Myths Reawakened

“The bastard is taking his sweet time...”

Bat Demon mounted the black dragon and soared up to the sky before coming down to the ground, swinging his longsword of grey mist toward the dragon’s neck, making the dragon writhe in pain.

Wayne had greater knowledge than Wrath. The Cantos of Pride alone could rival Wrath’s. While he could overpower Wrath, though, he couldn’t kill the great demon lord. Yep, there was nothing he could do. None.

He could wait for Pride, but the unreliable demon was rather tardy. He only had to think with his toes to figure out that Pride was getting pummeled by Gluttony with the justification that he had given ninety-nine percent of his power to his replica, leaving his main body unable to defeat other great demon lords.

Damn demon, selling your teammates out all the time. With you pests, how could the Seven Deadly Sins be great again?

Since Wayne wasn’t the one selling his teammates out, he labeled the action unwise and swung his swords furiously at the dragon’s head. With his mastery over the dragonslaying swordsmanship, he could slice up the great dragon easily. Unfortunately, his masterful techniques wouldn’t kill the great dragon.

Hum—

A white world descended with holy light and white clouds, accompanied by upright pillars. Amid the bell tolls, the surging holy intent was omnipresent.

It was the First Abyss, Heaven.

Heaven came down from the sky, suppressing the Land of Cycles from above. Holy light dispersed pain, and holy intent redeemed the sins. Looking at the presentation alone, it appeared that the First Abyss had subdued the other six abysses.

Wayne’s eyes widened. He didn’t understand why Pride had brought the First Abyss here.

When he heard Pride’s voice in his head, his expression turned strange.

“Bat Demon, what are you waiting for? Kill Wrath and come to my aid!”

“...”

Wayne didn’t know what to say. He decided that it was part of being a professional actor. Pride was quite a professional!

Fine, fine. If you are going to keep up the act, you’ll be Pride, the great perverted demon!

Wayne could actually kill Wrath. After becoming a demigod, his Book of Greed had evolved once more. Through contact, he could turn matter back into information and devour it to buff himself.

Envy had witnessed it in person, but the limit of his imagination prevented him from guessing the truth—the impossibility was beyond common sense. He had thus assumed that it was a common tactic employed by Astral life. He thought that Wayne, being a living weapon personally raised by two Śārim at the price of the Seven Sacred Virtues, would naturally get unusual results with orthodox methods.

Wayne knew the truth and the consequences of revealing the truth. What he was capable of was so horrifying that once revealed, he would have no place in this vast world. He could not expose himself until he held absolute power.

He would bet that Envy and the other demon lords were watching him right now!

Roooar—

Wrath’s growls woke Wayne up. Bat Demon swung his longsword and thrust the blade into the dragon’s back, hitting its heart accurately, sending it tumbling toward the ground in pain.

The two Abysses overlapped and offset each other, severely weakening Wrath. The great dragon howled in terror, unsure what had happened.

This wasn’t a seal. Pride was capable of killing him. But... why? Just because Heaven was Hell’s natural bane?

Impossible. If Heaven countered Hell, Hell countered Heaven, too. There were infinitely more supporters of the Seven Deadly Sins than those of the Seven Sacred Virtues.

Wayne didn’t know what Wrath was thinking. He just knew that the black dragon beneath him was weakening, and the intensity of its struggle... well, was quite thrilling to the culprit—him.

Slicing off the dragon’s head, he then used his dragonslaying swordsmanship to launch a flurry of attacks, cutting Wrath’s main body to pieces.

To Wayne’s surprise, Wrath had not come back to life immediately. His powerful thoughts were cut up along with his body, losing the connection to his body.

“Pride...”

Something was wrong with him!

Bat Demon’s six eyes narrowed to slits. There was no point in wondering about that now, though. He swung his sinful sword to cut the roasted great dragon into premium, regular, and waste cuts. Black flames spread and burned the dragon’s body and thoughts.

Amid pained howls and despairing curses, Wrath approached his breaking point. A Book of Hell flew out of the Land of Cycles, soaring out of the dark vortex toward Hell.

Wayne quickly shot out his long tail to grab it, devouring it in one bite.

Cantos of Wrath!

The vast amount of knowledge further empowered him. Before he could take care of the Land of Cycles, Heaven radiated sacred light, and another Abyss superimposed on it—it was the Sixth Abyss, the Throne of Pain.

Also appearing was a massive fly perched on the throne. The Lord of Flies showed human-like confusion. Gluttony didn’t understand what was going on, nor did Wayne. The only thing he knew was that Pride was more powerful than he had anticipated.

Almost like a god!

“Kekekeke—”

Pride scrambled to his feet with difficulty. “Bat Demon, good work. As expected of my replica. You took out Wrath so quickly.”

“Um...”

First, Wrath isn’t dead. Second, are you sure you want to keep treating me as your replica?

You’d better not regret it later!

The Lord of Flies looked at the devastated Land of Cycles in horror, taking some time to spot a trembling Wrath in a hidden corner. Only a small part of his thoughts remained. He was thoroughly beaten.

“You know me, Pride,” Gluttony implored. “Wrath had been tempting me. I see you as my leader from the bottom of my heart!”

Cut it. He’s not your leader, but a spy from Heaven, Wayne groused. He’s only going to lead the Seven Deadly Sins to surrender!

