Myths Reawakened

“Ines, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I have nothing to say. You’re the one who should talk. What happened over the past few days? How did you become one of the Seven Deadly Sins?”

“It’s common knowledge that the Anointed One would become a Deadly Sin in Hell,” Wayne said in surprise. “Don’t you know that?”

“Stop saying nonsense to me. That’s not common knowledge!”

“Why can’t it be?” Wayne asked. “A goddess can give away Her Holy Maiden and even give Herself away when necessary. Is it that far-fetched for the Anointed One to moonlight as a Deadly Sin?”

It was a solid argument Ines couldn’t argue against; She was that kind of goddess.

Wayne lowered his head and kissed Her deeply. “Since you’ve come to my rescue out of the goodness of your heart, I don’t mind telling you the truth. It includes too much sensitive information, though. You have to pay extra.”

“Too much money talk damages relationships, Wayne.” Ines hooked an arm around Wayne’s neck, looking at him resentfully.

As if there were a relationship between us.

Wayne held Ines’s gaze. “Relationships are bad for health. Are you sure you don’t want to correct yourself?”

He took control of Anastasia’s body with his thoughts, trapping Ines’s thoughts. Unlike before, he could now mold Ines’s partial thoughts at once with some effort. Later...

He smiled without a word. He knew that Ines knew him. He was audacious enough to do anything.

Ines’s eyes twitched. Her gaze grew even more resentful. “I’ve come all the way to Hell to save you. Is this how you repay me?”

“I have to preface business talk with disclaimers.” Wayne shrugged, lifting his restraint over Ines.

“I’m not talking business with you...” She said petulantly.

Wayne tightened his arms around her pliant body, making eyes at her. “If we don’t talk business, we’ll have to talk relationship. Are you sure you want that?”

Let’s talk business then!

“If we’re talking about our relationship, I’ve always done whatever you say and have even given you my Holy Maiden. If we’re talking about business, I’m your biggest investor among the gods...” She stopped to glare at him. “Stop groping me. Show some respect, or I’m leaving.”

“Just leave Ana with me.”

“...”

It tickled him that Ines couldn’t do anything despite Her ire. With a gleeful expression, he said, “You were the biggest shareholder, but you no longer are. A more generous investor has overtaken you.”

“Who?” Ines raised an eyebrow in annoyance.

“Kekekeke—”

Wayne swung his hand to bring out the projections of five Books of Hell, for Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Deceit, and Lust respectively. The book for Lust was thinner, but all four other books were quite thick. The book for Pride, especially, was thicker than the books for Deceit and Lust combined.

It was because Pride was generous, reliable, and perhaps prideful. He didn’t care how strong Wayne would become. He simply gave Wayne what he wanted. In comparison, the goddesses who had invested in Wayne had all calculated the potential return before investing in him. They lacked Pride’s confidence.

It made sense for investors to do that, but Pride’s involvement made them all pale in comparison.

“Now, I can make a call, and countless demons will join me. A wimp like Envy will cry for days if I punch him,” Wayne boasted smugly. “On top of that, I now own the Third Abyss, the City of Decadence. I, the Lord of Deceit, am a rising star in Hell. I can have whatever I want here, including power, fame, riches, and beautiful ladies.”

“You’ve fallen so fast,” Ines grumbled. “How amazing. Although you were quite depraved before, I didn’t expect you to stoop even lower.”

“People change!”

“For the worse?”

“Yeah!”

“...”

Ines rolled her eyes. The reincarnated angels should take a look at Wayne, especially Śār Hesione. Deceit, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, had tainted Purity, one of the Seven Sacred Virtues. That was beyond terrible.

Terrible from Heaven’s perspective, She meant. From the perspective of Darkness, it was incredibly entertaining. Ines couldn’t wait to take Wayne back to the human world to see how Hesione would react.

While laughing, She raised an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean by the Lord of Deceit? Since when is Deceit part of the Seven Deadly Sins? Or is it the Eight Deadly Sins now with your addition?”

