The Seraphic System

The Seraphic System

Chapter: 63

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Dxd or any other universe used in this story. 

Extra long chapter for Christmas. 

Pa/ t reon details below the chapter if you're interested in seeing some content in advance. I'll keep posting regardless. If you have any suggestions you would like to see added, I will try to incorporate what I can :)

(The Kings Throne)

-{Uriel}-

Uriel followed closely behind Raphael, her twelve pearly-white wings cutting through the air as she led him higher with the glowing tracker clutched tightly in her hands.

The device she had created to find their Father pulsed, pointing them toward the heavens above.

Raphael's face was set in an expression of false calm,

Uriel could see the flicker of emotions hidden beneath her calm exterior. Fear, hope, worry. it was all there, warring for control in her mind as she followed as quickly as the device could react to their fast movements.

She had barely spoken since Uriel had quickly found her and asked her to use the device after learning it actually worked. Raphael had been beyond shocked as Uriel told her of his thoughts.

But since they had begun their ascent, all of her attention had been on the device.

The nasty thought that for some reason their Father had been in Hell made them worried…

This whole situation was confusing.

Why would their Father sneak off down to Hell and how had he? The system of Heaven hadn't been activated thus control over the wards shouldn't be possible.

That was to say, if their Father interacted with the system they would know. Especially Michael who had been using the limited power he had over the system.

Embarrassingly enough for the Angel who had lived for thousands of years, he had nearly amassed a force of Angels with the intent to breach Hell.

He would admit he panicked and if there was anything that made his rational mind, sharpened by his long lifespan, turn into mush. It would be their Father.

At the end of the day, most Angels had retained that childish desire for their parent to keep the innocence of being an Angel. It could also be the fact he had been yearning for his Father to come back for a very long time…

It was something deeply ingrained in all remaining Angels. They couldn't help it. In one of Uriel's trips to the human world, he had learnt this behaviour to be deemed:

"Overly-possessive."

Preposterous in his mind. Who wouldn't feel the way they all did? Well, in truth. It was only the Seraphs who could be described this way. Most Angels were just extremely devoted and would do anything ordered by him without question.

Lucifer, Azrael and Gabriel had been the overly possessive type. Michael was more dutiful with a major hero worship towards Father.

Though, all that had stopped when the tracker suddenly noted him in Heaven.

That led to now.

As was easy to guess. Uriel's thoughts were in chaos as he tried to make sense of it.

His father.

The word still felt foreign in his mind.

Kaiel had been an enigma ever since he had entered Heaven. The ability to use light to such a level? That slight part of his aura even concealed but felt so familiar? A prodigy in the form of Angelic magic? A Prodigy in smithing?

Was that the case or was he simply re-learning what he already knew?

Why would his father do this?

Why hide himself? Why live as an Angel?

The sliver of power he had sensed earlier came back to him. It wasn't just similar to the power he had known as his Father's; it was the same. Identical.

The recognition sent a shiver down his spine.

The theory forming in his mind was one that filled him with unease.

What if his Father wasn't truly back?

What if this was some kind of incomplete return? A reincarnation? That could explain everything: the confusion, the hesitance and the way Father had been re-learning even the simplest of things.

Uriel frowned, his wings beating harder to keep pace with Raphael as she surged ahead.

What if his Father was using this time to jog his memories, to awaken the dormant parts of himself?

A God returning from Death of the True form was unheard. It was bound to be complicated.

The toll of bells shattered his thoughts, their deep, resonant chime shaking the very air around them.

Uriel's head snapped upward just as a gigantic beam of light erupted from the zenith of heavens, piercing through the skies with a brilliance that stole his breath.

"The Seventh Heaven!" Raphael's voice shouted, her wide eyes reflecting the golden light.

Uriel followed her gaze, his heart pounding as the sheer magnitude of the energy washed over him.

The power gathering above them was overwhelming, suffocating in its purity.

"I can't sense anyone," Raphael muttered, her voice tight with confusion. "But that could be the cover of the sheer amount of energy that's gathering."

Uriel's jaw tightened. He didn't have her extrasensory sensing, but even he could feel the sheer weight of the energy above. It was unmistakable and the tracker was pinging directly to the source of the beam of light.

