Myths Reawakened

“Demonstrating the power of the Anointed One...” Wayne stroked his chin and shook his head with a laugh. “I am powerful, but it’s not the power of the Anointed One. Ever consider that possibility?”

He had hit the jackpot during this trip. First, he visited Hell and won an investment from Pride. Then, with the help of Ines’s scheming, he earned big investments from the Goddess of Sun and the Goddess of Moonlight. With the satisfying growth of his power, not even the seven reincarnated angels combined would be his match.

He was confident in beating Auriel to a pulp. Even if Auriel recovered all of his power from Heaven, he would be nothing but a dish to be served facing Wayne.

It once again proved the fact that the differences between demigods could be far greater than the difference between a demigod and a regular human.

Speaking of Heaven, Wayne perked up with anticipation. Each of the Seven Deadly Sins corresponded to a Book of Hell, so it should be the case for the Seven Sacred Virtues, too.

He extended his hand to Hesione. “Do you have a Book of Heaven that illustrates Purity of the Seven Sacred Virtues? If so, lend it to me for research.”

Hesione shook her head. “The Seven Sacred Virtues isn’t pure information. I believe you’re talking about the Golden Law of Angels.”

“That can’t be. The Seven Deadly Sins is recorded in separate texts.”

“It’s not the case for Heaven.” Hesione shook her head once more.

Under the assumption that the Anointed One should be omniscient, every time the Anointed One showed ignorance, she assumed that he was testing her.

“Just like the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Sacred Virtues are shared,” she explained patiently. “The Seven Deadly Sins is in essence the Divine Comedy of Demons. The seven parts of the text are known as the Seven Deadly Sins...”

“There is only one text for the Golden Law, drafted by Father. It only exists in Heaven, so you have to enter Heaven to read it.”

She gave a thorough explanation. Wayne pieced things together according to her response.

There was only one sacred text in Heaven, while the Divine Comedy of Hell was split into several parts. Was that why no god had emerged in Hell? Was whoever had compiled all the cantos of sins and completed the Divine Comedy going to be the great demon god?

Then Pride would have already become god!

Wayne frowned in deep thought. At the council meeting of demon lords, he had seen many Books of Hell, each representing a sin. They hadn’t been integrated, and their themes were varied. Pride had not compiled all the sins. He was no great demon god, but...

That couldn’t be. Pride could’ve become god. Why hadn’t he? With all the data he had collected, would it really be that hard for him to draft his version of the Divine Comedy?

“Do you wish to return to Heaven, Anointed One?” Hesione asked.

There was only one way to bring the Anointed One back to Heaven: one of the four Sacred Virtues had to recover all their power from Heaven, and then, through the Papal State, they would open the Gate of Heaven to welcome the Anointed One back.

That was the only known method, anyway.

The Anointed One was omniscient and omnipotent, so he couldn’t be judged by what was on paper. If he could enter and exit Hell at will, he should be able to enter Heaven at any time. That was the true Anointed One.

Hesione lamented her narrow-mindedness. She had once again underestimated the new master of Heaven. “If you can open the Gate of Heaven right before Auriel, he’ll surely correct his misconception and believe you to be the Anointed One.”

“I can’t open the gate.”

“I understand.”

“...”

Wayne rolled his eyes. He beckoned her over and kneaded her cheeks, huffing. “Tell me. Whatever did you just understand?”

Hesione looked downright adorable with her cheeks pinched like a bun. She lisped, “The four Sacred Virtues and the two Thrones in this world all carry sins. Since we have not completed the path of redemption you forged for us, this isn’t the right time to open the Gate of Heaven.”

You can justify even that?

You can justify even that!

Someone with the illness of willful misunderstanding had infinite imagination and twisted logic. They believed they knew the truth and would not listen to reason. Even when their reasoning was inconsistent, even when others argued against them, they claimed superior logic and adhered to their confirmation bias.

Wayne pinched Hesione a few times, resigned. “Do you know that the true Anointed One is sobbing with a broken heart? They have been waiting for so long, yet you still haven’t found them.”

Hesione smiled silently. Auriel, Vilkul, and Gerar had been looking for the Anointed One in Londan, but found nothing. Even before that, the Lord of Pride had been lurking in the city, yet still failed to identify the Anointed One.

Were they all blind? No. The Anointed One had simply camouflaged himself too well. Even when the angels and demons were staring him in the face, they wouldn’t recognize him.

The same had happened to her. The others had failed to recognize the Anointed One face-to-face, while she had failed to recognize the Anointed One foot-to-face—with her foot on his face.

Of course she couldn’t find the Anointed One when the Anointed One was right by her side.

Through circular logic, she once again found solid proof for Wayne being the Anointed One!

Hesione’s overconfidence made Wayne itch for a punch. He hoped that he could beat some reason into the clever idiot.

“What an incredibly fair matchmaking system for factions!” Wayne marveled. “The human world is in luck. Heaven can seal Hell for certain not because Heaven is too strong, but because there are too many demons doing more harm than good. If Pride even had one reliable lieutenant, Heaven would’ve been the one to be sealed.”

Speaking of lieutenants, Wayne pitied Pride. Envy had been the second-ranking demon lord before, and now, it was Deceit. Pride went from having a deadweight as an ally to having a spy as an ally. His life was even more difficult now.

Thinking of Pride’s arrogant, dark face of a scum, Wayne couldn’t help but laugh. He couldn’t carry the game. He really couldn’t.

