Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

Chapter 331: -Savior of Hell (2)

“Henry…?” Iselan muttered in disbelief.

With an awkward smile, Henry replied, “Sorry for being late. Things were so busy that I unfortunately couldn’t pay much attention to this place.”

Henry briefly scanned his surroundings with the corners of his eyes: a mournful atmosphere, countless corpses of Arthus’ followers below the rampart, and the gruesome remains of a soldier among them.

This was how far the evil influence of the blind believers had reached.

“How did you get here…?”

Iselan was still barely able to get his words out, feeling as though he were dreaming. He couldn’t believe that Henry had just shown up at this timing, this late at night, to comfort him.

“Why don’t we talk more about this somewhere else?” proposed Henry.

It was going to be a long night.

***

After moving to Iselan’s room, the two of them talked for quite some time. Of course, Henry did most of the talking, and Iselan just listened.

Their conversation lasted for about two hours, and they didn’t drink any alcohol while at it. Toward the end of it, Iselan was stunned.

“...So you’re saying that you became… a god of magic… and you came here because… you heard my voice?”

“That’s right.”

“...”

Henry had shown up right after Newk had died because he had heard Iselan’s voice. When Newk jumped down the rampart and splattered on the ground, Iselan resented his weakness and his inability to use miraculous powers like magic.

Needless to say, resentment was not the same thing as praying. However, thanks to his encounter with La, Henry had reflected on the fundamentals of being an incomplete god.

Through reflection, he had eventually come to a realization.

Henry realized that besides the voice of those who believed in him, he could also hear the voices of those who were close to him. In fact, that was one of the few abilities of an incomplete god.

‘I was lucky. Thanks to this, I could hear Iselan’s voice.’

When Henry first heard Iselan’s voice after expanding his scope for prayers, it felt like he had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer.

Having to take care of so many things, Henry had forgotten about Caliburn Fortress, which had barely managed to survive with the scarce supplies it received.

Of course, that wasn’t the reason Henry had visited Iselan in the middle of the night. He had heard Iselan’s anguished voice thanks to his divine abilities.

Moreover, the commander’s voice had carried so much despair and sorrow that Henry had sensed it from far away, which was what had prompted him to quickly teleport to Caliburn Fortress.

Despair was inevitable; no one could go through life without experiencing despair at least once. However, from what Henry had seen of Iselan, despair really didn’t suit him.

Iselan was alway cheerful, confident, and full of vigor. In addition, he was also a strong and powerful leader, and he managed to cheer everyone around him just with his presence.

So how could such a man despair?

That question had urged Henry to put everything aside and rush over to Iselan and rescue him from the pit of despair he seemed to have fallen into.

Hearing Henry’s explanation, Iselan covered his face with both hands and muttered through them, “You appeared out of nowhere and now you’re telling me the most unbelievable things…”

Everything Henry had said to him was outlandish.

While Iselan was fighting off the demonic beasts in the fortress, an evil god had nearly destroyed humanity, and Henry had become a god to prevent that from happening.

But no matter how absurd it sounded, it was the truth. Iselan knew it had to be true because Henry wouldn’t lie or exaggerate about such things.

“Ha… Hahaha…” Iselan laughed in disbelief.

“Why are you laughing?” asked Henry, frowning slightly.

Iselan pulled his hands away from his face and laid them on his legs.

“Phaha… Wouldn’t you laugh if you were in my shoes? A few hours ago I wasn’t sure if this fortress was going to survive, and there you were, a savior just in time. A ray of light in hell.”

“I guess from your perspective, as the third in command… Actually, you’re commander-in chief-now. In any case, your reaction is understandable. ”

“Yeah, exactly… W-wait a second. Tsk, you’re such an asshole, you know that?”

“Sorry? An asshole?”

“That’s right! If you really cared about me, then you would have come days sooner! If you had, my soldiers wouldn’t have died tonight in vain!”

“T-that’s…”

“Fuck you! Back then and even now, you’re always just messing around!”

“Hey, is that how you address your savior?”

“So what? You’re gonna leave if I don’t bow down?”

“...I really can’t win this one, can I?”

Iselan burst into genuine laughter at the playful exchange he had with Henry. He hadn’t made or heard some light jokes in a while, and the heavens knew how badly he needed this.

Even though the powerlessness he had felt earlier still hadn’t gone away entirely, Iselan felt relieved. In this exact moment, he was the happiest he had ever been.

After getting his fill of hearty laughter, Iselan proceeded to ask the questions he hadn’t gotten around to.

“Phew, well that’s that. Anyway… Where’s Ronan?”

At that, Henry’s smile vanished completely. After hesitating for a bit, he slowly replied in a somber tone, “Ronan… unfortunately died at the hands of Kington, who had ultimately sided with Arthus.”

“Oh… I see.”

If Henry was right, Iselan was the first person to ask about Ronan right away.

Having learned about this tragic news, Iselan looked downhearted.

