81漫画

Janus was still struggling to get out of the tar-like sticky puddle. His neatly-shaped head fell off, his hands grew and shrank, and his chest kept bloating up and popping. It seemed that his body was made of the same inky, viscous substance he was squirming in, and he also let off a terrible stench.

Henry frowned and stared at Janus as he constantly changed his form.

‘What in the world..?’

Watching this, Henry couldn’t help but wonder if the Janus in front of him was in fact some sort of creation of the King of Gods, something that was meant to look like Janus. However, Henry could tell from the faint divine power he was sensing that the abomination in front of him was the real Janus, which made this sight even more astonishing.

Henry watched Janus grow and shrink in silence for a while. And as time passed, he managed to compose himself and contain his surprise. With a clearer mind, he tried to explain why Janus had appeared before him in this state.

At first, he suspected that the King of Gods was giving him another hint, but if that was true, he hadn’t the faintest clue as to what the King of Gods was telling him. He had no idea what his intentions were.

Time passed as Henry contemplated, but the King of Gods was nowhere to be seen. And Janus kept on growing and shrinking, screaming and groaning.

Thinking that there had to be something with Janus, Henry kept his eye on him. Initially, he tried to find out why Janus kept contorting and transforming like this. He squinted his eyes to find anything particular about him as he screamed, moaned, and groaned unintelligibly.

But at that moment, Henry suddenly remembered what La had told him.

‘No one knows what happened to Janus after he challenged the King of Gods.’

That was what La had told him last time in the Khan’s Eye. So much had happened since then that Henry had completely forgotten about it. But having remembered that crucial piece of information, Henry was absolutely sure that the writhing black mass in front of him was indeed Janus.

‘Then this Janus in front of me…’

That was when Henry realized that Janus was facing punishment. In a way, this was ironic—Henry had essentially embarked on this journey because of Janus, and now the god was helplessly squirming in pain at his feet.

Naturally, Henry had all the reasons to savor this moment and unleash his anger on the one responsible for those blind believers. However, instead of anger, Henry felt a strange sense of fascination as he stared at the black slime in front of him.

He wondered if his lack of anger stemmed from the fact that Janus was suffering, but he soon realized that wasn’t the case.

‘No, it’s not that…’

Knock, knock-

At that moment, Henry was startled by a knocking behind him. He swiftly turned around, only to see that the door he thought had disappeared. It was the same wooden door with the golden doorknob.

Henry focused on his hearing to determine who or what was beyond that door, but he didn’t hear anything after the first two knocks. It was certainly odd, and he thought he had no choice but to open the door and see what was there.

He grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it.

Creak—

The moment Henry opened the door all the way, he almost pulled out his sword.

“Wh-what in the…!”

“Hello there.”

Henry had goosebumps all over when he saw who was at the door. The unexpected guest was…

Him…

The man in front of him was his spitting image, even wearing the same exact clothes.

Unlike the startled Henry in the room, the one at the door was smiling merrily. He went into the room as though it was his home and took a look at Janus, who was still writhing on the floor. He then turned to the startled Henry and asked, “So? Did you realize anything after seeing this?”

“What…?”

“Hehe, I don’t think we’ll be needing this anymore, so let’s put it back in.”

With that, the mysterious man lightly clapped his hands twice. Then, Janus turned into black fog and went back into the glass bottle. As the last traces of Janus went inside, the man picked up the cork and casually sealed the bottle as though he had done it countless times before.

He then gently placed the bottle on the table and told Henry, “Now, why don’t you stop freaking out and take a seat? Didn’t you come here because you wanted to tell me something?”

“...To tell you something? Wait, does that mean… Are you…?”

“Yes, it’s me. I am the King of Gods.”

The man who was Henry’s spitting image was none other than the King of Gods. Henry had somewhat suspected it because of his demeanor, but he hadn’t been certain until this moment.

He was stunned to see that the King of Gods was his mirror image, as he had never encountered his doppelganger before. His jaw was on the floor, but he quickly came back to his senses.

Besides the obvious shock, Henry was also astonished by the fact that this shabby-looking room was the temple of the King of Gods. In any case, he shook his head and sat down opposite the King of Gods according to the invitation.

However, the moment he sat down, Henry realized just how thirsty he was, so he immediately got back up and proceeded to prepare some tea. He felt that he wouldn’t be able to have a discussion if he didn’t quench his thirst first, so he prepared tea for both of them in silence.

Clank, clank—

Once he was done, he handed the King of Gods a cup of tea and sat back down.

“Thanks,” said the King of Gods, slightly arching one of his eyebrows.

Even though a few minutes had passed since the appearance of the King of Gods, Henry still couldn’t get used to this interaction. He felt like he was talking to a mirror.

The King of Gods noticed how Henry was trying to loosen up and get rid of his nervous expression.

“Hehehe, I always take on the visage of my visitors so they can reflect on themselves. I do this every time, but with you… Haha, the look on your face makes it too great to stop.”

“Haha… It sure seems like an effective way, King of Gods.”

Henry followed his instincts and showed courtesy to the King of Gods, and it seemed that the god was returning the courtesy.

“So, you killed yourself in order to kill the Heavenly God? Hmm… Interesting… Very interesting… Henry, is there nothing but anger in your heart?”

Just as Henry had expected, the King of Gods knew about every move he had made so far.

“I believe you’re well aware of my situation. You must’ve been watching me every step of the way, so I assume you understand that I had no other choice.”

“I’m not blaming you for anything. I’m merely asking out of curiosity. But I must say, you’re too violent. Yes, I know that violence can easily solve problems, but do you really not know that one day you will have to take responsibility for it?”

