Chereads / Overlord of biblical proportions / Chapter 31 - Overlord of High School (24)

Chapter 31 - Overlord of High School (24)

Momonga met the new morning awake, for quite expected reasons, and even in some strange state of calm.

He explained to Albedo and Shalltear the situation in this world, at least as far as he understood it himself. He had explained to them about the fact that there were dangerous opponents lurking behind the scenes in this world. That no magical beings were out in the open among humans, and that it was necessary for Albedo and Shalltear to hide their inhuman bits and powers from potential observers.

Had his instructions worked? Partially.

When asked why they should do such a thing by Albedo and Shalltear, Momonga had no answer other than 'no one had done it before, so it was best not to break precedent without getting information about this world'. Besides, Momonga couldn't be completely sure that humanity didn't possess any trump cards on its side at this moment.

Sure, the existing humanity was incomparable to Nazarick – but Momonga shouldn't underestimate a potential opponent if he didn't want to be unpleasantly surprised at some point in the future.

Weapons, for example. Yes, the damage from any modern rifle was negligible, they had checked. As, luckily for Momonga, Raynare had some firearms she had found on the black market, mostly magical, but she had some regular ones among her stockpile as well. So Momonga was able to run a check and a small test.

The damage from the pistol was negligible, and even the higher powered rifle barely did more damage, the damage from all firearms was so-so. Perhaps on the level of a bow shot from a tenth level archer? The high rate of fire made it a more powerful weapon, comparatively the DPS was about a bowman of the thirtieth level.

Still, it was hard to use modern firearms with any meaningful effectiveness.

After all, the one holding the weapon was human, he possessed only human levels of reaction speed and accuracy, using even an automatic weapon to destroy a Death Knight level creature, effectively expendable by Nazarick standards, was nearly impossible.

Translated into numerical value after applying a Death Knight defense, even a large-caliber sniper rifle was barely capable of inflicting a few points of damage. Modern weapons required multiple hits on vulnerable parts of the body, as much as such a thing exists on Undead creatures.

That is, without hitting armor or shield elements.

Even so, ten or twenty shots hardly did anything meaningful for a Death Knight. Even to take out one such opponent would require at least a hundred, if not more, such shots, in very close successions. In other words, entire teams of trained snipers and many, many perfect hits, might be able to take down one Death Knight.

And that's assuming that the Death Knight would just stand still and take the hit.

While in reality, getting even one attack on a Death Knight would be an achievement in and of itself. Even if the Death Knight were to run in a straight line, over a clear field with no cover of debris, and despite being such a large target, its massive tower shield would make shooting it almost impossible. Of course, if a human could even get a bead on the Death Knight.

Being a creature that is much more powerful and agile than ordinary humans, its sprinting speed is not something that a human could compensate for. And also, despite its large size, the Death Knight does not lack for mobility, covering great distance in large strides.

Many other factors would also need to be taken into account, such as the fact that the Death Knight was quite intelligent and was capable of using some tactics. Like running between cover, or being able to take advantage of paths inaccessible to normal humans. For example, it was not difficult for the Death Knight to break through walls on its way, or to make large leaps crossing buildings, easily getting closer to the target.

Adding to this, the Undead did not get tired, their wounds did not disadvantage them in any way until the moment of their death. And, lastly, they're very intimidating creatures. The very factor of intimidation and pressure from the Death Knight's figure approaching at excessive speed for a human, and even one Death Knight, became a big problem for a modern army.

A Death Knight would require artillery, tanks, and missiles to put down. And even with such heavy ordinance, a Death Knight could easily survive a couple dozen direct hits, and it was difficult to hit a fast target like the Death Knight. Once he got to his target, he could easily outgun a full artillery formation, especially given their inability to shoot close-up, or open up a tank like a tin can.

And it was only one Death Knight, what if there were two, three, or ten?

With some rudimentary tactics and even a simple enough plan, they could be a real issue for an entire army, one that would require significant support to take down, as conventional weapons were barely capable of scratching a Death Knight.

And that was only true of a Death Knight. Even though it had the defense of a level forty creature, it was, after all, nothing more than 'trash' MOB by Nazarick standards. Many high-level creatures or players' personal NPCs had complete defense against all types of non-magical or ranged attacks.

In other words, the weapons of the modern world were not capable of wounding them at all.

