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Side Story (9)

Unfortunately, Henry was now out of projects he could use as excuses. Every project, every problem, and everything he had contemplated just seemed easy to him. He didn’t even feel overloaded or like his head was going to explode.

Everything in this world just felt easy.

Henry had evolved into a genius like no other in human history without even realizing as he accomplished his nine hundred and ninety-nine studies. And so, as his last resort, he started researching dimensional knowledge.

When Henry received dimensional knowledge from the Demon God, his body couldn’t initially acclimate to the vast and complex knowledge, which forced him to evolve. And so, he now reached out to dimensional knowledge, thinking that he might finally find a solution to his problem.

Henry stood up and raised his index finger. He then wrote everything he remembered about dimensional knowledge in the air.

It didn’t matter whether Henry wrote in print or cursive, as he had a spell that could automatically convert his text into print and transfer it onto sheets of paper, which he would stash on his desk.

For over half a day, Henry waved his fingers continuously as though he were a conductor. Howl came in at one point, but after seeing Henry frantically waving his fingers, he left without saying a word.

And so, in about half a day, Henry had managed to write down almost half of the knowledge the Demon God had instilled in him. It took him a couple more days to put everything on paper. As a result, there were piles of paper on his desk, which could’ve made a dozen encyclopedias. He had successfully transferred everything from his mind onto paper.

After he was done, Henry proceeded to organize the information, calling this process establishment work. He did this because he believed that information ought to be well-organized to ensure that anyone could easily use it for their needs.

This approach was one of his core principles. He aimed to come up with knowledge that was concise, simple, and easy for anyone to understand.

For several days, he became so engrossed in his work that he forgot to eat or sleep, devoting all his energy to this core principle in mind.

***

After exactly ten restless days of hard work, Henry managed to complete the establishment work. Luckily, he hadn’t starved or fainted; as an Archmage, he could take care of such nuisances with the snap of a finger.

His fingers, which had been moving incessantly, finally placed a dot next to the last letter. And now, there were hundreds of sheets of paper piled up in front of him. He had managed to compress several encyclopedias worth of information into a few hundred pages.

Then, Henry used magic to bind the stack of papers into a book and sign it as though he had done this a hundred times already. His eyes were glued on the leather cover until it finally closed over the first page.

Thump-!

“...”

However, the moment he heard that sound, his eyes widened as though he were a knight who had just woken up after being petrified for a long period. He had goosebumps all over.

“...”

Silence hung in the air. Henry didn’t think that the silence would last long, but it persisted even after ten minutes, at which he got chills down his spine.

“Nothing’s... happening...?”

Henry had meticulously organized the dimensional knowledge, which he had long avoided due to his apprehensions, to his liking. His obsession with acquiring knowledge, which had become second nature to him, made him work hard until the end. He had completely devoted himself to this endeavor, thinking it would be his last.

But despite completing his work, Henry had failed again. All that effort had yielded nothing more than a stifling silence.

At this, the exhaustion from going ten days without any food and sleep seemed to overwhelm him at once. His lips, which had been frozen by the chills he had gotten earlier, moved again.

“Is this really... the end?”

His eyes trembled. Even though he knew he was done, he couldn’t accept the reality that nothing had happened.

But regardless, as reality set in, Henry felt only one emotion.

“No, no, no...!”

His eyes fluttered and the area around his neck felt sore. His cheeks felt hot and everything in front of him became blurry. Tears soon rolled down his cheeks. But he wasn’t crying out of sadness. In fact, he hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

He was horrified.

Henry was so scared that he burst into tears, the pitiful tears of a frightened and helpless man.

***

Later that day, unprecedented natural disasters occurred on the Eurasian continent. An earthquake, typhoon, and hail, accompanied by thunder and lightning, swept through the continent.

People on the continent suffered severe damage because of this catastrophe, and no one knew that Henry and his despair were the cause of the disasters.

Of course, Henry hadn’t done it on purpose. He was just facing the fear he had suppressed deep inside himself for decades, and being emotionally cornered, and he couldn’t find a way to destroy that fear or escape it.

Henry was scared. He used to think that he could easily solve every problem in the world. But now, this knowledge, this taboo that he had considered his last hope, had abandoned him as well, rendering him a failed man.

Henry felt like magic itself had abandoned him, and he couldn’t quell the indescribably miserable feeling he got from that.

The disasters lasted over a week. Ironically enough, Henry was simply letting out his sadness and fear like a crying newborn. But his raw, genuine emotions released an enormous amount of volatile magic and uncontrollable violence into the world.

It was as though a volcano had erupted.

