Azazel glared at me as I sat calmly in front of him, sipping on the tea that Benemune gave me.
"....I really wish Benemune had gone through the idea of putting laxatives in that tea."
I raised an eyebrow at those seething words.
"Really now? That is an interesting idea. Unfortunately for you, she seems far more receptive to helping me than you, isn't that right? My dear?"
Benemune instantly bowed low at my words with reverence clear in her eyes.
"Of course! Brother Arae-I mean, Aetherion. Do you want me to put the laxatives into Azazel-sama's whisky next time?"
I just smirked at her answer as Azazel gave her a dumbfounded look.
Shaking his head in disappointment, Azazel finally put away his act and got serious.
"Anyways, I just want to ask you one question, Aetherion."
"Hm?"
"You really did change the Heavenly System, right? Not Michael, not someone else, or even.....Father?"
The fear and hope in Azazel's eyes made me put down the tea with a sigh.
I knew exactly what he was hoping for, but at the same time was worried about.
While God's Construct gave me all of his memories, which included my time as Arael that he remembered, and showed that the relationship he had was truly that of a father and son, I can still say without a doubt that he was truly ruthless and dangerous for those whom he did not consider his own or under his protection.
The best examples would be how the Heavens perceived God during the time he was alive, and how the other patheons knew him.
To the Angels and even the humans, he was a benevolent god who would do anything to protect and help them. Even to the devils, he was their enemy, but was still someone who would show them mercy should they retreat from battle.
But to the other pantheons, he was a menace that they could do nothing about due to his sheer power.
The best example for this was the Sacred Gears themselves, which were created from many different beings, treasures, and powers stolen from various other pantheons across the world for the sake of humanity.
Aside from this, the fact that God's powers and abilities were far superior to any other being on this planet (a result of his arrival from a different dimension) also rubbed many of the other pantheons the wrong way (except for truly old pantheons who could not care less about him and his actions.)
So, it was no exaggeration to say that Azazel, despite the hope that his father might come back, was still dreading the possibility that God was alive.
Because if he were alive, then another war would be inevitable, something that he desperately wished to avoid.
Leaning back into the chair, with my head on my fist, I replied to his question.
"Yes, Azazel. I changed the system. After you told me so much about how the system was working and how humans with Sacred Gears were being treated. I decided that things needed to change."
Azazel sighed in relief before leaning back into his chair.
"Well, I guess I can take that as a silver lining in this whole mess."
"What mess?"
He glared at me at my question as I grinned, knowing that this must be grating on his nerves quite a bit.
"Seriously? Do you need to ask at this point?"
"Yup. I want to hear it from your mouth."
".....God, your trolling nature has not dulled one bit even after all this time."
I continued grinning at his words, making him sigh again.
"Fine. I am talking about the mess that you created by changing the Heavenly System completely."
"Everyone who was in the process of recruiting Sacred Gear users, or those who already had Sacred Gear users in their factions, is now freaking out after these gears were either completely reset or were sealed away completely."
"Especially the devils who are going through a significant crisis down there at the moment."
Good. That means that my plan worked.
Ever since I learned about the Evil Pieces and how they worked, it cannot be denied that I hated how they were being misused.
Supposedly, they were originally supposed to help the Devils repopulate through the willing conversion of people from other races into their own (which is something that I doubt was the original reason, since it is the Devils we are talking about).
However, nowadays, this system is being used to exploit other races, mainly humans, and take away those who were supposed to protect humanity with their sacred gears.
Instead, they are being used in the 'Rating Games' of the devils, which is more or less some kind of gladiatorial event that shows off the power of the 'Kings' of the peerages in question.
And this is not even considering how many of the humans that were converted into devils did not even consent to this conversion, given how more than half of the Sacred Gear wielders from the Underworld fled the realm the moment they got the chance through the Heavenly System and chose to go back to being human when it was presented to them.
The Evil Pieces are one of the major reasons why I have remade the Heavenly System into being so hostile towards anything that is not human, even more so than it already was under God's old protocols.
From now on, those who wish to remain human will no longer be tempted by empty promises or threats. Because there will be no incentive for the Devils to turn those humans into Devils in the first place, with the Karma system safeguarding the Sacred Gears.
Azazle must have caught my interest in the subject as he leaned down and took out a bottle of whisky, only to glance at Benemune pensively before putting it away with a sigh.
"Ever since that System update, Many a peerange in the Underworld has fallen apart with a lot of humans fleeing to the mortal world, one way or another. The Devils, specifically, the nobility, wanted to declare them Stray Devils on the spot. However, when they discovered that the Heavenly System returned them back into being humans, they had no ground to stand on, so they were left fuming in the underworld."
