Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

Armageddon—an all-out war between the heavens and the Demon Realm. Everyone from both realms were aware of this concept, but no one had ever taken it seriously. Throughout history, Armageddon had never been more than a hypothetical scenario, a fantasy.

The heavens and the Demon Realm had always been polar opposites, always in conflict with each other. However, they had never engaged in direct warfare. The heavens had never launched an invasion in the Demon Realm, and the demons of the Demon Realm had never managed to breach the heavens.

However, Henry had done something unprecedented. He was the first being to ever declare an Armageddon.

- KIAAA!

The bone dragon summoned by Gretel let out a shrill cry, which acted as a catalyst for the bone wyverns to howl as well. His undead army descended as well, making for a chaotic scene.

And that wasn’t the end.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Klever, in Brillente’s form, also embarked on the quest for destruction at Henry’s command.

“Don’t leave me out!”

Not wanting to be outdone by Klever, Gigatan unleashed his true form and started rampaging as well. For Henry, these two giants, with their potential for destruction, were trustworthy comrades and excellent shields, but to the angels, they were the worst nightmare.

Henry didn’t stop at this. He opened more portals connected to various locations within the Demon Realm, allowing all sorts of demons and demonic beasts to swarm into the heavens and unleash destruction, regardless of whether they were part of Ganisel’s army.

There was an unprecedented number of portals in the heavens.

- KIAAA!!!

- SHIAAA!!!

- GRRR!!!

The heavens were filled with the unique and disturbing cries of demonic beasts, but this cacophony was music to Henry’s ears. It sounded like an anthem of war, raising the morale of the demonic alliance.

Soon after assembling the army, Henry destroyed Angelus’ lair and located all the other archangels. When they realized what was going on, it was already too late. The demonic forces unleashed destruction, slaughtering every enemy in sight.

Screams of agony and horror echoed through the heavens, creating a haunting requiem. Henry casually strolled through the calamity as he listened to the death cries of the angels as though he was their god.

Gretel followed closely behind him and said, “Mighty One.”

“Go ahead.”

“Seeing how the Demon Army is performing, I believe it won’t be long before the heavens fall.”

“Okay, but what’s the catch?”

“There’s one last obstacle we have to deal with in order to completely destroy this realm, but we cannot do that with just our powers.”

“One last obstacle?”

Henry had more or less learned how the Demon Realm and the heavens worked. One had the Demon King, while the other had the chief of the archangels. Ganisel had already decapitated Angelus, so Henry had no idea what other obstacle was in their way.

“What are you talking about?” asked Henry with a confused expression.

“The Heavenly God himself, Mighty One.”

“...!”

Henry was stunned at the mention of that unexpected name. He even stopped in his tracks to look at Gretel, but he quickly came back to his senses and resumed walking.

“Why would the Heavenly God be a problem?” asked Henry.

Gretel was right. After all, they couldn’t possibly ignore the Heavenly God, but that didn’t mean he could turn the tide of the Armageddon.

Henry was almost convinced of that because of what La and the Demon God had told him. Gods weren’t allowed to intervene in mortal affairs and alter the outcome of events. However, he decided to ask Gretel for details in case he was missing something.

“Mighty One, do you happen to know about the Three Sacred Treasures of Heaven?”

“The Three Sacred Treasures of Heaven?”

Henry knew that the Demon Realm had three sacred treasures, and that Ganisel had collected all of them, but he hadn’t been aware that the heavens also had three such treasures.

“Those three sacred treasures are the Celestial Armor, the Sword of Condemnation, and the Lyre of Defiance.”

“So? What about them?”

“The first two pose no threat… But the Lyre of Defiance has a peculiar power.”

Hearing the word “lyre”, Henry remembered the holy relic that Virtus used. He had already heard about it from Ganisel, but he decided not to mention that and just listen to what Gretel had to say.

