Chapter 111: Realize you're seriously out of shape

Michael of Heavens woke up in cold sweat.

'Surely, that couldn't… There's no way that… I must be mistaken…' Michael's thoughts raced like birds in the sky as he tried to make sense of what had happened to Heaven's System.

Michael was connected to the system in quite a deep fashion, as he had taken the role of supporting and maintaining the system to the best of his ability. However, he had Fallen in the Church of True God, which had temporarily severed his connection to the system… But when his 'status' as an Angel was restored, he connected briefly with the system before Michael felt the system scream out in its death throes.

The psychic backlash of the system's death was enough to knock Michael out cold, and he suspected that the death-scream might have even dealt him a mortal wound in the brief seconds of overload before his mind had shut down.

However, the fact that he had woken up proved that his state hadn't been terminal.

Then he had been engulfed in a warm hug by a warm and soft body.

'Huh?' Michael's head spun as he hugged back instinctively, before he realized that he was hugging his sister, Gabriel. 'What?'

The confusion was not because of the Heaven's System this time, but from the fact the touch felt a lot more intimate than it should- The system had massively reduced the amount of feelings a 'angel' could feel, yet the feeling of being hugged was closer to the feelings Michael had felt during his 'Fall' than anything he had felt as an 'angel'.

Then he remembered the sight of gray wings on his and Gabriel's back. 'What? What happened? The System broke- Did that breaking mess up 'Angels' and 'Fallen' into a whole new subtype of 'Angels'?'

"Mi-Michael-oniisan… I was so worried…" Gabriel muttered through a blocked nose. "Dad gave some sort of ointment and I rubbed it on you… But you looked like you were about to die… I'm so glad…"

Michael realized that he was naked, and then saw a bottle of some sort of eerily foreboding black liquid on a night-table of the infirmary bed he was in.

"I… see. Thank you, Gabriel-san." Michael sighed in relief. 'Ah. Of course. Father works in mysterious ways… But in the end, I survived… However, why did the system break? No, wait, was it because I asked Father to revert our 'Falling'... Ah. Either he didn't realize the reverting would break the system… Or he broke the system intentionally.'

Michael reflected on the information he had learned during the last few days, and realized that a segregation of 'Fallen and Angels' was something that would forever separate the two angelic factions, which would go against the intention of forging a united 'Three Factions' or rather, 'One Faction'. '...I heard that Father had the resurrected angels go through some ritual that would turn them into Fallen… I didn't object, because I knew Father would know better… I see that my faith was not misplaced.'

'Indeed… For Angels to accept Fallen back to their ranks, they needed to understand what being a Fallen would feel like, just like how Fallen know how it feels to be an Angel…' Michael realized that everything had been within Father's, or rather, 'Momon's plans. 'The Gray Angels could then relate to each other, no matter if they were Angels or Fallen before they were turned, thus reducing friction among one another… Clever…'

'...I imagine the [Power of Imagination] of devils would get stronger thanks to the destruction of the system.' Michael contemplated how the system's destruction would impact the 'third' of the Three Factions- The one that was the least tied to Heaven's System. 'Moreover I'm fairly certain that the devil's racial obsessions like the psychological pressure to contract humans and the pressure to honor their ends of the bargain would grown weaker, as the System imposed both on Devils. Moreover, their weakness to 'blessed' items would likely disappear as most of the damage dealt by such things as holy water or crosses was based on the System activating and using said mediums as conduits to channel holy energy…'

Michael wasn't sure what the future would entail, but if the teaching of 'True God' were anything to go by, it would likely be a less 'controlled and authoritarian' future, and one centered more around unity, forgiveness, hedonism and expansion- After all, there would be consequences to the 'action' endorsed by the 'True God'. '...For thousands of years now Angels and Devils have all declined… There will be a boom of growth soon, and with Devils and Gray Angels engaging each other in such ways… The tension will surely fade away, until one day we can come together as one people…'

However, there was another thought that came to Michael. 'Come to think of it, what's going on in the Human World?'

Michael asked Gabriel if she knew about the Human World's affairs, as the world had been in shambles when they had retreated to the Underworld, and Gabriel reminded him that her mirror had broken so she couldn't easily keep up with the affairs of the Human World.

