Myths Reawakened

“I expected no less from you, Śār Auriel. You’re too powerful...” Wayne marveled. Thick darkness burst out of his body in the forms of pitch-black chains, wrapping Hesione, Gerar, and Vilkul into three massive black spheres.

The three angels were each a formidable fighter in their own right, and they had given their all, but they couldn’t win an unwinnable fight. They didn’t even have time to make their ultimate moves before they were subdued.

“Śār Auriel, you’re the only reincarnated angel left.” Wayne flapped his bat wings, slowly flying toward Auriel. “What is it, then? Are you going to surrender, or die fighting?”

...Have you forgotten me? Fred thought.

“If I hadn’t reincarnated, if I had reclaimed my full power, you wouldn’t have been my match,” Auriel bit out.

“We’re on even footing, I’d say. My main body is in Hell, and I haven’t descended fully,” Wayne responded. “That isn’t an excuse for your defeat. The strong do not complain about the environment. Only the weak... Oh, you are the weak. Apologies. I’m asking too much of you.”

Auriel clenched his fists in rage. “Heaven will not submit to Hell. I’d rather die than surrender!”

“As you wish.” Wayne nodded, raising the lance in his hand to throw it.

“Wait!”

“What is it? Have you changed your mind?” Wayne narrowed his six eyes. “Let me guess. You’re going to endure the humiliation of surrendering to a demon, serving him until you recover your full power. Then you’ll fight the demon to the death. Is that the case?”

“That’s the way of Hell. No angels in Heaven would do that!”

Auriel squinted. While glaring at Wayne, he observed his three fellow angels, who were sealed by the chains of the Seven Deadly Sins.

He would never surrender, and dying fighting was never an option. His priority was to save the three Sacred Virtues since the Lord of Deceit was too powerful for him to defeat on his own.

“Good. While your justice is fragile, your ignorance and pride are in your bones. I appreciate your courage.”

Wayne tossed the sacred lance at him.

Auriel caught it with a scowl. “What’s the meaning of this? Are you looking down on me?”

“Wow, that’s very smart of you,” Wayne said apologetically. “It’s arrogant of me to assume that you’re a fool.”

“Bastard!” Auriel growled as he charged at Wayne. The moment they passed each other, he once again lost the sacred lance to Wayne. Without stopping, he accelerated and rushed straight at his sealed companions.

Boom!!

Overwhelming power came down from above. Auriel saw the world spin around him before he slammed into the ground, leaving a deep crater.

Wayne slowly descended. Tucking his wings in, he stood on the edge of the crater. He tossed the lance at Auriel as the angel struggled to his feet.

This time, Auriel stepped out of the way instead of catching it. He refused to accept the demon’s charity. With a surging aura of Holy Light, he beat his six wings and charged at Wayne with clenched fists.

Bang!

Following the explosive noise, a white figure flew backward, while a black figure immediately gave chase, pinning the white figure to the ground and raining attacks on him. When Fred came over to help his superior, black chains grabbed and wrapped him into a rice dumpling before tossing him aside.

Boom! Boom! Boom—

Wayne didn’t stop until five minutes later.

Told you to come to the meeting, but you didn’t show up.

Fine. Then don’t show up!

Among the seven reincarnated angels, Hesione and Hestia were his people, and Olga was fifty percent his, so Wayne wasn’t going to go hard on them. Fred, Vilkul, and Gerar were his acquaintances, which spared them from the worst retaliation.

That left Auriel as his target.

When Wayne was being petty, he had an excellent memory, almost photographic. He remembered how Auriel had been mocking him, spitting out sarcastic remarks nonstop.

“Śār Auriel, what about now? Do you surrender, or would you die at my hand?”

Wayne grabbed Auriel by the collar and lifted him off his feet. The angel’s six wings had all broken, and his limbs were slack. Despite his battered appearance, though, his eyes were focused, and he once again refused to submit.

“Death isn’t scary. Falling is. I, Auriel, will never bow to a demon.”

“As you wish.” Wayne raised his fist. “I will give you the gift of death!”

“Wait.”

“What now?”

“Let me die with a clear mind,” Auriel said while panting. “What’s the new addition to the Seven Deadly Sins? I’ve never heard of the Lord of Deceit or the Lord of Fear. Did Gluttony and Wrath really die?”