The only question about the modern world's ability to resist Nazarick's high-level NPCs was nuclear weapons. That is, if they were still considered non-magical weapons, then they could not overcome the defenses of, say, Momonga himself. If not? Momonga didn't know what level of damage it could do to a high-level player or NPC, but he didn't want to test it on himself or the people of Nazarick.

However, even assuming that the people of this world would have the ability to respond to Nazarick on the battlefield, they wouldn't have the ability to respond to Nazarick's more esoteric abilities.

After all, Momonga didn't need to defeat his opponent on the battlefield, all he had to do was teleport into the office of the president or prime minister and use something like [Charm Species]. In a single swoop, Momonga would take control of an entire country without a drop of blood. Or, for example, he could use doppelgängers that could read the minds of others, or even more simply, he could 'bribe' people by showing them some magical abilities.

Even in his old world, a lot of the Princes and Kings of the Mega Corporations would sell an arm and a leg for Nazarick's ability to resurrect people.

Momonga was sure that many people would agree to anything if, in payment for their service, Momonga promised to resurrect their loved ones or something similar. He could even dangle immortality as bait…

"If you think about it that way, taking over the world is actually quite easy!" Momonga thought for a moment as he finished preparing himself for school. Taking a few steps outside Miki's home, his sense of mania was doused by Emotional Suppression, causing his steps to falter somewhat.

"No, what am I thinking, taking over the world? I'm going to school, school is not the place to speculate about world domination!"

Shaking off those stupid thoughts, and after a long mental distraction, Momonga came back to the reality in front of him. "So, I was able to explain to Shalltear and Albedo the need to not stand out in this world… But it barely worked!"

Shalltear tried long and hard to convince Momonga that she could pass for human and that it was absolutely necessary for her to go to school with him. She even, with great difficulty, and using Miki, found information about albinos and tried to convince Momonga that she could pass for an albino. Not to mention that Lord Peroroncino had provided her with a school uniform in addition to all her other costumes.

Momonga had to think of excuses in short order, like the perfectly rational reason that demons would obviously suspect something if Shalltear suddenly appeared next to Momonga at school. And additionally, recalling Shalltear's bio, Momonga was able to respond saying she clearly looked younger than Momonga, which meant she would have to enter a younger class. Meaning she would have to spend most of her time studying and surrounded by ordinary people rather than next to Momonga.

Given the problem with her ID, as in the lack of them, the discovery and the intense scrutiny Serafall and the Demons were paying to Momonga at the moment, the subterfuge would be revealed in short order. So after some more quick lies, he finally managed to convince Shalltear to stay home.

But it wasn't a tenth as scary as it had been with Albedo. After learning that she couldn't pass for human with her horns and wings, Albedo offered to cut them off completely! And Shalltear, Miki and Pandora's Actor didn't see anything strange in her suggestion. On the contrary, they tacitly supported her, nodding along as if it was the right thing to do!

Momonga was sometimes frightened by the loyalty of the people of Nazarick. Glad that they were loyal, but inordinately scared of their reaction should it be revealed that he was nothing more than a charlatan. That he was just ordinary Satoru Suzuki, rather than the Supreme Being Momonga.

Fortunately, this time too, he managed to convince Albedo. He reasoned that the problem this time was that although Albedo looked like a young beautiful woman, she was clearly older than the age of the students and would have to apply for a teaching position. And that would create even more difficulties than Shalltear's situation.

So, in the end, Momonga still managed to convince the girls to stay home. And, to keep them from being bored, he had given them an assignment, to help the Demiurge with his slowly growing business – i.e., the church. Raynare and her subordinates already knew about Nazarick and Momonga's subordinates anyway, so the situation could in no way get even more complicated at this point from this decision, could it?

For some reason, thinking that last thought and comforting himself, as he approached the gates of Kuoh Academy, Momonga felt as if his stomach was starting to curl up in rings by itself.

Strange… Momonga was sure he hadn't eaten anything expired this morning.

***

Rias Gremory continued to watch carefully as the crowds of students piled into Kuoh Academy, trying to find her target in the crowd of other students or pupils going about their business. Of course, Rias knew that no one, above all her brother, would allow her to be solely responsible for something as important as watching Satoru, and to a lesser extent, Issei Hyoudou.

But, as long as she remained under the watchful eye of the other Devils her brother, had placed in Kuoh, and only satisfied her curiosity rather than attempting to make contact with Satoru on her own, she would be fine. Her Peerage had already decided that trying to keep her from doing so, regardless of the danger, just wasn't worth it. They know very well just how stubborn Rias could be, after all.

