Asia wasn't the only one. Elise would take those she had her eye on into her Familia, such as Asia herself.
The current Asia not only possessed the Sacred Gear Twilight Healing, but had also obtained the Divine Blessing system, further increasing her growth potential.
The same applied to some of the high-ranking Angels in this world.
Metatron, the Four Great Seraphs, and several promising angels had all received Divine Blessings engraved by Elise.
Ever since the birth of Metatron and the other new-generation angels, Michael and the others could no longer be considered among the strongest angels in terms of combat power.
Especially after Gabriel and the others were born, they had fallen even further, into the middle and lower ranks.
If not for the large number of old-generation angels, Michael and the others might even have ended up at the very bottom.
But Michael could understand that as well. As time passed, the angels of the future would only become stronger and stronger. He had long since prepared himself for that possibility. He simply hadn't expected the day to arrive so quickly.
"All right, that's finished!"
Congratulations to Asia on successfully reincarnating as an angel and receiving Elise's Blessing at the same time!
"Mm..."
Perhaps Elise's movements had been a little too noticeable. Asia sensed what was happening behind her and began making faint noises, while her eyelashes started trembling.
It seemed her period of unconsciousness had ended. Asia was about to wake up.
"What...?"
The moment Asia opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the breathtakingly beautiful face directly before her.
"E-E-Eh?! My God!"
Seeing Elise so close to her, Asia's little face instantly turned bright red. She practically began steaming like a steam-powered maiden.
Although Asia had experienced a great deal and matured considerably during this period, she was still ultimately a shy underage girl. She rarely had direct physical contact even with people close to her, much less Elise...
This girl's reactions are so amusing!
Naturally, Elise had taken in every bit of Asia's expression without restraint. More than that, it had been a long time since she had enjoyed herself this much!
The corners of her lips gradually curved upward, and an inexplicable smile appeared on her face...
The feeling was strangely familiar. The last time something like this happened seemed to have been when she teased little Ren in the world of Blade Dance of the Elementalers.
"My God, your expression looks a little... scary?"
Although half of Elise's face was covered, Asia could still tell that something seemed off about her current state. How should she put it?
Like a wild beast that had locked onto its prey?
But where was the prey here?
Asia didn't seem to understand, but soon she noticed the changes in her own body.
"These are... wings?"
Sensing movement behind her, Asia hurriedly tried moving them... and the wings on her back moved in response, spreading like those of a swan.
"My God! I-I really became an angel?"
"Ahem..."
Seeing this, Elise immediately withdrew her previous expression, opened both arms, and displayed the dignified bearing of a saintess.
"That's right, Asia!"
"From this moment onward, you are now a sacred angel!"
"I look forward to seeing you save even more people from suffering in the future!"
Divine Word—
Special effects, activate!
For some inexplicable reason, sacred light suddenly radiated from Elise's body. Like a beacon in the darkness, it instantly illuminated Asia's eyes.
"My God..."
At that moment, a hopeful radiance seemed to flicker within Asia's eyes before immediately becoming firm and resolute.
"Yes! I will definitely follow your will and save even more people!"
Asia gazed at Elise excitedly, and even the radiance upon her wings became more brilliant.
She's already resonating with an angel's sacred power this quickly? Combined with Twilight Healing within her body...
Asia really is suited to becoming an angel!
Unlike in the original story, where she directly became a devil. What an absolute waste of her talent!
"But Asia, although your reincarnation was successful and you're already an angel, there is still one final step left unfinished!"
"The final step?"
Since it was the final step, it had to be something extremely important, right?
That was what Asia thought, completely unaware that she had already fallen into a trap!
"Angel reincarnation only transforms your body into that of an angel. It doesn't remove the impurities within your body..."
"In other words, the final step of angel reincarnation is to purify those impurities!"
"That is what we call purification!"
After hearing Elise's explanation, Asia immediately understood. So this was the final step she was missing?
"I understand, my God!"
"In order to become a true angel, I'll purify my body! But..."
All of a sudden, Asia became somewhat bashful, and a faint blush appeared on her face.
"Could you give me some clothes first, my God?"
Asia had only just completed her reincarnation and was currently in a state akin to a newborn baby. Naturally, she wasn't wearing anything at all and could only use her pure white wings to conceal herself.
