Myths Reawakened

Golden blood spurted out of Mikhael’s neck. He brushed his finger along the cut and healed it in an instant, turning around to look at Wayne after the arrogant declaration. On his icy face, his eyes blazed with dancing golden flames.

All this time, there was only ever one opponent he considered his mortal enemy, and that was the Lord of Pride, the head of the Seven Deadly Sins. He felt pressured by Pride and considered it an honor to defeat Pride and seal Hell.

After defeating Pride, Humility had become even more prideful.

Learning that his sworn enemy was able to manipulate the Seven Deadly Sins, thus catching up to him, Mikhael felt a greater appreciation for the demon. He hoped to fight Pride and defeat him again.

The one insult he would not accept was a claim that he was lesser than Pride.

“Lord of Deceit, is it? You’re a good opponent, so I’ll give it my all to kill you.” Mikhael beckoned the radiant Spear of Time back to his grip. “Be glad that someone as lowly as you is allowed to witness the power of a god. This will be the most glorious day in your life.”

“Um, usually I only say things like this once I’ve won,” Wayne reminded him helpfully. His chance of winning had been a hundred percent, and now it had jumped to a thousand percent.

How troublesome!

After some consideration, he said, “Mikhael, there is one thing you’re better at than Pride.”

“What is it?”

“Pride isn’t as prideful as you are.”

“...”

Mikhael scoffed. Conjuring a powerful gale with his six wings, he pierced through space itself with blazing sacred flames blooming from the Spear of Time, distorting space.

Rip!

The tip of the spear protruded from Wayne’s back. The volatile fire burned through his chest and left a large see-through hole.

“Ah, so hot!”

“Pathetic. You don’t even know you’re near death when you’re staring it in the eyes.”

Mikhael scorned. Pride was the opponent who was worthy of his full effort, not Deceit—never Deceit. The demon appeared increasingly hateful. His patience running thin, he swung the Spear of Time and charged.

Afterimages flickered in and out of existence as golden light poured out. The two of them exchanged hundreds of moves in the blink of an eye.

Overflowing energy destroyed the main hall of the temple. The walls collapsed, the floor sank, and the ceiling cracked. Large chunks of crystals rained down. The supposedly unbreakable architecture fell apart under the relentless barrage. All were in ruins save for the divine throne in the heart of the temple.

The temple was impossible to damage for demigods, but things were different when the parties involved in a fight had exceeded demigod-level in combat power.

With a boom, a pillar of light soared into the sky, forming a massive phantom cross.

The two six-winged figures flew out of the temple and confronted each other up in the air. The collision of their energies compressed space and stirred up howling gales, threatening to tear space apart.

Wayne looked at Mikhael in shock. “I know you aren’t as powerful as Pride, but I didn’t expect you to be this powerful. How amazing. Elohim should’ve selected you as His successor.”

“Elo—what?” Mikhael’s heart pounded. His reddened eyes brimmed with envy. “Hesione told you, didn’t she?”

“Ah, yes, she told me. See, you don’t even know the Heavenly Father’s name. How are you going to compete with Hesione?”

“Shut up. I don’t believe you!” Mikhael snarled.

His violent aura expanded along with his demigod domain, assimilating space and turning half of the Heaven of Crystals white.

The white was boiling and agitating! It was falling apart along with faith!

Wayne’s eyes lit up. “That’s not it,” he said regretfully. “Knowing that she wouldn’t be your match, she invested everything to cultivate me, even telling everyone that I’m the Anointed One. You’re lesser not only in favor, but also in intelligence. Compared to someone as shrewd as Hesione, you’re like a pure sheet of paper.”

Inside the tattered temple, Hesione and Hestia were trying to free the four Sacred Virtues from the four crosses. Hearing the conversation above, Hestia lowered her head silently, and the other Sacred Virtues also pretended to hear nothing.

I didn’t expect you to be like that, Hesione. I’ve fallen for your deception for years! x4

Even so, Śār, Hestia thought. I’ll always follow you.

“...”

Hesione maintained her composure, not wanting to say anything. The Anointed One had spoken, and as his subordinate, she was in no position to demand her superior take back his words. So be it then!

The Sacred Virtues felt even more shocked when Hesione said nothing. In that moment, she appeared like a proper viceroy to them. She wouldn’t be a viceroy like Mikhael. She wouldn’t be kneeling at the Anointed One’s feet, but sitting on his lap.

Above the vermin, Mikhael had lost his calm completely and gone berserk.

Pitch-black chains shot out from his body, and his sunny, humble face became obscured by black mist. His pure six wings became a mix of light and shadow, with the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Sacred Virtues woven together and devouring each other to grow stronger. His strength hit a new height.

That wasn’t all. Raising the Spear of Time, he conjured a golden sea in the void. Layers upon layers of ripples swayed like golden silk. A violent gale swept and disturbed the serenity. On top of the roiling waves, the scriptures of the Golden Law tumbled down.

Hundreds of millions threads of light descended, wrapping around Mikhael’s limbs and torso to cleanse him of the corruption of the Seven Deadly Sins, returning him to his original sacred body. His pure white wings turned golden. Awash in golden water, his incredible aura filled the Heaven of Crystals. He was so strong that he inspired awe and fear and discouraged direct observation.

The Seven Sacred Virtues below watched in horror. They never expected there to be room for Mikhael to get stronger. He had been like a god, and now, he possessed enough power to rival a god.

Someone as weak as Hestia was already groaning on the ground.

Hesione reached out, paused, and then gave her a helping hand.

“Śār, you’ve forgiven me...”

