(The Seventh Heaven - The Throne Room)
POV: Michael
For the next four hours, the heavy golden doors of the throne room stayed shut.
I sat alone in the blinding silence, my eyes closed, focusing on the heavy, pulsing energy inside my chest. I wasn't just a human named Michael hiding behind a mask anymore. My old memories and the Archangel's thousands of years of duty had completely merged into a single, seamless existence. I wasn't pretending. I was Michael. Twice over. This was my home, and these were my people.
As I pulled on the reality-bending power next to my heart, I looked at the broken pieces of the Heaven System. The [76% System Damage] wasn't just missing code. It was broken physics, failing miracles, and leaking energy. But with my new powers, I didn't need to patch the old God's work. I could just rewrite it.
'Fix it,' I commanded, pushing my willpower into the network.
As the massive network reconnected, I noticed a huge flaw. The old Creator had put hard limits on the Angels. He made it so we couldn't naturally grow our power. It was exactly why we were slowly losing the cold war to the Devils and Fallen Angels.
'Not anymore,' I thought, feeling a fierce, protective warmth for my family. 'We aren't going to be the weak ones anymore.'
With a single flex of my power, I grabbed those ancient limits and shattered them. I took the brakes off every Angel in existence.
When the last piece of the System clicked into place, a shockwave of pure gold light exploded from my body. It washed over all Seven Heavens before shooting down toward Earth.
(Earth - Vatican City)
POV: Dulio Gesualdo
Dulio stood in the courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica, halfway through eating a plate of pasta. Suddenly, he froze.
The air changed. A massive, warm wave of golden light crashed down from the sky, washing over the entire Vatican. The stone walls of the Basilica literally started glowing.
Dulio dropped his fork, his eyes wide in shock. His inner power was skyrocketing. The limits of his soul were expanding at a crazy, euphoric rate.
All around the courtyard, priests and exorcists fell to their knees. The holy blessings that had felt weak for centuries were suddenly rushing through their veins like a flood.
An old cardinal pressed his forehead to the glowing stones, sobbing loudly.
"The Lord..." Dulio whispered, grabbing his chest. He could feel the absolute, heavy presence of their leader watching over them. "He gave it back. The true light."
(The Seventh Heaven - The Throne Room)
POV: Michael
Seconds after the shockwave faded, the throne room doors burst open.
Uriel rushed in, followed closely by Raphael. Both of them were practically glowing. Uriel dropped to his knees at the stairs, tears of holy fire streaming down his strict face.
"Lord Michael!" Uriel gasped, his voice shaking. "The Vanguard... our wings feel like they're bathed in the first light! The growth limits... they're gone!"
Raphael looked at his glowing hands, totally confused. "This is impossible. The core equations were broken. But the readings show the System is at a hundred percent. How?"
I looked down at them, feeling a deep, genuine love for my brothers. I let my new, pure aura press down on the room softly, like a warm blanket.
"We're done playing at a disadvantage," I told them, my voice thick with emotion. "Our family has been decaying for too long. I couldn't sit back and watch us suffer just because the Creator isn't here."
I stood up from the throne.
"To save our family, I merged my soul with the root of the System. I took the top spot. I'm the new God."
Total silence filled the hall. Raphael gasped and fell to one knee next to Uriel. They could feel that I wasn't lying. It was the absolute truth radiating right out of me.
"Lord..." Uriel whispered, bowing his head all the way to the floor.
"Get up, Uriel. Raphael. Go tell the Vanguard to get ready for a new era," I ordered gently. "Gabriel. Stay here a second."
As her brothers rushed out to spread the word, Gabriel stepped closer.
"We're leaving for the Kuoh meeting right now," I told her softly. "Gabriel, when we sit down at that table, I need you to do one thing. Stay completely silent. No matter what they say, or what I do, just stand behind me and trust me. Can you do that?"
Gabriel blinked. As she looked at my glowing aura, her empathy kicked in. She felt my heavy burden, my focus, and my deep love for her and all of Heaven. Her eyes welled up with nostalgic tears.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, wiping her cheek. "It's just... seeing you like this. I trust you, Brother. Completely and unconditionally."
"Let's go to Kuoh."
(Kuoh Academy - Conference Room)
POV: Issei Hyoudou
The heavy wooden doors of the Occult Research Club opened, and the whole room suddenly felt like it was suffocating.
Standing there was the leader of the Angels, Michael, and right behind him was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
'Whoa...' I thought, my jaw dropping slightly. 'She's gorgeous! That blonde hair, those curves... wait, if I become a High-Class Devil and we get peace today, could I actually get an angel in my harem?! Oh man, an angel and a devil together... the ultimate dream!' I quickly wiped a bit of drool from my chin before Buchou could notice.
