Myths Reawakened

Since the chance to visit a goddess’s palace wasn’t easy to come by, Wayne didn’t head straight to the entrance of the ruin, but strolled around and found his way to what seemed like a bedroom. He just wanted to know whether there was a shelf and whether there was a diary on it.

After a while, he found nothing save for a closet filled with silver robes in a room that seemed like an altar.

“All four are the same style. The goddess has a boring taste. Still, Siluk would be assuming Galen’s body every time she has a vacation in this palace, so these should be Galen’s clothes...”

Wayne mumbled to himself. No matter whose clothes it was, he couldn’t walk out empty-handed.

He tossed the robes into his personal storage, considering them Siluk’s clothes. “All outerwear and no underwear?” he grumbled. “What is the goddess thinking? Is this what they call divine liberation?”

“Tsk, despite being a goddess, She wears nothing under Her holy robe. How classy!”

Wayne commented as he walked around, dissatisfied with the lack of loot. He suspected that Siluk had already cleaned up before his visit, or the room would be covered in trash, and the laundry basket would be filled with dirty clothes. In fact, the goddess might have smelly feet, and when She tossed Her socks on the ground, they would remain standing.

“Ha!”

“Wayne knows that it’s wrong to slander the goddess, so he only thinks about it in his internal monologue rather than speaking it out loud,” Wayne said out loud as he moved.

The City of the Sky was cleaner than Wayne’s face. He found nothing, so he could only speak ill of the goddess in return.

He followed the map to the rear palace and immediately saw a magical archway of moon phases. He thought back to his youth when he, a nobody then, saw the three portals at the hunky men’s gym.

He pressed a hand to the archway and injected it with silverish mana of Moonlight. It glowed radiantly, guiding him inside.

The world spun around him. Then he saw a vast ocean and a green pillar rising from the center of the ocean to the sky. The sun and moonlight hung high in the sky, casting two different-colored lights.

Without hesitation, he soared through the sky.

***

High above, an ancient city stood erect in the wildland of vines with the white clouds as the ground. Inside, the palaces had fallen into ruin, with vines wrapping around the buildings that resembled a temple, blending in with the natural environment.

In the heart of the city was an open courtyard for public discussions that had survived the wear of time. Dozens of columns made a circle around the courtyard, with a sculpture of a deity at the bottom of every column. Some appeared mysterious with their robe concealing them, some looked glorious with fitted armor, and some wielded a staff, shield, sword, or arrow.

The light of the sun and the moon interwove and illuminated the courtyard, creating a quiet, subversive atmosphere for the volatile, epic era. The bases of the statues were inscribed with the names of the divines, commemorating the pioneers in evolution.

Five figures crossed the courtyard. Every time they passed by a statue, they stopped to talk about it for a moment.

“Sovereign of the Underworld...” Solsknar frowned. “Which god is this? What an arrogant name. Why have I never heard of it? Must be someone the Goddess of Death has defeated.”

“No, the robe fails to conceal the graceful curves, so this has to be a woman,” Hayner speculated. “Could this be the Goddess of Death’s old name?”

“Perhaps.”

“The Most Supreme Light...” Gauche laughed, shaking his head. “This name is even more arrogant and is a direct challenge to Heaven. I bet that this one was killed by the Heavenly Father during the War of Faiths.”

“God of Fire...”

“God of Winter...”

“Witch of the Ocean...”

“Sovereign of the Deep Sea...”

“Lord of the Great Ocean...”

“Wait, did you notice?” Sid pointed out the inconsistency. “There used to be many demigods related to the water elements, yet there isn’t a god related to water in the Life Alliance.”

“You’re right.”

There were eight deities related to the ocean here, which would account for a significant part of the Life Alliance.

“Water is the source of life,” Solsknar said. “The ocean below proves how important water is to life, yet all these demigods related to water in the Life Alliance failed their evolution...” He turned to the others in question. “What’s going on? Did they just fail collectively, or did some of the goddesses purposefully prevent the emergence of a god of the ocean?”

