Continuing where we left off...
Ritsuka's Perspective
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You could say my first day in this new world started pretty normally. Well, if that "normal" means receiving the news that the all-powerful God whom Martha and all the other Heroic Spirits of the church serve is dead.
However, the second piece of news that Metatron (sloth) revealed really left me with a rare feeling of shock.
That Excalibur, the sword promised to victory, is capable of breaking into pieces? Just thinking about that sword, one of the most powerful Noble Phantasms in the world, could break is something I would honestly call heresy.
How could the sword that represents the will of humanity and the protector of the planet break?! A feeling of indignation arose within me that I didn't expect, but I held it in.
"If Gilgamesh were here, he would immediately demand who was responsible for breaking Excalibur."
I mutter this to myself and look at my lazy Archangel, who has an expression of pure nervousness.
"Okay. Let's start from the beginning. You said that your Father, the God that Doctor Romani serves, the God who indirectly helped us against our great enemies in the past, is dead?"
"...Yes. The moment you summoned me, I didn't feel the Father's presence in my body or in the world. This immediately alerted me because the Father's presence is everywhere; for his presence not to be present is impossible..."
"But it seems the impossible has become reality."
I comment this while sitting on a large sofa with Morgan sitting on my right and Tamano no Mae on my left. Morgan was furious when she heard the news about Excalibur; I could see it on her face, but she maintained the composure of a Queen.
"Archangel. Tell me what the hell happened for that damned Sacred Sword to have been broken."
I hear Morgan speaking in a tone that's containing her indignation, a feeling I don't blame her for having.
"Exactly! How could the sword capable of rivaling the Golden King's Noble Phantasm have been broken!"
"I have to agree with Morgan-san and Tamano-san on that. I find it very difficult to believe that the sword forged in the heart of the planet could be destroyed."
Tamano no Mae and Mash gave their opinions on the news while Lilith has an indifferent expression and Olga Marie has a serious expression.
"Well... To explain why Excalibur was broken into pieces, you need to know about my Father's interference in the Age of Gods."
This immediately caught my attention and that of the rest of the girls. I remember very well that in the Age of Gods, the Hebrew God didn't interfere in anything that happened at that time, but judging by Metatron's (Sloth's) words, it seems he did something.
Normally, in the story I know, a critical and very important event occurred in the Age of Gods: the invasion of the White Titan Velber, who invaded the planet with the plan to destroy our civilization.
All the Gods from all mythologies tried everything to eliminate the White Titan, but they were unsuccessful. Only when the planet felt threatened and reacted by creating Excalibur did an unknown warrior use the sword's full power, which was powerful enough to deliver the fatal blow to the White Titan.
It was after this that the Age of Gods was coming to an end, giving way to the Age of Separation and the Age of Man in which we now live.
This is, in short, the story I learned during my journey, but it seems that in this world it wasn't Excalibur that delivered the fatal blow to Velber, but rather the Hebrew God who participated in the battle and eliminated the invading Titan.
Following this, God decided to take control of the Age of Gods not to control the other Gods, but to ensure that the "mystery" does not disappear.
Somehow, in a way that Metatron (Sloth) didn't explain to me, God managed the impressive feat of keeping the Age of Gods alive even with the arrival of the Age of Separation, in which humanity distances itself from the Gods.
God managed to accomplish this feat without Alaya interfering and considering this world a Lostbelt, implying that the future of humanity in this world is not heading towards stagnation.
As a result, Excalibur was not forged at the time of the White Titan's attack, but rather at the time when King Arthur lost Caliburn and the Lady of the Lake gave Excalibur to the young King.
I digested this mountain of information that Metatron (sloth) gave us, and I remain silent, processing everything.
While I'm silent, Olga Marie is surprised and decides to break the silence after quickly processing the information she received.
"You're telling me that your Father managed to keep the Age of Gods alive even with humanity distancing itself from the gods?! That should be impossible without causing immense consequences... unless... the planet itself recognized God's actions and helped him in the process."