Still, Rias… Wasn't exactly eager to disobey her brother's orders. Foremost, because Sirzechs would likely do something overly stupid and dangerous, and in Satoru's case, that could mean the destruction of Kuoh, if not the entire Underworld. And secondly because Rias had a rather poor idea of what exactly she was supposed to do with Satoru.

Yes, he looked like an ordinary schoolboy, close to her age even, but that barely mattered to the gods. Satoru could be ancient, being an incredibly ancient god, perhaps with thousands of years of experience under his belt, and he could look like a toddler, and he would be no less dangerous.

Just her conversation with him in the past had shown her the incredible gulf of power and experience between them. What if he had another conversation with him, would he get angry? Decide to destroy her? Maybe twist her around his finger. To compare it was like for her talking to a precocious child that like to talk with big words, over realizing that the grownups were just humoring them… Argh, why was this so hard!?!

But at the same time, even as she realized with every rational part of her mind that she needed to stay as far away from Satoru as possible – Rias just couldn't. At least on some small level, she could not ignore the fact that he could easily solve all her problems…

Rias Gremory, not just the heiress of a clan, but the contractor of an ancient god who had saved the entire Underworld from a horrific disaster. Doesn't that sound good? Riser Phenex would be like a pebble to her then.

Yes, Rias was well aware that she shouldn't have even thought about getting close to that, but… Couldn't she at least dream about it a little!

Akeno approached Rias and silently handed her a cup of tea. And when she found that she didn't even notice the gesture, she silently followed the direction of her gaze to the figure of Satoru. He's moving among the other students, looking as calm as if nothing in the world bothered him. It was like he was acting that his current position among the common people was the most normal of all possibles.

Could Satoru have been one of the gods used to interacting with humans?

Usually gods kept as far away from common people as possible, partly out of contempt and partly out of distrust, exceptions to that were mostly found in ancient times, but… The modern day was very far from ancient times when god was among men openly. And even ignoring that, the gods that do sometimes interact openly with humanity were all known by name, their appearances, abilities, and character.

And if her brother knew at least of Satoru's identity, that would already worth half a victory.

But instead, the Devils were simply twiddling their thumbs, flailing around like headless chickens trying their hardest to figure out his identity. Finding nothing, they were forced to be in the unenviable position of letting Satoru making the first move, hoping that it would divulge some clue about his identity. It was not a position that is comfortable to be in, especially when Satoru was able to fleece her an allowance of having a residence in Kuoh.

Without conditions, without ransom and without a single drop of blood.

And even though her family tried to convince her that it wasn't her fault, and she herself realized that it was ridiculous to expect her to be able to outplay the ancient master of intrigue that Satoru clearly was. It still bothered her.

After all, that conversation had been initiated by her, and so the current situation was partly her fault as well.

"Miss~tress?" Akeno, finding that her mistress, Rias, had her full attention taken by the figure beyond the window and had not reacted at all to the tea, raised her voice, addressing Rias directly.

"Ah!?" Rias, surprised out of her rather gloomy thoughts, turned to the side, almost making Akeno drop the mug as she too jumped in surprise, before she controlled herself, saving the cup of tea. Staring wryly at the cup of tea, Rias took it with a thanks.

"Yes, thank you, Akeno."

Akeno waited for a moment to see if Rias would make another comment, but she only looked away, retracing Satoru's steps back into the school building before exhaling and trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere in the Occult Studies Club.

"Any news from Sona?" Akeno asked.

"Nothing that we didn't already know. Nothing, that is." Rias replied, taking a sip before closing her eyes,

"If someone told me in that past that I would have a god as an acquaintance, I would be asking them what drugs they're taking and report it to my brother. Especially since I'll be attending the same school as him."

"Life is unpredictable." Akeno smiled without it reaching her eyes, as she definitely understood that phrase more completely than most. Sadly, it also meant that Rias can't exactly comment on it, letting the conversation die, returning the previous oppressing atmosphere in the room.

Rias pressed her lips together before taking a sip of tea, relaxed a little, exhaled, then looked from the window to the rest of her Peerage who were standing on their tiptoes. As they too don't know what to say. Deciding that she had been demonstrating behavior inappropriate for a King for quite some time, she spoke up, "Well, let's finish our sad thoughts for the day and get back to business."

