Myths Reawakened

“You can do it, Brother Envy. You’re one of the Seven Demon Lords in Hell...”

“You’ll win!”

Solsknar murmured to himself. Watching the epic fight taking place, he prayed that the Lord of Envy would defeat Wayne.

He had started out believing Envy would win, and now he was praying silently. He didn’t realize that he now considered Wayne an equal to the Lord of Envy and had lost his confidence in competing with Wayne entirely.

He had admitted defeat!

***

Deep in the vast ocean of darkness, the terrifying giant monster lurking within let out a drawn-out roar. It came from the soul, stirring violent waves in the vast ocean and conjuring various illusions, with emerging sins...

Boom!!

Devastating wild energy spread out. Envy’s presence became bone-chillingly powerful. If he hadn’t imposed a spatial lockdown, the ripples would’ve reached all of Hell in that instant.

Facing Wayne, who had been growing stronger rapidly, the Lord of Envy placed his main body in the Abyss on the gambling table—it was a massive sea monster capable of devouring the entire world.

The Abyss had been divided by the Seven Demon Lords. Aside from Pride, the top dog of Hell, all six other great demon lords were similar in power. Any two of them would have a fifty-fifty chance of defeating the other.

Still, hierarchy emerged wherever there were people, and demons were no exception. Even Heaven divided the angels into tiers. It was obvious that Hell, where the Seven Deadly Sins abounded, would have a class system.

Otherwise, Hell could forget about invading Heaven. They would destroy themselves in endless civil wars.

Pride made the first shot by claiming the first layer of the Abyss, standing above all other demon lords. Then...

I’ll be honest with you. I’m not trying to provoke you, but this is the truth. Hell is a rational world where the strong are the strong, and the weak are the weak. The weak have no right to lord over the strong.

You should fight and decide who claims the second layer.

Although they knew that Pride was fueling their conflict, the six demon lords still broke into a fight. Over a century later, they excluded Pride and held a meeting.

Ceasefire was on the agenda. Every time Pride saw them fight, he laughed. He saw them as jokes after provoking them into fighting each other. The six great demon lords decided that rather than continuing this war that would never end, it was better to have a conversation.

Since their powers differed little, they voted to rank their sins instead, using the ranking to allocate the second to seventh layers of the Abyss.

According to the ranking, the seven layers of the Abyss went to Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust, in that order. To prevent conflicts, the seven-layered Abyss was known as the Seven Abysses instead. No one was above another, and there were no upper, middle, and bottom layers. All seven abysses were equal.

Even so, Envy was dissatisfied. He had been the second best in Hell, and then he became the second best in the Abyss. No matter where he went, Pride was always on top of him.

If he could control his envy, he wouldn’t be named Envy. It was a constant source of his grievances for Pride.

Anyway, Envy had named the Second Abyss the Infinite Ocean.

It was a straightforward name. Once fallen into the ocean of sins, one would never be able to reach the other end for an eternity. There was no salvation, only continuous falling. In the end, they would reach the bottom of the ocean and be devoured by the massive sea monster.

Usually, Envy never manifested his main body in Hell. He had a replica of his thoughts in his territory, meant for everyday fights with Pride. The same was true of the other demon lords. They kept their main bodies in their Abysses and had a replica in their territories.

The Lord of Lust was an exception. She didn’t have a replica in her territory. Instead, she had turned the Lost Paradise of the Seventh Abyss into the greatest red-light district and personally held down the fort there, leading a life of wanton hedonism.

Where was the second red light district? Well, all succubi belonged to a monopoly. Where could it be but the Lord of Lust’s territory in Hell?

That was why, when the Lord of Lust was brought up, rarely any demons could maintain a hard-lined attitude. It was thanks to Lust’s army of succubi that so many wimps ended up chased away by the legions of angels in the previous clash between Hell and Heaven. Without her, the angels wouldn’t have secured such a landslide victory.

