"What a wonderful day!"
Asia, who was still at the Church, was praying beneath the statue of God inside the chapel.
Ever since the last team-based mission ended, Asia had remained at the Church's headquarters.
It wasn't that she particularly wanted to stay here. After all, the Church's headquarters was a little too solemn for a young girl.
Of course, Asia didn't think there was anything wrong with this place. It was just that compared to somewhere so serious, she preferred the little chapel where she had once lived. There hadn't been many people there, nor had the place been particularly large, but life had been warm, and it had felt like home.
The reason Asia remained at the Church's headquarters was because an investigation was currently underway.
During that previous mission to exterminate Devils, their squad had accidentally encountered an attack by fallen angels. At that critical moment, if that beautiful and powerful ngel hadn't appeared, she probably would have been buried in that unknown little town long ago.
And it wasn't only her.
Her teammates as well.
Perhaps because they had formed a temporary squad, Asia had made some new friends in the Church, namely two other girls.
Xenovia and Irina Shidou, who were also major characters in the original story.
Back then, Asia had been the only one whose soul Metatron had guided to Heaven.
After she returned to the Church, however, incidents like that began occurring more and more frequently.
Her two good friends had also been summoned by that angel and contributed their own strength to the Lord.
"My Lord!"
"I hope our lives can continue to be safe, peaceful, and happy in the future!"
Asia had only received a basic education within the Church, so she didn't possess any particularly profound knowledge. As far as she was concerned, everyone in the Church being able to live safely and happily was already the best possible outcome.
However, on this very peaceful day, Asia received an extremely unusual assignment...
The Church had gathered a group of exceptionally devout believers, and their ages varied considerably.
There were underage girls like Asia, as well as nuns in their thirties. However, the majority were women. There were men too, just not nearly as many.
What are they planning to do?
That question was written across nearly everyone's face, but someone soon arrived to answer it for them.
"Your Holiness?"
When they saw who had arrived, everyone was stunned. Aside from the handful who already knew what was happening, almost everyone wore the exact same expression.
Something serious enough to involve His Holiness personally? Just what is going on?
The elderly pope wore a gentle smile as he looked at the members of the Church below.
"Judging from your expressions, I imagine all of you already know who I am, so there is no need for me to introduce myself."
"Every one of you is a devout believer. Everything you have done has been witnessed by the Lord."
"And so, an opportunity now lies before you..."
What the pope said next left every believer utterly shocked. They simply couldn't believe something like this could actually happen to them.
Reincarnate as angels?
They hadn't even dared to dream of such a thing!
"However, the choice ultimately depends on your own wishes. If you are willing, then follow in the Lord's footsteps. If you are unwilling, no one will blame you."
"After all, we are all children of the Lord, and the Lord shall forgive us."
"And so, praise the Lord!"
Finally, the pope himself assumed a posture of devout prayer.
But after receiving this news, Asia was completely dumbfounded. Even her mind stopped working.
She truly couldn't decide whether she should accept this opportunity.
Compared to the experienced seniors gathered here, she was simply far too young and lacked seniority.
Because of that, she began doubting herself, uncertain whether she was even qualified.
Fortunately, the pope gave them time to consider instead of forcing them to decide immediately. Otherwise, Asia truly wouldn't have known what to choose.
After leaving, Asia immediately shut herself inside her room so she could concentrate on thinking.
The matter of reincarnating as an angel was classified information within the Church. Asia had originally wanted to discuss it with her two friends, but after learning that it was confidential, she no longer dared to.
"What should I do? What should I do?"
As a devout believer of the Church, there wasn't a single person who didn't wish to follow in the Lord's footsteps, and Asia was naturally no exception.
After learning that she could become an angel, Asia had also begun yearning for it, but...
Because of her somewhat self-deprecating nature, she didn't dare accept, believing herself unworthy.
If she were left alone to continue withdrawing into herself like this, Asia might genuinely give up at this point.
And so...
Knock, knock, knock!
"Asia, are you there?"
A knock sounded from the door, followed by a woman's voice Asia had never heard before.
"Who is it?"
