Myths Reawakened

The three demon lords were all focusing on the battle between Pride and Gluttony, none of them showing interest in Bat Demon. Seeing that, Lust conjured a black screen to show them Bat Demon’s performance.

Open your eyes and watch carefully. The octopus who’s occupied my time for a year isn’t a wimp...

Huh? Where did the wimp come from?

Her eyes widened. The dark screen reflected a dark scene. Wrath was beating Bat Demon to a pulp, leaving the latter completely helpless.

(는_는)

Right. Lust understood now. Wayne had Mechanical Augmentation just like Gluttony and Wrath, so the three of them were on the same side, and the act was a trap for Pride. In fact, Wayne might be a partner in crime with Wrath, and not only were they going after Pride, but they also planned to get Gluttony killed.

At the end of the day, such were demons. They put themselves in others’ shoes and saw everyone as a demon like them. The fact that Pride had managed to gather the vermin and invade Heaven showed how much enemy fire he had endured at the forefront.

The landslide defeat Hell had suffered wasn’t Pride’s fault. No one could win a one-on-thirteen match.

Rumble!!

The mountains crumbled, and dust rose like waves. The line that tore through the land drew close, then vanished into the distant veil of the night.

Wrath flapped his black dragon wings while pinning Bat Demon’s head into the ground. He was unstoppable. If a mountain was in his way, he would knock it down; if a city was in his way, he would raze it to the ground; if an unwise demon was in his way, he would quickly tear them to pieces.

Wrath felt the pleasure of overpowering Pride. Though it was a replica, it was a bat!

“Hahaha—”

He traveled far with Bat Demon in his grasp, then tossed Bat Demon aside like trash, crumbling a black peak.

Arms crossed, he hovered in the air with his flapping wings, looking down at the ruins below. “Pride, stand up,” he said arrogantly. “Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you and take my time with you.”

As Gluttony had speculated about Wrath from his perspective, Wrath had assumed the worst about Gluttony and decided against taking care of Bat Demon quickly. He would pull his punches and drag this on. Once Gluttony was dead and Pride was injured, he would return as the king with full HP and MP.

Gluttony didn’t have to be heartbroken about it. Although his ally was a hundred percent a demon, at least his hunch was proven right.

Dust rose and stirred from the ruins, and rocks fell down the broken mountain ranges. Bat Demon remained motionless, as if he were dead.

Wrath wasn’t in a hurry. He waited patiently and left Gluttony to endure Pride’s abuse.

A battle never went without accidents, such as his opponent unexpectedly saying nothing before the battle. Without trash talk, a fight was incomplete, and a victory won without the moral high ground didn’t mean anything.

Wrath had to make Bat Demon say his lines. It was a necessary process to set up the stage!

Thinking gleefully, Wrath spread his thoughts and conjured a black screen. Seeing Gluttony roaring furiously under Pride’s prowess, Wrath was so delighted that his eyes curved into slits.

Yes, they were each playing their rightful roles!

Crumble—

Amid the rubble, Bat Demon spread his bat wings and took flight, his arms crossed before his chest, his long tail wrapped around his legs, the black tip pointing at the ground. With his long limbs and slim figure, he looked like Hell’s version of a cross in this posture.

Wrath glanced at him before turning back to the battle between Gluttony and Pride. Bat Demon was nothing. Even if Wrath let him hit him without fighting back, Wrath wouldn’t even lose any hit points. The key lay in when he intervened in the fight between Gluttony and Pride to maximize his profit. He should think it through when he had time.

Wayne spread his wings. Seeing Wrath’s lack of guard, he huffed at his fist.

Bam!

Black flames bloomed, and black light washed over his sharp claws, twisting all light around him. Infinite darkness and violence radiated from him.

Seven Deadly Sins—Cantos of Pride.

“Here I come, Wrath,” Bat Demon declared. “The punch will land on your face.”

You sure are confident!

Wrath didn’t even bother to humor the threat. If Bat Demon wanted to attack him, just do it. If he even so much as frowned—

Huh? Why does the punch have so much force?!

Wrath frowned at Bat Demon as he flew toward him. In a flash, Bat Demon vanished, and the next second, Wrath found all of Hell spinning around him. An unbearable pain exploded in his face and tore through the rest of his body, making him close his eyes instinctively. Then, the pain receded, as if his face had gone numb or disappeared altogether. His body also felt lighter.

It didn’t hurt anymore!

Boom!!

Black flames exploded and surged toward the distant sky with enough ferocity to burn the sky and boil the ocean. Wayne had smashed Wrath’s head in with one punch, shattered the distorted skull with one kick, and then burned the splattering remains to ashes with fire.

Flickering black light enveloped Wrath’s headless body, conducting a living autopsy in a short span of time. Cutting the limbs, skinning and deboning, plucking the wings, carving out the heart and lungs...

Amid consecutive explosions, Wrath hadn’t even figured out what was happening before a large part of his thoughts was burned to ashes by the black flames. He roared furiously, the violent sonic waves stirring and shaking the sky.

His thoughts followed the spatial disturbances and reforged a body, his draconic eyes fixed on Wayne with blazing ire. “You aren’t a replica. You are Pride.”