“Have you considered that the ocean already has a master, named the Sea God?” Wayne interrupted.

“The Sea God...”

The five demigods fell into thought before shaking their heads. Sai turned to Wayne and said, “I’ve never heard of the Sea God. You, I don’t recognize you. Are you...”

“Who the heck are you?!”

The five demigods started. At some point, a stranger had infiltrated their ranks. There would be no random passerby in the ruin of the Life Alliance. He had to be an enemy!

Sai, Gauche, Sid, and Hayner stepped back without hesitation, allowing Solsknar, their leader, to represent them. They were thieves who had gone through the back door, and the three goddesses of the Life Alliance were the true owners. They kept this legacy to cultivate their subordinate gods. The stranger who had shown up uninvited had to be a subordinate god of one of the goddesses or a powerful demigod who would become a subordinate god.

Speak of the devil, and the devil comes. They had been worried about running into the three goddesses, and not long after, their subordinate showed up. Was it too late to kill the man?

“It’s you!”

Solsknar’s eyes widened at Wayne.

“I should be the one to say the line. Really? You again?[1]”

Wayne looked at Solsknar in exasperation. If memory served, this was his third time meeting the Devourer. He didn’t understand why they always ran into each other.

It was one thing to run into him at the headquarters of the Church of Darkness, but this was the Life Alliance’s old base, and only the Goddess of Nature, the Goddess of Sun, and the Goddess of Moonlight held a key to the door. Solsknar was a subordinate of the Goddess of Darkness. There was no reason for him to show up here.

What? Ines used to be part of the Life Alliance with the infamous title of the Plague of Stars, and She made a copy of the key before Her departure?

Fine, then!

Wayne felt even more exasperated. Before he came here, he had shown Ines the map. She told him about the ruin of the Life Alliance and made an extra investment. Then She warned him to stay away from Nature and not believe the Sun and Moonlight, adding that Death was up to no good.

In other words, all goddesses other than Ines were wenches who wouldn’t bat an eye before destroying someone, so he’d better not let them gain leverage against him.

Before, Wayne wouldn’t have bought any of the caring words out of Her mouth, but Ines had given him too much. The Darkness She offered him wasn’t just a regular investment made in exchange for returns. Moreover, Wayne had knocked Ines into returning to the Divine Realm earlier, introducing an undefined element to their relationship. It seemed like they were following the trajectory of the enemies-to-lovers trope.

Wayne had thought that Ines had changed, that She had gone from plotting behind the scenes to using open schemes to get what She wanted, but She still set him up through the map.

Was it a plot against him or Solsknar? Would She not stop until the unlucky guy died?

“Who is he, Solsknar? Do you know each other?” The four demigods raised their guard.

“He’s the rival that the goddess arranged for me.” Solsknar waved his black sleeve, putting some distance between him and Wayne. “Only by defeating him could I become a subordinate god.”

“No, that’s what you believe. I never intend to become Darkness’s subordinate god.” Wayne made a face. After that thrust, Ines probably wouldn’t want him even if he wanted to be Her subordinate god.

The disciplinary teacher was a good actress who could be dignified or seductive, but at the end of the day, She was a prideful goddess. She would not and could not have a subordinate god who had done it with her.

If Wayne submitted himself to her, She would silence him by killing him, severing their relationship. With someone as assertive as Her, he had to either keep his distance or go further, taming Her with irresistible force.

Be a simp? Ha, simps never fare well!

Of course, it was possible that the Goddess of Darkness would make him a subordinate god in the heat of the moment because she wanted to toy with him for a thousand years before killing him.

“Stop lying,” Solsknar snapped. “You showed up every time I sought progress. That’s too much of a coincidence. You are my rival!”

“I’m really not...” Wayne spread his hands. “It’s too complicated. I’ll refrain from speaking ill of your goddess. You just have to know that I never want to become Her subordinate god, and I’m not your enemy.”

“Do you really think I’ll believe that?”

“Why not? It won’t cost anything.”

