Heaven.
- "So, I was someone from this world?"
- "That's right."
- "Then some events happened, and before the universal reset to 'factory' settings began, you sent me to another world, keeping my memory of it, and the world backed me up and replaced me?"
- "So far, so good."
- "And you did it out of pity for the past me during these very 'some' events. It didn't affect you much, because you had omnipotence at that moment, and Alaya, who brought me back here, did your bidding and lied to my face. Did I miss anything?"
- "The sympathy you deserve, not pity. Other than that, it's exactly like that," 'Gabriel' nodded, petting the girl while I sipped my coffee and clucked my tongue.
Now the world's reaction to my 'experiment' was logical. Each soul was individual, and the world trivialized the existence of two completely identical existences. The system started to crash, but Zelretch pulled me out at the last second, and Alaia 'wiped' after me. Alaia herself was created by God as a failsafe, which is odd but acceptable given the rules of this world.
I didn't feel much of an existential crisis, because I already knew where I was, even when I didn't know the whole story. Yes, the feeling of powerlessness and the feeling of being a guinea pig were still there, but they were not as strong as expected. Rather, I was more interested in one particular question.
- "Hyodou Issei."
- "Ha-ha. Good joke," I laughed and began draining my eighth cup.
- "It's not a joke."
And when I heard him, I froze like I had never frozen before and looked at God with dazed eyes. And choked, of course.
- "I hope I heard you wrong," I said, coughing.
- "No, you didn't."
- "Wait, wait, wait, but that doesn't make sense, does it?! How could such a twisted and selfless idiot become like me?! Look at me and then look at him! We're completely different people! In fact, then why."
- "When you wanted to break my seal by force, part of your original soul began to resonate with the world, you're right about that. After all, it didn't go through the standard soul purification. That's why the world reacted the way it did. And the changes?" the smile is gone from his face, "Are you sure you want to know the reason?"
- "Yes, I'm sure," I answered firmly, and the next moment I felt my soul begin to penetrate and envelope my entire being.
It was like a contamination of cells, where my current soul was the source of the contamination, and then I grabbed my head, for memories definitely not belonging to this life began to seep in. All this was not happening under the influence of 3rd magic, no, but the power of God in front of me.
I didn't know how long the process lasted, but when the pain was gone, my stunned gaze went straight to God looking at me with some concern, just like the girl.
I believed him now, I believed in who I was before.
Hyodou Issei, or rather, the previous him.
In a flashback that was like watching a movie, I went through a familiar path. Dating Reynal, becoming a demon, crashing the wedding, and so on, including defeating Trihexa. But what happened next was what caused such a drastic change in character...
I straightened up and grinned loudly at myself, because all my assumptions about who I was before were completely wrong and too logical. In fact, it was much, MUCH more trivial and prosaic, you might say.
- "How are you feeling, Romani?" 'Gabriel' asked.
- "I never thought I would be a victim of NTR," I said, "Now I see why I reacted to Akeno and Rias' proximity in that particular way. And frankly, it only makes me laugh, not interested."
Yeah, it's exactly like that. For some unknown reason, Issei's harem turned their backs on him. He found them right in bed, riding the spear of some statistic that had no magical powers, no supernatural aura, nothing at all. Just an ordinary man who was somehow lucky enough to get another harem.
After that, the poor guy ran away and went into himself, lived a little, undergoing changes in his character, and then died in a battle with a god from another dimension. And apparently it was his death that triggered the reset of the world.
However, his pre-death thoughts, he thought, were quite entertaining. That Issei had come to the ultimate conclusion that life was worth living only for its own sake. That the betrayal of his harem was their own choice, which Issay himself had been deprived of from the beginning. And the second before his death, when God intervened, he wished to live a new life solely for himself... which, in fact, I did in the beginning.
At that moment, the Servants were just a tool for entertainment and closing the need for communication... Even Tia... And only later, when I saw their sincerity and need for me, the possibility of giving them the life they wanted without the endless battle to the death, I went back to the beginning and let them in... started to live for them....
