Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage - Chapter 369: God (2)

Henry took in his resurrection and eventually spoke to Virtus.

“What are you doing? Bow down this instant!”

“Ho-how…!”

Virtus gulped nervously, realizing that he had just witnessed an imperfect god fully ascend to divinity.

However, Henry couldn’t care less about Virtus’ shock. The only thing that mattered at that moment was how he felt.

“Which part are you not getting?”

“…!”

Henry hated repeating himself, so he decided to let Virtus and the other angels know just how irritated he was with them.

At that moment, every angel in his sight, including Virtus, fell to their knees at once.

‘Wh-what’s happening…!’

The angels were suddenly pressed down by an invisible and overwhelming force. It wasn’t some kind of magic, but the almighty presence of a complete god. Some of the angels fell, unable to withstand the force.

Of course, Henry didn’t care about some low-ranking angels. He stepped forward in mid-air as though walking on an invisible floor, exerting his tremendous presence. He eventually got in front of Virtus, who was still kneeling in mid-air.

As Henry’s figure loomed over him, Virtus felt like he was about to combust.

The Heavenly God always contained his presence in front of heavenly beings because they were his faithful servants, but Henry didn’t do so. After all, he had no reason to. He had chosen death for the sake of revenge, and he had set his eyes on revenge well before becoming a complete god.

Henry looked down at Virtus, who was shaking violently.

“Seems like you finally know what’s going on.”

To Henry, the angels were a bunch of hypocrites that didn’t live up to their names or status. Of course, Virtus was one of the better ones, but in Henry’s eyes, he was still an angel at the end of the day.

Virtus tried his best to get his hands on the Lyre of Defiance again, thinking that Henry had to have learned what its true power was.

At that, Henry raised an eyebrow, thinking that Virtus was laughable and pitiful for trying to break the Lyre of Defiance at the order of the Heavenly God when he couldn’t even stop himself from shaking.

Henry lifted his foot and trampled on the angel’s hand.

“Arghhh!”

Even though Henry had stepped on him in midair, Virtus wailed in pain as though he were being crushed on the ground.

Henry stayed silent as he pushed and rubbed his foot against the angel’s hand. He didn’t even think about how hard he was stepping on him, but soon enough, he heard the cracking of bones.

Virtus shed tears from the excruciating pain. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t get a hold of the Lyre of Defiance; it was at his fingertips, mere centimeters out of reach.

Henry went ahead and picked Lyre, who no longer had an owner.

“No… No, no…”

The Heavenly God’s faithful servant let out a sorrowful sigh as he realized that he had disappointed his master.

Henry, on the other hand, stood tall and held the Lyre of Defiance with a smirk on his face.

And then…

Snap!

Henry broke the Lyre of Defiance in a single snap and swiftly threw it away, letting it fall endlessly through the clouds. At this, Virtus’ expression contorted in astonishment, not comprehending what had just happened.

“You want to know why, don’t you?” Henry asked as though he had already read Virtus’ mind.

At this, Virtus wearily lifted his head to look at Henry, only to see him smirking at him. Virtus could sense a coldness, a ruthlessness hidden behind his smile.

As the angel’s eyes widened again, Henry took notice and proceeded to explain.

“The Lyre of Defiance… I did need it… Until I died. But now, I’ve changed my mind.”

With that, Henry’s smile was slowly fading away, and his eyes were turning from two crescent moons to two narrow lines.

Now glaring at Virtus, he continued, “I have no intention of begging you for the power of time anymore. In other words, that Heavenly God that you serve is no longer of any use to me.”

“Oh, no, no! God of Magic, please reconsider your choice!”

Virtus instantly realized where this conversation was going. The fact that Henry no longer needed the Heavenly God and that he had the memories of his humiliating past only meant one thing.

He would attempt to bring down the Heavenly God.

