Chapter 329: God of Magic (4)

Henry’s eyes trembled slightly.

‘The King of Gods?’

He had learned about the existence of multiple gods through his recent battle, but the concept of a supreme ruler among all deities was new and startling to him. He couldn’t believe that there was a hierarchical structure even among gods.

After giving Henry a moment to process, La nodded and spoke up.

- It's likely your first time hearing of this. I, too, was unaware of this until I ascended to divinity.

“But… Why would Janus seek to challenge the King of Gods?” Henry couldn’t help asking. “He’s already a god, so what more could he possibly want?"

- Only Janus knows that. Even though we’re both gods of the desert, I never found out what his plans and intentions were.

La had a point. If he had known what Janus was up to, he would’ve made Herarion take action sooner.

Henry realized something else from La’s explanation.

‘I guess being gods doesn’t make them all-knowing and almighty.’

He also knew that he still had a long way to go as a god himself. As he pondered on his realization, Henry couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to Janus.

“Then… What happened to Janus? In a sense, he tried to rebel against the King of Gods, no?”

Following Arthus’ demise, Janus had fought Henry by taking over a Chimera’s body. However, Henry had managed to take him down with one swing of his sword. It had been too easy, and Henry didn’t think that a god like Janus would’ve just vanished like that.

- Unfortunately, I cannot tell you. As I mentioned earlier, an incomplete god is still tied to the human realm and there are limits to what you can know. And because of this, there are certain secrets that are beyond your reach.

“Is that really the rule?”

“Yes.”

“And would the King of Gods punish those who reveal those kinds of secrets?”

- Most likely. However, I have yet to witness a god receive punishment.

“And why is that?”

- Evidently, it’s because no god has ever broken a rule.

“Then Janus would be the first.”

- That information is also beyond your reach.

Henry paused, deciding not to question him further. He knew La wouldn’t divulge any secrets, and it wasn’t like he was desperate to find that out anyway.

- So Henry, to fully embrace your godhood and know these secrets, you must relinquish that mortal body of yours. The sooner you do that, the faster you will learn everything you wish to know.

Giving up one’s mortal body meant dying. In other words, La was suggesting that Henry commit suicide. Henry furrowed his brows at this absurd idea.

“I understand where you’re coming from, but as a living being, I find that suggestion rather grim.”

- You truly think so? Think about it. I’ve essentially given you confirmation that you won’t go to the Underworld, but become part of the heavens.

“Well, yes… Huh? Wait, did you just say the Underworld?”

Hearing about the Underworld, Henry suddenly remembered Hector, the unfortunate knight he had revived so he could learn swordsmanship from him. He, too, had died in vain…

In a way, Hector had experienced death twice because of Henry, and Henry still felt bad for making him go through such an unpleasant experience that others only had to go through once.

With Hector in mind, Henry asked, “If I happen to fully ascend to divinity, would I have the power to influence the Underworld?”

- Only if you had an affinity with the Underworld.

“An affinity with the Underworld… So I wouldn’t be able to do anything, right?”

- I will not answer that.

La didn’t offer any further explanations, but Henry could tell from the god’s expression that he wouldn’t be able to exert his powers over the Underworld. Realizing this, he felt even worse for making Hector go through all those things…

‘Tsk, that’s troublesome. Then I guess there’s no reason for me to quickly become a complete god if I can’t even do that.’

Henry couldn’t help feeling a bit dejected as he pondered on this conclusion, and he gave up on asking La any more questions. He closed his eyes and tried to sort his thoughts.

After a few more moments of silence, La spoke up.

- What are you doing right now?

“I’m thinking of the things I’m responsible for.”

- Responsible for?

“Yeah. There are a bunch of things I have to take care of while I’m in the human world.”

- Ha… I just can’t understand…

“What?”

- What exactly do you have to take responsibility for? You’ve defeated Arthus, the enemy of mankind. You even took care of Janus. What more responsibilities are you trying to take on?

“You… Nevermind.”

Henry was about to give La a sharp reply but ultimately decided against it. He realized that even though La had taken a human form to meet him, there was no guarantee that the god used to be a human in his past life.

Henry decided not to have any expectations from La or convince him to have empathy toward humans.

As Henry trailed off, La frowned and erupted.

- I thought you were wise, but I guess I was wrong! Henry, use that brain of yours! You're a god now, and nobody would dare treat you as anything less!

“I know that, but what of it?”

- Y-you…! I can’t understand! Once you become a complete god, your power will be on a completely different level than what you have now!

“So?”

- You idiot! I know what you’re worried about. And I suggest you become a complete god faster in order to solve those worries and bless the ones that you want to be responsible for! How can you not see this through?!

“Hmm, but isn’t that just your own opinion?”

- What?

“Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but I’m a pretty ambitious man. In other words, you could say I want to get a lot of things done because I’m greedy. Didn’t you say that complete gods can’t descend? In that case, I’d rather take care of everything in the human world while I still can. If there’s a problem in the human world, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it as a complete god.”