The Gray-winged Arch-Angel sighed and created an orb of light that showed the two of them a view of the Human World, and they peered into it…

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A repurposed, hastily repaired and refitted longship came to shore after emerging from a massive, swirling portal of energy, seeping in darkness and carrying a cargo of death.

The port of San Francisco in America was already battered and broken from the massive waves that had hit it during the sudden quake that had shaken the entire world mere hours prior, and many of the buildings had either collapsed or were wobbling in the gale-like winds that hit the shore.

Now, another wind reached the shore, as the longships crashed ashore and vomited out their cargo of Death Knights.

Soon afterwards the wave of death reached the civilian populace, and Death Knights were joined by Death Squires, while Death Cavaliers roamed the streets and slew any who dared to challenge them, and the Death Squires brought the corpses back to Death Knights in order to make more of the second-tier Undead foot-soldiers.

The sudden strike was retaliated, and soon the city was engulfed in fire and darkness.

Attack aircraft soared down to deliver their payload, just like how they had destroyed the surge of zombies mere hours before… And a forked lightning lashed out from the ground to jump from one aircraft to another, causing the bombs, fuel and ammunition carried by the aircraft to detonate, turning the sky into a maelstorm of fire and shrapnel.

The Overlord General lowered its bony arm after casting [Chain Dragon Lightning] upon the approaching foe.

"Charge! In the name of the Supreme Being!" The undead creature pointed it's arm towards a chokepoint that had been hastily made by soldiers and reinforced with armored fighting vehicles, and a cadre of lesser liches sent a volley of [Fireballs] to bombard the position.

The defense crumbled almost instantly as the vehicles turned into slag under the bombardment, and without the support of heavier cannons the infantry firearms failed to penetrate the approaching wall of Death Knight's shields.

A new [Necroswarm Giant] emerged from the sewers like a flood of rotting carcasses, and engulfed the defensive positions like a tsunami wave washing away trash from the streets.

'Please watch me, Master. I'll make you proud!' The Overlord General felt pride and joy from being given such a task, and marched on. And in the undead creature's wake came a chorus of screams and begging from the civilians that were being dragged to the streets from their shelters, and were executed by Death Knights, only to be added to the rapidly growing horde of death.

And thus, the land invasion by the forces of the Supreme Being began.

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Kyoto shook.

The departure of Kyuubi had started to show it's effects, and the City of Youkai was starting to show the stress of her departure despite the best efforts of a cadre of kitsune that were supplying their own power to stabilize the ley lines coursing through the place.

Yet, with the quakes that were still destabilizing the world, the ley lines were starting to rupture and flex.

'Please return to us quickly, Yasaka-sama!'- Such was the shared thought of the Youkai who were doing their best to keep the city stable, keeping the ley-lines from unraveling and potentially causing a backlash that might even sink the entire island nation.

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A holy war was raging in the middle-east as the 'judgment from god' had devastated the holy city of Jerusalem, and such a divine message was taken as a sign of their god's favor by rivaling religions.

Words like 'infidel' and 'heretic' were used en masse, and were accompanied by mass executions, terror, and surge of uncertainty that consumed entire communities and cities.

In turn those faithful to the old religion turned to their people, and started to replace the modern laws with those of ancient texts, taking the sight of the golden cog which had leveled the city of Jerusalem as a judgment for deviancy, as the city had become little more than a tourist destination instead of a city of piety and faith.

A surge of refugees entered the Vatican, and as the latter lacked the manpower and supplies to house all of them, the refugees turned on their hosts and ransacked the gilded halls and marble palaces, using the sight of God striking down deviancy as a justification for their own crimes.

Such violence was tolerated for a moment… Before the mob reached the heart of the Vatican, and the Guard were sent to stop them.

And after that, the streets of the marble city-state were painted with blood.

Extreme measures were taken as panic swelled alongside more and more refugees from middle-east washing to Italy's cities, causing a surge of violence as riots and mobs were dispersed first with water and tear gas, and then with more and more extreme measures in an attempt to disperse mobs of rioters that were setting buildings on fire and looting everything they could get their hands on.

