Myths Reawakened-Chapter 317 (1): Twilight of the Gods x Age of Declining Magic

Chapter 317 (1): Twilight of the Gods x Age of Declining Magic

Buckingham Palace.

At eight o’clock at night, Wayne and Darienne finished dining at the palace, and he drove off with the ice queen in his car. Queen Sophelia wasn’t there. During this time, she had been staying at the headquarters of the Ministry of Magic, transferring power while helping Auston learn how to efficiently manage a country in chaos.

The process should’ve taken place at Buckingham Palace, but Auston insisted on doing it at the ministry’s headquarters to avoid suspicion.

To be honest, it didn’t work well. Every noble knew about the Queen and Auston’s affairs. Avoiding suspicion? Clearly, they were just tired of the palace and wanted a change of scenery.

Auston always ignored the rumors. Nothing fazed him anymore. When the rumors that Wayne was his illegitimate son spread, he had already resigned himself and barely bothered to correct others.

Embrace giving up, and life would suddenly feel easier.

Auston had a clear conscience, so when he heard the gossip, he just treated it as a joke and moved on. He had made the effort to avoid suspicion because he didn’t want Silvia to misunderstand and because he didn’t want Sophelia to hold onto false hope.

Business was business. There was nothing personal about it. He hoped that the Queen wouldn’t bring up their past and destroy the last of their goodwill for each other over politics.

While the Queen was absent, no outsiders were allowed to enter Buckingham Palace. In the past, Wayne would never have been able to dine in the palace, but things were different now.

He only had to say that his father was Auston, and he would be able to go anywhere in Londan. Not only could he have free meals at the palace, but he could even sleep with the Princess if he wanted.

That... was the perks of rebellion!

During dinner, Darienne had spoken little and chewed slowly, doing her best to maintain her ice queen image. If Wayne was to be honest, really honest, the silver-haired knight was really, really nice when she wasn’t talking.

While wielding White Night Creed and transforming into the Moonlight Knight, Darienne would enter the state of a moonlight elf, with silver hair, silver eyes, and a dashing, noble, and aloof temperament that kept people at arm’s length.

In her normal state, she still resembled her elf form, with silver hair and eyes. According to her, she had held White Night Creed for so long that her appearance had gradually changed.

It was quite nice. She liked silver.

Wayne was curious about her real age, but she wouldn’t give him an answer when he asked. He guessed that even veteran legendary mages like Senna and Anastasia would be around the age of Darienne's granddaughters.

She was a super old auntie!

“Darienne, the seal in the Frozen Land is more or less stable now. When chosen knights aren’t defending the seal, what do you usually do?” Wayne asked from the driver’s seat.

“Waiting for the goddess’s divine oracle.” Darienne glanced at Wayne. After defeating Thoggua, the chaotic space of the Frozen Land had subsided somewhat, allowing her to contact the Goddess of Moonlight to report the results of the battle. She had mentioned Wayne, who was chosen by three goddesses.

The Goddess of Moonlight confirmed that Wayne was indeed her choice and told Darienne to take good care of him. She also urged that Darienne had to drive Nature and Sun out of the competition.

The goddess didn’t say much, but Darienne could deduce the rest.

They had no choice before. The three goddesses had joined forces and chosen Wayne as a backup to protect their knights; if it came down to it, they would sacrifice Wayne to preserve the lives of the three chosen knights.

Now that Thoggua had been repelled, the Goddess of Moonlight officially appointed Wayne as the next Moonlight Knight out of Her appreciation of his talent, and perhaps partly as his reward or compensation.

If the Goddess of Moonlight thought this way, it was likely that the Goddess of Nature and the Goddess of Sun shared the sentiment, which explained the rather peculiar order.

Darienne thought it would be quite easy. She had checked Filomina and Kristen. The combination of a great beauty and a young beauty was virtually unbeatable. Someone as sentimental as Wayne would never abandon them. He was long bound to the Church of Moonlight’s chariot.

Even if it wasn’t a sure thing, they definitely had the advantage.

The problem was that the Church of Nature might shamelessly order Silvia and Veronica to secure the future Nature Knight, beating the master-student combo with the rarer combo of mother and daughter. They had to keep their guard up.

Darienne sat in the passenger seat and thought about the entertainment that might follow, shaking her head and mumbling to herself.

You’re thinking about something really offensive, aren’t you? Wayne rolled his eyes at her. “What are the goddesses’ divine oracles usually about? Chosen knights are fighters and the goddesses’ blades on earth—weapons that could destroy churches. They won’t just leave chosen knights idle.”

“We used to be tasked with defending the Frozen Land long-term. Because of the wear and tear to the seal over the years, we had to change shifts with increasing frequency. We rarely received oracles from the goddesses... I don’t yet know what things will be like in the future.”

Darienne didn’t hide anything. Considering Wayne as the next Moonlight Knight, she wanted him to familiarize himself with a knight’s duties early. “Usually, chosen knights do not interfere in disputes between the churches. Knights rarely fight each other. When we do show our faces, it’s usually to clean up the mess or to warn the other side to quit while they’re ahead.”

Chosen knights, as church-level strategic weapons, mainly functioned as deterrence. All five churches had their own chosen knights, ensuring long-term stability. If anyone dared to raid another’s nexus, they should be ready for retaliation that would lead to mutual destruction.