“I’ll charge extra for the answer.”

Ines snorted. “I can just ask around.”

“You’re free to try, but I wonder if you’ll get an answer.” Wayne smiled cryptically, leaning in to blow at Ines’s ear. “Why don’t you take a guess? Is there a great demon god in Hell or not?”

“What do you mean?”

Ines’s heart stuttered with shock. It was common knowledge that there was no god in Hell. Everyone knew that.

On second thought, though, no demigod demon lords could modify the Seven Deadly Sins and invest so much knowledge in Wayne.

“Do you understand now?” Wayne patted her on the backside. “Don’t come to Hell without a good reason from now on. It’s dangerous.”

Ines fell silent. She had descended to Hell more than once, and the other goddesses, too. If there was a great demon god in Hell, why hadn’t the god stopped them? Moreover, why had the great demon god been hiding?

The more She thought about it, the more unnerved She felt. Putting her arms around Wayne’s neck, She smiled and kissed him on the face with seduction in Her eyes. “Tell me,” She said coquettishly. “I want to know the truth. If you tell me, I’ll reward you!”

“Haha.”

Bastard. No wonder you could only deceive women!

Ines huffed. Closing Her eyes, She pressed Her lips to Wayne’s, and waves of information about Darkness flooded into him endlessly. The volume was so astounding that it took some time for the transfer to complete.

Wayne looked at Ines in surprise. “That much? Have you lost your mind?”

“I will not allow anyone else to overtake me!” Ines said.

“You’re as decisive as ever!” Wayne gave her a thumbs-up. He wasn’t sure whether Ines was getting competitive or being forced to be competitive. He said bluntly, “Since you’ve paid so readily, I’ll be frank with you about the situation in Hell.”

“When I first came to Hell, I had to stay away from the demons because I’ve antagonized too many of them, all of whom are demigod-level powerhouses. There was also the bastard tattler, Solsknar...”

“Solsknar is your subordinate god, is he not? It must be your doing that he showed up at the ruins of the Life Alliance!”

“There is no place for justice in Hell. I ran from one hiding place to the next, having to keep a low profile until I met Pride in the Lost Paradise. Thinking I’m the Anointed One, he proudly declared that he would make me into one of the Seven Deadly Sins...”

“I have intel on the fact that Gluttony and Wrath had acquired a terrifying evolution in the human world, thus corrupting Hell. Using that as leverage to sow discord, I manipulated Pride into killing the two great demon lords alongside me.”

“The new Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Envy, Deceit, Sloth, Greed, Fear, and Lust...”

“Pride is immensely powerful, with the ability and authority to execute any of the Deadly Sins. He owns sins beyond the Seven Deadly Sins and is the undeniable leader of Hell...”

“I suspect that Pride is the great demon god of Hell. Even if he isn’t that, he has to be a god from Heaven and an undercover agent like me!”

“As for the cutie over there, he may look like an airhead, but he’s a demon converted by Pride’s altar and my replica in Hell. Through him, I became Pride’s replica in the great demon lords’ eyes. Without him, I would’ve been exposed.”

He explained the current landscape in Hell at rapid-fire speed, but left out his time in the Lost Paradise for his own reasons.

Ines felt increasingly concerned and confused. She blurted out, “Why did you meet Pride in the Lost Paradise?”

“Um, that...” Wayne blinked innocently. “When I ran away, I attached myself to Mattea, the Abyssal Spider Queen. She’s a spy that the Lord of Lust planted among the lesser demon lords of the Seventy-two Demon Lords. I followed her to the Lost Paradise. As for Pride...”

“Who knows? Maybe he was getting a foot massage then, if you know what I mean[1].”

“Ha, you aren’t any better yourself.” Ines pushed Wayne away. Don’t touch me. I’m a germaphobe.

