Mythos Reboot

Chapter 17

In contrast to Wayne's desire, Veronica was filled with terror toward the so-called Gate of Truth—so overwhelming that it subdued her madness and restored clarity to her chaotic thoughts.

With one burst of her limited magical power, she regained control of her body and shouted to the sky: "Stop this immediately! The Gate of Truth is forbidden magic—your mind can't withstand the baptism of the world. Stop now while you still can!"

Veronica didn't care about Mike's survival; she feared her group would be implicated. Any proper mage would avoid the Gate of Truth at all costs—someone as reckless as Mike was truly a first for her.

“Little girl, what do you know？ You just blindly believe whatever your school teachers tell you. Do you understand the preciousness of knowledge？ Do you know how many mages like me have been longing for this moment？”

Mike sneered, his face flashing with a hint of madness: "The Nelson family has been waiting for this day - just to perform a ritual sacrifice, open the Gate of Truth, become legendary mages, and obtain all the world's knowledge. For this, I'm willing to pay any price, even madness is no deterrent."

The priest thought Mike returned to town to complete his family's unfinished mission - to save the townsfolk and let them rest in peace, while incidentally settling some old scores;

Veronica believed Mike was sacrificing the town to the Goddess of Death, gaining powerful supernatural abilities by pleasing his deathly faith.

Both wrong!

The Nelson family never intended any of this from the beginning. While they were indeed followers of the Goddess of Death, their faith wasn't sincere - they only knelt before death to gain power.

Should a better stepping stone appear, they wouldn't hesitate to betray their faith and bend the knee to another deity.

Gods are defined by humans - whatever kind of god humanity needs, that's what gods become!

The Nelson family operated precisely this way. As the heir, Mike upheld this philosophy—they viewed deities as transactional partners, indifferent to whether gods were benevolent or malevolent. If deities desired faith, they performed all due rituals. It was merely a transaction—why bother with moral quandaries？

Whether faith precedes magic or magic precedes faith—this is a question worth profound contemplation.

Mages are no fools. Many practitioners like the Nelson family, unable to find suitable stepping stones, feigned absolute piety.

The eerie curse of Carvno Town became their opportunity. That day, a mysterious space descended from the heavens, transforming the town beyond recognition. An incomparably potent law reshaped everything, slaughtering townsfolk while making them believe they still lived.

Slaughter" may not be the apt term—an instantaneous transformation altered life's very form, freezing it in deathless unrest.

After extensive research, the Nelsons confirmed their windfall: they'd seized this law. By arranging a golden triangle as tribute, they could unlock the fabled Gate of Truth.

Mages who witness the Gate of Truth may master all worldly knowledge, transcend mortal flesh, ascend to legend, and obtain the seed of divinity.

The opportunity to stand as equals with gods was right before their eyes, making that night's frenzied m******e perfectly understandable.

Pity they were too weak and got wiped out by the priest-led townspeople, with only Mike from a collateral branch barely escaping.

That rainy day, delays on the road made them arrive after the Lundan investigation team had already closed the case.

Time circled around until today, fifty years later - this time with the priest leading the way, and Mike having deceived Death Goddess into granting him magic. Success was finally within reach.

Success always comes with trials. Thinking this, Mike couldn't help but laugh wildly, hearing nothing of what Veronica was saying below.

"You've misunderstood - it's not that mages entering the Gate of Truth become legends, but that only legendary mages qualify to enter!" Veronica shouted. Seeing Mike remain unmoved, she hoisted William and Monica to leave.

Whether escape was possible didn't matter - running came first!

After a few steps, Veronica glanced back at Wayne trembling on the spot - that three-meter tall abomination… Whatever magic this was, she couldn't comprehend it, assuming Wayne was just a beginner whose spell mutated from mental contamination.

After a brief moment of hesitation, she quickly strode toward Wayne, intending to take this deadweight along.

If we're leaving, we leave together; if we're dying, we die…

She hoped to fling Wayne as far away as possible before death!

High above, the giant full moon vanished, replaced by a starry cosmos—this void connected the mortal realm to the world's truth, as the Gate of Truth fully opened.