Rias' optimistic tone sounded a little more strained than she would have liked for it to be, but under the current circumstances even that was enough to make her Peerage – Akeno, Koneko and Kiba, to cheer up a bit.

"Our studies waits for no one, gods or no gods, exams are coming up, and I'm afraid Sona won't accept any of our excuses if anyone failed." Rias smiled, not showing her real emotions on her face, before nodding, a little exaggeratedly, as if to drum into her Peerage's heads the fact that life continued as usual. Under the current circumstances, stability is exactly what they needed.

"So… To class – march on!"

Perhaps Rias was overdoing it a bit with the contrived optimism and exaggerated cheerfulness in her voice. But it's not like she has any experience in calming her Peerage when there's a god nearby, the closest thing she had was when her brother would visit, but the two couldn't compare at all.

Seeing the brittle smile on some of them, she knew that she had failed somewhat, but they would follow along anyway. While not exactly a good thing, her Peerage was used to dealing with uncomfortable situations. Their past notwithstanding, being a part of the Maou's sister's Peerage had somewhat inured them to dealing with people that could kill them with a snap of the finger.

That and Rias did have some experience with calming them down, her peerage being a ball of complex pasts and terrible circumstances, and she had some experience in calming them down. It barely compares… But what else could she do? Give up and cower in a corner, flinching at every rustle of sound, trying to see if the unknown god had come to do her harm?

No, that was not Rias Gremory's way, by no means! Life went on, and it was Rias' own duty to remind her Peerage of that, even if it was the Lord himself who would get in the way of their lives!

Ouch!

***

Demiurge, by the decision of the Forty-One Supreme Being, Guardian of the Seventh Floor and Archdemon who commanded his legions of servants, had always gravitated toward the ritualism of lofty church rituals and grandiose ceremonies. Never, however, could he even imagine allowing the thought of diverting the resources he had to fulfill the will of the Forty-One to those of his hobbies.

However, the genius Demiurge sometimes wondered why it was that the Forty-One Supreme Being had bestowed certain traits on certain servants of Nazarick. Why his Creator had given them curiosity in order to see the lofty plans of his Great Masters and to be able to unravel only a thousandth of the great plan. A plan that was prepared for Nazarick at the moment of his creation.

Why They had made him curious, for the mind of the Forty-One Supreme Beings was incomprehensible in its true splendor. And so Their every step, every movement and every word carried with it innumerable mysteries, giving rise to intrigues and strategies far beyond the comprehension of Nazarick's faithful servants.

But the fundamental impossibility of the servants of the Forty-One to grasp the depth of Their magnificence, meant only that each of Nazarick's inhabitants had to devote all their mind, soul and body, and more, in following Their plan. Not daring to distract the Great Creators from creating Their masterpieces, but becoming the instruments so that Their plans to come to fruition.

Each of the beings of Nazarick was an instrument, each had a role to play, and no part of the Cosmos of the Supreme Beings was created without a great plan. And so, it was the duty of each servant of the Forty-One not only to follow orders, but to understand them. To understand themselves in order to become faithful instruments of Their will.

So Demiurge had always tried his best to discern that invisible but so important will of his Creator. The most recent one directed in Demiurge himself and manifested through his love of ritualism and the sublimity of the church. But surely, as one would expect, even the Demiurge's gifted and genius mind could not fully unravel the great mission assigned to him.

Indeed, only the Supreme Beings could see so deeply and prepare him for the sacred mission of purifying the world as the Antichrist, just as They were creating him. He is to play the role of the ruler of all the vices of Earth, who was to purify this world of all unworthy sinners and prepare it for the coming of His Kingdom Come. Indeed, where the Forty-One created the world and reversed time he, Demiurge, was but a child following Their plans, like any instrument giving birth to a picture only through the skill of a true artist guiding its every movement.

Thanks to the plans of the Forty-One and his Creator above all others, it was so easy for Demiurge to realize the existence of a world outside the Great Tomb. Though of course it was not to be forgotten that Lord Momonga was the first of the Forty-One, Indeed, the creatures of this world were strange, but nothing more than that.

The common people, at least the impression was that they were more common in this world, were still the same people as before. Greedy, petty, and overall low-grade materials, hardly any of them caught Demiurge's attention, except in contemptuous anger when he realized the blasphemy they had committed in this church. Their achievements, if they could be called such, were as insignificant.

Deprived as they are of magic, they considered their 'civilization' a great achievement, extolling electric light, antibiotics, and the internal combustion engine, as cripples deprived of the ability to walk could boast of their crutches. The spectacle is funny in its sadness, but also in a way worthy of a great comedy.

