Myths Reawakened

Manor of the Holy Maiden of Darkness.

Thump.

Long legs made a captivating arc in the air, kicking Wayne off the bed. Putting her long hair up, Ines used her other arm to cover her chest, looking down at the scumbag.

“What are you doing? If you have something to say, say it. You’re being way too rough.”

By the third time, Ines realized something was off. The brute showed no consideration for Her, obviously on purpose.

He had been nothing but gentle with Anastasia, as if he were worried about breaking her. He treated her with the care someone would treat a piece of art with.

The more She thought about it, the angrier Ines got. By the fifth time, She had had enough and kicked the bastard off the bed.

Ines was startled when She felt the vitality of Anastasia’s body surging, trapping Her thoughts inside. She made a run for it without hesitation.

A goddess could come and go as She pleased. As long as Her true form remained in Her Divine Realm, there was nothing Wayne could do about it.

As soon as the beauty in his arms switched from Darkness to his white moonlight, Wayne’s demeanor flipped. He swept his princess into his arms and murmured sweet nothings into her ear.

The door swung open. Ines, now logging into Vichy’s body, walked in and huffed at the lovebirds. She pushed Anastasia aside.

Anastasia covered her smile, ignoring Ines’s icy glare. She planted a kiss on Wayne’s cheek before rising gracefully to head for the bathroom. Despite the dripping fluids, her gait was elegant and noble. She was grace personified.

Ines watched her go icily, only looking away once the bathroom door clicked shut. “What a hateful woman. To think I used to hold such goodwill for her. I even planned to personally bring her into my Divine Realm to train her.”

Train (✗)

Tame (✓)

Being noticed by the Goddess of Darkness was never a good sign. There were plenty of living examples to prove it.

“Still staring? It’s like your soul’s wandered off. Just look at me.”

Following a flash of black light, Ines, now naked, pulled Wayne into her arms, forcing him to face Her.

Because the body belonged to Vichy, the loyal pushover, Wayne stared at her for three seconds before looking away, once again making his stance clear. “Vichy is a good knight. Stop picking on her.”

“Haha, weren’t you quite domineering earlier? Why are you being so timid all of a sudden?”

Ines untied her ponytail, letting her black hair spill down her shoulders and back. Her icy, beautiful face arranged into a seductive smile, instantly maximizing her allure.

Wayne turned away, only for Ines to turn his head back. He didn’t regain his freedom until after a few kisses.

Once Wayne started behaving himself, Ines was finally satisfied... Or not! Definitely not!

Ines knew that he would never dare lay a hand on Vichy. The bastard might seem morally bankrupt, and he was, but he had not crossed his bottom line: he never laid a hand on an innocent.

Corte, Galen, and even Darienne were perfect examples of that. They were all somewhat reluctant to get close to Wayne under the pressure of oracles, so he showed them consideration, always telling them ‘maybe next time’ and emphasizing that it was the thought that mattered.

Wayne did have a moral compass, albeit a flawed one.

Because his moral compass prevented him from being a real scumbag who took whatever was offered, he ended up being pressured by Ines. She only had to descend through Vichy to seize the upper hand.

Unable to run away, Wayne grabbed the comforter and wrapped Vichy up like a caterpillar, pulling Her into his arms.

Finally, some peace!

He wiped his cold sweat and grumbled, “The operation at the Prussian chancellery failed. You knew it would, didn’t you?”

“So that’s what this is about...” Ines blinked, Her eyes welling up with tears. “Siluk and Kaleb didn’t say anything either, but you only ever targeted me. Do you find me easy to bully because I’m a gullible pushover?”

Don’t be ridiculous. Those words do not apply to you in the slightest. Maybe to Kaleb, but not you.

Wayne rolled his eyes. “Last time you said that you would tell me the truth once I got rid of the source of Mechanical Augmentation in Prussia. Tell me now. I’m all ears.”

Ines didn’t say anything. She just looked away while shedding tears. She was upset and wanted to be coddled. She wanted him to whisper sweet nothings to Her too.

Resigned, Wayne patiently sweet-talked her.

Ines brightened up and cracked a smile, puckering Her lips to ask for kisses. She would tell him the truth once She was happy.

Wayne agonized over it for a moment before deciding to sacrifice Vichy for the cause. He leaned down to capture those red lips, savoring the taste.

When he looked up, Vichy was blushing so hard that the redness spread all the way to the tips of her ears. Her eyes darted away as she struggled to string together a single sentence.

Ines had run away!

(ŏ_ŏ;)

Now what?!

“Tee-hee...” Ines came right back, writhing in the comforter to free Her arms so that She could hold onto Wayne’s neck. “I knew it. I knew you wanted Vichy’s body. I caught you red-handed, little pervert!”

Wayne cursed inwardly. He really was falling for Her more and more.

“Aren’t you falling for me further?” Ines exhaled at his ear. “You knew that I would vanish all of a sudden. You knew that you would be kissing Vichy, and she would disobey neither you nor me. She would only quietly endure whatever happened, yet you still kissed her...”

“Poor knight, I’m not the only one bullying her. You’re in on it, too.”

“Admit it. You’ve wanted to do that for a long time. It just took me showing up for you to have the excuse to do it, all the while patting yourself on the back for upholding your bottom line...”

“You put the blame on me and play the victim with a clear conscience. Afterwards, Vichy won’t say anything, either, so you feel even more justified.”

Wayne’s scalp prickled. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are you... manipulating me right now?”

“Yeah, I’m wicked like that!”