The throne room?

Raphael didn't wait for him to respond.

She exploded forward in a burst of speed, the tracker pulsing faster now.

Uriel followed, his twelve wings carrying him higher as they neared the gates to the Seventh Heaven.

The barrier came into view, the dense golden power gleaming with an otherworldly light.

The barrier that separated the seventh floor from the sixth floor.

Raphael landed first, her movements hurried as she began unlocking the barrier.

Her hands moved in practiced motions, weaving divine seals in the air but her urgency made her falter.

Twice she accidentally stumbled while unlocking the barrier and allowing them up, she was forced to start again both times and she finally took a deep breath, her breath hitching as she corrected herself.

"Come on," she whispered.

Uriel landed beside her, his gaze scanning.

The bells continued to toll, their sound growing louder with each passing second.

The Seventh Heaven was as beautiful as ever, the endless expanse of gold and white stretching out before them. They didn't come up here often in truth, since it only held the Throne and had systems of Heaven.

But Uriel's attention was drawn down, towards the swarm of angels rising from the floors below.

Thousands of them.

Their wings filled the skies as they ascended toward the Seventh Heaven.

Uriel could see the look on their faces as they flew up.

"They feel it too," Raphael replied, her gaze fixed on the floating castle in the distance. "They know that Father is somewhere up here and back in Heaven."

The barrier sealed behind them, as much as they hated doing this. There was a reason the seventh heaven was sealed off to anyone but the Arch-Seraphs.

The castle loomed ahead, its golden towers piercing the sky like a beacon.

It was the heart of the Seventh Heaven, the seat of the Throne itself.

Raphael didn't hesitate. She shot forward, her wings beating furiously as they approached the castle, air itself propelling them forward.

Uriel followed.

They were the first up here since they had the tracker with them but he doubted that others would take long to find them.

They landed on the marble platform outside the Throne Room.

Uriel's eyes immediately locked onto the figures standing before the Throne.

First, was a woman with shiny blonde hair who stood at the center of the room. She wielded a sword along with some sort of banner that gave off a powerful signature.

A magical weapon.

Her stance was protective, her body positioned in front of a masked figure.

The figure was clad in shadow, their features obscured by the mask, but Uriel didn't need to see their face. He had spent enough time with Kaiel or his Father to know the form he inhabited.

The tracker in Raphael's hand pulsed violently, its light now blinding as it pointed directly at the masked figure.

Raphael froze, her eyes wide as she looked at the tracker, then back at the figure.

"Father," she whispered, her voice breaking.

Uriel's gaze flicked to the blonde woman.

Her expression was defensive, even as her eyes widened as she spotted the multiple pearly wings behind them.

Obviously the abrupt arrival had startled her.

-{Kai}-

I stared at Raphael and Uriel silently.

Raphael stepped forward first, clutching the tracker I had seen her use earlier like it was the only thing tethering her to reality.

That's how she found me. My mask was useless then.

I had to admit, this wasn't how I wanted this to go.

Her voice cracked as she repeated, "Father… is it really you?"

Huh?!

I put my hands up.

"I think you've got the wrong idea." I hastily replied.

Uriel stepped in front of Raphael, his eyes shining mysteriously "You're not answering the question, Kaiel or should I call you Father."

"I think you've got something wrong, while it's true I'm his… heir. I am not God himself. I'm sorry" I quickly replied.

I explained that awfully.

Raphael didn't seem to be listening.

Uriel appeared in front of me and gently removed my mask, my aura was let unrestrained.

"Just like Father." Raphael muttered.

The problem with that, was something I had just realised. A lot more of my aura had transformed into what I now knew to be God's. No doubt an effect of the shards progression.

Uriel moved beside her.

"We've felt it, Kaiel or whatever name you choose to use now. I hadn't realised before but that sliver of power you've hidden… it's identical to your past self." He gestured toward the Throne. "Even now, it's grown so much."

His words became a mutter.

"Father, I can't help asking if this is a test or was my theory correct?" Uriel asked.

"Theory?" I couldn't help asking.

Raphael seemed to contemplate. Uriel took a step closer.

"Have you developed powers that match our Father's," he pressed. "Have you? Anything at all?"

I hesitated.

Technically?