"The last I heard, Ajuka Beelzebub was looking into his Evil Piece system and trying to understand how the Heavenly System was undoing his work."
"Hm. Let him try."
"...Are you not worried that he will understand what the System is doing?"
I grinned at Azazel's question.
"On the contrary, based on his track record, I have no doubt that he will figure it out soon enough. However, so what if he understands the process by which my System turns reincarnated devils into humans? What is he going to do about it? Make his Evil Pieces stronger or enhance the spellwork on them to circumvent the system? It won't be possible since my system is the very antithesis of anything that even has a hint of demonic power, even on a conceptual level. Which means that even if he used a human magic system instead of his formula to recreate the Evil Pieces, it won't work since there will still be a hint of his power in the spellwork, which would make them fall apart the moment my system comes into contact with it."
Azazel gave me an intrigued look as I felt my grin turn savage while I revealed my full power just for a moment.
Golgen energy erupted from my body as my twelve wings, which were pure white until now, turned solid gold, under the enhancements I received from the System.
"And, even if Beelzebub decided to try his hand at a direct confrontation, I have confidence that I can defeat him at best, or stall him at worst."
And it really is the truth.
The hype around the so-called Super Devils was so much that even someone as ignorant as I had heard about it, so I did what any sane person would do and researched extensively on the topic, learning about what they can and cannot do.
From what I found out, these devils are exceedingly powerful beings capable of destroying entire continents, or in the worst case, maybe even a whole planet, should they need to, which is quite the achievement since I am not sure even my strongest AOE spell, Meteor Fall, can do that kind of damage. Mainly because I did not have the chance to test it out yet.
However, I am not truly concerned about this kind of power.
Because under the System's constant flow of power into my soul, my Exp has been rising steadily with every action I take. Even just moving about is increasing my Exp, even if it is only a few points at a time. So, I have no doubt that I will become stronger than those so-called Super Devils given enough time.
And, even if I did not have the time and the Devils decided to attack us, they would still be at a severe disadvantage thanks to the Heavenly System suppressing their power by at least two ranks, maybe even more, depending on how pure the bloodline of the Devil in question is, which amplifies their susceptibility to Holy Energy.
Azazel shook his head at my words before leaning back into his chair again.
"I doubt you are here to just boast about your power and the changes you made to the System. So, spill. What are you doing here?"
I gave him a dramatic, confused look.
"I thought you wanted to see me? Isn't that why you asked for me?"
The flat look Azazel gave me was far too funny, so I ended up laughing a lot.
But, soon enough, I calmed down and spoke about why I was here in the first place.
"Alright, enough jokes. I'll speak plainly."
"I am here to inform you not to interfere in any kind of disturbance that might take place in the next few days."
"....Why?"
I did not reply to his question and shook my head.
"You don't need to know, Azazel. It is something that concerns me and the other Angels. Not something that you should need to know about."
"....And what if I end up interfering in whatever you are doing 'accidentally'?"
"Then, you will face me and my unit in battle."
He instantly fell silent at my words and only nodded in confirmation.
It's not that I wish to antagonize him. It's just that I cannot trust him.
I am under no illusion that Azazel is my friend. He will work with me to an extent, mainly because he still cares about who I used to be, just like with many other Fallen, including Benemune, who practically worships the ground that I walk on, but I also know that if they have to choose between the Grigori and I, they will not hesitate to turn against me.
Because this is their home. A place they carved out for themselves after they were banished from the heavens by God and his system.
It is especially true for the Fallen Angels who fell after God died. Those who were unjustly expelled from heaven for things that were out of their control because the faulty System could not differentiate between the intent behind the sins they committed.
Besides, even if they did choose to betray the Grigori for me, I would still not be able to trust them, mainly because of the karma that they have.
Many of the Fallen Angels have deep black karmic aura around them, showing that they had commited many sins in their lives, especially Azazel whose aura looked like a bottomless abyss, while other Fallen Angels had various shades of grey aura, like Benemune and Barakiel, showing that thier sins were only slightly more than thier good deeds, which was not good, but not bad either.
This is the reason why I cannot trust the Fallen Angels, no matter what they think of me.
It is also the reason why I did not tell Azazel about my real plan and why I was in the human world this time.
To bring back four particularly dangerous Sacred Gears to the heavens. Relics that should never have left Heaven's vault but were foolishly incorporated into the Sacred Gear system by the extremely trusting God.
And now that one of the four relics is already in my hands, it is time to search for the other three.
But, before that, I need some time to relax.
And what better way to relax than to troll a few children through their love lives?
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