Myths Reawakened

“Goddess of Life...” Wayne murmured. “Is it that easy to be promoted? Your memories told me that the Astral Plane inside the box is small. Death has great room to grow, so does Nature. Without the qualitative change that would only come from reaching the limit with accumulation, is it really possible for Nature to become Life?”

“It should be,” Aztimor said. “Otherwise, Elian’s plan would be naught, and Her actions would be meaningless.”

Wayne didn’t address that. “You now possess the information of Death and Nature. Whatever Elian can do, you should be able to do, too. It’s a narrow path. Don’t let Her take the lead.”

Aztimor nodded. The promotion ritual of Death had failed, and She could not replicate it due to Her changed life essence. Her life essence, though, was precisely why She had transcended Her original evolution. No longer did She have to worry about Elian overtaking Her on the way to become the Goddess of Life.

Their paths now differed. Elian couldn’t do anything to Aztimor, while Aztimor could take Elian’s path at any time and leave Her with no way to go.

Her life essence made Her unbeatable!

There was nothing wrong with Her current situation except for the fact that She now had a master.

Aztimor felt a bloom of joy. In that case, She would have an absolute advantage in Her rivalry with Elian. Even if She lost, She would be able to flip the table and transform Elian to Her liking. If Aztimor had known the perks of being an Astral life, She would’ve transformed long ago.

Of course, it was only the case on paper. Aztimor knew that if She hadn’t run into Wayne and had instead become an Astral life in another way, She would definitely lose Her sanity.

“So, what are you?” Aztimor stared at Wayne and said tentatively, “Are you... an ancient god?”

“I’m human.”

You don’t want to tell me. Fine.

Aztimor looked aside and fell into thought. “I’ve failed to rank up, but I don’t know about Elian. I’m going to check on Her in the Divine Realm of Nature. Are you coming with me?”

She batted Her eyes at Wayne. If they luckily found Elian sleeping in Her bedchamber, Wayne would be able to do whatever he wanted.

(눈_눈)

I told you I could hear your thoughts... Right, you’re thinking about that for my benefit.

Wayne rolled his eyes at Aztimor. “I only refrain from doing whatever I want with you because I firmly believe that I’m human. Lowering my bottom line won’t do you any good. I will literally eat you.”

He meant it in the physical sense. He would literally devour Her. The Book of Greed had made it clear. The large eyeball was accompanied by many smaller ones. To whom did the eyeballs belong... He didn’t want to think too hard about it.

Aztimor smiled awkwardly and lowered Her head. “You misunderstood. I mean that when you find Elian in slumber, you can grant Her evolution and change Her as you’ve changed me. Then all of Nature’s knowledge will be yours.”

“Good. It’s your first day being my vassal, but you’re already thinking on your master’s behalf. Work hard. I have high hopes for you.”

“R-right?”

Aztimor felt humiliated. She didn’t want to admit Her inferiority to Wayne when She was used to being the superior one, but the oppression that Wayne radiated a moment ago made Her submit from the bottom of Her heart. When She realized it, She looked at Her deferential self and felt an overpowering shame.

Wayne rose and got on one knee, taking Her hand to kiss Her fingertips. As the Death Knight, he expressed his endless admiration for his goddess.

That improved Aztimor’s mood. She soon narrowed Her eyes in enjoyment. She liked the flattery. She wanted more!

Five minutes later, Wayne pushed Her aside and sat back down on the throne under Her dissatisfied gaze. “Invading the Divine Realm of Nature is a nice plan. I have to admit that I’m tempted.”

Aztimor nodded vehemently. One should act on their impulse. Wayne, Her master, was meant for greatness, so he shouldn’t hesitate.

“But...” Wayne changed his tune. “If I hadn’t corrupted you in advance, I wouldn’t have been your match in your Divine Realm. Even now, I lack confidence. You goddesses are too strong, and Elian is the best of you. Now that She has acquired the information of Death, She must have gotten even stronger. What if I barge in and end up being added to Her collection?”

Hearing Wayne’s interest, Aztimor pressed, “You can take Ines with you. She hates Elian, and She’s your plaything. She won’t say no to you.”

“She’s not my plaything. We’ve both invested our feelings.”

“You’re playing with each other’s feelings, aren’t you?”

Um, are all goddesses like you? You make so much sense.

Wayne wanted to say something, but couldn’t come up with a comeback. He dropped the topic and said, “Ines may not reject me, but the three of us aren’t enough to eliminate the risks.”

Realization dawned on Aztimor. “I get it now. You plan to drag Siluk and Kaleb in. With four godly figures entering the Divine Realm of Nature together, Elian will have no choice but to surrender.”

“No, it’s still risky.”

“...”