In mere hours the streets of Italy's cities were running red with blood.

A group of desperate refugees besieged a church, and stormed forth as the doors were opened and a nun stepped out… Only for the nun to slam some sort of stake-like item on the ground that caused a wave of force that knocked the assailants back.

"This is a place of healing and worship. Enter with peaceful hearts and find salvation. Enter with violence in your hearts if you dare, but know that by raising your fist within these halls you forsake both your life and your soul. Amen." The nun told the disoriented crowd with a vein pulsing on her forehead, causing the crowd to flee from the odd nun.

'Xenovia… I hope you're safe, wherever you are… You were the brightest of my pupils…'

Griselda Quarta sighed and rubbed her temple. '...I heard she was sent to that bullheaded, idiotic, near-suicidical mission to retrieve that sword, Excalibur… Or what was left of it, anyway. You always were the kind of child who'd charge into battle no matter how desperate it was… I hope you managed to stay alive and hold to your faith. Don't trust the devils, my pupil, don't fall for their lies…'

The nun huffed at the sight of the riot-filled city and moved to pick up the now-spent magic-powered repelling stake from the ground, an item she had purchased through her connections to Exorcists and the Magician's Guild. 'For some reason the holy items stopped working… Well, God works in mysterious ways. These are times of tests and trials, and I cannot lose faith.'

She looked up at the sight of a sun that was not quite the same- Instead of a brightly radiating spot of light there was a large bright disc rotating slowly around a black dot that was rimmed by light.

Griselda wasn't sure what had happened to the sun, but she knew that whatever it was, it was well beyond her capability to influence so she returned to her church.

And so she returned to her prayers.

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A swirling black hole vomited a group of people to Momonga's office in Phenix castle-mansion. Or rather, 'Lord Phenix's office but Momonga had effectively claimed it as his.

Momonga promptly collapsed into his chair.

"C-cough… Hng…" A weak whimper came from a woman that was carried by one of the Cherubim Gatekeepers, and Momonga motioned for the summon to place the woman on his desk.

The Cherubim Gatekeeper did as ordered, and then the group of summons resumed their normal appearances as tall, lithe numbered maids.

Grayfia seemed to hesitate saying something as she was hiding her son behind her back. "Momon-sama, I…"

"Quiet, I'm thinking." Momonga was holding his head while he gave one of the Cherubim Gatekeepers a vial of black tears and ordered it to heal the woman on the desk. 'Peroroncino fled… Again… I'm fairly sure that the first shape I saw wasn't Peroroncino, it wasn't nearly as large as it should have been… But the second 'sign', that glitched health signature through [Detect Life]... It was the same as Peroroncino when I saw him with Grayfia…'

He felt like kicking his legs in a petulant way out of mounting frustration, but stopped himself before he could do so. Mostly because his frustration was overcome by a wave of tiredness that caused him to slouch on the chair.

'I need a vacation…' Momonga sighed. 'Come to think of it… Haa…'

'Peroroncino is avoiding me for some reason… Either that, or it's not actually Peroroncino, but something masquerading as Peroroncino… But no-one here should know what Peroroncino looks like, and I could swear I saw him with Grayfia just earlier… Although, Rossweisse would know what Peroroncino looked like, since we shared thoughts for a moment- But the Cherubim Gatekeepers kept an eye on Rossweisse in the time between me interrogating her and me finding Grayfia with Peroroncino, which means that Rossweisse most likely couldn't describe Peroroncino's appearance to a doppelganger or something…' Momonga thought about Peroroncino's sudden presence and appearance. '...That being said, it looks like I should try to lure him to me… Chasing after him doesn't seem to work.'

However, his stress was peaking as it felt like the whole world's issues were piling in on his shoulders. '...I should probably start delegating some of these things… The Dominion Authority in the Underworld should be reinforcing these grounds against a invasion by Beelzebub's forces, but I should nominate someone to do PR for me as the majority of Underworld's civilian populace is still either tied to noble families or are conflicted between 'True God', the 'Pillars' and the 'Maous'...'