- You’re being too greedy! The human world will continue to run its course without your intervention. All you’re doing is disrupting its natural order!

“Perhaps, but wouldn’t that all be possible precisely because I’m an incomplete god?”

Henry backed his stance with the facts that La had given him, and since the god couldn’t share everything with Henry, there was no way he could win this heated argument.

Because of that, La just fell silent, but his fierce raptor eyes were still locked on Henry, making it clear that he was not at all satisfied with the conclusion of their discussion.

Henry met his gaze as he got ready to stand up.

“If there’s nothing more you have to tell me, I’ll get going now. As an incomplete god, there’s nothing for me to do besides wielding my divine power and listening to the prayers of my followers.”

- It seems that you have no more questions for now.

“Yeah, for now. Anyway, thanks for the information. It wasn’t much help, but it did clear up some confusion.”

- You will regret delaying your death, Henry.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I think I’d regret neglecting my responsibilities a bit more.”

- Fine, have it your way…

“Alright then, wait until I become a complete god. And don’t worry too much. I’ll take care of everything in Shahatra before I completely ascend to divinity.”

Henry made a special promise as he said his goodbyes, and La couldn’t suppress a chuckle at Henry’s audacious goal.

But then, Henry looked around and asked, “But where’s the way out?”

Flash!

Henry was blinded by a flash of light before he could hear an answer. After he opened his eyes, he found himself in front of the cave that hid the tomb of souls.

“Hah, someone’s uptight.”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

A slight grin tugged at Henry’s lips as he recalled La’s unexpected smile just before he was sent outside. He then turned around to teleport back to Monsieur.

“Oh right, I almost forgot.”

He then turned back to the Khan’s Eye and shouted, “Please don’t worry! I’ll make sure your son, Herarion, will receive a funeral more grand than any other hero in the history of the continent! I’ll have the bards sing his story across the entire continent so that countless generations will honor his legacy! He will not be forgotten!”

Those were Henry’s promises for Herabola, a father who couldn’t express his true feelings for his dead son.

“Alright then.”

Even though there wasn’t anyone in front of him, Henry said his goodbyes with a slight smile on his face before he went on his way.

With that, Henry vanished.

***

“Shit…”

Meanwhile, at Caliburn Fortress, the situation had deteriorated drastically. The once abundant supplies were gone, and there hadn’t been any word from the soldiers who had gone to Highlander to acquire more provisions. There were demonic beasts swarming in front of the fortress entrance, and zombie-looking people kept banging on the castle walls.

Isolation was the perfect word to describe their dire situation.

“Commander…”

“Hmm?”

“Another soldier has taken his life.”

“Okay…”

Sadness washed over Iselan’s face as he received another grim report. The morale within Caliburn Fortress was at its lowest. Or rather, it was nonexistent.

As the situation grew worse and worse, the psychological torment of the soldiers couldn’t be described with words. The rumors that spread throughout the fortress like a disease already caused multiple soldiers to end their lives, the catalyst being the previous commander committing suicide.

Iselan bit his lip at the grim news. He had taken the position of commander simply out of necessity, because the fortress needed the best to take charge. And so, Iselan felt the weight of responsibility press down on him as the situation deteriorated fast.

However, as commander, he couldn’t betray his despair to his subordinates. He knew that if he showed any weaknesses, the last bit of hope the soldiers had would vanish.

Iselan had never been this skinny. He had been eating just barely enough to survive so that his soldiers could eat enough. But still, that hadn’t solved their problems. Realistically, Iselan’s gesture hadn’t changed anything.

- GRRR…!

However, there was still a sliver of hope. The blind believers in the back couldn’t make it over the castle walls. Unfortunately, Iselan had no clue what these people were, which was why he called them zombies.

Iselan watched the sunset as he contemplated what to do. He couldn’t help but sigh as the sun sank into the horizon. The Demonic Beast Forest used to become dead silent after the sun went down. He had truly believed that this unspoken rule would always persist, even if the beasts went berserk.

However, to his astonishment, the beasts of the forest suddenly started howling one night and hadn’t stopped since.

- KIAAA!

- GRRR!

- KWEEE!

Iselan could tell what kind of beasts they were just from their cries—they were among the larger ones.

Their incessant howls were a new kind of nightmare for the soldiers, pushing them more and more toward suicide as time went on. Because of these unholy beasts, night could no longer offer the solace of sleep to these poor soldiers.

Iselan was no different. He napped every now and then, but he could never fall into deep sleep. That damned endless howling and the stress of the situation had rendered him unable to sleep. It was the sheer exhaustion that occasionally allowed him a few minutes of fitful sleep.

But then someone suddenly called out to Iselan.

“Commander!”

A soldier rushed to Iselan while panting, his expression full of urgency. Iselan opened his bloodshot eyes and responded wearily, “Is something going on…?”

“Th-the back gate… They made it through!”

“What did you say!?”

Iselan had heard him loud and clear, but he wished he hadn’t. He had thought the back gate to be impenetrable, the only thing that separated them from the hell outside.

…But it suddenly fell in the middle of the night.