Chapter 774 - fff

Chapter 12

The regular Atlas Alchemist follows the mantra of "Faster, Stronger, More Accurate" and treats their bodies as containers to fill and modify in order to develop their ability to gather information, analyze it and then directly solve any perceived problems.

"We have no need to be the strongest. We create that which is the strongest."

While I don't necessarily agree with their central dogma, I do concede that such specialization makes sense for limited beings in a world like this.

Different worlds have different priorities, after all.

Live in DXD and you'll be working on punching things harder. Live in a world that runs on Shounen rules and you'll need lots of friends to protect to derive even more battle power.

If you live in the Nasuverse where there are rules within rules then maximizing what you can get within and around those rules is just what you're going to do.

Thankfully for Atlas, I had just the solution to their never-ending need for more number-crunching power.

"Does it always stink?"

"That's what happens when you remove the accumulated impurities from one's body, so yeah, it tends to stink a lot."

"I'm not going to try any more of your shady pills!"

I chuckled while absentmindedly waving my arm, cleaning up the black gunk off Sion by erasing the offending material, then handed her a particular artifact that we were using to measure an Alchemist's calculation ability.

"Astounding! A 300% increase in efficiency right from the start-"

Zepia was already quite happy with my specialized body refinement pills that can be made with current Alchemy techniques and ingredients found in this world. Another benefit of my alchemic solution is that it also gave them the ability to draw on and direct mana from the air without magic circuits as if they were still living in the Age of Gods, albeit at a very much weaker extent.

Despite volunteering for the initial test and receiving favorable results, Sion wasn't exactly happy about how it went. I probably should have been more specific about what I meant by 'impurities' better but in the end it wasn't a big deal.

Other than that, I handed them a couple of my decent 'calamity' class weapons, a few useful artifacts and conjured an absurd amount of Photonic Crystals based on the ones I took from the Moon Cell in a particular doomed timeline.

What I requested of Atlas as a whole was pretty reasonable, all things considered. All I wanted was to have a look at absolutely everything they have ever made, any schematics they had (both workable and scrapped), a sample of all their synthetically created materials and all their 'trash' inventions that they've 'disposed' of.

I also tossed them the Pseudo-Spiritron theory and several new measurement devices to improve their ability to observe the world.

Compared to the Magi in the Clock Tower, the alchemists were pretty decent when they're not going full mad scientist since they had a good Director (that actually cared about humanity) to keep them on track.

Most of them couldn't enact any magecraft and their knowledge was largely specific to this world's laws so there was no need to plunder them for it. I only needed a glimpse into what they've worked on for inspiration purposes.

Take, for example, the Black Barrel, which imposes the concept of 'natural life span' on otherwise immortal beings. The Black Barrel is made out of the Fifth True Theoretical Element and disintegrates every instance of Grain and Ether it comes into contact with.

While there are similar analogs to those substances in other worlds, the Black Barrel's functions were ultimately optimized for use in the Nasuverse, and would only have partial effectiveness in other universes. However, upon copying that superweapons schematics and understanding it's concept further, I could just create and customize Black Barrels to deal with different immortal beings across the multiverse.

Granted, it will still require a lot of research, time, and effort to make it work perfectly against every new foe. But it'll be worth it when I have to deal with enemies outside my weight class.

It took me three whole days to finish my work at Atlas, when I went to pick up Nazica and Radia from wherever they were left at, I found them fast asleep behind a desk with several stacks of paper filled with hand-written notes.

I wrapped the cute sisters up with a thick fluffy blanket while shaking my head, "I'll have to teach you two how to use a computer and a scanner."

"If I earned a quarter for every time I heard that being said to a Magus then I'll be a very rich man." A rough yet amused response rang out from the borrowed office we were using.

I took one look at the old man and concurrently cast over a hundred spells to fix his horrid condition, "Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. You're the biggest medical mess I have ever seen. I hope you're fine with being human again."

The old man that had suddenly reverted back to his prime blinked a couple of times, before chuckling softly with his eyes closed, "Ah, this takes me back. No, I have no such problems. Thank you. Are you going to ask for anything?"

"Not particularly. I already have enough practice in handling different worlds and I have a tendency to heal anyone in front of me... unless the person is above the line on the hot-evil scale."

He smiled and said, "I'm flattered."

"You're clearly on the opposite end of evil. It's only natural to help out."

"So what you've done at the Clock Tower counts as 'helping' then? And Pandora's Box? Really?"

"There was no true lasting damage and nothing of value was lost." Zelretch muttered 'debatable' under his breath, "And besides, they can't be that stupid."

He rolled his eyes while saying, "You don't believe that."

I raised my hands in mock surrender, "Guilty as charged. But hey, I'm sure with enough Counter Force interference things will work out just fine. Besides, I won't be making anything worse, especially since I won't be able to visit this timeline again personally without having Counter Guardians hunting my ass down."

We had a pleasant discussion after that about various timeline matters before we started trading jokes and spoke about our personal lives.

When he brought up his granddaughter's (Arcueid) issues with her vampiric instincts endangering her current boyfriend (lucky bastard) I was quick to offer him an artifact that I made after researching Zepia's dead apostle condition that would suppress them.

In return, he gave me the designs for a Kaleidostick and a quick look at his Jeweled Sword.

Huh… maybe I could give one Kaleidostick to my in-laws' "Auntie Sona" or Serafall, once I subdued Trihexa for materials and free the sealed faction members there.

Even if they aren't directly related to Issei's family I can still reinforce my position as the 'best son-in-law' if I gain the favor of their external support groups.

A few months later...

It is a common story for powerful cultivators to have a 'mortal arc' where they learn to live among mortals and learn truths from simple living, sometimes it's because they are just tired from all the fighting, or they are looking for that next big breakthrough to the next realm by gaining new insights.

After the 'eventfulness' of the Grail War (that I technically participated in for only a couple of minutes max), the Clock Tower raid, Atlas research exchange program and many occasions where I slayed monsters lurking in all sorts of places in the world it's safe to say that I've become the equivalent of an 'old monster' at the peak of the mortal world looking for new insights to solidify a perfect breakthrough to the next realm.

Spoiler: Fiore

"Almost there… yes!"

Taking the time to watch Fiore regain her ability to walk was one of my favorite pastimes.

It was like a diluted version of a former genius Cultivator getting crippled only to rise up like a phoenix after a major event (like getting their engagement annulled by their fiance), only, the order and circumstances are completely different. Even so, Fiore's progress was a reminder of the fragility of living beings and their tenacity to overcome their circumstances.

It was a simple aspect of living that I had lost touch with a long time ago.

"Dio? You're here again."

"The traffic in New York is terrible at these times so I came to pick you up."

"You used that excuse just two days ago, do you read them off a list or something?"

"Hahaha, of course I do. Anything more absurd would be grounds for you to call the police on me."

"Ufufu, such a shameless stalker!"

Despite her words Fiore had still taken my hand without hesitation. Though my remarks may come out as perverted or flirty at times, she knew that I would never behave in an ungentlemanly fashion with her.

Unless she desired it, of course.

"This isn't my floor."

"I thought you wanted to collect a package from your neighbors?"

"Ah yes, thank you for the reminder."

Fiore rang the doorbell until the door was opened by our mutual neighbor.

"Good afternoon Fiore, your package is just over there."

"Thank you Radia, for holding unto it for me."

The Pentel sisters had relocated to the same apartment complex for safety reasons after my stunt. Airi, Artemis and Alfia gave me a good scolding for getting the two 'bystanders' involved on a whim, though they also said that it was good that I was taking responsibility for them.

Since they were counted as 'accomplices' to my 'crimes' (Zelretch wasn't going to take action for or against me on behalf of the Mage's Association, as we agreed upon) I had decided to take the two sisters as my apprentices in magic, much like I unofficially did with Fiore.

"No worries. Oh, Dio, my sister has something to say to you."

"Is she still mad about Kaleidostick Jade? She's going to yell at me again, isn't she?"

"Most likely. The 'magical girl outfit' you designed is... exceptionally risque, after all."

I had gifted them both with my own crafted Kaleido-Sticks for their own protection yesterday, Nazica went on a shooting spree that would make Nanoha proud once she got a good look at her transformed outfit. Radia took it a lot better as it turns out that she's a closet pervert.

That said, Nazica didn't have the chance to vent her anger today, as I, Dio, had the courage to hide in Fiore's apartment!

"Don't sound so proud of it! You can't just slap the word 'courage' unto anything and make it sound like a good thing."