His eyes narrowed slightly. "So you have, would you please tell me."

I didn't want to, but something about his tone made me think.

I exhaled, "I'm not God."

"That's not the answer to my question," Uriel replied, his tone more reserved than it had ever been.

Jeanne stood next to me, still looking confused while Raphael seemed to regain her bearings.

Images flashed, Heaven was in chaos. Everyone was looking for me… or well God.

"I mean…" I paused. "I guess I can create angels."

I ignored the flat stare sent my way and the way Uriel nodded, a smirk appearing on his face.

Why did I admit that? I mean, it gave me a reason to introduce my Angels into Heaven.

"That's only the beginning," Uriel said, his voice soft but insistent. "What else?"

"I can raise the dead," I admitted hesitantly.

My angelic instincts were screaming at me to tell the truth and while I didn't have to, I felt like I wanted to tell them. I didn't want to keep more secrets.

Raphael pressed a hand to her chest, her tears flowing freely now. "Just like Him…"

Uriel's voice hardened, though his expression remained reverent. "Anything else?"

"I'm immune to all light power," I said, more to myself as my mind raced.

Uriel's stare was intense, his words nearly a whisper. "Exactly like Him."

The more I thought about it… but those weren't from the shard.

"Then there's my Sealing chains." I muttered.

They both heard and I nearly slapped my head.

I caught myself and stopped speaking. I mean, they were going to find out anyway. It wasn't too much of a secret like my system or my past life. That I wouldn't explain, no matter the circumstances.

I was just surprised… at how valid the argument seemed to be.

"You can also create Trees and wildlife." Uriel confirmed.

How?

"I watched you train within Eden." He replied.

Raphael's hands trembled as she clutched the tracker, its light now blinding as it pointed directly at me.

Her lips parted and a single word escaped, soft yet filled with emotion. "Father…"

Oh God Damn it.

This wasn't right…

"Look, under the circumstances I know how this looks." I tried.

Trust me, I was starting to see it.

Raphael stepped forward, her wings fluttering with unsteady grace. "I know it," she said, her voice cracking. Tears streamed down her face, and she clutched the tracker tighter. "Uriel's theory must be correct. Coming back from death was bound to have side effects."

Listen to me!

Uriel moved beside her, his golden eyes intense. "We've felt it, Kaiel or whatever name you choose to use now. That sliver of power you've hidden… it's identical to His." He gestured toward the Throne. "The throne wouldn't just accept any being. Not even Michael could access it."

Jeanne looked confused.

I almost found myself on the floor as Raphael wrapped around me like a Koala.

A vision appeared. Then faded.

This wasn't the mature intelligent woman I had spoken to earlier?!

"Don't worry Father! We will remind you of who you are," Raphael said, her voice firm despite the tears. "You may not remember, but there's no doubt that you are him. Father left behind no inheritance and even if he did, it would not have the ability to change your aura."

Her voice has turned logical.

"You're our Father, you may not remember it now but that truth doesn't change, no matter how much you try to deny it." She finished.

The way she hopefully stared at me and melted within my embrace was making it hard to protest.

Since when did I become this soft?

"I'm not God," I tried to argue, my tone flat.

Raphael shook her head, stepping closer. "Then how do you explain the power you've shown?."

"I've inherited it as his heir."

"That's not how it works." She explained softly. "You can inherit certain powers. True but not so many of them."

She was still wrapped around me tightly.

"It's not just the power, Father. It's you. Even if you don't remember… even if you're not fully back… we know you. We are your children." She explained softly, her head began nuzzling against me and I didn't even bother resisting.

Ugh.

Uriel stepped closer, his voice softening. "You've always taught us that faith is the foundation of everything. Have faith in yourself now, as we have always had in you."

No I didn't!

Jeanne tilted her head. "My Lord, what are they talking about?"

They both smirked as if catching me off-guard.

I had a feeling that whatever I said wouldn't be received.

Uriel and Raphael straightened up, before bowing on their knees.

"It's good to have you back, My King." They both chorused. "Heaven hasn't been the same in your absence."

I frowned. "You realise I'm a different being right?"

I wanted to make that clear…

"Of course, with your new experiences and resurrection that's a given." Uriel replied.