This was the headquarters of the Church. Even a Devil King couldn't casually appear here, so its security was certainly reliable.
Still, as an innocent child, Asia didn't think too much about it and simply opened the door.
"So beautiful..."
With just one glance, Asia was completely captivated.
Never since the day she was born had she seen a woman this beautiful...
But after her initial daze, Asia immediately came to her senses. Although the woman wore a blindfold, Asia felt as though she had seen that face somewhere before.
"Huh? Lady Angel?"
"Did... Did you get smaller?"
Asia stared at the woman's face and immediately remembered. The person before her looked exactly like the angel she had once met!
Then her gaze shifted about thirty centimeters downward...
It was just that... certain parts had gotten smaller.
Elise: ???
Although she seemed to have been offended somehow, Elise had no intention of dwelling on such trivial matters and simply entered the room with Asia.
"I'm not Metatron. My name is Elise."
"You may never have heard that name before, but..."
A smile appeared on Elise's face as she gently tapped Asia's head with the index finger of her right hand.
In an instant, Asia felt as though certain memories had suddenly appeared within her mind...
Although only an instant had passed, Asia felt as though she had experienced several hours!
She learned why she had been selected as a candidate for angel reincarnation, and at the same time, she learned the identity of the person standing before her...
"Y-You're...?"
Asia had already been shocked many times today, but this time she was genuinely terrified by the revelation.
At this moment, no believer could possibly remain unmoved, because the existence before her was the very object of their faith!
"That's right. You truly are an exceptionally wonderful child, Asia!"
Elise gently stroked Asia's cheek before softly pulling her into an embrace. At this point, Asia didn't even dare move, silently accepting everything the Lord offered her...
Including softness, warmth, and a soothing fragrance!
She was probably the first human ever able to come into such close contact with the Lord, wasn't she?
"I can sense that you're a kind child, with a purity few others could ever hope to attain!"
"So come to my side!"
And just like that, the nun, who still hadn't quite figured out what was happening, dazedly agreed to the Lord's request...
If this were another world, perhaps this would have developed into the sort of situation involving a certain automobile engine component...
Though the world of High School DxD itself wasn't much better, was it?
...
Time returned to the present.
Elise looked at Asia inside the reincarnation pool, and a smile finally appeared on her face.
"Looks like it worked!"
The Angel Reincarnation Pool was finally complete. Originally, all that was required was to throw someone inside and they would reincarnate as an angel, but considering the importance of the occasion, Elise had still come personally.
How could an event this significant possibly be missing the God of the Bible herself?
Besides...
When someone reincarnated as an angel, their body would descend into this world anew, just like a newborn baby!
Everyone knew what babies looked like when they were first born, right?
Elise observed Asia inside the reincarnation pool. At present, she had yet to regain consciousness.
It was rather rude to say, but from a distance, she really did look like a floating corpse...
This definitely needed improvement later. It would be best to station a few angels nearby to fish people out!
"With ordinary reincarnation, a person would only become a low-ranking angel, and advancing beyond that would be extremely difficult."
"However, aside from Metatron, all the angels I created possess only two wings. That doesn't mean they've become weaker. Rather, they've already broken free from the framework established by the original God of the Bible."
In other words, the more wings an angel possessed, the stronger they were.
Unlike the others, Asia had only undergone reincarnation after receiving power directly from Elise.
Naturally, she was somewhat stronger than the rest.
Although she still possessed only two wings, the radiance shining from her body was far more dazzling than that of the other angels!
However, that radiance wasn't Elise's doing. The power she had granted Asia wasn't reflected in this aspect.
This was Asia's own talent, namely the effect of her Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing.
In the original story, this Sacred Gear had a certain degree of connection to the God of the Bible's system. Michael had even worried that Asia might use this Sacred Gear to sense the truth that God had already died.
That was why Asia had been expelled from the Church, and it was also around that time that she encountered the person destined for her, Issei Hyoudou!
But with Elise here, how could Asia's fate possibly remain the same as in the original story?
Elise had observed that the world of High School DxD was actually extremely serious. Even if it contained some playful antics here and there, that could never conceal the cruelty of the world itself!
