Myths Reawakened

Someone stepped out of the dim, greyed shadows, breaking space into shattered shards.

Grau appeared visibly shocked when he got a clear look. “It’s you... Death Knight Wayne?!”

“So you do know me...” Wayne stared at the black-haired man, summoning Shadow Nightmare to unleash the Authority of the Underworld. On top of his already incredible power, the Authority made his presence even stronger, to the point that it felt like the Goddess of Death had descended.

Regular demigods couldn’t sense the illusion, but Grau, just like Saigner, saw an enormous projection of the goddess behind Wayne, filling the space between heaven and earth.

Grau shook his head to disperse the illusion, smiling wryly. “Of course I knew you. I once extended an invitation to you, but you turned me down.”

“So why did you invite me?” Wayne smiled meaningfully. “You must have known by that point that I was marked by Death and would sooner or later become the Death Knight, yet you, who should’ve betrayed the goddess, didn’t kill me. That’s been bothering me.”

Grau frowned deeply. Instead of answering the question, he said, “Where did you acquire such power, Wayne? For Saigner to hand you the Authority... I know her well. Have you really defeated her with your own power?”

“Or what?” Wayne asked instead. “If I hadn’t put her on her knees and destroyed her pride, would she have listened to me?”

“Right.”

Grau nodded in agreement.

(눈_눈)

Saigner suddenly developed a powerful urge to kill Grau. She messaged Wayne and implored him to kill the traitor this instant, not giving him a chance to talk his way out of it.

Wayne ignored her. He had always suspected Grau of being a spy. He would get to the bottom of it today.

“Wayne, you...” Grau struggled to find the right words. He said in disbelief, “It’s only been two and a half years since I last saw you. How have you become so much stronger? I remember you as a regular man back then. Not even Shadow Nightmare should make you so much stronger this quickly.”

“It’s the goddess! It’s because of Her!” Wayne held Shadow Nightmare up and repeated the excuse he had given Saigner. “With the goddess’s blessings, I became stronger day by day. With Shadow Nightmare, I am unrivaled in the Underworld. Even with the Authority you’ve stolen, you traitors won’t be my match.”

Grau gave Wayne a look someone would give an intellectually challenged person. That might fool regular demigods, but subordinate gods? ...Ha, no subordinate gods would buy the explanation!

Well, one did. Saigner believed it wholeheartedly.

Wayne gave Grau the same look and broke into a smile. “Grau, Saigner has received the goddess’s oracle that she would become the next Goddess of Death, while I, too, have received the goddess’s oracle before coming. I’ve entered the Divine Realm to collect the different parts of the Authority and awaken the goddess. What about you? What oracle did you receive?”

Grau tensed up wordlessly.

“I knew it. The goddess trusts you more than Saigner, so you know more than she does.” Wayne smiled like he had already guessed the answer. “Tell me, what role do you play in the goddess’s script?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Grau’s face turned steely. “Since you’ve acquired part of the Authority, you’re now my biggest enemy. If you want a fight, let’s fight. Stop wasting my time.”

“Really? You just said that Sizorn was our primary enemy.” Grau’s smile had transferred to Wayne’s face, making him smile wider. “The Darkness Knight, the silver coin of luck, and the black cat. Care to explain what those are about?”

Grau’s face stiffened. Gulping, he said, “Where... is the black cat? What have you done?”

“Why are you so worried? Aren’t you a traitor?” Wayne pointed at his right eye, and a thread of Aztimor’s thoughts surged with energy. “Grau, your mission is more important than Saigner’s, and mine is more important than yours. Or let’s say your mission is part of mine. Do you understand?”

“I... kind of.” Grau’s aura quickly quieted. He shook his head and said, “We don’t have to fight. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you...”

“We have two enemies. Since you’ve subdued Saigner, that leaves only Sizorn. Unlike us, he’s a real traitor.”

“No,” Wayne said immediately.

“What? Does Sizorn have a more important mission than Saigner’s, too?!” Grau blurted out in surprise. Were none of the three subordinate gods actual traitors? Were they all fricking acting?! If so, he would have to say that Sizorn’s acting was perfect. He played a traitor so convincingly.

“That’s not what I mean.” Wayne held Shadow Nightmare vertically before his chest. “I mean that this fight must play out. What I want to know and acquire, I’ll take it with Shadow Nightmare, regardless of your willingness.”

Grau was ninety-nine point nine percent a spy, but there was a point one percent chance that he was a traitor and the mastermind. Just in case, Wayne had to knock him down until he was begging on his knees.

Just like what he had done with Saigner, Wayne couldn’t rest easy until Grau would pose no threat. He was cautious like that.

“Is that really necessary? You know I’m no traitor. I didn’t make a move on you...” Grau stopped himself, shaking his head. Times were different. Wayne wasn’t the same civilian he had been two years ago. If he could defeat Saigner with his own power, who knew how much stronger he had become after acquiring the Authority over the Underworld? Grau would have to be out of his mind to ask for a beating.