He asked the question out of confusion and for the hope he held for his colleagues. Gerar and Vilkul aside, Hesione, his fellow Seraph, would definitely be able to break the seal of the Seven Deadly Sins. If he bought enough time, he would save himself and acquire important information.

“I can answer those questions...” Wayne smiled. Auriel felt his heart return to his chest.

“But it’s a long story. If I explain it fully, I’ll waste too much time, while summarizing it could lead to confusion. Since you’re going to die anyway, I don’t think I should waste my breath.”

Auriel’s heart sank fully.

A fist that had condensed infinite darkness flew toward him. Auriel felt the spatial distortion in the vast world and the rapid retreat of the countless things occupying the space, until the fist alone dominated the world.

Crack!

He shut his eyes. He thought he would die, but he didn’t.

What broke wasn’t his head, but the space around him. Under the full moon’s watchful gaze, the terrifying energy receded like tides.

When he opened his eyes again, the Lord of Deceit’s fist had disintegrated into ash, and his form was fading out of existence.

“It’s time,” Wayne murmured at his disintegrated hand. “What a shame. It’s my first time trying the new Gate of Hell, and the result is lacking. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time talking.”

“Oh! Oh? Oh...”

Auriel gaped in shock. The hand clutching his collar fell apart, leaving him stumbling to the ground. Hearing the Lord of Deceit’s resigned words, he felt like he should do something after the narrow escape.

Laughing was the only option.

“Hahaha—”

Bam!

A sweep of Wayne’s long tail sent Auriel flying into the solidified sky. Only once space reverted to normal did he plunge to the ground in a spiral.

Behind him, Hesione and the others broke out of the crumbling seals, looking gravely at the Lord of Deceit as he faded away. This was a landslide defeat!

“It’s due to my mistakes that I failed to bring you fallen Sacred Virtues to Hell, but no matter. The Gate of Hell can be opened once, then it can be opened again, until it’s forever open to the human world...”

Wayne was fading away quickly. His body had already disappeared from the chest down. “Though I am Deceit, I never lie. I won’t make you wait for long. We’ll see each other again soon. I hope that next time, you’ll entertain me better...”

“It’s dull that you’ve fallen before I even exert myself...”

The Lord of Deceit was gone before he finished his sentence.

The reincarnated angels let out a collective sigh of relief. Fred dug Auriel up from the ground first thing, injecting him with Holy Light to heal him.

Although it was debatable whether Auriel had put in the most effort in this fight, he had undoubtedly made the greatest contribution. Without him monopolizing the Lord of Deceit’s fists for five minutes, the consequences would be unthinkable.

“You heard him. It’s a new Gate of Hell. The demons have found another way to bypass the seal.” Auriel stood up with Fred’s help. He pitched his voice low and continued, “The Lord of Deceit marks a new era for the Seven Deadly Sins. Hell is going to make a comeback. Do any of you have a good solution?”

“...” x4

Vilkul sighed. Deceit was too powerful. In all of Heaven, Mikhael might be the only one who could rival him. However, Hell had another powerhouse in Pride. Mikhael couldn’t defeat Deceit and Pride together.

The Lord of Fear was most likely a formidable opponent, too.

“What went wrong?” Hesione asked worriedly. “How did Hell become this powerful? Is it because, as Deceit said, our lies and anxiety have given birth to greater Sins?”

No one paid her any attention. Auriel even dismissed her outright, “Demons are full of lies, and Deceit lives up to his moniker. Do not trust a word out of his mouth, Hesione!”

(눈_눈)

The Thrones don’t deserve to be redeemed, nor do you, Hesione thought. The Anointed One’s goodwill is wasted on you.

“Whether the demon was telling the truth or not, he was immensely powerful in his descended form,” Gerar said. “If the new Gate of Hell can be opened again like it did tonight, do you think we’ll get lucky next time?”

His question was met with silence.

“No matter what, we must report to Heaven about the addition to the Seven Deadly Sins,” Auriel rattled off anxiously. “Mikhael needs to strengthen the seal on Hell, while we find the Anointed One and bring them back to Heaven as soon as possible, before the gate opens again.”

He detailed his plan. In the new future, he would be putting all his effort into reclaiming his power in Heaven, entrusting the other reincarnated angels with the important task of looking for the Anointed One. At this critical juncture, none of them could afford to be a hindrance.

