Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

“...”

Henry’s expression hardened as Angelus kept on laughing diabolically. The angel was genuinely enjoying himself, taking great pleasure from Henry’s reaction. As Henry’s expression grew more grim, Angelus was laughing even more heartily, their two reactions forming a perfect juxtaposition.

Henry’s eyes darted frantically to either side as he realized just how dire the situation was.

“What… What should I do?’

He quickly thought of every possible option in this situation, predicting every possible outcome that depended on each choice. He grew increasingly angrier as he pondered on each variable, but in the end, he felt hopeless.

All Henry wanted to do was to meet the Heavenly God and have a discussion with him. He couldn’t believe that such a small request was asking too much of the angels.

He kept pondering on the situation, not caring if Angelus was looking at him. He asked himself about the decisions he had made before.

‘What choices have I made that failed five times?’

‘At what point did I fail?’

‘Could this be a test that the Heavenly God is making me go through?’

He thought that everything would make sense if the Heavenly God was indeed testing him. After all, his power of time was probably way more valuable than the life of an incomplete god.

A myriad of thoughts rushed through Henry’s head, suffocating him. Every time a new idea, a new possibility, a new variable came crashing down on his mind, Henry’s mouth contorted as though he were drowning in an ocean.

‘I…’

It wasn’t easy for Henry to make a decision. Precisely speaking, it wasn’t the decision itself that was difficult but trusting that devil disguised as an angel in front of him. Even if this was just a test, Henry couldn’t possibly trust that sadistic freak.

Henry slowly opened his mouth, his voice croaky as he tried to give Angelus an answer. The angel had his eyes fixed on his lips, his expression gleeful. He was extremely curious and excited to see what Henry’s response was.

At last, Henry finally spoke up.

“I…”

“Yes?”

“...will not offer you anything.”

“What?”

Swoosh!

Immediately after his answer, something cut through the air. It wasn’t Henry’s sword but his hand. He struck Angelus in the neck with the side of his hand, knocking him back a few meters.

Sploosh!

Blood sprayed from the angel’s neck, staining the grass beneath him.

“You… Ghah! You-!” blurted Angelus, barely able to get the words out as he was choking on blood. His eyes were twitching as he looked at Henry. He grabbed his neck and put pressure on the wound, trying to stop the blood from gushing out.

Henry could’ve beheaded Angelus right then and there, but he had chosen against it. He had been humiliated too much by him and the other angels to grant him a swift, painless death.

Angelus still had his eyes fixed on Henry, and as he walked toward him, the angel panicked and took a few steps back, only to fall on his bottom.

Henry enjoyed the sight of Angelus squirming in fear. He quickly caught him by two wings, causing him to shriek in horror as he could no longer move.

“N-No…! Stop! Y-You can’t…!”

“Yes, I can.”

“GHAAA!!!”

With that, Henry ripped off two of his eight wings. He ripped them clean from the roots, blood gushing out and feathers flying left and right. He swiftly threw the wings on the ground and set them on fire.

The wings were rather muscular, and as they burned, a mouth-watering smell filled the air.

Angelus screamed for his dear life and brought one hand to where his wings had been a second ago, trying to feel for them. He shrieked in disbelief as he only felt two bloody holes, but he quickly brought his hand back to his neck, forced to keep the pressure so as to not bleed out.

Seeing Angelus in such a pitiful state, Henry clicked his tongue. He couldn’t believe this pathetic angel had managed to claim Ganisel’s position as Chief or Archangels.

He ignored Angelus’ squealing and proceeded to rip another pair of wings from his back.

“GHAAAAAA!!!”

They were in Angelus’ domain, and only the angel had access here. In other words, no matter how much he screamed, no one could come to his aid unless he specifically opened the gates.

Angelus was stuck with his executioner.

As Henry kept maiming him, Angelus turned from the dignified chief of the archangels to a pigeon crushed under a cat’s paw.

Tear-!

One wing… Two wings… Three…

Angelus was quickly losing his wings one by one, and after Henry finally ripped away his last one, he looked no different from a mere human being.

The wingless angel squirmed on the ground like a sickly bird, moaning pathetically. However, Henry’s gaze was cold as ice.

“Aaah…!”

Blood was gushing out from the eight wounds on his back, but Angelus couldn’t actually check his back. The bleeding from his neck had become worse, so he was forced to keep both his hands on his neck if he wanted to survive.

Henry frowned as he looked at Angelus. He wasn’t fully satisfied, but he had nonetheless managed to relieve some of his anger.

“Huff…”

Henry exhaled deeply, releasing all the pent up rage and frustration he had accumulated since starting this trial. It almost seemed like he was exhaling pure anger.

“Is this what you angels wanted? To prove my will this way?”

“Aahh…!”

“Speak!”

Henry demanded Angelus to speak to him, but the angel was in no condition to do so. All he could do was groan and squirm in pain as the burning sensation on his back overwhelmed him.

However, Henry didn’t care. This kind of pain was nothing compared to the humiliation he had suffered so far. So, in order to make him speak, Henry stepped on him, crushing him with his military boots.

“AAAAHHH!!” Angelus cried like a child.

“You pathetic piece of garbage!” spat Henry. He then looked up to the golden sky and saw the enormous sun still in the same spot as when he had arrived.

He looked at it for a moment, and then, without the slighted hesitation, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Heavenly God! Is this the proof you wanted?!”

Whenever a subordinate messed up and couldn’t fix their mistake, the responsibility naturally fell on their superior, who was in charge of them.

Henry was done bending a knee in order to appease the angels. In fact, he could no longer do so, given what he was doing to Angelus. He had gone past the point of no return, and no matter what kind of wrong decision he had made in the past, one thing was certain.

His sixth chance had also gone to waste. At least that was how Henry felt.

