After some deliberation, the various factions eventually began making their way toward the Fourth Gate.
Izumi's side also started making preparations for the upcoming meeting.
However, the first person to arrive was someone Izumi had not expected at all.
Cao Cao.
The wielder of the True Longinus — the Sacred Spear of the Setting Sun, one of the most powerful Sacred Gears known as a God-slayer weapon.
In the original timeline, he had been the leader of the Hero Faction, constantly stirring up incidents in his quest to push humanity toward its ultimate potential.
But in this world's history, things were different.
Here, Cao Cao stood as one of humanity's greatest champions, representing the peak of human strength while constantly striving to elevate humanity's position within the world.
He still led the Hero Faction, but he was nothing like the troublemaker depicted in the anime.
Instead, he had spent years fighting on the front lines of the DxD World, battling enemies threatening humanity.
Among humans, his name was widely known and frequently praised.
Seeing that this man had arrived first piqued Izumi's interest.
Behind Cao Cao stood several of his companions.
Just like in the original story—
Siegfried.
Jeanne d'Arc.
And the others.
Watching them, a mischievous glint flashed through Izumi's eyes.
He snapped his fingers.
In the next instant—
Cao Cao's entire group was separated.
Cao Cao frowned slightly at the sudden change.
Before he could react, however, an overwhelming force descended upon him.
His vision blurred.
And in the blink of an eye, he found himself standing inside a large office.
Sitting calmly at the desk before him—
Was the person he had long wished to meet.
Izumi.
The moment Cao Cao saw him, the tension in his body faded.
Izumi spoke first.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Cao Cao."
Cao Cao immediately returned the greeting with a respectful bow.
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Izumi."
He bore no hostility toward Izumi.
Since he understood that this sudden teleportation had been Izumi's doing, there was nothing to worry about.
Although he was curious why Izumi had separated his team members, he chose not to ask.
Izumi, however, explained it himself.
"I sent your companions to meet their ancestors."
"Well… maybe not the same world's ancestors, but close enough."
Izumi smiled faintly.
At this very moment—
Siegfried had been dropped directly in front of Siegfried from the Nasuverse, and the two were currently staring at each other in confusion.
Jeanne d'Arc had been sent to meet Jeanne d'Arc and Jeanne Alter.
Three Jeannes now stood together, all looking completely bewildered.
As for the others, Izumi had sent them to meet individuals somehow connected to their legends.
Leonardo had been thrown straight in front of Da Vinci.
At the moment, he looked utterly miserable.
After all, the person who resonated with him turned out to be a woman.
And after hearing Da Vinci introduce herself—
Leonardo's worldview had collapsed.
Because in his mind, his ancestor absolutely wasn't supposed to be a woman.
After briefly checking on their reactions, Izumi stopped paying attention.
Instead, he turned back to Cao Cao.
The two began chatting.
Interestingly, they spoke in Chinese, which made the conversation flow surprisingly smoothly.
After some casual discussion, Cao Cao asked the question he cared about most.
"Mr. Izumi… are you certain we can truly invade that world?"
Izumi shrugged.
"That part's not a big deal."
"Those bastards are going to invade us sooner or later anyway."
"So why not just hit them first?"
"The people of the DxD world should contribute as well."
"Conquering another world brings enormous benefits."
Izumi was completely confident.
In his mind, there was no scenario where they failed to conquer the EXE World.
Seeing how confident Izumi was made Cao Cao feel excited.
If they could truly conquer the EXE World—
The greatest threat facing their world would finally disappear.
Now that someone like Izumi existed—a human of overwhelming strength—
Humanity's standing within the DxD world had already risen dramatically.
No faction dared to underestimate humans anymore.
After chatting for a while longer, Izumi suddenly spoke again.
"Cao Cao."
"Could I borrow your Sacred Gear for a moment?"
Cao Cao blinked in surprise.
But he didn't hesitate.
He immediately summoned the True Longinus and handed it over.
"Of course."
He trusted Izumi completely.
Someone with Izumi's level of power wouldn't possibly covet his Sacred Gear.
At most, he was probably just curious about its structure.
Izumi accepted the True Longinus and examined it thoughtfully.
After playing with it for a moment, he spoke.
"It seems the God of the Bible left a little insurance when creating this Sacred Gear."
As he spoke, Izumi activated his power.
In the next instant—
He forcefully extracted a fragment of will hidden deep inside the spear.
Cao Cao's expression immediately changed.
A moment later, a radiant sphere of holy light was pulled out from the interior of the spear.
At the same time, Izumi had already fully analyzed the spear's structure.
Now—
It could theoretically be mass-produced.
Of course, Izumi didn't mention that part.
Instead, he stared at the glowing light in his hand.
"The God of the Bible has already fallen."
"This must be the final fragment of her will."
Cao Cao stared at the light in shock.
He asked uncertainly,
"You're saying… that's really the will of the God of the Bible?"
"She's been inside my Sacred Gear this whole time?"
Izumi nodded.
"That's right."
"If she had decided to abandon you…"
"This spear would have become completely useless."
"But don't worry."
"I've already removed her."
With a casual smile, Izumi tossed the glowing fragment into his system space, sealing it away.
Cao Cao stood there, stunned.
Just imagining what could have happened sent chills down his spine.
His entire fighting style relied on the True Longinus.
If the weapon had suddenly stopped functioning—
His combat strength would have plummeted.
At that moment, Cao Cao felt genuine gratitude toward Izumi.
Izumi had just removed a potentially catastrophic hidden danger.
Meanwhile—
Elsewhere in the base, at one of the training grounds.
The instant Izumi extracted the will of the God of the Bible—
Two people sensed something unusual.
Gabriel and Raphael.
Phil turned toward Gabriel with a startled expression.
"Gabu-chan… did you feel that?"
Gabriel, who normally wore a lazy and careless expression, suddenly looked completely serious.
"…I felt it."
"That was…"
"The presence of our God."
The two angels exchanged shocked looks.
Their God had already fallen.
So why was that presence appearing here?
And more importantly—
The source of the aura seemed to be coming from the direction where Izumi was.
Both of them felt uneasy.
Phil frowned slightly.
"We should inform Lord Michael and my brother."
"And you should contact your sister as well."
"We'll wait and see what happens."
Raphael quickly made a decision.
Since the matter involved their God, they could not ignore it.
Even though the God of the Bible was said to be dead—
Many angels had never truly believed it.
And now that his aura had appeared again…
Their doubts only deepened.