Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

‘I’m almost done, right?’

Henry hadn’t finished his fight with Gretel, but since the Neo Lich had surrendered, Henry’s plan was almost complete. He took the Demon King’s token of proof from Gretel and handed it to Ganisel.

Ganisel swallowed nervously.

“This is…!”

Over the years, Ganisel had gone through a lot of trouble just to obtain this tiny bead, and now that struggle was finally over.

Although he hadn’t succeeded on his own, the Demon King’s token of proof was nevertheless in his hands, and that was all that mattered.

Along with the bead, Henry also gave Ganisel a piece of paper. It was a caller scroll, but this one was different from the ones Henry had given to others.

As Henry handed it to Ganisel, he explained what was to come, including his relationship with Gretel.

“Take it. This piece of paper will lead you to where I am when I call you.”

“I am leaving soon. As I said before, I have business in the heavens.”

“I see.”

“And keep Gretel as your lieutenant. He promised to devote himself to the new demon army. Also, Gretel may be your subordinate, but he’s a skilled demon, so I hope you learn something from him.”

Henry firmly warned Ganisel to not be arrogant and use Gretel to his advantage. With that, Henry had done all he could for him. He had helped Ganisel become the candidate for the position of Demon King, and he had given him the things he lacked through Gigatan and Gretel.

All that was left was for Ganisel to fully absorb the Demon King’s token of proof and have the Demon God acknowledge him.

With eyes gleaming with confidence, Ganisel said, “Don’t worry! And thank you, Henry.”

“Eh, we’re just helping out each other.” Henry shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Ganisel clutched the Demon King’s token of proof tightly in his hand and asked, “Henry, what do you know about the heavens?”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Huh? Then how are you going to meet the Heavenly God?”

“I’m not sure. I’m just going to look for him first. I mean, he rules over every being in the heavens, so it shouldn’t be that difficult. It’s not like I’m looking for an obscure creature, right?”

Ganisel was lost for words at Henry’s simple logic.

The Heavenly God was an almighty god, and he was the only one in the heavens. Not even Ganisel, a former archmage who had ruled over all the angels in the heavens, could do anything about him!

Ganisel knew about the power of the Heavenly God better than anyone else, and that was precisely why he strived so hard to become the Demon King. He believed that ascending to that status would at least allow him to lay a finger on the Heavenly God.

For those reasons, Ganisel found Henry’s unreasonable confidence both intriguing and worrying.

However, Henry gave him a reassuring smile. He thought it was understandable for Ganisel to react like that, given that he was about to meet the one and only god of the heavens. Besides, Ganisel was still unaware that Henry was a god, which made his reaction all the more understandable.

‘They’re going to freak out when I show up anyway.’

Raina, the representative of the Demon God, had certainly been startled by his presence, and Henry believed that everyone in the heavens would react similarly and summon the Heavenly God right away.

In any group, subordinates were required to notify their superiors when confronted with something they couldn’t handle themselves.

“I understand, Henry, but I need to tell you one more thing before you go,” said Ganisel.

“What is it?”

“Whatever you’re thinking of doing, just don’t forget that those guys in the heavens are far more hypocritical and deceitful than you might think.”

“Really?”

Ganisel’s tone was grave as he warned Henry of how things worked in the heavens. On this note, Henry still hadn’t learned why Ganisel had been banished from there, so he didn’t trust his warning completely.

‘But I’ll still keep that in mind.’

However, he didn’t disregard his warning either. They considered each other close friends, and Henry found it unlikely that Ganisel would blatantly lie to him.

Having finished his discussion with Ganisel, Henry turned his attention back to Gretel. He had fully explained the situation to Gretel, because unlike Gigatan, Gretel was just as useful as Ganisel.

After hearing the full story, Gretel said, “That’s all right. You’re a noble being, and I’m already impressed by the fact that I’ve met such a great wizard like you.”

“Yes, yes. When all of this is over, I’ll reward you as I’ve promised.”

“Alright, noble one.”

The price Henry was going to pay for Gretel giving up his position as the Demon King was nothing big.

Wizards became liches out of greed for advancement. Thus, Henry had promised Gretel the magical advancement he had long dreamed of.

Their deal was as simple as that.

After leaving Ganisel in Gretel’s hands, Henry opened the dimensional gap. He then waved and said, “See you all later.”

With that, Henry disappeared through the dimensional gap.

***

People generally thought of the heavens as some divine realm high above the skies, but that was just fantasy. In reality, the heavens were just another dimension, just like the Demon Realm.

Somewhere in the heavens, a dimensional gap materialized in the air and quickly disappeared after Henry emerged from it. He had managed to arrive here thanks to the coordinates he had received from the Demon God.

Henry looked around the heavens like a tourist.

‘So this is the heavens?’

Henry was the first man to ever set foot in the heavens and the Demon Realm. Although he was essentially a god, Henry still considered himself human, at least partly. He had evolved into a formidable being, just barely surpassing human limits, but he still wasn’t a complete god.