How could it be unworthy of it, if they could not even use the crutches they vaunted?

Political intrigue, class struggles, competition between companies, complaints about problems, fictional or not, social, natural, technological, and everywhere, everywhere a single thought.

'We don't know what we want, but we will kill each other to get it!'

Demiurge considered murder an interesting pastime, and torture was an art as much as any other. The howl of pain could be used to create marvelous symphonies as much as any other instrument, except that it required more careful tuning and playing. And vivisection was a well-deserved field of science, to be put on the assembly line of sublime research.

But men, these creatures, marvelous in their stupidity and the singular cunning born of that, are so strange…

Fighting with each other, killing as they went, they simultaneously extolled the skill of fighting and deplored it in every way. Seeing the results of science in front of them, they censured whatever they deemed unsuitable, before changing their mind on a dime each time, in waves of denial and praise. They conducted the most interesting experiments only to get less than a crumb of information from those experiments, to tear the labor of generations to pieces and forget about it.

Indeed, genius growing out of stupidity, cunning based on insanity, and yet to tie it all is suffering, endless suffering inflicted on themselves and each other, so often in the true belief that this suffering was pleasure.

For example, their most intriguing, perhaps, indeed, the only 'intriguing' thing in the full sense of the word, invention; the computer.

Relying on silicon wafers modified with outstanding precision by small metal conductors, creating from the simplest binary function, the absence, or presence of charge, a complex logical system capable of calculating tens of thousands of complex equations. Certainly, the concept of such a mechanical assistant device was not new to Demiurge. CZ-2128 Delta, Shizu, one of the Pleiades Sisters, an Automaton, for example, were created by a similar concept.

Nazarick kept many secrets, including the most sophisticated technical solutions, in their diversity not inferior to computers, but much simpler, in the best sense of the word. Although complexity was a worthy measure of quality for works of art, the computer was primarily a utilitarian machine, where simplicity of design, while preserving their functions, was prioritized over artistry of execution.

Replacing the tangled lattice of wiring boards with a simple spell to summon low-ranking spirits, for instance, was much more efficient. Occupying negative space, while they are not the most useful in a fight, their considerable intelligence, which could be used directly to calculate equations and models, are much better than any processor the Humans could make. They are also completely modular, making any system, as large or as small as it needed to be, unlike the Humans, who needed to replace their obsolete computers.

Oh no, Demiurge was not trying to blame humans for being stupid, even if they were insignificant in their abilities, it was too stupid to blame worms for not being able to fly and require them to grow wings.

What really surprised the Demiurge, however, was that such complex machinery had been… So imperfectly utilized. Not in the sense that humans allowed themselves to use a technological artifact for the sake of gaming or watching pornography. Demiurge would be surprised if the petty nature of man did not prevail over them in that as well. But in the fact that humans were so laughably incompetent at using the wonders they had created.

Inefficient markings, substandard materials, deliberate errors made during production, It boggles the mind that such machinery had been created for the sole purpose of falling apart after only a year or two of use.

Moreover, as a quick superficial check showed, the mistakes and inaccuracies noticed by Demiurge, the opportunities for improvement were corrected and used every year… But only partly. Always leaving room for new improvements, never reaching perfection, leaving the possibility to 'improve' the product in the future by simply leaving a suitable amount of flaws.

People have always remained human.

Progress limited by their own base desires, money, fame, recognition…

The Internet is an excellent achievement for such a primitive species, but who used the possibilities of it to its full potential? Some corners of the internet were remarkably desolate, free, and anarchic. Others were so thoughtlessly fortified that a superb network and platform for action was effectively broken up into many small ones, barely touching each other, without being utilized to their full potential.

Humans were permeated by this amazing stupidity and yet ingenuity, divided states united in meaningless organizations. Institutions created to control entire societies, but utterly powerless in their function. Technological inventions left as mock-ups for future generations.

Demiurge spent all the free time available to him studying the current situation of this world, and thanks to the grace of the Forty-One, he needed no rest, food, or sleep. He had come to the conclusion that this paradoxical society was remarkably intriguing in its open stupidity.

An astounding field of experimentation that he had to conduct in the name of the Forty-One Supreme Being, to study and catalog. Before, having learned all the necessary lessons to destroy it, only to create in its place a new and more perfect society of His Kingdom Come.

