Myths Reawakened

High Reverend’s manor.

The living room was tightly packed with women of different colored hair. Corte and Galen had each contacted their goddess after parting with Wayne in Palis, informing the goddesses of Knight Wayne’s inappropriate behavior.

The man had been eyeing Darkness’s offering while eating off the hands of the Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight. Not only had he accepted Twilight Despair, but he had even slept with Holy Maiden Anastasia and Darkness Knight Vichy.

He had received bribery and betrayed his faith, which deserved severe punishment!

Unlike what the two Holy Maidens hoped for, though, the two goddesses had each issued an oracle after a moment of silence, and their oracles were identical, as if they had compared notes beforehand.

The goddesses hadn’t blamed Wayne. Instead, they dropped the issue and ordered their Holy Maidens to find Wayne as soon as they could. The goddesses would descend in person to speak to him.

Really, Goddess? Are you not going to say anything about his betrayal? Or are you going to judge him in person due to the severity of his sin?

After receiving the oracles, the two dumbfounded Holy Maidens arrived in Londan to seek out Wayne. They arrived just in time to attend the party at the Lando Estate. The pack of women further soured their already foul mood.

What was going on? How did Wayne become a chosen knight? Did the goddesses stop considering the chivalrous spirit when choosing their knights?

That couldn’t be it. Leo and Darienne were the perfect embodiments of a knight’s virtues.

It was a private party supposedly attended by Wayne’s girlfriends, who could be further categorized into fiancées, lovers, secretaries, mistresses, babes, and darlings.

What a picture they painted.

Corte and Galen didn’t know that half of the beautiful ladies were there to liven up the mood. The vengeful spirits who had been converted from Holy Maiden candidates of the Church of Nature, especially, had been calling Wayne ‘husband’ and ‘boyfriend’ just for the fun of it. Wayne had indulged them too much.

Soon, Corte and Galen found the trio of their rivals, or perhaps it was just the duo of Holy Maiden of Darkness and the Darkness Knight, since Sukra wasn’t doing anything but lying down.

Corte and Galen expected an intense fight, but it didn’t happen. When they learned that the two were here to seek out Wayne, Anastasia simply smiled, and Vichy nodded calmly. That was all.

While they were still confused, Silvia, the social butterfly who had been flitting around at the party, came over with a glass of champagne, striking up a conversation amicably.

“When did you meet him? Where? How far have you gotten?”

“Just friends?”

“Excuse me. I still have business to attend to.”

Silvia was too busy to stop and chat with a regular friend of her son, so she gave the pair of Holy Maidens a polite and elegant smile before going to her next target, still smiling.

“You must be Veronica. Wayne told me about you. You look familiar. Have we met?”

“Old hag, I’ll show you today!”

After an unexciting exchange with no fanfare, Veronica, having gotten hit by a hand chop, tucked herself into Kristen’s arms for comfort. On their side was a grinning Vera.

Corte and Galen were flabbergasted.

They tried to blend in and soon found their gang—Kristen and Vera. Kristen shared a great resemblance to Galen. Their long hair was the same platinum blonde, their figures were both slim yet voluptuous, and their faces looked similar. They were clearly related.

Kristen was an orphan. When she was little, she had at first lived on the streets before she stayed two years in the Julians’ orphanage—that would be Forest Julian’s family, one of the Tulip Families. The Lord of Pride had built orphanages across Windsor. Without him, Kristen would’ve long starved to death.

Kristen had grown up in a hostile environment, and the family her adoptive mother later gave her left a lot to be desired. It wasn’t until she made friends in school that she started smiling more. Though she never put it into words, she had always envied those who had a family. She had never known familial love.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Galen, while Corte was locked in a staring contest with Vera.

Learning that Vera was the backup Sun Knight, Corte couldn’t believe it, and Vera was equally surprised. Pardon her keen eyes, but Vera could tell that the Holy Maiden was someone who would give herself away for free, perhaps even more so than Vera.

