Countless angels, along with the captured gods of the Hindu pantheon, stared at the magic circle in the sky in utter astonishment.
The Shiva they knew shouldn't have been capable of using this kind of power, right?
Shiva possessed powers related to destruction and annihilation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been called the God of Destruction.
Yet the magic circle in the sky was clearly some kind of summoning formation... Just what could it summon?
Although they didn't quite understand the reason behind it, anything powerful enough for someone like Shiva to summon at a time like this had to be an unimaginably terrifying existence, right?
The gods had originally fallen into despair after being captured, but now they immediately became excited again.
As long as Shiva hadn't lost, then neither had they!
The scene returned to the sky.
"Do you see it?"
"This is my trump card! The strongest monster in this world!"
"Trihexa 666!"
Shiva stared at the enormous beast before him, so excited that he practically jumped for joy.
Originally, his strength had been insufficient to control a monster of this caliber. Even after obtaining Shiva's power, there was no way he could fully control it.
But he didn't need to control it at all. He only needed to drive it berserk!
Trihexa was already the incarnation of destruction. As long as it existed, it would destroy the world. Add in that trace of terrifying energy left behind by the black-robed man, and it would be enough to raise Trihexa's strength by another entire level.
"I know your weakness, God of the Bible!"
"Kindness is your weakness!"
He couldn't help recalling what had happened countless years ago...
Back then, the previous God of the Bible had been the same way. Whenever she saw monsters harming humanity, she would risk her life to stop them.
So once a world-destroying monster like Trihexa appeared, the God of the Bible would inevitably use every ounce of her power to stop it.
That would give those lurking in the shadows their opportunity. Even someone as powerful as the God of the Bible could never withstand wave after wave of enemies!
After the God of the Bible exhausted a tremendous amount of energy sealing Trihexa away, all they had to do was sow discord.
They stirred up conflict between the angels, devils, and fallen angels, as well as between the various pantheons throughout the world, causing everyone to fight among themselves and preventing them from ever uniting. That way, each faction could be defeated one by one!
No one knew that he had been behind all of it.
In the end, the results had naturally been satisfactory.
The Four Great Satans successfully perished together with the God of the Bible. Heaven permanently lost its ruler, and the DXD world permanently lost one of its strongest beings.
Everything had originally been proceeding according to plan. Before long, this world would have fallen right into the EXE world's grasp!
"Didn't expect that, did you? I was behind all of it."
"What I didn't expect, though, was that you, the God of the Bible, could actually come back to life?"
Shiva spread his hands, a helpless expression appearing on his face.
"As expected, people as powerful as you really shouldn't be underestimated. Even after taking such a terrifying attack, you were still able to reincarnate and return?"
"But it doesn't matter. I've already learned my lesson once. This time, don't even think about coming back to life again!"
Elise was left completely dumbfounded by this Shiva's words.
Good grief!
So the previous God of the Bible died because you people from the EXE world were pulling the strings!
But why does this whole thing sound so familiar?
A flash of inspiration crossed Elise's mind, and she immediately thought of an anime character she knew extremely well...
Isn't this just Black Zetsu?
In Naruto, Black Zetsu outwardly pretended to be Madara Uchiha's will, but in reality, he was Kaguya's third son, and everything he did was for the sake of resurrecting his mother.
The entirety of Naruto could practically have been called Black Zetsu's Quest to Save His Mother.
And the person controlling Shiva right now was none other than the mastermind who had lurked within the EXE world for countless years!
To allow the Evil God of the neighboring world to take control of this world, he had gone so far as to conceal his identity for years, constantly sowing discord between the various factions while conveniently eliminating this world's strongest beings.
Namely Great Red, Ophis the Infinite Dragon God, the God of the Bible, and Trihexa.
However, Great Red and Ophis were both difficult to track down, while Trihexa could simply be used as a tool. The only uncertain factor had been the God of the Bible.
That was why he had spent countless years and paid an enormous price to finally make the Four Great Satans and the God of the Bible perish together!
So what if the God of the Bible had revived? He was no longer comparable to his former self either. What was the harm in killing her again?
This guy really was similar to Black Zetsu in many ways.