At least you’re honest!

He rolled his eyes and grumbled, “We’re supposed to build a life together. Lowering my bottom line will end up hurting you in the long run, so stop messing around. Thinking about something and doing it are different things. Some lines, once crossed, will become lines in the sand.”

“If you don’t take the bait, Kaleb and Siluk won’t be able to follow,” Ines said. “They can pull their investment anytime and walk away. If I don’t keep them invested, I won’t be able to keep betting on you, and you’ll get nothing. No one will make any progress.”

Ines didn’t like pushing other women into Wayne’s arms, but business was business. Since She couldn’t support him on Her own, She had to lure other investors into the game.

She complained about how exhausting it was to run the household. How She wished she had stayed single forever. She wouldn’t have to concern Herself with feeding more than one mouth.

(ㆆ_ㆆ)

I expected no less from you, Wayne thought. You never disappoint in twisting the truth.

“I’ll think it over. If it doesn’t work, I’ll follow your plan...”

“Oh? You’ve got a plan on your own?” Ines stared at him sideways. She had more or less pieced it together—the bastard had another partner besides her, a certain investor named Aztimor.

How wonderful. One was a pretty boy whispering sweet nothings to Her, and the other was a best friend who called Her sister. They had been getting it on behind her back, as if She hadn’t figured it out!

Wayne didn’t think much of Ines’s sudden tantrum. The goddess’s mood had always been unpredictable. If he entertained Her as She wanted every time, he would end up exhausting himself to death.

It was better to leave Her be. She would recover on Her own.

Wayne laid out his plan. “As you know, I’m the Anointed One and will enter Heaven sooner or later. The sacred scriptures of the Golden Law left by the Heavenly Father are a great inheritance, and combined with Hell’s Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins, my power will make another significant leap.”

“By then, Kaleb and Siluk will fall in line whether they like it or not. No need to overcomplicate things. I’ll bring them around with raw power alone.”

“Do you really believe that?” Ines sat up straight with a solemn look on Her face. “Anyone else would’ve become a god already, given the same amount of information. You’re different. Not even Heaven’s and Hell’s treasure combined will push you to ascension. You may wield destructive power on par with a god, but you’re still a demigod. What are you going to do if Kaleb and Siluk retreat to their respective Divine Realms? Charge in and become their prisoner?”

Wayne frowned, recalling his fight with Envy in Hell. Though they were evenly matched on paper, he couldn’t defeat him.

“Would you tell me about the Divine Realms, Ines?”

“No. What if you take me down? I’d be bringing trouble upon myself.”

Fair! Wayne pulled her closer and shook his head. “You don’t trust me enough, Ines. That stings.”

“Don’t even get started. Honesty ruins the mood, so let’s skip this conversation and never bring it up again.” Ines rolled her eyes at the shameless man.

She was far too rational to easily fall in love. Thinking of that, a flicker of pride rose in Wayne’s chest. Everything Ines had been doing told him that She was working hard to fall for him. She was wooing him!

“You seem to be thinking something rude.” Ines poked his forehead. “I don’t have high hopes for your plan. I know the kind of person you are. There’s no point in saying more. I won’t try to talk you out of it. Once you fail, you’ll come crawling back to me and follow my plan.”

“You’re so nice, Ines.”

“Hmph, you don’t mean that at all.” Thinking of Aztimor, Her fake bestie, soured Ines’s mood. She skipped the facts that would only lead to more hurt feelings and pretended She hadn’t noticed anything. “Given your current level of power, and the fact that you’ve glimpsed the truth of the world, there are things I can tell you.”

Wayne nodded eagerly. “What’s the prophecy? The Judgment Day? How about the new era?”

“The prophecy came from the Heavenly Father, and it was he who talked about the Judgment Day and the new era...” Ines curled Her fingers and freed Herself from the comforter. Then She curled up in Wayne’s arms and got comfortable, her eyes narrowing. “The Astral Plane is eternal. Laws and evolutions always exist. Magic is the side effect of acquiring knowledge. Knowledge is what makes one strong, and through it, one gains real power...”

Mages pursued knowledge rather than magical formulas. That was an important distinction. The side effects shouldn’t be confused with the purpose.

Ines explained the true nature of knowledge. Although it had nothing to do with the prophecy, every word out of Her mouth was a valuable lesson, and Wayne listened patiently without complaint.

Anastasia emerged from the bathroom then, wrapped in a towel. Seeing her two superiors snuggling on the bed, she narrowed her eyes and went up to press her body to Wayne’s side, quietly interlacing her fingers with his.

Smack!

Ines swatted their hands apart and shot Anastasia a glare. She was sharp enough to see that Anastasia wasn’t trying to vie for the man’s attention, but purely to stoke Her possessiveness so that their relationship would progress faster. Ines had used the exact trick on Anastasia, and now She was on the receiving end of it.

It displeased Her. Her feelings for Wayne were Hers alone. Any outside force, even one nudging things in the right direction to help things along, was unwelcome.

She was wicked and stubborn!

“There are many evolution paths. On each path, only one god can reach the peak...”

Countless contenders fought to go down the narrow bridges, and so the War of Faiths broke out. After the initial chaos, the ‘gods’ banded together and created the Life Alliance. They gradually worked out a way to distribute the burden of corruption through faith.

As the ‘gods’ grew stronger, their numbers dwindled, and the divine war intensified. After the heightened conflict, a new order emerged with one supreme power against many strong contenders.

The strong ones started the Life Alliance to counter the Heavenly Father.