Thus, regardless of whether he would be sent back in time or not, he at least wanted revenge for the humiliation he had endured so far.

“I can’t believe you’re playing such cowardly pranks when I’m also a god, just like you! Enough with the games! Show yourself, Heavenly God!”

Henry’s face grew redder and redder as he released his anger; he looked like a volcano that was about to erupt.

But despite his provocation, the sky was clear and the sun still. It seemed that the Heavenly God hadn’t heard Henry’s call, and if he had, he obviously ignored it.

“Pff-! I wasn’t expecting an answer anyway.”

Henry felt that if the Heavenly God were actually willing to answer his call and descend, he would’ve done so already… He sighed at the silent sky and turned his gaze to Angelus, only to see him still shaking in pain.

Angelus was in an utterly pitiful state, and Henry was getting a headache thinking that this worthless angel had managed to humiliate him like that.

“You’re praying to the Heavenly God to save you right?”

“...!”

“Know your place, scum! I am a god, and you can’t do anything to me.”

Henry thought that was enough for advice. He then took out a piece of paper from his pocket. It was a caller scroll, but not an ordinary one. It was the same as the special one he had given to Ganisel.

“Let me show you something good.”

Tear!

Henry tore up the scroll with no hesitation.

Whooo!

A door opened in Angelus’ personal lair—a portal that glowed purple. Soon after it appeared, Angelus heard a familiar voice from within.

“Ganisel, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“...!”

Ganisel—as soon as the forbidden name left Henry’s lips, Angelus stopped moaning and stared at the portal wide-eyed.

Howl-!

A strange, eerie wind rushed in from the portal, and then, a pair of hideous boots came out. Seeing them, Angelus shook even more violently than before, as though Death itself was coming to greet him.

As Ganisel stepped in through the purple portal, his boots came into view, then his gaiters, then his belt, then his plate armor. The former Chief of Archangels, wearing equipment unique to the Demon Realm, spread his gray wings as he returned to his former home.

“Th-this can’t be real…!”

Angelus’s eyes twitched violently as he met Ganisel’s gaze. The Heavenly God hadn’t warned him about Ganisel, since he hadn’t foreseen this either.

Indeed, Ganisel’s surprise appearance had not appeared in his prophecy.

Angelus barely managed to get up, the sheer terror giving him enough strength to move. He then slowly took a few steps back, hands still clasped over his bloody neck.

Ganisel had his gaze fixed firmly on Angelus, and he couldn’t help frowning as he saw him back away in fear.

“Angelus…”

Angelus’ eyes twitched even more as he heard his voice. Ganisel had once been a noble and brilliant angel, considered by everyone, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the shield of the heavens. However, he was unrecognizable now.

He looked like a demon born and raised in the Demon Realm, the embodiment of fury.

“N-no…!”

Thud!

Angelus’ legs finally gave way, and he fell to the ground. At this, Ganisel slowly drew the Lillsha Wayne, one of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Demon Realm.

He wanted to ask Henry what had gone down in this short period of time, but before that, he needed to exchange a few words with his colleague. Indeed, he was most delighted to see the new Chief of Archangels…

Ganisel looked at Angelus with eyes full of hatred and fury. It was a fitting gaze for an arrogant angel who had lost all of his wings and had been reduced to a pathetic, bloody mess.

As Ganisel came closer, he raised his sword and said, “I’m afraid the Heavenly God won’t take care of you after you die.”

“NOOO-!”

Slash!

With that, Ganisel swung the Lillsha Wayne, its heavy blade cutting through the air before drawing blood. In the next second, Angelus’ head dropped to the ground with a dull sound, his blood staining the grass.

But then, a pure white energy came out of Angelus and surged into the Lillsha Wayne.

“What is that?” asked Henry.

“Lillsha Wayne is a soul-eating sword. What you saw was Angelus’ soul being absorbed by the blade.”

“Ah, so that’s what you meant when you said that the Heavenly God wouldn’t take care of him.”

“Exactly.”

“Got it… But Ganisel, I think the time has come.”

At that, Ganisel glanced at Henry’s glowing left arm and right leg and replied, “Well, looking at you, it certainly seems so.”

Ganisel didn’t have to ask for details to know how many hardships Henry had gone through after arriving in the heavens, and he didn’t.

“So, here I am, once again…” Ganisel said in a soft voice, reminiscing about his time in the heavens.

“How does it feel to be back?” Henry asked curiously.

“Terrible,” Ganisel replied curtly.

“Well, if it’s terrible, I say we quickly burn this whole place down. Do you have any lingering attachment to the heavens, to your personal domain, or anything regarding this place?”

“Not at all.”

“Good.”

The prodigal angel who had been exiled had finally returned home. But it was no longer home, as it only reminded him of why he had plotted his revenge for all those years.

“Oh, so these are the heavens!”

“Hehe, we’re finally here!”

Henry and Ganisel were suddenly interrupted by two voices.

The portal was still open, and the two entities emerging from it were none other than Gigatan and Gretel.

Gigatan tentatively poked his head out of the portal and then jumped into the heavens. After seeing him land, Gretel quickly followed after.

“I could’ve come alone, but they’re now part of my demon army. That’s why I brought them with me.”

“That’s good.”

This was good news to Henry. After all, they would need all the power they could get, as they would soon get down to the real business and attack the heavens.

As the four of them got together, Henry called out, “Klever”

- Yes, Master.

Poof!

Henry summoned Klever to serve as their last reinforcement. Given that he had completely absorbed Brillente’s abilities, he would make up for a formidable soldier.

The land shook violently as Klever emerged, indicative of the bloodshed that was about to come.

Henry looked at everyone and declared, “The war between the heavens and the Demon Realm, the Armageddon, begins now.”