Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

“Is this the decision you came up with?” Virtus asked Henry as though he was the protagonist of a tragedy.

“And what if it is?” Henry replied bluntly.

“This is all foolish. The Heavenly God will rewind time.”

“I’m aware of that. I’m doing this with that in mind.”

“Yo-you…!”

Henry made up his mind the moment Ganisel executed Angelus. He knew that should fate decree it, he would go through this whole ordeal again.

However, Henry didn’t waver; even if he had to go through the same events again, he would make the same choices.

‘Unless that bitch, Angelus, changes.’

Henry intended to go through with what he had in mind, even if that was the wrong choice. This was his instinct; it was who he was.

“Pick up the Lyre.”

“Huh…?”

Virtus furrowed his brow when Henry mentioned the Lyre of Defiance. However, Henry ignored his reaction and just went on with what he wanted to say.

“The thing in your hand, I know it’s one of the three sacred treasures. Isn’t it called the Lyre of Defiance? I know you can use it to resurrect angels and other beings. But why aren’t you harnessing it to its full potential?”

The Lyre of Defiance held a hidden power—the ability to control time. However, Henry knew that the relic was incredibly powerful even without that hidden power. After all, he had witnessed the relic revive the cupids just with its sound. What was even more shocking was the fact that they had been stronger after their resurrection.

Because of what he had witnessed back then, Henry wanted to see what else the Lyre of Defiance could do.

Virtus switched his gaze to Ganisel, still frowning. The demon was looking down on him with the most bored expression, and this disgusted Virtus. He hadn’t expected to see the fallen angel here, given that the Heavenly God hadn’t mentioned him in his prophecy.

In fact, Virtus hadn’t expected any of this. He hadn’t thought that Henry would cause an Armageddon after giving him another chance.

After carefully going over everything in his head, Virtus reached a decision, and his expression relaxed. He did feel insulted by Henry and his mockery, and he was sad that the high-ranking angels, whom he considered his brothers, had died. Moreover, everything that was unfolding before his eyes suggested that this was the end of the heavens.

All of that filled Virtus with deep sorrow.

However, he resolutely decided to cast away his grief and sadness. He knew that the Heavenly God would ultimately rewind time and everything would be back to how it had once been, even if he were to die right then and there.

In fact, Virtus didn’t even care if he ultimately wouldn’t even remember what was currently on his mind. He was the chief of the Virtues and a loyal servant of the Heavenly God—that was all that mattered.

Virtus had made his peace, and a slight, genuine smile formed on his face. He looked at Henry once again and spoke to him as though he had the upper hand.

“And why do I have to do that?”

“What?”

Then Virtus glared at Ganisel and said with a resentful voice, “The power of this Lyre… You probably heard about it from that traitor.”

Ganisel flinched at the word “traitor,” but Virtus continued to say what he had to say.

“Yes, you’re right. This Lyre has the power to rewind time and revive the dead, making them stronger than they originally were. But—!”

He then gripped the Lyre with both hands.

“I cannot let my brothers…”

“What are you—?!”

The Lyre began shaking violently. At this, Henry’s eyes widened, not knowing what was going to happen. He quickly tried to stop him, but Virtus was unexpectedly fast.

“Go through the same pain again!”

“NOO!!”

Crack!

At first glance, Virtus looked extremely weak, his frame boney and frail. However, there was something that everyone seemed to forget about him: he was a chief, and not just any chief, but the chief of the Virtues.

For someone like him, breaking a wooden lyre wasn’t a big deal.

Snap!

The strings came loose, and splinters flew everywhere.

Henry was livid, and after grabbing Virtus by the neck, he bellowed, “YOU BASTARD!!”

He had endured everything up to this point for the sake of getting his hands on the Lyre, but he hadn’t accounted for the possibility of Virtus destroying the relic in an act of defiance.

‘Why in the world did he break it?! For what reason?!’

Virtus was struggling under Henry’s grip, but strangely enough, he didn’t fight back. Henry’s grip was fierce, but the angel still managed to croak out a couple of words.

“Everything… is… part of… the… Heavenly God’s… plan…”

“The Heavenly God?”

Henry hadn’t expected Virtus to mention the Heavenly God, and he instantly thought of the possibility that the Heavenly God had foreseen what he was going to do, and so, he had ordered Virtus in advance to destroy the Lyre.

However, after thinking about it carefully, Henry concluded that the Heavenly God hadn’t actually predicted anything and that he had just taken precautionary measures.

It was very likely that his five failed attempts had all ended with him causing an Armageddon and going for the Lyre of Defiance. And so, the Heavenly God had taken preventive measures in case Henry made the same decision.

“AAARGHH!” Henry screamed at the top of his lungs as he realized that he may never be able to escape the Heavenly God’s grasp.

It wasn’t a scream of despair but one of absolute fury. As he let out his anger, he choked Virtus even harder. And soon enough, an eerie crack echoed in the air. Henry had choked Virtus to the point of breaking his neck.

The angel’s corpse twitched before it went completely limp. Irritated, Henry threw Virtus to the side with an incredible force fueled by his anger.

Squelch!

Despite not throwing him far away, Virtus’ corpse splattered against the ground, blood splashing from it and cracked bones protruding from his skin.