“Yes, that’s me.” Wayne puffed out his chest arrogantly. “The Bat Demon who had been tangling with Lust is named Pride. I covet her body and have been sleeping with her every day for a whole year. That’s Pride. That’s me.”

“...”

How can you just say that? Don’t you have any shame?

“What do you know? I, Pride, consider lying to be beneath me.”

Wayne’s six golden eyes blazed fiercely as he flapped his wings to approach Wrath, his long tail swishing around. Smashing Wrath’s head with a single punch, Wayne repeated the same moves he had just made, rendering the bones and burning everything to ashes.

Wrath knew what Bat Demon was going to do and what he would target, but it was impossible to defend himself. Wrath could only swallow the extreme humiliation and watch as Bat Demon decimated his thoughts in the same way.

Council Meeting of the Demon Lords.

Envy placed his hands on the long table, eyes wide as he watched the two battles taking place. It was one thing for Pride to overpower Gluttony, but his replica could tear Wrath to pieces with such ease, too?

What was that? Had Pride never used his full power and had merely been toying with him?

Greed and Sloth were also horrified. Greed shuddered. Hearing Bat Demon mention Lust, he reflexively turned to her.

Lust had to suppress her shock. She knew that Wayne had become incredibly strong, but this was still absurd. When Greed turned to her with wide eyes, she nodded calmly and said, “Yes, I’ve been tangling with Bat Demon for a year, doing it in a different way every day. He’s long fallen for me.”

Envy, Greed, and Sloth started. They had all heard about Lust’s recent situation. She had not lied. Pride, who was more prideful than anyone, had succumbed to Lust’s beauty.

“Impossible!” Envy shouted. “I do not believe Pride would have fallen so far!”

He rejected the idea vehemently. The Pride he knew would never get lost in such base desires. He was no pervert.

“Believe it or not, the truth is right in your face.” Lust tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear delicately. “Just wait. Tomorrow, Bat Demon will continue to show up at the Lost Paradise. That is love.”

Envy clutched his chest with indignant grief. Seeing that he and the other two demon lords were rendered speechless, Lust basked in the satisfaction of her vanity and smiled with even more elegance.

Then her smile dropped. Her vanity required payment, and her elegance came with a cost. If she charged Wayne, the scumbag would never visit the Lost Paradise again; if she demanded payment from Pride, Pride would most likely beat her up for her trouble.

If she wanted to continue with her posturing, she would have to give it to Wayne for free...

Am I destined to give myself away?

***

Roooar—

Amid roiling black smoke, a hellish black dragon over a thousand meters long took flight with flapping wings. It was so large that it seemed to span the horizon and cover the entirety of Hell.

Deep in the eyes that were stirring with lava-like fire were two bottomless whirlpools of darkness, devouring all light and radiating chilling energy. The hideous head protruded with more than ten pairs of sharp, spiky horns, stretching toward the dragon’s neck. They transitioned into haphazard black spikes on the dragon’s back, then into two curved hooks at the tip of the tail.

The great dragon was entirely black, shrouded in black poisonous smoke. Its powerful claws were also pitch dark. Every beat of its wings stirred up storms powerful enough to tear apart space, making deafening rumbles.

The dragon was one of the Lord of Wrath’s symbols, and the most powerful symbol at that, representing his unrivaled destructive power.

“Bring your real body, Wrath. This dragon will not even withstand an attack from me.” Wayne split the black void with a wave, and the chains of Seven Deadly Sins emerged, manifesting a dragonslaying sword.

I know dragonslaying swordsmanship, and you’re a black dragon of Hell. What a coincidence!

“You’re just a replica. You’re not entitled to meet my main body.” The great dragon breathed out black flames. The devastating breath swept across the sky like a world-destroying flood.

Wayne parted it with a slash and dodged out of the way in a flash of black light, evading the black dragon.

Tainted blood splattered as the dragon’s cries of pain echoed. Its wings were sliced off cleanly. Then its massive body plunged from the sky, slamming into the ground and leaving a crater of boiling lava.

Wrath was using the Authority of his territory. It was bigger than Wayne’s, so his Authority granted him greater power more quickly. However, the knowledge he had mastered fell far short of Wayne’s. Wayne only needed some Authority to offset Wrath’s advantage.

Actually, Wayne didn’t care about the size of his territory. As long as he had an Authority to counter others’ Authorities, he could tap into his full power without issue.

Being registered as a resident in Hell was key. An outsider enjoyed no rights.

The small territory Wayne had acquired alone granted him an epic buff in Hell. Even when facing Wrath’s most powerful symbol, he could turn the great dragon into steak without transforming into the Pale Knight.

Of course, he had already transformed into the Pale Knight while maintaining the appearance of Bat Demon. One could never be too cautious!

The black dragon climbed out of the crater filled with lava with its maw open. Following the noises of machines reassembling, the massive dragon head extended a large cannon toward the sky, gleaming with a pitch-black metallic shine.

“I can do that, too...”

Bat Demon unfolded his wings with his arms crossed before his chest. Space pulsed and rose into tides that spanned kilometers, conjuring magic circles of different colors.

Vicious, mighty dragon heads emerged with different-colored energies in their mouths, aiming at the black dragon of Hell below.

Boom!!!

Terrifying energy waves collapsed space. Within the infinite darkness, Bat Demon swung both hands downward.

Tens of thousands of arrows rained down at the same time!