Myths Reawakened

Mikhael fell silent for a moment. “We’ll meet all of them and complete the list of apostles so that we may have a full picture of the Anointed One’s path of redemption. Write it down, Reza. Before meeting the Anointed One, these apostles were sinful heretics. Only through the Anointed One’s redemption and mercy did they comprehend the Seven Sacred Virtues.”

Reza nodded. He found Mikhael’s approach questionable. While that completed the story, Mikhael had underestimated the power of pillow talk. A few choice words could sway the Anointed One, rendering the new Sacred Tome obsolete.

Still, Reza said nothing. He was in no position to voice his opinions, so he would do whatever Mikhael told him.

Silvia had Megan make the calls.

Veronica cocked her head at Reza’s writing. The longer she looked, the more she found it dissatisfactory. “You’ve got such poor imagination and included none of the dark sides of society. Everything you wrote is trivial. It’s far from the level of Wayne’s diary.”

Diary!

Mikhael stilled, and Reza hurriedly asked, “What diary? Where is the diary? Is the Sacred Tome already written?”

What? You call that bastard’s shameless boasting a Sacred Tome?

Veronica couldn’t believe it, but when Reza begged, she reluctantly retrieved the diaries she had treasured from the young lady’s mansion.

There were two full boxes of them. The latest one was dated October 1943, two years and two months ahead of the current timeline.

It was a diary of the future!

“As expected of the Anointed One. He’s omniscient and omnipotent, looking into the future while living in the moment. I’ve learned something new today.” Reza flipped through the diary set in 1943, voicing his admiration and surprise.

He was so shameless that Veronica kept glancing at him. She had a newfound understanding of the Pontiff and faith today.

Meanwhile, Mikhael was reading the diary for 1938. It started with a kind-hearted young man with a magnanimous heart, a helpful nature, passion for life, and hope for humanity.

Thud!

He shut the diary and sat silently for a while, repulsed.

He didn’t immediately read further for more materials. Instead, he turned to Veronica and asked, “How did you keep reading such terrible things? Aren’t you worried about losing your vision?”

“It’s educational.”

“...”

At that moment, the prideful Mikhael learned true humility. He admitted that Veronica was right.

Putting aside his discomfort, he continued to read the diary. It was authentic, bold, and blunt. While life was difficult and society was unfair, the kind young man had never given up on his proactive nature and optimism.

He abided by the law and treated people with compassion and care, while sticking to his principles and holding himself to higher standards than he did other people. He never went with the flow of the evil and the corrupt.

With his own hands, he tore darkness and brought sunlight with his smile. He offered a helping hand to those in need, injecting new life into the corrupt society.

Most importantly, he held light in his heart. He brought hope.

Thud!

Mikhael clutched his chest with an increasingly pale face, looking at Veronica in shock. He didn’t understand how a mortal could possess such perseverance. Even he found himself falling short.

Perhaps it was love! Love made one blind. It was a selective blindness.

He took a few more breaths to quell his dizziness, then opened the diary for March 1939.

His vision went dark. The kind young man was no longer limited to Londan. His journey took him all across the Chosen Land. For the dream of saving the world and making equality the universal rule, he was always found at the scene of misery and injustice.

Mikhael closed the diary and pushed it to Reza. “Pick the materials. The Anointed One has made it very clear, so we don’t have to embellish the stories further. Just rein it in a little when you quote the diaries, or the followers will have trouble digesting the text.”

Reza didn’t understand what Mikhael was saying. Embellishment? Reining it in? He Who Is Like God was as mysterious as ever. He found the diaries a nice read. It was an authentic portrayal of the Anointed One’s thought process.

Kristen cocked her head. Then she retrieved the novels she had published. Although she was named the author, the outlines and plots had come from Wayne. He was her ghostwriter.

“The Anointed One writes novels!” Reza’s face became flushed. He pointed at the novels on the table with trembling fingers. “Viceroy Mikhael, these are the Anointed One’s manuscripts. These are divine artifacts!!”