"Technically everyone is their own person as they change based on every decision they make, I'm a different person than I was a day ago." Raphael responded.

I sighed, at least they could accept I was my own person. Even if their logic was a bit off.

"You expect me to take over?" I questioned.

They both nodded eagerly.

"You do realise I'm not nearly strong enough?" I asked.

This had been one of the main reasons I didn't reveal myself immediately.

Uriel smiled. "We aren't unreasonable despite the way we are acting, we wouldn't force you to take anything you couldn't handle and there's a reason you have an army to command."

"Aren't you the weakest of the three Factions?" I asked.

That received a small flinch from the both of them.

"Only by technical terms. If we count the number of ultimate class and heavy hitter's then yes. But there's more to it than can be explained." Raphael replied. "Plus, I doubt the Fallen will remain in front of us for long."

"Why's that?" I couldn't help but ask.

Her smile turned into a frown. "Most of them fell due to, well. You."

That was heavy…

"I see." I replied. "What if I decide not to rule Heaven?"

I can't believe I'm having this conversation.

It wasn't like I didn't want to, honestly. The thought was naturally very appealing. Having the entire force of Heaven and the church behind me would be invaluable.

I had realised that much more powerful forces lay beneath the surface of the Underworld.

To combat that I needed a Faction to back me.

I had planned to create my own army of Angels or something similar but now…

They both frowned sadly.

"We wouldn't force you, Father." Uriel replied. "We could never…"

Another figure emerged from the door.

"F-father?" Michael asked.

Gabriel entered the room next, and her eyes were wide as she stared at me uncomprehendingly.

"W-what?"

How was I going to go about this…

-Scene Break-

I let out a tired sigh, I was standing on one of the balconies overlooking the entirety of Heaven below.

I let the calm warm light splashed against my face.

This had been exhausting. I had just been able to get some alone time to think, despite how they acted. They were practically rolling over to fulfil my requests.

The cool air did little to ease the storm of thoughts in my head.

My body still ached from the battle. They hadn't asked me about Jeanne or why I was in the underworld yet. Jeanne thankfully had not revealed her name. I had a feeling that would be too complicated to explain. Considering this world had its own version.

I wanted to speak to Jeanne alone before that happened.

My thoughts went to the long talk that had taken place.

Michael had been confused at first, but after learning about my supposed identity he had practically melted in relief. It didn't take long till he was just as excited and relieved.

The best way to describe how they acted was like a baby swan finally finding the mother swan after a brief separation. They were no doubt intelligent and cunning but it was hard to see them that way.

I had no doubt that a private talk with him would be happening soon. He didn't seem to care much about the potential of me taking over Heaven as crazy as that sounded. He actually seemed relieved.

As of now, only the Arch-Angels had spoken with me.

The only way I had gotten them to stop fussing over me, was to order them to work on calming everyone in Heaven. They hadn't even argued, in fact. My first order seemed to make them energetic.

In the rest of my talk with them I had made sure they understood that I was my own person, something they didn't seem to mind either. The talks had gone on for hours.

All of them seemed content to even just listen to my voice.

To summarise today. Somehow, in a day. I had both found the second segment to what I knew as the Flaming Sword, fought an ancient Demon, summoned a legendary hero and effectively became the King Of Heaven…

Then, after that. There had been Jeanne.

She had opted to stay silent, simply staring at me and waiting by my side.

Now, here I was.

Even though I had escaped from them, they hadn't allowed me to be alone. Gabriel had eagerly accompanied me. She was acting as some sort of guard.

I had made sure to let them know I was only in the ultimate-class. Another thing they didn't seem to mind but it did have the effect of making them extremely protective.

What a crazy day, in the end I don't even think I need the second segment of the sword.

The rewards were worth it though

I glanced over to the two notifications.

[Divine Shard] {Progress: 5%}

[The Shard of God. The resurrected shard of his essence that has merged with the user. As the shard progresses the user will receive more abilities from his merged counterpart. Yahweh.]

Skill Gained.

[Energy Transmutation] (Passive)

The ability to absorb Energy from materials and allow you to form them into new ones. The rarer and more powerful the material, the more Energy is required. 

[Energy: 0]

This entire thing had been worth it.