"Not with that attitude you can't!"

"Try me."

Fiore really makes me want to tease her when she crosses her arms challengingly like that.

"The courage to lie to your lover."

"Don't you do that every day?"

"Nonsense. They always hear the truth from me, of course, I don't tell them everything. I am a busy man, after all."

"This is why you get scolded…"

"Next one! The courage to admit defeat."

"... That isn't entirely bad if you understand that you are way out of your depth. It also gives off the impression of a strategic retreat."

"See, you're getting it! The courage to betray your friends!"

"That's just standard backstabbing which happens in the Magus world all the time!"

"Not necessarily. If this was a manga or anime then characters like that are usually trying to protect their friends in secret. For the record, I never betrayed any of my friends… intentionally."

"You could have left out the last part…" Fiore looked particularly irritated at me for a short while before she sighed and said, "Very well, you win. I have the courage to admit defeat, after all."

I clutched my heart as if struck by an invisible arrow.

"H-how could this be?! I won the battle but lost the war."

After sharing some laughter together I started to inquire about Fiore's spellwork and a missing animal.

"Timmy? I had one of the homunculi maids' send him over to Caules. My brother will need the extra protection after a certain someone's stunt."

Fiore gave me the stink eye, making me grin in return.

"Wow, whoever caused so much trouble for your brother must be a real idiot huh?"

"The idiot is right in front of me. Honestly, I once thought you were some unfathomable god-like magician, but it turns out you're like one of those powerful do-gooders with no common sense."

"I do have common sense, I just elected to not use it when it can save me trouble. Ah, your spell circle is…"

"I'm switching the spell during the middle of its formation."

"Not bad. It will be a good trick if you can do it in under a millisecond for higher tier fights."

"I'm not practicing magic to fight, this is to improve my focus and train my visualization abilities."

"That's a good idea… ooh! This is a new spell?"

"It's for descaling fish!"

Fiore looked excited about the mundane spell, I couldn't help but share in her feelings as I too, liked utility spells just like this one.

"Oooh! That's super convenient. I can see a lot of potential in this..."

I may have my peak-mortal knife skills but if I ramp up her spell a bit more then I could use it to descale sea serpents and dragons!

"I feel the same way! I'm thinking of making a complete set of spells just for surviving in the wilderness and rebuilding civilization from nothing!"

Supervising her with her spellwork and engraving the marvelous smile on her face when she succeeds makes all this effort worth it.

"Haha, I didn't take you for a prepper."

"It's not like that! I just thought it would be appropriate to make spells that trace the steps of human civilization."

"I'm pretty sure you would have to start with even simpler spells then, but as long as you're having fun then that's what matters."

"Ufufu, like I thought, you understand my sentiment quite well, don't you?"

"When I can afford to, I try to make and cast spells for fun as well."

The only problem is that my type of fun involves getting stronger, building greater wonders, or killing a future enemy.

Watching someone that grew up in a brutal Magus environment yet still love magic for its innate wonders fills me with a sense of joy and a desire to protect this feeling.

"What's wrong?" I must look really weird by smiling at her like this.

"Nothing. I just thought that it would be good if everyone can enjoy magic like you do." I sighed and started complaining a bit about the state of magical associations across different universes, "I don't need to say much about this world, but in some worlds, magic is all about power and its potential in war, in my world and some other worlds-" Like the ToAru universe, "-it's about using magic as a means to an end to achieve one's unfulfilled wishes or a certain status. Which reminds me that I'll need to politely refuse my mother-in-law's invitation to their magician's associations…"

Kurenai wasn't the only one trying to get me to join their organization or be associated with them. Outside of the Grigori, Le Fay Pendragon has been one of the most vocal among my in-laws in becoming a member of the Golden Dawn, which she rejoined after having her status as a terrorist (during those teenage years) rescinded.

"Why don't you just make your own? If you can overpower the entire Clock Tower here then I'm sure you have the ability to make an association of your own."

Fiore's suggestion was like a hammer of inspiration striking my cranium of stagnation!

Or just another one of those Cultivator enlightenment moments, but nonetheless, she raised a damn good point!

"That's it! That's what I'll do. It's about time I create my own Sect!"

"You mean associat-"

I cut her short and earnestly made a request to her as I grabbed hold of her hands, "Fiore, why don't you come with me and walk the path of magic for fun! Please? Say yes, come on, this offer won't be here forever. We're leaving in around two weeks time"

"Heeeh?! Well, I mean… I did send Timmy away thinking that it would be alright to follow along with you… but..."

"I'll sweeten the pot. I'll make you my right-hand woman, you get to have your own cool title and everything. Don't worry about your lack of combat power in my crazy world, I'll handle everything and will make sure no one would dare to offend me."

"I was more concerned about my own qualifications."

"It's fine, everyone starts from somewhere."

"T-then I shall accept on the condition that I have the right to veto key decisions that will affect the direction and prestige of your organization."

Ah, as expected of the Magus heiress training, she wasn't going to let me run wild with it after seeing what I've done to the Clock Tower. She'll be a competent Patriarch, I mean, Matriarch of my newest sect yet!

It shouldn't take me much effort to bring along the Pentel sisters as 'Elders' to my sect either. After a week of staying angry at me, the pair had started to warm up to me and eventually, became good friends of mine (and my women) and turned into excellent disciples.

"Yahoo! I have my first member for my Peerless Heavenly Spell Sect!"

"Denied. Think of a different name."

I got vetoed immediately despite following all the sect naming rules by inserting a qualifier, adjective and noun before the word 'sect'.

After giving Caules and our other acquaintances a head's up, we all packed our things as we traveled back to our designated homeworld. The first thing Airi did was to head home and take over from the paper clone I left behind while I settled everyone back down in my mansion.

I'll be putting some effort into avoiding Issei since I would rather not 'be forced to' run away to another world so soon, especially when everyone wants to settle down properly for now.

Thankfully, I had plenty of guestrooms and could fit everyone in my home just fine.

Once I caught up with affairs from my own paper clones, I made many more new clones at even greater power levels now that my Cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, then set them off to do even more work and grind my cooking skills.

"... I can't sleep. Something feels a bit off."

Now that my 'divine senses' have advanced to the point where I could sense the very fabric of reality and the laws that make up this world with great clarity I have become a great deal more sensitive to any 'noise' formed by distortions within the world's natural order.

The textures of the Nasuverse was one thing, but the sheer amount of different afterlife systems running in the background was annoying as hell. I'll just have to get used to it for now, I guess… at least until I can take over control of all of it and consolidate it into one system that properly allocated souls to their respective afterlives.

It will benefit the world a lot since a smoothly run end-to-end system will be less 'buggy' than what I'm feeling right now and-

"Oh fuck, what the hell is that noise?!"

-I leaped out of my bedroom in my pajamas and ran to the source of the loud distortion.

It was in a hospital, a quick check showed that it originated from a newborn baby… oh… Oh, so that's it! It was a Sacred Gear bestowal upon birth, but it wasn't just any kind of Sacred Gear, it's one of those 'new Longinus' types.

I see… yeah, fuck that. I'm not going to let all these supernatural systems and everything that the dead Biblical God in this world has set up clog up my senses with badly formatted 'data' and chug along like a dying legacy computer.

Well, may as well start with the big one.

Guess it's time to invade Heaven, I'm sure everyone will understand that I'm doing this for a good cause.

Chapter 13

Until my recent jaunt to the Nasuverse I had never entertained the idea of creating a true 'trump card' worthy technique using the energy I cultivated as my 'magic' power and aptitude was far greater.

That changed when I reached the peak of my 'mortal realm' and half-step into the 'immortal realm' equivalent in my Cultivation. While my prowess as an 'Archmage' was still many times greater than that of a Cultivator with the best possible method, and that was after the maximum amount of magic I could output had increased massively thanks to my breakthroughs, there were still a lot of things that I could not achieve with just magic or manipulating some 'laws' at my current level.

I was well aware that, even in the Nasuverse, there were still a handful of beings that I could not hope to face at my level even if I had more destructive power and variety in conceptual abilities than they did. Most of my magical abilities were still within the realms of what could be achieved within that universe, or more specifically, by the 'Root' and any alien god capable of threatening any timeline's existence without much trouble.

I would lose if I faced any of those threats head-on. There were two ways I could have gone about this, the first was to create a masterpiece of a weapon that could allow me to punch above my weight class, and the second was to create a technique to do the exact same thing.

The first could be stolen, the second option was just a little more secure, even if it had more output limits than the first.