“Why are you so excited?” Mikhael scoffed. “There were already two boxes of them!”

“Those are diaries...”

“Ha.”

Soon, the Londoners among Wayne’s harem arrived.

“Ah, so Londan is crawling with vermin, making it Hell on earth. That’s why the Anointed One descended here.” Mikhael nodded, approving of the new materials. While praising Heaven, he talked the heretics down, pointing at the High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight. “Reza, note it down. This apostle approached the Anointed One by leveraging her beauty and was reformed by the Anointed One. Make a subtle comment that all members of the Church of Moonlight are incorrigible.”

(눈‸눈)

Just you wait, Filomina thought. I’m gonna talk to him in bed and make you guard the entrance of Heaven.

***

“Ah, so the Church of Nature is filled with vermin, with a noble front concealing the evil and the filthy. That’s why the Anointed One joined the church.”

Mikhael pointed at the secretary at Wayne’s library. “Reza, note it down. This apostle approached the Anointed One by leveraging her beauty and ended up reformed, swearing to follow the Anointed One.”

(눈‸눈)

Ottilia stared. Aside from the part about her seducing Wayne, she didn’t disagree with the accurate comments about the Church of Nature.

***

“Ah, so the Goddess of Darkness is up to no good. To prevent the Anointed One from making a comeback, She ordered Her Holy Maiden and chosen knight to corrupt the Anointed One’s purity. There is no one with any redeeming quality at the Church of Darkness.”

Mikhael pointed at the Holy Maiden and the chosen knight. “Note it down, Reza. These two apostles approached the Anointed One by leveraging their beauty, stopping at nothing to seduce him. They were another obstacle in the Anointed One’s path of redemption.”

(눈‸눈) (눈‸눈)

I don’t want to say it, but I think you’re right.

***

Mikhael met up with Wayne’s harem members in Londan one by one, as if he was interviewing them for a job. He was so arrogant that the harem members found him disagreeable. They planned to shed a few tears and voice their grievances when they next met their bastard. If that didn’t work, they would just keep ‘rubbing it in’.

They wouldn’t stop rubbing until Mikhael became a guard in Heaven!

Mikhael was wholly ignorant of their reactions—he wouldn’t care even if he knew. Once today’s work was about done, he led the delegation from the Papal State to Buckingham Palace.

In some way, the palace was Mikhael’s asset. He was its legitimate owner.

Silvia was in such a good mood that she didn’t even feel like going to work. She would wait for the Holy Mother Cathedrals to renovate and erect the statues. Then she would visit them.

She was the only one walking out of today’s ordeal with a good mood. Auston and Veronica, in particular, were in a foul mood. The Sacred Tome would say that they were a man raising another’s child and an adopted child, respectively. The whole world would know.

***

Buckingham Palace, night.

Mikhael sat in the garden in all white, his long blond hair dancing and shimmering in the wind. A dark figure sneaked in, discreetly making it to the garden.

Actually, the uninvited guest had walked in openly, in plain sight. However, no one paid him any attention.

It was Forest Julian, the Lord of Pride in the human world.

Mikhael had divided himself into three parts. The main body had entered Heaven and reclaimed his name, enjoying eternal glory as He Who Is Like God and the second most powerful figure in Heaven. His two replicas were, respectively, playing a capitalist in the human world and playing Pride, the head of the Seven Deadly Sins, in Hell.

Both acts were so convincing that no one would suspect subterfuge.

“Mikhael...” Forest looked at the young man about ten meters from him, expression grave. “Who are you? Are you really Mikhael? Why do you feel different to me?”

Mikhael had not told his human self that he had entered Heaven and reclaimed his name. Who did Forest think he was, enjoying the glory of Heaven as he did? Forest didn’t deserve to see his memories!

He hadn’t informed his Pride replica in Hell, either. It wouldn’t do any good, and again, Pride was overstepping by fighting for the same job post as him!

Therefore, Forest didn’t know that this He Who Is Like God was himself. He found the angel strange, but couldn’t put his finger on it.

He seemed... even more prideful!

