Mythos Reboot

Chapter 16

Pale magical energy flooded his body - decadent, withered, filled with deathly stillness.

Wayne felt like he'd swallowed a cup of ice water in midwinter, his gums aching from the cold as he couldn't help but shudder.

The Book of Greed pulsed with breath, drawing in the maddening deathly stillness from the magic. As the corrupt murkiness dispersed, an elegant and serene magical power rippled with crystalline clarity like flowing water.

Wayne could sense that what the Book of Greed devoured wasn't just magic, but some other energy entangled with it.

Meanwhile, the Book of Greed was quite picky - last time it eagerly tasted Monica's magic, but this time it was much more perfunctory. Since it had nothing better to do, it took a token sip.

Very half-hearted!

The small opened eye showed no change either, remaining gray-white and blind, unable to respond to Wayne's gaze.

Wayne didn't understand - the Book of Greed had changed too much, deviating greatly from his original programming intent. For now, he could only gradually figure out its patterns until he mastered the correct way to open it.

Monica channeled all her magic into Wayne's body and guided her own magic for Wayne's use. This not only demonstrated her trust in Wayne but also showed how highly she regarded his potential.

Wayne didn't betray Monica's trust, and he truly possessed remarkable potential. The cold moonlight burst into radiance, enveloping Wayne's body until his entire form became hazy, transforming into a luminous cocoon.

Such pure moonlight!

By the Goddess, he truly is a genius!

Monica was both shocked and delighted. Having completed the guidance to make Wayne cast magic for the first time, it leaped away while raising its tail to watch from afar, fearing its lingering consciousness might interfere with Wayne's spellcasting.

The oval light cocoon rapidly expanded as a massive hand emerged, followed by a luminous figure over three meters tall breaking free from the cocoon.

Humanoid in shape, with facial features blurred—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears all concealed.

The rudimentary modeling only included limbs and torso, extremely crude in form, causing the observing William to let out a soft "Huh？", feeling his magic had been plagiarized.

For friendship's sake, I'll consider this your homage this time.

Monica was so excited its fur stood on end. Looking beyond appearances, though Wayne's magic appeared rough and simplistic with little aesthetic merit, the noble and serene moonlight essence within was unprecedented, setting a benchmark for devotees of the Moon Goddess.

It was right—Wayne would surely become a divine chosen one.

Wayne didn't attempt crafting an atomic bomb with magic—unreliable. Leaving aside whether Monica's magic power would suffice, even if successful, he wouldn't dare use it.

Equality in annihilation—there'd be no time to escape.

In comparison, William's Little Light Man mode was more reliable.

Is this magic？

Wayne raised his arm, his vision filled with pure whiteness. Without eyes, he could see nothing but white.

Just as he wondered where his eyes had gone, a squelching sound of flesh movement came from the chest area of the light figure. A vertical slit tore open the chest, and a massive eyeball abruptly snapped open.

I can see!

The world suddenly became clear, sharper than ever before.

Casting the magic, Wayne felt himself merging with the Book of Avarice. Though he couldn't see this world clearly, the Book could. This vision sliced through illusions like a sharp sword, revealing the madness beneath beautiful appearances.

The giant eyeball scanned its surroundings, then the light figure turned to look at William and Monica, giving them a thumbs-up to indicate he felt fantastic.

“……”x2

William and Monica felt terrible—absolutely not good. The moment the eyeball gazed at them, they felt plunged into an icy abyss, their hair standing on end, their rapidly pounding hearts loud in their ears.

Take Monica, for instance—the cat stiffened all four paws, fur bristling, tail erect, arching her back and letting out a screech.

To Wayne, the scream sounded delightfully melodious. Encouraged by his friends, he turned and charged forward.

Veronica and Mike were locked in chaotic combat. The dragon-blood descendant possessed superhuman strength that surpassed mortal limits into magical realms, demolishing the house as easily as toppling building blocks.

Mike suffered brutal pummeling, finding no opening to cast spells. Relying solely on his undying body and white gloves to endure, he took every hit yet managed to hold Veronica to a stalemate.

Veronica firmly held the upper hand, each punch delivered with savage ferocity. But Mike remained utterly unfazed - with the priest's aid, he'd become one with the town itself, a formidable law even the Goddess of Death coveted, impervious to ordinary physical attacks.

Besides, the ritual was about to commence, and everyone would become his sacrificial offerings.

At this thought, Mike revealed an exceptionally cruel grin.

Wham!

A white fist came whistling through the air, sending the still-smiling Mike flying.

Veronica stared in shock at Wayne's drastically altered appearance. After brief consideration, she understood the reason. Puckering her lips in slight displeasure, she turned and withdrew from the battlefield.

Of course, she was also startled. The giant eyeball gave her an extremely unpleasant feeling—an indescribable terror.

“You deal with the Deathwalker…”

Only magic can counter magic. Veronica knew she couldn't handle Mike and began searching for the ritual magic circle.

Destroy the magic circle, and everything could still be stopped.

Mike propped up his battered body and stood, locking eyes with the massive eyeball. He froze instantly, an unspeakable fear rising from the depths of his heart. He felt that staring any longer would drive him mad.

