Myths Reawakened

Having decided on the demons he would frame, Reza stopped feeling back pain, and his legs stopped twitching. For his career, he eagerly introduced Wayne to the treasures of the Papal State. Whatever was valuable, he brought up.

“Śār, these mundane gold and gems are beneath you. They’re run-of-the-mill items with little artistic value, not worthy of your precious time.”

“You’re right. They’re an eyesore.” Wayne waved his hand. He didn’t put the sparkly items in his personal storage. He had come all the way here for something important, and carrying too much stuff with him would weigh him down. There could be better treasures, and if he didn’t have enough space by then, it would be a real shame.

He didn’t need to take the precious metal and gems right now. The Papal State wasn’t going anywhere, so Śār Hesione could visit at any time.

“This is a Holy Grail from seven hundred years ago...”

“The sacred sword...”

There was a great variety of treasures in the Papal State’s repository, divided into ten areas by categories. The confidential historical documents alone had filled up ten large warehouses.

Ottilia would’ve loved it. She was obsessed with historical text.

In addition, there were numerous warehouses filled with the spoils of war. When the Church of Heavenly Father conquered the Chosen Land, they had acquired a great amount of treasure from the other churches, and on top of that, they had committed more atrocities in secret. The Philosopher’s Stones from the five churches alone amounted to more than twenty. Each of the incomplete stones was a legendary mage who had gone missing.

According to the official investigations, those mages had met a premature death in the Astral Plane, with no corpses to collect. They were great losses to the world of magic.

If there were more than twenty refined half-complete stones, that meant the failures... The success rate of refining Philosopher’s Stones was incredibly low.

There were even more half-complete Philosopher’s Stones containing information on Hell. Some of them were pure demons, while others...

There was nothing strange about legendary mages passing by and picking up the books on Hell that the Church of Heavenly Father had ‘accidentally’ dropped. It wasn’t entrapment, but trials. The legendary mages had failed the trials!

“How outrageous. I didn’t expect there to be so many demons’ pawns in the human world. I, a Śār, am pained to see this!”

“You’re right, Śār. The Papal State thinks the same. We’ve been trying to produce more descendants with reincarnated angels because we have no choice...”

“Let’s go to the next warehouse.”

“This way.”

The further inside, the more valuable the treasure. There was more than one mysterious space housing the Papal State and its incredible wealth, and the church owned more than one complete Philosopher’s Stone.

Wayne consumed them all. The information alone made the trip more than worth it.

The last two warehouses didn’t contain a lot of items. There was one book that looked like a Sacred Tome of Golden Law, as well as several spears, swords, and shields. All of them carried tremendous holy intent.

Wayne waved the book over. Though he didn’t understand the text, he knew that the book was a feast and a powerful spell-casting artifact.

It was a divine artifact that couldn’t be produced in the human world, so it had to be from Heaven, or at least forged in this world by a powerful reincarnated angel.

“Śār Hesione, you must have figured it out,” Reza said resignedly. “This is a Sacred Tome of prophecies drafted by Śār Lahr, recording crucial information. Unfortunately, the Papal State cannot translate it to this day, so no one knows what’s written in the book.”

“That’s fine. I’ll take it back for further studying.”

Wayne tossed the book of prophecies into his personal storage. Then he went through the weapons. While they weren’t as good as the Oath Sword, they were definitely stronger than the mass-produced Sacred Lances of Heaven. He took them all without thinking.

The Papal State’s warehouses weren’t safe. The items would be safer in Wayne’s personal storage. He would like to replace Hestia’s equipment since her sacred lance wasn’t good enough to make use of a Throne’s full power.

Opposite Heaven’s repository was Hell’s repository. Wayne saw a great number of insidious items that had been sealed inside, including a Book of Hell with a familiar appearance.

Noticing Wayne’s grave expression, Reza went up and said, “This Book of Hell came from five hundred years ago. The Church of Heavenly Father suffered great losses to seal the Seven Deadly Sins inside, borrowing Heaven’s power in the latest stage.”

“That’s too dangerous. The consequences would be dire if the book got out and corrupted the lower-ranking clergy.”

Wayne pocketed the insidious items from Hell, feasting on them at the moment of contact. The Book of Greed thoroughly enjoyed the scrumptious meal. It asked Wayne if there were more fine dishes. Compared to the Goddess of Darkness’s banquet, the buffet at the Papal State was only better in variety rather than quality.

Wayne chided the book for daydreaming. He had slept with Ines, so it made sense for Her to offer more. The Papal State was a business in the human world. It was clear from the Pontiff’s expression that there was nothing more to be milked.

Still, Wayne asked, “Is there more?”

Reza’s expression crumbled. After a moment, he said, “There is a weapon from Hell that’s been sealed. According to legends, the black greatsword was dropped by one of the Seven Demon Lords when Hell invaded Heaven, which transcended space and fell to the Chosen Land. The berserk Seven Deadly Sins corrupted many lives.”

“Where is it?”

“The earlier warehouse.”

