With only a single move, Elise annihilated the dozens of stray devils present.
Of course, that was nothing particularly remarkable.
In the world of High School DxD, there were plenty of beings capable of killing these stray devils!
What was worth mentioning, however, was that Elise had indeed used the power of light just now. Since light possessed an extremely powerful restraining effect against devils, she had decided to test it.
After all, Elise still did not know whether the power of light she wielded differed from the power of light in the High School DxD world, or whether it could inflict effective damage upon devils.
Elise had even deliberately infused a trace of the sacred attribute into the light she used to exterminate the stray devils, intending to observe its effects on them.
Unfortunately, the experiment had failed...
To give an analogy, there was no meaningful difference between crushing an ant with one's thumb and shooting an ant with a gun.
Ultimately, these stray devils were simply too weak! There was no way to discern the effects at all!
"I'll find a higher-ranking devil to test it on another day. But for now..."
"It's time for someone else to come looking for me!"
So I really do have to go that far!
Having reached that conclusion, Elise no longer hesitated. With the aid of her ability, her feet left the ground, and she flew into the sky.
After such a long period of refinement, Elise's abilities had improved significantly. She no longer needed to be as fearful and cautious as before.
Even when facing the gods and devils of High School DxD, there was no need to worry excessively! She already possessed the strength to fight them!
But now, Elise intended to do something wicked. Something extremely wicked!
"God, please forgive me!"
"I am about to tell an enormous lie."
"This lie will take everything from You. Your identity, Your power, everything You created, and everything You possessed will all become mine."
"But I promise You that I will not trample upon them recklessly!"
Elise knelt in midair atop a barrier formed from Prana. As she prayed, she activated her ability.
Hum!
An extraordinarily unique energy began converging from the surrounding area toward Elise.
There was no doubt that it was the power of faith!
Not only that, while manipulating it, Elise deliberately amplified its presence so that others would be able to sense her!
However, using the power of faith so openly in a world of gods and devils...
This was her first time!
"They should have sensed it by now, right? I wonder who will be the first to come find me?"
The bait had already been cast. When would the fish finally bite?
Hopefully, whoever came would be someone interesting!
...
Heaven.
Inside a solemn temple, a blonde woman draped in a white feathered robe knelt with her head bowed, silently praying.
Her expression was solemn, and her words were utterly sincere. However...
She knew her prayers were useless, because God was already gone. No matter how devoutly she prayed, she could never reclaim what had been lost.
God would never return!
Not only that, God's departure had also taken away her duty and the meaning of her existence.
The other three all had matters to attend to, yet she alone had been left with nothing to do, becoming an idle person without any purpose...
Whenever she thought of this, guilt welled up from the depths of the woman's heart. However, she soon abandoned the notion of continuing to dwell upon it.
If I keep thinking about it, I might fall...
The woman then rose from the floor.
Yet the instant she stood, the feathered robe around her underwent an enormous transformation!
No, that was not a feathered robe at all. They were wings!
Twelve golden wings!
Nor was she human. She belonged to a race created by God—the angels!
However, the number of angels who possessed twelve wings like hers was exceedingly small!
Even in Heaven, there were only four.
The identity of this angel was now obvious. There could be no doubt about the name of a female angel with twelve golden wings...
Gabriel!
Gabriel, the Seraph of Heaven!
Illuminated by the surrounding radiance, her appearance was revealed. Her gentle beauty carried a trace of maturity, while her purity contained a hint of temptation.
Of course, her most prominent feature was undoubtedly the sacred pair of peaks upon her chest! The mere act of rising from the floor was enough to make those mountains tremble beyond imagination...
No matter who saw her, their eyes would immediately be drawn toward those two objects, leaving them utterly unable to look away.
As expected of a Seraph. She effortlessly accomplished what others could not!
Ahem!
All right, enough joking around.
Gabriel's most outstanding quality was actually her indescribable aura of warmth and approachability.
It seemed to declare that even the hardest object in existence would be unable to remain firm within that warm embrace.
Even those meeting her for the first time would probably trust her without reservation. Such was the charm of an angel!
"Then what else should I do next?"
Aside from praying, this archangel truly seemed to have nothing else to do.
Originally, Heaven's four great archangels had each performed their own duties, with every one of them bearing a distinct responsibility.
But Gabriel...
Her duty had been to serve as the bridge between God and the angels, conveying God's voice.
Yet God had been gone for a very long time.
During the ancient war, several Great Satans had traded their lives to kill Him. Of course, certain unknown circumstances must have occurred behind the scenes. Otherwise, how could God have perished so easily?
Having lost her duty, Gabriel could only search for something else to occupy her time.
Yet due to certain special circumstances, she could not casually leave Heaven either...
"It seems praying really is the only thing left..."
After going around in circles, everything seemed to have returned to where it began. Nothing had changed.
However, the instant Gabriel clasped her hands together, an anomaly occurred!
Rumble—!
A continuous series of tremors began spreading throughout Heaven. They were not as violent as one might imagine, nor did they cause any damage.
However... it was precisely because of these tremors that Gabriel's entire body stiffened. Her eyes, as clear as spring water, immediately filled with confusion.
"How is this possible?"
Ordinary angels might have sensed only a strange vibration, but to Gabriel, that tremor felt incredibly familiar and painfully nostalgic!
There was no doubt about it. That was God's power!
Heaven's system had detected God using His power and responded accordingly...
But that was exactly what made it so strange!
God had clearly already fallen!
He had perished before the eyes of the angels, killed when the Four Great Satans of the Underworld sacrificed their lives!
Then why had Heaven sensed God's power?
Unless...
A sharp light flashed through Gabriel's eyes. Perhaps there was only one possible explanation!
God... had reincarnated!