Myths Reawakened

Gazing at Aztimor’s icy expression, Ines broke into a slight smile, but Her eyes grew ever frostier.

“Aztimor, it’s been years since we last met. Why do you smell of the Astral now?” Ines covered Her mouth in feigned surprise. “I heard that, realizing the limit of your talent and how it would constrain your future, you sold yourself to someone like a dog. Is that true?”

Her catty performance was convincing. Aztimor’s face darkened. Wayne had promised to keep what happened a secret, but he still told Ines in the end.

Bastard, I told you that she’s up to no good. Why don’t you believe me?!

Feeling increasingly frustrated, She glared at Wayne, demanding an explanation.

“What are you looking at? Keep your eyes to yourself. You have no right to ogle him.” Ines grabbed Wayne’s arm and rolled Her eyes, boasting, “Let me introduce you to my man. He may seem like nothing special, lacking in everything but academic performance. However, he treats me well. No matter what I want, he’ll satisfy me—even if it’s summoning the Goddess of Death, his vassal, so that I may have the pleasure of taming her.”

Holy, don’t say that! Wayne thought. You two are welcome to tear into each other, without a third party involved.

He extracted his arm and backed away to the balcony with Mona, who had been spectating the fight gleefully. He grabbed a chair and sat down, waving her over to massage his shoulders.

Stop staring. Time to get to work.

Mona glanced at the two goddesses curiously, looking forward to the unfolding drama. Due to the distraction, she paid little attention to the work at hand. Instead of massaging his shoulders, she simply cushioned Wayne’s head with her bosom.

Ines shot Wayne a glare when Her hands were suddenly empty. It was humiliating to hear Aztimor’s laugh.

“Your man really spoils you, Ines!”

“Hmph, you don’t know anything.” Ines looked back at Her. “He’s the type to protect the weak, especially the pets in his residence like cats and dogs.”

“He often tells me to treat his vassals well as the lady of the household. Cats and dogs are living beings that should be treasured, he said. Even if it’s disingenuous, I should still soften my stance as his other half.”

“I made the mistake of picking on a hungry cat who cannot keep her mouth under control. That’s why he’s mad at me.”

“It’s fine, though. I know him well. Given how much he likes me, I can easily appease him.”

Ines spoke with self-satisfaction, never going more than a few sentences without emphasizing that She was the lady of the household, while Aztimor was a vassal. Aztimor should accept reality and realize the gap between the masters and the servants, dropping the snobbish act in front of Ines.

Aztimor’s rage intensified. Because Her bestie had maintained a calm poker face, Aztimor refused to let Her irritation show, projecting the same serenity instead.

She looked at Wayne calmly, messaging him and urging the Death Knight to come to his goddess’s aid. Since Ines had Her knight, She needed hers, too. She refused to be inferior.

Wayne shook his head. He would be between a rock and a hard place if he intervened now. He would have to be mad to further complicate the matter. It was complicated as it was. His involvement would turn it into a tangled web. Staying away was the smart thing to do.

However...

It was fine for Death to be without the support of Her knight. Darkness could lose support, too. With a wave, Wayne sent pale tentacles to grapple Vichy and pull her from behind Ines to his arms. When neither goddess had a knight, it would be as fair as both having knights! 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Vichy blanched in horror when she ended up sitting in the only VIP seat in the room. Self-awareness was integral to survival. Under the circumstances, she should not take this seat. Not only was the Goddess of Death glaring daggers at her like She wanted to kill her, but her goddess was also green with jealousy.

Vichy tried to yield the seat, but Wayne kept her down with both arms around her waist. The goddesses’ gazes landed on her like physical weight, their divine might as heavy as mountains. The mere Darkness Knight shuddered. Knowing that she did not deserve this seat, she turned to Wayne pitifully.

I’m scared, Boss. Why don’t you involve another goddess? Or call Darienne over. She’s a heretic, so she won’t be intimidated.

Wayne tightened his arms around her. When she continued to struggle, he slapped her on the backside. The resounding noise quieted Vichy.