And so I devised two techniques that, while still incomplete, would allow me to either wrest control over the entire universe for a short time and use its power to supplement me in defeating my enemy… or render any sort of power reliant on the local laws of the universe or support from beyond the universe, null and void.

The latter was created to suppress invading gods, beings of great power formed after the creation of the universe and beings that relied on external authority or support like other 'main characters' like existences with cheat abilities, especially any 'System' sort of power.

As for the former technique, my incomplete [Unified-Realm, Divine Augmentation] Ascendant God Art would combine the breadth and depth of all my comprehended laws to create a temporary tiny universe within myself, then use my 'Divine Sense' as a bridge to connect the universe under my control and the universe I was targeting, thereby connecting my 'Divine Sense' and powers to it.

From that point onwards it was a matter of transposing the absolute control of my own universe unto the targeted universe, which lets me use all my abilities wherever my divine sense can reach in the universe, simply put, everywhere.

Of course, it has its limitations. I am still limited to my current abilities and whatever power the universe can afford to support me with. Unless it's a 'do or die' scenario, taking a significant amount of energy would have far-reaching consequences that will not be worth dealing with.

As I was currently focused on using my [Unified-Realm, Divine Augmentation] as a way to be in a minor sub-realm (in this case, Heaven) and have the results of my actions be imposed upon the universe undetected while minimizing reality distortions, this meant that my 'Divine Sense' and mental focus would be wholly focused on the task ahead.

Just because my Divine Sense could encompass the entirety of the universe doesn't mean it should, nor does it mean my mental focus becomes infinite and enables me to keep track of every single phenomenon in the universe happening at every moment.

That would only have been possible to an extent if I was at a much higher realm or could tap into the universe's consciousness to boost my mental powers.

Why don't I use the second method then? Well, the problem isn't that this DXD universe doesn't have a consciousness… The problem is that it does!

"-OPPAI! BREASTS! TITS! BOOBS! OPPAI! OPPAI! CHEST! BOOBIES! KNOCKERS! OPPAI! MELONS! HEAVENLY PEAKS! OPPAI! Ass-OPPAI!"

AND IT'S FUCKING CONTAMINATED THANKS TO ISSEI HYOUDOU!

I would legitimately get brain damage if I linked my mind with this universe's consciousness!

My father-in-law completely ruined the debut of my deeply profound Ascendant God Art! Damn you Issei, how dare you ruin my efforts unintentionally by spreading your perverseness!?

If I don't repay this frustration three-fold then I'm not Dio Dorana!!!

I took a deep breath and cycled my energies around my body, expelling my irritation that could have caused me to vomit blood out of anger.

I didn't have much time to waste, this technique was energy-intensive and I could only keep it up for an hour or so, my time limit might end up even shorter since I needed to dedicate some energy to defend my mind from potential mental pollution arising from the universe's perverted consciousness. It would take a good night's rest to recover the sheer amount of energy I was using for this task, a peaceful rest that I could only get if I dealt with this one major source of chaotic distortions.

Granted, I could just jump to another world and stay in a hotel there whenever I want to rest, but I wasn't going to leave a problem so close to home unattended and as a potential source of future distractions at crucial moments. And don't get me started with the possible fallout when the system inevitably collapses from the overwhelming number of bugs and glitches… Waiting to get 'permission' from the angels that clearly cannot run Heaven optimally would take too much time given how notorious they are for their resistance to change.

Since the Angels are all about forgiveness these days (they let bygones be bygones with the Devils for God's sake!) I may as well go ahead with my plans regardless of their opinions. Besides, it's not like they can do anything to me, and if they tried something?

Then I would show them the immensity between Heaven and Earth!

… Anyways, in conclusion, there was no good reason for me to tough it out or weaken my own 'divine senses' for the time being since it would just leave us vulnerable to potential threats. The safety of the ones I love is more important than my momentary convenience and inner peace.

And so I got to work.

I gave a cursory 'glance' at the first four 'Heavens', then took about half a minute to browse through all the data stored in the research facilities of the Fifth Heaven, committing it all to memory for a review some other time.

I scanned through the near-empty Sixth Heaven, the current 'core' where the Seraphs resided, then frowned as I realized that the only tenant was Gabriel and that this was the normal state of affairs for her.

All the replacement Seraphs were reincarnated angels that still had strong connections to the Church and attachments to human civilization, as such, they mainly operated from Earth and only stayed in Heaven on occasion. While this wasn't necessarily a bad thing since they weren't disconnected with their humanity, it meant that Heaven's current leader was bereft of companionship amongst her kin that shared a similar status to her as of late.

My body reformed within the Sixth Heaven in front of the most beautiful woman I had ever laid my eyes down, who had fallen asleep on a throne-like chair after overworking herself.

… No Dio! Focus on her circumstances, not her appearance!

Kuh, damn, Gabriel's exactly the type of woman I would have slaughtered billions for…

I regained my calm and investigated the situation.

Just like her brother Michael, the current leader of Heaven, Gabriel, had trouble handling God's legacy and Heaven's affairs despite the additional helping hands in the form of reincarnated angels. While the situation on the ground was a lot better thanks to the general peaceful state of affairs, Heaven was still as busy as ever, with most of the crucial responsibilities falling into the delicate hands of the sole remaining original great seraphs as she was the only person capable of making any sense of God's System.

Seriously, where are the rest of the Seraphim? Shouldn't Metatron be done with his ninja training already?

A quick search by specifically targeting certain aura frequencies allowed me to find them. It looks like they have taken up responsibilities within the global supernatural alliance or have other missions elsewhere. As expected, a long race's sense of time differs greatly from my own, a few years of only visiting 'home' in Heaven on occasion is considered short for them.

I sighed and contemplated the oddly familiar sensation swelling in my heart.

That lonely expression… It reminds me so much of myself, especially back during my younger days. Until I met Airi I had spent almost all my time improving myself for the sake of my plans and doing the bare minimum to keep up the facade of a good son in front of my parents.

There were days where I would just collapse on the floor exhausted from working on an artifact, comprehending new laws, or casting several complex spells that could give me headaches back when I was weak.

I had only overcome those problems when my Cultivation reached the point where I could subsist without food, water, and sleep.

It only made me feel lonelier than ever.

"Rest well, sweet angel."

Retrieving one of my 'Comfy Warm Blanket' artifacts that I made for the ladies that followed me on my adventures, I gently wrapped it around her sleeping form and then took my leave.

Manifesting my form within the Seventh Heaven, a large realm of light-filled with space-time cracks at odd places, with several magical metal wonders fused with the realm and a golden throne right in the center of everything.

This was the previous home of God, and right now, the current home to the Sacred Gear System and God's System, both of which desperately needed a huge software patch and hardware upgrades.

I expressed how impressed I was with a whistle after completing a cursory inspection of both systems later. To think that the core of these systems could extend beyond this universe if required… it looks like this iteration of DXD's Biblical God is not simple!

I'm even inclined to think that this version of God may just be a tiny remnant soul of the main 'God' from a much higher realm that decided to adopt/protect the locals out of compassion.

The main reason being that there was a strong concentration of Laws utilized in the creation of the Systems… Laws that were not dominant across this universe, such as 'Creation' and 'Transmigration'.

I will have to add that to my list of investigations to conduct in the future, for now, I need to focus on upgrading this thing. A few paper clones and several simultaneous conjurations of photonic crystals later and I had the information storage overhaul procedure settled.

I couldn't conjure magical metals so outright replacing the 'hardware' of the systems wasn't feasible, what I could do, however, is perform large scale alteration and reinforcement on the material so that it would be enchanted to a higher state for a couple of centuries.

Now then, time to work on the bugs, glitches, code, and some quality of life improvements.

I moved towards the Throne of God and sat right on it to fully access the system, the protective spells and restrictions were of no consequence since anyone with the right amount of law comprehension and power could access it. As I was right now, my comprehension of all the laws far surpassed the level required to create and operate these systems, the only thing stopping me from creating my own was the lack of time, resources, knowledge, and experience.

All of which I will need to put in effort into resolving.

Let's see, Sacred Gears, I will start with making it a requirement for users to have high 'luck' to reduce the number of fodder characters with Sacred Gears. They don't need to be super special, they just need to reach the rank of 'eye-catching minor character'.

God had already placed a system similar to what I had in mind using the subsidiary laws of Karma and Transmigration. What I did was to expand on the laws that governed 'luck' and 'fate', then started making adjustments to the Sacred Gear assignment criteria, increasing the chances of those with a propensity to use their power for a greater purpose to receive Sacred Gears.