If someone found out the cause of this absurd phenomenon, they would most likely call it a man-made disaster, not a natural one.

However, the good news was that the empire itself hadn’t suffered much damage from it. All the official institutions played a big role in minimizing the damage. A little after the disasters started, the imperial institutions scattered their people throughout the continent to protect everyone.

The Medical Spire had played a vital role with its advanced everyday magic and medical magic.

A few more days passed before the disasters came to an end. The terrible calamity that shook the entire continent ironically stopped when Henry ran out of magic. In fact, it stopped when he fainted.

But even though Henry’s magic was completely depleted, he was still alive. After all, the mana reserve of an 8th-Circle was akin to an ocean, so in time, Henry would recover and return to his original state.

But despite his power, Henry couldn’t help but faint in this situation. He had cried so much that dried tear streaks marked his cheeks.

***

Henry came back to his senses a few days later.

Howl found him on the floor when he visited him again after a couple of days, and seeing him passed out, he immediately took him to the Medical Spire so that the best doctors in the empire could tend to him.

Thanks to Howl, Henry had recovered completely, at least physically. The doctors hadn’t been able to heal his broken spirit, which had literally shaken the entire continent. It was up to Henry to overcome his mental anguish and recover from it.

Henry sat on the bed in the hospital room, staring blankly out the window. Dracan had made sure that Henry wouldn’t have a room that faced the bleak northern landscape. Rather, he had picked a room that oversaw the lush mountain range and flowing rivers, thinking that the beautiful scenery would help him recover.

Soon, Dracan sat next to Henry.

“Archmage.”

Henry remained silent. He just stared out the window aimlessly like a lost old man. He had been like this for a few days already, and so, Dracan wanted to try the mental magic he had developed a long time ago that could manipulate one’s mind.

The problem was that Dracan would have to use it against none other than Henry Morris. He knew that his 7th-Circle magic wouldn’t even penetrate Henry’s barrier against magic, much less reach his spirit.

Because of that, Dracan was extremely frustrated. He felt horribly helpless as he realized that being the best medical wizard in the empire didn’t mean anything if he couldn’t even help the one person he wanted to help the most.

“Archmage, can you at least tell me why you’re suddenly acting like this?” asked Dracan, trying to suppress his tears.

The most frustrating thing to him was that he couldn’t figure out why Henry had suddenly lost his wits without any signs.

Of course, Dracan had done his best, having the best wizards in the Medical Spire thoroughly examine every part of Henry’s body. But despite his earnest efforts, Dracan hadn’t managed to find anything wrong with Henry, which drove him crazy.

“Sigh...”

This was another day in which Dracan failed to determine why Henry had suddenly become like this. He stayed by his side for a few hours, as this was the only thing he could do for Henry at the moment.

And after Dracan left, Howl stopped by his hospital room. And then Ronan, Hein, Silver, Von, McDowell...

Everyone who was indebted to Henry took turns to stay by his side.

***

Just like that, an entire year had passed. At this point, people were speculating that the Archmage had gone mad because he had studied too much magic. Of course, no one dared to say such things out loud, especially within the imperial palace.

One day, Golden came to visit Henry. As one of his closest friends, Golden visited once a week to chat with Henry, who always remained silent.

Golden’s face was now full of wrinkles, a sign that age was catching up with him. Not even Golden Jackson Edward, the man who had once conquered the continent, could escape the passage of time.

“Geez, you’ve gone for so long without saying anything...”

Golden didn’t expect Henry to answer, but he still chose to say that aloud so that Henry could hear it. As usual, Henry remained silent, and Golden sighed lightly before sitting next to him.

“Hey buddy! I heard something interesting from Howl. Do you want to have a look at it?”

Henry didn’t answer this time either. However, Golden waved the incredibly thick book he had received from Howl in front of Henry. Its cover bore the words “A Complete Guide on Dimensional Knowledge.”

It was none other than Henry’s final book of knowledge.

“I know you didn’t give him permission, but Howl recently started taking care of your lab. Of course, he’s not throwing your stuff away, just organizing your lab a bit, that’s all. He mentioned that as he was sorting through your books, he found this thick one, which seemed to be the last one you wrote. He asked me to show it to you, so I brought it just in case. I was curious if you’d react to this.”

Golden pretended to be cheerful, but his voice betrayed his sadness. And just as he had expected, Henry didn’t even move an inch. At this, Golden burst into laughter and said, “I knew it!” Then, he licked his finger and flipped through the pages of the book.

“I can’t believe I’m actually opening a book just because we’re friends. Let’s see..

- I’m going to start establishing the final piece of knowledge that might make my wish come true...