"We can deal with clothes afterward. We're about to perform the purification right away."
"Eh?"
Elise's sudden statement caused Asia's mind to freeze for a moment before immediately beginning to race.
We?
Right away?
She wasn't wearing anything at all!
And was her God going to join her too?
Before Asia could react, Elise spread her arms before her, and her sacred garments slowly slipped away...
"E-E-Eh?!"
Perhaps realizing that she shouldn't be looking, Asia hurriedly covered her eyes with both hands.
However, the gaps between her fingers made it quite obvious that she still wanted to peek!
Elise naturally noticed this.
Rather than covering herself, she pushed out her chest with a mischievous smile, making those soft, full curves sway right in front of Asia's poorly concealed gaze.
"My God, what exactly do you mean by this?"
"Why do you need to... to..."
By the end, Asia didn't even know how to phrase the question anymore.
But Elise had no intention of letting her off so easily!
How could she possibly give up such an amusing opportunity so easily?
"Don't worry, Asia."
"It's precisely because you're special that I need to personally help purify you."
"While doing so with you, I'll also receive a certain amount of feedback. It's beneficial to both of us."
Elise wasn't lying. Asia's faith truly belonged among the purest and strongest in this world. By coming into intimate contact with her, Elise would naturally receive positive feedback as well.
"So, let's begin, Asia!"
Perhaps because she felt the warm aura emanating from her God, Asia finally lowered the last of her defenses and accepted the Lord's explanation.
At that moment, Elise helped Asia up from the ground and walked back into the Angel Reincarnation Pool together with her.
But this time was completely different from before. The water within the reincarnation pool began radiating an even more dazzling brilliance than before!
Along with it came several captivating sounds.
There was nothing wicked about what they were doing. It was simply like returning to a mother's embrace, so warm and comfortable that it was almost overwhelming...
As for who Elise had learned this from...
Astraea, of course!
...
"Absolutely perfect!"
Before she realized it, a long time had already passed. A figure rose from the pool and stared at her own hand.
"As expected of Asia. Even under those circumstances, she was able to produce such pure Power of Faith..."
"It almost made me lose control..."
After imitating Astraea and helping Asia with her purification, the replenishment Elise received had been astonishing.
At that moment, Asia had contributed an enormous quantity of extraordinarily high-quality Power of Faith to her!
For that brief instant, Asia's Power of Faith had even been comparable to Metatron's!
But please don't misunderstand. She and Asia had merely embraced while exchanging energy with one another.
Without clothing getting in the way, at most it could be called zero-distance contact. It hadn't reached the point where a minus sign needed to be added...
At least, that was what Elise told herself.
In truth, judging by ordinary standards, the purification had become extremely indecent near the end.
Their bodies had remained pressed together from beginning to end, and Elise's hands had wandered almost everywhere they could wander. Aside from kissing Asia and using her fingers in that particular manner, she had practically done everything else!
But purification was purification!
How could something performed by a goddess for her saintess possibly be considered lewd?
It was merely a sacred ritual that happened to require bare skin, intimate contact, trembling breaths, and several positions that would be terribly difficult to explain to an outsider!
In any case, their relationship had definitely grown closer.
Elise was a saintess, though right now she needed to play the role of a goddess, while Asia was the saintess of the High School DxD world. In a certain sense, this could also be considered an interaction between saintesses!
It was just that Elise had won, while Asia had lost and even passed out.
"Good thing I finished reincarnating everyone else beforehand, or this would've been a little troublesome."
Asia was the person Elise valued most among this group, so she had deliberately arranged for her to go last. That way, if anything went wrong, Elise would have plenty of time to deal with it.
Sure enough, immediately after reincarnating as an angel, Asia received Elise's personal purification treatment, something the others could only dream of.
Afterward, Elise brought Asia back to the edge of the pool and began straightening out her clothes.
Moreover, she wanted to completely obtain everything Asia had to offer!
"Oh, right, Asia."
"Yes..."
Asia, who was slowly regaining consciousness, immediately responded when she heard the omnipotent Lord call her name, though the exhaustion throughout her body continued washing over her mind.
Asia truly was tired, but when it came to the Lord, she didn't dare show the slightest negligence!
"Aside from you, none of the other believers have ever undergone purification, so..."