(눈‸눈)

Aztimor stared at Wayne irritably. If he had a plan, he should just share it. Why was he shooting Her down left and right? Was he vying for attention by putting Her down?

What a punchable face. Can I punch it?

“No.” Wayne rejected Her. “If I disregard our master and vassal relationship, I can’t guarantee that I can defeat you in your Divine Realm. That is key. Having numbers on our side won’t help. If we want to make Elian submit in the Divine Realm of Nature, I’ll need the power to defeat Her in Her territory. That will be a foolproof plan.”

Aztimor nodded. As expected of the man who had deceived Ines into meowing for him, he was cautious and mistrustful by nature. Aztimor could work with that.

Wayne stared at Her in silence.

She paused, then scowled. “What’s your plan then?”

“...”

Damn bastard!

Aztimor took a deep breath and blinked at him. “What’s your perfect plan? May I have the honor of hearing about it from you, Master?”

That left a bad taste in Her mouth. She had heard similar words from Her subordinate gods and Night Gods many times, and back then, She had found nothing wrong with them. They sounded normal to Her. Now that She was uttering the same words, it pained Her more than She had expected.

“Where are you hurting? I’ll rub it for you,” Wayne said, glaring at Aztimor. When She shook Her head meekly, he finally let Her off the hook and launched into his plan, “I’m paying Ines a visit to secure the entirety of Darkness’s information. After evolving, I’ll head to the Divine Realms of Sun and Moonlight with the two of you.”

Aztimor narrowed Her eyes. “No wonder you said that it was a chance too good for you to miss, that I could only blame myself for being in deep slumber. That’s your plan.”

He had the power to rival a god, but he couldn’t defeat gods with their own Divine Realms. He had to start with a weak link and work himself through the Divine Realms, accumulating power along the way.

Aztimor sighed. If only She hadn’t fallen asleep.

“Stop lamenting your fate. Is the life essence of an Astral being not desirable to you?”

“It’s entirely undesirable,” Aztimor huffed. Then She went back to their earlier topic. “As your vassal, I can tell you with certainty that all goddesses are too arrogant to submit to you, Ines in particular. I still believe that she’s using you.”

Wayne sniffed, surprised. “Oh, what’s that smell? The smell of blatant manipulation?”

Aztimor remained unfazed. “I’ll take a look for you. If Ines doesn’t hand you all the information of Darkness, that reservation will mean that she’s using you. Then you should just turn her into your vassal immediately. The same applies to Kaleb and Siluk. Do not show them mercy just because they’re pretty!”

“Do not make you the only victim, you mean!”

“My master, I’m saying this for your benefit!” Aztimor declared.

“...” x2

(乛‸乛)(一´一;)

“You do know that I’ve been reading every thought in your mind, Aztimor.”

“Impossible!” Aztimor widened Her eyes. “My master promised to spare my dignity as a goddess. He’s not so shameless that he would read my mind without warning!”

“Yeah, that’s proper sarcasm right there,” Wayne grumbled. “Ines said that you were a goddess of few words and an unambitious fool, sort of like Kaleb, the Goddess of Sun. I’ve got to say She’s misjudged you.”

“How dare she compare me to Kaleb?!” Aztimor raged. They had survived the War of Faiths. None of them were oblivious fools. It was insulting to compare Her to Kaleb.

Wayne found himself taking a further liking to the Goddess of Sun. Perhaps he found a kindred spirit in Kaleb.

“That’s the plan. I’ll meet up with Ines first...”

“Wait. I don’t think that’ll be wise.”

“Aztimor, I’m the only one who gets to interrupt anyone here. I’ll forgive you this once since it’s your first time, but if you make the same mistake...” Wayne scoffed, staring at Aztimor’s mouth.

Without a word, Aztimor melted Her mouth into a clump of writhing tendrils.

Disgusted, Wayne molded them back into a mouth with his thoughts.

With the absolute authority of a superior to a subordinate, he could reshape Aztimor at will, including Her body and thoughts. He didn’t need Aztimor’s permission.

That was alarming. Even if Aztimor wanted to evade the sex tax by turning into a slime, Wayne could still transform Her back into Her original form.

(╥﹏╥)

Aztimor was never sleeping again! True terror wasn’t waking up to find something missing, but waking up to find something extra.

“Your mind is too deep in the gutter for a goddess.”

Wayne cut off their mental connection and stopped reading Aztimor’s thoughts. He had promised to spare Her dignity, and he would honor his promise.

Before She brought it up, he could shamelessly pretend that he had forgotten about it. Now that She had mentioned it, it would be too shameless of him to ignore the request.

He found it necessary to have some shame.

Without his attention, Aztimor felt lighter and rejuvenated. She seized the chance to cheer Herself up, imagining grabbing a mini version of Wayne and cursing at him.

Finding that insufficient, She also stomped on him a few times in Her imagination.