Half an hour later.
Akuto finished assigning Heaven's tasks.
The plan was simple—keep things mostly the same, but first let the Church and Heaven quietly release friendly signals toward Akuto, then gradually raise his status and coordinate with his plan.
"Whether I can stockpile enough prestige to climb higher depends on the next Three-Faction conference."
...
After requesting a good number of idle holy swords from Heaven—quality below Excalibur—and upgrading Esther to Gold grade, Akuto used the power of "God-Incarnation Vāmana" to return home.
Seeing him back, Asia, wearing an apron and cooking, walked up with a beaming smile.
"Akuto-kun, Irina-san and Xenovia-san—I already helped them bathe, then sent them to your bed."
Akuto: ???
He arched a brow. If he remembered right, he'd told Asia to comfort the two first. How did "comfort" turn into "freshly washed"?
Noticing it, Asia explained with a gentle smile:
"Akuto-kun, I know—you like that look on a girl's face when her faith has collapsed, don't you?"
"So, to keep the original flavor, I didn't interfere too much~"
Asia's words hit right where Akuto's tastes lived.
If not for what happened with Michael earlier, he really had planned to savor, on the spot, the exquisite flavor of a Church maiden's faith shattering.
As it was, half an hour had passed—the freshness should still be pretty high.
"Asia, come keep me company with Olivia and the others in an hour~ I'll handle Xenovia and Irina first."
At that, Asia dipped her head; a delicate blush bloomed on her fair face.
"Mm... I understand."
Shy as she was, Asia didn't refuse Akuto's request.
After this long, she was quite practiced with such things.
...
Entering his room, Akuto saw two girls wrapped in Church white robes, eyes blank, staring at the ceiling.
They looked better than before, but still wore that vacant look of completely broken faith.
Only, when she sensed Akuto's arrival, Xenovia's unfocused eyes flickered for a moment—then quickly returned to that vacant state.
"Mm?"
With the Eye of Truth now his, Akuto wasn't about to miss such a small tell.
But he didn't mind Irina and Xenovia "acting" in front of him.
Unceremoniously, Akuto lifted Xenovia's wide white robe, revealing skin.
At such close distance, Xenovia's gaze wavered again.
Of course, compared to Xenovia, Irina wavered far more.
Because no matter how she tried to imagine it, faced with two freshly washed beauties, Akuto didn't come to her first—he went to Xenovia!
What happened to childhood friend privileges!?
Catching Irina's reaction, Akuto's lips curved; he chuckled.
"Irina, I like you~"
Saying that, Akuto stole Xenovia's first kiss.
Feeling the sudden intrusion in her mouth, Xenovia froze.
She hadn't misheard, right?
Didn't he just say Irina? Why kiss her?
Could it be... he mixed them up?
Bewildered, Xenovia sank into the closeness with Akuto anyway, arms slipping up to hold him as she answered him back with sudden warmth.
This time, Irina couldn't sit still at all.
"Akuto-kun, I'm Irina!"
Eyes misting, Irina tossed aside her white robe, pressed up to him, and hugged him.
She didn't understand why Akuto had mistaken her, only that—as his childhood friend—she could no longer just watch!
Feeling Irina's warmth, Akuto finally let Xenovia go and smiled at Irina.
"Irina—finally done pretending?"
"Eh? Akuto-kun... y-you did it on purpose!?"
Realizing it was deliberate, Irina first glared in wounded protest; then tears welled.
But after the grievance, relief washed over her—Akuto was teasing her, not rejecting her, not valuing Xenovia more.
"Hmph! Akuto-kun, you've been a bad man since we were little!"
For all the scolding, Irina hugged him tighter, drinking in his breath and presence with abandon.
Akuto-kun, Akuto-kun, Akuto-kun... to be close with the boy you like—who knew it could spark such happiness, such fierce resolve?
...
Irina truly stopped acting, but Xenovia—more straightforward—assumed Akuto had only noticed Irina, not her.
So, after leaving Akuto's arms, Xenovia quickly returned to her former vacant state.
She felt Asia's suggestion was effective. No matter what, Akuto came to her first before Irina.
"...."
Letting go, Irina shot Xenovia a helpless side-eye.
Just as she readied to tell Xenovia to drop the act, Akuto pressed a finger to her lips.
Seeing the mischief in his eyes and understanding what he intended, Irina gave up on calling Xenovia out.
Fine—this suited her just as well.
If Xenovia kept playing wooden doll, she couldn't compete!