The same path was traveled in the world I had entered, namely one version of the Nasuverse, waking up in Romani's body. Same Chaldea and the same ending, albeit with some differences. A vicious circle, I suppose.
I grinned once more.
Too ironic for my taste.
- "I'm glad you took it all so... calmly," 'Gabriel' commented.
- "Were you expecting something more emotional?" I shrugged, "It was all in the past, just one mystery solved. What do you think about it, Goetia?"
- "You're right. The past is the past. It is foolish to think about it, much less try to change it. I learned that from my own experience," he materialized next to me and sat down at another chair he had created and looked at Gabriel, "Did you deliberately choose Romani as the bearer of his soul, King of Heaven?"
- "It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Goetia, and everyone else as well," 'Gabriel' smiled, and the seals of the demon Pillars manifested around us, "Yes, you're right. When Alaya first opened the passageway to that world, and I took a look at it after talking with my colleague, we concluded that it was best for both my Issei and his Solomon. One wished to become more human and the other the opposite in our understanding. It was a sort of reward, well, or gesture of goodwill for their endeavors for their worlds."
- "Satisfy my curiosity, Heavenly King, why did you, who preferred to leave everything to humanity itself and not to interfere in its affairs, yet interfered? And for the sake of just one mortal."
- "I think they deserved it," Gabriel replied, looking at me, "They were doing not only my colleague's and my will, but also the will of the world, and in return they got nothing. The exceptions prove the rules, don't they?"
Goetia fell silent, and I rolled my eyes and pointed to the Throne of Heaven.
- "So, what do we do next? Do I still have to sit on it?"
- "It's up to you, Romani."
- "And the plot rule?"
- "It still exists, unfortunately. Not even I can influence it," 'Gabriel' replied guiltily.
I nodded briefly, thought for a moment, and then made my way to the Throne after all.
- "So, this is your choice, Romani?" Goetia asked.
- "As ironic as all of this is, we have nowhere to go. Either continue to follow the rule of peace, or fade into oblivion. I choose the former, for it is the only way I can keep what I have now. And that includes you, my friend," I said, and a few moments later, Goetia's body rippled and came back to me, "Well, Godspeed, as they say."
-0-
King Hassan stood motionless at one of the columns of the vast hall reserved for guests and listened to the angels' conversations, in passing ignoring attempts to speak to him, as did the Hundred Faces. He knew what he was here for, and so he waited patiently for Romani's return, for the Wizard was his Master, whom the First Hassan did not hesitate to acknowledge.
- "I apologize," Gabriel began to address him, but she was interrupted. And not by someone, but by something.
Being a Grand Servant allowed King Hassan to sense the world and the effects on it, and now he could confidently tell what had happened.
Everyone present here froze, for they felt a wave of power sweep across the Heavens and the world itself, like an orchestra of a thousand thousand trumpeting angels, just like the frescoes of the temples of the One God.
The Sixth Heaven Temple lit up with a dazzling radiance, full of Light and Holiness. They rejoiced, causing angels and Fallen alike to spread their wings wide, and announced to one and all, from the newly born infant to the old man facing death, a change. A change that promises even greater change, and that is....
- "Greetings to the true Viceroy of the Throne of Heaven," Michael said with a smile on his face, and everyone else present, with the exception of the First Hassan, threw a surprised look in his direction.
- "What do you mean, Lord Michael?" Irina asked.
- "The Throne of Heaven has accepted Romani-san, Irina, and now the power over the Heavens belongs to him. He is now the will and word of the Heavenly Father, and we are his loyal children and servants."
King Hassan, like all the other Servants, felt a tremendous surge of strength. It seemed to him that he was being cleansed, his sins, no matter how heavy they were, were washed away, and his eyes were fixed on the gate to the Seventh Heaven, where Romani was now.
- "May Allah bless you, my brother..."
-0-
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