“Kekekeke—”

Pride spread his arms and basked in the holy intent of Heaven, regaining full power in the First Abyss. “Gluttony, let me tell you a secret only I’m privy to,” he said arrogantly. “Hell isn’t an inanimate thing. She has feelings, and the moment you and Wrath corrupted her, she abandoned you.”

In other words, he hadn’t defeated Gluttony and Wrath. He couldn’t. It was Hell that abandoned the traitor and brought them to their knees.

Like hell I’d believe you, old man! Wayne spat silently, but as Pride’s replica, he obediently laughed out loud in agreement.

“Kekekeke—”

Huh? Why is there only one track?

Wayne turned around to find Pride not laughing at all. Instead, Pride was glaring at him.

Who do you think you are? Pride seethed. Stop laughing like that!

“Pride, it’s only natural for your replica to have the same laugh as you!” Wayne shrugged. Pride was the one who wanted him as a replica.

Pride’s eyes twitched. He signaled the end of the argument with a huff.

“Kekekeke—” x2

***

I don’t believe you! x4

Far away from the council venue, Envy, Greed, Sloth, and Lust stiffened with fright. They did not buy a word out of Pride’s mouth.

“Is it possible that Pride... is already a great demon god?” Greed asked ruefully.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” Envy slammed the table and shot to his feet, falling back into his chair. “If Pride were already a god, we would have been reshaped by him. Were I or any of you the one to ascend to godhood, we would not allow weaklings to call themselves our equals.”

You’re right! x3

“But he’s so strong...” Sloth said stiffly.

Hell had feelings? Traitors would not be tolerated? Those were all lies. As one of the Seven Demon Lords, he had never heard anything like that before. Moreover, he had tried to save Wrath when he was first cut down, but he couldn’t break through the barrier imposed by the First Abyss, Heaven.

If he couldn’t get in, he wouldn’t be able to get out, either. That meant that if he was one day trapped in the First Abyss, Pride wouldn’t have to take care of him personally. Just like what he had done with Wrath, he could send Bat Demon to destroy him.

Sloth looked around. Envy looked envious, Greed looked nonchalant, and Lust looked like she was trying to keep her composure. It seemed that they had all tried to give Wrath a hand, but couldn’t... Actually, Lust might not have attempted it. After sleeping with Bat Demon for so long, she had become someone who only flaunted her charm to Pride. She had already been tamed.

Without Lust, Gluttony, and Wrath, the only ones who could go after Pride were he, Envy, and Greed...

There was no way he could defeat Pride with those two snakes.

Sloth slumped down on his chair, murmuring to himself, “When Pride first moved after Wrath and Gluttony, we did nothing because we were neither Wrath nor Gluttony...”

“Then Pride sent Bat Demon to suppress Wrath and Gluttony. We sensed something was wrong, but didn’t make a move...”

“Later, we tried to do something, but couldn’t do anything...”

“Finally, we may have been able to do something, but it’s already too late.”

How painful the realization was. Sloth thought like the vermin of Windsor. If Wayne were here, he would think that he was back in Londan.

The four demon lords sighed. Envy was the first to cheer up. Swinging his arms, he said, “This won’t do. We should form an alliance against Pride. By working together as a united front, he might not be able to kill all of us.”

Lust nodded solemnly. “I agree. I’m in.”

“...” x3

“What? Pride got your tongue?!” Lust widened her eyes. It was unbecoming of them to give her the cold shoulder.

“Lust, you’re Pride’s woman, someone he’s going to marry. Why are you acting now?”

“Since when am I—” Lust was going to correct them when she remembered the rumor she had made up. She explained darkly, “Weren’t you laughing when I made false accusations about Pride?”

“Let me just ask you one question: will Bat Demon seek you out in the Lost Paradise after today?”

“Of course he will. He’d love to die inside me!”

“There’s your answer.” Envy spread his hands. “Bat Demon is Pride, and you’re Pride’s woman. I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

“You did. Bat Demon is—” Lust stopped herself. In the end, she didn’t dare say that Bat Demon was Wayne. The three unreliable demons wouldn’t be Pride’s match, and with her involved, they would only lose faster. If she was destined to fail, she would rather be an opportunist sitting on the strong.

Lust made up her mind wistfully. Pride wouldn’t give her the time of day, so she would have to keep letting Wayne have his way without paying.

Sex was no fun. It’d be better to quit it.

***

“Kekekeke—” x2

Below Heaven, two demons laughed out loud, while the other two demons trembled on the ground.

Wayne cast black flames to burn the last of Wrath’s thoughts, erasing one of the Seven Demon Lords once and for all. Then, Gluttony followed Wrath to keep him company on his way to death.

After killing two great demon lords, Wayne turned to Pride with a serious expression. Pride said nothing. He simply smiled at Wayne.

“Why?” Wayne asked.

“Why what?” Pride waved, and Gluttony’s Book of Hell floated out of the Throne of Pain, sent to Wayne by a simple push.

What do I do? Wayne thought. The great demon lord is setting me up. Should I take the free knowledge?

The Book of Greed perked up, urging him to stop overthinking. Just accept the benefits first.

You’re so right!

Nom.

Wayne took the book. “Why?”

“Kekekeke—”

“They betrayed Hell and no longer deserved to embody the Seven Deadly Sins. It’s as simple as that.” Pride looked at Wayne with black light overflowing from his eyes. “You will be an addition to the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Demon Lords, and the Seven Demon Gods...”

“Once you take that spot, you will become part of Hell. Do not let me discover that you’ve betrayed Hell!”