“From what I’ve heard, the Heavenly God possesses powers related to time, and the only treasure that has the power of time is the Lyre of Defiance… It’s said to be useless in most cases, but when its owner is in grave danger, it will reveal its true, incredible power just once.”

“Incredible power?”

“Yes, Mighty One.”

“Incredible power… You mean that…?”

Ganisel had also told Henry that Virtus’ holy relic had some sort of unique power. Now, hearing that its incredible power could only be activated once, Henry could only imagine one thing.

“Yes, it allows the user to freely manipulate time.”

Henry instantly froze after hearing Gretel’s answer, gulping nervously.

‘The power to control time at one’s will?’

His eyes twitched at this sudden and shocking piece of information. All sorts of greedy thoughts and scenarios popped into his mind. He had gone through all of this just to obtain the power to go back in time, and now he had just found out that there was a relic that could do just that.

It was only natural for Henry to be shocked.

“Cough, cough… Huh… Alright.”

He quickly regained his composure and tried to mask his surprise, but then he suddenly came to a strange realization.

‘Why is he telling me this?’

Gretel was currently the aide-de-camp of the Demon King and the second highest-ranking member of the Demon army. There was a good chance that Ganisel was already aware of the Lyre of Defiance, as he was originally from the heavens.

However, Henry wanted to know why Gretel had told him about this. The hidden power that the Lyre of Defiance possessed was indeed something that could turn the tide of the Armageddon.

Henry narrowed his eyes at Gretel.

‘Does he not accept Ganisel as the Demon King?’

It was certainly a possibility. After all, Gretel was stronger than Ganisel even with the Three Sacred Treasures of the Demon Realm. But despite that, Gretel wasn’t at all hostile toward Ganisel, which confused Henry.

Henry’s head was spinning, a myriad of thoughts going through his mind. He really wanted to know what Gretel’s true intentions were, and he ultimately decided to just ask him point blank.

“I need to know something… Why are you telling me this? You should speak with Ganisel about this. After all, he’s in charge of you.”

“Haha, please don’t misunderstand me, Mighty One. I wanted both you and the Demon King to be aware of this.”

“So you’re not doing this because you’re doubting Ganisel’s ability to handle things?”

“No. In fact, it’s quite the opposite of what you’re thinking. I’m telling you about this simply to ensure that everything goes smoothly, Sir Henry.”

One’s eyes always revealed their true intentions, and Henry could tell from Gretel’s gaze that he was telling the truth. He nodded to him, acknowledging that his suspicions were unfounded.

But then, Henry suddenly picked up on something strange. He hadn’t realized it at first because he had been too focused on the power of the Lyre. He turned back to face Gretel and said, “There’s one more thing I want to ask you.”

“Yes?”

“How did you find out about this holy relic?”

Thinking back on their conversation, something seemed amiss to Henry. It would’ve made more sense for Ganisel to come to him and talk about that relic, given that he was from the heavens. However, Gretel was a demon, and this was his first time in the heavens, so how did he know so much about this realm and one of its most powerful relics?

Henry shot another glare of suspicion toward Gretel.

“The Demon God told me,” replied Gretel.

“The Demon God?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Hmm? What do you mean, why?”

“I’m aware that you were a strong Demon King candidate and that the Demon God chose you himself. However, you were still just a candidate, so how come the Demon God let you in on such an important piece of information?”

Henry made a good point, and his suspicion was reasonable. However, Gretel’s expression didn’t change, and he replied in a calm tone as though he had nothing to hide, “He simply told me because he was anticipating that I would become the next Demon King.”

“Don’t beat around the bush.”

“Sir Henry, may I ask you a question? Why do you think this provisional position of a Demon King candidate exists?”

“Provisional position? Elaborate.”

“If you think about it, it would be natural for whoever takes down the current Demon King to take his position right away. However, the Demon God has created this candidacy in order to ensure that the demon of his choosing will become the Demon King.”

“Okay. So?”

