From the moment she first met Takeyo, Grayfia had known.
During the tripartite summit, though sealed by the Golden Sword's power, she'd still sensed something unmistakably familiar, a resonance that stirred memories from centuries past.
After that, she'd observed him carefully, confirming what her instincts already told her.
And then came the proof beyond all doubt.
Takeyo had activated both the Celestial Grand Formation and the Underworld Grand Formation, feats that perfectly aligned with the fragments of information she'd gathered over the years.
"The crisis of annihilation," Grayfia murmured, her silver-gray eyes softening with warmth, "and you're supposedly the hope that saves everything?"
A trace of affection flickered in her gaze. While Takeyo possessed overwhelming power in certain domains, there remained aspects where he still needed looking after.
He had once cared for her. Now it was finally her turn to return the favor.
"Come along," she called out to Nyx. "Time to continue your maid training."
Grayfia was fully aware of the girl's true identity, Nyx, the primordial Greek goddess of night. As far as she was concerned, a goddess of that caliber barely met the minimum qualifications to serve as Takeyo's attendant.
Though... she couldn't help noticing that Nyx possessed rather admirable proportions...
Grayfia quickly averted her gaze from where Takeyo reclined and forced down the flush creeping up her cheeks.
Time flowed steadily onward.
Takeyo's injuries continued to heal, though he could feel the temporal rejection growing stronger with each passing day, this era pushing against his presence like a body rejecting foreign matter.
Beyond his daily magical research and the ongoing "education" of his maids, his greatest pleasure came from verbally sparring with young Grayfia. She would pose increasingly complex problems designed to stump him, but challenges that might trouble a Maou-class Devil were child's play for someone of his experience.
Each time he solved another problem, he sensed her respect deepening, the admiration of a student toward an impossibly capable master.
Afterward, he would inevitably tease her older self about it. "Your younger version is so earnest and sweet. What happened to turn you into such an ice queen?"
Grayfia would simply roll her eyes, but he caught the slight upturn at the corner of her lips.
During their extended stay in the Underworld, they'd lived something resembling a honeymoon. Though they'd refrained from anything too physically intimate, they'd done nearly everything else together, wandering through the shopping districts of both the Underworld and human world, exploring remote islands overseas, watching films, even touring the Seven Heavens.
But today, their quiet sanctuary received an unexpected visitor.
A man in pristine white robes walked through the Underworld, his path leading inexorably toward the waterfall. Though he possessed the power to teleport directly to his destination, he chose not to.
This was a pilgrimage.
After several weeks of travel, he finally arrived. He adopted a prayer posture, hands pressed together at his chest, his expression radiating pure devotion.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
He rapped gently on the cottage door.
The door swung open to reveal a black-haired girl. She wore a perfect welcoming smile, but the vast power emanating from her made the visitor raise an eyebrow in interest.
"Excuse me," he said politely. "Is the Lord present?"
Michael had come, the Archangel, current leader of Heaven itself.
"The Master says..." Nyx paused, as if reciting a prepared response, "the Lord is not here. He is."
"I see..."
A bittersweet smile crossed Michael's handsome features. He'd expected as much.
"You know who I am?" A young man's voice drifted from within the cottage.
At the first syllable, Michael's composure cracked. His twelve golden wings trembled with barely contained emotion.
"Yes," he breathed, eyes shining with a mixture of excitement and reverent joy. "This time, I've come to invite you back to Heaven."
"No. I won't go."
Takeyo's refusal came without hesitation.
He understood perfectly why Michael had sought him out. When he and Grayfia had traveled through the Seven Heavens, the Celestial Grand Formation must have detected his presence, specifically, the Origin of the Biblical God that now resided within him.
Michael had naturally assumed this meant the God of the Bible had somehow returned, perhaps through some contingency plan that allowed for eventual resurrection.
Unfortunately, even when Takeyo searched through the long river of fate, he found no trace of the Biblical God after that decisive moment. The Creator was truly gone.
"Lord... why will you not return to your people?"
Michael's voice held a note of desperate pleading.
"I told you, I'm not your Lord." Takeyo's tone was firm but not unkind. "And I'd advise against spreading news of this visit."
Michael's brow furrowed in confusion.
Takeyo sighed internally. If he accepted the role Michael wanted to thrust upon him, the ripples through the timeline would be catastrophic. Playing the Biblical God? He'd considered it, but not now. Not when announcing God's "resurrection" could reshape history in ways impossible to predict or control.
"I shall follow the Lord's guidance," Michael finally said, bowing his head in reluctant acceptance.
"Good. If there's nothing else, you should return. When the time is right, things will proceed as they should."
Takeyo had sensed Michael's approach from the moment the Archangel descended from Heaven. He understood the hope burning in that angelic heart, but some things simply weren't possible, at least not yet.
"I understand..."
Michael turned to leave, shoulders slightly slumped. He was qualified only to offer suggestions, never to make demands of the one he believed to be his Creator.
"Wait."
Michael froze mid-step.
"Has the Lord changed his mind?" Hope flared in his voice. "Are you willing to return to Heaven with me?"
"No, that's not it." Takeyo shook his head. A honeymoon with Grayfia took priority over any divine responsibilities. "I simply have a request."
"A request?"
Michael's momentary excitement dimmed, but he listened attentively.
"If you have time, gather the accumulated knowledge of Heaven for me. I have... uses for it."
This was the real prize. Takeyo had already absorbed the magical knowledge of the Devil faction, and his studies of Norse traditions were nearly complete. Now he'd moved on to innovation, combining and transcending what he'd learned. But without fresh material, the work risked becoming stagnant.
"It shall be done as the Lord commands."
After barely a moment's consideration, Michael agreed.
"Good. Deliver it as soon as possible."
