"God of the Bible, how did you get in here?"
Zeus' expression darkened. The God of the Bible really did look down on them!
Everyone present knew that the God of the Bible was overwhelmingly powerful. But barging straight into someone else's headquarters all by yourself like this was a little too insulting, wasn't it?
And she had even said right to Zeus' face that their guards were nothing but decorations... How was that possible?
Precisely because Zeus had heard about Heaven's invasion of the Underworld, he had deliberately made special arrangements. The entire Greek pantheon had strengthened its defenses. Even a mosquito would have had trouble sneaking inside.
So how had the God of the Bible simply walked in like this?
Could she turn invisible or something?
"The way I got in was much simpler than you're imagining."
Under the gazes of countless chief gods, Elise tapped a finger against her lips, flashed a mischievous smile, and slowly revealed the truth of how she had entered.
"I simply smiled and walked in. That's all."
Countless gods failed to understand what Elise meant at first. Only a handful of powerful chief gods frowned and began thinking.
When they had first seen Elise, none of them had regarded her as the God of the Bible because there was an unmistakable aura of charm around her, a power that only goddesses of beauty possessed.
There was simply no way the God of the Bible should possess such an aura.
Yet reality was precisely that absurd. Elise, whom they had assumed to be a goddess of beauty from some pantheon, was actually the God of the Bible herself!
Then what had happened was obvious. It was charm!
Elise had simply activated her charm and walked straight inside...
The Greek pantheon's guards were powerful. For this gathering of the gods in particular, they had stationed numerous experts here. But under a charm capable of astonishing even Zeus, who could possibly stop her?
In the end, the guards could only stare blankly at Elise and allow her to enter Zeus' temple.
"I never expected a god as powerful as the God of the Bible to resort to petty tricks like charm..." Zeus had intended to mock Elise, but the instant he finished speaking, Elise immediately replied.
"It couldn't be helped. After all, I'm currently a super-duper invincible beautiful girl!"
"There is no being in this world more beautiful than me. Not even Freya or Ishtar from your pantheon could compare!"
"So it's only natural that someone as beautiful as me would possess this kind of charm! You can't call it a petty trick!"
Ever since arriving in the world of High School DxD, Elise had constantly been observing the powers possessed by this world's gods...
How should she put it? They were certainly powerful, but not so powerful as to seem utterly unreachable. After becoming the new God of the Bible, Elise had even surpassed them...
They were far weaker than the conceptual gods of the DanMachi world!
Back in the DanMachi world, a single glance from Freya had once been enough to make Elise lose consciousness. She had needed to rely on the power of Stigmata just to resist her.
Loki, Ishtar, and the other gods had likewise all been troublesome existences in Elise's eyes.
But the world of High School DxD fell far short of that one!
A god like Hades had actually been dealt with so easily by Elise?
Elise only possessed a small portion of the DanMachi world's Freya, yet she could already use her charm to deal with most beings in this world...
So this world was pretty easy!
Speaking of which, hadn't Elise also been targeted by quite a few troublesome gods back in the DanMachi world?
If she couldn't get revenge on them in that world, she could take it out on their counterparts in this one!
For example, this unimpressive-looking old man right in front of her!
Zeus!
Back in the DanMachi world, Elise had been harassed quite a few times by Zeus when she was saying her final goodbyes!
But because that Zeus was Bell's grandfather and family, the most Elise could do was follow Alfia's example and beat him black and blue.
This world's Zeus was different!
There shouldn't be any problem even if she killed him, right?
After all, he was already planning to form an alliance to defeat her. Surely he had mentally prepared himself to bear the consequences?
"You...really are the God of the Bible?"
After hearing such narcissistic words, quite a few chief gods could barely keep their composure. Many of them had met the former God of the Bible and knew quite a bit about that god.
Originally, they had merely assumed the current God of the Bible had changed into a more attractive shell while fundamentally remaining the same person.
But now...
The difference seemed rather enormous?
"Of course. The one and only!"
Elise proudly puffed out her chest. Her ample breasts bounced with the abrupt gesture, their full curves perfectly outlined beneath the soft, thin fabric stretched across them. Several of the gods fell momentarily silent, captivated by her allure, until she abruptly remembered something.