I resolved the problem of Sacred Gear users losing control and the Balance Breaker glitch by modifying the 'desire' (strong emotion) based evolution system with a skill tree-like system.

Relatively weaker Sacred Gear users will have their Sacred Gears starting off at a lower part of the 'skill-tree' regardless of the Sacred Gear's individual power. If they don't have the willpower or strength to use a Sacred Gear's full power then they won't be able to use it unless they desperately need it and will have to work hard to unlock more abilities. This system also lets them create more 'sub-species' by evolving alongside the user's requirements and talents as they make overall improvements to their proficiency.

Once they reach the 'late-stage' of mastery they can then breakthrough to the Balance Breaker stage by accumulating a large amount of desire/willpower or train more to reach 'peak' mastery of a few Sacred Gear usage paths.

With the hard part done, I started to fix the buggy Sacred Gears, add some new ones that I made in my free time and perform an immediate recall of all Sacred Gears that were sealed away for study and weren't in use. Everyone and their mother had an Artificial Sacred Gear already so there was no strong reason to horde the artifacts meant for humanity in my point of view.

Under normal circumstances, those Sacred Gears would be out of reach of the System, but thanks to my upgrades and my divine sense empowering it's search functions, I could easily find those lost Sacred Gears and bring them back to where they belonged.

This took just over 20 minutes to accomplish, leaving me with less than 10 minutes to upgrade God's system before my changes will be detected.

I quickly worked on creating various automations and bots that would help Gabriel categorize similar prayer and miracle requests easily then had all the most frequently used solutions coded in as templates that she could reuse and modify slightly whenever she wanted.

The 'revelation' and 'guidance' requests were also automated after I used the centuries of data collected to create a 'divine conversational assistant', then took some principles of machine learning and a few laws that governed relevant human nature to set up a new system to give Gabriel insights and advice on update the assistant based on changing times and believer concerns.

After that, I did an overall upgrade job on the connectivity and strength of the system, then plugged in some advanced magical UI to make the system easier to use and access by all the angels.

Of course, not everyone has the same access to the system, leaving Gabriel as the Super Admin and the Seraphim as ordinary admins. Normal angels should be able to request assistance from God's system anywhere in the universe, though it will largely be for information requests or martial support if they faced a powerful enemy all of a sudden.

Sensing my near-empty internal energies, I released my grip on the universe and ended the [Unified-Realm, Divine Augmentation] technique. My 'Divine Senses' was now limited once more to several hundred thousand kilometers from my body.

"Looks like all the angels are sensing something amiss, now then, the finishing touches…"

I transformed the magical energy from my supernatural energy reactor to match the frequency of the original Biblical God, then refined it further to my usual magical density, before pushing my nigh-endless reserves into both the systems!

The entirety of the Seventh Heaven shone with endless light as my power coursed through the Throne of God.

All the systems were restored to maximum functionality and then increased in performance by many times over in the span of a minute. The cracks and tears within the realm were all sealed up by my power, the weakened protective spells were strengthened to their peak, then my power began to overflow through the rest of the heavens.

"Ah yes, finally, some peace and quiet." I still have to solve the various afterlife systems but those were less distracting and much more 'quieter' than the legacy system I just upgraded.

Feeling that the strongest angels have gathered to investigate, I let out a cold snort, "Hmph! I dare say this realm has never been stronger. Ah, good, they've arrived."

I tapped my fingers on the hand rest and opened the doors to the Seventh Heaven, allowing Gabriel, a few newly arrived Seraphs and various Ultimate-Class angels to fly in.

"Excellent response. I had just completed my work and was about to invite you all to be enlightened on my changes."

Heaven's most beautiful woman immediately adopted a careful approach and was about to engage in the time-honored tradition of diplomacy-

"How dare you sit on our father's throne!?" "Capture the trespasser!" "You violated God's most sacred place-!"

-which was completely ruined by some hot-head angels behind her that decided to throw out light spears and countless spells was a great idea.

I wagged my pinky and erased all their attacks before they could reach me. There was one angel fuming with righteous anger that flew up to me with a light sword, so I entertained his attempt by allowing the attack to shatter ineffectually against my eyelids.

I placed my hand on that one brave angel's shoulder and gave him a patient smile, "Are you done?"

Utilizing my remaining internal energies to manifest my mastery of laws into my magical aura, I then suppressed everyone gathered in the Seventh Heaven with my power, forcing them to their knees.

A moment later, I released the pressure and allowed them to stand, "Now that we have established the fact that harming me is an impossibility, allow me to debrief you all on the changes to the systems."

Then I did the convenient thing and shot them all with energy beams that directly transmitted a 'knowledge package' containing the highlights of my changes directly into their brains.

Yeah, I was getting too tired to talk, so I may as well pick the expedient route.

"If you would all say 'Menu' or 'Home' then you will be able to instantly access the new Heaven user interface by expending a bit of your energy." I opened up a holographic-like window in front of me then flipped it around so everyone can take a look at it, "Like so. You will be able to access this in all realms where the System reaches, which is, pretty much everywhere if you remember that a devil's weakness to light is carried across every realm including the ones owned by other pantheons. Those weaklings never comprehended the greater laws much and could never sense the system's reach, I suppose that still applies in the present."

I ended up muttering about the 'power idiot' natures of most gods in this universe, and then suddenly realized that every one of these supernatural beings could pick up on what I just said under my breath.

"Father?! Is that truly you?" "I can't believe it, I had eyes but could not recognize our Creator." "Hahaha! Father, you too have mastered Ninjutsu, to hide from us for so long…" "Why did you not return to us till now?" "Can I get a hug?" "I will get the first hug!" "Out of the way!"

The original Seraphim and a couple of other original angels were already jumping to the wrong conclusion, while the reincarnated angels were just offering up their prayers in awe and supplication.

"Wait, stop! This is a misunderstanding! I'm human, really!"

I yelled out as I dodged their attempts to catch me in a good hug.

They paused for a moment after checking their lie detector, before Metatron suddenly exclaimed, "I see! Our Heavenly Father had reincarnated into a human!"

Stop agreeing among yourselves! And stop watching those anime featuring cute girls that were reincarnations of famous ninjas in history, Metatron!

"Look, I don't remember anything about being god, alright?"

"That means you just lost your memories but your instincts led you back here to help us in our time of need!"

I'm seriously getting too tired to deal with this.

"If I had any memories of past lives then I only remember my human ones so give it a rest."

"So you admit that you have reincarnated before?"

"Yeah, I did. Oh no…"

Oh crap, I let that one slip!

Note to self, explain that to Airi tomorrow before more drama ensures.

"Um… I don't have many memories of my previous life-" Which was true since my perfect memory only applied to my second life, "-and it is impossible for me to be the God you knew."

Several alerts flashed red in front of their improved Heaven UI pointing out my words as a lie!

What the hell?! How is that a lie? I said it was impossible and it's… true?

Did I really believe that? No way...

I suddenly realized that I didn't truly believe it was an impossibility because I have read too many Xianxia stories, inspected enough of the multiverse, and had real suspicions of the Biblical God being more than he initially appeared upon inspecting his systems!

The story of a Xianxia MC suddenly turning out to be the reincarnation of a much higher god is actually not that rare. Well, the circumstances of the MC's lineage not being so simple isn't rare, the specific part about being a reincarnated god is very rare.

But it's been done before and I wouldn't put it beyond the being that sent me here to give me a surprising backstory or retroactively applying details to my soul that make it appear as if I was a reincarnated god all along!

"Look, Father is remembering now!"

"No, I'm not." I spoke firmly and then sighed, "But I am considering the possibility that I had more past lives than I could have imagined. Even so, you should just proceed as you have always done, if it turns out to be the case then you can count it as a pleasant surprise, until then, I do not wish to get your hopes up for nothing."

There is not much benefit for me being a reincarnation of the Biblical God anyway. It's not like there are many relevant legacies around for me to grab hold of.

Hmm, it seems like they're starting to see some sense, good, good…

It was at this moment that I found myself caught off guard by the sudden appearance of boobs right in front of me.

I sucked in a cold breath of air as Gabriel smiled brilliantly and thanked me, "I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart. My brothers and sisters couldn't tell, but as the administrator of the systems, I could understand the improvements you made instantly. It feels like a great burden has been lifted off my shoulders."

