Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

The four warriors from the Demon Realm all shuddered at the appearance of the Heavenly God, as this was their first time seeing him.

After all, they were facing a god.

Henry himself was also a god but an imperfect one, so he couldn’t help being nervous. He glanced at Ganisel with the corner of his eyes to see how he was doing.

The demon’s eyes twitched as if they were about to explode at any second. His reaction confirmed to Henry that they were indeed facing the Heavenly God.

The Heavenly God chuckled as if something good had happened. It was rather ironic, given that he had been passively watching everything up to this point.

The four of them kept silent, and it was Ganisel who eventually lashed out.

“You bastard!”

Bang!

He stomped the ground as hard as he could. As his hideous boot struck the ground, the earth split open, the crack reaching the pond with the waterfall. Subsequently, more cracks appeared at the edge of the pond, causing the water to overflow.

Then, Ganisel picked up the Demon God’s holy relic, the Lillsha Wayne. There was a reason he had been desperate to collect the Three Sacred Treasures of the Demon Realm. Those treasures were imbued with the divine power of the Demon God, and he believed that they would give him a fighting chance against the Heavenly God.

The Lillsha Wayne radiated an eerie light and let out an eerie cry as though it was about to spit out all the souls it contained.

Ganisel raised the sword with both hands, and just as he was about to swing it…

“Enough.”

The Heavenly God raised his hand and ordered Ganisel to stop. Strangely, there wasn’t the slightest hint of urgency in his voice, but Ganisel nonetheless stopped.

“...!”

Everyone else was stunned at what happened. They all knew how furious Ganisel was, and they had thought that no one would be able to stop his rampage.

Thus, they were dumbfounded at the fact that someone had managed to stop Ganisel with just one word. All three of them were startled, but each of them felt different emotions and had different thoughts.

The first one to come to his senses and act was Gigatan.

“You damn geezer!”

Following his curse, Gigatan instantly enlarged himself, drawing his weapons with his additional arms.

Henry was surprised to see Gigatan snap like that, considering that he liked playing it smart and always prioritized survival.

However, the Heavenly God stopped time, freezing Ganisel and Gigatan in place. Now, it was just Henry and Gretel remaining. The latter shook his head.

“Hmm, seems like there’s no way around your power of time.”

Immediately after saying that, Gretel froze up just like Ganisel and Gigatan. It seemed that the Heavenly God realized Gretel would be trickier to deal with than the other two.

With that, the only entities in the temple that were not frozen in time were the two gods, Henry and the Heavenly God.

“I believe we can have our talk in peace now.”

The Heavenly God acted like he had icy water in his veins. He had taken care of those three beings as though he had cleaned his house before his guests would arrive. Now, he was ready to welcome Henry. He waved his hand, and a cloud in the shape of a chair appeared.

He sat on the chair and looked at Henry with a gentle smile, not bothering to make a chair for him as well.

“Let’s see… This is your… what, sixth time?”

Henry felt chills go down his spine as the Heavenly God casually mentioned how many times he had gone through this ordeal. The old man in front of him was the reason he had been stuck in a time loop as if he were a hamster running endlessly on a wheel.

Henry had dozens of questions for the Heavenly God, but he decided to tread carefully so as to not end up frozen like his three companions. In fact, he felt like he had no other choice but to do so. For some reason, he thought that this moment was crucial for getting everything he desired.

After collecting his thoughts, Henry said tentatively, “Y-yes… It’s my sixth time…”

Even though Henry had watched Ganisel behead Angelus, he had still managed to meet the Heavenly God. This was what he had been longing for ever since his arrival in the heavens. Thus, he felt he could put aside his anger for the Heavenly God and focus on why he was here in the first place. The most important stage of his journey was just about to begin.

At Henry’s composed answer, the Heavenly God smiled and said, “You sure are amazing. I never imagined that you’d do the same thing six times.”

“...”

Despite the subtle scolding, Henry knew better than to talk back. In this moment, staying silent was infinitely more important than any words he could offer.

The Heavenly God continued, “But are you aware that this is the first time you and I have met?”

“Oh, I see.”

“I realized that opposites do in fact attract each other in some way. Look at us. I guess your way of doing things was right too. You ended up meeting me like this. It seems to me that your violent tendencies stem from the fact that you’re still partly human.”

“...”

Henry kept silent once again, and the Heavenly God just continued to say what was on his mind.

“But that violent nature of yours has nonetheless led you to me. I have no doubt that this is what you’ve wanted all along. And this is why I believe that opposites do seem to attract each other.”

As he listened to the Heavenly God’s explanation, Henry was able to vaguely guess what choices he had made in his previous five attempts. But just as the Heavenly God had said, he had ultimately received what he wanted because he had followed his instincts.

“Heavenly God, there is something I would like to ask of you.”

“You want to borrow the power of time, right?”

“Yes…”

It seemed that the Heavenly God already knew what Henry wanted, and Henry wasn’t that surprised. After all, the Heavenly God was a complete god, not an imperfect one like him. Besides, his power to manipulate time had most likely allowed him to figure out Henry’s intentions beforehand.

At Henry’s confirmation, the Heavenly God nodded while rubbing his chin, and he eventually said, “I know what you’re going through. I understand you’re cleaning up after what that bastard Janus has done, correct?”

“Yes.”

“I also know that the process wasn’t smooth. That’s why you wanted to meet me, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The Heavenly God knew Henry’s situation all too well, and this felt gratifying and refreshing to Henry. Someone finally understood his struggle, and now that there was hope, his heart was racing.

“Hmm, what to do…?”