The quest had been completed and the Shard's description was revealed.

This made the entire battle worth it. It confirmed what the shard was.

By gaining 5% progress with the shard, I had been gifted a skill. Did this mean I would gain a new skill every 5%?

My eyes flickered down towards the skill I had gained.

Energy transmutation.

By the looks of it, I could create materials by absorbing others. Depending on the material's value I would gain a corresponding amount of energy by absorbing it?

I wasn't quite sure how it worked but the skill was definitely astonishing. It was the type of skill that would take a while to download.

With the download I had made it would be a while before I had access to download again.

I could see this being useful for my smithing. I wanted to make a new weapon.

My thoughts were interrupted.

"Kaiel," Gabriel murmured.

She sent me a weak smile as I turned around to regard her.

"I figured you would prefer to be called by your new chosen name rather than me referring to you as Father." She said softly. "Truthfully, what you name yourself doesn't matter much to me."

Her eyes were alight with joy but at the same time there was conflict.

We both stood outside the room. The door shut behind us.

Yeah, I had been expecting this. She had been mostly silent during the talk we had. I could imagine how shocking this was to her, especially with how much we had hung out together.

There was a brief moment of silence between.

"You're back. I told you how I yearned for your presence and you didn't think to tell me?" She started strongly.

I exhaled slowly, trying to find the right words. "Gabriel, it's not that I didn't want to and I don't think Uriel fully understands."

"Oh, Uriel understands. We've already had a brief talk about this." She replied politely, I flinched a bit.

"You have to understand, I am not the same person. I'll admit, valid points were made and I have been receiving memories along with abilities but that's due to my status as the heir." I replied.

"I understand." She nodded. Her face became downcast. "You were reborn without memory, confused within the underworld. You've suffered a lot."

Her voice became downright murderous.

"But after how much we've bonded, did you think that you couldn't trust me?" Her voice cracked, and she quickly looked away, but not before I caught the flicker of hurt in her eyes.

"You are," I said firmly, stepping closer. "It's not about trust. I was still figuring things out myself. I honestly wasn't even sure if I was the heir. I didn't want to just come in here and turn everything upside down."

She nodded silently.

"Then, I suppose there's only one more thing." She replied. "Why were you in the underworld?"

Ah.

"I was looking for something." I replied instantly.

"Was it that girl you came back with?" She questioned, her voice having a very almost unnoticeable hint of jealousy.

"No, she's someone I summoned to protect me." I responded truthfully. "I was looking for the second segment of the flaming sword."

Her eyebrows raised.

"The flaming sword?" She uttered. "That's been lost for ages, we thought it had been destroyed."

"Yeah, I found a piece of it and was able to determine that another part of it was in the underworld." I said.

She was silent for a second. "Why didn't you think to tell me?"

"I didn't think that you would allow me to. As our past has shown." I answered.

"The underworld is dangerous." She nodded. "B-but I know you better now. More than ever. It wasn't like that before."

"It wasn't." I agreed.

She sighed.

"Just please tell me next time, I don't want to leave your side and I won't allow you to do this again." She replied.

"I'll try."

"So, didn't anything give you trouble?" She asked, her tone softening.

"A little." I smiled.

Her eyes narrowed. "Who?"

I thought about it, if anyone would know. I felt like Gabriel would. I needed to learn more about the Demon's anyway if I've made an enemy of one.

"A Demon."

She was in front of me, performing medical scans.

Her eyes were alert and I could see a haunted look pass through them.

"A Demon?!" She hissed. "Are you referring to the Devils or them..?"

"You know about them?" I asked, only slightly caught off-guard.

Maybe the question was a bit dumb but I hadn't heard mention of them in canon or even in the heavenly library.

Once she realised I wasn't hurt, she sent me an urgent look. Her body was close to mine as if she thought a Demon would pop up and try to kill me at any moment.

A cold look passed through her eyes. A look I decidedly didn't like.

It made the sweet Angel reveal her thousands of years living and the true warrior who had fought thousands of devils.

"Yes." She replied tersely, her eyes looking away for a moment as if in thought. "Truthfully, the subject regarding Demons is highly classified within Heaven."

Now I was even more interested.

"Why?" I asked, "Doesn't the bible speak about them?"