Being completely honest with myself, I totally did not expect to be thanked by the angels after invading their most sacred part of Heaven. I predicted that they would show their appreciation a couple of years later when they calmed down, but I didn't expect that I would get some sincere appreciation so quickly.

I felt overwhelmed by her kindness and understanding, it took my great effort to withhold the urge to yell 'Gabriel Maji Tenshi' when that would be extremely redundant.

Her beautiful expression gave me a burst of energy and I matched her smile with an equally radiant one, "I'm glad that I could help. I came up here just thinking about doing the right thing-" The 'right thing' for me and my family before eventually getting around to making the system work better for the people that needed it most, "-as quickly as possible. I was willing to cause some trouble if it will solve the short and long-term issues. But I think it's worth it knowing that you won't need to overwork yourself to the point where you fall asleep behind your desk again."

Gabriel had the cutest blush on her face and shyly said, "Y-yes! I will endeavor to not repeat my brother's bad habits!"

… Did she just innocently diss Michael's workaholic behaviors? Nevermind, I'll think about that later.

"That's good. You should take better care of yourself. Ah, wait, I have just the thing." I transferred all sorts of artifacts and helpful potions into a small interspatial ring, then handed it over to Gabriel, "This interspatial ring is filled with lots of things to help you work and rest better."

"Ah, thank you very much! I'll treasure it along with the blanket you gave me."

"Ahaha… was it that obvious it was me?"

"I reviewed the recordings when I woke up to find who gave me something so comfy. While I couldn't see you I could still hear your voice."

"So it was like that…"

My intent to hide my presence completely using the technique was bypassed because I spoke to her without really wanting to hide my words?!

I wouldn't have made such a mistake if I had more experience in using my technique.

I blame Issei, it's all his fault for the inane 'Oppai' chant battering against my mental defenses!

"I will wait for things to calm down for a bit, but if you all would forgive me for doing all of this so suddenly, then I wouldn't mind helping to improve Heaven's defensive mechanisms among other things. Oh right, you all can have these artifacts for research too. I also have these Sacred Gear prototypes that need some dragon cores to work, I'll leave them with you all to do as you wish."

"Oh! You forgot to share your name with us!"

"Just call me Dio! I was born a human, you can just check the system for further details."

I dropped a whole pile of my 'decent' weapons, defensive artifacts, Sacred Gears, and 'knick-knacks' that I made on a whim before teleporting right back home to sleep.

If I spend any more time in Heaven they might just convince me to create a new angel for them since I was too tired to argue. I could totally have done it easily but Airi would have gotten mad at me for making a child without considering the full consequences of it.

That said, if I did just that, I would use Gabriel and my own energies as a template so that I could hook her in with the 'adopted daughter' cliche.

I woke up the next morning completely refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

"Hmm? What are all those presences outside my house?"

I looked out the window to see Gabriel and well over a dozen angels camping outside my mansion. Upon noticing my gaze, Gabriel happily waved 'hello' towards me, which I dumbly reciprocated before grabbing for my ringing phone.

"Darling, mother Irina is smugly pointing at her conspiracy theorist-like board that's about you being the reincarnation of the Biblical God. Is there something I should know about?"

"Yeah, I was just about to call you about that, but I ended up using most of my energies last night and really needed some sleep."

"Hmm, hmm, did this have to do with breaking into Heaven? And why there are angels in front of my house staring at me weirdly?"

"Wow, that's a shame, the angels looking at me from outside my mansion are all smiles... Gabriel especially."

"I take my eyes off you for a few hours and you've already gotten a start with Gabriel of all people? Ahaha… I really don't know whether I should laugh or groan now…"

Chapter 14

Over thirty people were invited into my house to enjoy an early breakfast.

I already had five people (excluding myself) that were living in my home on a permanent basis so that was an automatic plus five when I include Artemis, Alfia, Fiore, Radia and Nazica.

From Heaven's faction, I counted Gabriel and two of her Brave Saints (both of which were Seraph level), Griselda Quarta and Mirana Shatarova. Then there was Dulio Gesualdo, Metatron, and his 'Jack' Kiyotora Shinra and another ten angels that weren't noteworthy in my eyes but I felt compelled to invite them in any way since they were standing outside my house for well over two hours.

The usual culprits from the Hyoudou Family that I called the 'magic research squad' were present as well. Namely Le Fay, Rossweisse, her daughter Helmwige and Kurenai. The latter two could be here since they don't bother attending school, like Airi and I.

Speaking of Airi, she was here too, along with her mother Asia and the rest of the 'church trio', Irina and Xenovia.

The number of in-laws I had invited in didn't stop there as I finally met Rias Gremory and Ravel Hyoudou nee Phenex properly as their husband's 'representative', as my previous actions would have wide ramifications across the entire supernatural community since God was a huge deal back in the day and Issei was the designated 'symbol of peace' equivalent right now, so he needed to be involved in this discussion one way or another.

On a surface glance, it would have appeared as if he had sent Rias and Ravel to confirm some things about me and to express his concerns for the wider supernatural community (that had yet to find out about the latest news from Heaven's rumor mill and official channels), and that he had the foresight to send his wives in his stead to keep things from escalation due to our 'tense' personal relationship.

While Issei Hyoudou has gotten more politically canny, the fact of the matter was that the two devil princesses (or rather Queen's, in a way) had pretty much scolded him to sit his ass down in his office and let them 'handle me' since they knew we would start criticizing each other and escalating in no time.

That was one of their main reasons for coming over, their other main reason, was to finally meet their son-in-law who married one of their precious daughters. They had a generally positive impression of me and I had no intentions of messing it up.

Hence my decision to treat them all to the best breakfast possible!

My reluctance to leave all the mob angels that were patiently waiting for me to wake up also stemmed from this heaven-sent opportunity to further improve my image in everyone's eyes by showing just how generous and compassionate I can be.

That said, I needed to have a dozen paper clones working like madmen in the two minutes I had to receive everyone into my home.

Refurbishing my dining room at the last possible minute was as much of a priority as was preparing a breakfast worthy of true immortals!

In order to host so many people in my dining room at once, I needed to activate the space-time formation arrays installed in my home as one of the hundred defensive arrays for utility purposes. Using my powers to directly expand space would screw up my current defensive schemes (which were pretty outdated now that my power had increased by leaps and bounds) so that option had to be shelved until I can turn my fortress of a home into a Domain ruled by god-like entities.

My clones utilized their master craftsmanship that I had evolved further from my Essence of the Crafter to transform the dining room into a dazzling feast hall with transmutation and a few finishing touches by hand.

The rest of my clones had quickly gathered up ingredients for an English Breakfast from my many secret realms before secluding themselves in the secret realm hidden in a painting with the highest time dilation rate (and absurd power requirements, even for me) of 1000:1 to serve as a kitchen.

When I brought everyone into the refurbished dining room they were all met with the sight of an impossibly beautiful room with their food and drinks already being served by my clones wearing chef and butler outfits. The unmarried females of the room were, at minimum, 'highly intrigued' by the impression given by the cosplaying clones sharing my likeness.

Immediately after taking in the feast for their eyes, the aromatic fragrance of the food and drinks made with some of my best ingredients diffused into the surroundings made them all sniff the air in delight.

Not bad for 'two minutes' worth of work, if I dare say so myself!

And I do dare, because all the work was done by me, quite literally.

I may not be able to use these clones for speeding up my training effectively like the Shadow Clone Technique, but there were many 'pros' to my Paper Clone technique, including the fact that the clones could perform any non-innovative task I was capable of while having no autonomy and couldn't refuse to work as lazy shadow clones could.

"You'll find that your seats have already been arranged accordingly, we'll be having an English full breakfast with ingredients freshly chosen and prepared from my personal realms. You may find more details on the menu printed and placed on each of your seats."

We ended up slightly delayed on the way to the chair because a few angels were on the verge of crying because their 'father' lowered himself to serve them food. Those mainly consisted of the 'pure angels' and none of the more skeptical reincarnated angels.

Speaking of reincarnated angels, Irina Hyoudou nee Shidou was (surprisingly) part of the group that did think I was God's reincarnation and was over the moon about getting to eat food prepared by me. Her prayer of thanks even consisted of a reference to that time when Jesus served his disciples at the Passover.

"H-how could this be? I can feel immense power radiating from the food!"

Rias Gremory was looked at with a "you'll get used to it" look from the Hyoudou 'magic research squad' for her reaction. Speaking of those in-laws, they were being quite rude with all their scanning magic circles recording every detail of my meal!

Just eat it already!