“No, I’m just worried that the Anointed One would misunderstand me. You should be grateful to—” Hesione paused. “You should be grateful to me. Once the Anointed One finishes his judgment of Mikhael, you’ll submerge yourself in the Spring of Reincarnation and revert to your original form. Compared to your lewd body, the Anointed One prefers your original form.”

Hestia nodded. She didn’t care what the Anointed One liked. She would do whatever her superior said.

Trapped in a cross, Auriel looked visibly disdainful. She said that, but would Hesione revert to her original form as well?

“This is God’s power. I used to be He Who Is Like God, but now, I’ve gained divine power. I’m Father’s true successor!”

Mikhael was filled to the brim with holy energy, but his eyes alone blazed with violent golden fire that couldn’t be further from serene.

Fire symbolized desires. Among the four Śārim, Mikhael represented fire and had always had strong desires. He took pride in his power and craved greater power! Aside from the Heavenly Father, he respected no one else.

Wayne looked at the golden ocean Mikhael had summoned instead of Mikhael himself. The Book of Greed was hungry, practically salivating.

“I thought something was missing. It turns out that you stole it.” Wayne looked at the Spear of Time with an eyebrow raised.

The key was missing!

How dare he? Wayne hadn’t stolen the key!

The divine throne of the Heaven of Crystals was the doorway to the tenth level, and a key was needed to open the doorway. Wayne speculated that the successor the Heavenly Father had chosen was Hesione, but Mikhael and Lahr had hidden the true prophecy to prevent her from meeting the requirements to enter the tenth level.

Looking at how Mikhael possessed the Seven Sacred Virtues, the Seven Deadly Sins, and a human body, as well as how Wayne and Hesione had to both sit on the throne to activate the Holy Light, Wayne could make an educated guess about what Hesione was missing.

The Seven Deadly Sins!

Hesione scorned the Seven Deadly Sins and had never come into contact with any of them, but she coincidentally brought a plugin from the human world who happened to meet the requirements.

As for why they could meet the requirements by sitting on the throne together... Well, he called himself a plugin for a reason.

“Kekekeke—”

Wayne laughed out loud. Should he call Hesione lucky or unlucky? He would say lucky for now. What a serendipitous way of meeting the requirements. Her misfortune was extraordinary.

Mikhael looked at Wayne coldly. “Have you gone mad after facing a god?”

“Oh, no. I won’t go mad even after staring at an ancient god in the eyes.” Wayne stopped laughing, looking at the Spear of Time. “Let me guess. You haven’t acquired the power for long. After deceiving Hesione into descending to the mortal realm... It should be around that time, quite recently, right?”

Mikhael’s heart clenched.

“You are not as good as Pride. It seems that he’s been able to do the same for a long time, and he didn’t steal the ability.”

“You are Deceit. You’re still spouting nonsense now!”

Mikhael didn’t believe a word out of Wayne’s mouth, insisting that if Pride had reached the height earlier, Hell wouldn’t have been able to keep him there.

He and Pride had been progressing at the same time, and he had reached the peak before Pride. Pride had been chasing him, and still was. Mikhael would always be superior.

“There’s another thing: your Seven Sacred Virtues are too strong, and your Seven Deadly Sins too weak in comparison...” Wayne shook his head. “The imbalance is why you cannot enter the tenth level. Of course, you’ll never be able to since what isn’t yours will never be yours. It cannot be stolen.”

The insightful insult enraged and shocked Mikhael. He became even more convinced that Lahr had told Hesione everything. The fence-sitter had told both him and Hesione the true prophecy so that Lahr could become the viceroy.

Looking down at those who had overheard the conversation, Mikhael recovered peace.

He would take them all out and re-establish the Seven Sacred Virtues!

“Grasp your spear. I’m going to get serious.” Wayne’s body writhed, transforming into the Pale Knight within his human skin.

Sensing the change in Wayne’s energy, Mikhael looked over with golden light glowing in his eyes. He saw nothing but paleness. He couldn’t make sense of it.

As his gaze penetrated deeper, he felt infinite might overwhelming him and obscuring his vision, making him see black instead of white.

“Don’t look at what you shouldn’t look at. You’ll lose your mind.” Wayne laughed. “Do you know? The gods are cautious. While they possess a great volume of knowledge and Laws, They rarely acquire any. Even when the Laws haven’t been corrupted or are only mildly corrupted, They don’t just learn everything...”

“It’s all because of balance!”

“You aren’t a god, and your thoughts cannot catch up with your knowledge. Arrogantly trying to claim the power of a god will only allow the borrowed knowledge to twist your thoughts. You’ll lose your sanity while being uncorrupted.”

Mikhael looked at Wayne with pity like he was intellectually challenged. “I’m sane. I have not lost my mind.”

“That’s only because you haven’t met anyone who can trigger it.” Wayne had had enough. He burst out laughing and said, “You’ve acquired the Seven Deadly Sins without mastering the essence. The shallow knowledge isn’t enough to grant you access to the tenth level. Yet you’ve borrowed the complete scripture of the Golden Law through brute force. It’s complete chaos in your body. Your prowess is akin to a house of cards.”

Mikhael didn’t understand, and he didn’t want to hear any more of Deceit’s lies. With golden light radiating from his eyes, he shattered Wayne’s head and chest, then stirred his sacred flames to burn Wayne’s broken body to nothing.

“Such is the might of a god. You can’t even take a glance from me, yet you lecture me incessantly. How foolish of you.”

With Wayne taken care of, Mikhael turned to Hesione, in the now ruined temple. When he noticed her composed expression, he broke into a sneer. “You’re just as foolish and ignorant. Your ambition—”

“Your ambition ends here!” x2

Who’s talking? Why are there two voices?