Myths Reawakened

Demons didn’t grant wishes. That was a genie’s job. Demons only used people’s ambitions for their own goals.

Mattea believed Lily to be a potential asset, so she had handed Lily a namecard when they first met. This was their second time seeing each other.

“You needn’t be this reserved, Lily. Relax. I don’t eat women.” Mattea tilted her head, her purple eyes deep like a pond. It seemed like she could see through human hearts. “The gun in your purse can’t kill me. I’ll allow you to keep a weapon for self-defense, but I don’t want to see you make a fool of yourself. Do you understand?”

Lily tensed, but quickly calmed herself. “You’ve misunderstood me. I’m not naive enough to believe that a handgun could kill a demon. This is for taking my own life.”

“You won’t.”

“What?”

“You won’t kill yourself. Humans do not stop until their dreams have become reality. You have faith, so you’re strong enough to deny death.” Mattea was an experienced demon. She could easily manipulate her.

“Just like you, I once witnessed the fall of my country and lost my people to a war,” Mattea continued with a smile. “There was nothing I could do but watch everything fall apart.”

“My country has not been conquered!”

“But it will soon, won’t it?” Mattea shook her head. “The reports from the frontline paint an increasingly bleak picture. Franc made a deadly mistake. Your leader is a clown. There’s no way for Franc to turn the tide. This land will fall.”

“Don’t look down on our defense line!” Lily insisted, but not even she believed that. Her words and handgun were the only things projecting a strong image, nothing else.

Mattea savored the joy of rubbing salt in her wound. “The defense line will be torn from the other side. Franc’s defeat is set in stone. You’ll soon receive news that the frontline has fallen. The leadership of Franc lacked any unity, and her policies were self-contradictory. To save the country, you have to rely on yourself.”

“We have an ally!”

Mattea laughed. “Ally? Windsor, Franc’s old friend over the past century?”

“Yes.” Lily nodded vehemently. Wayne, who had Francan blood, was in Windsor. She believed that he wouldn’t just stay on the sidelines. He would certainly do something.

“I’ve read about him...” Mattea gracefully lit a cigarette. She knew that Lily held a false hope about a colleague of hers, so she shattered that hope with a smile. “Power is the greatest poison in the world, far more insidious than a demon. You must know that he’s not coming back. He has everything in Windsor. Why would he return to Franc? Just because the president would award him with a badge of honor?”

Lily didn’t know what to say. The intelligence agency also pessimistically believed that Wayne was already out of their control, and even if they were to re-establish contact, the best they could do was to appeal to him.

Threatening to expose him as a spy wouldn’t work now.

“Franc doesn’t have an ally, and she is no match for Prussia. Your country is destined to be conquered and enslaved.” Mattea looked at Lily and passed her a lit cigarette. “I see your talent. It tells me that only women can save this country.”

Lily took the cigarette. She stared blankly as the fire burned it to ashes. “At what price?”

“Falling to Hell!” Mattea said slowly. “Either you go to Hell, or your country and people meet hell. There’s no other possibility.”

“My fall alone will save Franc? You’ve overestimated me.”

“Oh, no. You’ve underestimated yourself. You have talent, only it hasn’t been tapped.”

“What talent?”

“The talent to become a demon.” Mattea approached Lily until her wide-brimmed hat covered her. “I can smell the Blood of Hell in your body. You’ll become a powerful demon, and with that power, you can change everything.”

Lily’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that.

“I was going to wait for you to determine your future as your own master, but we’re running out of time,” Mattea murmured. “Prussia’s march isn’t the only thing to be worried about. There are also demons who crave to turn Franc into a purgatory of blood. You must make the decision tonight.”

Lily’s breathing quickened. The seductive face suddenly pulled at her. Though she was a woman, she couldn’t help but want to claim Mattea.

Mattea hadn’t used magic to tempt Lily. The fact that she had shown up meant she had already made up her mind.

Lily raised her trembling hand to put the cigarette between her red lips, taking a deep inhale. “I know I lack talent. You must be lying to me. However, I do crave the power to save my home country. For that, I’ll even make a deal with a demon.”

“You’ll succeed.”

Mattea placed her hands on Lily’s shoulders, vanishing with her.

***

Saint Sulpice Cathedral.

Archbishop Theo knelt before the cross devotedly, confessing that he had defected and become the demons’ pawn. In one corner of the nave stood two men and one woman, each of whom was ten out of ten in appearance by human standards.

Their names in the human world were Pedro, Derrida, and Serceris. Their real names in Heaven were Auriel, Fred, and Olga. They had reincarnated into the human world to find the Anointed One, banishing demons while they were at it.

Since this matter concerned the Gate of Hell, they had to intervene.

Fred and Olga were Thrones. Though they were considered higher-tier angels, they were among the lesser ones in the tier, barely making them part of the leadership. Auriel, on the other hand, was a Seraph and one of the Four Śārim, representing earth of the four elements and Generosity of the Seven Sacred Virtues.

He led his own legion of angels, his status second only to the Heavenly Father and His right hand, Mikhael. Auriel rivaled Hesione in rank, and because he was a fast ally of Mikhael, he had a strained relationship with Hesione.

It all came down to jealousy.

