Myths Reawakened

Some time ago, Lord of Envy had eagerly shared a heavenly joke in Hell, saying that he had encountered a Śār in the human world, and that the angel had lost her purity after being reincarnated into a human.

It didn’t sound like anything special. Even Śārim made mistakes. However, if the angel in question was Hesione, it would be entertainment great enough to warrant a celebration. In their joy, the Seven Demon Lords would gather all seventy-two demon lords to have an orgy in the Lord of Lust’s territory. Envy would even pay the bill before Pride did!

Hesione represented purity—the purity of all angels. Any other Śārim could make the human mistake, but not her. It was a slippery slope she shouldn’t have been anywhere close to.

It was a big deal! Her loss of purity was a curse on all of Heaven and a blessing to all of Hell. Whoever had taken her purity would’ve made such a great achievement to warrant the status of the Eighth Deadly Sin.

It should’ve been not only an entertaining revelation, but also Hell’s great victory. They should all be cheering.

However, it was so absurd that after the Lord of Pride questioned it, the other five demon lords agreed that it was too unbelievable.

With the sarcastic ones and the manipulative ones directing the conversation, the Lord of Envy was subject to the jeers of his peers, labeled as vain, deceitful, and foolish.

He didn’t mind the first two labels since those were considered compliments in Hell, but being told he was foolish? That he should keep his fake heavenly joke to himself for his own amusement rather than try to fool the others like they were idiots?

Purity has lost purity? Does that count as a joke? It’s clearly a humiliation of our intelligence!

They mocked him, telling him not to fool himself in his daydreaming. The demon lords’ laughter filled the council hall, creating a lively atmosphere.

Envy didn’t feel the same. He seethed and seethed some more. He told the six demon lords to wait. Though Hell wasn’t a kind place, justice would be served. He would personally bring Hesione from the slippery slope to Hell, along with the human mage who had taken her purity. Then Envy would make them perform live for all residents of Hell to prove that he had not lied, and he definitely hadn’t been daydreaming.

For that, he sent his pride and joy, the angel of Hell, to the human world, believing that victory would be the only outcome. Yet the fallen angel was killed, and Envy lost it.

He had become the latest laughingstock in Hell!!!

In fact, he had been the biggest laughingstock in Hell in recent memory. From the top demon lords to the weakest good-for-nothing demons, everyone hailed Envy as THE person of interest in Hell, bar none. Even Pride would come second.

The reason was none other than how the Lord of Envy had rejuvenated the stagnant Hell and brought joy to it. In that, Pride would readily acknowledge Envy as superior.

Then he would burst out laughing.

Envy had always been petty. He couldn’t possibly stomach the humiliation. The nonstop jeer from his archenemy, Pride, further fueled his fury. He wouldn’t stop until he found a way to go to the human world.

A regular descent method wouldn’t be good enough for him. Even Milne, the fallen angel, had died after his descent. That told Envy that he would only meet another humiliation if he descended the regular way. Only by going through the Gate of Hell could his descent be perfect, allowing him to maintain access to his Authority in Hell in the human world.

Thus, the demon alliance drew his eyes.

No one could say no to one of the Seven Demon Lords. The Big Three had no choice but to let Envy’s subordinates modify the gate and the underground catacombs.

The blueprints kept evolving, and the scale of the expansion was extraordinary. No one knew what Envy was planning. If the Big Three didn’t have the head of Rognes, the Death Knight, giving them the flexibility to go aggressive or defensive, they would’ve pulled out of the operation.

Envy joined the team with his own investment, leaving the members of the alliance aggrieved. They snapped at the demon lord for stealing the fruit of their labor while keeping a smile on their faces, asking Envy if he was satisfied with the progress of the construction. If not, the low-level members would continue to work overtime.

Despite their dissatisfaction, the demon lord was too powerful for them to criticize him. The same was true for the Big Three, whose shares had been diluted. They comforted themselves that with Envy on their side, the alliance had become stronger, and they no longer had to fear that the opening of the gate would be interrupted. See? Auriel had appeared all of a sudden, catching the Big Three off guard. They immediately alerted Envy, a demon who could rival the Śār.

Śār Auriel vs. Envy of the Seven Demon Lords!

Auriel frowned at Envy. When he learned that the Gate of Hell was most likely going to open in Palis, he had realized that a demon lord was behind the operation, so he wasn’t surprised to see Envy here.

Though he hadn’t recovered all his power, neither had Envy.

Without his Authority, even one of the Seven Demon Lords would be easy pickings in the human world. Auriel could even take on all the demons here and come out on top, not to mention Lord of Envy alone.

He’d got this!

“Auriel, you’ve descended too,” Lord of Envy glared at Stolas for sending an unclear message. Then he said with a raised eyebrow, “Strange, why would Heaven go as far as sending two Śārim? Why are you in the human world? To start a war of faiths?”

The last time Heaven and Hell were at war, the four Śārim had invaded Hell and crushed the Seven Demon Lords. Hell ended up sealed, and demons could no longer come and go in the human world at will. Descending became a tall task, and they couldn’t retain even one hundredth of their power after the process.

The demon bloods in the human world had also been wiped out by the Church of Heavenly Father. Werewolves and vampires became fictional creatures that only existed in novels.

