you really the demons’ pawn?”

“Oh, no. I’m just testing your physical condition,” Givenchy said with a smile. “It seems that your injury is only an act. I couldn’t defeat you without giving my all.”

Bastard, you are trying to kill me!

Sandrine didn’t have the strength to fight a legendary mage. Enduring the pinprick pain in her head, she transformed into a nature elf with difficulty and set up defenses of Life with the help of divine arts. She had no choice but to go on defense.

Givenchy narrowed her eyes with a flash of coldness in the depths of her irises. Nocking an arrow to her bow, she injected the arrowhead with her vitality field. The arrow pierced through Sandrine’s defenses and penetrated her heart, shooting out of her back. A frozen hole was left in Sandrine’s chest.

The attack had not only disintegrated Sandrine’s divine art but also broken her highly durable mage robe.

“You-you’re really...”

Sandrine covered her chest and felt a threatening chill. Her keen Legendary-ranked senses allowed her to avoid a fatal injury at the last moment. The arrow ended up brushing past her heart as it pierced through her torso, taking away much of her vitality and leaving behind a bone-chilling coldness. It had almost killed her.

“Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not a demon’s pawn. I’m just worried that if you were lying, and I believed you, wouldn’t I be the one to lose my life?” Givenchy smiled. “Who knows if you are a demon’s pawn?”

As soon as she said that, she nocked another arrow, the bow curved into a crescent. Targeting Sandrine’s right eye, she planned to kill her with the attack.

Suddenly, a hand found her shoulder. Givenchy’s fingers trembled, causing her ice arrow to fly past Sandrine and hit the ground twenty meters away.

When did he...?

Givenchy’s pupils contracted. Her thoughts and vitality field hadn’t issued any alarm. Even when she was staring at the hand on her shoulder, her thoughts were blind to the presence.

Sandrine sighed in relief when she saw Givenchy go still under Wayne’s grip out of shock and fright. She was this close to meeting her death.

“High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight, your bow and arrow remind me of a card buddy of mine. For her sake, I’d prefer it if I didn’t have to beat you up. Lower your barriers of thoughts and allow me to examine you.” Wayne tightened his grip, almost crushing Givenchy’s shoulder.

He tossed a now malformed man toward Givenchy. The build told her that the body had belonged to Houry.

Givenchy weighed her options. Then an explosive chill surged from her body, threatening to sweep toward the sky...

Bam!

Wayne remained standing with his fist raised. Givenchy was gone. Her Wintry Bow of Cold Moon shattered into pieces on the ground.

The world of mirrors and the sun had disappeared and retreated so fast that Sandrine hadn’t noticed. Now, watching the world of glaciers fall apart, she nodded to herself. So this was what it looked like when a legendary mage was beaten to close death by a punch.

She would bet that her vitality field hadn’t receded as quickly as Givenchy’s and Houry’s.

***

Not long after, a clump of battered flesh and a disfigured woman in white attire lay side by side below a crooked, sickly tree, inside the vitality field Sandrine struggled to maintain. Givenchy’s pathetic condition both pleased and saddened Sandrine. Her happiness stemmed from her frenemy’s exploded face, while she was sad because she had exploded three hours ago.

“Oracle High Reverend, you should consider going easy on women, especially graceful ladies,” Sandrine grumbled, touching her own face. “At least don’t hit them in the face.”

“I’d say I went quite easy on her.” Wayne pointed at the big man beside Givenchy to illustrate his point.

The clump of battered flesh was so creatively reshaped that it served as convincing proof of Wayne’s statement. Sandrine couldn’t argue. The contrast was so obvious that he had indeed been quite gentle.

Wayne knelt before the two High Reverends and clutched their soft, seemingly boneless faces, sinking his thoughts in. After a thorough examination, his face darkened.

“Which is it? Who’s a pawn of the demons?” Sandrine couldn’t wait to find out if her guess was right. Her fake friend had been brimming with killing intent, clearly planning on murdering her. She was sure that Givenchy had already been enthralled by demons.

“Both of them have the Seven Deadly Sins in their bodies. How lucky for you to have met me. Otherwise, you would’ve become just like them...” Wayne glanced at Sandrine. “So? This is the price of using demons. Isn’t it exciting?”

Sandrine lowered her head, avoiding his gaze while muttering, “I’ve asked for Lady Senna’s approval. It’s with her permission that I—”

“I’ll teach her a proper lesson and tell her that you snitched on her!”

“...”

Wayne modified the two High Reverends to plant time bombs of sins in them. He wasn’t sure whether they had defected willingly or been forced to defect. If it was the former, their crimes could not be forgiven; if it was the latter... he would try to save them.

His tentacles melted. White foam rushed into their faces and reshaped their thoughts and bodies, opening their minds to him. After a quick perusal, Wayne’s expression soured further.

Both voluntarily defected.

In their memories, he saw numerous demons, one of their voices ringing a bell. It was the Lord of Envy!

Envy, one of the Seven Demon Lords, had cordially invited them to join the demons, and the two High Reverends had accepted after a brief consideration.

Once again, legendary mages chose to step into Hell rather than a Divine Realm when making a choice for their future.

“A demon lord is involved. How troublesome...” Wayne murmured.