She lay in Wayne’s arms with despair. She was too tired to struggle now. She gave up.

Wayne looked at the two goddesses with excitement. No longer was there a third party tipping the balance, so neither side had an advantage. What were they waiting for? They should be attacking each other right now!

It was shameful to admit, but he loved watching women fight. Even better if it involved two goddesses who had been friends but later turned on each other for a bastard of a man.

Fight! Fight!

Bah, the bastard! x2

Ines looked away first, tucking Her red hair behind Her ear and saying coolly, “Aztimor, my man—your master, I mean—has told me about you. I didn’t expect you to actually use your head and strike a deal with Elian behind my back.”

“Although you’re such a naive fool that your plan ended up losing you your qualification for advancement as well as your freedom, you’d put in the hard work. Seeing you plotting yourself into a corner and going downhill day by day, I’m genuinely happy for you!”

Holy, you’ve got a sharp tongue!

Wayne’s eyes lit up. As expected of the baddie he liked, the insult packed a powerful punch that would suggest millennia of training. He didn’t know if anyone could take it.

How would Aztimor fare, and how would She retaliate?

Aztimor chuckled. “Yes, I’ve put in the hard work. I, at the very least, have trusted my once friend and entrusted her with my future, unlike a certain goddess, who acted up due to baseless suspicion and pushed her own friend into the abyss. She also refused to admit her mistake, even pointing fingers at me instead like she was the victim. The shameless response showed her moral depravity.”

Wayne shook his head wordlessly. Aztimor’s attack was lackluster, far less damaging than Ines’s.

Why are you talking to Darkness about morality? Do you actually believe She has a moral compass? Just take the censored photos out. At this point, the only attack that’ll work is a personal attack.

As expected, Ines broke into laughter. The disciplinary teacher was a professional in emotional manipulation, with little to no integrity. She knew Her advantages well. Eyes narrowed, She turned to Wayne with adoring eyes. “Look at her, Wayne. She speaks so much sense. I’ve misunderstood her. I didn’t know she was so human.”

Wayne sucked in a breath, planting a kiss on Vichy’s face in excitement. Finally, the personal attacks were starting!

(╥﹏╥)

Please stop kissing me, Vichy thought. And touching. I’m scared.

“Stop with your posturing, Ines,” Aztimor shot back. “You sold me out and betrayed my trust in you.”

“That’s my line. You struck a deal with Elian behind my back. You’re the one who betrayed me first.”

“You didn’t know about my deal with Elian. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to avoid misunderstandings. Putting that aside, you betrayed me first.”

“What? Are we disregarding the facts now?”

“That is the truth. I hid it from you because you were unreasonable!”

Wayne nodded to himself. As Aztimor had said, he also thought Ines had crossed the line when She sold Her friend out due to jealousy. She had even handed over the key to the back door of Her friend’s place. She had gone overboard.

“You know the truth, Aztimor. You were lying to me when you handed your thoughts to me. You claimed that you were doing it in preparation for your resurrection, but it turned out that you were just using me. It was more important to you that you didn’t have your thoughts with you.”

“Yet you gave the thoughts away. You knew how potent Wayne’s corruption was, yet you told him the coordinates of the Underworld.” Aztimor fumed. The damn wench wouldn’t even admit Her mistake.

“Nonsense. You were seducing my man!” Ines huffed. She had done nothing wrong when She handed over the thoughts and the coordinates to give the pair a happy ending. The fact that Aztimor and Wayne didn’t know each other... Well, She had explained that it was a misunderstanding. It was unreasonable to criticize Her for that.

Besides, even though they hadn’t been involved before, they had gotten involved later. Ines had done nothing wrong. She had simply predicted the future.

“I didn’t. You misunderstood me on your own. Even if I did seduce him, I came first. It was you, Darkness, who seduced the chosen knight of Death!” Aztimor raged.

“No, I came first.” Ines sneered. “Remember your place and show some respect, Vassal. I’m your mistress.”

