"F… Father… he…"
Michael was interrupted by a wave of his father's hand.
"Indeed, he has escaped, but we have two other 'troublemakers,'" he said in an annoyed tone.
Anyone could have noticed that the biblical God welcomed the new guests with obvious and undisguised disdain.
To him, the other "gods" were worth less than mere sinners, simply because of their "audacity" in claiming to share the title of God with him.
"Lord of angels, what are you doing in my heaven? Why are our waters divided?"
A blond man with blue eyes appeared after a rain cloud formed over the ocean.
Shortly after his words, a man wielding a trident emerged from the hole in the sea caused by Moebius's orbital strikes on the former location of the island of Paphos.
The two uninvited guests were none other than Zeus and Poseidon.
The Greek pantheon had noticed the anomalies on the island of Cyprus but had refrained from intervening due to the sensitive location of the place.
But the island of Paphos was different—it was too close to the underwater sanctuary and Atlantis.
"…Metatron? Are you ready for a fight?"
At this question from the biblical God, an angel appeared as if he had always been there.
It was Metatron.
Once, he had been human and went by the name Enoch.
Before the flood was unleashed upon the Earth, according to the holy scriptures, humans behaved deplorably and even produced abominations with angels, known as giants.
However, there was an exception: a light in the darkness of that sickening era in the eyes of the biblical God, and his name was Enoch.
He was the only "righteous" one the biblical God acknowledged.
Of course, Noah would come later.
"Indeed, I have a sufficient understanding of my new nature."
The biblical God nodded to show his satisfaction with the seraph's response, then departed, leaving behind only one sentence for Michael and Metatron:
"I have much to do, so take care of the 'false' gods."
Zeus and Poseidon frowned, but the aura of Michael and Metatron was no less powerful than their own.
"I defeated my father, so I'll defeat you one day," Zeus thought.
The biblical God paid no mind to these "foolish" thoughts, for his mind was focused elsewhere.
The anomaly had escaped.
"A base in space, not in a pocket dimension, Hell, or even the Dimensional Gap… you are truly interesting. After your punishment, you will return, my son."
These were not mere words but a proclamation: the biblical God never lied.
Sanguinius was listening, and he would immediately think of Whitebeard.
…
"Are you okay? You came out of nowhere!"
After a hastily executed teleportation, Sanguinius found himself in the middle of a park in Neo-Citadel.
A logical conclusion, given the situation he was facing at the time: he hadn't had the luxury of precisely calibrating his arrival point.
There was simply too much risk of potential detection by the biblical God.
Sanguinius didn't want to test whether his understanding of space magic surpassed that of his father.
He had already learned enough about whether or not he had surpassed his creator.
"*Cough*… sorry for the inconvenience. And yes, I'm fine," he replied, straightening up.
His white tunic was singed in places, but no traces of wounds were visible.
Angels naturally possessed powers focused on healing and support, and Sanguinius also benefited from enhancements like Trust and ogre lineage.
Thanks to all this, his regeneration ability was abnormally high, even by the standards of supernatural creatures in the DxD universe.
The pink-haired woman let out a sigh of relief at his words.
A surprising gesture in Sanguinius's eyes, as he didn't even know her.
"Is she the overly kind type, like Fluttershy from the My Little Pony world?"
That hypothesis crossed his mind, but he decided it was better to ask the person in question directly.
"Do we have some kind of connection? You seem oddly relieved about my well-being," he said, observing the girl more closely.
He had a sense of déjà vu, but Sanguinius couldn't quite place where it came from.
It took him a moment, as the angel had to repair his clothes using the cheat ability of the doctor from the Konosuba universe.
A power capable of creating anything, provided one had a strong enough will to manifest it and a clear idea of the object.
He used it while carefully inspecting the teenager in front of him.
Perhaps his words and behavior were misinterpreted as an attempt to flirt.
Because the girl adjusted her glasses before frowning, giving Sanguinius a critical look.
"Sorry… but I'm not interested," she declared, drawing a clear line between them.
Although he had no intention of flirting, Sanguinius felt slightly offended by such a rejection.
It must be said that he had rarely, if ever, experienced failure with women:
Mittelt was already attached to him, their mutual feelings well-established.
Kalawarna… a matter he planned to address later, as he was currently focused on his own growth.
He wasn't afraid of losing her, because strength dictated everything in the supernatural world of DxD.
Wiz and Luna were already his companions, the mothers of his children.
As for Megumin's mother, he preferred to wait, knowing through divination the date when Megumin's father would eventually die due to his reckless lifestyle.
Some might mention Darkness, Aqua, Eris, and Wolbach, but Sanguinius hadn't yet made any moves: he could win them over whenever he wanted, so why rush?
Aqua was a simple case, as he was aware of her love for luxury and her laziness.
He just wasn't sure if that goddess could ever become a more… intelligent woman.
Eris held a very high opinion of him, as he had saved the world and remained humble enough to stay among mortals to guide them.
Wolbach was a case like Aura and Arnes: they were his subordinates.
As for Darkness… Sanguinius wasn't mentally prepared for that.
Thus, Sanguinius had never really been rejected or felt he had no chance of winning a woman since his reincarnation.
'Even Seri is practically a matter of time, as I haven't yet gone to see her about our bet…'
The only real exception, which Sanguinius acknowledged he had little chance of winning, was Alicia.
Like this teenager, she was the only one who had reacted so strongly to him.
Sanguinius found that this empress had far too strong a personality.
He preferred to wait for Lloyd to show up, so he could exploit his love for money to separate him from Alicia.
Why act this way, when he didn't feel for Alicia the same attachment as he did for Mittelt, Wiz, or Luna?
Simply out of immaturity: Alicia hated him, and the feeling was mutual.
He had no intention of pursuing a physical relationship with her; Sanguinius only wanted to hear her ask for his help with nothing worthwhile to offer in return.
At least, that was "the idea" Sanguinius had about his feelings toward Alicia.
He hadn't noticed that their arguments in the group chat resembled those of an old married couple.
Thus, this teenager had caught his interest, just as Alicia had before her.
But fortunately for her, Sanguinius harbored no "negative" opinions toward her as he did for Alicia.
Sanguinius was just… intrigued.
"Haha, I think there's been a misunderstanding…" the angel said after hearing the girl's words.
"First, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Sanguinius, and you are?"
After listening to Sanguinius, the teenager responded reflexively before stopping mid-sentence, shocked by the identity he revealed.
"My name is Saya Takagi… W-wait a minute, you're Sanguinius! The founder of Neo-Citadel…"
(Image)
Seeing the shocked expression on the pink-haired girl's face, Sanguinius remembered that all his clones wore masks and serial numbers as "names."
However, there were exceptions to this rule, such as the clone holding the title of Administrator.
He was an exception, but that clone had always introduced himself as the Administrator out of respect.
The rare times the name Sanguinius had been used by the Administrator were only in letters addressed to his women or in official documents like the fortress's history book.
Thus, the name "Sanguinius" and his appearance were only known through the image of the Administrator or in the fortress's history books.
"Indeed. Do you still think I'm trying to flirt with you, young lady?"
Faced with Sanguinius's teasing tone, the high school girl from the famous zombie manga turned red with embarrassment.
Fortunately for her, Saya had a sharp mind.
"Can you prove your claims?"
As a civilian recently recruited to join the fortress's scientific staff, Saya hadn't even had the chance to see the Administrator in person during his lifetime.
How could she have recognized Sanguinius based solely on his appearance?
And so, Sanguinius found himself having to prove his identity to a civilian, in the very heart of his own fortress.