Myths Reawakened

“Would you do it or not? You... Say something!”

When Wayne said nothing, Aztimor made a convincing argument, “Do not believe Ines’s promise. Just look at me. She would even sell out the friend She had known for years. She must be using you.”

“What do you mean, ‘look at you’? Do you find your current situation beneath you? You’ve become exceptionally good at learning!” Wayne huffed, shaking his head. “Believe me when I say that you’re doing well now. Don’t think about becoming just like Ines.”

“You took it the wrong way,” Aztimor corrected with a frown. “I’m asking you to make Ines become just like me rather than the other way around.”

“Um.” Wayne hesitated. “Have you considered that She’s actually doing much worse than you are, and if the two of you are to become equal, you’ll have a long way to fall?”

“???”

Aztimor didn’t understand. She thought about it, and still didn’t get it.

“Just take a look yourself.”

Wayne pointed at his temple, allowing Aztimor’s thoughts to enter his body and access his memories. She searched with the keyword ‘Ines’ and browsed the large volume of audio and video files.

Most of them were censored.

Aztimor stiffened after one glance, Her mouth opening further. She couldn’t believe what She was seeing.

What the hell is all this? How could you show this to a goddess?

She hurriedly pulled out of Wayne’s body and stammered with wide eyes, “Those... those two women, who are they? They don’t seem like... Ines...”

“The bodies belong to the Darkness Knight and the Holy Maiden of Darkness, while the inside... as you think, is Ines.”

Aztimor sucked in a breath, flailing around and saying flatly, “I didn’t hear it very clearly. Let me take another look.”

“What a pervert.”

“...”

“That’s not what I meant!” Aztimor hurriedly protested, Her face flushed. “I just want to confirm that they are Ines for your own good. What if you’ve fallen for a lie? What if those aren’t her?”

“Right.” Wayne nodded with an impassive face. “Apologies, I misunderstood you.”

“Right...” Aztimor smiled awkwardly. “Since we’ve resolved the misunderstanding, let me take another look! Just one!”

“Pervert.”

“...”

Aztimor flew into a rage. Who would want to watch those censored scenes?! Her mind couldn’t be further from the gutter. She just wanted to take a few more looks because the videos featured Ines.

Also, She wanted a copy. Then the next time She met Ines, She could mock Her for being shameless.

So you are the Goddess of Darkness. I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on lol

“Stop loling. Your grin is going to reach your ears.” Wayne shook his head. “You saw what happened. Ines cannot become you. Only you can become Her. Are you sure you want me to make that promise to you?”

He patted his thighs and said bashfully, “If you insist, I’ll take the losses and grant you the wish right now.”

(⁄⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄⁄)

(눈_눈)

Aztimor made a face. This damn mug looked particularly punchable right now. She would’ve swung Her scythe at it if She could.

“Tell me. Do you have any other requests? I’ll do it as long as it’s within reason.”

“No,” Aztimor insisted. “I want Ines to become me.”

Wayne understood. Aztimor couldn’t bear to see Her ‘best friend’ living the good life after She had fallen from grace. She wanted them to be fallen together and share the same torment. She meant Her request in the literal sense: She wanted Wayne to corrupt Ines into a vassal.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” He shook his head.

“Why? She couldn’t have fallen for you for real. She’s lying to you. She’s even lied to me—”

“My goddess, have you been looking at the images only?” Wayne interrupted Her, looking at Her judgmentally. “Pay more attention to the dialogs and less attention to the inappropriate images. You’re too old to be this immature.”

He sent another fully censored video to Her.

Aztimor furiously accepted the file and trembled with greater rage once She played the video, stumbling over Her own words. “What nonsense. Is she mad, suspecting that we’re involved? Seducing you behind her back... I didn’t even know you!”

“Besides, you’ve become the Death Knight first, so I had laid claim to you earlier. She’s being unreasonable.”

“She handed my thoughts to you just because of that baseless speculation? She should know that I would never find you good enough!”

“Hey, watch what you’re saying,” Wayne said. “Why are you attacking me? If you call me unworthy again, I’ll make you get cozy with me right now.”