Anyway, Envy’s main body was in the Infinite Ocean, powerful enough to rival a Divine Domain. Among all the demigods, he was one of the strongest.

Overpowering energy rushed out of the ocean, pouring into Envy’s human form. As his thoughts rushed in, the body began to reconstitute itself. He transformed into a massive figure that resembled an ink-black mountain, filling the space between land and sky.

Demon Lord (✗)

Demon God (✓)

There were seventy-two demon lords in Hell. The Seven Demon Lords separated themselves from the others and called themselves demon gods, not just because of their pride, but also because of the objective gaps between them and the other demon lords. The lesser demon lords didn’t deserve to be considered in the same breath as the Seven Demon Lords.

The demon god’s body stood right in front of the Infinite Ocean, his long hair dancing in the air. His aura alone made hearts stutter. His form was pitch black with no visible nose or mouth. Only his eyes could be seen when they opened. The sickly yellow irises were deep like the ocean, glowing with terrifying golden light. What seemed like two bolts of lightning crackled through the vast darkness with enough power to shake Hell.

At the same time, black chains rose around his feet, clinking and scraping as they formed demonic creatures that resembled snakes, cats, and dogs. Those were Envy’s three symbols. With shackles on their necks, the demonic creatures were chained. The other ends of the chains were held by Envy’s demon god form.

The howling, downpouring energy shattered space and recombined it constantly. A single thread of that great power could instantly destroy a legendary mage’s thoughts.

Holding the Abyssal Sword, Wayne looked at the extraordinarily vast form of the demon god from mid-air, a bead of cold sweat sliding down his forehead.

Incredible. I’m not sure I could take it!

The demon god before him alone wouldn’t be a problem. He could still fight. The massive creature lurking in the Infinite Sea, on the other hand, was beyond his capability. Using an analogy from his original world, there was no winning a scripted defeat in a game!

Wayne kept growing stronger and surprising Envy, which made Envy realize that if he didn’t go all in, he wouldn’t be able to keep Wayne here.

Envy’s full power also exceeded Wayne’s expectations. It gave him a newfound understanding of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Sacred Virtues.

No wonder Hesione seemed so derisive when she gave herself to him. The gap between their power was as deep as the Abyss. Anyone else would’ve reacted the same.

“Devour him!”

From the Infinite Ocean came Envy’s booming voice. The demon god’s black hair fluttered. The all-enveloping darkness cascaded like nightfall, instantly crushing Mattea’s territory to pieces.

Mattea blanched, all color drained from her face. She hurriedly messaged Envy and swore to pledge her loyalty in exchange for sparing her from the fight. Envy didn’t even respond.

Mattea was an unlucky one. She had been minding her business at home when a stud passed by. For a warm meal, she invited him to her place, but she ended up losing her home, and she might soon lose her life, too.

With her territory destroyed, the Authority that was tied to the territory was gone, too. The substantial nerf made Mattea, an elite demon lord, a third-rate demon.

The weak had no voice. She could only live with the misfortune and prayed that Wayne would stop growing stronger, that he would die with a single cry facing a great demon lord’s might. Otherwise, with Envy unleashing more and more power, she would definitely meet her demise with a single cry as a bystander. In fact, she might not even be able to make a sound.

Rooar—

The spiritual cat, vicious dog, and giant python received Envy’s order. The chains attached to their necks clinked, elongating seemingly infinitely as they charged ahead.

The dog arrived first. Eyes vicious, it opened its fanged maw and bit Wayne. It was as big as a small mountain. Pungent smell wafted out of its mouth as it roared, and poisonous drool dripped down. The assault on his senses almost knocked him out.

He floated up to dodge the bite, his Abyssal Sword drawing a black glowing trajectory in the air before landing a heavy strike on the dog’s back, tearing an ugly gash and knocking the dog to the ground.

While he was in the air, another large maw bit at him.