Knowing what was on his mind, Virtus desperately clung to Henry, not caring that the bones in his hand were being crushed. He had a feeling that the current Henry would actually kill the Heavenly God if he didn’t stop him right then and there.

Virtus tried with all his might to stop Henry. His fingers hurt so much that it felt like they were going to snap off any second. However, this physical pain was nothing in comparison to his failure to stop Henry.

But, despite Virtus’ desperate efforts, Henry reacted coldly.

“Tsk.”

Henry took his foot off of Virtus’ hand, only to hit him in the head as hard as he could.

Crack!

With that, Virtus’ neck snapped with a swift, almost effortless motion. In fact, Henry was surprised at how easily his cervical spine had broken, wondering how it had managed to support the angel’s head in the first place.

As the light faded from his eyes, Virtus slumped forward and plummeted. Unlike when Henry had died, no one was trying to catch Virtus’ falling corpse. Or rather, no one could, for all the other angels were still being suppressed by Henry’s presence.

With that, Henry silently glanced up at the sun. He said nothing; he merely glared at the sun with venomous eyes that seemed to be a warning to the Heavenly God.

Soon, Henry drew his sword and swiftly swung it in all directions.

Whoosh!

Henry’s sword stretched out like a whip, sounding like a hissing snake. At first, nothing happened, but after a few moments…

Slice!

The heads of all the angels in the heavenly army fell simultaneously, plummeting through the clouds. Blood splattered everywhere, painting the skies crimson

“I hope you’re ready, Heavenly God,” Henry whispered as he lowered his sword.

His revenge was just beginning.

***

Henry strolled through the heavens. The surrounding scenery changed every now and then, and Henry recognized Posla, Principatus, and Angelus as he walked..

With no hesitation, and without stopping, Henry swung his sword to behead every angel in his way.

Hundreds of angels fell instantly, their heads flying and their blood spurting everywhere to form huge puddles of blood, which eventually overflowed into crimson rivers.

Henry unleashed death in the heavens with each step he took, and no one dared to stop him. If what he had previously done on his sixth attempt was a typhoon accompanied by a fierce demon, this was a calamity fueled by a god’s wrath.

Henry eventually crossed paths with Angelus. He had collected the heads of the other chiefs as trophies. And so, Angelus was terrified to see Posla’s and Principatus’ heads.

Henry swiftly took Angelus’ head as well. He lifted it and shook it in the sun. Each time he did that with his trophies, he felt like an aggressor, but he didn’t feel bad or guilty about it. In fact, he felt refreshed and reassured, as this was how he had taken care of things his whole life.

Crunch!

Henry stomped on the Sisibabas that came to keep an eye on him and popped them dead. He was sure that the Heavenly God had already found out what he was doing, and he couldn’t care less about that.

He pressed forward with the heads of the angel chiefs wrapped around his shoulders. Their blood trickled down on Henry, and he took the droplets as a reward for his hard work.

Eventually, Henry came across a new scenery. He laid eyes on the Heavenly God’s temple, its serene white marble glinting in the sun. A few white clouds hung around the temple as though they were decorations, and a waterfall flowed in the center.

“Is this déjà vu or what?”

Although Henry had received the memories of his sixth attempt from the Heavenly God as a gift, he still felt like it was his first time here, at the temple. The memory of his first visit here didn’t feel real; it felt like a distant dream, not a real experience.

Henry stood in front of the pond and proceeded to throw the heads of the angels he had been carrying on his shoulders.

Splash!

The clear and serene pond quickly turned red because of the blood oozing from the heads. Seeing the pond get murky, Henry couldn’t help but chuckle. He found it funny that this supposedly sacred pond was now filthy with blood. Soon, the heads were floating to the surface.

Henry had done this merely as a defiant gesture to the Heavenly God.

As the waterfall caused the heads to drift away to the edge of the pond, bubbles began forming in the center. It was the Heavenly God himself.

As soon as he appeared, Henry snapped his fingers to summon a throne, making it clear that he had been anticipating this moment. And, of course, Henry only made one for himself.