"You still haven't explained to us, Archangel, how Excalibur was broken and the fragments are with the Catholic Church of all places."
While Olga Marie is focused on what God did to the Age of Gods, which honestly is right to worry about since it's something any mage would be surprised by, Morgan is more concerned about Excalibur than what God did to the world.
"Well... After the death of King Arthur, who isn't a woman in this world, Excalibur was used during the Great War between three factions: my Angel brothers and my Father, the Devils, and the Fallen Angels. Excalibur was broken during the battle against the Devils, more specifically against the great leaders of the Devils, Lucifer and Lilith."
When Metatron (Sloth) said the name of this world's Lilith, it caught the attention of my Lilith, who had an expression of pure boredom and was distracting herself by looking at her dark nails.
"Lilith-san participated in a Great War against God and his Angels and the Fallen Angels? Did she died alone with no one caring about her?"
"Hey! I'm very much alive here, you empty doll!"
I look at Mash after hearing her wishing for the death of this world's Lilith. I know that after the events of the fourth Ordeal Call, Mash learned how to "hate" someone, but I never imagined I'd see my beloved Paladin completely unfiltered when it comes to making fun of Lilith.
"I don't remember you having this attitude, my knight, I approve of it."
"Morgan, darling, what did you mean by that?"
"I have to agree with the Fairy Queen on this, Lord husband, seeing Mash showing animosity towards someone is very refreshing."
I look at my two wives, who are smiling approvingly at Mash's new side, and shake my head.
"Anyway. Getting back to the subject. You said that Excalibur was broken during the events of the Great War, I suppose the sword was forged using different components compared to the Excalibur of our world."
"Yes, Master. The components of this world's Excalibur are inferior compared to the Excalibur of your world, therefore your reactions upon learning that the same sword is now in fragments are understandable. Argh... Talking so much without a break makes me feel bad."
I see Metatron (Sloth) yawning with a face that says he wants to go back to sleep, but she still has things I need to know.
"One thing I'm curious to know is what happened after that Great War, especially what happened to Lilith in this world."
"Awww.... Master, are you worried about my other self? You're so lovely, you know? I'm also curious to know what happens to my other self, even though I have no memory of participating in a war of this kind."
Metatron (Sloth) looks at us with an expression that suggests she didn't want to continue speaking, but seeing that we need all kinds of information about this world, she begins to speak again.
"Argh, here we go again. When the Great War ended, it caused great losses on both sides of the three factions, but the most serious losses were on the side of the Devils and the Angels. On the Devils' side, the Great Satans, who were the first generations of Devils to be born, died in the war. The Great Satans were Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus."
"And about Lilith, did she survive the war? Since you didn't mention her on the list of dead leaders."
"Lilith's status in this world is unknown, even more so to us angels, but from what my other self has managed to acquire, Lilith did survive the war. However, we don't know if she's still alive now or not."
"Hmm... It might sound a little strange coming from me, but I think my other self is alive. I consider myself a very stubborn person to be easily killed, especially if I'm completely focused on living, but I probably wouldn't get very far without a little help. Besides, I have a strong impression that this other self of mine didn't like Lucifer very much."
I hear Lilith's comment about her version in this world and I become a little thoughtful. If Lilith from this world is alive, what will happen if the two Liliths meet? Will they attack each other? Or will the connection I have with my Lilith affect the Lilith of this world? In fact, what would Lilith's reaction be upon discovering that another version of her loves me instead of Lucifer?
These are questions that will linger in my mind until I finally meet the Lilith of this world, if I'm lucky enough to find her.
"Okay, we know what happened to the Devils, now what happened to your Metatron side?"
"You already know what happened: the death of God. However, the cause of his death was due to him dedicating a good portion of his remaining power to sealing the Beast of the Apocalypse 666, and I think we already have enough understanding to know how dangerous the Beast of the Apocalypse is."
"Ah, our Master knows very well indeed. After all, he has a variation of the same Beast, all happy to get on her knees and give a hell of a lot of 'job,' doesn't she, Master~."