Henry took a deep breath. The air in the heavens was fresh. Unlike the Demon Realm, where the air was filled with toxins, the air here was fresh enough to remind him of a forest.

Henry looked up at the sky. There was a large, majestic sun on the blue sky, with numerous clouds surrounding it.

He then scanned his surroundings. The unusual thing about the heavens was that there weren’t any mountains in the distance, and there wasn’t any grass around either. The soil beneath his feet had a bronze hue, and there weren’t any rocks or pebbles.

This scenery gave the heavens a strange sense of cleanliness, which made Henry think of purity and virtue.

Besides that, there was nothing else or anyone in sight. It occurred to Henry that the Demon God had just given him the coordinates to get to the heavens, but not to where the Heavenly God was located.

Henry scratched the back of his head and thought to himself, ‘Do I have to look for him myself?’ He was a little disappointed that there wasn’t anyone in sight. If there were, he would’ve stopped them to ask for directions.

He was beginning to think that the Demon God was disgraceful.

‘If you’re giving me the coordinates, at least give me the proper ones…’

Henry shook his head. At least he had successfully arrived into the heavens, where the Heavenly God was, so he decided to content himself with that for the time being.

“Elagon,” Said Henry.

- Khu!

The green bracelet on his wrist flashed, and Elagon appeared. It was much taller than before. The spirit no longer looked like a seven-year-old kid; it had grown to the point that it wouldn’t look out of place if it attended an academy.

However, its physical appearance was hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl.

‘Well, spirits don’t have genders.’

Henry stroked Elagon’s head and said, “You’re big enough to travel alone. I’d like to saddle you up if you don’t mind.”

- Khu khu khu!

Elagon readily accepted Henry’s request and transformed into a giant water dragon, the form of its parent, Elyragon.

- KHU KHU KHU!

As Elagon grew larger, its vocal cords also grew thicker, so its cute cries turned into fierce roars. But even so, Henry still considered it cute.

He got up on Elagon’s back and braced himself. He then cast a few speed spells on Elagon.

“Let’s go.”

- KHUUU!

Elagon cheerfully responded to Henry’s signal. Thanks to Henry, Elagon was the first spirit to enter the heavens.

But shortly after they set out…

- Sisibaba… Sisibaba…

A patch of bronze soiled slowly rose from where Henry had been a moment ago. The dirt soon took the shape of eyes and years.

These creatures were named after the sound they made—Sisibaba. They were the most common creatures in the heavens, and they were the equivalent of the lowest-ranking demonic beasts in the Demon Realm.

At first glance, Sisibabas seemed like they served no purpose. However, their job was to see and hear everything in the heavens, and then relay the information to the other heavenly beings.

They were the source of rumors in the heavens.

- Sisibaba, sisibaba.

The Sisibabas roamed the area for a while after the two left and eventually disappeared back into the bronze-colored ground.

***

‘How long have we been going…?’

Henry thought they had been moving for quite some time, but they still hadn’t come across anything. He wondered if the Demon God had given him the wrong coordinates, but he quickly dispelled that thought.

‘No, there’s no way he lied to me, especially since it was an order from the King of Gods or whatever. He had no reason to lie to me.’

Henry decided to have a little more faith in him. Of course, he trusted the King of Gods, whom even the Demon God feared, more than the Demon God.

- Hiss!

Just then, he heard a familiar sound from underneath him. Similar sounds followed after the first one, startling Elagon and causing it to quickly take flight.

Henry looked down, and he spotted numerous giant snakes, glaring at him and Elagon.

‘Snakes?’

Given how big they were, Henry thought they had to be pythons. No, not even pythons were as big as these ones.

As Elagon kept flying upwards, Henry cocked his head at the swarm of snakes baring their fangs at them.

‘Are they similar to demonic beasts?’

It made no sense to Henry for there to be snakes in the heavens, but before he could collect his thoughts, he heard another strange sound, this time from above.

Shinggg!

“Damn it!”

He felt something hot rushing at him from above. It was flames, but Henry relied on Elagon’s instincts to dodge them.

“What the hell?”

Henry was irritated at the surprise attack. As he turned his head toward the source of the heat, he spotted a ring of fire spinning in the air.

“A ring?”

But that ring reminded him of something. It looked like…

“A wheel?”

It looked like the wheel of a wagon that had caught on fire, waving its flames majestically. The moment Henry uttered the word “wheel”, the fiery rings multiplied by the dozens and bolted at him.

‘Damn it!’

- Hiss!

As he was about to duck down to avoid the wheels, he saw the snakes below him again, baring their fangs and hissing ferociously at him.

Henry was fed up with this.

“Klever!”

- Yes, Master.

Thump!

Henry’s trustworthy servant, the demonic beast that had devoured the Demon King whole, emerged in the heavens.

Deborah's Thoughts

Given Henry’s statement about spirits not having genders, Elagon will be called “it” instead of “he” from now on.