Myths Reawakened

Blinding light poured down from Hell’s sky to the land below like rushing rivers. The colorful light extended from the dome in an infinite expanse, as if it had exceeded Hell’s capacity. Space quickly crumbled around it under tremendous pressure.

Below, a mechanical black dragon shot a radiant beam of red light from its mouth. The two devastating energies collided, and boom! Blazing light swept outward, erasing everything in its path.

Envy, Sloth, and Greed all froze at the spectacle. Lust forgot about framing Pride. Her beautiful eyes glinted as desire showed on her face.

She wanted it!

She wasn’t salivating over Wayne, but the power that Wayne and Wrath were demonstrating. She wasn’t alone. Envy, Sloth, and Greed similarly coveted the power and wanted it for themselves right this moment.

The one difference was that Lust knew that Bat Demon was Wayne, and that Pride had kept him in Hell to humiliate Heaven, while the other three demon lords believed Bat Demon to be Pride’s replica. They marveled at Pride’s incredible power and coveted Wrath’s Mechanical Augmentation.

If I had the evolution, I would become stronger than Wrath and Gluttony. I wouldn’t lose a two-on-one fight with Pride! x3

Pride was the only one who claimed that the evolution path already had a master, and going down the path would lead to servitude. No one knew if he was telling the truth without actually trying.

The four demon lords couldn’t stop their minds from wandering. It once again proved that one demon made a dragon, but two demons made a worm. With all Seven Deadly Sins together, Hell would amount to nothing.

Rumble—

Energy tides spread in all directions. Within the dark space, berserk energy tore the sky and land to pieces, then broke them down to the most basic earth, fire, water, and wind elements. The four different colored currents converged high in the sky, rushing toward Bat Demon indefinitely.

The mechanical black dragon lunged and tore a spatial rift open. Its massive body turned into mist instantaneously. Then microscopic mechanical dragons rolled and howled as they morphed into a behemoth clawed hand, coming down upon Bat Demon like the sky was falling.

It had been a while since Wrath acquired Mechanical Augmentation. The evolution was self-evolving and became stronger when facing a strong enemy. It modified itself according to the enemy’s traits and developed a complete skill tree.

Before, Wrath’s opponent was Gluttony. The two demon lords had fought each other with the secret goal of facilitating their own evolution. On one hand, they could develop endless new skills in the process, and on the other hand, they could copy the other’s moves.

Guidance wasn’t necessary for Mechanical Augmentation since it would adapt to the environment on its own, provided that the environment was conducive to evolution. It was only a matter of time before Gluttony and Wrath conquered Hell.

Unfortunately, they could no longer do that.

They had been made!

Facing the molecular mechanical dragons, Wayne allowed the components to rush into Bat Demon’s body rather than resisting them.

“You crave the power too, Pride! I knew it!” Wrath droned from within the grey mist. “But you’re too late. I’m ahead of you. Only I can become the great demon god, while you...”

“You’ll die of your pride. I’ll make you into an ultimate weapon and use you to defeat Mikhael. Your wish will come true!”

Wrath was one hundred percent confident in Mechanical Augmentation. It was a corruption that not even he and Gluttony could resist, so the other Deadly Sins would fare the same. While Pride was powerful, he was still a demigod like they were.

The corruption would claim Pride all the same.

Become reshaped by me!!

Whether Pride would contract Mechanical Augmentation was something only Pride knew, but Bat Demon definitely wouldn’t. As soon as the molecules entered his body, the Pale Knight opened his large chest eye and converted matter back into energy and then into information. His appetite was as impossible to fill as a black hole.

Wrath guffawed as he waited for Bat Demon to become a mechanical life, and very soon, the molecules seemed to have transformed the demon from the inside out. His body gained a metallic shine, and his six golden eyes turned into metal eyeballs. Six rays of red light ignited the black ashes. The resulting fire threatened to engulf the land.

Wrath started. The corruption was successful, yet Bat Demon was beyond his control... Had Pride really gained Mechanical Augmentation and advanced further than him and Gluttony? That couldn’t be!

In that case, Pride would have no reason to expose them. He only had to wait for Wrath and Gluttony to progress further, and Pride’s marks on them would become more pronounced.

Clink! Clang!

The noises of metal scraping as it transformed rang as a large cannon rose from Bat Demon’s back. A hellish missile adorned with sprayed-on white masks burst out with propelling fire, diving into the omnipresent grey mist.

Boom!!!