I always found it weird that the bible spoke about Demons and not Devils, I had taken the chance to read up on one a while back when I wanted to know more about Heaven.

"Yes, that the bible does refer to them. Most people involved with the supernatural have naturally assumed that the Bible referred to the Devils since the Demons have long retreated into the deepest parts of the underworld. The bible refers to that dimension as Hell." She explained after a moment of consideration.

"What's the history between Heaven and the Demons? I'm assuming by your look that there's a reason they are so highly classified." I replied.

She thought for a moment. "Demons are a race just as old as Angels. The true demons at least, that's not to count the lesser counterparts that are the Demonic Beasts."

"How were they created?" I questioned.

"We don't know, all we know is that they were made with an instinctive hatred against all Angels and more importantly, you." She paused. "Or well your past self." She added somewhat bashfully.

"How did Devils come into this then? How did Lucifer create them and why are they so closely related to Demons?" I asked curiously.

"I can't give you a concrete answer on that unfortunately. But we believe that Lucifer went to the Demons for help in creating an army." She spoke, sounding ashamed at her own lack of knowledge. "It would explain why they both use demonic power and seem to be our natural enemy."

I thought about it.

"That would make sense, if the Demons are naturally against us then using a child of mine to create an army of disposable pawns would be a good distraction. I did end up dying too didn't I? So obviously there's more to this than it seems." I mused.

I paused, and waited. I looked over to a beaming Gabriel.

Oops.

I accidentally referred to Lucifer as a child of mine… I genuinely didn't even mean to say that.

Her face turned serious again.

"Yes, me and the others have had a lot of time to think about it. We were honestly worried the Demons would attack after your past self's death but it never came. You did put up a barrier locking them in the deepest parts of Hell but they could have gotten through that with this amount of time." She logically explained.

I frowned.

Maybe I had accidentally stumbled into something a lot bigger than I thought, after all that demonic priest had been sacrificing souls in some sort of ritual.

"The entire events transpiring around your death were always strange, for some reason. Before you battled the four Satans. You were severely weakened. We tried to get you to not go out and fight but you refused." She took a deep breath. "You assumed your true form to teleport armies of Heaven out and sealed Hell after evacuating all of the outposts we created down there. We don't know what you sensed but it was great enough that you felt Hell had to be sealed from the rest of the underworld." She explained.

"What do you think weakened me?" I asked, I already vaguely knew the answer.

"We don't know its name, only that it's related to the Demons. We refer to it as the Beast of Judgement or Three-Beast-who-are-One or The Triple Beast. We know barely anything about it. It was able to take on your true form which is even more terrifying. In the end, you were so weakened that they were able to kill you in your divine form and thus you died." She said somberly.

Trihexa was related to the Demons? That was worrying and now that I was back, they would assume that I am God. Making me the enemy of all Demons.

Wonderful.

I needed to think about this more later.

"W-wait a second!" She suddenly shouted. "That means you weren't just in the underworld, you were in the deepest parts of Hell!"

Oh, I had forgotten to mention that.

-Scene Break-

I sat on the ornate throne.

Around me, screens floated in midair, shifting and displaying fragments of information I couldn't yet decipher.

I leaned back, rubbing my temple as I tried to make sense of it all.

This had all happened so quickly…

How does this even work?

My gaze flickered between the screens. Each seemed to pulse faintly in rhythm with my thoughts, but without clear direction,

I'll need to learn how to use this after my talk with Michael.

I turned my attention to the Angel in question who had entered the room.

Honestly, sitting on the throne in front of such a powerful Angel felt wrong.

"You wanted to talk?" I asked.

Michael, someone who I had only met one time before nodded. A warm genuinely happy smile on his face.

"Yes, Father." He replied. "I wanted to help your transition to the throne. I feel that we didn't have time to speak properly earlier, since my siblings were mostly enamoured by you."

That was true, the talks had mostly been about me rather than Heaven as a whole.

His tone was eager…

"Why do you sound so happy?" I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.

His cheeks flushed slightly, and he glanced down, embarrassed. "It's just… I'm glad I don't have to keep dragging Heaven down with my attempts at leadership," he admitted, his voice tinged with shame.

I frowned, watching him closely. "Why do you think you've driven Heaven down?"