Momonga crawled out of the chair with herculean effort and stood up straight, just in time for the woman on his desk to regain lucidity. "Venelana Gremory. I trust you're feeling alright?"

The brown-haired curvy woman that looked more like Rias's big sister than someone who was both a mother and a grandmother seemed to wake up and realize that she was still alive.

"Ah?! Wait, don't-!" Venelana waved her hands in the air to fight off some sort of invisible attacker, at least before Grayfia regained her courage and came to Venelana's side to hold her hand in a reassuring way.

"Venelana-sama…" Grayfia muttered to the woman's ear. "It's alright, you're safe now, we're safe now, Milicas is safe now…"

Venelana seemed to slowly calm down from the muttering and eventually let out a relaxed sigh. She then looked around, and spotted Momonga.

"You- You! What- What have you done?! My husband, he's dead… What about Rias?! Is she safe?! The Underworld- our world-!" Venelana seemed to suffer a heart attack from the shock of seeing Momonga and her sentences were breaking almost as if she didn't know what to say due to having too much to say, and was just trying to get a message across.

Momonga sighed, and Grayfia hugged Venelana while putting a hand on her mouth.

"Venelana-sama, please calm down, everything is- ahem…" Grayfia sent a sideways glance at Momonga before continuing. "The situation is a bit delicate, but I heard Rias-ojousama has negotiated a resurrection for Lord Gremory…"

Venelana seemed to calm down a bit but remained shaky while giving Momonga a glare that was at the same time grateful, afraid and angry.

"'One', 'Two', please accompany Grayfia, Milicas and Venelana to somewhere in this estate to relax. Ask Rias to come and see them as well. Grayfia, remember my previous statement regarding freedom of movement." Momonga instructed, and essentially shooed the group off. 'Haa… I don't feel like dealing with this…'

He glanced at the clock on the wall and noted that it was still roughly afternoon as the Cherubim Gatekeepers were directing the devils out of the office.. 'Right, I need to get going… Sona's probably got Serafall covered, the defenses should be taken care of by my summons, the angels are busy…'

"Father!" A panicked voice came from nearby and was accompanied by a shower of gray feathers, as Michael teleported to the office alongside Gabriel.

'Speak of the devil… Or Angel, I suppose…' Momonga sighed. "How can I help you, Michael-san?"

"The human world! It's…"

"Don't worry, I have a plan for it." Momonga handwaved the angel's panic, as he already had a plan for the sun of the Human World. '...That being said, I need to wait for tomorrow so my Super-tier spells replenish… I have two daily casts left, but I need to keep at least that much as emergency stock if I get ambushed or have to use them with [Boost] to ensure my survival…'

"A- Ah. I, I… see?" Michael stumbled mid-sentence. "Was- I… I see. I, of course, knew that you had a plan, Father. I apologize for failing to realize that the events are proceeding as you have planned. I feel that your decision is harsh, but… I understand."

"Umu. In that case… I'd like to rest." Momonga was honest for once. "The events of the past few days, and… everything else… It is tiring me…"

"Ah… Of course, I understand." Michael nodded seriously. "It is Sunday after all. The seventh day. Please, if you wish to rest, then I'll take care of things here. After all, it is unreasonable to expect you to work today."

'Huh? That easily? Ah… In that case…' Momonga nodded equally seriously while his over-stressed mind was doing the equivalent of a burning plane performing an emergency landing without landing gear and digging a mile-long ditch of mud into the ground. "I see. I'll leave everything to your capable hands, Michael-san. I'll be back tomorrow."

Michael and Gabriel bowed slightly, and Momonga [Teleport]ed out.

'A day off? A vacation day? A vacation? Vacation!'

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.

Yasaka was adjusting her kimono and checking her makeup. 'Right, I didn't have a chance to ask Momon-san about a marriage contract, and based on the message I received from the kitsune cadre, I don't have long until I need to return to Kyoto or risk having the ley-lines rupture…'

"Mommy is so pretty…" Kunou hugged Yasaka from the side, and the Kyuubi reached to play with her daughter's hair for a bit. "Are we going to see daddy?"

