"Like?" I asked.
Gabriel placed her teacup down gently, folding her hands atop her lap.
"The Sacred Gear System constantly monitors fluctuations near Heaven's operational hubs on Earth—especially around the Vatican. Normally, only minor reactions occur. But this time… several Longinus began to resonate simultaneously."
She looked directly at me.
"They were reacting to the presence of one of their own near our headquarters."
…So it was me.
I hadn't expected that.
The moment I had approached Italy, Zenith Tempest must have triggered a feedback loop across Heaven's monitoring network.
"So my presence alone set off alarms," I muttered.
Gabriel nodded softly.
"Yes. And because Longinus are classified as world-threat level artifacts—especially the upper echelon—we couldn't ignore it."
She inhaled slowly before continuing.
"After that, Heaven authorized an investigation. Longinus are extremely dangerous. But the first four…"
Her voice became solemn.
"…are in a completely different category."
I leaned back slightly.
She didn't need to explain. I already knew.
Among the thirteen Longinus, four stood above the rest like calamities given form.
The Spear of Destiny — True Longinus.
The Prison of Bright Heavenly Thunder — Zenith Tempest.
The Creator of the Demonic Beast — Annihilation Maker.
And the Fog of Extinction — Dimension Lost.
These weren't merely Sacred Gears.
They were apocalyptic instruments.
There was a reason even Gods treated them with caution.
Boosted Gear. Divine Dividing. Regulus Nemea.
All of them were terrifying in their own right—but they were classified as Intermediate Longinus because their power was focused inward.
They amplified the individual.
They depended on the wielder.
The upper-tier Longinus were different.
They didn't just empower their user.
They altered reality.
They influenced the world itself.
Take Boosted Gear.
Give it to a normal human and, at best, they might reach five or six boosts before collapsing. Five times stronger than average.
Impressive.
But limited.
Now give that same person Zenith Tempest.
They could erase a city the size of Kuoh without breaking a sweat.
That was the difference.
Zenith Tempest granted dominion over weather and elemental forces.
Not symbolic control.
Absolute authority.
On record, one of its most talented possessors had once drowned an entire continent beneath endless rain.
Deserts could be turned into frozen wastelands.
Blizzards could be summoned under blazing suns.
Flames rivaling stellar temperatures.
Ice capable of freezing dragonfire like candlelight.
Storm systems so massive they erased islands from maps.
Zenith Tempest didn't care about balance.
It rewrote climates.
Dimension Lost was even worse.
The Fog of Extinction.
Calling it fog was misleading.
It was closer to a mobile singularity.
It didn't block.
It didn't attack.
It consumed.
Anything that touched it was absorbed and sent into the Dimensional Rift—a void between realities, a place that existed because of the gaps between worlds.
A realm of nothingness filled with residual energies and collapsing laws.
Matter entering it didn't die.
It ceased to exist.
An entire island could be erased by simply enveloping it in that fog.
Then there was Annihilation Maker.
A Sacred Gear that created life.
Or more accurately—monsters.
It allowed its user to generate creatures based purely on imagination.
That alone was terrifying.
In the novels, Leonardo had only been able to produce beings comparable to Middle-Class devils.
But after reaching Balance Breaker?
He created entities that devastated the Underworld and overwhelmed Satan-Class opponents—without even mastering the form.
If someone fully synchronized with Annihilation Maker…
They could sculpt armies from thought.
It was openly stated that its complete evolution had the potential to end the world.
Honestly?
The Biblical God had been terrifyingly brilliant.
Creating weapons like these required a level of foresight bordering on madness.
Gabriel's voice pulled me back.
"At first, we investigated the disturbance but found nothing. Then two exorcists returned with a report."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Siegfried and Jeanne?"
"Yes."
She nodded.
"They claimed that during their mission to rescue the wielder of Regulus Nemea, they were saved by a young man who demonstrated large-scale elemental manipulation. They described a lightning phenomenon that struck Regulus directly."
She paused, watching my expression.
"They also said that this same individual declared himself a descendant of the King of Heroes… and later fought evenly with Sairaorg Bael."
She lifted her teacup again.
"That was when Heaven confirmed the identity."
…Damn it.
I really had overdone it.
"So Heaven assumed Zenith Tempest was involved," I said.
"Yes. A joint task force of Angels and Exorcists was dispatched to locate you. Both for the Longinus… and because of your lineage."
She smiled apologetically.
"But they failed."
Of course they did.
"I insisted on continuing the search," Gabriel added softly. "Eventually I detected an energy trail… and followed it here."
So she tracked me personally.
That explained everything.
I frowned slightly.
"Then why did you continue when the others stopped?"
Gabriel hesitated.
Her fingers tightened around her teacup.
"…I wanted to be useful to my brothers."
I blinked.
"What?"
She looked down, her wings shifting faintly.
"Since the moment I was created, Father and Michael always protected me. They guided me. They fixed my mistakes."
Her smile became fragile.
"But I was never able to truly help them. Whenever I tried, I only made things more complicated."
Ah.
So that was it.
The strongest woman in Heaven.
Yet still the little sister.
"But you found me," I said gently. "Something none of the others managed to do."
Gabriel looked up.
Her face brightened instantly.
"Yes."
Her smile was radiant enough to make my heart skip for a moment.
Then I leaned forward slightly.
"But let me ask you something."
Golden energy rippled faintly around me.
"Did it ever cross your mind that I might kill you?"
The room grew quiet.
Even the air seemed to pause.
Gabriel met my gaze directly.
And smiled.
"I knew you wouldn't."