Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage
Chapter 281: The Pope (2)

Besides the Saint and Henry, everyone seemed confused as to what the Shalka’s needle meant. Only the two of them knew exactly what it meant.

“That’s…”

Puzzled by the result, the Saint tried to speak first, but Henry quickly nudged her leg under the table. She knew that something was wrong, but she stopped talking at Henry’s signal.

“It seems that your divine powers are stronger at night,” Henry said to the Pope.

“Ah, is that what that means?”

“Indeed. Now why don’t Sir Logger and Sir Ananda also test it out?”

Henry had quickly come up with a sloppy lie, and he quickly suggested that Logger and Ananda also test out the Shalka in order to draw the Pope’s attention away from his own result.

However, when Logger and Ananda used the Shalka, the needle pointed to the sun for both of them.

‘What the hell?’

The Shalka had pointed to the sun for both Sun Warriors and Saint Irenae, but in the Pope’s case, who supposedly possessed the most amount of divine power from Goddess Irene, it had pointed to the moon.

‘According to what Herarion said, the Pope’s powers should also be affiliated with the sun.’

This was most peculiar, but it wasn’t the time nor the place to question the Pope about his result.

‘I have to change the subject.’

Henry felt suspicious, but he didn’t have any conclusive evidence to accuse the Pope of anything, so he decided to change the subject to what they had initially talked about.

“...Anyway, so I’m going to try and replace a new deity that can rival Arthus’ powers for the reasons I’ve previously stated. In order to do that, I’ve decided to research the other great religions that had been dispersed after the last religious war.”

“The other great religions, huh…?”

The Pope recalled the sight of the defeated armies of the other religious groups involved in that war. His lips curved into a crooked smile.

‘I won’t let that happen!’

Ross Borgia I had been promised near eternal youth when he had abandoned Irene and converted to Arthus. Thus, if he wanted to maintain his youth for decades to come, he needed Arthus to live. Otherwise, he would’ve become an apostate for nothing.

The Pope knew where those major religious communities that Henry was talking about had resettled, but he decided not to tell him. Of course, staying completely silent would make him very suspicious, so Ross decided to give Henry a small piece of information, or rather, to take this opportunity to get rid of him.

“Very well, but what I’m about to say is very confidential, something that only I know, and it needs to stay that way, so could everyone leave the room except for the Archmage?”

“...Alright.”

At the Pope’s request, the Saint exchanged glances with Henry, and then she rose from her seat along with Logger and Ananda and left the room together.

Following that, the Pope gave Henry a quizzical look and said, “Hmm, Archmage, so you’re telling me that you’re looking for a deity that can rival Arthus’ divine power… Right?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I’d recommend the Church of Nephram, which is located in the eastern part of the continent.”

“Nephram?”

Henry had never heard of them before.

“Yes, the Nephrams didn’t fight in that war, but the divine power of the deity they serve is great. We had quite a bit of trouble with the Church of Nephram during our religious contest, just like with the continental conquest.”

‘Nephram… Nephram…’

Henry repeated the name Nephram over and over again in his head, scouring his memory for anything regarding that religion, but to no avail. He hadn’t even heard about it in his previous life.

‘If that religion was suppressed and pushed into obscurity before the war, not even the Saint would know about it. I guess I’ll just have to replace out for myself.”

Henry figured that if this religion had in fact been purged before the religious war, he couldn’t rely on the Saint for information. He had to search for this Nephram religion himself.

“Thank you for the recommendation, but with all due respect, I don't have a lot of time left, so I was wondering if you could tell me about other religions besides Nephram?” asked Henry.

“Hmm… This topic is sensitive enough as it is, so I’m afraid I cannot tell you about the other religions… However, with your powers and resourcefulness, I think it would be a good idea to first seek out the Church of Nephram and then come back to me…”

The Pope was essentially telling him that he wouldn’t tell him anything more until after he looked for the Church of Nephram. So Henry decided not to insist and instead focus on this mysterious religion.

“Alright. Then please tell me more about Nephram.”

At Henry’s request, the Pope unfolded a map and pointed to where the Church of Nephram was possibly located. He also gave Henry an overview of their characteristics and history.

“It’s my understanding that we’ve eliminated most of the Nephrams, so there’s very few of them still out there, which would make it easy for you to be the chosen one of their deity if that’s your goal.”

“I see.”

“And also, their belief is centered around the idea of the cycle.”

“The cycle?”

“Yes, the cycle of life and death.”

The Pope also bragged about the past glories of the Church of Peace along with his description of the Church of Nephram. Of course, Henry let his boasting go in through one ear and out the other.

Soon, the Pope’s explanation about Nephram ended. Henry also finished up calculating the coordinates of the place the Pope had pointed out on the map and prepared to leave.

“I hope that Nephram is the deity that I’m looking for,” said Henry rather ominously.

“I hope so too. May Irene guide your path, Archmage.”

Oong!