Meanwhile, though Veronica had gulped when she saw Galen, she wasn’t thinking that she now had two white moonlights and thus double the fun. She wasn’t a perverted girl who would chase after any skirts. She cared about genuine feelings.

When Wayne still hadn’t shown up after the party, Kristen invited Corte and Galen home—to Wayne’s residence. They waited, and the master of the family still hadn’t shown up. Kristen turned to Vera, who shrugged at her. Last night, even those who shouldn’t have been at the party were at the party. The one exception was Kristen’s master, High Reverend Filomina.

It was clear where Wayne was.

The four women headed straight to the High Reverend’s manor. Before departure, Valkyrie volunteered to be luggage when she learned that the goddess was going to meet Wayne. Snow, too, avoided Monica’s tackle and dove into the car.

Wayne had gone to Buckingham Palace for a meeting when they arrived, so only the twin bodyguards moonlighting as maids were there to welcome the guests. When they saw the Holy Maidens, they went to the bedroom to wake Filomina up from her nap.

Your pretty boy has been messing around again. See? When he’s off work while still receiving a salary, his superior comes to check on him.

Hearing that the Holy Maiden of Moonlight was here, Filomina was suddenly wide awake. She dripped all the way to the bathroom to wash up and make herself presentable.

Once in the living room, she sat across from Galen, trying to hide her awkwardness behind a cup of black tea. She cursed out the bastard in her head as she maintained a graceful, proper smile, ignoring the derisive gazes.

“Filomina, congratulations on reaching Legendary. You’ve been, um, doing quite well in Londan.” Galen covered her face with a hand. She couldn’t come up with more meaningless pleasantries, so it was better to stop here.

Filomina had been a Gold-ranked mage serving the Church of Moonlight at its headquarters. She ranked up to Legendary in Londan. Like Givenchy, she would be considered part of the Pope’s faction. Since Holy Maiden Galen rarely made an appearance, the two of them weren’t close.

Galen rarely made an appearance in the literal sense—she usually covered herself up quite thoroughly with a hood concealing half of her face, revealing only strands of her long platinum hair.

“Thank you for the compliment, Lady Holy Maiden,” Filomina said with proper decorum. “I’ve done it for the church.”

Others misunderstood her entanglement with a much younger man. She had reluctantly seduced Wayne to keep him tied to the Church of Moonlight, she swore!

Galen was rendered speechless by the attempt to claim credit. She said stiffly, “Two days ago, High Reverend Givenchy of the Palis District applied to transfer to Londan and take over your post, but now it seems it’s unnecessary.”

“What?!” Filomina slammed the teacup against the table furiously. “Did the bastard mess around again?”

“That’s not the case,” Galen grumbled. “Mr. Wayne is quite conservative.”

“Then why is Givenchy coming to Londan?”

“Um, she shamelessly covets Mr. Wayne—” Galen cut herself off, waving her hand. She knew she shouldn’t have said that, so she changed the topic, asking about what Wayne, successor of the Moonlight Knight, had done in Londan.

Galen didn’t have to ask. The party last night was proof that Wayne had been busy sleeping around and letting his lower head make the decisions for him. He was a 24K pure scumbag.

The vengeful spirits had misled Galen, but Kristen and Vera knew the truth. Neither clarified the misunderstanding for their own reasons. Instead, they agreed with Galen’s complaints about the pervert.

Yes, the Moonlight Knight’s successor was incorrigible and hopeless. It was better to stay far away since the other way led to ruin. They would happily lead their life in their lonesome with only a cat keeping them company... They put on quite a convincing act.

Half an hour later, Wayne returned in his car. He hissed at the absurdity of it all when he saw the different-colored heads as soon as he stepped in.

He had to say it again. There weren’t a lot of unique colors left for the world of magic.

“Mr. Wayne.” x2

“Holy Maidens, welcome to Londan.” Wayne feigned ignorance. “When did you come? Why didn’t you seek me out at my place?”