A large mushroom cloud bloomed, radiating blinding light and heat intense enough to cause distortion. The incredible shockwaves razed the sky and earth, tearing a screen of black void in the air and flattening the dark land.

After the fleeting explosion of light, the darkness at the heart of the explosion contracted dramatically, compressing matter to the point of collapsing it into the most primitive information. Space itself converged to the same focal point. The black sphere burst like a bubble, then vanished. It was as if nothing had happened.

The metallic part of Bat Demon’s body reverted to living, thriving flesh.

Wrath had attacked as himself, a great dragon, and a mechanical dragon, but failed all three attempts. He was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

His thoughts converged to manifest a form once more. Standing in the air, Wrath had a dark, unreadable look in his eyes.

“Are you curious why I have the evolution of Mechanical Augmentation too, and why I’ve gone further than you and Gluttony? Are you wondering why I’m taking you out when I could’ve waited for you to become my slaves?” Wayne scoffed. “Stop overthinking. I, Pride, look down on you and Gluttony. Even if you get on your knees and beg, I won’t accept you as lapdogs.”

Wrath’s face darkened. The other four demon lords spectating the fight reacted similarly.

We can’t even become your slaves even if we get on our knees? Do you really consider us trash?

“Yes, you are trash!” Wayne answered their unanswered question loudly, doing everything in his power to slander Pride.

All great demon lords aside from Lust knew Bat Demon as Pride’s replica. Pride couldn’t possibly clarify the truth, and Lust wasn’t going to help him in that. Rather than slander, it should be considered Pride’s self-introduction.

It was easy to frame Pride. One only had to say, “I am Pride.” The other demon lords wouldn’t question it, not in the slightest.

Wrath’s eyes flickered as he considered whether to fight or surrender. The latter was out of the question. Pride was determined to kill him and Gluttony, so surrender would only lead to death. But continuing the fight...

What should he do when he couldn’t win?

After a moment of consideration, Wrath chose to fight!

With a roar, he conjured black vortices to summon the Third Abyss—Land of Cycles—and his true form—Black Dragon of Hell.

Unlike the all-pink Lost Paradise, the Land of Cycles was stereotypically hellish, consisting of hostile environments like blood lakes, poisonous forests, sandy deserts, freezing tundras, and marshes. Like a venomous ouroboros, anyone falling into it would experience an endless cycle of pain. The black dragon ruled over the land with unrivaled power, bringing about despairing plight and irresistible pain.

Each layer of the Abyss possessed power that was almost Law-like. It was the manifestation of the Seven Deadly Sins, and anyone within would become a companion of said sins.

The Lost Paradise was no exception!

One would believe they were enjoying the fruit of Lust, but in reality, the Lord of Lust was the only one receiving any enjoyment.

Groooowl—!

The massive black dragon roared at the sky with a fierce gleam in its eyes, its claws pinning down spaces of despair to invite Bat Demon to enjoy pain inside.

Wrath refused to admit defeat!

He was unleashing his full power in his territory. He was certain that he would stand a chance under the circumstances.

At the same time, he cursed at Gluttony in his mind. It appeared that eighty percent—or even ninety percent—of Pride’s power had gone to Bat Demon. How could Gluttony fare so badly against ten percent of Pride’s power that he still hadn’t come to Wrath’s aid?

The answer was obvious: Gluttony was pulling back, big time!

Idiot, you would stand an even lower chance if I die!

The act of throwing an ally under the bus would be considered a wise move out of respect for life when he was doing it, but a foolish act showing a lack of foresight when someone else was doing it. After Wrath failed to throw his teammate under the bus, he became convinced that he had been sold out.

He wasn’t worried about Gluttony not showing up at all, but about Gluttony showing up at the last moment, when Wrath was already cooked. Then Gluttony would cackle while swallowing him whole.

Wayne stood outside the black vortex for a few seconds before stepping in. His form increased in size indefinitely at an incredible speed.

Inside the Land of Cycles, the black dragon’s size was almost infinite and impossible to measure. Even though the Pale Knight, wearing the skin of Bat Demon, had grown to the limit of Wayne’s thoughts in the shortest time possible, he was still only one-tenth of the black dragon’s size.

The Bat Demon raised one hand and gathered clinking chains to his palms, forging a black greatsword burning with sins.

Time to slay a dragon!

Roooar—

The black dragon exhaled and brought down wings that were big enough to fill up the Third Abyss. Clutching the spaces of despair, Wrath drew on the power of those worlds until his every attack contained the tremendous might of one world.