"Mnn! What an aroma! Just smelling it is enough to wake me up!" Ravel had clearly moved on to become a coffee person after working with Issei's hectic schedule for so long.

"Haha, I assure you, drinking it will be far better than just consuming the aroma. This Blaze Heart Spirit Coffee blend is one of my specialties."

Ravel perked up at the odd sight of me speaking normally despite the distance between us, while her supernatural senses would have allowed her to pick up a whisper, my normal volume would have been 'louder' to her ears.

I addressed everyone and waved it off, "I have an enchantment placed that will enable words addressed to any recipient to be heard at the volume intended by the speaker."

Airi, who was seated beside her mother, whispered, "For the sake of my sanity, please enchant our home's dining room with that."

Ah yes, family meals at a harem protagonist's household can be a nightmare.

Asia Hyoudou smiled brightly and echoed her daughter's sentiments with hope in her eyes. I was swiftly bombarded by the rest of the Hyoudou family with requests to add that enchantment to their home.

I greatly appreciated Rias Gremory's opportunistic nature when she said something different by immediately throwing an offer to advertise my special enchantment services in the future.

A few pure angels that could lip-read (excluding Gabriel and Metatron) looked like they were about to shout 'you dare?!' at Rias Gremory for her shamelessness.

I simply chuckled then had my clones respond to everyone (and prevent the angels from escalating) while politely declining my mother-in-law's business offer. Judging by her smile, it looked like she approved of my action and would probably badger me frequently until we got back to the negotiation table.

"Little bro, I can make these meals for you if you let me know ahead of time, remove that magic circle away and eat already." I said to Kurenai and then looked at everyone, "That goes for all of you too, stop admiring the food and start already."

Rampaging Dragon Cow Sausage, Golden Pig Back Bacon, Sturdy Earth Chicken Sunny-Side Up Eggs, Taotie Tomatoes, Rainbow Mushrooms, Sage Herb Bread, and Crimson Blood-Path Understanding Beans served with a cup of Blaze Heart Spirit Coffee.

In Airi's case, she hasn't quite acquired a taste for coffee. so I gave her some Exquisite Soul Orange Juice instead.

At any rate, their reactions were on point and wouldn't be out of place in a cooking manga.

Their eyes sparkled with delight as they continuously gobbled down the meal prepared for them. Half the angels, who were probably used to subsisting on 'ordinary' food and avoided luxurious foods, wept tears of joy as they consumed the meal. The Seraphs did not react in such an over-the-top manner despite their clear enjoyment, Dulio in particular, ate his food at the slowest pace in order to discern its true quality.

For the rest of my guests, the utensils in their hands never stopped moving until the end, where they savored the piping hot coffee containing profound insights into the Laws of Fire. The only people that would get the full benefit from drinking the coffee would be members of my household that had all been taught my brand of magic (which allowed them to slowly develop their native magical systems towards a supernatural reactor like my own) and the basics of Cultivation, allowing them to absorb and contemplate those insights later on to further their Cultivation.

I felt a deep sense of satisfaction with everyone's current manner of eating. The ones that ate without constraints were proof that my cooking has nearly reached that of an Immortal Chef.

"Mnn! Delicious! Hmm, hold on…" Artemis, who was sitting directly to my right (as Airi was sitting with her family, Artemis gets the first wife seat by default), looked at me with a suspicious gaze, "If you could make out meals this satisfying all the time then why didn't you?"

"We all made the decision to split cooking duties equally. 'Cheating' by relying on high-quality ingredients would undermine your growing confidence in your cooking skills and set unrealistic expectations for mealtimes." I answered honestly while not mentioning the times where I had to train my basic cooking abilities by repeatedly preparing immortal-grade ingredients and taste-testing my own dishes until I got it right.

I wasn't about to let my women eat anything less than my best when it came to dishes of the next realm, which was why I didn't let them taste my 'failure' dishes.

"Have I reached the level of the divine dishes you were used to in the realm of the gods yet?" I asked Artemis who was looking at me with pride in her eyes.

"Quite so. It would be only counted among the 'average' graded meals, but it is still a meal fit for divines."

"Hmm, as they say, there are Heavens beyond the Heavens."

I really wanted to say "There's always a bigger fish", but since I'm a Xianxia MC I have to use the appropriate terminology instead. Urgh, maybe I can indulge a bit when I visit Star Wars myself…

"The coffee is wonderful, and if your brewing skills is this good, then you really should try making some wine. I would rather not rely on Soma or the other gods of wine for my supply."

… Come to think of it, I don't remember ever giving Artemis any alcohol before. Airi and I generally abstained from alcohol, my wife did so because she's a 'good girl' when it comes to the strangest laws, while I made sure to remain sober so that I wouldn't let a hint of my not-so-nice thoughts slip out.

My gut feeling says that it's a 'bad' idea to get Artemis drunk… then again, the 'bad' ideas are often the most entertaining ones so I'll do just that.

"Same here. I'd rather not pop by Orario anytime soon, at least, not without Alfia tagging along." I say while narrowing my eyes at the warrior mage that wouldn't visit the people she knew until she had achievements that would not result in her 'losing face'.

"I can't show my face to my Familia, sister, and nephew-" Tch, so close, "-until I have more satisfying stories to share with them." Alfia returned the look as she 'reminded' me to take responsibility and shove her into a situation where her skills could be put to good use.

Personally, I think that she should consider 'up-skilling' for more peacetime skills since she's really sounding like an unsatisfied retired hero that's going through a midlife crisis. Not that I would say that to her face, she is already sensitive enough about her age after having lived with silver hair for so long.

Despite my own gripes, I did agree with her with regards to facing challenges, performing great works and gaining even more power in doing so. In the end, power and wisdom were necessary to surviving the dangers of the multiverse, the pursuit of both while still keeping to one's ideals is essential to a successful life.

"You should get into video games then. Try the Final Fantasy series, who knows, I might just toss you in one of those worlds while you're asleep and eagerly await tales of your accomplishments."

I almost laughed at Alfia's annoyed look, she knows full well that I would actually go through with it, which means she would actually have to start playing video games if she wants to aim for the 'golden ending'.

Well, well, looks like I can teach a fantasy hero some new tricks (video gaming) and have them utilize their life skills without wasting any effort!

Our private conversation was soon interrupted by my in-laws and the various factions gathered together in the room. The first thing we ended up addressing was the 'reincarnated god' part where I reiterated everything the angels and I discussed yesterday for everyone's benefit with the good old memory projection spell.

"So you're actually one of those overpowered reincarnated protagonists that you have always complained about?" Airi grinned slyly in my direction with enough smugness to match Spongebob when he caught Squidward stealing a Krabby Patty.

"It doesn't count. I barely remember who I was in my past life." I quickly answered her when I had the premonition that Rias was going to ask an age-related question, which would make things awkward. "I worked myself to the bone exploring my surprising amount of power and numerous talents until I forgot my old name and a lot of other things."

I wasn't surprised to see Airi taking the revelation so well, after all, our love for one another could never be in doubt! The eventful year we spent together as husband and wife had also prepared her to handle surprises such as these so the only people I had to reassure was everyone else that wasn't part of my immediate household.

Gabriel, on the other hand, seemed to have taken it the wrong way and looked upon me with worry. I quickly reassured her that it wasn't a terrible life, just one that I succeeded too well in setting aside to deal with my new life, to the point where I forgot most details but still retained key impressions of.

The beautiful angel on my left (and a few pure angels) seemed relieved after my clarifications.

With that dealt with, the discussion moved on to how the various factions and supernatural communities would react to the changes to God's System and the Sacred Gear System.

Kurenai essentially summarized the Grigori's POV for the latter system, namely that they would be disappointed with the lack of research material, but would be looking forward to seeing how Sacred Gears develop now that I introduced much more flexibility and stability. Not having to kill Sacred Gear users with a penchant for running amok would make most fallen angels happy, except for the sadistic ones that are looking for an excuse to kill humans (e.g. Raynare), which apparently, was still a thing.

Ravel echoed her son's (technically Akeno's, but the children are all shared within the Hyoudou household) sentiments for the devils, only with less research focus and more on 'recruitment potential' points.

Artemis furrowed brow gave away her confusion, "Hold on, why are Sacred Gears even given to humans if they're going to end up in the hands of non-human races anyways?"

Thankfully, I did not have to give Artemis the exposition scene, since everyone had their own opinion on it. Rias shared the general devil viewpoint (e.g. Greed in collecting shinies, battle potential, etc...) without any shame, Kurenai gave the Fallen Angel's more practical reasons (lowest population, desperately need human agents, etc...), Dulio built up on Kurenai's explanation and then double-downed on how the Angel's were in an even worse position due to the death of God.