“That only makes it more unbelievable!”

“...”

Wayne couldn’t argue with such a sound argument.

“Solsknar, the goddess had to have commanded the Listener to allow you to enter the ruin of the Life Alliance. Your rival’s appearance must be the goddess’s doing, too,” Sai said coldly. “The goddess has set the stage. Whichever of you defeats the other would gain the legacy of the Life Alliance and become the goddess’s third subordinate god.”

Hayner, her twin brother, agreed, “You have the four of us helping you. It’s now or never. Don’t hesitate and don’t get hung up on fairness!”

Sid and Gauche echoed their sentiment, urging Solsknar to put aside his pride since the winner would take all. There was no despicable winner, but only stubborn, foolish losers.

“Don’t worry. I know that better than you do!” Solsknar gave them a pointed look and surrounded Wayne alongside the four demigods, scoffing. “I thought the goddess favored you more, but based on how She placed you in my way, She must approve of me to become the Devourer, Her subordinate god!”

“Have you considered that the five of you have been surrounded by me instead?” Wayne warned him in a roundabout way. If possible, he would like to avoid hurting the five demigods.

Putting aside that thrust, Ines was his second biggest investor, second only to the Goddess of Death. He had no reason to beat up his investor’s people after taking Her money. Even if his investor wanted him to get rid of the five demigods for Her, he didn’t want to do it.

Wayne hadn’t spent a lot of time with Solsknar, but he had taken a liking to him. The idiot was entertaining. Wayne had been thoroughly amused when he spoke ill of Ines right in Ines’s face.

The fact that they kept crossing paths had nothing to do with fate. Ines had been pitting them against each other and would not stop until one of them took down the other.

The old Wayne would’ve done it, but now... he no longer saw Solsknar as competition. They weren’t mortal enemies, and battling among themselves would be pointless. It was better to sit down and have tea as they talked behind Ines’s back together.

Wayne had even come up with the lines. You may not believe it, but your goddess is quite soft, and She’s got a sweet voice.

Solsknar didn’t want to listen to more of Wayne’s nonsense. Glancing at his four powerful companions and then at Wayne, who was all alone, his smile grew brighter.

“Don’t complain that I’m bullying you, kid,” he sneered. “I’ll make it clear before we get started. We’re rivals, while the four of them are helping me to avenge Vichy!”

When they heard that Solsknar was still trying to claim the moral high ground, the demigods smothered a sigh and nodded in agreement. They had come for revenge.

“That’s even less reason for you to fight me. Vichy’s alive. She’s playing cards at her home!”

“Kid, don’t make a fool of yourself with such lies. You’re humiliating yourself while humiliating your enemies,” Solsknar said seriously. “I’m Solsknar, your rival in becoming the Devourer. State your name!”

“Wayne.” Wayne shook his head. Since no one would believe him, he would have to make them believe. He was certain that the five demigods would calm down once they saw his argument.

“Wayne...” Solsknar took a deep breath. Overwhelming mana of Darkness radiated from him and solidified space around him. His eyes were a fierce red as he declared, “You came at the wrong time. My four companions and I can all use vitality domains. Your talent will meet an end here and now.”

“Let’s hope so...” Wayne shook his fist. “Since you have the advantage in number, what do you say about letting me move first?”

“I’ll even let you make ten moves first!” Gauche said with a laugh.

“If you’re so brave, let’s start with you.” Wayne turned to Gauche, extending his three-meter-wide vitality field.

After a pause, Gauche broke into a grin. “Solsknar, you aren’t joking, are you? You didn’t say your rival is a legendary mage.”

“No, he’s serious. You’ll learn soon enough.” Wayne laughed too.

Before his laughter faded, he vanished into thin air, leaving only an afterimage.

1. The original is ‘how old are you’ written in English. It’s a meme phrase from the word-for-word, intentionally wrong translation of “怎麼 (how/why) 老 (old) 是 (is/are) 你 (you)”, which means “Why is it always you?” ☜