Henry settled into his throne and leaned back, his demeanor befitting the king of Morris. He then looked into the Heavenly God’s eyes, his gaze full of arrogance.

As Henry kept his eyes on the Heavenly God, he couldn’t help but notice his golden laurel wreath glimmering under the sun.

The two looked at each other in silence for a while, forming a rather tense atmosphere. But it was the Heavenly God who broke the silence by stepping out of the pond.

“Impressive.”

The Heavenly God started off with a compliment, but Henry maintained his silence. At this, the Heavenly God continued, “Splendid, certainly splendid. I wonder… Was it because of my advice? I never imagined you’d give up on being human so quickly.”

At his words, Henry sensed something strange. He had been sure that the Heavenly God would be furious, but he was sincerely praising him.

At this, Henry furrowed his brow. The Heavenly God noticed this and said, “What’s the matter? Did you really think I’d be angry at you for chopping off the heads of a few angels?”

Henry could tell that the Heavenly God was being serious and that he wasn’t angry at all. Surprisingly enough, the Heavenly God made it clear that he wasn’t bothered by the massacre Henry had unleashed for the sake of revenge.

On the contrary, the Heavenly God seemed almost pleased with the decision Henry had made after receiving his gift.

The Heavenly God continued to talk with a smile on his face.

“Tsk, tsk… You’ve got it wrong. Who do you think I am? I’m the Heavenly God. The heavens are nothing more than a creation of mine.”

“Ha…!”

Henry couldn’t resist bursting into laughter at the Heavenly God’s unexpected reaction. He couldn’t believe how absurd this whole exchange was. He had known that he wouldn’t face an ordinary enemy, but he hadn’t expected the Heavenly God to be this crazy.

As Henry thought about what the Heavenly God had just said to him, a couple of words came to his mind, among which being spiteful, hypocritical, self-righteous, and so on. But ironically enough, he could describe most of the gods he had encountered with those words, so he had nothing special to say to the Heavenly God.

Henry slowly rose from his seat and said, “I’m not surprised. As you said, the heavens are nothing more than a toy you’ve created. You’re the god who rules over this realm, and if you put your mind to it, you can recreate it any time you want. However…”

Henry paused to summon his Colt Sword, which had become a complete holy relic that represented him. As he fixed his grip, the tip of the blade glittered in gold.

“Now that all the angels are dead and all the areas in the heavens are destroyed, what do you think will happen to this realm if you die?”

“Tsk, tsk, what a funny thing to say. You’re being ridiculous if you think you can kill me. You’re just saying random things to win an argument against me. Am I wrong?”

“You think I’m making empty threats?”

With that, Henry unleashed a murderous aura against the Heavenly God, not to threaten but to kill him.

The Heavenly God stopped giggling and put on a straight face as he sensed Henry’s fierce presence.

Henry then tapped his temple with his finger and said, “It seems that you’ve forgotten for a moment, but I’m no longer incomplete. I’m a complete god, just like you. You know what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

“You bastard. Don’t tell me…!”

“Exactly. I don’t need your power of time anymore. I know that you’re not the only one who has the power of time.”

“You bastard! How dare you say things like that when I was the one who helped you become a god?”

“Hmm? What’s the matter? I guess not even you could foresee this one, huh?”

“S-stop!” the Heavenly God stuttered. He froze as he realized that Henry had learned everything there was to know about divinity after becoming a complete god.

In other words, the Heavenly God had helped Henry learn about the secrets of gods!

Among all the information he had acquired, Henry found one fact in particular to be quite interesting.

“Why, what’s the matter? Are you scared because I know more about you? You’re not the only one who uses the power of time. The King of Gods possesses it too.”

“Stop!”

“This is the end for you.”

Swoosh!

With that, Henry’s sword drew a golden trail across the heavens.

For the first time ever, the realm of eternal sunlight was plunged into darkness.