"Yes. So act nice, and don't mention what happened this morning, right?" Yasaka rubbed Kunou's fox-ears, causing the girl to squirm a bit. "It's a secret between us three."

"Got it!" Kunou nodded eagerly and then reached to hug Yasaka's nine tails. "I'm so glad…"

"Hm, hm…" Yasaka walked off her quarters to interrogate one of the devil staff of the estate that were walking by, and got rough directions to places in the estate- Namely, Momon's quarters, which she already know of, Momon's Peerage's quarters, and some offices that would likely be used by sons of nobility.

Yasaka sent her tengus to search the estate for Momon, and went off towards the man's Peerage quarters which were closest to her assigned quarters in order to start her search.

Kunou walked close to Yasaka, and eventually the pair reached the quarters, knocked on the door, and walked in as there was some sort of commotion inside.

"...Mom! I'm so glad… Ahh…." A redheaded girl was hugging a brown-haired, busty woman and the redhead had buried her head between the brown-haired one's breasts.

Yasaka noticed that Grayfia was nearby as well, and had a faintly familiar-looking boy behind her. 'He looks a bit like Grayfia and Sirzechs… Ah, so that'd be their son?'

Yasaka was on guard around the gray-haired woman, as the maid had been on Sirzechs's side during the battle in Kuoh, and Yasaka was more than a bit angry with Sirzechs over his betrayal of the Three Factions, or more accurately, over the sudden ambush that Sirzechs had launched against the two other factions during the meeting, attempted to drag Yasaka into the conflict, and had caught Kunou in the crossfire.

It looked like the brown-haired woman Yasaka finally recalled to be Venelana Gremory, and a girl who was presumably her daughter, were too busy hugging each other and crying to be of any use to Yasaka, so she turned towards Grayfia. "Ahem, could I ask where Momon-sama is?"

Grayfia froze up utterly still. "Ah… M-Momon-sama is in Lord Phenix's office, Yasaka-sama."

"I see. Thank you, Grayfia-san." Yasaka forced her tone to be as neutral as possible, as she didn't want to scare Kunou by displaying her annoyance with the gray-haired woman. "In that case I'll excuse myself."

"Wait, you're going to see Momon?" The redhead seemed to disentangle herself from Venelana. "I have some choice words for him. We're going together."

"Ah, Momon and I have some private affairs to talk-"

"It'll have to wait. Momon is my husband, and I have the right to lecture him until his ears fall off." The redhead growled and Yasaka did a double-take.

'Hm, so she's Rias Gremory, then…' Yasaka recalled the name from the depths of her memory- She had more or less memorized the names of Devil nobility, as they had dealings with Kyoto and had met many of the Pillars, but her memory of Young Devils was still a bit spotty. "I see."

'In other words, she's my main opponent when it comes to sneaking into Momon's good graces…' Yasaka reached to pat Kunou as the latter growled threateningly at Rias and the young kitsune's hair and tails were standing straight in a threatening manner. "Lead on, then."

Rias sent Kunou a baffled look before she shook her head and motioned towards something in the room, and Yasaka noticed that there were three angels with oddly coloured wings in the corner of the room.

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"Isn't that cow-titted fox-bitch the head of Shinto faction? We're so fucked." Mittlet whispered to Raynare, and the latter could only nod while trying to keep herself as inconspicuous as possible to not draw the eye of any of the people in the room.

A noble lady of a Pillar family, the dreaded Ruin Princess, the Strongest Queen, and now the Kyuubi of Kyoto being in the same room was enough to make the trio of Fallen Angels to quiver in their boots, as they were more than aware of the respective difference of strength between them and the monsters in the room.

"Calm down, we can still get out of this with our lives…" Raynare whispered back to Mittlet and swatted Kalawarna's breasts to cause them to jiggle and wake the blue-haired business-lewd woman from her stupor. "Remember what that Gremory bitch told us? That we are supposed to talk to xeno-something and report for an introduction on some cult or somesuch? We can use that to escape, and if we screw up, seduce Issei…"

"Right…" Mittlet looked more than a bit unhappy with either of the two options, but both options were better than just dying outright so she didn't object too much.