“Part of me wants to drink as a way to honor him, but… Let’s save that for later, when everything is sorted out,” proposed Iselan.

“Good idea.”

“Great! Then let’s get some sleep first. Thanks to you, I can finally loosen up and get some sleep for once.”

“Great. Get some sleep and I’ll wake you up when it’s time.”

“Where are you going to sleep though?”

“I don’t need to.”

“What?”

“Maybe I’m wrong, but ever since I became a god, I haven’t really felt tired or hungry.”

“You’re really a god, huh…?”

“Yeah, I guess. Anyway, leave the fortress to me for the night and get some rest.”

“Leave the fortress to you, huh… Funny to hear you say that. When I think of the past you, this all seems like a joke.”

“But I’m sure if you think of the future me, you’ll just be in awe. Anyway, enough with the chit-chat. Go to bed already.”

“I’d love to, but my body has gotten used to napping sporadically so I don’t think I could fall asleep even if…”

“Sleep.”

Thud.

Seeing that Iselan wouldn’t shut up, Henry put him to sleep with a spell. It worked instantaneously, way better than Henry had expected. This was likely due to his ascension to divinity.

Henry lifted Iselan, who was fast asleep, from his chair and placed him on a nearby bed. Then, in a quiet voice, Henry told him, “I swear on my name that when you wake up, most of your worries will be gone.”

Henry swore on his name that he would help Iselan.

When a human swore on their name, they were merely putting their honor on the line.

However, even though he was an incomplete one, Henry was still a god. So by swearing on his name, Henry was essentially putting his existence itself on the line. This was far beyond the honor of a human!

Having made his promise, Henry vanished from Iselan’s room.

***

Henry appeared at the highest point of the fortress. More precisely, he was floating well above its highest point. He rose high in the air until the entire fortress was under his feet and stopped when both the front and the back gates were in his view.

“It’s only fair that everyone is rewarded equally. Iselan wasn’t the only one who worked hard.”

Henry had risen high in the air so he could give all men who had defended the fortress a good night’s sleep, just as he had done for Iselan.

Snap!

Henry snapped his fingers after making up his mind. A silver glow radiated from him and scattered across the fortress like fireflies in the wind.

A peaceful silence fell upon the entire fortress, the tense, sharp atmosphere subsiding.

- Kheeee!

- Kuaaaa!

But then, as the fortress became peaceful, Henry could hear all sorts of bizarre cries more clearly from the front and back gates. It was the cries of the blind believers and demonic beasts from the forest.

Hearing that, Henry said, “Elagon.”

- Khu khu!

“Freeze every creature you see.”

- Khuuu!

Henry pointed at the back gate with his chin.

Elagon made a salute and took off, flying swiftly toward the back gate.

This was the best thing Henry could do at the moment.

No matter how threatening the blind believers were, Henry couldn’t afford to kill so many people. He and the rest of the wizards still had to look for a cure to save them.

Thus, Henry planned to have Elagon freeze all the blind believers that swarmed the fortress. He had gotten to the point where his mana was overflowing, never to dry up.

As he watched Elagon in the distance, Henry thought to himself, ‘Elagon seems to have gotten a little taller.’

Henry’s growth had also affected Elagon, causing the spirit to constantly grow.

Henry turned and looked toward the Demonic Beast Forest by the main gate.

‘The back gate is taken care of, and now all that’s left is the Demonic Beast Forest, but… Hmm, something’s weird about that place.’

The blind believers were Arthus’ creations, so it wasn’t strange that their cries echoed incessantly throughout the night.

However, the Demonic Beast Forest was different.

The Messiah of the church that Hoosler worshiped was dead, so it shouldn’t be possible for a new Demon King to descend.

Nonetheless, the fact that the demonic beasts were still running around meant that something was going on that Henry didn’t know about.

‘It’s been a while since I last went there.’

Henry took a step in the air and vanished in an instant. He reappeared at the entrance to the Demonic Beast Forest, the safest part, otherwise known as the Ninth District.

‘I would’ve liked to get right to the deepest part of the forest, but given the current situation, I’ll have to get through the districts one by one.’

Henry could’ve used his abilities to reach his destination, the First District, in no time, but he chose against it.

Part of the reason was that Henry thought he could gather some clues about this strange phenomenon along the way there. But more importantly, he wanted to avenge, even if slightly, the soldiers of the forest who had suffered greatly because of these damned demonic beasts.

Having made up his mind, Henry stretched out his hand. A stream of flames shot out from his fingertips and soon formed a large ring that looked like a snake biting its own tail.

He still wasn’t done.

In addition to the ring of fire, Henry also summoned three other rings of different elements—water cold enough to freeze anything it touched, wind that could cut anything in half, and lightning that could burn anything to ash.

Henry decided to call this spell the Chariot of Destruction because the rings resembled the wheels of a chariot.

After getting on the chariot, Henry said, “It’s showtime, you bastards!”

That was the moment the vortex of destruction descended upon the Demonic Beast Forest.