The only difference was that Black Zetsu's goal had been to save his mother, while this guy's goal was to let an Evil God rule the world.
"Mm. Just like you said, I can't simply stand by and do nothing."
"So I've decided to eliminate all of you!"
In the blink of an eye, Elise vanished from where she stood. She moved so quickly that even Shiva failed to notice her departure.
"Impossible. Was she hiding her strength before?"
The black-robed man concealed in a dark corner was just about to control Shiva and continue fighting when he suddenly discovered that his connection with Shiva had been severed.
That was far too abnormal!
"No! I have to go there myself!"
"Even if it costs me my life, I absolutely must kill the God of the Bible!"
So how exactly had Elise managed to accomplish this?
The answer was actually very simple...
Charm!
Even Elise herself hadn't expected her charm to have become this terrifying.
She had her transformation to thank for that. After merging with the crystallized faith, some inexplicable change had occurred within her body.
Had her affinity become even greater?
Her charm had certainly become stronger!
That was why she had decided to give it a try. She hadn't expected it to directly sever the connection between Shiva and the mastermind behind the scenes.
Elise waved a hand in front of Shiva's face, only to find that he didn't react at all.
"So Freya really is incredible!"
With only a portion of that goddess' power, Elise could effortlessly control a major god like Shiva...
"Thanks, Freya. Once I get back, I'll definitely give you a reward."
There was no longer any problem with Shiva, but there was still something else in the sky.
Trihexa 666!
During the brief time Elise had spent dealing with Shiva, it had already opened its eyes and begun roaring at its surroundings.
But Trihexa's roaring abruptly stopped, because it had detected a familiar aura...
Almost instantly, all seven of Trihexa's heads turned at the same time and locked firmly onto Elise.
There was no mistake!
One look was all it took. This was the one who had sealed it away back then!
"ROOOOAAAR!"
A furious roar that shook heaven and earth erupted from Trihexa's mouths. It would make the person before it pay for sealing it away all those years ago!
Almost simultaneously, unimaginable torrents of blazing energy gathered within all seven mouths, and then...
Seven streams of flame resembling colossal dragons stained the entire sky blood-red!
"ROAR!"
A terrifying roar came from behind her. Sensing the aura at her back, Elise couldn't help accelerating.
Right now, she was running away.
This was all thanks to Trihexa attacking like a mad beast the instant it appeared. Even from this far away, Elise could feel the absolute fury radiating from the enormous creature behind her...
Does it think I'm the God of the Bible?
No, aren't I the God of the Bible right now?
She might have been the second generation, but she wasn't the one who had sealed it away!
Unfortunately, no matter how much Elise wanted to complain about that in her heart, she couldn't exactly stop and explain it.
Since she couldn't resist the misunderstanding, she could only quietly accept it.
Elise ordered Metatron and the others to continue handling the remaining matters involving the Hindu pantheon. Without Shiva, those gods were no different from fish on a chopping board.
Elise herself, meanwhile, fled the area at the highest speed she could manage.
As for why she was running... Couldn't they see that gigantic Trihexa behind her? If she stayed there, wouldn't that thing swallow her alive and tear her apart?
Besides, once the battle began, the destruction inflicted on the surrounding area would undoubtedly be catastrophic. To minimize casualties, Elise released her aura to the absolute limit and deliberately made herself look like she was fleeing in desperation, using herself as bait to lure Trihexa away.
Judging by the situation now, Trihexa had indeed taken the bait. It chased Elise all the way out over a stretch of ocean before finally slowing down.
"If we fight here, we won't affect the cities on land."
Elise turned around and looked back at the colossal beast standing over the sea, then at the lights glittering along the distant coastline behind it... Good grief. Now it was Trihexa standing against the backdrop of countless household lights!
"But I've achieved my goal. If more people survive, that means more Power of Faith can be produced!"
"It's definitely not because I'm worried about them or anything..."
And it wasn't only the people of that country. The people over there might not have been particularly likable, but they could still provide Power of Faith, and letting that go to waste would truly be a shame.
Metatron and the others were also still there dealing with the Hindu gods, and Elise had specifically told them not to come over.
Although Super Devils ranked among the strongest beings in the world, getting dragged into a battle against Trihexa would still end very badly for them.