Rias turned and motioned for Raynare and her two cohorts to follow her, and the trio stood up while trying to keep themselves calm and collected. Which didn't work, but at least they tried.

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"He… Has gone on a vacation?" Rias's voice was quite annoyed.

Raynare was quivering like a pudding as the group had reached an office of some sort, and instead of Issei, had found Michael of all beings sitting behind a desk and shuffling papers to Gabriel.

Rias was seemingly stuck between a impressive growl and an attempt to keep herself calm in front of the Leader of Heavens himself.

Raynare was feeling conflicted as on one hand she was looking forwards to the Gremory bitch getting evaporated by a swarm of light spears, but on other hand she was fairly sure that Raynare and her cohorts would be the next to follow if Michael went on a warpath. 'Azazel-sama… Where are you? Are you safe?'

"Did Momon-sama tell where he went?" Yasaka asked, and Michael shook his head. "I see. That is disappointing."

"Father's ways are mysterious. But do not fear, he has a plan to bring salvation to his flock. I suspect it includes Youkais, if his recent changes in stance are anything to go by." Michael sighed and rubbed his temple a bit, all the while Rias's growl intensified and Yasaka sighed as well. "I am somewhat uneasy with the way he has chosen to censure the Humans, but it wouldn't be the first time for him to strike down the human hubris- Babylon was a reminder that humans seemed to have forgotten."

"You're saying that…" Venelana looked a bit faint as she stood beside Rias, and it looked like the noblewoman wasn't sure what to think as she cycled emotions every few seconds.

"Grr…" Rias grumbled under her breath. "Momon, you big, fat, liar, you said you weren't God… Well, he did save mom… I suppose I shouldn't be too mad…"

'...Um?' Raynare felt faint. 'Wait, wait, wait, are those two implying that… '

Raynare felt her body cramp as she started to slowly realize that she was way in over her head. '...Right. Issei was God in disguise, and I stabbed him. Or rather, Issei was God taking a vacation. No wonder I couldn't kill him properly.'

She congratulated herself for keeping her bladder in check while the monsters and angels in the room were talking something about judgment and justice and somesuch. '...I'm so dead…'

One of the odd numbered maids seemed to appear out of nowhere with a tray of refreshments, only to be quite surprised to see Michael sitting behind the desk.

Rias turned towards the odd maid, grabbed the tray, put it on the desk, and downed a hearty cup of tea in one go.

Rias then turned towards Raynare, causing the latter to freeze utterly still. "You're 'Two', right? Please see Raynare and her fellows over there to the Church of True God… I think Xenovia-san is over there. She and Irina didn't come to the Peerage quarters, so I guess they slept in the church... Have her run those three idiots through the cult's basic introduction or something to get them something to do. But keep an eye on them."

The maid looked a bit conflicted before she curtsied to Rias. "Very well, Rias-ojousama."

Raynare kicked Mittlet's shin as the latter had been edging towards the door. "This is our chance, don't screw it up by trying to run for it too early…"

"I got it, I got it…" Mittlet whispered back while Kalawarner was frozen stiff, and the trio turned to follow the odd numbered maid and left Rias, her mother, and a calculatingly humming Yasaka to have their own chat with Michael and Gabriel.

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"A day off… A vacation…" Momonga did a small pirouette as he basically took the events of the past few days, the enigma that was Peroroncino's sudden appearance and disappearance, and put all of that out of his head.

A part of him wanted to keep searching for Peroroncino, but a more rational part of his mind realized that if he didn't take things easy for a while, he'd break and either get himself killed or become a wreck. 'Charging out with just a vague belief that Grayfia wouldn't lead me into a trap… That was reckless… If she had led me to an ambush, I'd just have the Cherubims Gatekeepers to serve as my shields, I'd be on the enemy's chosen battlefield, and effectively cut off…'

Momonga sighed as he recognized just how badly the sudden appearance of his guildmate had affected him, effectively causing him to throw caution to the wind and chase after ghosts. 'Not to mention that I need to sit down and work on my levels… But after all this… Am I in a state where I can think clearly, formulate a proper build…'

'...Rossweisse offered to talk to me about my past, about what I am…' Momonga made a quick plan for the day off, even if it was a half-day off. '...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to return to my roots for a bit, freshen myself up a bit, shed the stress by doing something mundane, and then approach the problems with a clear head…'

He sent a quick message to his Cherubim Gatekeepers, as well as to Michael, detailing his plans and where he would be in case he was ambushed and needed help, and also gave them orders to tell no-one where he went in case he'd get people pestering him during his vacation, unless he asked for help.