Were Wayne Pride, he would be moving to the human world overnight. There was no point in staying in a cowardly and incompetent Hell... Right, Pride had done that. He had moved to Londan, the vermin content of which was just as high as that of Hell. Then, encountering a group of reincarnated angels, he was forced to return to Hell.

Noting the anticipatory look on Hesione’s face, Wayne rejected her with a wave. “Don’t even think about it. I cannot open the Gate of Heaven. It’s your one-sided belief that I’m the Anointed One. I’ve never admitted it.”

“You have.”

“Those don’t count. Don’t you know roleplaying? It’s just like me and Mona roleplaying as an employer and a secretary. You should know that pretty well since you’ve roleplayed as Mona several times.”

“...”

Hesione’s smile stiffened. The Anointed One had no shortcomings save for his preferences for... creative redemption. Given her lacking mindset, she always felt a strong sense of guilt during the redemption sessions.

“Where are Auriel and the others?”

“Looking for the Anointed One. They’re each in charge of a search area.”

“Why haven’t you... Forget it. Have them meet me at Buckingham Palace. I have important matters to discuss with them.”

***

Conference room, Buckingham Palace.

Wayne sat in the chair with one secretary and two bodyguards behind him. They made an eye-catching entourage.

After five minutes, none of the three Sacred Virtues showed up.

Wayne checked his watch and figured out what was happening. Hesione had cried wolf one too many times, so Auriel and the others no longer responded to her. That wouldn’t do. Heaven had to help eliminate Mechanical Augmentation.

Wayne had taken a hit in Prussia. It seemed like he had acquired information on the evolution, but it was all the mastermind’s conspiracy. It was thanks to the Book of Greed that they didn’t get what they wanted.

As for who the mastermind was, he suspected the mustached Führer for now.

Prussia had been enhanced so much in this world. Not only were they sweeping across the Chosen Land, but their blitzkrieg was even entering Heaven and Hell. The mastermind had to have a great ambition to go so far, and as big as their ambition was, their raw power had to be just as great. No one would dare move like this without great power.

Mechanical Augmentation was an evolution that would lead right to godhood. Whether the failed art student was the mastermind, they were for sure powerful.

Wayne considered the worst-case scenario. They had to be so powerful that he would need to involve Heaven.

Just like how the five goddesses had worked together to seal Thoggua not because they couldn’t beat Thoggua alone, but because they had to split the risks, he was not going to charge at the forefront on his lonesome.

The other churches had to get moving.

The Church of Darkness wouldn’t be a problem. Anastasia only had to make a call, and Ines was unlikely to say no. Even if She did, Wayne would make sure She couldn’t reject his call for help.

You don’t want to see Kaleb and Siluk overtake you as a package deal, do you, Ines?

She definitely wouldn’t be able to resist that provocation. Then, Wayne could use the same reasoning to convince Kaleb and Siluk; only their names would be swapped with Ines in the provocation.

He would have all the churches backing him up!

The only difficulty was finding the Holy Maidens. He had seen Corte and Galen being taken by their goddesses, so he would have to go through the churches to contact them. That wouldn’t be a real problem, though. He knew the churches well and had long built solid connections; he could contact Corte and Galen in three days.

Three goddess substitutes, seven reincarnated angels, and the Lord of Deceit, with the help of one or two chosen knights. That should be enough to secure victory.

We’d win!

Speaking of chosen knights, Wayne thought of Valkyrie. His first love from August twentieth had gained a body of divine blood. Paired with her ancient-god-blessed thoughts, she would be a great help.

He had nothing to fear.

“Should I call them again, Anointed One?” Hesione asked in a low voice.

“Try another time. If they don’t come...” Wayne stroked his chin and scoffed. Auriel, Vilkul, and Gerar should be thankful that he wasn’t actually the Anointed One. Otherwise, the fact that they were late today alone... ha, they would suffer for it in the future!

After Hesione made another call, Wayne waited ten minutes. When no one responded, he shook his head and stood up.

“Forget it. We won’t wait for them.”

“I’ve disappointed you...”

Hesione lowered her head. The road to redemption was right before them, yet her colleagues had walked past it while laughing at it. She felt deeply ashamed, but also sorry for them.

“It’s fine. I’m a magnanimous man. I’m not going to mask up and beat them all up tonight just because they failed to show me respect once.” Wayne sauntered out of the council room.

The three angels were in luck. He wasn’t the Anointed One, so he couldn’t make life difficult for them as their leader; how fortunate for them that he was the Lord of Deceit, the second-ranking demon lord in Hell.

It made sense for a great demon lord to open the Gate of Hell and, instead of conquering the human world or wreaking havoc, beat up the reincarnated angels every few days, didn’t it?

It made perfect sense.

Hell and Heaven could never reconcile their differences, so it was logical for the Lord of Deceit to take care of the reincarnated angels. But first... He had many allies in Londan, so he should notify them first in case the commotion he made drew the wrong attention.

“Kekekeke—”

He needed a beauty in his arms to complete the picture. Reaching out, he pulled—no one.

He turned back with dissatisfaction. Hesione wasn’t doing her job as a secretary.

Pursing his lips, he beckoned her over before spanking her on the backside. Hesione feigned ignorance, but Mona wasn’t going to play dumb. She kicked Hesione offstage and pulled Wayne’s arms around her waist.

“Kekekeke—”

That was more like it.