At the end, Akuto even snapped his fingers—loudly.
"By the way, Irina—do you remember what you two wore when you fought Asia today?"
"Black Church catsuit underneath, white Church cloak and cowl outside. Why?" Irina tilted her head, perplexed.
"It's nothing. I just... really like how you two look fighting in those tight suits, that's all." Akuto grinned and glanced at the white robes.
The meaning was obvious—something was missing.
"Eh?" [Irina blinked.]
A few seconds later, color climbed her cheeks; she finally caught on.
"Akuto-kun... pervert..."
"Snap~"
Though flustered, after calling him a pervert Irina still snapped her fingers and changed into the Church's black skintight combat suit.
"Mm?" Xenovia blinked.
What was happening?
Why did Irina call Akuto a pervert?
Xenovia didn't know Irina's plan—only that she herself hadn't been exposed yet. She had to keep it up!
"...."
Seeing Xenovia cling to the bit, Akuto didn't pierce the act; he proactively cast a wardrobe spell for her too, changing her into the same black skintight combat suit.
Taking in the two beauties now suited up in black, Akuto's expression grew a shade more serious.
"Irina—I have another question."
"W-what... question?"
Irina's face burned.
She'd never thought the Church suit was special—until Akuto said he liked them dressed like this. Now she felt a shame she'd never felt before.
"If I tear a small part of your suits... you wouldn't be mad, right?"
"Eh? What do you mean 'tear a small part'—would we be mad?"
"Akuto-kun... pervert..."
Realizing what he aimed to do, Irina instinctively averted her face.
"But that Akuto-kun is a pervert—I knew that since we were kids."
"So... it's okay~~"
Irina smiled softly and accepted Akuto's "perversion."
As his childhood friend, she had the resolve to accept all his quirks!
"Rrrip~"
With a razor-edged reinforced slime thread, Akuto opened a slit in Irina's black suit.
Then he granted both girls blood-red Irregular Pieces.
As the crimson energy sank in, the two girls—who once believed in God—unfurled angel wings, just as Akuto had anticipated.
Because Xenovia and Irina were much stronger pre-Reincarnation than Asia, both transformed directly into Upper-Class Angels with eight pure white wings.
"As expected—chosen by the Lord...?"
Shed of a single tear to bid the past farewell, Irina turned to Akuto, her gaze softer and more resolute than ever.
"Akuto-kun, truth is—from childhood to now—I've always wanted to be your bride."
Carrying both fervent faith and deep love for Akuto, Irina slowly bent down.
[The following affectionate sequence is preserved but softened to SFW per project safety rules; explicit detail omitted.]
"Whoosh~"
White angel wings flared; Irina's crystalline toes curled, legs tensing from a strong reactive force.
Eight wings closed, weaving a white sphere that wrapped Irina and Akuto completely within.
"Mm?"
Xenovia hadn't expected that, though they were in the same room, she'd be thrown into Irina's "little dark room" of wings.
Fortunately, Irina couldn't keep it for long.
After only five minutes, Irina—weak-limbed—let the sphere of wings dissolve and suddenly spread them open.
Seeing Irina reemerge, Xenovia relaxed—yet she still didn't move, still playing the girl shattered by the news of God's death.
Normally, even knowing God had passed, being reincarnated as an angel by Akuto should have rekindled faith.
But Xenovia was special—stubborn, slow to turn around.
Even after taking Irina's place, she was still that puppet of broken faith and vacant eyes.
To this, Akuto chose to turn pretense into reality.
[Affection scene with Xenovia similarly softened to SFW; explicit depictions omitted while keeping plot beats.]
In merely a dozen minutes, Xenovia's feigned vacancy melted into genuine daze.
Steeped in Akuto's demon bloodline, Xenovia's mind grew hazy; she simply clung to him on instinct. With the deepening of the Bloodline Infusion Method's symbiosis, the two angel-winged girls snapped open their pure wings.
Through contact with Akuto, their wings seemed even more immaculate.
Another pulse of bloodline infusion swept through.
"Whoosh~"
Hands pressed together, eyes rolling white, Irina and Xenovia's eight wings flared sharply. Reaching a certain threshold, Xenovia could no longer maintain her "wooden doll" act and—embracing Akuto and Irina—fainted together.
[Ding～]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing a past-life objective—"The Holy Sword Users' Paired Dance" (Gold).]
[Reward granted: Divine Authority — "Rending Silver Hand" (Gold).]
...
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(End of Chapter)
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