He rolled his eyes. Ines’s misunderstanding was unreasonable, but beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Because Ines found Wayne appealing, She assumed that Her bestie would think the same. That was perfectly logical in romance.

“You’re still speaking for her!”

“Well, yeah. Do you expect me to help you rather than her?”

“...”

Noting his affection for Darkness, Aztimor’s heart sank. “Apologies if you find this offensive. If you aren’t going to make Her a vassal, while I have become yours, who are you going to help if She ever bullies me?”

“You.”

“Liar!”

“Why ask if you know the answer?” Wayne said. “Ines has offered me too much. When I was still a legendary mage, She was already making increasing bets on me. Knowing that I’m a sentimental man, She has been betting with sentiments. For that, I’ll never let Her suffer great losses.”

Aztimor scowled. “I can give you knowledge—all my knowledge, without reservation. I’ll offer more than Ines did.”

“Yes, but that is because you are my vassal. Without that relationship, would you dare raise the stake so much like She has done?” Wayne shook his head. Ines had volunteered knowledge, while Aztimor had been a passive party. Their investments weren’t the same. Moreover, Ines had not only made a bigger offer, but also done everything in Her power to expand Wayne’s business, fooling Sun and Moonlight into investing in him.

Even if he disregarded their relationships, the two goddesses’ track records alone made Ines the superior partner. Aztimor couldn’t even compare.

Aztimor fumed wordlessly. From Wayne’s attitude, She could already picture Ines haughtily pointing fingers at Her and picking on Her while She could only take the abuse, living under Ines’s mercy.

“Aztimor, how did you make this black tea? Did you make it so hot to kill me? Blow it cool before serving it!”

“Trash, did you make it so cold to freeze me to death? If you can’t even do something this trivial right, why would Wayne keep you around?”

This was absurd. Aztimor had done nothing wrong. She was the victim!

She should just die!

“Alright, stop being angry. I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but I promise you that Ines won’t bully you for no reason.”

“Impossible. Were I in Her place, I would bully Her!”

“You’re quite honest with yourself.” Wayne scratched his head. “Although Ines isn’t magnanimous by nature, She is possessive, so much so that She gets competitive with even Her Holy Maiden. She won’t give you a chance to get close to me, which means She won’t pick on you.”

“I don’t see the logic.”

“If She bullies you, you’ll confide in me and seek comfort from me. Then you’ll realize that I take good care of my girlfriends, lovers, and secretaries, which will compel you to seduce me. I’m easily seduced. I’ll quickly get you in my bed, then you’ll climb up the ladder because you’ve climbed me like a ladder, becoming Ines’s equal...”

Wayne bent his fingers as he recounted the possible developments. “Ines is too smart not to realize the difference between feasting once and feasting long-term. She’ll eliminate the risks at the roots. Not only won’t She bully you, but She will treat you well to keep you from getting close to me.”

Why are you so used to this?!

Aztimor’s eyes widened. This damnable, shameless, despicable master of Hers had leaked the know-how on purpose so that She would get moving.

“Do you understand what I’m getting at?”

“I do, and you’re not getting what you want!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wayne snorted, adding helpfully, “If you don’t want to be at a disadvantage and be on the receiving end of Ines’s bullying, stay away from me. I promise that once I evolve far enough to reverse corruption, I’ll liberate you first.”

“You’re just gonna do that out of the goodness of your heart?” Aztimor asked, unconvinced.

“Do you want it or not?”

“I do!”

Learning that there might still be hope for Her—regardless of whether the hope was false or not—Aztimor felt a little less depressed. Even Her damnable, shameless, despicable master seemed a little more agreeable. Although he was full of lies, he was open about his deception. Never had he hidden the fact that he was lying...

Aztimor staggered back. The absurd thought told Her that She had contracted the malady of vassals. She had developed a blind devotion and admired and craved Wayne. The side effects would be severe even after She regained Her freedom.

“Stop overthinking. I’ll behave, so please calm down,” Wayne warned helpfully. The situation wasn’t new. Senna and Anastasia had both gone through the same process. Left unchecked, the other party would think themselves into falling after a while.