Hesione held the place on the left side of the divine throne. Because many of the angels could not take Heavenly Father’s words, she was responsible for passing down His message. She might not be the strongest in Heaven, but she was undoubtedly the most favored by the Heavenly Father.

On the other hand, Mikhael, the strongest angel, was the second in command in Heaven. That left Auriel and Lahr, the other two Śārim, in an awkward position.

Lahr, at least, was in charge of archiving the prophecies contained in the Heavenly Father’s oracles. Lahr was thus the one who translated the prophecy about the descent of the Anointed One. Auriel, on the other hand, enjoyed neither the Heavenly Father’s favor nor special status in Heaven. The prophecy had nothing to do with him. To prevent the three strongest Cherubim from replacing him, he could only lower his pride and serve Mikhael as his subordinate.

It wasn’t a humiliating thing to do in a workplace!

“Śār Auriel, Frey’s left,” Olga/Serceris said, standing tall and slim beside him.

Frey was Hestia’s name in Heaven. Once a reincarnated angel awakened their memories, they would stop calling their fellow angels by their human names in private.

Just like Hestia, Olga was a beauty. She had full, glossy naturally curly blonde hair that cascaded like waves. Her white robe hugged a nice figure that would attract envy. Her serene temperament was in stark contrast from Hestia’s hot temper.

There was another way they seemed like polar opposites. Hestia had such a voluptuous figure that it was difficult not to look at her in a lewd light, while Olga’s figure was just right, and her quiet elegance exuded the reserved charm of intelligence.

Olga was Mikhael’s direct subordinate. After confirming who Auriel was, she started working for him. Derrida/Fred had been a member of Auriel’s legion, so after his awakening, he returned to his rightful place, serving the Śār, which led to Wayne’s information being handed over to Auriel, too.

Hestia had never told Fred about who Wayne was in Heaven, but Auriel could make an educated guess. Mikhael had seen Hesione descend. Auriel quickly deduced that Hestia had to be returning to her superior.

“Leave her. Keeping her around would only allow her to leak our information. It’s easier without her...”

“Hesione’s in Palis. After being reincarnated into a man, his personality has undergone a complete change. I look forward to meeting him. I’d like to see what he’s learned in the human world.”

Auriel crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall. He was so handsome that his existence alone was a knock on one’s ego, and only the most thick-skinned men would compare themselves to him.

“Śār, Sir Hesione is incredibly powerful,” Fred said with a frown. “It seems that he’s been awake for a long time. There must be a reason he’s been avoiding contact with us.”

“Are you worried that he’s found the Anointed One?”

“Yes.”

“...” x3

The Anointed One was Heaven’s future and the successor appointed by the Heavenly Father. Whoever found the Anointed One would gain unrivaled status by association. If Mikhael found the Anointed One, he would continue to be Heaven’s Viceroy. If it was Hesione, Mikhael would have to yield his seat to Hesione.

It was normal for new blood to replace old employees in a workplace. A new leader would definitely put new faces in charge.

“Your concern is warranted. After all... his personality has changed so much that he seems like a different person.”

The Hesione that Fred had described had nothing in common with the one Auriel knew. If it wasn’t an intentional act, Hesione must have landed on his head when he descended, thus going through a personality change.

It was more likely that he had been putting on an act. Moreover, Hesione might have avoided the other reincarnated angels because he had found the Anointed One in Londan and hidden him.

Speaking of Londan, Auriel narrowed his eyes. A few days ago, Olga had brought a descendant of Saint George to them—Mikhael’s descendant during his stay in the human world. According to the woman, Windsor had undergone a regime change. The Lando family was the one in charge.

Who was part of the Lando family? Wayne Lando!

That was Hesione’s name as a human.

The truth was revealed. Hesione was too cowardly to bare his teeth at Mikhael back in Heaven, so after reincarnation, he went after Mikhael’s descendants. He stole the Crown and banished the Prince and the Princess.

The pieces were falling in place!

“We’ll head straight to Londan after dealing with the demons in Palis,” Auriel said.

“Śār, Sir Hesione has the element of surprise, while we’re out in the open. It’d be wise not to clash with him,” Fred said politely, trying to persuade his superior in a roundabout way. Wayne had saved him once. If possible, he hoped the two Śārim wouldn’t allow their conflicts in Heaven to bleed into the human world.

“Fred, Sir Hesione made his move first,” Olga said faintly. She was part of Mikhael’s legion and would not tolerate seeing her superior’s descendants being subject to such humiliation without retaliating.

“But the Princess has given up,” Fred said, trying again. “She doesn’t want to reinstate her family’s rule. She just wants to go to Heaven.”

“There’s still the Prince,” Olga said with a smile.

It was a sound argument Fred couldn’t argue against. He decided to follow his leader.

“We have to go to Londan, not just to seek justice for the Windsor family, but also to ensure the Anointed One’s safety.” Auriel’s expression turned icy as he looked up at the dark clouds hovering above the cathedral’s dome. “Such powerful Hell energy and such a large group of demons about to descend... Hesione wants us to eliminate the threats for him. He’s truly changed.”

“Changed for the worse!”

Auriel’s lips curled into a sneer. “We don’t know how much memory he’s recovered. If he’s not strong enough, it’ll be too dangerous for him to be the one guarding the Anointed One. I should take on the duty instead... Get ready. Let’s visit him now.”

“As you command!”