What kind of magic is this？

Vernon kicked Mike away, then strode forward and ground him underfoot. The height difference made punching difficult—jumping on him a few times was more effective than throwing punches.

Mike's body was fragile. After several rounds of grinding, large patches of his human skin sloughed off, revealing dried-up flesh identical to the townspeople's.

He fixed his gaze in Veronica's direction, seemingly worried she might find the magic circle. Seeing this, the watching William shouted to alert Veronica—the enemy was panicking, meaning the magic circle was nearby.

Mac roared and interrupted, the black inverted triangle symbol drawn on his white glove unfurled dark tendrils. Eight spider-like legs scurried across the ground, entangling the limbs of the small light-shadow giant, firmly pinning it in place.

Moonlight gleamed like blades as the shadow's hands transformed into twin longswords. With fluid, crystalline arcs, they severed all eight spider legs in multiple places.

The severed legs writhed upon the ground, rendered impotent by the moonlight's tranquil power that prevented further attacks.

The shadow's hands morphed into two long spikes, piercing through Mac's chest and shoulders to pin him to the earth. The eye embedded in its chest gazed directly at Mac, reflecting his grotesque visage and eliciting ceaseless screams.

Michael felt himself going mad. His resilient mind that had withstood death's trials now crumbled pathetically. In that eyeball, he saw his own hideous reflection and the pale moon hanging high in the night sky.

Agony from the depths of his soul wracked his body with convulsions, as if being flayed alive on a roasting rack, leaving him nearly incapacitated and powerless to resist.

“Aaaahhh——”

Michael howled in torment, his hands clawing open his withered yellow ribs to expose the shriveled organs within.

At the heart's position, a mysterious golden triangular symbol stood out strikingly.

Wayne stared at the symbol in astonishment, sensing no death within it. Just as confusion rose in him, he was violently repelled by a golden light.

At the chest area, the massive eyeball ruptured, with pale gray fluid slowly oozing out. The injured pupil tightly sealed itself shut.

Wherever the pale fluid flowed, skin tissue proliferated. The bulging veins resembled parasites beneath the skin, occasionally twitching and shifting positions, leaving the new skin layer pockmarked - eerily similar to the textured cover of the Book of Avarice.

The golden triangle radiated brilliance, casting its projection onto the bizarre giant full moon's surface. The air suddenly grew heavy as the entire space froze into stillness.

The flames devouring the town ceased flickering. The zombified townsfolk stood in mute silence. The wind died, trees stood motionless - one could hear a pin drop.

Veronica and William gazed skyward, their bodies immobilized. Their faces contorted grotesquely as madness gradually clouded their eyes. Monica fared slightly better - her black fur bristled before she collapsed unconscious with eyes wide open.

Wayne didn't understand what the golden triangle represented, only that his supernatural senses screamed warnings - the ritual was complete, and Mike had carved the magic circle onto his own heart.

“Hahaha——”

While everyone remained paralyzed, Mike's body slowly levitated. With arms raised, his withered face displayed serene devotion as he welcomed the great descent like a pilgrim.

Countless gray mists converged from all corners of Carvno Town, pouring into Mike's body, causing his flesh to swell and mutate into a massive black sphere of meat.

The fleshy sphere measured about ten meters in diameter, composed of greasy, filthy black human forms - each like bodies dipped in tar, with twisted limbs writhing ceaselessly, every face wide-mouthed in soul-piercing, meaningless wails.

Bzzzzzz——

Instantly, Wayne's head nearly exploded as his thoughts spiraled into madness, barely maintaining self-control.

Unnoticed by Wayne, while the gray mist flowed toward Mike, he had intercepted a portion - more accurately, his form merged with the Book of Avarice had swallowed it.

This mist went directly into the Book of Avarice, causing it to open a second small eyeball.

The massive eye at the center of the chest regenerated, slowly opening. The grayish-white liquid flowing from the vertical slit below its corner solidified into an inky blackness—impossible to wash away, impossible to sever.

Meanwhile, pale proliferating tissue spread across the entire body, from head to toe, completely obscuring the silhouette of light and shadow.

Inside, the flesh—bereft of bones or organs—gradually filled out.

A rhythmic pulse, like a heartbeat, began to reverberate.

The enormous eye trembled, then locked onto the black flesh sphere hovering midair.

Want it!

“The Gate of Truth has opened! From this night onward, I, Mike Nelson, shall resound across this land with the name of legend!”

Above the flesh sphere, the upper half of Mike's body gradually emerged—from his chest to his abdomen—merging with countless blackened arms and twisted faces. His will now dominated the collective consciousness of the entire town of Carvanno.

Now, he would sacrifice the town, sacrifice himself, to reach the Gate of Truth that mages had dreamed of for eons.

BOOM!!

On the moon's surface, projected by a golden triangle, a spiraling black void yawned open. Beyond it lay the cosmos—stars scattered across the abyss, infinitely vast, infinitely grand, and brimming with infinite possibilities.

Wayne's head exploded with a roar, his eyeballs fixed unblinkingly on the Gate of Truth, his irises contracting and expanding repeatedly as his entire body trembled with excitement.

I want it!!!

The Book of Avarice conveyed an insane craving to Wayne, making even the black flesh orb he had coveted moments ago now seem utterly unappealing—not even worthy of being an appetizer before the main course.