They returned to the now-empty warehouse. Reza bent down to activate a magic circle. “Even with hundreds of seals applied, the greatsword still radiates the power of the Seven Deadly Sins, requiring Heaven’s power to suppress it...”

His expression shifted. If Wayne hadn’t emptied the warehouse of Heaven, thus making the greatsword of the Seven Deadly Sins a potential risk, Reza wouldn’t want to hand it over to Wayne.

Pure white magic circles lit up on the ground. A pitch-black pit that was ten meters in diameter appeared, sealed by countless golden chains. From it, threads of black mist rose. Wayne could vaguely make out a black coffin suspended by the chains.

Finally, the main course!

He floated down, hovering above the chains woven from bands of Golden Law. Pressing a hand to the black coffin, he sent in his thoughts and saw a two-handed greatsword with a quaint design.

It was ink-black with crimson edges, like the blade had been soaked in fresh blood. It was etched with complex sigils, but not in the language of Hell.

“Interesting...”

Wayne opened the coffin to pick up the greatsword. The Book of Greed eagerly extended its tentacles through the seals to reach the weapon’s core.

A dark, heavy, and scorching hot power rushed into Wayne’s body. Part of it streamed into the Book of Greed’s cover, and part of it lit up an unknown smaller eyeball.

“It’s not the power of Hell...”

Wayne didn’t feel much of the Seven Deadly Sins, or it would be more accurate to say that the Seven Deadly Sins were only the icing, while the cake itself had little to do with Hell.

“Where did Hell gain this power?” he wondered in surprise. It seemed to be a new evolution. Was it the fabled demon god that would be born in Hell, or were there more than the Seven Demon Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins there?

There were too many unanswered questions. He planned to seek Hesione out for further research tonight. Tossing the weapon into his personal storage, he floated back up to the warehouse.

When he passed by the first warehouse, he swiped a few gems. Mona and Anastasia would be happy with the gifts.

***

Night fell. Wayne followed Reza to a palace. At the door, the two clergywomen he had held earlier were waiting for him. It seemed that they would be his neighbors tonight.

Wayne didn’t feel that kind of desire for them. After some consideration, he concluded that Auriel might receive the same reception. Since he was generous enough to even grant Pride entrance to Heaven, he would clearly do the same for two devout clergywomen.

To prevent new blood from joining Auriel’s legion and empowering him, Wayne permitted the clergywomen to stay.

Even if Auriel wasn’t that kind of angel, the Pontiff wasn’t to be trusted. If Reza kept the two women for himself, the pure clergywomen would suffer.

To protect their purity, Wayne decided to mark them as Śār Hesione’s. Sometimes, having one friend in high places was much more useful than having many subordinates.

As soon as Wayne stepped in, he stood stunned in the entryway. The walls were covered in posters, including promotional posters for King Kong and printed pictures of the movie’s highlights, featuring Wayne from different angles.

Reza blushed. “Śār, I’m your fan.”

He took out a marker and asked Wayne to sign his robe: “Śār Hesione hopes that Reza would enter Heaven soon, joining the ranks of angels.”

The Pontiff was a qualified brown-noser, a real veteran.

Wayne signed the Pontiff’s robe incredulously. The Pontiff had set up Hesione, and then an actor pretending to be Hesione set him up. He wondered if it should be considered karma.

Later, Sukra was guided into the palace by a representative of the Pontiff. She pouted when she saw Wayne receiving a shoulder massage from the clergywomen.

I’ve been working the whole day, while you’ve been enjoying life. Yet you call me a slacker?

How does that make sense?

Sukra marched up to the table and picked up a glass of orange juice, finishing it in one gulp.

“I’ve drunk that.”

“Ack! Ack!”

Sukra got into a coughing fit, her face flushed. With an accusing finger aimed at him, she struggled to say a full sentence. She felt bullied.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t spit in it, so you’re still pure.” Wayne offered a reassurance before standing up and stretching his legs.

Sukra hurried up to grab him by the arm. She wanted to sleep on the sofa in the manor tonight. She didn’t feel safe in the Papal State.

Legendary mages didn’t need that much sleep. She was most likely just feeling lazy.

Wayne didn’t reject her. After telling the two clergywomen to rest early, he grabbed Sukra and returned to the Holy Maiden of Darkness’s manor by following Shadow Nightmare’s coordinates in Londan.

Good news, they appeared in the bathroom. Bad news, no one was taking a bath.

When Wayne shook his head and sighed, Sukra grumbled under her breath. Since they were on the same side, she would refrain from exposing his perverted intentions.

Was he trying to take a peek at Anastasia? Of course not. He had seen the Holy Maiden of Darkness naked more times than Sukra could count. The pervert was clearly creating a chance to accidentally find Knight Vichy in a bath.

Bah, the pervert!

Soon, Mona answered Wayne’s thoughts and appeared in the manor’s living room. When Wayne took out the black greatsword, she let Hesione take over. She inspected the sword and murmured, “This was most likely Pride’s weapon, but...”

“It came from the Abyss.”

“The Abyss?!”