Myths Reawakened

Boom!!!

Two figures clashed at impossible speed. Their great power instantly shattered space and plunged the council hall of the Church of Nature’s headquarters into an unknown void. In the distance, a long worm could be seen fleeing for its life. It bolted so quickly that it didn’t even notice who was fighting. It found another spot to hunker down.

Without the Authority of Her Divine Realm applying buffs, Elian was noticeably weaker. She wasn’t yet the real Horseman of Death. She still needed Her Divine Realm. Moreover, She hadn’t foolishly descended with Her true form, but only brought part of Her thoughts to Desiree’s body. Therefore, She couldn’t tap into Her full power.

She hadn’t wanted to make an appearance, but She had to when Wayne started twisting the truths. Thankfully, as the top dog of the Life Alliance, She was still strong even without Her Divine Realm. Combined with Death’s knowledge and the might of a half-transformed Horseman of Death, She was still able to unleash incredible power.

In the void, two grey projections came down, one turning into a green scepter and the other turning into a white greatsword.

It was the Scepter of Balance and the Spirit of Everything, Elian’s divine weapons, custom-made for Her. Only She could tap into their full power.

The Scepter of Balance was an all-green crystal wand, resembling an ancient tree that had been growing for a thousand years. With a fine texture, it emitted a soft, serene green light.

The Spirit of Everything was entirely white like pure snow, with an incredibly sharp blade. It was the end result of Elian’s pursuit to become the Goddess of Life. She defined Life as white and had later forged Elemental Mantra based on the Spirit of Everything.

Both weapons could manipulate earth, fire, water, and wind elements and draw upon all material energy in the world. Once the Scepter of Balance vanished completely, Elian would become the Goddess of Life. Thus, the two divine weapons also reflected Elian’s progress.

That was then. Now, the Scepter of Balance was swirling with grey Death energy, no longer the pure green it had been. The terrible Death energy instilled in everyone an imminent chill even with infinite light and shadow blocking its way.

Wayne was live-streaming. He was broadcasting his fight with Elian in real-time to the sky above the Church of Nature.

Since he had already made an enemy out of Elian, he might as well make himself Her worst enemy. And he had said that he would be the God of Nature, so he would occupy Her nest thoroughly, leaving Her with no chance to turn things around.

Wayne had gained eighty percent of Nature’s information from Aztimor. It was a piece of cake for him to play the God of Nature. With his compassionate temperament and his silver tongue, his act was so convincing that it didn’t look like acting at all.

It didn’t matter how the Goddess of Nature had become the God of Nature. Religions make people foolish. The moment he took the divine throne, it already guaranteed that followers would justify things for him.

On the other hand, Elian was cursing nonstop. Her face looked twisted, and She even had Death energy swirling around Her. She didn’t look like the Goddess of Nature in the slightest.

Wayne had called Her his evil thoughts and an evil god who had voluntarily fallen after getting into contact with Death. His description couldn’t have been more accurate.

Elian was completely in the dark. If She had known that he was broadcasting live, She would’ve reined Herself in a little. At least She would apply a filter to keep up appearance.

The two of them fought to the edge of the void. One side radiated Death energy and a green, phosphorescent glow, while the other side projected a righteous image with thriving green vitality.

It was clear which of them was the real Nature.

Those in the council hall looked beyond shocked. Along with the members of the Church of Nature watching the broadcast, they looked up in confusion. They didn’t know which was the real goddess, but they could tell which of them was good.

Given how thick the Death energy around Elian was, She clearly wasn’t the legitimate Goddess of Nature.

Moula thought so, Garvin thought so, and so did Tubert and the three vermin. Senna...

(?_?)

Wayne was her lover and her current faith, and she knew better than anyone the kind of person he was. She was pretty sure that the shameless man had taken the Goddess of Nature’s Divine Realm from Her, even twisting the truth to slander the goddess as a rebel and evil thought.

Good. That’s my faith!

Senna had been an agent of chaos who wanted to watch the world burn even before her corruption. Among the legendary mages Wayne had encountered, she was one of the most unhinged.

After being corrupted, Senna had learned to behave somewhat under Wayne’s taming. Because he had developed feelings after spending numerous nights with her, and she had been behaving herself, he lifted his restriction on her, allowing her as much freedom as he could.

Now that there was nothing keeping her devotion in check, Senna became unhinged once more. Whatever Wayne wanted and craved, she would secure it for him with no regard for consequences. Whatever she didn’t have, she would take. If the owner wouldn’t give it to her, she would kill them.

The current Church of Nature was a good example. Because Wayne needed a stable church, she had been keeping the church in order.

She knew him too well. The moment Elian appeared, she realized what he was doing.

“High Prophet, inform everyone at headquarters. This is a divine war. Half of the God of Nature, whom we follow, has been corrupted by Death and turned into the evil thoughts we’re seeing now. Nature and Death have always been mortal enemies. The God of Nature wouldn’t tolerate Death, and neither should we.”

Senna gave the order quickly, but no one responded. High Prophet Tubert was still looking up at the ongoing battle.

Resigned, she drew Elemental Mantra and infused it with her thoughts before throwing it toward the sky. She announced to all disciples of Nature who their real deity was. The evil thoughts might look like the goddess, but she had already fallen. She would only bring Death; she was Death.

