Myths Reawakened

Wayne shot Reza a glare. “Let me be frank. I’m the only one who can glare at people here, and I’m the only one who can interrupt people!”

“Śār Hesione, please stop toying with this subordinate,” Reza said bitterly. “You’re one of the Seven Sacred Virtues, representing purity. You could never lose your purity. You had to be joking.”

“Joking?” Wayne scoffed. “Mona is already pregnant. Do you think I’ll joke about a life?”

Reza gulped. The Papal State had been trying to secure descendants of angels to contract with stronger combatants through biological connections. Now that they had secured a top angel in Heaven, though, the Pontiff couldn’t even smile.

“Would I go to Hell, Śār?”

“No, since going to Hell is punishment to others, but to you, it’s just going home,” Wayne praised sarcastically. “Your achievements would earn you the seat of the eighth deadly sin, and even Pride would have to serve you tea.”

Reza felt the world spin around him. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t say anything.

Should he try to build connections and confirm the demon lords’ stances now before it was too late? Then he would just move to Hell?

“You seem to be having thoughts that were against your faith!”

Wayne huffed. He could see that the Pontiff embodied every sin in the world, making him a black sheep even amidst degenerate mages. Someone like him could see better than anyone from his high seat. While pontificating about justice, he believed not a word out of his own mouth. He saw the world clearly.

He was a snake, a veteran one!

Wayne strongly suspected that the Pontiff didn’t have one secretary, but an army of professional secretaries.

“Do I still have a chance to redeem myself, Śār?”

“Not theoretically, no.”

So there is a chance!

Seeing the ray of hope in the dark, Reza grasped it and said respectfully, “Śār, how am I going to redeem myself?”

“How did you become the Pontiff? And you call yourself the head of the Papal State? Do you need me to teach you something this simple?”

“Um...”

Since when has Heaven become like this? Reza thought bitterly.

“Heaven is no different from the human world. It’s never been any different!” Wayne nodded solemnly, confirming Reza’s speculation.

With the Śār’s confirmation, Reza’s heart finally stopped sinking, but it also felt dead. He was relieved because it turned out that he wouldn’t be sentenced to death. He only had to set fire to the warehouse and frame the demons—it wouldn’t be the first time. In the Papal State’s long history, there had always been a demonic invasion every time the ruler changed.

His heart felt dead because he was in a sour mood. While he was a veteran snake, he still longed for Heaven. In his youth, he had imagined a flawless sacred land, and the fantasy remained in the depths of his heart as his sanctuary.

But now, his sanctuary was tainted. He didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh.

Experienced as he was, the Pontiff still politely invited Wayne into his house. More precisely, it was the Śār’s palace in the human world. The Pontiff was at best the butler, and the rest of the clergy the servants.

“Don’t make a commotion. I’m here for a mission.” Wayne’s expression turned vicious. “The woman inside is the Holy Maiden of the Church of Death, but she now follows me. I’ll knock down the evil faith of the Church of Death through her and weed out the heretics from the Chosen Land.”

Reza nodded, but he wasn’t convinced.

Faith wasn’t about the exchange of blows, but the exchange of interests. Only when interests cannot be exchanged properly due to disagreements would blows be traded.

Since Heaven was just like the mortal realm, the Śār had to know what he, the Pontiff, knew. The noble declaration was merely lip service for appearance’s sake.

“Thank you for your hard work in eradicating heretics, Śār.”

“It’s not hard work for me. Those of you getting your hands dirty are the hardworking ones.” Wayne patted the old man on the shoulder. “Get a few clever ones to stage a conflict with her, but make sure that the conflict doesn’t escalate too far or too little. Just do enough to make the news spread.”

When dealing with a smart subordinate, a concise instruction would suffice.

In important business, especially, it was key to be blunt, or the subordinate might fill in the wrong details with their imagination and end up doing more harm than good.

When doing something improper, on the other hand, it was best to be indirect so that the subordinates would imagine the rest. It was a way to shirk blame when needed. The superior could claim that they meant well, but their subordinates had made a mistake in execution.

Reza was shrewd enough to understand the unspoken words. “I’ll make the arrangements. Please come this way. I’ll show you the beautiful scenery in the Papal State.”

“I’ll skip the clergywomen. I’ve quit.”

“Rest assured, Śār, I’ll never repeat the same mistake,” Reza said solemnly.

“Then I have no concern.”

***

The Papal State was divided into three layers: the one perceived by the general public, the one perceived by the clergy, and the one perceived by the Pontiff.

Some clergy members would never see the real Papal State in their lifetime.

Even the Papal State as perceived by regular people was an esoteric land that could only be described as radiantly magnificent. From above, the core area of the Papal State appeared to be a heavenly site adorned with gold and gems.