And yet, the truly miraculous part was that the world's destined protagonist, Issei Hyoudou, had single-handedly succeeded in turning this serious world into a so-called fanservice anime.
So never underestimate someone called Issei!
No matter which Issei it was, they were always astonishing existences!
Even Elise worried that she might accidentally get groped by that guy someday.
The best possible outcome would be for him to never enter this side of the world at all, live like a normal person, marry, have children, and eventually grow old...
That was already the best outcome Elise could envision.
If Issei Hyoudou successfully awakened one day and ended up opposing her, she certainly wouldn't show him any mercy!
"Why am I even thinking about all this?"
Elise then reached a hand toward the distant spot where Asia was floating. With just a wave, Asia's body uncontrollably rose from the pool and flew straight toward Elise.
"She really is an inexperienced young girl. This untouched look is completely different from mine."
Elise didn't even need her eyes to perceive Asia's proportions. In the real world, they would actually be considered fairly large, but in anime and games they really weren't anything special.
After all, the second dimension was truly enormous!
Especially in a certain naval game. There was no such thing as the biggest, only bigger!
Even the current Elise could only be considered average there. Perhaps only Metatron, whom she had created, could truly be described as gigantic.
That was beside the point.
Elise immediately returned to the matter at hand, placing her palm over Asia's heart and feeling her heartbeat.
"There's nothing wrong with her body. She's perfectly healthy!"
In that case, she might as well take care of this matter before Asia woke up!
Elise then adjusted Asia's posture so that the girl had her back toward her. Afterward, she lightly drew her left hand across the index finger of her right hand, opening a small cut.
The next second, Elise turned her attention back to Asia's back.
Anyone familiar with Elise already knew what she intended to do...
That's right. The Divine Blessing from the world of DanMachi!
Elise certainly hadn't been idle while she was in the DanMachi world. During the period when she ran her shop, she had frequently studied the language of the gods alongside Astraea.
Of course, that alone wouldn't have allowed Elise to use a Divine Blessing, because she wasn't a deity from the DanMachi world. Barriers existed between one world and another.
But there was one thing capable of solving that problem!
The almighty Power of Faith!
After Elise truly became the God of the Bible, her strength had undergone a qualitative leap!
Using her own divine blood as a catalyst, she could draw out the potential hidden within another person's body!
Elise had replicated this entire system using the Power of Faith! As long as she was in a world where the Power of Faith could be used, Elise could inscribe a Divine Blessing upon her own Familia members and accelerate their growth!
At this point, someone might ask: the world of High School DxD doesn't have anything like a Dungeon, so how were her Familia members supposed to find monsters to fight and Level up?
Hah!
Who said this world couldn't have a Dungeon?
Even if a real Dungeon couldn't exist, couldn't she just create a fake one? Couldn't she create monsters?
Elise was the God of the Bible!
The very God who, according to myth, created the world in seven days!
Even if she wasn't quite as powerful as her mythological counterpart, surely creating a few monsters wouldn't be too difficult?
Elise could be said to have completely transplanted the system of the DanMachi world into the world of High School DxD.
When Elise lifted her finger from Asia's back, the familiar Divine Blessing had already appeared upon her body!
However, unlike the Astraea Familia emblem on Elise's own back, which depicted wings and a blade, the emblem on Asia's back was instead an extremely distinct portrait.
A beautiful woman dressed entirely in white, her eyes covered by a blindfold, was depicted in a posture of prayer, her entire body radiating brilliant light!
The corners of her lips curved upward as though she were smiling, yet the tears falling from beneath her blindfold seemed to suggest otherwise... Perhaps only Elise herself understood its true meaning.
Even so, none of that changed the exquisite beauty of the image. It was unmistakably a portrait of a Saintess in prayer.
Just like the photograph John had once taken of Elise in the world of The Asterisk War!
It had to be said, John's photography skills really were excellent!
Elise was actually borrowing inspiration from one of his old works now?
"And that's finished!"
"My divine emblem!"
Hurry up and say it: Thanks, John!