The God of Nature was trying to subdue His evil thoughts, and He would win without any bloodshed in the mortal realm. Their faith would live on.

After getting that done, Senna pulled Elemental Mantra back, her eyes glinting with joy as she looked at Wayne. She knew that he was bound for incredible things, but his rapid growth surprised her. It hadn’t been more than a few months, and the Goddess of Nature had already lost Her homebase.

What was going on with the Death energy around the goddess? Was it Wayne’s doing? If so, he was beyond wicked.

She loved it!

***

Boom!!

Wayne dispersed the Death energy with green light. Facing the physical attacks of four elements, he raised his hands and crushed them with his thoughts, then devoured everything coming his way.

After a chaotic fight, Elian’s fury calmed significantly. She stopped attacking and said, “You have more power than this. Why? Have you become weaker because you lost the Authority of the Divine Realm now that you’re outside?”

“You were born out of my evil thoughts, Elian. My guilt prevented me from using my full power.” Wayne sighed, his expression bitter. “I understand. During the twenty years I roamed the human world, I showed you many of humanity’s dark sides, as well as their self-destructive tendencies. However, although humans have many flaws, they also have many good traits.”

“You can’t deny their awe and love for Nature just because you saw their dark sides. And think about our lovely followers and how they admire us wholeheartedly. How could you swing the scythe of Death at them?”

“Ha, now you’re acting!” Elian sneered.

“I’m not acting. This is my honest feeling.” Wayne pointed at his chest, speaking in a righteous tone. “You are my evil thought, so your actions can be considered mine. Without my desires, you would not have been born. It’s my sin, so I will not and cannot deny it.”

He spread his arms. “Come back into my body. Let me face your twisted Death and allow me to lead you back to Nature. We’ll explore the truth of Life together.”

Elian couldn’t be more disgusted. She sneered, “Do you know? I’ve been through the War of Faiths and encountered a great variety of existences, but never have I met anyone as shameless as you are. You are not Nature. I am.”

“I’ve never denied your status, Elian. You are the Goddess of Nature; only you’ve gone down the wrong path. That’s why I’m doing this,” Wayne implored. “Again, I’ll take responsibility for my actions, so just give me a chance—a chance to face your Death. I believe that I’ll defeat the evil thoughts—”

“What are you talking about?!” Elian frowned deeply. She had a bad feeling.

There’s no one else here. Who are you acting for?!

“I promise you, Elian,” Wayne said. “As long as you return to me, you’ll still be the Goddess of Nature once I take care of the Death in you. I’ll take a step back and acknowledge you as the one and only deity of Nature.”

His arms remained raised, and the compassion on his face deepened. “Do not vent your resentment for me on the mortals. They’re innocent. I only cut you off to resolve my evil thoughts. I wasn’t trying to abandon you.”

Elian came to a shocking realization, and Her eyes turned grey. In Her fury, She made another step toward merging with Death. The Scepter of Balance showed the progress clearly. The greyness had overtaken the deep green.

In the void, the battle between gods resumed. Elian was close to having a stroke. The moment She attacked, the battle escalated to a new height.

The shameless scoundrel had not only occupied the Divine Realm of Nature and stolen the divine throne, but also undermined Her image to take away Her followers. He was going to kill Her and everything related to Her!

Of course, as She was the Horseman of Death, Her mission was to destroy the world, thus killing everyone related to Her. However, it was different when Wayne was the one doing it.

When She did it, it was housecleaning. When he did it, it was slaughter.

Infinite Death energy encroached and draped Elian in a grey robe. The Spirit of Everything in Her grip gradually morphed from a sacred white greatsword into a black scimitar with a single-edged, curved blade. The transformation was still ongoing. Wayne could see clearly that the weapon would become the grim reaper’s scythe eventually, just like Aztimor’s scythe.

That got him thinking: could it be that Aztimor was supposed to be the Horseman of Death? Only Elian had learned of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse early and made a deal with Elohim?

No rush. Give me a little more time. I’ll take your place

If that was the case, Wayne would have to re-evaluate the relationship between Elian and Elohim. The two were close, close enough for Elohim to share intel on the Four Horsemen with Her and recruit Her.

He had to have sought Her out, or Elian wouldn’t have known His plan. She wouldn’t have even been informed.

Were they a couple? If so, why would they act separately and get into an intense fight during the War of Faiths? Elian had even created the Life Alliance to defeat him.

Was it a lovers' spat? Nah, that would be too childish. There had to be more to the war.

Wayne tried to figure out their true relationship and the meaning of the war. However, he couldn’t continue his deduction because he didn’t have enough clues.

Seeing the Horseman of Death shedding green and turning more and more grey, he narrowed his eyes and transformed into the Pale Knight under his human skin, walking toward Elian with his arms raised.

“Come, my evil thoughts. Spare the living. Take your anger and frustration out on me instead. Let me redeem you!”

The scimitar of Death energy pierced through Wayne’s chest, and his eyes turned grey. He broke into a slight smile as he stared at Elian’s beautiful face from a close distance. “Do you feel better now? If so, return to the Divine Realm of Nature with me.”

Elian’s face distorted, Her twisted facial features cracking open, revealing the dried tissues underneath.

She didn’t seem like a goddess, but more like a dried cadaver wearing human skin.