“So there really is something there.”


    Henry waited for a little longer, but he couldn’t hear anything. It was a little disappointing because he had put quite a bit of thought into that gift, but of course, that hadn’t been his full strength.


    Henry shrugged and finally stepped into the First District.


    “Oh?”


    Henry was only half a foot over the border, and yet he felt a very strong pressure on his toes. He smiled because he recognized the unique atmosphere of this district.


    As he fully entered the foggy and hazy First District, that strong pressure weighed down on his entire body.


    The scenery suddenly changed. His vision, which had previously been clouded by the violet haze of toxins, now turned pitch-ck like the night. He also remembered this as one of the characteristics of this district.


    Having crossed the border, Henry looked up. There was no moon or sun in the sky, just the darkness of space.


    <em>‘I’m in the right ce.’</em>Henry cast a spell over his eyes. He wasn’t just enhancing his vision to be able to navigate to the pitch ckness. He used the same spell he had used in the past to defeat the Demon King.


    Henry hadn’t used this spell since that one time decades ago, but he nevertheless remembered the exact form.


    <em>Snap!</em>


    Henry snapped his fingers and activated the spell, which illuminated his surroundings as though he were in broad daylight.


    Having gained vision, Henry spotted a massive, reddishke in front of him.


    <em>‘Ake?</em>


    The vastke in front of him had a dark, murky color, and Henry could tell that it wasn’t dirty water, but blood. The trails of blood from the Second District were flowing into thiske.


    After realizing what he was looking at, Henry immediately sensed the pungent scent of blood.


    <em>‘How can there be so much blood…? This is the First District…’</em>


    This area waspletely different from the rest of the forest. One of the differences was that not even the highest-ranking demonic beasts, which were at the top of the food chain in this forest, were found here.


    Only the demon races with their own unique identities, who believed they were the chosen ones, could live here in the First District.


    Many of those demon races that dwelled here were chosen to serve the new Demon King as topmanders-in-chief, such as the four heavenly guardians and the major general, upon his descent.


    Henry frowned at the foul smell that stung his nose and looked around. However, all he could see was blood, just like in the Second District.


    If this ce really was empty just like the previous district, then where could his Chariot of Destruction have gone?


    But just then…


    <em>Bubble, bubble, bubble…</em>


    The pool of blood in front of him was suddenly shimmering, its surface bing frothy with bubbles. Eventually, a tiny whirlpool formed among the bubbles, its color simr to that of theke.


    The whirlpool was then spitting out a peculiar liquid that lookedpletely different from blood. It was ck, sticky, and its scent was foul.


    Henry looked at the sewage-like ooze and soon realized what it was.


    <em>‘ck Amniotic Fluid…?’</em>


    ck Amniotic Fluid was one of the worst signs that a new Demon King would appear, and it was currently gushing like a fountain from theke of blood.


    “What the…? Why all of a sudden?”


    Henry didn’t understand why this was happening.


    The ck goo kept gushing and spreading across theke at a terrifying rate as though it could consume all of it.


    Soon, theke was full of ck Amniotic Fluid.


    Even though there was no wind, ripples could be seen on the surface of theke. However, it was merely an optical illusion that resulted from the unique sticity of the ck Amniotic Fluid.


    Henry frowned even more as he looked at the nowpletely ckke, which had be even more foul-smelling.


    <em>‘ck Amniotic Fluid is one of the worst signs of a Demon King’s arrival, but now that the Messiah is dead, it should be impossible for a new Demon King to appear.’</em>


    Given that the Messiah whomuned with the Demon God was dead, there wasn’t supposed to be a new Demon King for at least another few years.


    However, the ck Amniotic Fluid was a clear warning that a new Demon King would soon rise. Seeing this foreboding sign, Henry decided to not wait any longer.


    <em>‘I must find the Demon Realm Gap.’</em>


    The Demon Realm Gap was located in the First District, and it was the dimensional boundary between the world of humans and the demon realm.