“Haha, it’s been a long time since I last heard this kind of nagging, as I haven’t met anyone older than me recently. Well, I’ve never experienced any repercussions for what I’ve accomplished in my own way, so I’m not sure about that.”

“Hehehe, you also have a point.”

At that, Henry wondered what the King of Gods actually meant. The way he talked was rather confusing; Henry couldn’t tell if he was trying to scold or just mess with him. In a way, he felt like the King of Gods was trying to subtly tell him something important.

For a while, the two had some small talk. Even though time continued to pass, Henry, strangely enough, didn’t feel anxious. In fact, he was getting increasingly more invested in the discussion he was having with the King of Gods.

But eventually, the King of Gods brought up a rather eye-opening question.

“I see, I see… Well, in that sense, there’s something I’m very curious about. How does it feel to be a complete god compared to an incomplete one?”

“How it feels?”

“Yes. I know that the moment you became a complete god, you headed here right away to meet me, not stopping once. Now that you’re taking a break, tell me. What does it feel like?”

Indeed, Henry hadn’t stopped once to properly assess himself as a complete god since his transformation. He had killed himself to become one, slain the Heavenly God, and before he knew it, he had found himself before the ruler of all gods. He hadn’t had the time to take in his ascension.

In addition, no one else had asked him about how he felt as a complete god. The King of Gods was the first to bring it up, and Henry thought about it for a while before giving an answer.

“Hmm… Well, my godhood is only a means to achieve a goal I’ve had in mind for a long time. So, to be honest, I don’t feel a sense of accomplishment in having become a complete god.”

“Even though you are the god of magic?”

“Yes.”

Thinking about it, Henry realized that he had become the god of magic because he had been hunting Arthus. Back then, Henry was humanity’s strongest Archmage and its sole hope, the one who carried the fate of the continent on his shoulders.

Thus, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that his great sense of responsibility was the reason he had reached this stage.

The King of Gods nodded at his answer and replied, “Then your life must be full of regrets.”

“Regrets?”

“Am I wrong? Henry, I know your story. You’ve dedicated your new life solely to revenge. And wasn’t also revenge that fueled you from the moment you killed the Heavenly God to the moment you met me? Even though you represented humanity as an Archmage, your judgment was clouded by a petty vendetta and a vague sense of justice. Because of that, you have not once reflected on yourself since your reincarnation.”

Henry nodded as he listened carefully to what the King of Gods had to say about this second life. After he was finished, Henry felt a strange, indescribable feeling rise within him.

‘I… I’ve never looked back on myself…?’

Henry pondered on every word the King of Gods had said to him. Indeed, he had dedicated his second life solely to revenge. And even though he had achieved his vengeance against Arthus, he had carried on as though that hadn’t been his sole driving force.

Just as the King of Gods had said, Henry’s pettiness and vague sense of justice controlled him. Those were the main driving forces that had allowed him to make it this far.

Processing all of this, Henry felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer. He suddenly realized what he had actually done so far, and he couldn’t believe that the King of Gods, someone whom he had just met, was the one to give him a reality check.

Henry shot a surprised glance at the King of Gods, but he swiftly changed his expression as if to hide the fact that he had realized something.

“Tsk, tsk… You should be more honest with yourself…”

Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, Henry’s face was flushed with embarrassment; he felt like a kid who had just been caught with some lousy lie. He feigned composure, trying his best to hide how he felt, but the words of the King of Gods pierced him like daggers.

Among everything the King of Gods had said, two particular words stuck with Henry.

‘Petty… Vague…’

Henry didn’t like what those words entailed, which was all the more reason he didn’t want to admit his mistakes to the King of Gods. However, he soon realized that he had to concede, for the King of Gods was indeed right.

Just as the King of Gods had said, Henry had become the first god of magic, revered by all wizards. However, despite his outstanding achievements, Henry wasn’t necessarily happy. And even though he had awakened the mythical 9th-Circle, which he had dreamed about his entire life, he didn’t feel that satisfied about that either.

Henry knew exactly why that achievement had brought him little to no joy in the long term. It was because he had awakened the 9th-Circle simply to evolve in order to fully comprehend and handle the dimensional powers that the Demon God had given him.

As he realized one thing after another, it became increasingly more difficult for Henry to maintain a calm expression. His eyes darted all across the room out of confusion. And as he lifted his head, he only saw his mirror image gazing at him with pitying eyes.

At this, Henry got goosebumps.

“I know,” said the King of Gods. “I know you’re here to borrow the power of time from me. I know how many times you’ve brushed against death. Well, you did die in the end, so you’ve basically made the ultimate sacrifice to come here.”

The King of Gods looked at Henry with eyes that seemed like they could see through everything.

“But the thing is… Will you truly be satisfied after healing the blind believers with my power?”

Henry didn’t know how to answer. His pupils were dilated, and it felt like an active volcano was exploding inside his head. He felt like his heart would burst out from his mouth at any moment. He also broke into a cold sweat, panting.

In contrast, the Henry sitting across from him looked at him with indifferent eyes, making him feel even more pressured to answer. He felt like he was suffocating to death.

“The power of time… Fine, I shall allow you to use it just once. But before that, let me ask you again. Is curing the blind believers with this power really what you want? Is that your true wish?”

“I… I…!”

Although the voice of the King of Gods was soft, his question shook Henry to his core. Henry tried his best to calm himself down so that he wouldn’t blurt out anything he didn’t want to say. Once he regained some of his composure, he took a deep breath.

“Th-that’s… not… my true wish…”

Henry looked himself in the eye and confessed his true feelings.