Michael hesitated, his gaze shifting to the horizon. "Because I wasn't created to lead," he said quietly. "What I did was hold things together, barely at that., but it's not in my nature to rule. I've known that since taking up your throne. Heaven suffered for it, no matter how much I tried."

"That's an interesting perspective on the situation," I said after a moment. "You know, don't you think this is happening a bit quickly? I mean, do the Angels residing in the cities even know?"

"They know you're back, and that's all that matters to them. I suspect you'll be making an announcement soon. Maybe even a visit down to the first Heaven? I would advise waiting on that unless you want to be swarmed." Michael offered.

I nodded. "I'm not sure how I'm meant to do that though, this still feels a little weird."

Michael nodded back. "You can hold off on it now, my siblings are mostly content that you're back safely within Heaven, even if they do seem very excitable and desperately want to meet you. I would suggest commanding the system to release more of your aura around Heaven."

I sent him a confused glance.

"Back when you were still alive, your presence used to flow through Heaven. While you lack your full strength due your temporary set-back. I'm sure the system could achieve this effect. It would be sure to calm them." He explained, before adding. "And it would be nice to feel it spread through heaven once more." He added slowly.

That was useful, out of the corner of my eyes I could see the state Heaven's residents were in. There had been chaos before, especially when I had ascended. I still remember all of the Angel's swarming my location.

A lot of them were praying in an attempt to reach me, that popped up as an alert on the side.

A number in red was above it.

34 Billion unread prayers…

The fuck.

Michael happily watched me look at the screens with a child-like curiosity.

I felt something in me as I watched countless scenes of Angels trying to reach me, I could see a force of Cherubs had been deployed. Led under one of the Seraph who subtly kept glancing at the barriers as if I would come down at any moment.

It wasn't hard for me to put myself in their situation, especially with my time with my Angels.

Technically every Angel was my Angel in Heaven too now…

I could feel it. While the shard couldn't affect my behaviour or change my personality besides giving me memories, I did feel a connection with the Angels since progressing my shard beyond 5%.

Since I was what could be called absorbing the essence of God, I was inheriting both his power and creations.

I would have to deal with this later.

Ok, time to use my brain.

"What is the current state of the Church?" I asked, I somewhat knew from canon knowledge but that had shown it couldn't be trusted. I needed to hear it from Michael himself.

The church was practically a part of Heaven's power. If I was going to be the ruler of Heaven, I should also focus on the state of the church by purging the rot and rewarding along with helping the believers. Strengthening both Heaven and church.

He frowned and I could see shame pass through him.

"It's… not well." He admitted. "And I believe it's my fault."

"How so?" I asked, not showing any emotion.

He actually seemed intimidated.

"I wasn't firm enough," Michael admitted, his voice heavy with regret. "I was so focused on Heaven that, by the time I turned my attention to the church, corruption had already spread unchecked." He paused, his expression clouded. "Addressing it would have risked serious harm to the church, which holds a significant amount of our faction's power and influence. And without access to the system, I felt completely stuck. For that, I apologize deeply for failing."

I understood, without access to the system and low morale amongst the Angels. Heaven must have been severely weakened. The church however, had amassed a good chunk of power with the influence of a dead God whose death was a well-kept secret.

I smiled. "No need to apologise, you did the best you could. Is the church completely compromised?"

Michael looked relieved, as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. "No, it's only part of the leadership, thankfully many good pure-hearted remain within the church. All of the most powerful figures and heavy hitters for the most part remain absolutely loyal. Though, many of these corrupted figures within the church have been a cause for a concerning rise in stray-exorcists."

He paused. "Would you like me to cleanse the Church, father?"

Cleanse?

Did he mean getting rid of the corruption?

"Yes." I replied easily.

I didn't want a bunch of unloyal corrupted people with influence within my power base. The existence of stray-exorcist's was a stain and a waste of resources.

A scary-look passed over Michael's cheerful face.

A cold calculating glint in his eyes as he gave me a short bow. "I shall take my leave in that case. Goodbye Father."

"Goodbye…?"

Was that a mistake?

I slumped in the comfortable throne.

I guess only time would tell.

For now, I need to learn how to use this system.

-END-

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