(A/N: I'll just say that I managed to catch Draco and I'm a very happy man.)
Lilith's suggestive and provocative words make me blush slightly, and I end up clearing my throat to prevent the subject from shifting to what happens privately in my room.
"Let's leave what happens privately aside, please. So, your father died in the process of sealing the Beast of the Apocalypse?"
"Yes, and as a consequence, my brother Raphael had to take control of managing our system, the church, and our followers. In short, we angels are not in a good situation, and we had to keep God's death a complete secret so as not to affect the faith of our faithful. Although now, Raphael wants me to take over the leadership of the Angels... Argh, stupid brother trying to drag the work onto me."
With that, Metatron (Sloth) gave us the information we needed, and I become thoughtful again, looking at Olga Marie, who is confused by my gaze.
"What is it? Why are you looking at me with that silly face?"
"Well, since we have a good idea of the world we inhabit, I'm curious to know what our dear Director has in mind to do next."
"Hey! I don't always have a plan ready to carry out, you know! Besides, Chaldea doesn't exist anymore, I don't know why you still consider me the Director."
"I think you know very well why,Isn't that right , Mash?"
"Exactly, Senpai. It doesn't matter if Chaldea doesn't exist, Olga Marie is still our beloved Director."
Olga Marie blushes upon hearing Mash's words, and I could swear I heard Olga muttering "idiots" to herself, but luckily I did.
Unfortunately, our moment is interrupted when I see Morgan summoning her scepter, and she's looking directly at our apartment door. Then we hear someone gently knocking on the door.
"It seems our unwanted visitors finally managed to reach the door. I have to admit that the Bounded Field I replicated from Zelretch yielded good results; it's a shame I didn't have more time to modify it a bit more."
Morgan comments with a proud smile while the rest of us, except for Metatron (Sloth), are surprised.
"Morgan-san had been using the Bounded Field all this time?"
"Actually, I had placed the Bounded Field the moment we arrived at this apartment. The intruders had arrived here the moment we woke up, but they had difficulty getting past the layers I placed in the Bounded Field, so we had enough time to gather information while the invaders were trying to get in."
I honestly forget that Morgan is an excellent mage who is capable of rivaling Merlin, so for her to be able to replicate the Zelretch Bounded Field is no small feat.
"That presence... Damn it! What a pain! They really don't understand the concept of privacy and respect, do they? How many times did I have to repeat that I'm not going to work and I don't want to!"
I hear Metatron (Sloth) complaining, irritated, and I start to have a bad feeling. The moment my instincts get like this is when a huge headache is about to happen.
"Metatron, I'm even afraid to ask... Do you know who's behind the door?"
"What's behind the door is my stupid brother Raphael and my Koala of a little sister Gabriel. They're probably here to bring me back to Heaven because I escaped from there."
The moment I heard Metatron's (Sloth's) answer, I started to feel a slight headache. Did she really say she escaped from her house?!
"And tell me why you ran away from your house?"
"Because I don't want to work! I'd rather die than stay there in Heaven fixing the system my Father made, a system that will take years to fix!"
"And because of that, you had the brilliant idea of bringing your family to us who are barely adapted to this world yet?! You could think about that, you lazy Archangel!"
Tamano no Mae looks at Metatron (Sloth), irritated by the mess our Archangel has brought us.
"What did you expect me to do? I represent the sin of sloth, obviously I wasn't going to work, but unfortunately that idiot Raphael was so full of emotion and so eager to dump the work on my shoulders that I had no choice but to take drastic measures! I separated myself from my other self and used my Noble Phantasm to blow up the gates of heaven to escape."
The instant Metatron (Sloth) said that, we all looked at her as if she were crazy and had done something completely absurd; even Lilith was shocked.
I remained silent for a few seconds, unable to believe the madness that Metatron (Sloth) had committed just to escape the heavens, until my headache became so strong that I lost my composure a little.
"You did what?!"