The Pope maintained his fake smile until Henry disappeared with a flash of light. Then, he snorted, “Baha, you moron! You might be an Archmage, but you’re no match for the Church of Nephram, and…”

The Pope clasped his hands together and then caressed his face as if washing it. Then, as a result of Arthus’ power he had received from Palo, his face returned once again to a vibrating youth. His cheeks were plump and red, and no wrinkles, or any imperfections for that matter, could be seen on his face.

“Irenae… For too long I let that bitch have her way. How dare you stab me in the back? I must report her to Sir Palo as soon as possible.”

A wicked smile crept on the Pope’s face, for now he had something very interesting to tell Arthus.

***

Oong!

“Squawk! Squawk!”

Henry and a parrot emerged from a bright ray of light.

Soon after that, Hector, perched on his shoulder, cried as loud as he could, “Dumbass! Dumbass!”

Hector cursed in the unique voice of a parrot. He knew the whole story, and he had seen Henry blatantly lie to the Pope about the Shalka. Hector had done everything in his power not to curse at that old bastard earlier.

Even though he was currently a parrot, his soul was still that of a human.

“Good job holding back, Hector.”

Henry praised Hector for his patience and patted him on the back.

“Squawk!”

Swat-!

Hector swatted Henry’s hand away with his wing because he thought this was too embarrassing and cheesy.

Henry chuckled and looked around.

“Anyway… It’s been a while since I’ve been to the east.”

Following his execution, Henry had woken up in a new body in the eastern part of the continent. He had returned to life somewhere far in the east, almost on the edge of the continent, but his current location wasn’t that far away from where it had all started.

‘Hmm, what should I do?’ Henry thought to himself.

He had been terribly busy ever since his reincarnation, but now that he thought about it, he realized he hadn’t visited his ‘hometown’ ever since he had enlisted in Caliburn Fortress.

‘Poor kid… I feel somewhat bad for him.’

Henry felt a bit bad for the kid who had lost his body to him. He would’ve probably lived a relatively normal life if he hadn’t messed around with black magic.

Of course, Henry had no emotional attachments to Baronet Hans, but Hans on the other hand was most likely disappointed that his son hadn’t contacted him in such a long time.

‘After I replace the Church of Nephram, I should pay a visit to his hometown.’

This should be the last thing on Henry’s mind, given the urgency of the situation, but… It just felt to him like the right thing to do.

While Chimeras were running rampant across the continent, Henry decided to pay a visit to the Morris estate because it had given him a chance at revenge, a new life. It was the least he could do for the boy who had accidentally forfeited his body and soul to him.

‘Shall I get going then?’

Thud! Woosh!

Henry stomped his feet and unleashed his magic, power surging through him. He had received enough clues from the Pope on how to replace traces of the Church of Nephram. Now all he had to do was to quickly track them down.

***

“So this is the place.”

Using the directions the Pope had told him about, Henry arrived in front of a well claimed to be used by the Church of Nephram.

‘To keep them under surveillance even after purging the majority of them… So despicable…’

Even after almost wiping them out completely, the Church of Peace continued to monitor the Nephrams for any possible contingencies. Henry thought it was rather hypocritical for the Church of Peace to preach about love and peace while treating these people like this.

Of course, he didn’t judge them too much because everyone had their reasons. Everyone had a dark side, and Henry merely took it as the dark side of the Church of Peace.

He noticed that there wasn’t a pulley nor a bucket attached to this well, just thick vines that seemed to have been growing for a long time.

Henry walked up to the well and peered into it, only to see pitch-black darkness. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, but he still couldn’t see anything down this deep well.

He cast Light and let it travel down the well.

Poof-!

With a faint sound, a few glimmering orbs descended into the well, illuminating it, but Henry quickly noticed that something was wrong.

‘Huh?’

The Light Henry had cast illuminated the walls of the well for a brief moment, but then it suddenly vanished without a trace.

‘It disappeared?’

The Light would’ve revealed water in a normal well, or some dirt in a dry one, but this well seemed to have swallowed Henry’s Light as though it were a living creature.

The well was plunged into darkness once again, and after a moment, Henry realized that he had come to the right place.

‘I see.’

This had to be the place that old raccoon geezer was keeping under surveillance. Of course, Henry hadn’t thought for a moment that he could just walk into the Church of Nephram, but he still couldn’t help smiling at the fact that the entrance was disguised as an abandoned well.

“Let’s see what kind of lives you’ve been living after being purged.”

Henry wasn’t scared because he had no intention of jumping into this well. He took a few steps back, releasing his emerald-colored mana, which enveloped him entirely. Then he clasped his hands together, and after casting a short spell, he touched the ground and said, “Reverse Gravity!”

Rumble-!

The ground was vibrating and shattering, and soon, the massive well rose from the ground like a stone spire. Henry removed his hands from the ground and brushed off the dirt.

He didn’t open the gates of the Church of Nephram. Instead, he planned to get rid of the gates altogether, forcing the inhabitants to come out themselves.