Golden proceeded to read the foreword aloud. It was a truly bizarre sight, as Golden was known as an excellent swordsman and a formidable emperor, not someone who read books. And yet, whether it was because of Howl or the captivating introduction, Golden quickly found himself absorbed in the book.

Silence persisted for a while, and it was only broken by the sound of pages being flipped and by Golden clearing his throat every now and then.

A few hours passed just like that. Although Golden was slow, he eventually finished reading the whole book. However, instead of being surprised that he had managed to finish a book, Golden made a rather puzzled face.

“Huh. That’s strange.”

“...”

“It’s incredible that I managed to finish this book, given that it’s my first time opening one, but... This book is completely useless!”

Golden offered such a harsh review of Henry’s book for a simple reason. The book was written in such simple terms that even Golden, who had never finished a book before, could understand it.

Besides, the dimensional power described in the book required divine power, which wasn’t something that anyone could just harness.

“Why did you put so much effort into a book about a power that can’t be used without divine power? Or did you write this book knowing how to convert magic to divine power or something?” asked Golden without giving much thought to his question.

He was genuinely confused. The Henry he knew wouldn’t waste his time writing a book full of impractical information unless he had a good reason for it.

But that was the moment everything changed.

“...What?”

Henry finally spoke after one year of silence.

***

Golden froze. Henry hadn’t just answered him; he was looking him straight in the eye. He was no longer acting like a crazy old man.

Golden couldn’t believe that Henry had suddenly come back to his senses after one year of being locked inside himself.

However, Henry completely disregarded Golden’s reaction. Instead, he just repeated his question.

“Say that again. What did you say? Wait, nevermind... You said converting magic to divine power, right? Of course! Why haven’t I thought of that?”

Henry mumbled to himself for a while, speaking in a way that Golden couldn’t understand at all, and then suddenly jumped out of bed.

“Oh? Uh??”

And then, in the blink of an eye, Henry disappeared.

***

Chaos descended on the imperial palace because Henry, who was believed to be insane, had suddenly come to his senses and vanished.

However, Howl soon found his whereabouts. He was in his lab, immersed in his research once again. But this time, Howl didn’t leave. He mustered up courage and approached Henry to ask him a question.

“Master... If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask what you’re working on now?”

At that, Henry’s frenzied concentration paused. He turned his head toward Howl and softly said, “...I’ll let you know when I’m done, Howl.”

“...!”

Howl’s courage turned out to be fruitful. Surprisingly, Henry had answered warmly instead of ignoring him.

Satisfied with the brief reply, Howl managed to hold back his tears as he expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you, Master.”

And now, Howl was planning to share Henry’s response with everyone. He believed that this simple answer could alleviate their concerns. With that, Henry was able to resume his research undisturbed.

***

Henry wasn’t initially interested in dimensional knowledge for two simple reasons. First, he wasn’t completely sure that merely going over the information would get him to the 9th-Circle. Second, without the ability to harness divine power, dimensional knowledge seemed useless to him.

Contrary to his expectations, going over all there was to know about dimensional power hadn’t pushed him to the 9th-Circle. However, Golden’s remarks about the book being useless without divine power had opened a new path for Henry.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Converting magic into divine power seemed like nonsense, but many of those nine hundred and ninety-nine research ideas had seemed absurd at first, and yet Henry had managed to make them work.

Discovering knowledge wasn’t difficult for Henry. At the end of the day, turning magic into divine power was just another challenge for him, not an impossible feat.

Moreover, Henry had once wielded divine powers. In fact, he had even become the god of magic at one point, wielding both divine and magic powers. And because of this, Henry believed that converting magic into divine power was feasible.

By embarking on this research project, Henry was hoping for one out of two outcomes. The best outcome was obviously to awaken the 9th-Circle. If that didn’t work, Henry hoped that he would at least be able to meet the King of Gods through the discoveries he made.

The King of Gods presided over all dimensions, making him omnipotent and omniscient. If Henry could just meet him, he would ask him the burning question of why he couldn’t reach the 9th-Circle.

Henry didn’t plan to complain to the King of Gods or get mad at him. He just wanted to know why he had failed despite all his earnest efforts.

Henry concentrated even harder as he delved deeper into his research. His relentless efforts stretched longer and longer as he stopped eating and sleeping. Yet, Henry maintained a faint smile, feeling that something promising was waiting for him.

***

“Alright...!”

It had been a year since Henry had begun his ambitious project. He had finally discovered a way to convert magic into divine power. It was a monumental breakthrough that had taken him an entire year to achieve.

Just as he had done with his previous work, Henry closed the cover of the book after signing and binding it. The satisfying sound of the heavy cover hitting the last page echoed in his ears.