Takeyo accepted the promise with the casualness of someone inheriting what was rightfully his. After all, the Biblical God had passed on, so what harm was there in claiming the intellectual legacy?
In truth, he found the concept of faith-based power intriguing, but his current priority was building an unshakeable foundation. Power derived from worship was merely supplementary to that goal.
"Do you actually intend to become the God of the Bible?"
Grayfia asked this after Michael's departure, genuine curiosity coloring her voice.
"Absolutely not."
Takeyo dismissed the notion without hesitation. Assuming that mantle would be a step down from his actual ambitions.
"I only want the inheritance," he explained, eyes glinting with calculating interest. "The systems the Biblical God left behind, the Sacred Gear framework, the Brave Saints, the structure of Heaven's faith network, those are genuinely valuable."
Combined with Michael's existing strength and Heaven's established infrastructure, defeating beings at the Transcendent tier was entirely feasible. And if Takeyo himself wielded those tools? Dealing with secondary Dragon God-class opponents would be trivial.
The Biblical God may have died, but his legacy remained remarkably useful.
If Takeyo could position himself as the nominal heir to that legacy, inheriting everything became perfectly legitimate.
"That sounds like you," Grayfia said, a rare smile breaking across her usually composed features, the first genuine one he'd seen in quite some time.
Michael's visit proved to be nothing more than a brief interlude.
As Takeyo's injuries continued healing, the temporal rejection intensified proportionally. This era was actively trying to expel him.
"Today, we visit the Dimensional Gap."
One morning, as he played chess with Grayfia, Takeyo made the announcement.
Michael, now jokingly referred to as "Captain of the Transport Brigade", had delivered Heaven's accumulated knowledge not long ago. After studying it intensively, Takeyo had absorbed essentially everything useful.
With the Triple Blessing, the Three Thousand Ways of Formation, the Holy Way, and the Origin of the Biblical God, learning Heaven's traditions proved far simpler than his earlier studies of Norse and Underworld magic.
"The Dimensional Gap?" Grayfia's hand paused over a chess piece. Her eyes searched his face. "Does this mean... you're leaving?"
"Yes. I need to find someone."
Takeyo smiled, because today the system had finally granted him something worth pursuing.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for signing in! Sign-in level: Gold!]
[Sign-in location: Great Red (Human Form)]
[Sign-in time limit: 1 day]
[Remaining time: 21 hours]
Just as he'd said, someone, not something. Great Red apparently had a human form.
"Are you leaving already?"
Grayfia's composure slipped momentarily. She'd assumed they had more time.
"Not permanently, just preparations before departure."
Takeyo shook his head. He'd originally planned to leave after fully recovering, but at this rate of power increase, he'd likely be forcibly ejected before reaching that point.
To prevent being hurled into some random temporal coordinate, he needed to first activate his Black Sky Krishna incarnation and verify the connections between all accessible time nodes.
Of course, leaving without using his Origin Form was technically possible. What he was testing now was whether departure remained viable without that trump card.
"Are you coming? Or shall I go alone?"
"Together."
There was no other acceptable answer. Grayfia responded immediately.
"Good."
Takeyo smiled and naturally reached for her hand. She accepted the contact without resistance. Then, with a gentle step, both of them vanished from the Underworld.
The Dimensional Gap stretched endlessly in every direction, an infinite void between worlds.
Within that impossible space, two figures floated like motes of dust against eternity.
"Who are you looking for?" Grayfia asked, though suspicion already colored her voice. "If I remember correctly, the Dimensional Gap's only permanent resident is..."
The most powerful and impressive being dwelling in the spaces between dimensions was undoubtedly the True Red Dragon God Emperor, Great Red himself.
Certainly, other oddities drifted through the Gap: abandoned weapons from ancient civilizations, dimensional flotsam, even life forms that had somehow adapted to the void. But none of those warranted Takeyo's personal attention.
"You'll understand in a moment."
Takeyo smiled, and platinum-azure armor materialized around his body.
He chose not to use his Origin Form. Instead, he channeled the power of the White Dragon Emperor, power he'd long since mastered.
Azure brilliance erupted from the jewels studding his armor!
[I, ]
[Am the awakened one, the White Dragon Emperor who has cast the law into darkness, ]
[Gaze upon the extremity of the Heavenly Dragons!]
[The supremacy of the White Dragon!]
[We shall restrain the infinite and devour dreams!]
[Passing overbearingly through infinite destruction and the dawn of dreams, ]
[I, as the Unsullied Dragon Emperor, ]
His armor underwent a dramatic metamorphosis, blazing with silver-white radiance!
[Shall lead you to the silver illusion and the ultimate of magic!]
[Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive!]
[Silver Ascendant Dragon!]
A colossal dragon, its mere presence radiating Heavenly Dragon-class power, manifested in the Dimensional Gap!
Takeyo's current base strength approached the pinnacle of Ultimate-Class. Without any enhancements, he already matched peak Maou-class combatants.
Activating Balance Breaker pushed him to half-step Transcendent. The standard White Dragon Emperor's Juggernaut Drive elevated him to true Transcendent tier. And the Silver Ascendant Dragon?
That form essentially replicated Albion's original strength, Heavenly Dragon-class.
Theoretically, Heavenly Dragon-class exceeded ordinary Transcendent beings by a significant margin.
Unlike his desperate battle against the ExE mechanical god, Takeyo could now maintain even the Silver Ascendant Dragon for extended periods!
Here in the Dimensional Gap, he released his aura without restraint!
Of course, he limited himself to presence alone. Actually using Transcendent-class power would trigger immediate ejection from this era.
But mere breath? That much he could safely project, a beacon blazing across the void, announcing his arrival to whatever slumbered in the infinite dark.
☆☆☆
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