Unlike in the anime, the God of the Bible in this world had not died during the Great War between the Three Factions.
Instead, she disappeared while battling a foreign Evil God from another world.
No one had witnessed the outcome of that battle.
No one knew whether she had truly fallen.
Her presence had vanished from the world entirely, and she had not appeared again for a very long time.
To outsiders, the conclusion seemed obvious.
She must have perished in that catastrophic battle.
But the angels of Heaven believed something different.
They believed their God had simply been lost in another world.
Now, however—
Gabriel and Raphael had both sensed the unmistakable aura of the God of the Bible.
Did that mean…
Their God had returned?
Because of this possibility, the two immediately contacted their siblings and superiors to report the situation.
...
Meanwhile, Izumi had no idea that the fragment of divine will he had extracted would cause such a stir.
After finishing his conversation with Cao Cao, he allowed him to roam freely around the base.
Then Izumi suddenly vanished from the room.
A moment later, he appeared somewhere else inside the facility.
In front of him stood Leonardo.
Leonardo possessed the Longinus-class Sacred Gear "Annihilation Maker."
The power contained within that Sacred Gear was something Izumi had always been interested in.
Since the opportunity had presented itself, he figured he might as well study it.
Leonardo himself was still just a child.
When Da Vinci first met him, she had been extremely surprised.
After chatting with him and learning about his identity, she became even more intrigued.
She never expected to meet a descendant of herself in another world.
Naturally, she began enthusiastically questioning him.
When Izumi arrived—
He found Da Vinci pressing Leonardo down onto an operating table, apparently preparing to begin some sort of experiment.
Leonardo struggled desperately, but Da Vinci ignored him completely.
Seeing this scene, Izumi couldn't help but sigh.
"Are you seriously bullying a kid?"
"That's enough, Da Vinci."
Da Vinci turned toward him with a bright smile.
"My, my. That's a harsh accusation."
"I just wanted to study the power inside him."
"You know, the ability to create life is incredibly fascinating."
Izumi rolled his eyes.
"Alright, stop scaring him."
He turned toward the boy.
"You're Leonardo, right?"
"Let me borrow the power of your Annihilation Maker for a moment."
As he spoke, Izumi placed his hand on Leonardo's chest.
He activated his power.
Very quickly, he located the force that had already fused with the boy's body.
Then—
His Authority of Creation activated.
The analytical abilities of the Herrscher of Reason core began processing the structure of the Sacred Gear.
Within mere moments—
Izumi completely understood the power inside Leonardo.
"Ah…"
"So that's how it works."
"No wonder I could never create life before."
Izumi withdrew his hand.
Immediately afterward, his creation ability activated.
In the next instant—
A magical beast materialized out of thin air.
Leonardo stared at the creature in disbelief.
Did Izumi just copy his Annihilation Maker?
That was absurd.
It was almost unbelievable.
At the same time, Izumi's Object Creation ability had officially evolved into something greater.
It was no longer limited to creating inanimate objects.
Now—
He could create living beings as well.
It was practically the power of a Creator God.
His strength had increased slightly as well.
Feeling the improvement, Izumi nodded in satisfaction.
"Thanks, kid."
"You can stay here and keep chatting with Da Vinci."
"I'll inform Cao Cao."
After saying that, Izumi turned and left without another word.
Leonardo remained frozen in place.
He desperately wanted to shout for Izumi to take him away.
But Izumi had already disappeared.
...
Meanwhile, the other members of Cao Cao's group were experiencing similar encounters.
Those whom Izumi had sent to meet their legendary counterparts were now chatting happily with the Heroic Spirits.
Of course, not every meeting went smoothly.
For example—
Heracles simply stood there shouting "AAAAAAAH!"
While the other person stared at him in complete confusion.
Seeing the overall harmonious atmosphere made Izumi quite satisfied.
Even Cao Cao himself had wandered over to the group of Chinese Heroic Spirits, chatting enthusiastically with them.
Izumi didn't mind.
As time passed, more important figures began arriving.
Soon enough—
Sirzechs and the other leaders appeared.
When the Heaven faction arrived, they didn't come to see Izumi immediately.
Instead, they went straight to find Gabriel and Raphael.
The angels gathered together and began whispering about something mysterious.
Watching this, Izumi felt puzzled.
But before long—
He learned exactly what they were discussing.
A group of angels approached him directly.
At their head stood Michael.
Without wasting time, Michael asked,
"Izumi-kun… have you seen our God?"
Izumi was instantly confused.
What?
Their God?
When had he ever met their God?
At that moment, Gabriel stepped forward and explained everything.
After hearing her explanation, Izumi finally understood.
So Gabriel and Raphael had sensed the aura of the God of the Bible.
Realizing this, Izumi couldn't help laughing inwardly.
"Sorry to disappoint you."
"That wasn't your God."
"It was just a trace of her aura."
"That's probably why those two managed to sense it."
Izumi then explained the situation involving Cao Cao's Sacred Gear.
He told them that the aura had merely been a fragment left inside the True Longinus.
It wasn't the God of the Bible herself.
Of course—
Izumi had deliberately used Cao Cao as an excuse.
In reality, he had no intention of giving the divine will to anyone.
He hadn't even studied it yet.
Why would he hand it over?
At the very least, he could exchange it with the system for something valuable.
Naturally, he chose to let Cao Cao take the blame.
After hearing Izumi's explanation, the angels looked visibly disappointed.
However—
Gabriel didn't seem entirely convinced.
Her instincts told her that Izumi was hiding something.
The most beautiful angel in Heaven frowned slightly but chose not to press the issue.
If Izumi didn't want to reveal the truth, questioning him further would be pointless.
She could always find another opportunity to speak with him privately later.
With that thought, Gabriel said nothing more.
Although the angels were disappointed, Izumi's explanation still provided an important clue.
If fragments of their God's aura remained inside Longinus Sacred Gears—
Then perhaps those Sacred Gears could lead them to traces of their God.
Thinking this, Michael bowed respectfully to Izumi.
"Thank you for your time."
"Although the news is disappointing, it is still valuable information."
"We will take our leave now."
After saying that, the group of angels hurried away.
The meeting would not take place until the following day.
They needed time to return and discuss the implications of Izumi's information.
As they departed, Gabriel glanced back at Izumi one last time.
Then she quickly followed the others.
Izumi noticed the expression she wore as she left.
He couldn't help feeling slightly uneasy.
"…Did she figure something out?"
"Women's intuition?"
"…That would be ridiculous."
Although he didn't really believe in such things, Gabriel's reaction clearly suggested she knew he had been lying.
Izumi shook his head.
Whatever.
No matter what happened—
He had absolutely no intention of handing over the will of the God of the Bible.