"I actually came here for serious business!"
The instant those words fell, the Elise in the gods' eyes who had been radiating an aura of irresistible charm vanished, replaced by a figure that made them tremble.
"I heard you were planning to defeat me? And every last one of you agreed to it?"
"In that case, I won't bother being polite either!"
"Let this be our declaration of war!"
"Although I already issued an announcement before, this is the first time we've met face-to-face, isn't it?"
"So I'll say it again right in front of all of you..."
"The biblical pantheon hereby declares war on every faction in the world!"
When she spoke of declaring war, Elise's expression became exceptionally delighted, like a child who had spotted a beloved toy and was itching to pounce on it.
For a moment, every god present seemed to suffer from the same illusion. Could this God of the Bible actually be some kind of war maniac?
"With your strength, you have virtually no chance of resisting our armies. If you surrender, however, I'll gladly welcome you."
"But everything has its proper timing, and surrender is no exception."
"If you surrender immediately, you'll receive extremely generous treatment!"
"On the other hand, if you wait until the war is nearly over before surrendering, then we'll have no choice but to trample you underfoot like garbage."
"Think carefully before making your decision."
The moment Elise finished speaking, the expressions of the gods present turned exceptionally ugly. Zeus, as the host of this meeting, looked particularly livid.
Why had all the gods present come here?
To defeat the God of the Bible!
And what was Elise asking them to do now?
Surrender!
Good grief, were you trying to turn my mobilization rally into a surrender notice?
"Heh. Do you really think we'll surrender?"
Zeus sneered at Elise, already preparing to attack.
"If you weren't trying to unify the world, none of us would have needed to resort to this."
"So how could we possibly surrender?"
After hearing Zeus' words, the chief gods present voiced their agreement one after another, while Elise helplessly waved a hand.
"Then there's nothing else to be done. We'll just have to settle this through battle..."
"Wait!"
At this incredibly tense moment, a voice stopped Elise, causing everyone present to turn toward its owner.
"Do you have something to say, Odin?"
The one who had spoken was Odin, chief god of the Norse pantheon!
His reputation throughout the world was scarcely inferior to Zeus'! So what did this chief god intend to say now?
Under Zeus' expectant gaze, Odin smiled. Like a child who had just finished playing a prank, a mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Surrendering...wouldn't necessarily be unacceptable."
All the gods present had originally assumed Odin would say something inspiring, just like Zeus had.
But in the end, what reached their ears was only that single sentence...
"Surrendering...wouldn't necessarily be unacceptable."
If he had said that in private, it might not have been a big deal. But both opposing sides were present right now!
The chief gods of numerous pantheons were here, and so was the God of the Bible!
One wrong sentence could send someone plunging into an abyss from which there would be no return!
Yet under precisely these circumstances, Odin had spoken such astonishing words. Even Elise was caught off guard.
"I didn't expect there to be someone among you gods who understands when to yield. That's a little surprising."
It had been far too long since Elise read the original story, so she could no longer clearly remember what kind of person Odin had been.
But after witnessing Odin pull something like this, she was beginning to remember.
Hadn't this old man always been like this?
"Hahahaha! There's nothing surprising about it, Your Holiness, God of the Bible. I've simply made the most appropriate choice."
Hearing Elise's words, Odin laughed heartily, paying no attention whatsoever to the looks the surrounding gods were giving him.
"Odin! What the hell are you doing?"
Because of the Norse pantheon's strength, even after Odin openly defected on the spot, very few dared to criticize him.
After all, most of those present belonged to second-rate and third-rate minor factions. Compared with the Norse pantheon, they were small fish standing before a giant one.
But just because those small factions did not dare provoke the Norse pantheon did not mean factions on the same level were equally afraid. Zeus' Greek pantheon was renowned throughout the world and was in no way inferior to the Norse pantheon!
Zeus' furious questioning came from nearby, and Odin turned toward him.
"Weren't you the first one to say you supported forming an alliance just now? How did you switch sides so quickly?"
Zeus slammed his hand viciously against the table. His face was filled with anger and confusion, unable to understand why Odin would do something like this.
