Myths Reawakened

“You demons don’t even know how to do promotions properly, yet you expect the mortals to want to come to Hell? Learn from Heaven. While they have the Seven Deadly Sins, too, they’ve concealed them as the Seven Sacred Virtues.”

Wayne grumbled about Hell being lesser than Heaven, even the human world. Were he one of the Seven Demon Lords, he would definitely try his best to move.

“Oh, is that why demons have been coveting the human world?”

Laughing to himself, he conjured electric currents with a wave, the blazing white light crackling at his fingertips. With a downward push of his hand, he brought down tremendous lightning from the sky.

Rumble—

The air thickened suddenly, followed by a violent scream. Thousands of pillars of lightning lit up the ocean until it looked like daytime. Amid deafening rumbles, the pillars thrust straight into the crimson water.

From afar, whiteness seemed to flood heaven and earth. The terrifying, unstoppable lightning tore the crimson sea into pieces of different sizes. The ripples reached far and wide, creating angular branches of currents.

Following the thunderous explosion, a big part of the sea of blood ended up evaporating. The charred viscous blood congealed like jelly, and the smell of blood intensified.

“Who was it—”

A growl rumbled from the depths of the crimson sea. A furious beast treaded waves into the sky, its massive body covered in dark green scales. The magnificent form looked like a mountain, its two crimson eyes fixed on Wayne.

It was Enguema, the Lord of Blood!

Enguema was the Lord of Greed’s child, with a form that resembled a great dragon and the power to manipulate blood. He was born with tremendous power, ranking high among the seventy-two demon lords.

Wayne disagreed. He saw more traits of a crocodile than a great dragon, so he would rather call Enguema a crocodile man.

“Who are you?”

Enguema paused when he saw Wayne. Someone with such great might couldn't be a nobody, but he was certain that he had never seen this face in Hell.

“You don’t know me?” Wayne was also surprised. He pointed at the territory nearby and said, “I’m Solsknar, your neighbor and the Lord of Gluttony’s new recruit. Do you remember now?”

“Solsknar...” Enguema took his human form and hovered in the air, sneering. “So you’re the minor lord next door. What? Do you fancy yourself such a great power that you want to challenge me to earn a name?”

“No, I just want to kill you or be killed by you.” Wayne shrugged. “Since you’re dead already, and your territory is unclaimed, I’ll take it gladly.”

“You’re a talker.” Enguema scoffed. Behind him, his familiars emerged from the sea of blood, numbering over a hundred. They each differed in strength.

As expected of Hell, a high-level map corresponding to Heaven, even the weakest familiars serving Enguema were as powerful as legendary mages in the human world.

Wayne didn’t think much of them after a cursory glance, though. The familiars were created out of Enguema’s corruption with a fixed level of power and zero room for progress. While they looked strong, they were no more than cannon fodder—good for intimidation, but could only be relegated to cheerleading duty from a safe distance when facing opponents at the same rank.

Their hideousness was incredible, though. They barely looked humanoid.

“Solsknar, you said? A newcomer would never dare challenge me. Tell me, who is your support, and who orders you to provoke me?”

Enguema had to find out before they started fighting. Demons were deceptive creatures by nature. Their trickery was as varied as they were imaginative. They were especially competitive in deception and framing after generations of advancement.

“No one... Fine, you wouldn’t believe that.” Wayne played along. “Since you’ve seen through me, I’ll stop hiding the truth. I came here to take your life and your territory under the order of the Lord of Gluttony.”

“I knew it!”

Enguema wasn’t surprised. Gluttony had been expanding his territory nonstop like a madman recently. His two allies, Stolas the Lord of Night and Mattea the Abyssal Spider Queen, had both suffered because of it. Not wanting to get into direct conflict with Gluttony, Stolas and Mattea had surrendered a large part of their territories in exchange for peace.

A demon’s power was closely connected to their territory. Both Stolas and Mattea had been more reserved when they saw Enguema because of the loss of territory.

Now, it was his turn!

It made sense. It would be an insult if he weren’t targeted!

“New guy,” Enguema sneered at Wayne. “Do you know what excuse Gluttony has been using to annex the smaller territories around his?”

“Oh, is it anything special?”

“Hahaha, you serve him when you don’t even know anything?” Enguema burst out laughing. “Let me tell you. He always sends one of his subordinates to provoke a demon lord in a nearby territory. Whatever the end result, he will then invade with the excuse of his familiar’s disappearance.”

(一`´一)

What the hell is that trick? Oh, it is a trick of Hell!

“Gluttony has claimed as many territories as the number of familiars he’s lost,” Enguema said helpfully. “You aren’t the first, and you won’t be the last. Since you’re quite strong and have the possibility to evolve, why don’t you go independent?”

It was an attempt to drive a wedge between the subordinate and the demon lord, but also the truth. Enguema didn’t want to get into conflict with Gluttony at such a critical juncture.

The plan to open the Gate of Hell had failed, preventing him from growing stronger by claiming territory and faith in the human world. To realize his dream of becoming a great demon lord, Enguema had been lying low for an opportunity.

Luckily, he had encountered a once-in-many-centuries opportunity. Hell, for some ungodly reason, had entered a turbulent time where the Seven Demon Lords were waging war against each other like they had gone mad. Gluttony and Wrath, especially, had been going so hard with no reservation that it seemed like they were trying to kill each other.