"-To sum it all up, unless you have the protection of a magician's association or another faction like Cao Cao's supernatural world policing group, Sacred Gear users will always be sought after and will not be able to live peacefully, especially when they have awakened. The situation isn't as dire as it was from all those decades ago now that we are at peace, but there is no practical reason to change the recruitment playbook. If everyone is treated as an equal partner with terms being fair and adhered to then any recruitment method that does not necessitate a race change is no different from an employment contract."

Le Fay tied everyone's viewpoint up nicely and then introduced the human perspective to it, although, it's fair to say that Le Fay was biased given that she grew up in a prestigious human family that never had to deal with those issues and didn't have a Sacred Gear.

Fiore, Radia, and Nazica were already running some Magus 'calculations' in their head. I didn't have to worry about them falling for anyone's shameless recruitment strategies since I made it very clear that the path I laid out for them would grant them more power and benefits than everyone else's.

Instead, I would look forward to the inevitable flood of idiots trying to recruit the female Magi from another world, so that I could finally beat some 'toads lusting after swans meat' to death.

Artemis wasn't thrilled with the situation, but I whispered some reassurances to her (telepathically) that I would settle the matter in the future.

"This is a waste of time. Everyone here is committed to this 'new era' of peace and co-operation so all this concern about 'poaching talent' and other trivialities is a worry of the past. Unless of course, this is merely a prolonged ceasefire with a secret build-up of forces on all sides…" Alfia's provocation incensed everyone right until she changed tracks and smiled, "-but from all I have heard from Airi about everyone's efforts, I sincerely doubt that is the case."

Alfia didn't seem very concerned since she was born in a world where other races get along and differences were set aside when there was a common goal to work towards (like not letting the dungeon end the world). She understood that while the current situation wasn't ideal, it would still get better in the long run so long as the leaders were genuinely committed to the cause and were competent in working towards it.

And besides...

"Besides, Dio wouldn't allow that to happen."

… I wouldn't let any idiot warmongers, selfish people in important places of power, and relics of a bygone era get in my way of turning this world into a paradise worthy of being dwelled in by Airi, Artemis, and any other women that I would come to love.

I grinned and nodded in agreement to Alfia's words, which further assured Artemis (and Gabriel?) at the same time.

"Rightly so. There's a lot of work to be done in the world, but if everyone does their part then at some point racial divides and old faction conflicts will be a thing of the past." Some adjustments to their education, social values, and media messaging over a long period of time will ensure that happens, which I will be involved in if necessary, "As for the mundane side of things, I'll be handling that. Dealing with pollution, inefficient technologies, and improving resource distribution will be the first thing on my to-do list."

"That sounds like something that everyone in the family would love to pitch in for, but I feel like we ended up digressing a fair bit." Ravel chimed in and brought everyone back to the main agenda, "To sum it up, the Biblical Factions won't be shaken up by the Sacred Gear changes. And for the sake of brevity, I can safely say that by and large, no one really cares about Heaven's System getting an upgrade."

Leave it to best manager Ravel to sort everything out in a clear way!

"-Whether or not my son-in-law is the reincarnated God of the Bible doesn't matter either, the real issue is that some Angels believe that he is and has undoubtedly leaked it to someone else, who will then leak it to someone else until it reaches the factions that felt themselves wronged by or live in fear of the God of the Bible. This involves the Underworld since most devils, old and new alike, believe that if the Biblical God was still among the living, would gather up Heaven's forces and start Great War II. The same applies to the Fallen Angels, albeit to a lesser extent."

"It would be painful to fight such a war again after we made such great friends from all sides." Gabriel had a sorrowful expression as she said those words… while not at all denying that she would have done just that if God commanded her to do so.

The implications were not lost among everyone in the room.

Only Airi, my household (Artemis, Alfia, Fiore, the Pental sisters), the 'magic research squad' and Asia Hyoudou did not show a shred of worry at her statement.

"Well, that's pretty easy to solve. Give me 5 seconds."

I invoke the Transcendent God Art, [Unified-Realm, Divine Augmentation], once more and utilize my existing clones to maximum effect.

Every devil designated with the 'sleeping disease' and any devils within the 'healing range' of those patients were healed instantly.

One second has passed.

I tracked down every injured and sick Fallen Angel and human members of the Grigori in order to restore them back to full health.

Two seconds have passed.

Quickly accessing the system through the Throne of Heaven, I made a couple of adjustments to the system governing the angels.

Four seconds have passed.

Several items were retrieved and placed into one convenient interspatial ring for what I had in mind next.

Five seconds have passed.

The technique ended and left me feeling a little bit 'heavy'. It looks like there's some problems with using it repeatedly in a short time frame, or the imperfections of the technique are finally becoming apparent. It looks like I still need to Cultivate the technique a lot more.

To everyone else, it would have appeared as if I had never left my seat, they were looking at me awkwardly in silence until five seconds had passed.

Gabriel was the first to notice that something was up, "Oh my, everyone, please check your notifications."

Irina, Dulio, Metatron and the other angels proceeded to do just that.

"Mother-in-law, I believe that Sona Sitri is a good friend of yours, correct? Why don't you call her and see if she's checked up on her father's condition?"

"Why would you… oh, I see!"

It's good to know that Rias is quick on the uptake.

"I-It's trending all over Devilnet, many devils inflicted with the sleeping disease have suddenly woken up!" Ravel got the news a lot quicker from her phone, figures that she would be keeping track on social media since she has to handle Issei's branding.

"Technically it's all the devils afflicted by it." I added in casually while drinking some iced chocolate, "I also healed any patients near them, if any. I did the same for many members of the Grigori as well. I'm sure that counts as a start in showing the concerned factions that the rumored reincarnated God, if he did return, is not about to smite them anytime soon."

"No way… you can really do this?" Dulio was the most composed out of all the angels that were still trying to process what was on their Heaven UI, "Angels won't be falling at a single mistake anymore, they get chances to repent just like humans. Angels don't have to worry about 'lust' when having sex so long as they are married in holy matrimony. Th-this is pretty awesome! Man, I already liked you the moment I saw that breakfast, but wow! We have got to hang out sometime!"

"Doesn't seem like it will impact Irina much." Xenovia simply smirked at her long-time partner, "Pretty sure there was nothing 'pure' about what we did in the bedroom."

"X-Xenovia, you idiot! That's totally different!" Irina promptly lectured Xenovia on how proper the 'union' of man and woman is within marriage.

"Just pointing out the fact that it wasn't the case with Angel and Angel marriages, what I did was simply a few patches to rectify the mistake that the last owner of the System probably didn't get around to doing." I quickly contributed to Irina and Xenovia's chat, then continued for everyone's benefit, "As for the grace system, the same logic applies here. If humans get the chance to repent from their sins then I don't see why Angels shouldn't receive the Grace of God either. In this case, they'll get a private warning that they will fall within months if they don't genuinely repent and seek forgiveness, in this case, from Gabriel. Their wings won't blacken during this grace period so that they won't be shamed or judged by their peers and can privately resolve the matter of sin without external pressure."

I was suddenly 'glomped' and received one of the most pleasant hugs in my life.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! Even if you do not know what it means to my brothers and sisters, I can tell you that to partake in the grace of our Father means the world to us!"

Before I could enjoy my situation, I was promptly taught just how much it meant to the angels by way of Metatron and every other pure angel (except Gabriel) started leaping and dancing in front of me like I was in a musical!

I was mortified at the sight!

Please, don't! YAMEROOOOO!

I only want to see beautiful women dancing in front of me, not male angels in priestly garments! I don't want this etched into my perfect memory!

Aaaaaaaah! It's too late, my divine senses won't let me not see it!

… At least I wasn't alone in my circumstances. Kurenai, my little bro, also looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.

I really did not need 2 Samuel 6 to be enacted in my dining room.

Okay, I think I have an idea. I need to take a pill that manifests my memories in place of my mental demons and punch it to death like any Xianxia MC that can't talk about their problems.

The rest of the meeting continued on smoothly after my most recent 'Act of God'.

To reassure communities that Heaven had taken action against in the past like the Faeries. In their case, I gave the Angels some 'gifts' to pass along to them, like my own version of Excalibur (Prototype) and Avalon from the Nasuverse that I made in my free time. Everyone was a little worried about handling a weapon that could output the equivalent of an 'Ultimate-Class' being attack under most conditions (with only a handful of seals released), until I revealed I had at least 16 improved versions stuffed in my inventory, and that I can hand over artifacts at that level of power like trash.