It would hurt too much!

“Grau, this is the goddess’s mission for me. I must defeat all of you!” Wayne explained seriously, leveraging the justification that always worked.

“Is that an oracle?” Grau murmured. If so, it was a beating he had to receive. Even if he was only playing along, he had to let Wayne defeat him in an open confrontation.

Nodding, Grau yelled, “I’m the God of Death,” and charged at Wayne with his fist raised.

Bam!

A punch landed on Grau’s face. He plunged from the sky in a spiral, accelerating mid-fall so that he could quickly plunge into the abyss between the glaciers. With a boom, he crashed through ice and ended up embedded a hundred meters down.

“Your acting...”

You didn’t even try!

Wayne shook his head, putting Shadow Nightmare away. He teleported right to the bottom of the abyss and started beating Grau up, while Grau didn’t even resist.

Once he was one-quarter dead, Grau caught Wayne’s downward swing, his swollen face shifting as he spoke. “You’ve already won. Don’t push it.”

“But the oracle!”

When he was half dead, Grau caught Wayne’s downward swing, bleeding all over. “Stop. I can already see the goddess, and She’s waving at me from the other side of the river.”

“But the oracle!”

When he was three-quarters dead, Grau caught Wayne’s downward swing and slurred, “Bastard, I’m really going to die if you continue. Forget the oracle. You just want to kill me, don’t you?”

“Yes, but you can no longer resist.”

When Grau was ninety percent dead, Wayne stopped hitting him and admitted in a quiet voice, “To tell you the truth, I beat Saigner up so badly that she even lost her long gloves. She specified that I must tear off your eight spider legs so that she wouldn’t be the only one who suffered.”

“She’s a traitor. We aren’t the same!”

“Oh, you can still talk?”

“...”

Pow! Clang!

After some more beating, Wayne mercifully spared the spy his dignity and refrained from tearing off all eight legs. Only two of the swollen legs were dismembered.

Grau cursed, lodged deep within the glacier. It was difficult enough to be a spy, but taking a beating when the mission concluded? If he knew this would happen, he would’ve volunteered to be the traitor.

***

Treehouse, Heart of Nature.

Sukra joined Mauve and Ryza in guarding the door, but while the two old guards stood with their backs straight, Sukra had been sealed by the sofa. There was no saving her.

Inside the house, Wayne, Grau, and Saigner each took a seat.

Grau pressed an ice pack to his head, huffing and puffing about how difficult it was to be a spy. The subordinate gods could at least maintain their dignity no matter how seriously their thoughts were injured, so he was obviously playing up the situation to garner pity.

Vermin! Definitely a vermin!

A loyal vermin!

Wayne resolutely ignored Grau’s acting as he received the Authority handed to him. His power jumped further, giving him the illusion that he would be able to freely go in and out of the Divine Realm of Darkness.

The truth, however, was that the buff only worked in the Underworld. Moreover, the pitiful portion he possessed was far from as powerful as Ines’s Authority. If he boldly ventured into the Divine Realm of Darkness, Ines would readily lock him up in a basement while laughing maniacally.

Then, who knew who would be the one going in and out of the other?

When Wayne showed no reaction, Grau turned to Saigner irritably. “Traitor, why did you change your ways? Have you given up on becoming a goddess?”

The sharp jab hit Saigner in her tender, not-yet-recovered wound. Chest tight, she glared back at Grau coldly. “I’ve never betrayed the goddess, nor have I ever dreamed of becoming a goddess. Shut your damn mouth. You don’t know what oracle I’ve received.”

“As a matter of fact, I do know.” Grau grinned viciously. “I once asked the goddess why She didn’t show you mercy. She told me that your betrayal was necessary. Only once you betrayed Her would Sizorn expose his true nature. The goddess always knew that—”

Saigner shot to her feet, spilling tea on the table. She grabbed Grau by the collar and lifted him off his feet furiously. “I’m the goddess’s creation and child. My loyalty is unquestionable. Again, shut your trap and stop spouting nonsense!”

“That’s Rognes, not you,” Grau responded contemptuously. If Rognes had said that, he would have bought it. After all, Rognes had been playing the role of a loyal subordinate from start to finish. Saigner showed a severe lack of self-awareness by saying the line.

“...”

Saigner tossed Grau aside with a dark look on her face, plopping down on her seat. She had put in great effort to regain her composure, but Grau’s truth bombs broke it again.

“Why aren’t you talking? I asked you why you changed your ways all of a sudden.”

“Wayne promised me that he would put in a good word for me, and the goddess will pardon my sins.” Saigner closed her eyes, hanging onto her wishful thinking.

“Tsk, how gullible of you!” Grau raised an eyebrow, his expression suddenly icy. “Traitor, stop fooling yourself. The goddess’s will trumps all. When She saw through you, your sins were already irredeemable. Wayne cannot help you.”