But my perverted thoughts completely vanished a second later.
As Michael stepped into the room, my left arm violently twitched. The Boosted Gear didn't even manifest, but I could feel Ddraig inside me shivering. A heavy, terrifying pressure filled the air.
"Issei..." Koneko muttered quietly beside me, her usual stoic face looking pale. "This pressure... it's hurting my Yokai energy."
Akeno wrapped her arms around herself, physically shaking as the pure holy aura rubbed painfully against her Fallen Angel blood. Kiba instinctively placed his hand on his sword hilt, sweating.
Behind the Crimson Satan, Grayfia Lucifuge, the strongest Queen, stiffened. She didn't draw a weapon, but her silver eyes locked onto Michael like he was a walking natural disaster.
(Kuoh Academy - Conference Room)
POV: Michael
I walked into the room, totally ignoring the discomfort of the Devils around me. My restored holy power was acting as an unbreakable shield.
Serafall Leviathan gripped the edge of the table, her eyes shifting right to my sister.
"Gabriel-chan," Serafall said, tilting her head. "You're awfully quiet today! You're usually the first one to say hello to everyone."
Gabriel just gave Serafall a calm, serene smile. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was being my silent shield, refusing to undermine my authority with small talk.
Across the room, the Red Dragon Emperor's arm twitched violently. Behind Azazel, Vali Lucifer tensed up completely, the voice of his dragon echoing into the room.
"[Vali... be careful. The being that just walked in... his pressure is entirely different from the past.]" Albion warned.
Azazel let out a low whistle and sat up, dropping his feet from the table. "Yo! Long time no see, brother," Azazel said with a casual wave. "Gotta admit, I thought you'd send someone else. But man... did you get a massive buff up there? You're giving off way more juice than usual, Michael."
Sirzechs quickly recovered his polite composure, though his eyes stayed sharp. "It is an honor to host you, Lord Michael. Though Azazel lacks manners, he is right. Your presence feels... much heavier today."
"Good to see you both too," I answered smoothly, walking to my seat at the head of the table. "As for the changes in Heaven, I'll explain during the meeting. Let's sit down and get started."
(Kuoh Academy - Conference Room)
POV: Michael
For the next hour, they talked. Sirzechs started by laying out the grim facts of their survival.
"The Underworld hasn't recovered," the Crimson Satan admitted, keeping his voice even. "We lost most of our pureblood Devils in the Great War. We only survive now by relying on the Evil Pieces to reincarnate humans into our ranks."
Azazel leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "The Fallen Angels are in the exact same boat. My numbers are in the gutter. If we start another war now, all three factions will go totally extinct. It's mutual destruction. That's why I'm pitching this peace treaty today."
Azazel suddenly looked past the table, pointing right at Issei Hyoudou. "But before we sign anything, we need to know where the wildcards stand. Hey, Red Dragon Emperor. You've got the power to tip the scales. What do you want? Do you want to fight Vali and start a war, or do you want peace?"
Issei jumped, turning bright red as every major leader in the room stared at him.
"I... I don't want a war!" Issei yelled, waving his hands frantically. "I just want peace! I just want to safely build a massive harem with beautiful girls and become a High-Class Devil!"
A heavy, awkward silence fell over the room. Rias put her face in her hands, blushing with total embarrassment. "Issei... not now..." she groaned. Sona sighed loudly, adjusting her glasses with a tired expression, while her Queen, Tsubaki, just shook her head. Azazel threw his head back and laughed out loud.
I sat there, watching the scene with total detachment. 'The fate of their entire world is riding on the raging hormones of a high school teenager,' I thought coldly, feeling a spike of disdain. 'This is a joke. It's a very good thing I took over the System.'
Grayfia cleared her throat loudly, steering the meeting back on track. The room finally turned to me. It was Heaven's turn to speak.
"Lord Michael," Sirzechs said smoothly. "If we want real peace, we can't keep secrets. We need to talk about God."
I looked around the room. Asia Argento was praying, and Xenovia was staring at me like a hawk. I felt absolutely nothing for them. They were strangers who had chosen their sides.
"The truth is simple," I said, my voice cold and firm. "God died in the Great War, right alongside the original Satans."
A sharp gasp came from the Devils. Asia covered her mouth and started crying. Akeno gently pulled the crying nun into a hug, her own eyes wide with shock.
Kiba clenched his fists, his body trembling. "God... was already dead?" Kiba whispered, his voice cracking. "Then... the Holy Sword Project... what did my friends die for? There was no God to answer their prayers?"
I just watched them, totally indifferent.
