Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

The expression of the Demon God grew even darker. He could no longer tolerate Henry’s insolence.

Swoosh!

The wind picked up and started swirling around the enraged Demon God.

“I just want to talk… Is it really that hard for you?” Henry complained.

- Shut up!

Along with his shout, the air around the Demon God distorted, and a fierce circular gale burst forth against Henry.

Henry’s hair was being whipped back and forth by the wind, but that was it. It seemed like they weren’t going to have a normal conversation.

Henry sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

Meanwhile, the Demon God, having borrowed Gaga’s body and fully descended into the Demon Realm, pointed at Henry with his white hair swaying in the wind, his brow still furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

- You’re despicable! Take off your mask and show your true colors! You took dimensional powers from me not too long ago because of your petty greed! And now you’re asking me about the power of time! Wake up! You’re the god of magic, not a greedy human!

Henry understood from his explosive shout why the Demon God was angry with him.

The Demon God misunderstood Henry's intentions; he assumed Henry had approached him to seek out more power out of greed, coveting more abilities only for his gain.

Realizing that the Demon God had gotten it all wrong, Henry held up his palm and said, “There seems to be a misunderstanding between us, so why don’t you calm down so we can clear things up first? How are you any different from the demonic beasts you look over if you get riled up so easily?”

Since the Demon God had compared him to greedy humans, Henry thought it was only fit that he compared the Demon God to those rabid demonic beasts.

His analogy caused the Demon God to glare at him even more fiercely. However, his rage quickly died down and his inflated body returned to normal. The wind also stopped blowing and the skies were calm again.

After regaining some of his composure, the Demon God decided to listen to what Henry had to say.

- Go ahead, but if you can’t convince me, I won’t go easy on you, even if we’re both gods.

“As you wish.”

Seeing that the Demon God had calmed down, Henry thought he had already succeeded halfway. He snapped his fingers and summoned a tea table.

The Demon God looked at the table in dissatisfaction, but he nonetheless sat down, although still glaring at Henry.

“Is black tea okay?” asked Henry.

- No need for tea.

“Pff, you have no tact, really.”

Henry didn’t know if the Demon God would drink the tea or not, but they needed to talk, so he served it anyway.

After taking a sip, Henry grumbled, “Shouldn’t the host do the serving?”

He was trying to lighten up the mood with a light jab, but the Demon God made no response. He just glared at Henry.

Realizing that the Demon God was much more square than he had thought, Henry took one last sip of his tea and set the cup on the table. He then proceeded to calmly explain his problems.

“There’s a problem in the world I live in. To be exact, it was caused by a god named Janus, so I can’t fix it.”

- So?

“What do you mean, so? I can’t fix something that was caused by some other damned god. If the power to manipulate time is in the realm of gods, I obviously need a god to help me.”

- You’re being too greedy.

“You keep saying that, but what exactly do you think I’m being greedy for?”

Henry had been candid with his request, not hiding his feelings. However, the Demon God still refused to cooperate, which naturally annoyed him. He had even explained that Janus was the one at fault, not him, and yet the Demon God instantly refused to help.

- You know this, don’t you? If gods intervene in this world too often, then…”

“It’ll cause chaos, so we shouldn’t?”

- That’s right.

This time, the Demon God replied in a soft voice, but he only managed to infuriate Henry.

“You know that’s bullshit, right? If that’s the case, why do you keep nominating demons to become the Demon King and invade my world?”

- That’s not my will. I only did what I had to as the only god of this realm. I have no say over what the Demon King does.

“Well, I’m trying to use the power of a god to right the wrongs of another god. Isn’t that why you gave me the dimensional powers?”

- No!

Slam!

The Demon God furiously jumped to his feet at Henry’s assumption, slamming his fist on the table. Luckily, the table didn’t break because Henry had summoned a particularly sturdy one, predicting that something like this would happen.

The Demon God was riled up again.

- That was the will of His Greatness, so I had no choice but to lend you my power.

“His Greatness? Who are you talking about?”

- You don’t need to know.

“I don’t need to know, huh…”

That being had to be exceptional in some way for the Demon God to speak of it so reverently.

‘Wait a minute, a being that’s above the Demon God?’

Henry could only think of one being that could be above the Demon God. It had to be that almighty deity that La had spoken of…

‘The King of Gods…’

Henry didn’t know his actual name, since La had never told him. However, given that even La himself was wary of him, Henry was convinced that he was actually the king that ruled over all gods.

Remembering this, Henry suddenly thought of another question.

“Then… Why did His Greatness instruct you to lend me your power?”

- I don’t know, and don’t bother trying to figure it out yourself. No one dares to question His Greatness.