“Well, I was in that position. According to his plans, I should’ve been released from my spell and become the next Demon King a long time ago. After that, I was supposed to raid the human realm, but for some reason, my ascension kept getting postponed and Brillente eventually became the new Demon King candidate. The Demon God didn’t like the way things turned out.”

“He didn’t like the outcome?”

“Indeed. But then, you, Mighty One, came into the picture and took care of Brillente. You also crippled Ganisel. The Demon God didn’t like either of them. And so, I ultimately became the new Demon King candidate, just like he wanted.”

‘So the Demon God wanted Gretel as the Demon King all along, and I just happened to take care of the obstacles at the right time.’

After Henry had taken care of the obstacles unintentionally, the Demon God had released Gretel and supported him so that he could be the next Demon King candidate. Of course, supporting him didn’t mean that the Demon God directly intervened in any affairs. He had just taught Gretel what he had to do in order to become the next candidate as soon as possible.

That was when Gretel found out about the power that the Lyre of Defiance possessed.

“I only had one day until I was going to reign as the new Demon King, but then you and Ganisel showed up. However, please don’t think that I bear any resentment against you two. It’s not like you forcefully took the throne away from me. Your offer was far more enticing than the throne, Mighty One.”

After listening carefully to what Gretel had to say, Henry finally managed to put the pieces together.

“So, in other words,” said Gretel, “the reason I’m telling you about the real power of the Lyre of Defiance is that I genuinely want the Demon Realm to emerge victorious, and I also feel sorry to the Demon God for acting on my greed and giving up the throne.”

As Gretel finished explaining, Henry nodded. He finally understood what Gretel’s true intentions were.

‘Alright. Fortunately he doesn’t have any ulterior motives.’

In conclusion, Gretel had his personal reasons for doing what he was doing. Having elucidated this, Henry quickly took his mind off this topic.

“GHAAA!”

After their conversation was over, most of the archangels in the eighth-rank area were dead, and the massacre continued, the screams of agony echoing through the heavens.

However, Henry paid no attention to the sounds of destruction, as he was preoccupied with this peculiar Lyre of Defiance.

‘Wait… Does this mean that I just have to go after the Lyre of Defiance…?’

Things were looking brighter for Henry now. That relic had the power he had been after this whole time, and he wanted to get his hands on it as soon as possible.

“Aaagh…!”

An archangel that had been attacked by a demonic beast was squirming in pain in front of Henry. Their wound seemed fatal, but it seemed that they could still speak for a short while. Henry grabbed the archangel by their hair and looked them straight in the eye.

“Where’s Virtus?”

“I… don’t… know.”

“If you don’t answer my question, I’ll kill everyone in the heavens, every last angel. But if you tell me where Virtus is…” Henry paused, bringing the archangel’s head closer to him before whispering, “I’ll just kill Virtus and then order my troops to retreat from the heavens.”

He entrusted a mere archangel to decide the fate of the heavens—sacrifice everyone for one or sacrifice one for everyone. It certainly wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially for a mere archangel.

In contrast to his cruel ultimatum, Henry wore a warm smile. As for the archangel, they trembled in anger at Henry’s diabolical attitude. However, they didn’t have a choice. The Armageddon was upon them, and they could put an end to it.

Indeed, the archangel wouldn’t flee from their responsibility by biting their tongue or committing suicide. They wailed in tears and pondered on what to do for a while. Ultimately, they plucked a feather out of their wing and handed it to Henry.

“Excellent choice.”

With that, the archangel was slightly relieved, but…

“But betraying your comrades is nonetheless despicable!”

Sizzle!

“GHAAA!!!”

The archangel instantly caught on fire, their skin melting quickly until only the bones remained. They had chosen to sacrifice Virtus instead of everyone else.

Henry was happy with their decision, but he still wanted to give them the punishment they deserved for betraying their fellow angel.

With the feather in his hand, Henry said, “Alright then, let’s go hunt down that holy relic…”

A gust of wind blew as Henry cast divine power on the feather.