"But," I continued, raising my hand to bathe the room in a heavy, pure glow. "The throne isn't empty anymore. I fixed the broken miracle system. To save my family, I merged my soul with the root of reality. I'm the new God."
In the corner, Xenovia stumbled backward. She had thrown away her faith to become a Devil because she thought God was dead. Now, here I was. She bit her lip until it bled, shaking with crushing regret.
I watched her coldly. 'That's what you get for losing faith,' I thought. 'Not my problem anymore.'
At the table, the tension spiked. Sirzechs broke a sweat, realizing if I wasn't bluffing, the power balance was totally broken. Heaven was back on top.
Azazel let out a slow breath, his eyes wide as he forced a smile. "Well now... 'God'. That's a hell of a thing to drop at a peace—"
BOOM!
A massive explosion shook the school. The sky turned a sickly purple. A massive demonic barrier went up outside.
Sirzechs shot out of his chair. "We're under attack! Grayfia, protect the heirs!"
"Yes, Lord Sirzechs!" Grayfia responded instantly.
A gray wave of magic blasted through the broken windows. Gasper's Sacred Gear had been hacked. Instantly, all the color drained from the room. Rias, Sona, their teams, and the guards froze solid like statues.
Issei yelled, his red gauntlet appearing. "Buchou! What happened to her?!"
"Calm down," I commanded.
I didn't even stand up. I just pulled on the energy in my chest. 'Resume.'
A golden pulse hit the room. The gray tint shattered like glass. Rias gasped and stumbled forward as time caught up.
"Alright," I said smoothly. "Let's see who's causing trouble."
I snapped my fingers. Space ripped open in the middle of the room. A dozen guys in cloaks tumbled onto the floor. In the center was Katerea Leviathan. Thick chains of burning holy light shot out of the floor and wrapped around them tightly.
"What?! How did we get here?!" Katerea screamed, struggling against the light. "My magic! I can't feel my magic!"
"Katerea Leviathan," Sirzechs growled, his voice dropping low. "You dare attack my sister's territory?"
"Shut up, Sirzechs! You fake Satan!" Katerea spit at him. "We're taking back the Underworld—"
"Quiet," I ordered. The light chains tightened around her throat, choking her out.
But stopping the terrorists wasn't enough. The stolen magic was still leaking out of the school's basement.
"Let's unplug your battery," I said.
I snapped my fingers again. Space ripped open, and a small, blonde boy tumbled out onto the floor next to the terrorists. It was Gasper Vladi. He was screaming, clutching his head as the hacked time-magic tore his mind apart. The chaotic gray aura around him was going wild.
"Gasper!" Rias yelled, trying to run to him, but Sirzechs held her back.
I looked down at the screaming kid. "A half-vampire with a Sacred Gear. Another glitch in the old code."
I reached out with my power, grabbed the chaotic energy around him, and tapped into the System. 'Stabilize.'
Instantly, the wild gray magic stopped dead. Gasper stopped screaming and collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily. The hacked connection was completely severed, and his Sacred Gear powered down safely. He was no longer a ticking time bomb.
I looked back down at Katerea. She wasn't scary. She was just a pathetic fanatic.
"You hijacked a time-freeze just to crash a meeting," I said, staring at her bulging eyes. "Tell me, Katerea. Who hacked the school's barriers to let you in? You need exact coordinates for a localized freeze."
Katerea bared her teeth and refused to talk.
I didn't ask twice. I just tapped into the System and forced the truth out of her soul. A burst of burning light hit her chains.
"AGH! The White Dragon!" she screamed, her mind breaking. "He let us in!"
Sirzechs and Azazel froze.
I looked right at the silver-haired kid standing behind the Governor.
"Vali Lucifer," I said coldly. "You opened the door."
Azazel looked back at his adopted kid, genuinely shocked. I glared at Azazel. "I seriously doubt you didn't know he was a traitor, Azazel. You let a rabid dog off its leash just to see what would happen, and it almost got you killed."
Vali didn't deny it. He took his hands out of his pockets and laughed darkly.
"Guilty," Vali smirked, looking at me like I was his next meal. "Didn't think you'd figure it out so fast. But I don't care about their terrorist group. I just want to fight strong people. And whatever you are now, Michael... I want to break you!"
Vali roared, his magic exploding. "Divine Dividing: Scale Mail!"
"[Vanishing Dragon!]" the dragon's voice boomed.
I didn't move. I just looked at him, opened his file in the System, and hit 'Delete'.
Snap.
Vali's white armor shattered into pieces before it even finished forming. His silver aura vanished. The dragon's voice cut off instantly.
Vali hit the floor on his hands and knees, totally stripped of his power. He stared at his normal, human hands in absolute horror.