"What happened here is a secret between the two of us. It would be best not to tell anyone, okay?"
Elise gently pressed her index finger to her lips, but Asia no longer had the strength to appreciate such a beautiful sight. In fact, she herself had become part of the scenery...
But no one had time to admire any of it right now. Elise still had something very important to do, so she could only leave Asia here.
"Your mental energy has been severely depleted, but this is the Angel Reincarnation Pool. It possesses an astonishing restorative effect on angels, so you can stay here and recover without worrying!"
Thinking about it carefully, everything Elise and Asia had just done seemed to have been a form of spiritual exchange!
She had discovered a new source of amusement!
"So this is what Lady Astraea felt back then..."
"Strangely enough... that was pretty satisfying?"
Elise had never quite understood before why all the gods of the DanMachi world were pleasure-seeking deities while Astraea seemed so normal...
In truth, whenever Elise wasn't looking, Astraea had plenty of fun herself.
In other words, everyone had their own kind of amusement. It simply manifested in different ways.
"Then the kind of amusement I'm looking for..."
At that moment, Elise looked back at Asia, whose face was still flushed...
Could it be this?
And why did she feel as though she was becoming more and more lewd lately?
She clearly hadn't been like this in the past!
"Forget it. I still need to go find little Ren!"
After all, little Ren had only recently been revived, and even her memories were incomplete. Right now was precisely when she needed Elise most!
"I'm coming! Little Ren, Ren-chan!"
She had only just finished doing something like that together with Asia, and now she was immediately running off to find another woman.
What a fickle woman, always chasing after someone new...
...
Heaven, Garden of Eden.
Within the orchard, three petite figures were picking apples.
They were Est, Ophis, and Ren, who had already returned to Heaven.
Although they looked young, practically elementary-school age, any one of them had already lived dozens or even hundreds of times longer than an ordinary human...
And not a single one of them was ordinary. Each possessed an astonishing title, such as the Ouroboros Dragon God, the Dark Elemental Lord, or the Guardian Deity...
Any one of them placed in this world would possess terrifying power. Yet at this moment, the three little girls were holding hands and enjoying an activity known as a picnic.
"All right, the apples are ready!"
"Then let's eat!"
Est casually took out several freshly picked apples. With just a few chops of her hand, she sliced them into remarkably even pieces.
As a sword elemental who had spent years being wielded by Elise, Est naturally knew swordsmanship, and merely using the edge of her hand was enough for her to perform it.
No ordinary person would ever imagine that she possessed such ability.
One look was enough to tell she wasn't ordinary!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The others weren't idle either and quickly returned to their respective tasks.
Not a single word passed between the three of them, yet they shared a remarkably natural understanding, until a certain voice broke the silence.
"Sorry, I'm late!"
The newcomer was none other than Elise.
Ever since becoming the God of the Bible, Elise had gained a tremendous number of responsibilities. Although Michael helped her eliminate a large portion of the workload, the sheer quantity was still difficult to ignore.
She had no idea how Michael and the others had survived all these years. Could they really have spent every day facing those cold machines?
She finally understood Michael's hardships.
"As expected, the apples from the Garden of Eden really are delicious! But sharing them with others is even more important!"
Elise gently speared a slice of apple and placed it in her mouth. After slowly chewing and swallowing it, a blissful smile appeared on her face.
"I'll bring Sylvia some as a local specialty next time!"
For now, however, Elise would spend her time with the three little ones.
"Now, who should get this piece?"
She gently speared another piece of apple, completely unaware that a war had already begun!
Est, Ophis, and Ren had all locked their gazes onto the piece of apple in Elise's hand, like raptors preparing to pounce as they bared their claws at Star-Lord!
Elise didn't particularly care about any of that, but...
The instant she turned around, a figure flashed past at astonishing speed, almost like the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Whoosh—
In that single instant, the piece of apple in Elise's hand vanished. In its place was the sight of two people wrestling with each other nearby.
Of course, saying all three of them were fighting wouldn't be quite accurate. Only Est and Ren were wrestling, while Ophis sat quietly to the side, silently watching this battle of the century.
Meanwhile, Elise silently turned on her camera and recorded this wonderful scene for posterity—the legendary spectacle known as girls fighting!
"So something like this actually happened while I wasn't around?"
They really do get along well!