Every tile and every dome was suffocatingly luxurious and glorious, as if they had been built by melting down innumerable gold coins. Sunlight lingered in this patch of land, taking shape as a great gemstone that adorned the Chosen Land.

There were dignified, hallowed palaces, lavish courtyards, masterfully created sculptures, and lifelike murals... The incredible extravagance made the place the most artistic architecture in all of the Chosen Land. Even the air in the Papal State could be described as ‘golden’!

In the clergy’s words, the dogs in the Papal State should be grateful that they had been born there, too!

The Papal State that Wayne saw was the one the Pontiff saw. It wasn’t just expensive. A random plot of land here was more valuable than all of the Lando family’s assets combined.

Wayne followed Reza to the palace grounds. His eyes turned green from all the gold that greeted him. “Hmph, for you to call such a massive palace home, you must have dabbled in a fair share of embezzlement.”

“Śār, that’s a false accus—”

“If you’ve stolen, you have. I didn’t say that you can’t do it. If you don’t do it, how would the Thrones take from you? If the Thrones don’t take from you, how am I going to take from them? If I don’t take from them, how are you going to make any progress?”

Wayne interrupted Reza’s defensive response with no shame at all. “You must have looked into my track record in Londan. I’ve got nothing to hide. I did it. I’ve done quite a lot before my awakening, and I doubled down after my awakening. I, Hesione, am an impure angel by nature.”

Reza couldn’t believe it. He was already shameless, but the Śār was even more shameless than he was. No wonder he was the Śār!

If that weren’t the case, he would suspect that Wayne wasn’t Hesione. It wouldn’t make sense, though. Judging by how Auriel had acted, there was another Śār in the human world. Frey’s furious punches proved that it had to be Hesione.

As they walked in, two clergywomen appeared at the far side of the corridor, having been waiting for a while. The blonde, blue-eyed women were dressed in white clergy attire that hugged their curves. Both were top-tier beauties who could rival Wayne’s most stunning harem members.

This showed the accumulated power of the number one faction in the Chosen Land. The Pontiff could summon two incredible beauties at such short notice, and both were loyal and absolutely devoted.

They were Gold-ranked mages, more powerful and beautiful than Archibald’s clergywoman, Titus. They had to be among the finest tools in the Pontiff’s possession, employed only when welcoming the most distinguished guests.

“Look at you. You’ve made another mistake.” Wayne derisively put his arms around the two clergywomen’s waists with an ease that suggested experience. He was stopping at nothing to smear Hesione’s reputation.

The Śār had risen too far. If he didn’t knock her down a few pegs, she would fly away from him.

The clergywomen felt uncomfortable. They had been pure and had never gotten this intimate with the opposite sex.

Reza didn’t explain. His respectful demeanor was a clear enough indication of Wayne’s status. Religion made one foolish and blind. The two clergywomen immediately lost their discomfort when they realized that they were pilgrims in this relationship.

“Beautiful skin and steadfast souls...” Wayne pulled his hands back, addressing the two clergywomen. “You’ve passed the test. Your devotion is genuine, so as long as you don’t make a grave mistake, you’ll ascend to Heaven one day. Then, I’ll welcome you in person.”

The test was over. He dismissed them.

Reza sighed in relief. His test was over, but it was also just starting. He had the two clergywomen wait for further orders in the palace where Wayne would be residing tonight.

That was a typical example of a superior’s good intention being twisted by a subordinate’s execution.

Wayne had little interest in clergywomen since he already had one. All he cared about now was the Papal State’s warehouse. He worried that if he was a step too late, ‘demons’ would soon burn it down.

Reza broke into a cold sweat. It sounded like Wayne was going to take everything, which was beyond greedy. The other reincarnated angels at most took a few weapons and magical items that caught their attention. Wayne, on the other hand, would take everything indiscriminately, no matter the quality.

“Reza, are you criticizing me in your head?”

“This subordinate wouldn’t dare.”

“So you are doing that.” Wayne followed the Pontiff to the entrance of the warehouse. He deadpanned, “I’m saving you. Although demons would have to take the blame for the warehouse fire, the fact that you’ve orchestrated my fall and caused Purity to become impure is a much greater sin. You should be thanking me for taking from you!”

“You’re right, Śār.”

What could Reza possibly say? He just updated his perception of Heaven and obediently opened the door.

A Śār wouldn’t be stealing from the Papal State but simply taking back their personal belongings in the human world. It was different from demanding gifts.

The greed and arrogance of the ‘demon’ raiding the warehouse were notable, though. It had to be either the Lord of Greed or the Lord of Pride.

Actually, perhaps the two demon lords had hit the warehouse together, leaving with a full harvest.