The worst possible outcome would be getting ripped apart by those razor-sharp teeth.
However, since Metatron and the others couldn't come, that meant Elise would have to face an existence like Trihexa alone.
"Roar!"
Seeing that Elise had stopped running, Trihexa also halted and simply roared at her.
"Huh? And that's somehow my fault? If you hadn't gone around destroying everything, who would've bothered sealing you away?"
"Roar, roar, roar! ROAAAR!"
"What, you want revenge? Then come at me!"
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"
Thanks to her Divine Word ability, Elise had no difficulty even when it came to translating different languages.
But to an uninformed outsider, Elise holding a conversation with a gigantic beast like this would have looked decidedly unwise. One careless moment and she might get eaten...
Perhaps that wasn't quite the right way to put it. With a human's tiny body, she wouldn't even be enough to fill the gap between Trihexa's teeth.
But Elise was no ordinary human...
Aside from Elise and Trihexa, there wasn't a single other living creature nearby. There were quite a few things beneath the surface of the sea, but once the battle began, they would undoubtedly flee in terror, so there was no need to worry about casualties.
"I'm counting on you, Est."
At Elise's call, the platinum-white Sacred Demon Sword appeared in her hand once more. She gently stroked the blade, sensed Est's dissatisfaction being conveyed directly into her mind, and could only smile helplessly.
"All right, all right. I really can't do anything with you. I won't neglect you like this again."
Ever since Elise became the God of the Bible, she had barely used Est. This was the perfect opportunity to get some practice in!
At that moment, Elise unleashed all of her power. Prana, magical power, Divine Power, and the elemental power within Est all gathered around her body before converging upon her sword.
Because of their contract, Est could also be considered part of Elise's body, allowing the two of them to bear this power together.
Seeing the obvious change in the enemy before it, all seven of Trihexa's heads became vicious and ferocious.
As a beast, it naturally possessed a beast's instincts and could sense who was directing intense killing intent toward it!
The battle between the two sides was on the verge of erupting!
"ROAR!"
Accompanied by Trihexa's roar, countless enormous fireballs descended from the sky, looking like the end of the world beneath a rain of falling meteors.
Now that things had reached this point, Elise naturally had no intention of dodging. She tightened her grip on the Sacred Demon Sword with her right hand and charged straight ahead, the sword's tip aimed directly at the center of the fireballs.
Their collision unleashed an enormous shock wave. The ocean surface within a radius of several kilometers was instantly flattened by the terrifying impact.
Yet even with two such tremendous forces colliding, no explosion occurred at all, as though something had forcibly confined the energy.
Naturally, that was Elise's signature specialty...
Divine Word—
"Restrict!"
With just a single word, she confined that terrifying energy within an extremely small area.
Ever since Sacred Speech advanced into Divine Word, Elise's words had drawn closer and closer to the very rules of the world.
As long as she possessed enough Power of Faith, perhaps there was nothing Elise couldn't accomplish with her Divine Word.
The countless fireballs were forcibly compressed together by Elise's Divine Word, eventually becoming an enormous crystal of flame that looked almost exactly like a diamond. And so...
"Here's your giant diamond back!"
With a flick of her sword, the enormous fire crystal shot straight back toward Trihexa.
If its target had possessed a small body like Elise's, dodging an attack like this would have been easy. But with Trihexa's colossal frame, how could it possibly evade?
It stood there like a living target. Unless someone was practically blind, there was no way they could miss. The flame crystal streaked toward Trihexa like a meteor.
The instant it made contact with Trihexa's body, Elise seized the timing perfectly and uttered a single command, detonating the energy she had restrained moments earlier.
Although the flame crystal itself wasn't particularly large, the power it unleashed upon striking Trihexa was tremendous, producing an enormous cloud of smoke and debris.
Even so, Elise didn't believe an attack like that would be enough to defeat Trihexa.
After all, the previous God of the Bible had paid a considerable price just to successfully seal it away. How could it possibly be dealt with so easily now?
Once the smoke dispersed, the result was exactly as Elise had expected. Trihexa was completely unharmed.
Even Elise couldn't help marveling. A legendary beast really was built differently!