The Greek and Norse pantheons certainly had plenty of conflicts between them, but with a great enemy like the God of the Bible before them, shouldn't they set aside their old grudges and cooperate?
Why would Odin do such a thing?
One had to understand that a decision made by Odin, King of the Norse Gods, would influence countless pantheons beneath him!
"That was then. This is now."
Faced with Zeus' fury, Odin remained utterly unconcerned, showing not the slightest awareness that he had just betrayed them.
"I've merely made the choice that is most correct under the present circumstances."
...
Odin had long known that the Norse pantheon was no longer as powerful as it once had been.
Not only that, the other pantheons were probably much the same. As the eras changed, once-powerful beings like them had gradually become relics of the past.
"The pantheons have already begun showing signs of decline. If this isn't dealt with quickly, it may eventually bring total disaster upon the entire pantheon."
That was why a pantheon could not consist solely of old-timers like them. They needed to introduce younger, fresher power.
There was no doubt that humanity possessed limitless potential. Before the God of the Bible passed away, Sacred Gears had also been sealed into the bloodlines of the human race.
So Odin had made such a change, bringing human power in from the outside and calling those humans heroes.
But in recent years, the quality of the Norse heroes had varied far too wildly. Even though Odin had deliberately tried to promote this system, it had failed to produce much benefit...
It really was strange! The God of the Bible hadn't created that few Sacred Gears, had she? So why had it become so difficult in recent years to find wielders of Sacred Gears and Longinus?
Perhaps some organization was secretly manipulating everything behind the scenes, but Odin possessed no intelligence regarding the matter, so he could only let it go unresolved.
Then, gradually, something even more unexpected happened.
Until one day, Odin could clearly sense the aura of the God of the Bible appearing somewhere in the world...
It was simply inconceivable. Quite a few people claimed she had merely disappeared, but who would believe such nonsense?
After all, the God of the Bible's greatest specialties were restoration and resurrection. How could she possibly have been defeated so easily by an attack of that level?
The God of the Bible truly was one troublesome fellow!
After this resurrection, she had immediately begun reorganizing her forces and reunifying the biblical factions. Before long, the fallen angels and devils had submitted to her. After that came even the Grim Reapers of the Underworld, all of whom joined Heaven's ranks.
But Odin had noticed one other point.
It was something many people might overlook. What exactly was the current condition of the God of the Bible? Had she become even stronger than before? Or had her strength diminished because of some special circumstance?
Precisely because Odin knew none of this, he needed to carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages before making the most correct choice.
And that brought them to the present.
Before personally seeing the God of the Bible, Odin had always chosen the conservative option. But the instant he saw Elise with his own eyes, his decision changed.
What is this?
Odin could see nothing within Elise...
Yes, absolutely nothing!
Odin had met the former God of the Bible before. Back then, she had never given him this kind of feeling, unless...
The God of the Bible had broken through!
She must have broken through into an entirely different level. Otherwise, why would a chief god like Odin ever surrender?
Although all of this was merely Odin's speculation, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that he was right.
Rather than have the God of the Bible force him to surrender with dignity later, he might as well preserve that dignity himself right now.
And so Odin made his choice...
Surrender to the God of the Bible!
Originally, because of Zeus' influence, the gods present had all leaned toward the alliance and did not dare casually side with Heaven.
But now, with Odin openly switching sides, that balance had been shattered. Quite a few gods followed his example and joined Heaven's camp.
"If Lord Odin has chosen to do this, then I'll do the same."
"The momentum of the God of the Bible can no longer be stopped. What we should do now is minimize our own losses as much as possible. Compared with the alternatives, surrendering isn't necessarily a bad idea."
"So what if we surrender? Staying alive matters more than anything!"
As Zeus ground his teeth in fury, quite a few more pantheons chose to surrender directly to the biblical pantheon, leaving him utterly humiliated.
Wasn't this basically slapping him right across the face?
"God of the Bible, don't push this too far!"
Even now, Zeus stubbornly refused to back down, showing absolutely no intention of surrendering...which left Odin rather helpless.
Why?
If Odin could see it, there was no reason Zeus shouldn't also be able to notice what was wrong with Elise!
Odin had already gone and become the grandmaster of surrender himself. Why the hell wouldn't Zeus listen to his advice?