“Hah, I find it funny that there are ranks even between gods. Either way, I’m grateful that His Greatness allowed me to obtain dimensional powers.”

- Yes, you should be most grateful!

“Then can you ask His Greatness one more time? To be frank, it’s an absolute nightmare trying to fix the mess that Arthus left behind.”

- Nonsense! Don’t be arrogant and don’t cross the line!

“Don’t call me arrogant… Sure, I’m an incomplete god for now, but when I die, we’ll be on equal footing, right?”

Every time the Demon God tried to intimidate him, Henry smirked and fired right back at him. But at the same time, he was disappointed because he had hoped that the Demon God would help him once again.

But just then…

- …Pardon?

Henry hadn’t said anything else, but the Demon God suddenly frowned and muttered to himself as though he was being scolded by someone. He frowned even harder than before and clenched his fist so tightly that it was shaking.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Henry couldn’t figure out what was wrong, so he decided to just wait and see.

When the Demon God calmed down somewhat, he took a few deep breaths and looked at Henry.

- I don’t understand…!

“Understand what?”

- What His Greatness is thinking! Why would he be so generous to you…!

‘Huh?’

Henry didn’t understand what he was talking about. The Demon God’s remarks were awfully vague, but given the circumstances, Henry could tell that it was good news for him. He held his tongue and waited for the Demon God to continue.

The look on the Demon God’s face was like that of someone who was forced to do something they didn’t want by their superiors.

Henry assumed that his stubbornness wouldn’t last long.

After a while, as Henry had predicted, the Demon God finally caved.

- …I’ll tell you how you can gain the power of time.

“Oh, really?”

The Demon God pursed his lips as he was forced to comply with whatever order he had received. Henry couldn’t resist smiling, thinking that the expression of the Demon God was magnificent. However, he didn’t bother mocking him.

- Gods are granted special powers according to their individual jurisdiction.

“And?”

- As the god of the Demon Realm, His Greatness blessed me with dimensional powers so I could ensure the survival of the Demon Realm. There’s a god who’s been given the power to manipulate time for the same reasons as me.

“And who is that?”

- The god of the heavens.

“The god of the heavens, as in… The Heavenly God?”

- That’s right.

“The Heavenly God… Okay, so let’s say the Heavenly God has the power of time. Will you then come with me and ask him to give me the power of time?”

- Don’t be foolish! His Greatness only asked me to tell you the name of the god that possesses that power and give you the coordinates for the heavens.

“Then what if the Heavenly God refuses to give me the power of time?”

- Evidently, that’s your problem, not mine.

“Then what…”

- You’re too greedy! You basically got a part of what you wanted!

The Demon God was right. Henry had come here without knowing anything, and now he knew which god possessed the power of time. It was certainly great progress.

‘I don’t think he’ll tell me anything else even if I insist…’

Henry decided to stop here as he felt that the Demon God had done his best at this point. He decided to savor the last of his tea, and as he did so, he got lost in his thoughts.

After a long pause, Henry said, “Great, this is enough information, but… If the Heavenly God doesn’t act in my favor, then I can do as I please, right?”

- Yes, do whatever you want.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know. I’ll repay you for everything, including the gift of dimensional powers.”

- I don’t need anything.

“Alright then.”

After their conversation reached its conclusion, the Demon God cast Henry a fierce look before vanishing with a cloud of energy.

Only Gaga was left. Henry nudged him with his foot and said, “Gaga, get up.”

As Henry nudged him with the tip of this toe, which was imbued with mana, Gaga jumped to his feet and screamed. He looked like he had just woken up from a nightmare, and he was sweating profusely.

Gaga gasped and looked at Henry. In return, Henry locked eyes with him and asked, “What are you looking at?”

- N-nothing..! It just seems like I can’t remember…!

“Anyway, do you know where Ganisel is right now?”

- Lord Ganisel?”

“Yes.”

- I-I do know, but… I-I’ll guide you there! Right now!

“Okay. You’ve become much more clever since the last time we met.”

Henry smiled in satisfaction as he watched Gaga move quickly. As they started walking, he thought to himself, ‘The heavens… I guess I’m going to the heavens after all.’

About half a year back, or five years in the Demon Realm, Henry had almost waged war against the heavens after meeting Ganisel in the Demon Realm.

However, Ganisel had refused Henry’s favor, insisting that he needed to take his revenge on his own. Because of that, Henry had assumed that he would never have anything to do with the heavens.

But because the Heavenly God possessed the power of time, Henry figured that it would be great to pick up Ganisel along the way, as he would be an excellent trump card.

‘Hmm, I hope things work out smoothly.’

Henry hoped that the Heavenly God was an open-minded deity.