But unfortunately, despite his heartfelt efforts, Henry hadn’t awakened the 9th-Circle. He felt bittersweet, but he didn’t despair because he had long braced himself for this outcome.

Henry didn’t give a title to this book because no one except him would be able to make use of the knowledge within it. In other words, his thousandth encyclopedia was a very knotty book meant solely for himself.

He didn’t mind that. Just like the nine hundred and ninety-nine studies before it, he had conducted this research for the sake of his curiosity and passion. Despite having failed to achieve his ultimate goal, Henry proceeded to convert his magic into divine power, using the knowledge he had written in his unnamed volume.

His skin was twitching as he chanted the spell. At the same time, a large volume of magic surged from within him, transforming into a new kind of energy. He took in this energy through his breath, which felt familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Henry slowly replaced some of his magic with divine power. He was preparing to create a dimensional shift to reach the King of Gods, just as he had written in his book.

He used his divine power after amassing enough of it. His eyes twitched at the thought of meeting the King of Gods once again after so many years.

The moment he finished chanting the spell, Henry vanished from the lab with a flash.

***

Henry’s surroundings changed. Once he returned to his senses, he noticed that he was surrounded by nothing but pure white. However, for some reason, this space didn’t feel unfamiliar to him.

But then...

“Henry.”

Henry turned toward the voice. He saw the King of Gods, who looked way older than he remembered.

It only made sense for the King of Gods to look this way. During their first meeting, he had taken the body of one of his servants and assumed Henry’s youthful appearance. And now, the King of Gods had matched Henry’s current appearance as an old Archmage.

Of course, the King of Gods wasn’t concerned about trivial things such as age. His priority was to have the same appearance as his visitor.

The King of Gods gave Henry a warm welcome, and Henry flashed him an awkward smile.

“King of Gods, after all these years... you still have that habit of yours...”

“Hehehe, I don’t think you’re any different. I can’t believe you came all the way here by converting magic into divine power... I had some idea, but I never actually thought someone would manage that.”

The King of Gods chuckled as if he was dumbfounded.

“Did you happen to know that I’d come here?”

“Of course, of course I knew. Henry, every being has a fate set in stone, and I can’t interfere with fate. That includes yours.”

“F-fate...?”

“Yes, fate. Once one’s fate is decided, it cannot be changed, no matter what. Henry, you were always destined to become a god. That’s why you managed to become a god in your previous life, and even now. Look at you here. You eventually made it here to the divine world once again with divine powers.”

Fate...

Henry had never believed in fate. He had always been of the impression that fate was a bullshit concept used by fortune tellers. That was why he was taken aback when the King of Gods said the word “fate.”

Henry stared at the King of Gods with wide eyes.

“I know this is sudden, but you truly are amazing. You’ve actually transcended your mortal form and become a god simply to achieve one goal. Tell me, Henry. How does it feel to return to the divine realm after sacrificing everything to go back in time?”

The King of Gods was genuinely curious about how Henry felt. Indeed, fate seemed to be predetermined, and Henry was simply following its course.

At this, Henry paused and thought hard about it.

Fate... God... The King of Gods... As Henry mulled over those three concepts, he picked up on something strange.

‘He said that fate can never be changed... But then why...?’

Henry was now wondering why the King of Gods had even bothered to send him back in time and ask him to relinquish his divinity if he was destined to become a god anyway.

This revelation stirred a flurry of thoughts in Henry, and after a while, he managed to come up with a hypothesis that might seem presumptuous, dangerous even.

‘If I was destined to become a god anyway, there was no need to send me back in time with all those persuasive arguments. And yet he managed to convince me and sent me back. Why would he go to such lengths? Just for fun? No, that can’t be it... He wouldn’t have done that just for fun, given the destruction I’d caused in the heavens. There must be another reason... Could it be because he was afraid of me?’

It would’ve made sense if the King of Gods feared Henry. If he hadn’t done it for the sake of entertainment, there had to be another reason he had sent Henry back in time after making him relinquish his divinity.

Henry’s train of thought came to the rather bold conclusion that the King of Gods was afraid of him.

"Just as I expected, you have a brilliant mind, Henry.”

“What...?”

“What you’re thinking... You’re right. You were born with a very special destiny. You have the ability to become not just any god, but the next King of Gods.”

“Ho-how did you do that? Didn’t you say that gods can’t read each other’s minds?\'

“Hehe, surprised are we? That’s because you are not a complete god yet. You’ve come here while still holding onto your human form. Besides, you’ve used, let’s say, some unconventional means to get here.”