“That’s how things should be, but...” Darienne’s expression turned severe. “Based on the church-related tasks I’ve carried out before, the relationships between goddesses aren’t as distant as the public perceives, but nor are they as close as allies should be. Things are constantly changing.”

There were words Darienne couldn’t say as the Moonlight Knight. Since Wayne was the next knight, she hoped that her subtle hints would help him better position himself.

Chosen knights should stay out of disputes between the churches!

She specifically meant the three churches of the Life Alliance, the Church of Darkness, and the Church of Death. The Life Alliance wasn’t a close-knit group, and they didn’t have to fight Darkness and Death to the bitter end. That was the wisdom of slacking off that Darienne had accumulated in her years as a chosen knight.

“Well, that’s not the whole truth,” she added. “Death has drifted further away. We’ve become distant.”

In the human world, the Life Alliance was in opposition with Darkness and Death, but based on her observation, the three goddesses of Nature, Sun, and Moonlight had maintained contact with the Goddess of Darkness.

The same could’ve been said about the Goddess of Death in the past, but after a falling out, contact ceased. Even the Goddess of Darkness, the Goddess of Death’s bestie, had drifted apart from Death because of the conflict.

The specific reason was unknown even to Darienne. It was above a chosen knight’s pay grade. One would have to at least be a subordinate god to learn the truth.

“So in the beginning, the five chosen knights spent our time protecting the churches from the Church of Heavenly Father, aside from taking turns guarding the seal.”

Darienne was quite certain that the five chosen knights weren’t meant to deter each other but jointly kept the Church of Heavenly Father at bay.

Wayne listened in excitement. He learned something new again, and his horizon broadened. If Darienne was right, reincarnated angels’ value would be higher still. Unfortunately, he was a fake one. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

But he wasn’t the Moonlight Knight’s true successor, either!

Thinking of that, he casually asked, “Darienne, has our goddess mentioned me?”

“Yes, She thinks highly of you, praising you for being an excellent successor. She also told me not to worry about you being chosen by three goddesses. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. You are the goddess’s chosen knight. You were before, and you will still be in the future,” Darienne said truthfully.

Wayne’s heart sank. He knew very well that he couldn’t be the Goddess of Moonlight’s chosen knight. He could wield White Night Creed only because of the Book of Greed. Why didn’t the Goddess of Moonlight expose his lie? Had the Goddesses of Nature and Sun found out and made the same choice?

If so, why?

He thought of the complex composition of the Life Alliance and of his own evolution path, suspecting that he was a guinea pig in the three goddesses’ eyes. They were observing him.

What about Darkness and Death? Had they joined in?

Suddenly, Wayne thought of Anastasia. Had the Holy Maiden of the Church of Darkness contacted the Goddess of Darkness? If she had... who exactly was Anastasia working for now?

Various questions flashed through his mind. He was too far from the goddesses to get any answers, and Darienne didn’t know enough to answer his questions. He had to start with Anastasia.

“Anastasia...”

“What? Why are you suddenly bringing her up? Tell me, do you covet her body?” Darienne scoffed. “Don’t even think about it. She’s the Church of Darkness’s Holy Maiden. She can’t lose her purity. If you like her, you should keep your distance, or she’ll be in real trouble.”

“Darienne, you’re saying the right thing, but should you, of all people, be saying that?” Wayne retorted. They were brothers. Why was she overstepping?

“I’m speaking up for Filomina and Kristen. They are too gentle to you. Were I in their place, I would never react like them!” Darienne said proudly.

...Do you hear yourself?

That’s a dangerous way of thinking and can lead to lives being created. Please calm down.

The topic was a slippery slope he must not go down. Wayne didn’t go into it, worried that one misstep would unlock Darienne’s route. “Is the Church of Heavenly Father that terrifying? I think the Papal State has been quiet!”

“Naive!” Darienne scoffed. “If the five churches had no chosen knights, the Church of Heavenly Father would’ve unified faith once again long ago. If the Papal State were a pushover, there wouldn’t have been the concept of the divine right of kings.”

“If the Church of Heavenly Father is so powerful, how did they fall from grace?” Wayne asked the question he had been meaning to ask. “I checked many historical records, but the specific reason has never been explained. The Church of Heavnely Father is unwilling to go into it, but the Church of Moonlight and even the Life Alliance at large keep no records. Do you know why?”

“It seems that there has been a Twilight of the Gods[1] in history, during which all mages lost their magic, faith magic included...”

Darienne didn’t disappoint Wayne. She did have inside information. “I’m not clear on the specific timeline. I became the Moonlight Knight in the late seventeenth century, around 1680...”

She trailed off, staring at Wayne with an expressionless face. He gripped the steering wheel and stared intently at the road ahead, as if he had been too focused on driving to hear her.

“Wayne, pretend you didn’t hear that part, or I’ll have to help you forget in the physical way.” Darienne patted him on the shoulder. It annoyed her that she had accidentally revealed her approximate age. No, she was overflowing with killing intent!

Wayne said with a puzzled look, “What did you just say, Darienne? Something about 1920? So you’re only eighteen!”

“Ha, you couldn’t have missed that.”

Displeased, Darienne stopped talking, unwilling to say another word.

1. The original term used here is the common translation of Ragnarök, but since Ragnarök is specific to Norse mythology, I’ve opted for a more general translation of the term. ☜