Wayne had experienced such power when he fought Envy before. Knowing that relying on brute force would be unwise, he spread his bat wings and evaded the rampaging black dragon.

Swinging the chains around, he lassoed the black dragon’s neck while bringing his greatsword down on the black dragon’s spine, like a dragonrider taming an evil dragon. His fighting style was primitive and brutish with no elegance to speak of.

It was a clash of power and information. As raw power came from knowledge, the collision of raw power was more than met the eyes.

Envy’s eyes widened at the sight. “Damn Pride,” he snarled, “He copied me!”

“Huh?” Sloth turned to him, confused. “What did he copy?”

“Look at the way Bat Demon wields his sword,” Envy bit out. “He’s obviously copying Wayne, even using some of his sword techniques.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“How could that not have anything to do with me?” Envy said with complete entitlement. “I showed all of you my battle with Wayne during the council meeting, which is the fruit of my labor. He’s copying me by copying Wayne.”

“...”

Sloth couldn’t even be bothered to shake his head. He wordlessly looked at the two battlefields. He could tell that out of envy, Envy wanted to demean Pride, but couldn’t find an angle, which was why he settled for a terrible take.

If you’re running out of gags, just repeat your terrible heavenly joke. Though it’s outdated, at least it’s authentic.

Lust glanced at Envy contemptuously. Wayne was Bat Demon, yet Envy couldn’t even recognize him when they were face to face. No wonder Pride called him trash.

Should she spell out the truth? Probably not.

Envy had worked so hard to become the Lord of Clowns. Telling the truth would be clearing Envy’s name. Even if she disregarded how Pride would punish her, clearing Envy’s name would make those who had been mocking Envy, including her, the clowns instead.

Fairness and justice didn’t matter. What mattered was who the clown was!

Lust smothered a laugh, watching Pride and Gluttony fight. It was a one-sided battle with life on the line—Gluttony’s life was on the line, placed by Pride. Gluttony didn’t have to feel bad about his role. It was a fair arrangement. Without him, Pride would have no life to risk.

Just like Wrath, Gluttony had summoned the Sixth Abyss—Throne of Pain—and his main body—Lord of Flies!

Pride hadn’t descended in his true form. While he started with overwhelming advantage, the longer the fight went on, the more he seemed to struggle. That eased Envy, Greed, and Sloth a little. Pride could be powerful, but not that much more than they were, or they wouldn’t be able to reconcile with the gap between them.

Lust didn’t share the sentiment. She suspected that Pride was acting. The head of the Seven Deadly Sins wasn’t as prideful as he seemed; he was a cunning great demon lord who had managed to deceive everyone.

Her heart sank. Had she... learned too much?

“Pride, I admit your prowess, but you will not defeat me here...” Standing above the Throne of Pain, the Lord of Flies came to a realization as he watched Pride show more and more exhaustion. “You’re putting all your effort into taking out Wrath, aren’t you? I can help you, but you have to promise me that you’ll give me time to create the Gate of Hell and let me go to the human world.”

Unable to withstand the pressure exerted by the Throne of Pain, Pride showed what seemed like his true form, with a full beard, horns on his head, and a strong body covered in scars. He looked rough, and since he was the first demon born in Hell, he would be a rough sketch.

Panting and laughing, Pride said, “First off, I’m a demon, so you won’t believe my promise. Secondly, you’re a demon, so I won’t believe a damn word out of your mouth.”

“Stop wasting your time. You better seize the chance to defeat me. Otherwise, once my replica kills Wrath, and my full power returns, you’ll stand no chance against me!”

The massive fly seethed. He had kindly extended an olive branch, but Pride wouldn’t take it. He’d better not blame Gluttony for disregarding their brotherhood.

In the earlier fight, Gluttony had used every trick up his sleeve, from consumption to Mechanical Augmentation, but Pride easily countered everything. It wasn’t until Gluttony summoned his main body that he tipped the balance in his favor.

It would appear that Gluttony stood no chance, but he knew that the worst Pride could do to him was seal him. Pride could not kill him.

When Gluttony became one of the Seven Deadly Sins, he had already done a lifetime’s worth of work. Being the Seven Deadly Sins was a permanent job. Without him, there would be no Seven Deadly Sins, and Hell would lose its stability.

Pride was stronger than the other Sins, but not in a league of his own. He couldn’t and wouldn’t kill any of them!

Who are you flaunting your pride to?!

Boom!!

The two demon lords clashed. Furious, Gluttony overpowered Pride with an outpouring of attacks, turning the tide.