Houry and Givenchy, having recovered fully, got on one knee at his feet. “O great one, is there anything I could do for you?

Sandrine staggered back, breaking into goosebumps from the shock. She saw the power of the Void easily corrupt Givenchy and Houry, rewriting their minds and faiths. Two fellow legendary mages who could rival her power had become Wayne’s slaves just like that.

“Return to your post and do what you need to do. As soon as the demons give you an instruction, report to me immediately.”

Wayne had examined their memories. They hadn’t earned Hell’s full trust and weren’t fully informed. Even sending them to go undercover among the demons wouldn’t yield much firsthand information. Still, it was better than nothing.

“Yes, Sir.” x2

The two High Reverends bowed and took their leave, vanishing from Sandrine’s vitality field. They came and went so easily, showing no respect for Sandrine’s power.

That wasn’t what Sandrine was focused on. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when Wayne turned to her with a dark look.

“I’ve seen nothing,” she explained, retreating. “I’m Pope Senna’s subordinate. My lips are sealed, promise.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you.” Wayne beckoned her over, gathering powerful vitality at the tips of his fingers. “Come here. I can’t stand the injury in your chest. I’ll treat it for you.”

“Oh, no. It’s just a surface wound. It’ll heal on its own.”

“Come! Here!”

“...”

Sandrine went up to Wayne tearfully, seeing her dream of entering the Divine Realm of Nature crumbling right before her eyes. The only reason someone as lecherous as Wayne would lay claim to her body and thoughts was to make her a sex slave in the Astral Plane.

Wayne grabbed her shoulder with one hand, turning her around and tearing off the back of her white robe. Pressing his fingers to her back, he quickly mended her wound.

In seconds, her chest and back became fully healed.

“You belong to Senna. Since I cannot look into her, I cannot look into you. I dislike you for your hubris and carelessness, which allowed countless people to become potential sacrifices for the demons.”

Wayne spoke at a deliberate pace. “Of course, you shouldn’t take full responsibility. The demons have already corrupted Houry and Givenchy. With so many accomplices setting you up, it would be impossible for you to see the truth, no matter how smart you are. Besides, you’ve always been a fool.”

Sandrine was relieved that he hadn’t corrupted her, but also scared. Would he really leave her alone when she had learned so much? Perhaps he should just turn her into another vassal, freeing her from a future of fear and insanity.

“After all’s said and done, there’s only one thing you should take away: keep your distance from demons. When you think you’re using them, you’re already being used,” Wayne said coldly. “Based on their memories, the demons will soon pay you a visit. Then they’ll either coerce or persuade you into cooperating, and all the higher-ups of the church’s Palis head office would become the demons’ pawns.”

Sandrine’s heart sank. Head bowed, she thanked him for the lesson.

The man was a total bastard, but he did have admirable traits. Pope Senna had a good eye for people, picking a reliable partner for herself.

“Oracle High Reverend, are you an evil god of the Astral Plane?” Sandrine asked hesitantly.

“No, this is not the power of the Astral Plane, but Life, the ultimate goal of the faith of Nature.”

“???”

Sandrine would throw a punch at him if she didn’t know she would lose miserably. There should be a limit to how much he looked down on her. Did he really take her for a fool? She could differentiate between the Void and Nature’s Life.

Wayne drew Elemental Mantra with a wave. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Wayne, the Nature Knight.”

The bombshell of a revelation fell on Sandrine. She gaped at the divine artifact. The man had become one with it, which emitted the same energy of Life as Wayne. He was the real deal.

“But I remember someone else being the Nature Knight...”

“That’s Mr. Moula. I’m his successor.” Wayne raised Elemental Mantra vertically, speaking in a low voice. “Go back to Senna. Stay with her unless Mr. Moula summons you.”

He tossed the divine artifact back into the void.

The grandstanding was understated, but the visual and audio were grand enough to fill a stadium’s stands[1].

Sandrine lost all fight facing the Nature Knight. All the doubt she had been bottling up was drained at the sight of Elemental Mantra. Whatever Wayne said, she would believe, including his claim that he was using the power of Life rather than Void.

When the chosen knight pointed to something as Life, it was Life. A mere legendary mage was in no position to argue.

Sandrine had figured it all out. Senna must have slept her way to becoming the Pope.

“Let’s head back. We’re done investigating here. Let’s find the four priests. I’d like to see if they’re innocent...”

The black car drove out of the Ministry of Magic’s headquarters. Riding shotgun, Isabella looked refreshed. She tilted her head to glance at the back and saw her meal plan deep in thought with his eyes closed, while Sandrine behaved like a meek child.

Already? It’s only been half an hour.

Tsk, she’s even paler now!

Isabella shook her head. Was a legitimate promotion impossible in the Church of Nature?

***

Meanwhile, Houry and Givenchy returned to their respective churches’ head offices. Two people laid their eyes on them, one in gold and one in white.

“The city...”

“It’s too dangerous!”

1. The original is a vulgar pun with 装逼 (zhuang-bi), which means showing off/boasting/posturing. 装 (zhuang) also means to put something in something, and 逼 (bi) could be a crude term for female genitalia. The line goes, “The posturing (putting things in the vagina) is understated, but with a large enough volume to sate the appetite, filling Sandrine until she’s overflowing with impressive visual and audio effects.” ☜