Myths Reawakened

“Alright, alright. You don’t look very smart when you’re thinking hard.” Wayne patted Sukra on the shoulder. “I’m able to juggle multiple faiths and get to where I am today because of my know-how. Don’t think too much about it. Just believe in my devotion to the goddess.”

But you’ve been bedded. You’re not loyal!

Sukra’s expression crumbled. The knight wasn’t as perfect as she had imagined. Just in case, she had to keep an eye on him. At least... at least she should drive the Holy Maiden of Nature away!

“Just in case, keep an eye on me and help me stop the Holy Maidens of Sun and Moonlight,” Wayne said with a frightful look on his face. “You don’t know how their eyes have been glinting ever since they received their oracles.”

Sukra nodded. She didn’t mind the mission, and it was clearly what the goddess intended.

“Do not spill the secret of me being the Death Knight. Given the situation the goddess is in, we must keep a low profile. You have to do as I say until we rescue the Headless Knight.”

Wayne pointed at his eyes. He had taken the divine power as Death’s chosen, so doing what he said would be equivalent to doing what the Goddess of Death said.

The goddess didn’t have a lot of agents right now: only two Death Knights and a Holy Maiden, and one of the Death Knights was under the demons’ control. Wayne was the only one Sukra trusted. She would gladly let him shoulder the burden.

She had struggled her way all the way to Palis, ready to sacrifice herself to liberate Rognes, but the pressure left her breathless. She couldn’t go on much longer.

“After rescuing the Headless Knight...” Wayne glanced at Sukra with a slight frown. “I’ll talk to the Headless Knight about rescuing the goddess. You should rest then and just follow me. I’ll protect you.”

The sense of security he gave her returned!

Sukra had long wanted to slack off. Before that, though, she said, “You have a more important mission to take on. I have the church on my tail. I can’t allow trouble to find you because of me.”

“Trouble? What trouble? The treacherous Pontiff of Death?” Wayne scoffed. “He should be glad that I haven’t gone after him. If he comes knocking, I’ll make sure he never steps out of the door!”

Sukra broke into a smile. Yes, with Death Knight Rognes on her left and Death Knight Wayne on her right, she had nothing to fear. She had an army of chosen knights with her.

That would come later, though. Their priority now was to rescue Rognes.

“You’ve come at just the right time. I need a good damage dealer now. Here’s the plan: there are three other reincarnated angels in Palis, one of whom is powerful enough to take on a demon at the level of the Seven Demon Lords. We’ll do this... then that...”

After hashing out the plan, he concluded, “Though it’s morally questionable, it’s a foolproof plan. The Headless Knight is too important for us to risk it.”

Sukra nodded. She wasn’t pedantic. She agreed with him.

Confirming that Wayne had come prepared, she smiled wider. She didn’t have to use her brain, but just contributed her power. Moreover, she didn’t need to worry about food or accommodation. She had been fantasizing about such an easy life for a long time.

Wayne patted her on the shoulder. “Come, then. Don’t say anything you shouldn’t say.”

“Don’t worry. I’m a professional...”

Sukra smiled. In an instant, her pretty face became pale as if she had just received a good whipping.

Wayne gave her a silent thumbs-up.

***

The vitality field dispersed. Wayne took Sukra back to the dining table.

On his side, Hestia was glaring at Hesione. Wayne had brought the shameless wench into his vitality field while leaving her outside. Though Hestia knew that she shouldn’t, that she would be sinning, she still couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Hesione glanced at her impassively before taking out a compact mirror to touch up on her makeup.

Hestia cowered immediately, worried that the Śār would be subject to further humiliation if she glared at Hesione a little more.

Smack!

Another kiss print was put on Wayne’s face.

Hestia furiously slammed the table and shot to her feet. She had stopped struggling. Why did Hesione still humiliate Wayne openly? Only a demon would kill a surrendering soldier!

“Boss, she’s scary!” Hesione said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“...”

Sukra looked at them, unable to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

Scanning the variety of dishes on the table, she took a deep breath and emptied her head. She shouldn’t worry too much. Wayne had his own way of doing things, so she just had to stay quiet.

Speaking of which, it had been a while since she last had a chance to enjoy life. Let’s start with the dessert. The cream cake looks amazing...

Huh? Who wants to kill me?

Isabella chewed loudly.

“...”

Alright, let’s just have the juice!

“Let me introduce you. This is Sukra, the Holy Maiden of Death. After our friendly conversation, she recognized her mistake and apologized for her arrogance...”

Wayne rattled off a nonsensical explanation before concluding, “Now, Sukra’s one of us. She’s decided to join the righteous side to fight demons together.”

When he didn’t get much of a response, he shrugged resignedly.

“Isabella, hurry up. We should head back already.”

***

When coming to Palis, Wayne and Mona had been the only ones in the black car, so there was enough room for them to spar in the backseat. With four added passengers now, though, the car was suddenly at full capacity.