"What... what did you do?!" Vali whispered, shaking. "Albion? Answer me!"
I stood up and looked down at Katerea, Gasper, and Vali.
Watching them—one choking on the floor, one passed out, and the other having a breakdown over losing a borrowed toy—I realized something.
'Is this really it?' I thought, feeling disgusted. 'This is the big threat? Heaven hid behind barriers for centuries because of these kids throwing tantrums?'
They were nothing.
"I'm done playing along with your childish games," I announced, my voice echoing loudly across the room. "For centuries, Heaven let Devils and Fallen Angels do whatever they wanted on Earth. We let you experiment. We let you steal humans. That's over. The Balance Breaker glitch is officially patched out."
"Also," I said, staring hard at the leaders. "Sacred Gears were made to protect humans. From now on, anyone with a Sacred Gear who has even a drop of non-human blood loses it. Permanently."
On Issei's left arm, his red gauntlet shattered into dust. It got sucked right back into the System.
"Ddraig?! Hey, Ddraig! Answer me!" Issei yelled. He dropped to his knees, crying his eyes out over his lost partner. Across the room, Asia cried out as her healing rings vanished. Gasper's stabilized time-magic was wiped completely from his soul.
"Asia! Gasper!" Rias cried out, rushing to her peerage members, panic filling her voice. Sona looked back at her own team, grabbing Tsubaki's arm in shock as they realized their absolute defenses were being systematically stripped away.
I watched the "heroes" break down, and I didn't care at all. I was just fixing a bug in my System.
"Earth isn't your playground anymore," I told them. "If any Devil or Fallen steps into the human world, the system is going to drain your magic. Your stats will be severely downgraded."
"And about your Evil Pieces," I said, looking blankly at Rias and Sona. Both girls flinched hard. "Heaven is making a new miracle. We're going to turn reincarnated Devils back into their original race, as long as they were forced or tricked into joining you. From now on, Heaven oversees every Evil Piece used. You're done playing with human lives."
Sirzechs gritted his teeth, stepping forward. "Lord Michael... you can't just erase what we are. We are beings of magic. This is crazy!"
"Crazy?" I repeated softly.
Sirzechs immediately summoned a sphere of his Crimson Power of Destruction, his eyes flashing defensively. Azazel manifested a spear of pure dark light.
"Let me show you what it means to stand in front of the guy who owns reality," I said.
I reached into the System, grabbed the code for their supernatural biology, and hit 'Delete'.
Snap.
The crimson sphere in Sirzechs's hand fizzled out. The light spear shattered from Azazel's grip.
A collective gasp echoed through the room. The heavy auras of the Satans vanished. Azazel's dark presence disappeared. The magic keeping Rias, Sona, and their teams powerful was wiped clean.
"My... my power..." Sirzechs whispered, swaying on his feet as he felt a fast, fragile human heartbeat.
"It's gone," Azazel gasped in horror, realizing his wings wouldn't come out.
I turned everyone in the room into a normal, weak human.
For sixty agonizing seconds, I let them sit in it. I let them feel what it was like to be totally helpless.
Koneko stumbled and fell to the floor, panting heavily as her monstrous Yokai strength vanished, leaving her as a frail little girl. Kiba dropped his sword, unable to lift the heavy metal with normal human arms.
Rias fell against the wall, crying loudly. "I... I can't feel them! My connection... it's gone!" she sobbed, terrified because her magical link to her precious family was completely severed.
Sona lost her strict, president-like composure completely. She grabbed Tsubaki tightly, her hands shaking, terrified by how incredibly fragile they all suddenly felt. If the roof collapsed right now, they would all die.
I watched them cry with total detachment. 'Feel how fragile the humans you exploit are,' I thought coldly. 'Learn your place.'
Slowly, I turned the magic back on.
Auras flared. Wings popped back out. The Evil Pieces reconnected. Koneko let out a deep breath as her strength returned, and Rias pulled Asia and Issei into a desperate hug, sobbing with relief.
Sirzechs dropped to his hands and knees, coughing violently from the shock to his system. Azazel leaned on the table, dripping with cold sweat, hyperventilating. They had their power back, but the mental damage was permanent. They knew they only existed because I allowed it.
"Tread carefully, Lucifer. Azazel," I told them, giving them one last chilling look.
I turned away from the shaking rulers, and my face instantly softened as I looked at my sister.
"It's time to go, Gabriel," I said warmly.
Gabriel gave me a beautiful, calm smile. "Yes, Brother."
I pulled on space itself. Without a magic circle, without a sound, Gabriel and I just folded out of existence. We left the strongest beings in the world drowning in cold sweat, fully realizing that a new, unyielding God was in charge.