Leaving Virtus’ gory mess behind, Henry picked up the Lyre that was barely hanging together by its strings. The sacred treasure that had been emanating an incredible divine power just moments prior was now just a piece of garbage.

Henry was finally overcome by an indescribable sadness at how everything had turned out. He had thought that the Lyre was his ticket to getting out of this dire situation.

Seeing Henry despair, Ganisel approached carefully and tried to comfort him, while Gretel remained where he was.

Gretel had no clue why Henry was so sad about the Lyre, but for him, things were turning out the way he wanted. His goal from the beginning was to prevent the Lyre’s hidden power from being activated.

Virtus’ breaking the Lyre was the best news for him.

“Henry, it’s just a holy relic,” Ganisel said lamely. “Why are you so upset about it?’

Unfortunately, Ganisel wasn’t aware of the situation Henry was in, so his words fell on deaf ears. The only things that came to Henry’s mind were despair and anger.

“Henry.”

Seeing that Henry was ignoring him, Ganisel called his name a couple of more times. It took some time before Henry finally lifted his head. He heaved a sigh as he struggled to regain his composure.

The only thing that helped Henry calm down was time. He gradually subdued his violent emotions, turning the tempestuous sea into a calm lake. Of course, that lake was still incredibly hot, almost boiling over, but Henry was doing his best to cool off his mind so that he wouldn’t lose it again.

Once he was calm enough to think rationally, he looked up at Ganisel, his eyes still full of anger. Ganisel didn’t say anything about his glare, given that he wasn’t even sure why Henry was reacting like this. In any case, he believed that the best he could do in this situation was to keep quiet and console his friend.

After inhaling and exhaling deeply for a couple of times, Henry finally spoke up.

“Ganisel.”

“Yes?”

“You don’t think we can fix the Lyre, do you?”

Instead of answering, Ganisel just shook his head. Even though Henry had already known the answer to that question, he had asked just in case. Now that he had his confirmation that the plan was ruined, Henry knew there was only one option left for him.

After thinking about the situation for a few moments, he realized there was no reason to dwell on what he had already lost.

“There’s no point in staying here and dwelling on what’s gone. Ganisel, just as you’ve wanted, the heavens are on the verge of doom.”

“Indeed. Thank you for making this happen, Henry.”

“No, it’s too early to be thankful for anything. We’ve only dealt with the underlings up to this point.”

Just as Henry mentioned, there were mostly heavenly beings in this realm, but they weren’t the true rulers of the heavens. The one true ruler was the Heavenly God, and it was him that Henry and Ganisel were after, not the angels.

“No, you’re right, Henry.”

“He’s the only one left to defeat in order to take down the heavens. I assume you know where he is.”

“Of course. In order to find the Heavenly God, we’ll have to go through his temple. But to be frank, I’m not sure if he’ll heed our call.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… Gods are rather unpredictable, right?”

Henry could tell that Ganisel wasn’t referring to him specifically, and he completely agreed with him. Most of the gods he had seen before were selfish and always had it their way. In a way, it made sense for them to have such an attitude, given how much it had to have taken them to fully ascend to divinity and become absolute beings.

Thus, Henry completely understood why Ganisel was concerned about the Heavenly God.

“You don't need to worry about that,” said Henry. “Just lead the way to the temple."

“Alright.”

With that, they set out along with the entire demon army, Ganisel leading the way. As they moved, they took out all the Sisibabas, Harehares, and Jordans they encountered. It seemed like all their troops were still hungry for blood.

However, the real reason the demons were so lively and excited was that they felt like they would be the ones emerging victorious from this Armageddon. And so, the atmosphere of the demon army was already festive, with everyone ready to celebrate.

However, Henry remained aloof, his thoughts consumed by the uncertainties that lay ahead.

***

Henry looked around the temple. It was a magnificent structure crafted from pristine white marble, the clouds above it serving as ethereal adornments. He walked alongside Ganisel, Gretel, and Gigatan, all of them entering the temple’s sanctum together.

In its heart, there was a gentle waterfall, and Ganisel explained that it was the holy water of the Heavenly God. As the four got closer, he explained even more about the temple.

“Every being born in the heavens is baptized in this sacred waterfall. That’s because of a legend that says this waterfall was made from the blood of the Heavenly God.”

"The blood of the Heavenly God?”

“Yes. In other words, this waterfall stands as the sole remnant of the Heavenly God here in the heavens. It serves as the bridge between the heavenly beings and the Heavenly God himself.”

Ganisel then walked toward the water. The waterfall was big, but it wasn’t flowing fast enough to form bubbles on the surface. As he looked into the water, he saw his reflection. The surface of the water didn’t show him the former Chief of Archangels, but a wicked countenance, its eyes burning with malice and a thirst for vengeance.”

“Heavenly God! I, Ganisel, ascended from the depths of hell to seek vengeance upon you! Reveal yourself now!"

His voice reverberated through the temple, echoing with fury. Henry hadn’t seen this side of Ganisel before.

Soon after Ganisel voiced his demand, frothy bubbles appeared on the surface of the tranquil water. They gradually multiplied, only to reveal a blurred, spectral figure.

An old man wearing a pristine white robe, adorned with a golden laurel wreath, materialized before their eyes.

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