Momonga cast widened [Detect Life] once again, noted Rossweisse's location, and teleported near her.

"Rossweisse- eh?" Momonga paused mid-sentence as he looked at the sight of Rossweisse and a woman he vaguely remembered from somewhere sitting awkwardly on the opposite sides of a table.

The vaguely familiar woman looked at Momonga with an unreadable expression, hiccupped a bit, and then walked off without so much as a word.

'What was that? Oh… Wait… I think I remember… She was Issei's mother, I think?' Momonga realized who the woman was after a moment. "Rossweisse-san? What happened?"

"I… Well, I told madam Hyoudou that… well, that her son is no longer with us. Cleared things up, because it was kind of painful to see her thinking that you were her son, and she seemed like a good person so it was cruel to see her like that..." Rossweisse looked a bit guilty. "I didn't tell her anything else, but I think it was a bit of a shock, because she still thought that you were Issei but just, well, changed…"

"I see." Momonga sighed. "I did tell her that myself, but it looks like I failed to convince her."

"It would have been hard for you to convince her, with you possessing the body of her son…" Rossweisse looked a bit sad.

"Does that bother you?"

"A bit, but it's not like you had a choice in the matter." Rossweisse sighed.

"Listen, I decided to have a small vacation today. Would you like to come with me?" Momonga asked. 'Huh, isn't this…'

"A- a d-d-d-date?" Rossweisse's face turned red. "Erm… Y-yes, although I haven't… been in any dates so Idontreallyknowwhattodo-"

"I know. I read your memory, remember?" Momonga handwaved. "I was planning on just reminiscing about the past, thinking about what I am now… That sort of thing. A night out, or something like that."

"Sure! But… um, where should we go? I think most of Underworld knows who you are at this point, and I'm fairly sure we can't just walk into a cafe without causing a commotion…" Rossweisse looked a bit puzzled as Momonga offered her his hand. "Er, and I get a feeling that Asgard or some such probably wouldn't be good either."

"I figured we could go to the Human World." Momonga offered, and Rossweisse took his offered hand. "Do you have anything inconspicuous to wear?"

The woman nodded and a white light washed over her body, accompanied by a couple of runic sigils rotating around her, and her clothes changed to a fairly sharp woman's dress suit, perfect for a businesswoman yet quite awkward for a date.

Rossweisse seemed to realize the blunder. "Ah- Wait, sorry, this isn't cute or anything, I'll change-"

"Don't worry, it is perfect." Momonga, or rather, Suzuki Satoru felt nostalgia from the sight and used [Create Greater Item] to make himself a matching men's suit, somewhat akin to what he had seen used by businessmen in Kuoh during his brief one-day stay in the 'normal' city before things had escalated out of hand. "Shall we?"

Rossweisse slapped herself on the cheeks a bit, likely for courage, and then locked her arm with Momonga's. "Mhm!"

'Hm… Well, everything should be alright if I laze around for half a day… I'm certain that nothing important is going to happen…' Momonga nodded to reassure himself while Rossweisse was positively beaming. "Alright, let's go have fun!"

A [Gate] teleported them out of the Underworld.

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'And so, my vigil begins… ' Beelzebub nodded to himself as he got a response from Asmodeus, who had departed to negotiate with various pantheons while informing them about the situation with the Outer Beings, alongside explaining what had caused the tremors that the world was suffering from.

In other words, warning all about the true nature of 'True God', and the 'Supreme Being'- That they were one and the same.

And that it had tricked Odin into shredding the Tree of Yggdrasil so Hastur claim the spear made of the ancient world-tree's core.

And that it was already consuming the Underworld.

And that when it was done, it was coming after the other pantheons as well.