He shed figurative tears as he prepared for a tumble on the bed with Aztimor. His two consecutive failures taught him one universal truth: rather than working hard and failing, it’s better to give up and wait for failure.

Resistance meant nothing. It depressed him to think back to his past failures. He didn’t want to work hard a third time.

He gave up!

Of course, that didn’t stop him from supporting Aztimor’s resistance, and he was willing to provide Her with any support that didn’t actually support Her.

In other words, he would remain passive, he wouldn’t say no, and he would take responsibility.

I’m lying down here, but don’t come over. Otherwise, you’ll get the soup after they have the meat.

“Any other request?”

“Yes.” Aztimor nodded. “Do not interfere with my governance over the Underworld. I must be the only god here.”

Wayne’s protection of Ines stopped Aztimor from targeting Her, but the others wouldn’t be so lucky. Her knight, Holy Maiden, and subordinate gods would all pay for their betrayal.

Wayne could see Her thoughts clearly. He returned the authority to Her and said, “I won’t interfere with the Underworld. You’ll always be the one and only goddess here. However... the ignorant ones shouldn’t be punished. You’ve misunderstood them.”

He tapped on his temple, showing Aztimor the series of misunderstandings.

The transmitted memories included how Holy Maiden Sukra had done her best in the mortal realm, and how Rognes had held fast to his faith. Grau was the only one who hadn’t suffered because he was powerful enough to walk a balancing act between the two traitors.

Wayne had acquired Aztimor’s thoughts and incarnations because of his ridiculous life essence. The only explanation for his unusual achievements was his being Death’s chosen.

Sukra, Rognes, and Grau weren’t the only ones. Even Saigner, who coveted the divine throne, was loyal to Aztimor. They couldn’t explain the strange things about Wayne, and since faith made people steadfast while religion made people foolish, they became steadfast fools.

Aztimor covered Her face after going through the memories. She didn’t expect Her current situation to be the doing of Her loyal subjects.

Wonderful! Let me kill two loyal subjects in celebration!

“No, you won’t,” Wayne ordered, forbidding Aztimor from killing the innocents. Seeing Her aggrieved expression, he relented a little. “You can’t kill them, but you can make things difficult for them. You can take out all your grievances about me on them.”

He pointed outside at Saigner and Grau, skipping Rognes.

On second thought, he singled out only Grau.

Loyalty is the best reward for loyalty. Grau, the organization has chosen you as the designated punching bag.

“Rognes is one thing,” Aztimor mocked. “Why isn’t Saigner included?”

“I promised her that I would put in a good word for her to you. As you can see in the memories, she admires you very much. If you hadn’t given her the chance to rebel, she would’ve never done anything. As soon as she learned that you would wake up, she surrendered.”

Wayne shrugged, selling Grau out. “That one is different. You don’t know what he’s done to your incarnation!”

With a scornful expression, he retrieved a stack of photos from his personal storage and handed them to Aztimor. They featured Monica taking care of her business in different postures, even sniffing her work afterwards.

Aztimor checked only two photos before She burned everything to ashes. Monica was Monica, while the Goddess of Death was the Goddess of Death. What did Monica’s biological needs have to do with the Goddess of Death? That wasn’t worth any attention.

“Anything else?”

“Not for now,” Aztimor said. “I’ll tell you once I think of something... Would that work for you?”

“Of course. You’re a goddess. I’ll grant your wishes any time.”

Aztimor had made three requests: keeping Her dignity as a goddess, keeping the Underworld under Her sole rule, and corrupting Her bestie. Wayne promised the first two and vetoed the last.

There was nothing Aztimor could do about that, but She had not given up. Vassals couldn’t disobey their master. That obedience was Her advantage. Compared to Her, Ines was a wicked, willful woman who always needed to have the last word.

The more obediently Aztimor behaved, the more unreasonable Ines would seem. Over time, Wayne would surely lose his patience and make a move on Ines. Then the pair of friends would become equal again.

Wonderful!

(눈_눈)

Sorry, Wayne thought. I heard all that.