Thankfully, all his companions were slim ladies, so they only had to squeeze against each other a little to make room.

Wayne was the driver. He glanced at the rearview mirror to see Hestia, whose face was showing all Seven Deadly Sins, Givenchy, who was every bit the perfect picture of loyalty, Isabella, who could still eat more, and Sukra, who had just been beaten up. All their elegant curves made him feel like joining them in the back.

Among the four of them, three would immediately approach him if he beckoned to them. Sukra wouldn’t, but she wouldn’t run, either.

“Boss, your lips are going to reach your ears if you keep grinning wider. Control yourself.” Hesione messaged him and reminded him to maintain the composure of a man in power.

“Why do you suddenly care?” Wayne asked curiously. His eyes lit up when a thought occurred to him. “You’ve accepted me. Since you’re no longer pure, you might as well make me into someone good enough to be your companion. Is that it?”

Hesione scowled. It wasn’t about being good enough for her, but...

If—and she did mean if—Wayne really turned out to be the Anointed One in the prophecy, she would be the one not good enough for him.

Of course, Wayne wouldn’t be good enough for Heaven, either. She still refused to accept such a dreadful Anointed One.

All the questions she wanted to ask formed a lump in her throat. She needed to find out more about his resurrection and his inhumanness. Since her memories were still being integrated with Mona’s, everything she knew about him came from Mona.

Beauty was in the eye of the beholder and all that. Mona had been looking at Wayne through rose-tinted glass. Her admiration, mixed with love, colored her judgment and made her see him in a positive light.

Hesione would like to dismiss the memories, but it wasn’t her choice. Forced to put herself in Mona’s shoes, she came to see Wayne in two vastly different lights.

Aside from his attitude toward demons, Hesione had thought that there was no overlap between her view and Mona’s. Today, she reviewed the memories, including even the... intimate ones. It was terrible. She felt like she was there.

That was beside the point, though. The point was that Mona had seen Wayne being human but inhuman, but not his resurrection. Hesione knew that Mona hadn’t met him then. If she wanted to know more about it, she would have to ask Wayne.

That was what had been troubling her. She knew almost everything about Wayne, including how smart he was. If she were too obvious with her questioning, Wayne would make concrete deductions about the Anointed One.

She didn’t know if Wayne had been deceiving Sukra or telling the truth. If it had been a lie, and Hesione asked about it, she was certain that Wayne would pretend to be the Anointed One, extending his naughty hand to her.

If she rejected him, he would make false accusations against her in the name of the Anointed One; if she accepted him, he would accuse her of tainting the Anointed One and luring him to corruption. Clearly, she was Hell’s spy in Heaven!

She knew Wayne too well. The bastard was definitely capable of all that.

She couldn’t ask, but she couldn’t not ask. What dilemma. She didn’t have a lot of time left.

She didn’t know if Mona had seen her thoughts, and she didn’t know if Mona had told Wayne about it in secret. If not, that would be for the best. However, Mona would sooner or later learn about the prophecy of the Anointed One as their memories integrated. Then Wayne would know everything.

After some consideration, Hesione turned to Wayne and asked telepathically, “You said that you’d died once. Is that true?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I-I’m not sure,” Hesione said frostily. “It’s just... it doesn’t feel right to me. I don’t want you to die again.”

The aloof concern and frosty confession were very much her style.

She’s getting good at this.

Wayne raised an eyebrow, pleased that the iceberg was melting. Under his relentless excavation, he had finally reached the soft heart encased in the ice. He should press his advantage right now, making promises to her after doing the deed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t.

There were many witnesses in the car. Even he wasn’t shameless enough to do it now, much less Hesione. If he got what he wanted, Hesione would kill everyone in the car.

Wayne went for the second-best option, responding ruefully with his thoughts, “It was January 1938. I was a nobody trying to make ends meet. No matter how I cried out to you, you would’ve never given me the time of day...”

“One day, I died.”

Hesione’s breath hitched. “You... died? What then?”

“Then I came back alive. How else did you think I took your purity?” Wayne teased. Realizing that the line didn’t fit the pitiful act he was putting on, he amended, “I don’t know how I came back to life. What I said to Sukra was a lie. Since we just met, I had to tell some white lies to earn her trust.”

“I know you’re great at deceiving girls. Just skip the nonsense and get to the point!” Hesione had no interest in the meaningless buildup.

“...”

“I’m sorry. Keep going.”

“...” x2

Smack!

“Bastard, he’s driving!” Hestia flew into a rage. Her ire was obvious in the way her full chest was heaving. “Could you not control yourself even now?”

“Shut up!” Hesione turned around with a golden glint in her eyes. “Don’t get in the way of my business, or...”

Or what, she didn’t say, letting Hestia fill in the blank.