In that war, Heaven had effectively destroyed Hell’s faith in the mortal realm.

Heaven wouldn’t have sent two Great Angels just to go against Hell. By sending half of Heaven’s force, they had to be after something greater.

Envy’s imagination ran wild. He suspected that Heaven was planning to eliminate all the heretics to monopolize the faith of the Chosen Land once more.

“Interesting. I like war, but now...” Envy clenched his teeth furiously. “Where’s Hesione? Get her over here. I’m going to expose her false purity before everyone.”

Damn it, the Seven Demon Lords know already!

Auriel’s face paled. The world seemed to spin around him. What he was most worried about had happened.

“The last time I descended, I realized that she was involved with a human mage and had lost her purity to him. Because I didn’t have proof, no one would believe me. They called me deceitful and vain, accusing me of fooling myself. Those fricking...”

“#%Fxxk...*〒￡※...凸(╰д╯)ψ...envious of me...”

Envy cursed up a storm like a machine gun sputtering bullets. Auriel gaped. He didn’t understand the source of Envy’s fury, but he understood one thing: although Envy had seen the truth, the truth was so absurd that none of the other demon lords believed him.

Wonderful. The demon lords were unwilling to go with the flow and believe whatever they heard. What a nice bunch of demon lords they were.

Pride would be proud of his manipulation.

Auriel relaxed, his expression no longer ashen. If Envy had started with that, he wouldn’t have been frightened.

“Envy, look at your envious face,” he scoffed. “Stop speaking nonsense. Hesione is the Śār of purity, whose reputation must not be tainted. This is a provocation to Heaven. I’ll accept your challenge!”

“This isn't a provocation, Auriel. We’re old friends. You know me. I don’t lie. I don’t twist truths!” Envy implored with red eyes, raising his voice in an attempt to convince the angel.

“Ha, are you sure you never lie?”

“Not this time, at least!”

“Sorry, demons have lost all credibility!”

Auriel sneered, telling Envy to stop making up nonsense and just draw his weapon to welcome his death.

Auriel represented Generosity in the Seven Sacred Virtues, corresponding to Greed, so he wasn’t Envy’s official mortal enemy. In fact, the angels of the Seven Sacred Virtues didn’t see the demons with the corresponding sins as archenemies. Heaven and Hell were mortal enemies to begin with. There was no point in pairing any two of them.

When they saw each other, they fought!

Their two current leaders, Mikhael, Viceroy of Heaven, and Lord of Pride, the leading demon lord of Hell, were a good example. Mikhael represented Humility, while Pride was, well, prideful. They always went head-to-head in battle, not because humility was the opposite of pride, or that they were fated enemies, but because they were the strongest in their respective factions. It would be an insult for them to fight anyone else.

Back to the present, Auriel didn’t want to listen to the Lord of Envy speak another word. The more the demon said, the more the other demons might believe him. Heaven’s reputation was on the line. For political correctness, Auriel would protect Hesione’s reputation.

“I know demons have no credibility, but I’m telling the truth,” Envy said with even greater rage. “Hesione is no longer pure. If you don’t believe me, just seek Hesione out. She’s here in the human world.”

“You’re still speaking nonsense!” Auriel scoffed contemptuously. “Hesione is a he rather than a she now. You haven’t even figured that out, and you claimed that you’ve met him? Your foolishness is pitiful. You almost made me laugh.”

Olga and Fred cracked a dismissive smile, which almost made Envy spontaneously combust from rage. At this moment, he resented how demons had destroyed their credibility. If those bastards hadn’t been breaking promises so much, his words wouldn’t have been taken as lies.

He would even swear to the Heavenly Father that Hesione was no longer pure...

“Hahahaha—”

Envy’s frustration suddenly gave way to surprise, and then ecstasy.

“Good, good. You’re here. You’ve come at the right time!”

Envy raised his arms and tilted his head back with hysterical laughter, staring at Auriel with crimson eyes. “Hesione is in the catacombs. You don’t believe me, you said? Then I’ll take her here so that all of you will see her impurity.”

His volatile thoughts rushed down. The space of the catacombs, which he had reforged, was distorted, and following a series of flashes, two figures appeared.

Hesione and Hestia!

After his two failures, Envy had made quite a lot of preparation for this descent, investing a great amount of effort and resources with no regard for the consequences of using up half his assets. The catacombs were now an extension of his territory in Hell, no different from a Divine Domain. Here, he could bypass Heaven’s seal and use most of his power as a demon lord.

His goal was simple: to ensure that he could descend in perfect form and capture Hesione and Wayne after the Gate of Hell opened.

Envy had waited a long time for this chance. He wanted to prove himself—not his power, but the fact that he hadn’t lied despite being a demon.

Hesione and Hestia suddenly found themselves with Auriel, away from Wayne. They had no time to be surprised when they saw the group of demons led by the Lord of Envy. Immediately, they stood with Auriel, Olga, and Fred.

“You’ve come, Hesione.” Auriel looked at her coldly. She appeared exactly five minutes after he entered the catacombs. Wayne had to be the one who had sold him out several times over the past few days.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Śār Auriel,” Hesione said seriously. “I’m Mona. Nothing else matters when we’re facing demons.”

Shameless! Auriel hissed silently. That demon has not only tainted your body, but also your soul!