He stared at Hesione as he gave that warning. I’m talking about you, troublemaker. If you mention Wayne being the Anointed One again, don’t blame us for turning on you!

Hesione nodded. The path to redemption had been forged. She would not mention the truth that Wayne was the Anointed One—not now, not ever. She trusted that once her colleagues went down the path and came to understand the Anointed One’s intention, they would realize the truth.

With that, she took her leave, flying toward Wayne’s residence.

Hearing the wise teachings left her feeling full. She hoped that the Anointed One would dissect the teachings line by line and educate her.

She didn’t mind the method of the education; hands-on or hands-off, both worked[1].

***

The Julian Family’s estate.

Forest watched everything play out with a twisted face. Seeing the Anointed One trample on the reincarnated angels arrogantly felt worse than death.

Although he fully supported Deceit, the newblood, in demonstrating Hell’s might by stepping on Heaven’s dignity and humiliating Heaven thoroughly, the fact that Wayne was Deceit dampened his joy.

“Why?”

“Why would the Anointed One pretend to be a demon—bah, he is a demon, Deceit of the Seven Deadly Sins... Damn it, I almost let the Anointed One confuse me.”

Forest gulped down red wine straight from the bottle, trying and failing to figure out what Wayne’s endeavor meant. He decided that Wayne was just bored and wanted some fun.

Since the Anointed One was having fun, Forest lost his fun.

Wayne could freely enter and exit Hell, so deporting him back to Hell wouldn’t help. However, it would be torture to watch him repeat the act. Although Wayne had beaten up the reincarnated angels, a fight between the Anointed One and angels would just be internal strife in Heaven. Forest didn’t find that agreeable.

Why? Because the Anointed One was the Lord of Deceit, a demon, and two demons could never amount to much; they always got competitive, and one of them would try to sabotage the other.

“Let me think. How could I expose him...”

“I don’t want to expose him as the Anointed One since it wouldn’t be any fun to see the angels make peace with each other. I just have to connect Wayne and the Lord of Deceit.”

“Besides, there’s no point in exposing him as the Anointed One. With me, a demon, telling the truth, and Wayne speaking for himself with all his depravity, Auriel would have to be mad to believe it... No, I cannot expose myself. I haven’t enjoyed my life here long enough.”

After some consideration, Forest came up with a smart plan for entertainment. He had dropped a Book of Hell after the whole mess with Douglas. It was about time he made use of it.

“Let me see. Which unlucky soul picked up my book?”

“Oh, a legendary mage and a higher-up at a church? Good. How lucky of you. You’ll be the one to expose Wayne’s deception...”

He was a demon of action. Without wasting any time, he contacted the unlucky lucky guy and planted his plan in the man’s head, making the mage return to Londan as soon as possible. After that, Forest started waiting with anticipation.

The Lord of Deceit would be forced to take on the reincarnated angels after being exposed, which would only be mildly entertaining. But things would be different when the Lord of Deceit was the Anointed One.

Forest looked forward to the look on Wayne’s face when he was revealed to be Deceit, and he was even more excited to see what would happen to Auriel and the other angels once the Anointed One returned to Heaven.

“Won’t they be demoted to Thrones?”

“No, that would be too merciful. Wayne isn’t like that...”

Forest fancied himself a Wayne expert. He couldn’t be described as unforgiving since that would suggest forgiving was an option; Wayne made accusations even when he was at fault and showed no mercy when he wasn’t. The concept of forgiveness didn’t even apply to him.

Auriel had been so antagonistic to Wayne that the Anointed One would never ever let him off the hook.

“Auriel, I can’t do anything to the Anointed One, so I chose the second-best target, you...”

“Don’t disappoint me, my old friend!”

“Kekekeke—”

1. The original is “Through unclogging (疏通 shu-tong) or IV (輸液 shu-ye), both worked.” 疏通 is usually used literally to mean unblocking/unclogging, or figuratively to mean building connections. 輸液 is intravenous infusion, but the two characters literally mean ‘infuse/inject’ and ‘liquid/fluid’. Both are used as sexual innuendos in this case. I’ve debated whether to go with “Through plumbing or fluid injection”, but it doesn’t really flow like the original, with both words starting with ‘shu’. I’ve opted to rewrite it a little. ☜