I AM A GOD

Chapter 8

Every single one of them expected Henry to bolt from the clearing, shaking with fear.

In all the time they had known him, Henry had never truly fought back. Whenever they surrounded him, he scrambled away or endured their attacks until his brother rescued him.

However, the Henry standing before them now seemed completely different.

He did not move away from the knife near his neck or search the forest for a path of escape. Instead, he looked directly into Divia’s eyes as though the five students standing behind him did not matter.

“There is no way I am going to leave this for you,” Henry responded. “If it is a fight you want, then we will have one.”

Astonishment appeared on every face in the clearing.

They had expected him to protest or plead. None of them had expected him to challenge them openly. The Henry they knew understood his place, no matter how often he pretended otherwise.

What was so different about the person standing before them now?

“It seems we have to teach you another lesson so that you remember your place,” Divia said.

He turned towards the students behind him before returning his attention to Henry.

“Do you really believe you can take on every single one of us? Even if you suddenly became powerful overnight, there are six of us here and only one of you. Do you honestly think you can defeat us all?”

Henry’s expression did not change.

“Maybe he is still delusional,” one of the students muttered. “He probably found these beasts lying here and somehow convinced himself that he killed them.”

“If he truly killed all of them, then perhaps we should be afraid,” another student replied. His tone was dismissive, but his eyes moved briefly towards the carcasses surrounding them. “What is he actually going to do against six people?”

The dead beasts covered the clearing, yet accepting that Henry had killed them still seemed impossible.

Divia stepped closer and brought the knife towards Henry’s neck again.

“There is no way you will leave this fight alive if you continue being stubborn,” he warned. “Even if something happens to you, we will blame your death on the beasts. We will tell the academy that we arrived at the wrong time and were already too late to rescue you.”

One of his teammates nodded. “Everyone knows you entered this sector alone. They will believe us before they believe you.”

Divia pointed towards the dead beasts scattered throughout the clearing.

“So, you have a choice. Walk away from these kills and surrender every credit attached to them, and there will be no trouble.”

“If you need me to repeat myself, then I will,” Henry said. “I am not moving from this place.”

Divia’s hands clenched tightly at his sides.

Nobody apart from Henry’s twin brother had ever dared to speak to him in such a manner. Divia hated Alistair, but he could never challenge someone that powerful. Instead, he had taken every opportunity to direct that hatred towards Henry.

“Cool. Since you have made your choice, you will face the consequences,” Divia replied.

He turned towards his teammates.

“This time, I want to be the one who deals out the beating. All you need to do is hold him down and make sure he does not escape, regardless of how much he struggles.”

Divia faced Henry again.

“I am going to make sure you regret this decision for the rest of your life. You will beg me to release you, but I will not. I will make you beg for death, Henry, and ensure that you regret your pitiful existence.”

The five students standing behind Divia exchanged knowing glances before moving towards Henry.

They approached from different directions, closing every possible path of escape. They expected the sight of all five of them advancing at once to frighten him, but Henry did not flinch. His calmness disturbed them more than they wanted to admit.

Before the first student could reach him, the air around them suddenly became heavy.

Their movements slowed, and breathing became difficult. It felt as though an invisible weight had descended upon the clearing and settled across their shoulders. A strange fear crept down their spines, forcing them to reconsider attacking Henry for the first time.

Two of the students hesitated.

“What is this?” one of them asked, struggling to draw a complete breath.

“I do not know,” another replied. “Something is wrong with the air.”

Their attention returned to Henry, who remained standing in the middle of them without showing any sign of discomfort.

However, they forced themselves forward.

There was no way the strange force surrounding them could be coming from someone as weak and powerless as Henry. He had spent almost a year being unable to produce enough magic to light a flame.

Divia felt the pressure as well, but he refused to retreat while his teammates were watching. The frown on his face deepened as he tightened his fingers around the knife.

“Get ready to start screaming before I am finished with you,” he warned.

His teammates murmured in agreement and pushed forward.

They stretched their hands towards Henry, certain they would seize him before he could move.

But before any of them could lay a hand on him—