The spiritual cat agilely walked on air. With power that seemed to allow it to teleport at will, it flickered in and out of existence twice before biting down on Wayne.

Crack!

The mouth closed, but didn’t catch anything. A hard push to the top of the cat’s head slammed it against the vicious dog.

The next second, the giant python shot out of the ground. Wayne was about to get out of the way when space solidified around him. He caught the demon god’s yellow eyes from his peripheral vision as the python swallowed him.

Is this all you’ve got? Envy thought.

It was only natural. The Seven Demon Gods weren’t like the other demon lords. Just because Wayne could defeat Enguema didn’t mean he could rival Envy. Once Envy got serious, he just had to swing his chains to—

Rip!!

Black light sliced open the python’s stomach. Wayne leaped out with viscous black fluid sticking to him.

The three demonic creatures were Envy’s symbols and extensions of his mind. They were replicas forged from his thoughts, with no stable form. Thoughts were first converted into energy by the Seven Deadly Sins before energy generated matter through clashes.

Basically, the three demonic creatures were manifestations of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The black blood coating Wayne was partly energy and partly matter rather than the actual information of the Seven Deadly Sins. For some reason, though, he realized that he could absorb the energy and matter directly into his body and reverse-engineer the original information.

He made a strange face. In the past, the Book of Greed relied on investments for food. Now, though, it was suddenly able to eat whatever it wanted...

“Is it because I’m now a demigod?” he murmured, but then denied the speculation.

Mages shared the same progression. What he could do as a demigod should be possible for other demigods, too. If there was something only he could do, it would have to be linked to his evolving life essence!

Wayne perked up and looked at Envy with gleaming eyes. He would like to thank Teacher Envy for his timely application of pressure on Wayne to help him adapt to the world and evolve. Without someone at the level of the Seven Demon Lords, Wayne wouldn’t have progressed so quickly!

Hiss—

The black fluid on Wayne sizzled like acid. To others, it would seem like his body was slowly decaying because it couldn’t endure the corruption of the energy.

Mattea sighed in relief. Seeing her prayers getting answered, she prayed harder. Envy thought the same. It wasn’t out of arrogance, but an awareness of the gap in their power. Wayne couldn’t possibly resist his corruption.

“It won’t be a bad idea to make you a vassal, but not now. I’m taking you to the meeting of the demon lords and then turning you into mine right before Hesione.”

The demon god narrowed his eyes. A strange ripple spread, and the space around him collapsed. Wayne’s body, suspended in mid-air, rapidly aged. He first reverted to his original form. Then his black hair turned white and elongated to his lower back like weeds. His skin loosened, turning into old bark in three seconds.

However, his back remained straight, and his body remained strongly built. With his bright black eyes, he looked like a spirited, graceful, handsome old man. Put a crown on him, and he could easily impersonate the Pontiff.

“I am god here, Wayne. I can do whatever I want...” The demon god looked at Wayne. “You, on the other hand, are fragile. Can you still fight in this old age?”

Mattea staggered back, touching her own face in fright. She was worried that she would become old like Wayne.

“This is fake,” Wayne said calmly. Time cut a dignified figure out of him. His old voice held an undeniable power.

“Fake?!”

“This isn’t my true form. It never is...”

Wayne pressed a hand to his face and pulled his wrinkled skin into an elongated line, peeling it off entirely. The skin turned into pale rubber in his hand. He tossed it unceremoniously to the ground like trash.

Under Envy’s shocked gaze, Wayne recovered his youth while his facial features blurred and then finally disappeared. He transformed into the Pale Knight, covered in wrinkles and wearing sickly-looking armor. On his chest, a vertical crack opened, revealing an eye that overflowed with desire.

Intangible tentacles extended around the Pale Knight, making wet, squelching noises. He rose in height suddenly until he became as large as Envy’s demon god form.

From above, the three demonic creatures that had viciously attacked Wayne looked like adorable little critters.