Wayne sullenly yanked her back into his arms. “Let me explain. I didn’t mess around in the Lost Paradise. That was my first kiss since coming to Hell. Not even the Lord of Lust has gotten any from me. I gave it to you as soon as we met.”

His scum content was so high that Ines refused to believe him. Besides, why was he explaining himself to Her? They were doing business, and She did not care about his private life.

“Pride has sent the Lord of Lust to seduce me, but you know me. I’m also a germaphobe like you. Even if the wanton Lord of Lust comes to me with four enticing demigod succubi, I won’t even blink.”

“Yeah, because you don’t want to miss a second of the view.”

“Hey, I resent that. You’re not giving me any room to speak for myself!”

Wayne fumed. How could She accuse him of letting loose in the Lost Paradise without any proof? She made it sound like he was a pervert.

“Deceitful!” Ines avoided his kiss, pressing a hand to Wayne’s mouth and leaning away from him. “A name may not fit a person, but a nickname definitely does. You truly are the Lord of Deceit. No other demon lord could compete for the moniker.”

“Trust me, Ines. I’m still the Anointed One at the end of the day. I could get lost in beauty, but I would never mess around with unredeemable succubi in Hell...”

A few visitors appeared at the entrance of the Third Abyss then. The leading blonde beauty in a red dress was the Lord of Lust, followed by her four familiars, Moma, Leone, Michele, and Mattea. Three of them were succubi, and one of them was a spider woman. They were either Wayne’s old flames or new flings.

Wayne immediately concealed himself and Ines, isolating the space around the parasol to prevent Lust from taking notice.

He was now far stronger than Lust in terms of raw power and Authority. Besides, this was the Third Abyss. Lust couldn’t see something he didn’t want her to see—unless she brought her Lost Paradise here.

“What is she doing here?” Wayne frowned.

“To seek you out,” Ines scoffed. “What else?”

“That’s slander. Even if you look down on me, you shouldn’t look down on Lust. She’s a haughty, dignified queen rather than the rumored—”

He couldn’t continue.

The moment the five beauties appeared, Bat Demon tossed away the scoop and bucket in his hands and collapsed the sand castle with a kick. Under Wayne’s resigned gaze, Bat Demon unfolded his bat wings and soared into the sky, swinging his tentacles to grab the five beauties who had come to his doorstep. He flew them over to the nearest hospital, and they changed into uniforms during the short trip.

Lust was the attending physician, and the four familiars, nurses. Bat Demon was, naturally, the patient.

“Brat, I didn’t say I wouldn’t give it to you. Show some patience...”

“Kya!”

Inappropriate noises came from the patient ward. It was a performance not to be enjoyed in polite company.

“...” x2

s(ꐦ乛‸乛)σ(一´一;)

Ines’s cold gaze and tight smile made Wayne break into cold sweat. A drop dripped down his sideburn.

Objection. Bat Demon was Bat Demon, and Wayne was Wayne. The two shouldn’t be confused. It would be a blatant disrespect of the truth to say they were the same person.

“Explain!”

“Um... how do I put it? I’m quite surprised, too,” Wayne said stiffly, stuttering out of guilt. Then, with a blush, he said, “It doesn’t count since I’m wearing protection.”

“Huh?!”

Ines didn’t understand until Wayne explained. She rolled her eyes and curled Her fingers at him. He should present his shameless face if he knew what was good for him.

“You can’t hit me, Ines. There are things you cannot stop caring about once you start caring about them. If you hit me, there will be a relationship between us, and I’ll misunderstand you.”

Wayne shook his head, offering Her friendly advice. “Let’s be a little more mature and treat business as business. Just blame it on my desire for your body, yeah?”

Boom!!!

A white line streaked parallel to the beach, cutting through the waves in the distant ocean. It wasn’t until Wayne reached the horizon where the sky and ocean blended together that he fell and slowly sank underwater.

In the end, Ines couldn’t stop Herself.

1. In China, there are a good number of shops providing foot massages and foot washing services that are actually a front for sexual services. ☜