There would soon be a vacancy to the Seven Demon Lords, or perhaps two. With his dream right within reach, Enguema didn’t want to lose his chance.

When Wayne didn’t say anything, he continued, “You won’t fare well as Gluttony’s lapdog. Being a demon is about being free. Without freedom, whatever you achieve will go to your master rather than you. You should know that.”

“You’re right, but Gluttony is too strong. If I don’t deal with you, he will deal with me. No matter how I think about it, it seems that you’ll unfortunately have to take the fall.”

“Arrogant!” Enguema huffed. He was a demon lord’s child, so he was doomed to be unintelligent. He had shown too much intelligence earlier. It was time to revert to a hot-tempered fool.

The Lord of Blood made a wave. All his familiars charged at Wayne while shrieking. They used blood magic to stir Wayne’s blood. Once that failed, they continued with straightforward physical attacks.

Wayne conjured a scimitar of Darkness and strolled into the fray leisurely. With every wave, he sent a head flying.

The headless bodies fell into the sea of blood and triggered violent waves. In no time, the familiars came back to life and returned to the encirclement around Wayne.

Wayne made a soft sound of surprise. He didn’t have the Authority over a territory in Hell. An outsider like him could never become registered here. He guessed that it was one way to use one’s Authority.

While Wayne was surprised, Enguema was questioning where Gluttony found such a powerful demigod. It seemed that Enguema would have to go all in to defeat him. Also, why would a demigod this powerful serve someone else? Wouldn’t it be better to be his own boss?

Since the familiars wouldn’t help, Enguema growled furiously and stepped up, all the while calling out to his two allies. They had promised to stand together. It was time that they stopped sitting around as spectators.

Boom!!

The scimitar of darkness clashed with the blade of blood. Violent air currents rippled out, forcefully calming the sea and stirring the crimson clouds in the sky. The visible shockwaves sent the familiars flying far away.

Their first clash made Enguema realize that this was a formidable enemy the likes of which he had never met before. He had to go hard.

Expression distorted on his scaly face, Enguema opened his mouth to reveal rows of fangs. “I understand now. You serve Gluttony because he promised to treat you as an equal. You want to become a demon lord.”

No, I just want to go home and punish the Śār.

With a crack, the scimitar in Wayne’s hands shattered. It wasn’t high quality enough to counter Enguema’s sword.

“New guy, you must defeat me first if you want to become a great demon lord and one of the Seven Deadly Sins!”

The vast sea of blood surged with all-encompassing crimson fire. The agitated blood roiled like it was boiling. Enguema’s aura intensified as he reached an unimaginable height with the Authority of his territory. His power exceeded any of the strong enemies that Wayne had encountered before.

He coveted the power granted by a demon’s Authority. He wondered which household he should take over in Hell for that and immediately thought of the Bat Demon. He realized then that he had become a resident in Hell about two years ago.

He wasn’t a despicable outsider, but an honest local!

Enguema’s crimson sword swung down, stirring spatial turbulence with incredible might, undermining Wayne’s senses so that he couldn’t detect Enguema. In that moment of danger, black light given form appeared in Wayne’s hand. He met the attack with the Abyssal Sword.

Clang!!

The metallic sound reverberated in the air. Pure raw power triggered a devastating wave and put a hole in the crimson clouds in the sky. The clouds scattered outward as the sea of blood below quickly plunged. The shockwaves caught the edge of the crimson water and triggered a violent tsunami.

Two figures clashed in the sky. Wayne went from matching Enguema to overpowering him.

Wayne had only just ranked up, so he didn’t have a full grasp of his power. Using Enguema as a reference, he came to the realization that he was incredibly strong.

Enguema growled furiously, growing increasingly astonished. The one who was about to realize their dream wasn’t him, but someone else. The thought alone made him burn up with killing intent. Retreating while fighting, he reached the border of his two allies’ territories.

Stop spectating. This is trouble. Let’s attack together!

Two figures rose into the air with power no less than Enguema’s. One was mainly black, and the other purple. Both were demons Wayne was acquainted with.

Stolas, the Lord of Night, and Mattea, the Abyssal Spider Queen!

The two high-ranking demon lords watched Enguema gravely, surprised that Enguema was losing and that Gluttony had such a powerful familiar.

“Why are you so late?” Enguema demanded furiously.

“I’m watching.”

“I’m biding my time.”

The two demons turned things around and accused Enguema of lacking patience and causing the strategy to fail before its execution.

Nothing out of a demon’s mouth could be trusted. Enguema huffed and pointed his longsword at Wayne. “Let’s attack together. If he doesn’t die today, we’re gonna have another deadly sin ruling over us. None of us will become a demon lord!”

Stolas said nothing with an unreadable look on his face. Mattea didn’t say anything, either. Eyeing Wayne’s strong build, she pursed her purple lips, curious what he was packing. If his asset turned out to be impressive, she would consider recommending him to her master, Lord of Lust.

Stop making creampuff with that bat of yours and look at the outside world. There are many demons with a third, fourth, or even eighth leg.

“Damn it, say something!”

“Enguema, in this chaotic world, demons should prioritize peace.”

“Yes, you’re Greed’s child. While Gluttony and Wrath are at war, he won’t do anything to you. Just give him part of your territory to avoid a disaster. That’s how an experienced demon should act.”

“...”

Which side are you two on?