“...!”

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. Let me continue. Just as you expected, you were born to become like me, the King of Gods. For example, you’re the only one who’s managed to kill the Heavenly God. Moreover, you managed to come all this way by converting your own power into divine power, not having a single believer. Only the King of Gods can have such outstanding talent, Henry.”

The King of Gods subtly looked into Henry’s mind as he calmly listed his achievements.

‘How about that, Henry? I’ve given you enough information now. It’s your turn to show me your greed...!’

Just as the King of Gods had said, Henry was destined to reach his level. However, there could only be one of them in this world. And of course, the King of Gods thought that he should be the one to rule over all gods. For that reason, he had done everything in his power to make Henry relinquish his destiny.

But despite those efforts, Henry had eventually found his way back here.

And at that moment...!

“So what?”

“...Huh?”

“I’m not interested in being the King of Gods or whatever. I came here because I wanted to ask you why I couldn’t reach the 9th-Circle. On this note, I apologize for bothering you again just for this.”

“...?”

The King of Gods was speechless. He could tell that Henry was telling the truth.

Indeed, Henry didn’t care about his so-called destiny of becoming the King of Gods. Deep down, he was still a magic supremacist. His only concern was finding out why he hadn’t been able to achieve the 9th-Circle.

Despite what the King of Gods had told him, Henry remained focused solely on his initial goal, which threw off the King of Gods.

“He-Henry... Didn’t you hear what I just said? Your destiny is to become a King of Gods.”

“I’m not interested in that. My only desire is to reach the 9th-Circle, which I’ve dreamed of my entire life. After achieving that, my final wish is to grow old and die surrounded by the people I love.”

Henry meant every single word. And despite a thorough search through his mind, the King of Gods found no traces of a desire to achieve divinity.

‘Ha...!’

The King of Gods felt a sense of futility. He had put so much effort in protecting his position out of fear, only to realize that the person he had been sabotaging had no interest in that position. He almost felt like a fool for having worried so much.

“My goodness...!”

The King of Gods was ashamed of himself. He brought his hand to his forehead, embarrassed by his own greed.

Meanwhile, Henry patiently waited for the King of Gods to respond to his question. It took some time for him to raise his head again, as he was dying of embarrassment.

After a while, the King of Gods said reticently, “I am ashamed of myself...”

“What are you talking about?”

“No... It’s nothing. Rather, let me tell you why you didn’t reach the 9th-Circle.”

Now that he knew what Henry wanted, there was no need for him to be wary of him anymore.

“Henry, do you remember the part of your heart I took from you back then?”

“Yes... You took a piece before sending me back in time... But is that why...?”

“Yes. You’ve already met the conditions to unlock the 9th-Circle, maybe even the 10th. However, out of fear that you might seek to become the King of Gods, I took this fingernail-sized piece of your heart to ensure that you wouldn’t grow beyond a certain limit.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Yes... Yes, that’s it.”

“Then perhaps... could you give me back that part of my heart?”

Henry boldly asked for his heart back, and the King of Gods couldn’t refuse, as he had confirmed that Henry didn’t covet his position. He knew for a fact that Henry’s sole desire was to advance to the 9th-Circle.

‘Ah, what a pure soul...’

The King of Gods once again felt ashamed of his pettiness. He read Henry’s mind again, just to make sure, and his desire was the same—to reach the 9th-Circle and ultimately die as a human, surrounded by the people he loved.

He knew that the moment Henry died as a human, his destiny to become the King of Gods would naturally be nullified.

“Alright... I shall give it back to you.”

“Thank you, Lord.”

At this, Henry expressed his sincere gratitude. He was relieved to know that his inability to advance had been caused by an external factor, not by an error on his part. In any case, he felt no resentment toward the King of Gods. He fully understood his concerns.

Soon after, the King of Gods gave Henry back the piece of his heart to which he had been holding onto for nothing.

Sparkle!

A beam of light came out from the King of God’s fingertips akin to a shooting star and surged into Henry’s chest. At that moment, Henry was enveloped by a golden light, and he could feel a new Circle forming.

However...

“Hmm?”

Instead of one, there were two new Circles on his heart. Just as the King of Gods had said, his enlightenment had indeed surpassed the 10th Circle. Henry couldn’t help but smile as he felt the ten rings on his heart.

“Thank you, King of Gods. This is farewell,” Henry said with a short nod.

Flash!

Henry used dimensional shifting magic. His destination was the Eurasian continent, where the people he loved were.

He was on his way to fulfill his final wish—to grow old and die surrounded by his loved ones.

《Rebirth of the 8th Circle Wizard - Side Stories》 END.