"I blew up the gates of heaven. I had no choice, Raphael doesn't know how to take no for an answer and wouldn't let me leave, so I decided to use your problem-solving manual, Master. If violence isn't working, it's because you haven't used it enough."
"That was meant to be used against enemies, not against members of your family! Besides, I was just joking back then! I don't use violence to solve any problems anymore!"
The moment I said that, all the girls looked at me silently with a blank expression that made me feel ashamed and refuse to look at them. Just because I don't like thinking about complicated things and want to solve things quickly doesn't mean I always use violence!
"Ahem! Let's solve this problem that Metatron brought us. I just hope it doesn't end up causing conflicts."
"Ah! You don't need to worry about going into combat against Raphael and especially against Gabriel after the Great War; they want to avoid as much conflict as possible to recover from the losses they suffered."
"Even so, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for anything unexpected that might happen.
Everyone agrees with Olga Marie's words, and I see the serious expressions of Lilith, Mash, Morgan, and Tamano no Mae, implying that they are prepared in case a battle occurs.
With everything ready, I walk towards the door of my apartment and slowly open it. I am greeted by the sight of two beautiful Archangels, both with calm expressions, although I perceive a trace of worry in their eyes.
The two angels look at me with surprised expressions, as if they didn't expect to see a human in the place where their sister is staying.
"You two must be Raphael and Gabriel, correct? Metatron said you would appear."
"Hello,child. You are correct in your assumption. I am Raphael, and this one beside me is my younger sister, Gabriel."
"I didn't expect Big Sis Metatron to have a human friend, what a marvel. When she suddenly appeared yesterday, she looked like an automatic robot that i was starting to get worried. You must be a very powerful mage because the barrier around that apartment was really difficult to get past without using brute force."
To be honest, I only have Metatron as a reference for how Angels act, but I have to admit that I almost thought Raphael was a woman if I hadn't heard his voice.
Now it's a different story when I looked at Gabriel and what she's wearing, or rather, the lack thereof, which is just something that looks like a white line that seems to be a bit like a bikini, or at least appears to be one.
Although I have to admit that seeing the semi-nude body of a beautiful Angel is truly a sight that will be etched in my memory for a long time, thankfully I'm used to female beauty. If it weren't for my experiences with Aphrodite, Kama, and Ishtar, I'd probably have a runny nose right now.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Ritsuka Fujimaru and the barrier you dealt with was the work of my wife..."
I was about to continue talking to the two Angels until a dark blue magic circle appeared in the corridors to my right, and then two people appeared in the center of the circle: a man and a beautiful woman wearing a magical girl outfit that reminded me of the magical girl outfit Illya wears.
Raphael and Gabriel were surprised and seemed to recognize these two individuals who had appeared. I looked at the two new people who had appeared in my apartment: a man with pure-blood red hair and beautiful blue eyes that gave the impression of being a noble prince.
The girl, on the other hand, had black hair with long twintails, blue eyes similar to the man beside her, and a very voluptuous body that, if I had to compare, I would say she is on the same level as Morgan, Mash, and Lilith, but slightly behind Olga and Tamano no Mae.
The two newcomers were also surprised to see Raphael and Gabriel, but the moment they looked at me, I could swear I noticed their bodies visibly shivering, and I, on the other hand, felt a very familiar presence that I never thought I would feel in this world.
"The 72 Demon God Pillars?"
I murmured the title of the Ars Goetia, who were my enemies at the beginning of my journey and who, at the end of the journey, became my allies.
A silence fell between us for a few seconds until the girl, who seemed to be a magical girl, summoned her staff and pointed it at Gabriel.
"We meet again, my eternal rival Gabriel! This time we will settle our differences! This time I, Serafall Leviathan, will emerge victorious!"
The magical girl's words caused a chain reaction; Raphael was confused, Gabriel had a friendly smile, the magical girl herself was sweating with nervousness and embarrassment, while the scarlet-haired man let out a sigh of exhaustion and put a hand on the bridge of his nose.
"Ajuka owes me a lot for this..."
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To be continued.....
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