Veronica reached out to lift Wayne, only for her fingers to sink into his grayish-white flesh, mud-like and rotting. She recoiled in horror, nearly swallowed whole.

“What kind of monster is this？ So disgusting!”

Veronica grimaced in disgust and tried again to drag Wayne away. Just then, his monstrous form shrank gradually, the excess flesh shifting to his back as a pair of mismatched bat wings unfurled, stirring gusts to carry him skyward.

The white monstrosity flapped upward, aiming straight for the Gate of Truth. This provoked Mac's fury—a black fleshy mass descended, and the two abominations collided mid-air, plummeting from the heights together.

Affected by the Book of Avarice, Wayne's mind was wholly consumed by the Truth Gate. Blocked from reaching it, he flew into a rage—his ash-white arms transforming into two long blades that plunged viciously into the black flesh mass.

The pale blades resembled biological keratin, their backs soft and slick with pulsating veins clearly visible, while their edges gleamed with a cold metallic sheen, razor-sharp.

The flesh mass was split open by two gaping wounds, viscous black liquid raining down and drenching Wayne, staining him black.

This blackness was the physical manifestation of the law—the root curse condemning the townsfolk to eternal unrest. Even a trace of it would fuse one into the town's eerie space, becoming part of the black flesh mass.

Join us!

Become us…

Countless whispers echoed in his ears, but Wayne ignored them. Soon, his undulating skin absorbed the clinging black ooze coating his body.

Who's cursing whom remains to be seen!

Veronica watched the two grotesque masses twist and entwine, her stomach churning as her sanity plummeted. Abandoning all concern for Wayne's fate, she hauled William and Monica away from the scene.

Too late!

High in the sky, the Gate of Truth violently contracted, shrinking to the size of a needle's tip before abruptly expanding. Darkness engulfed the earth, completely submerging the town of Carfono.

Coldness and agony instantly enveloped their entire bodies.

Veronica's body floated mid-air, convulsing from the pain. William and Monica also awoke in excruciating torment as torrents of information flooded their minds, scrambling their thoughts beyond reason and twisting their faces into eerie contortions.

There was ecstatic joy, but also anguish and struggle…

The Gate of Truth shattered the curse, and Monica's body gradually reverted to its original form—naked, leaving nothing to the imagination.

She had platinum-blonde hair, a delicate and ethereal face like an angel, paired with a devilishly alluring figure displayed unabashedly, creating an intense contrast.

If Monica's form had enlarged, William's had shrunk—retaining her golden twin-tails and flawless features, now slightly more petite than Monica, standing half a head shorter. The once-loose clothes now hung baggily on her frame.

The three female college students were all altered by the curse—Veronica had her magic sealed, Wilhelm lost her magic and transformed into a burly man, while Monica suffered the worst fate, becoming a cat with two unfamiliar little bells added.

As the curse lifted, Veronica's magic was unleashed. Under the overwhelming flood of knowledge, her thoughts grew increasingly chaotic. Watching her dearest friends slowly drift away, she weakly reached out, desperate to touch them but grasping only air, forced to witness their departure.

Her hollow eyes gradually dimmed, as bone-chilling coldness drowned her consciousness.

Her heavy eyelids slowly closed, tears of unwillingness silently tracing down her cheeks. Struggling proved futile—Veronica could only await death's arrival: "It's over…"

So cold!

Smack!

A warm hand pressed against Veronica's lower back, dispelling the cold, then hoisted her by the waistband and slung her over a shoulder.

Wayne!

His eyes bloodshot, breathing heavily, he staggered forward completely naked.

His eyes also bore intense pain and struggle; every movement sent needle-like agony through his body. Thanks to the Book of Avarice, he barely retained his sanity, allowing him to maintain simple thoughts.

For example: take the black cat, the flamboyant man, and the young mistress away.

Wayne, muddled and severely mentally dulled, wondered where the black cat had gone. Faced with the bare, platinum-haired young woman before him, he remained unmoved—simply tucked her under his arm, then clamped his teeth around the twin-tailed blonde's hair, trudging step by step toward the light ahead.

“Why cry？ Who said it's over？!”