“Bastard, isn’t this your place, too?” Filomina scoffed.

“My bad. I’ll make it right.” Wayne sat down next to her. Since there was still space on his other side, he made eyes at Kristen and Vera. Whoever came first would get to claim the limited seat.

Kristen wasn’t thick-skinned enough to do that, so she said no with a smile. Before she could finish her rejection, though, Vera was already rising and heading to Wayne. After a moment of hesitation, Kristen moved decisively, taking such quick strides that she managed to take the seat on Wayne’s other side before Vera could.

Vera smiled, sitting on his lap instead. She didn’t have a choice, did she? There was no other place for her.

As expected of you, Wayne thought. You never disappoint me.

Ain’t I amazing? Vera grinned.

Wayne held onto both women while exchanging flirtatious looks with Vera. It was such an outrageous sight that Galen kept shaking her head. When she turned around and saw the thoughtful look on Corte’s face, she declared the Church of Sun doomed in her head.

Valkyrie and Snow disagreed. They thought that the Church of Moonlight was the one that was doomed.

“Holy Maidens, it’s been... well, not that long since we parted ways in Palis. How did your audience with the goddesses go? What’s the new oracle?” Wayne said bluntly.

“The goddess would like a private conversation with you,” Galen responded with a tight smile. “Could we move to somewhere quieter?”

“Why? Is it confidential?”

“Perhaps...” Galen tried to find the right words, but couldn’t actually say it. Instead, she tried to project authority and said, “As a chosen knight, you’ve committed too many sins. The goddess is dissatisfied with you and will reprimand you personally. Since you’ve made a great contribution to the church, She will do it in private to preserve your dignity.”

“Really? It’s a grave sin to falsify oracles!”

“...”

“Alright, I’ll stop messing with you. Let’s talk in the basement.”

Wayne put Vera down on the sofa before leading the two Holy Maidens to the basement. When he noticed Valkyrie’s hesitant look, he flashed her a reassuring smile.

He understood. He would try to arrange a meeting between Valkyrie and the Goddess of Sun.

Valkyrie felt much more relieved.

“???”

Snow couldn’t believe it. It had shown hesitance, too, and it also wanted to meet the goddess. Why hadn’t Wayne smiled at it?

***

The light in the basement turned on, illuminating the empty, spacious room. With a wave, Wayne conjured a soundproof barrier. He gestured at the Holy Maidens to invite the goddesses to descend, anxious despite the unhurried act he put on. He was eager to find out how much more the goddesses were investing.

It would be disappointing if the Holy Maidens were the only gifts.

Corte and Galen each took a side of the room. Taking out the many items that priests used, they knelt and started drawing complicated magic circles on the floor.

After that, they got on both knees with a devoted expression, muttering under their breath. They first brought down the Astral Plane's projection with their thoughts, then inhabited it and sent it back. The Divine Realms were there in the Astral Plane instead of in the Chosen Land.

Wayne watched silently. He learned something new about the relationship between the Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight.

Unlike the other false friends, the two goddesses were true allies, and they trusted each other enough to descend together. He was certain that they had already come to an agreement before they ordered the Holy Maidens to head to Londan.

“Is it just for Darkness...”

“Or is the pressure from the Goddess of Nature greater?”

Wayne murmured to himself. The opposition between light and darkness was only part of it. It was most likely that the majority of the pressure came from the Goddess of Nature.

There were only five known goddesses in the Chosen Land, all of whom were once members of the Life Alliance. Most people didn’t know what had happened to the Goddess of Death, but the Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight had to know something. With the Goddess of Nature advancing toward them, they didn’t have a lot of time.

“You’re either sitting at the table or on the menu. What role does Darkness play in this?”

Wayne didn’t have the time to investigate the thought further. Two strange energies descended suddenly, with the distinctively divine power overflowing for a fleeting moment. The Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight descended through their respective Holy Maidens.