From then on I had the angels compile a more detailed report on every faction that might have some grievances and worries about Heaven so that I can customize some items for them.

Of course, I'm not going to truly 'appease' them or anything, considering that I'm going to arm Gabriel *cough*, I mean, Heaven as a whole with enough measures that will make the gifts handed away to everyone look like a bunch of E-Ranked Noble Phantasms trying to scratch Gilgamesh's Golden Armor.

To further ensure that Heaven wasn't missing out on the goodies, I gave them the Ark of the Covenant that I looted from one of the lost Nasuverse timelines, after recalibrating it to my power so that I can smite any mortal that touches it for lore purposes.

They had apparently lost it in the Great War when a spell sent by a devil flung the Ark of the Covenant into the Dimension Gap where it remained lost to this day.

A few people stuck around and spoke with my household to get to know them (and me, by extension). Gabriel mostly stuck to my side, until Airi ran over from where her mother was seated and latched on to my free arm, where they promptly started talking about various things while still holding on to me.

I spotted Fiore looking at me with her adorable flustered 'you pervert' expression. Mmm, that's the good stuff...

Ravel had, at one point, went up to Artemis and asked whether she wanted to meet with the Greek Pantheon of this world. To which Artemis questioned if Zeus and Hermes were still perverts, at Ravel's nod, Artemis summoned her bow and said that it would be helpful if Ravel could tell them to 'fuck off unless they want to die' if they asked about her.

Ah, that's my wife!

I can't wait to see her violently deal with arrogant males that try to get close to her!

After dual-cultivating together for a long time, it's safe to say that her arrows could probably blow up the planet rather easily just like Lostbelt Artemis... only, she can fire a barrage of it easily like how Lostbelt Zeus fires countless lightning bolts that all equaled Lostbelt Artemis's laser beams in power while all his limiters were applied and 90% of his power was dedicated to managing Olympus.

It's safe to say that Artemis could fight a strong Nasuverse Divine Spirit in terms of raw power, and maybe match Lostbelt Zeus at 10% of his power for a short period of time.

That pretty much makes her one of the strongest beings in this world, not that I would advertise that since Artemis likes keeping a low profile, and that I would be happy to oblige her since I get to watch ignorant males go after her and get a well-deserved beatdown.

Soon enough everyone left my home… which sadly included Airi since she needed to catch up and spend time with her siblings (the ones that didn't attend school) right now, and will be doing so for a few days since they weren't exactly happy with her leaving a clone to take care of them.

… Which technically makes this my fault since I grabbed her to elope to BOFURI's world and subsequently, the Nasuverse, back there.

Alfia took my advice seriously and went ahead to start her video game journey as I intended in the privacy of her own room. Resident gamer girl Artemis went along to help her get used to the RPG series and watch her play.

Which left me with Fiore, Radia and Nazica discussing a manner of topics including the deeper context of the previous meeting and my intentions to start an association of my own.

To my delight, they honestly stated their objections to a certain arrangement of mine, instead of expressing their distaste in an underhanded way.

"No offence to Fiore, she's talented, but she's a total beginner compared to us, much less my sister! I don't very much care about leadership so long as I get to do my thing, but I won't stand for someone so unqualified as our 'leader'."

Nazica was upfront with her reasoning and it was certainly something I have considered.

Like their cousins (the Pentel brothers), the Masters of Red, they were complete monsters in their field of magecraft thanks to their own innate talent and Waver's tutelage.

There were 7 Ranks (excluding the 'colors' like Touko and Aoko) within the Mage's Association, from highest to lowest: Crown, Brand, Pride, Fes, Cause, Count and Frame.

Fiore Forvedge was ranked 'Frame' within the Mage's Association, the kind of rank a crappy Magus like Ayaka Saijou would be ranked at. In practical ability she would actually be ranked at 'Count' (which is below Ritsuka Fujimaru's rank) after taking into account two things. The first of which was her innate ability called "Eulyphis", or Spirit Medium, that would enhance her family's Spirit Evocation specialty. And the second was her knowledge of human engineering and ability to make Mystic Codes like her Bronze-linked Manipulators that could be used with Spirit Evocation to let her contend with Magi above her weight class.

Radia and Nazica Pentel had the rank of 'Brand' and 'Pride' respectively. Considering that monsters like Touko Aozaki and Satsuki Kurogiri were given the rank of 'Crown', this meant that for practical purposes, the two of them held the highest and second-highest achievable rank for 'normal' Magi of the Mage's Association.

To put things in perspective, Zouken Matou held the rank of 'Pride' in his prime (and as a top-tier one at that), where he along with Charles Babbage and his pal Paracelsus slaughtered the entire Mage's Association in the London Singularity of FGO. In ideal conditions like being in his place of power, he was among those groups of humans that could win against a Servant.

Nazica would be the equivalent of an 'Early-Stage Pride' compared to Zouken Matou's 'Late-Stage Pride', yet even after everyone learned my brand of magic that equalized things somewhat, the power gap between just her and Fiore was like that of the clouds and dirt!

Nazica's Binding Magecraft would render Fiore helpless in seconds and would enable her to take down the equivalent of several high-class devils if she manages to reinforce herself before they blitz her using Knight Evil Piece boosted speeds.

As for Radia's combination of Binding Magecraft and Kabbalah thaumaturgy, well, she could have probably made it through the first four volumes of DXD if she had enough prep time and was on the side of the protagonists.

Radia would be considered an 'Early-Stage Brand' compared to Kayneth's 'Mid-Stage Brand' and various Lords of the Clock Tower's 'Late-Stage Brand' rank in terms of power. Taking into consideration that she was younger than Fiore and was 18 years old, that makes her one of the many 'geniuses' that you would expect from a Xianxia story, except she doesn't have Young Mistress level resources compared to someone like Kayneth.

… I can't believe one of my independent thought processes went into a power level and 'realm comparison' monologue.

I think I need some closed-doors Cultivation in an accelerated training realm to collect my thoughts.

"Th-that's not wholly untrue…"

Fiore, please defend yourself better!

Should I motivate her more? Should I say something like 'you dare offend me by disagreeing with this daddy's decision?'

No, that won't really help. She would just look at me like a pervert again, which is a cute look, but one that I should not overdo...

Radia, at least, looked like she didn't want much part in this, "The fact that you can't confidently state why you deserve such a position is worrisome enough. As we have all heard back then, humans are not necessarily considered highly among the Phantasmal specieses of this world, this new 'magician's association' needs to have a strong figurehead despite Dio being the true power behind the organization or it will look like a silly rich girl's club."

She shook her head, "As a researcher at heart, I would rather not take up a leadership position. I also believe that Dio has reasons beyond my comprehension for choosing you-"

Radia glanced at me for a moment and nodded.

Uwah, I just did it because Fiore's cute and we're alike, but I'll just keep quiet and pretend to be a profound sage.

"-but for the sake of not bringing shame upon his currently unfathomable reputation in this world I, Radia Pentel, would formally challenge Fiore Forvedge to forfeit your right to lead this budding association should you lose a little competition between us two."

Oh my, things are heating up, I didn't think they would look so serious about this… I kinda feel bad for jokingly wanting to make a sect now since they were being so considerate about my feelings and reputation.

"I accept your challenge. Then, as the challenged party, you wouldn't mind if I choose the nature of the competition right?"

"Certainly not. You may pick your own field of expertise and it would not change the result."

"Even so… I will keep things fair, let's have a test of our capability by trying something new and unique to this world. Let's have a Sacred Gear making competition."

Huh… I like the sound of that! I will have to find some way to subtly rig things in Fiore's favor, or at least, get her the support she needs to have an even chance.

"Excellent idea ladies! But did you know that the best Sacred Gears often have powerful beasts sealed within them? To make things interesting, how about I open up one of my secret realms for you two so that you can hunt a magical beast down for your Sacred Gear?"

Hosting a little competition between cute ladies is a lot more appealing than going into closed-doors Cultivation.

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ENIYA, Jan 31, 2021Report

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palacesound¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Joined:Dec 2, 2019Messages:337Likes Received:10,269

"Go ahead and choose any one of these Heavenly Welsh Dragon Gods I've been growing in my backyard, only 19.99 + shipping and handling into your sacred gears.

Shop at Dio's, the One True Garden Emporium."

palacesound, Jan 31, 2021Report

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