“You’ve been enjoying your time here, Pride!” Mikhael took a sip of the red wine. “What are you doing here? If you want to go to Hell, just say it. You didn’t have to come in person since I don’t want to see you.”

“Ha.”

Forest seethed. This man had gotten ahead of himself as a replica. If not because Forest couldn’t curse at or kill the angel, he would’ve beaten him up.

“Why did you come to the human world, Mikhael? You’ve been acting out today. Who did you come for?” Forest narrowed his eyes, displaying his powerful holy intent to provoke him. “Also, why were you able to enter the human world? You shouldn’t be capable of this.”

“You, Pride, can enter the human world; then I, Mikhael, can of course do the same.” Mikhael lowered his glass of red wine and slowly rose to his feet, dusting his sleeves even though there was no dust. “Watch your tone. You’re looking at Viceroy of Heaven, He Who Is Like God, the strongest angel, the right side of the divine throne, and one whose authority is second only to one—Mikhael!”

His arrogance pushed Forest over the edge... and then he stepped back.

Forest told himself that he couldn’t get angry. Otherwise, the haughty replica with no self-awareness would surely die, and the consequences would be dire. He wouldn’t want that.

Heaven needed Mikhael. He had to keep his temper under control!

“Kekekeke—”

Mikhael scoffed, dragging Forest into darkness with a wave.

Two minutes later, Mikhael walked out completely unharmed. He sat down and took another sip of the red wine.

Forest lay on the ground like a dead dog, panting heavily. “Bastard, you should’ve told me earlier. How dare you go to Heaven? Who gave you the courage?!”

“The Anointed One.”

“...”

Forest’s pupils contracted. Indeed, Mikhael was right.

The Heavenly Father had ordered Mikhael to go to Hell and become Pride, never returning to Heaven with his real name. However, if the Anointed One, the Heavenly Father’s successor, made a different order, it would be considered defiance of the Heavenly Father’s order if Mikhael defied the Anointed One. That was wrong, too.

In that dilemma, the Anointed One’s order should take priority since the Heavenly Father couldn’t talk!

You saw, Father. The Anointed One told me to go to Heaven, so I went. I didn’t want to. I had no choice.

“Damn it, why didn’t I think of that?” Forest felt deeply regretful. The fresh graduates he had just hired as his secretaries were suddenly much less appealing. He said forcefully, “Let’s swap. Let’s take turns. I want to go to Heaven and meet the Anointed One. You’ve been the Viceroy of Heaven for so long. It’s my turn now.”

“Ha.” Mikhael glanced at him. “You? You should stay here and keep killing time with your secretaries!”

“Then let’s swap our memories. Let me have the satisfaction. Just once!” Forest’s eyes reddened like he was experiencing withdrawal from quitting smoking for five minutes.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re a bastard,” Forest growled. “Who do you think I’ve suffered so much in the human world for? Who do you think I’ve hired so many secretaries for? It’s all to satisfy your perverted desires!”

He challenged Mikhael to another duel. If he lost, let Mikhael kill him. Then his thoughts could return to the main body.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I no longer care about your memories.” Mikhael raised his hands, looking holy with his white robe and fluttering blond hair. Even the air polluted by the industry in Londan smelled sweet to him. “I’ve never been so satisfied before. Your base desires would only taint my great ambition. Not only don’t you deserve my memory, but I won’t even glance at yours.”

College graduates? Dance students? Theology graduates who could recite scriptures? Those were Pride’s obscure kinks, not Mikhael’s.

“Kekekeke—”

“You’ll regret this, Mikhael.”

“So? You’re Pride, while I’m the Viceroy of Heaven.”

“Bastard...” Forest hissed, bracing himself and picking himself back up. He swore to ensure mutual destruction with Mikhael.

It didn’t work. Mikhael easily took him down with a wave and towered over him as he said, “Enjoy your time in the human world and swap memories with the Pride in Hell. That’s one of the few comforts he has. You two better be good, or...”

“There is no shortage of Pride who could do this job!”