    A long time back, thest Demon King had also crawled out of this damned Demon Realm Gap, and he was more or less the cause of everything.


    Henry had managed to defeat him back then, but he had been unable to also seal off the Demon Realm Gap.


    His failure stemmed from the fact that dimensional magic, which was the pinnacle of spatial magic, was beyond the knowledge of an 8th-Circle Archmage.


    Of course, Henry had still attempted to close the gap, having developed a spell specifically for that. However, the spell hadn’t worked for some reason.


    Reflecting on his past failure, Henry couldn’t shake off this ominous sensation. He quickly got moving.


    <em>‘That’s weird… I’m sure it was around here?’</em>


    Even though years had passed since hisst visit, he still remembered the location vividly because the Demon Realm Gap had been one of the few things he hadn’t been able to sessfully deal with.


    However, when Henry arrived where he thought the Demon Realm Gap was, he couldn’t find it.


    <em>‘It’s gone?’</em>


    It was definitely strange, and it made no sense. If the Demon Realm Gap had in fact disappeared, the Demonic Beast Forest would’ve disappeared along with it.


    The Demon Realm Gap was necessary to support the ecosystem of the Demonic Beast Forest, so it couldn’t have disappeared. But no matter how many times Henry looked around and checked the location, there was nothing where the gap was supposed to be.


    <em>‘This makes things a lot harder now…’</em>


    Henry hade to check the Demon Realm Gap, but given that it was nowhere to be found, he had just hit a brick wall.


    Henry stopped moving and stood in ce for a moment to think.


    <em>‘The Demon Realm Gap isn’t where it’s supposed to be, but there’s ck Amniotic Fluid flowing from thatke, and the demonic beasts are also still here. The only possible exnation for this is that the Demon Realm Gap has been moved somewhere else…’</em>


    One thing led to another.


    After a while, Henry managed to think of an area where Demon Realm Gap could’ve been moved to, and he got moving again.


    Soon, he arrived back at theke, which waspletely filled with ck Amniotic Fluid, not a single drop of blood left.


    “This has to be the ce.”


    Henry had unleashed the Chariot of Destruction to respond to the arrogant invitation. However, when he had arrived in the First District, he had only found ake of blood and not a single trace of destruction.


    There were also no signs of the high-ranked demon races unique to the First District, nor was the Demon Realm Gap where it was supposed to be. Thus, this district was the most suspicious part of the entire forest.


    Henry raised his hand, drawing mana and shooting it into theke of ck Amniotic Fluid. As soon as Henry’s mana hit it, the ck Amniotic Fluid vibrated like a worm showered with salt.


    The vibration instantly created a huge ripple, which then turned into a waterspout, gathering the ck Amniotic Fluid into a single ce.


    <em>Ssh!</em>


    The amniotic fluid rose in the air like a water dragon.


    Henry lifted his hands and made a forceful pulling gesture as though extracting a sweet potato from the ground.


    The ck Amniotic Fluid was drawn by Henry’s gesture and moved away from theke,nding on the ground.


    There was noke anymore, just a giant crater, and inside it was the Demon Realm Gap that Henry had been looking for.


    “Found it.”


    Henry wore a satisfied smile, his prediction having turned right. It seemed like the ck Amniotic Fluid wasing directly from the Demon Realm Gap.


    Henry stared at the mysterious mix of ck and purple shimmering through the gap. If this weren’t the Demon Realm Gap, Henry would’ve considered it a wonder of nature.


    But looking at it from up close, it was nothing but a source of tragedy.


    <em>‘I wonder how many disasters this splendid sight has caused…?’</em>


    If he could, Henry would seal off this ursed gap right that second. Countless people had died because of this narrow gap, and if he didn’t find a way to close it, there would be many more victims in the future.


    Henry took a step toward the crater.