“You’re not. What else does Wayne know other than your name? That you’re lewd and shameless, never absent from any of the orgies?” Aztimor followed suit and started the personal attacks, rising from the chair. “I’m different from you. The first power he received is named Death, and the first Divine Realm he entered is the Underworld. I’m also the first goddess he met!”

That’s not true, Sis, Wayne corrected silently. The first Divine Realm I entered is Hell—or if that doesn’t count, Heaven. It’s definitely not the Underworld.

Because the argument had escalated significantly, he kept the thought to himself to avoid getting dragged in.

“Ines, I can throw everything away and trust in him, and he can trust me unconditionally. Can you do the same? If not, stop pretending. Admit that you’re just using him!”

“That’s why you’re a vassal, while I’m his partner.” Ines did not waver in the slightest, showing no crack in Her defense. “Whatever you can give him, I can give him too. Moreover, you’d better not feel pleased with yourself. You gave yourself to him because you couldn’t reject him, while I gave myself to him because I like him. If you were able to resist, he wouldn’t have come out of the Underworld alive.”

“You said that, but have you actually given yourself to him?”

“I will soon. It’s a romantic interplay between partners. What gave you, a vassal, the right to point fingers? Do you know what romance is?”

Ines stood up with a smile, holding Herself like a proper lady while looking down on Aztimor like She was trash. Usually, that was how She looked at Wayne whether She was on top of him or beneath him, regardless of the number of people present.

“Aztimor, I’ve been meaning to say this. You seem so frustrated. Is it because you find being Wayne’s vassal beneath you? If you’re dissatisfied, just say it. Our family doesn’t lack pets. Without you, Siluk and Kaleb will fill the roles. There are more wenches who can replace you.”

What about Elian? Wayne thought. Why didn’t you mention Elian?

Bastard, who did you just call a wench? That was what Kaleb would think if She were here.

As for Siluk, She would like the bastards to remain civil and stop bothering a busy goddess like Her.

Aztimor and Ines moved closer as their verbal clash intensified, getting personal with their insults.

From the scene of the argument, Wayne reported that Ines had mockingly called Aztimor pickled cabbages, green, soggy, and fermenting in jealousy, while Aztimor called Ines pickled herring, vile and fishy[1].

Wayne was enjoying the show, while Mona was fully immersed. Even the loyal Darkness Knight had pricked up her ears to listen in.

As outsiders, they could tell that the two goddesses still cared about each other after years of being friends. Their argument was so intense because they both felt wronged and betrayed. As long as one of them apologized...

Ha, that’d never happen!

“Oh, you’re welcome to fight, but don’t get physical. The house won’t endure a clash between goddesses like you.” Worried that they would start fighting because of their inconsolable differences, Wayne unfolded his domain decisively.

It wasn’t pale like it usually was. Lightning crackled, and wind howled. Rain mercilessly poured down on the two goddesses.

Now that they didn’t have to worry about collateral damage, the two goddesses immediately started fighting. Darkness and Death clashed, distorting the space of the domain. Its true nature was revealed once the downpour and lightning relented.

It was a pale ocean!

As Wayne’s vassal, Aztimor gained the upper hand like a fish finding Her way back to water. Ines refused to admit defeat. She sent Her thoughts to the mortal realm through Anastasia, letting Anastasia’s pale body assimilate Her thoughts. The corruption allowed Ines to reclaim the advantage.

“Rain falls on them mercilessly. Every drop seems like an ironic foil for their past happiness, cold and chilling...” Wayne broadcast what was happening emphatically. “Their gazes meet in the rain, but no longer can they see the understanding and warmth that was once present in their relationship. The path they once went down hand-in-hand diverges, leading them in different directions.”

You’re terrible! x2

1. The original is literally, “Ines called Aztimor pickled cabbage (suan-cai) fish (yu), for She is sour (suan), inexperienced (cai), and unwanted (duo-yu). Aztimor called Ines yellow braised chicken (huang-men-ji), for She is yellow/lewd (huang), dull (men), and trash (le-se/la-ji)” It’s a pun that does not really translate. ☜