But such a monumental undertaking could not be accomplished at the snap of a finger, at least not in the way that Lord Momonga could. No, every action had to be handled carefully, every plan had to be executed rigorously, starting with the small steps.

In fact, as amusing as it was for a mind created by the hands of the Forty-One, the Demiurge, to start at the bottom, to prove his power and ability to rise to the top from a humble church with only a handful of very… Unreliable followers. Lord Momonga was not willing to wait the years it would take for the Demiurge to become a behemoth on the world stage.

No, instead, His every action drew a thousand actions in response, and careful manipulations, calibrated with incredible precision, led to the expected outcome.

Azazel's pawn, this traitor awaiting the beginning of his personal Hell, had arrived in Kuoh…

To negotiate with the demons regarding his subordinates, and to meet with those subordinates, that is the Fallen Angels entrusted to Demiurge. Or at least, the pawn thought so, as Azazel thought so too, not realizing that Lord Momonga, the God they had once betrayed, had returned to punish, once and for all, the traitors who had desecrated the very notion of His grace by their very existence.

And instead, rather than Azazel's pawns meeting their contact, Demiurge was already waiting for his target.

And as what he could gather, this pawn of Azazel was quite outstanding in terms of his fighting abilities. According to what information, Demiurge had been able to glean from the followers entrusted to him, and yet, he was still so unprepared to face an opponent that he knew of his nature.

No, certainly a battle with this… Tobio? Was not part of Demiurge's plans, Demiurge was a demon of high standards that preferred to operate without resorting to open battles with opponents of unknown power. Especially if he could achieve his goals in other ways. Yet, his goal this time, too, did not suggest weakness.

A creature of this world, holding important information and, judging by the comments of the followers, possess a [Longinus], an artifact of similar power to the one found in the body of the dead Issei Hyoudou.

Surely, under such circumstances, Demiurge should not have pursued a battle, especially now that Demiurge was lurking under the noses of the so-called 'demons'... Just thinking of those that dared to taint the name of Demiurge's race with their existence caused no end of rage to boil inside him.

Demons who had betrayed their creator, that had betrayed God, that had betrayed Lord Momonga.

If Demiurge had not been a gentleman of exalted standards by the grace of his Maker, he would have spit acidic saliva on the floor at the mere thought of his traitorous 'kin'.

However, even though a fight might not be conducive to stealth, it was also highly unwise to let Tobio go. He is a source of valuable information and at the same time a danger that could both convey information about the Fallen Angels' loss of control over this church, and about the Supreme Being's reappearance in this world.

Demiurge had to bring about the execution of a perfect plan worthy of his exalted Lord's infinite ambitions to both subdue Tobio, and do it without the Demons noticing.

This was possible under the current circumstances, certainly, but at the same time Demiurge, as the true instrument of His will, had to set in motion a plan that allowed for no misstep in any possible of its iterations. And to make sure that his plan would go off without a hitch, for this Demiurge should have enlisted help.

Indeed, no matter how willing Nazarick's creatures were to do His bidding with all the diligence and zeal they could muster, in the end each of them realized that they all existed only to set His great plan in motion. Each of them was but one of the minor instruments of His will, and thus had no room in their souls for something as petty as 'envy' or 'wanting to be first'.

The very thought of such a thing was repugnant to Demiurge. The perfect order had already been created by the Supreme Beings, and whoever wished for more was to be destroyed as having defiled the design of the Forty-One – like the Fallen Angels who had betrayed Lord Momonga.

Plus, as the Bible said, as written by Lord Momonga's will, though, as Demiurge himself understood it, the word was a distortion of people's imperfect understanding of Lord Momonga's word – 'love your neighbor'.

This meant that Demiurge, following this commandment, had allowed his fellow loyal servants to rejoice in the divine mission, a service to Lord Momonga. And thus, to share in the greatest reward of all – the opportunity to become a faithful instrument in service to the fulfillment of His great plan.

And so Demiurge, upon learning that Albedo and Shalltear had come to his aid, was not surprised in the least. Indeed, his Lord had blessed Demiurge and gave him all the tools he needed to set his Great Plan in motion, that much was clear.

There was no other way to explain the fact that Demiurge needed proper assistance to ensure that Tobio was captured perfectly. And that it was at that moment that Lord Momonga had provided him with assistance in this mission with the perfect helper to do so.

Indeed, Lord Momonga - who else could be called Omniscient, if not Him!