The Heavenly God squinted his eyes, their shapes like that of a crescent moon. To Henry, they looked like the eyes of a snake, and they reminded him of the Jordans he had encountered when he had first come to the heavens.

They were both silent, and cold sweat trickled down Henry’s back. He gulped nervously, feeling as though he couldn’t breathe because of how tense the atmosphere was.

After what felt like an eternity, the Heavenly God finally broke the silence.

“Hmm, I can’t do that for you. Don’t you think it’d be unfair?”

“Sorry…?”

“There were several others who thought the way you did. But see, time is absolute and omnipotent, and it opens up way more possibilities than you’d think.”

“What…?! You don’t understand! I’m not doing this for my own gain, but to solve the problems that other gods have caused. Why would you think…!”

Henry urgently tried to explain things, but the Heavenly God was unyielding.

“Either way, I don’t think I can lend you my powers for that reason. And an Armageddon? Don’t you think that’s too much violence? The heavens have been stained by this defeat because of you. Do you even know what this means?”

“Heavenly God!”

“Enough. Throwing tantrums is a childish thing to do, and it's unbecoming to a god. You’re not making yourself look any better. And you’ve become the god of magic. Why don’t you stop worrying about human affairs?”

The Heavenly God had pretended to sympathize with Henry but ultimately decided not to grant his request. To Henry, he was just like any other old man, taunting and scolding him unreasonably.

Realizing that he had failed, Henry felt so much despair that his legs gave way. He wondered why he had gone through the same trial six times just to get this response from the Heavenly God.

“Ha…”

A myriad of thoughts went through his mind, but if this was what the Heavenly God thought, Henry knew that any attempt at persuading him would be pointless.

The silence persisted, and the Heavenly God eventually waved his hands, summoning a chair, just like his, to appear under Henry.

Henry just slouched in his chair as though he had lost the will to live. His expression was one of utter dejection, but the Heavenly God couldn’t care less. He wouldn’t change his decision just because Henry reacted this way.

“I believe you came to some realization. As a reward, I will give you a gift.”

“Gift…? Will that even mean anything to me?”

Henry no longer spoke politely to the Heavenly God. Almighty or not, he had denied his request, so Henry didn’t care anymore about his status.

But even so, the Heavenly God seemed unbothered by the change in Henry’s attitude.

“That depends on how well you use your gift. Now then, let’s turn back time.”

“You want to turn back time? Why?"

“Tsk, tsk. Your emotions have overwhelmed you, clouding your judgment."

With that, the Heavenly God clapped his hands.

Clap!

Immediately after, a bright light flashed before Henry's eyes.

***

Twang-!

Henry heard the sound of a lyre ring in his ears. It was an extremely unpleasant sound, and he had already lost count on how many times he had heard it.

At this, Henry drew his sword and shouted furiously, “Where are you? Don’t just stay in hiding and play that lyre of yours! Show yourself!”

His voice didn’t echo, as there were no mountains in the heavens. However, after a prolonged silence, someone finally answered his call.

“Here.”

As he finally heard a voice instead of the sound of the lyre, Henry turned around instantly. There were thousands of fully-armed angels pointing their spears and swords at him, and in the middle of them stood Virtus.

Twang-!

Henry quickly managed to locate Virtus as he plucked the lyre’s strings once again as if doing an encore.

The angel lowered his lyre and slowly greeted Henry.

“Imperfect god, nice to meet you.”

Henry didn’t recall seeing Virtus before, but for some reason, he felt a sense of déjà vu. However, that feeling quickly turned into irritation. As his anger peaked, he summoned his Colt Sword.

Seeing that Henry was steaming, Virtus asked in a calm voice, “Imperfect God, how about you stop now?”

“Stop? I haven’t even started, but you’re telling me to stop? Stop saying such strange things and get ready!” Henry replied furiously. He was ready to take down everyone that stood before him.

However, despite his blunt response, Virtus shook his head, not losing his smile. Then, he said, “No, no. Your name is Henry Morris. You’re the first god of magic to come here because of the trouble in your realm.”

“...!”

His explanation gave Henry goosebumps. He had absolutely no idea how Virtus knew about him and about what was going on in the human realm.

But before Henry could question him about it, Virtus added, “There’s no need to be surprised. I found out about you just a little while ago.”

“A little while ago? What do you mean?”

“I am a faithful servant of Heavenly God. I have come to you under his commands to convey his words. This marks your seventh time stepping foot in the heavens.”

“Seven times? I’ve never… Don’t tell me…!”

At his explanation, Henry immediately thought of the power that the Heavenly God possessed and realized the situation he was in.

“Oh, by the way, this is the gift that the Heavenly God asked me to deliver.”

“Gift?”

Henry had no idea what Virtus meant by “gift.” He hadn’t been aware that the Heavenly God had a gift for him.

In any case, the Heavenly God hadn’t forgotten to deliver Henry his gift through Virtus. Quickly after telling Henry about it, Virtus handed him a small, golden vial.

“Rest assured it’s not poison. The Heavenly God told me that you’ll know what it is after you drink it.”

At his words, Henry hesitated for a moment. However, he decided to give it a try and trust his poison resistance and the Heavenly God. He took the vial from Virtus and downed it in one go.

The liquid didn’t really taste like anything. However, as soon as the last drop of the golden liquid went down his throat, certain memories came back to him at once.

His pupils turned gold, and then…

“Ah… AAAGH!”

Henry held his head with both hands. He felt like his skull would split open from the overflowing memories.

The Heavenly God had gifted Henry all the memories from his sixth journey in the heavens.