    The First District was already awful enough, so stepping into the crater with the Demon Realm Gap increased the physical pressure on Henry by tenfold.


    <em>‘Reverse Gravity!’</em>


    Henry activated Reverse Gravity, an extremely difficult version of the spell, one that was 8th-Circle level.


    After casting the spell, the tremendous pressure on him subsided somewhat.


    <em>‘I guess this is as good as it’s going to get.’</em>


    Even though this was the strongest form of anti-gravity magic, the spell only managed to lessen the pressure by a bit.


    Henry was disappointed to see that nothing had changed from the past. He was experiencing the same things he had back then.


    In any case, Henry stepped forward, and as he did so, the pressure weighed down on him even more, but it was still bearable thanks to his spell.


    Henry forced his eyes to stay wide open as he red at that damned gap that was trying to crush him.He wasn’t afraid, and he continued to move forward.


    With each step, the pressure intensified several more times, but Henry covered himself with a thickeryer of mana to reduce the pressure each time it increased in intensity.


    Finally, just like in the past, Henry stood before the Demon Realm Gap.


    <em>Whoosh-!</em>


    At first, it seemed like the wind was pushing Henry ahead, but there was no wind in this forest. The Demon Realm Gap was sucking the air in.


    Actually, Henry knew that the Demon Realm Gap wasn’t sucking only air, but also energy like his mana and life force.


    It was the Demon Realm Gap that had consumed his Chariot of Destruction!


    A tremendous pressure weighed down him, bing almost unbearable, but Henry didn’t move in the slightest as he stood proudly in front of the gap.


    Henry looked determined, staring at the gap as if trying to pierce it with his fierce gaze. He emitted a golden glow.


    Up until this point, Henry had only emanated the usual emerald glow as he advanced through the forest. He hadn’t needed to use his divine power because his magic had been more than enough.


    But this was different. He knew that he would repeat the mistakes of the past if he didn’t use his divine power from this point forward.


    Thus, Henry decided to challenge the Demon Realm Gap again by using the power he didn’t have in the past.


    He unleashed all of his divine power, and the pressure that had been crushing him miraculously vanished in an instant.


    Henry smiled, for this was a good start.


    With his body feeling lighter, Henry proceeded to recite the spell he had developed in the past to close the Demon Realm Gap, chanting runes that were very difficult to pronounce.


    He didn’t know if this spell would work this time, but he felt confident for some reason.


    Soon enough, Henry finished casting the spell, shooting out a beam of golden light, which was the size of his finger, from his hand.


    The beam stretched out to the Demon Realm Gap, coiling around it like a snake. Then, like a thread hemming a piece of fabric, the beam slowly zigzagged around the gap.


    Henry broke out in cold sweat.


    Reaching the 8th-Circle had given him an ocean-like amount of mana, but even so, he felt dizzy from how much mana he had just spent.


    Soon, the entire gap was covered by a golden thread, which shot out to Henry and hardened into what looked like a sturdy handle.


    Henry ced both of his hands on the thread’s handle and prayed.


    <em>‘This time, please..!’</em>


    After bing the god of magic, Henry had changed the way he prayed in dire circumstances. If before he would pray for some kind of divine intervention, he now only believed in himself.


    Indeed, for someone who had ascended to divinity, this was the proper way of praying.


    Along with his prayer, Henry pulled on the handle as hard as he could with both hands.


    <em>- Khaeeee!</em>


    An ear-piercing scream filled the air.


    The Demon Realm Gap screamed in agony as though it was a living creature. The shrill scream was so deafening that Henry involuntarily covered his ears, which hurt like hell.


    But just then…


    <em>Snap-!</em>


    The golden threads holding the gap together snapped. And through the gap, a massive hand, muchrger than the one of a giant, grabbed Henry in one swift motion.


    And then…


    <em>Crack!</em>


    With an eerie sound, the hand disappeared back into the Demon Realm Gap with Henry in its grasp.