"It's over, it's really over this time."
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Artoria looked at the devastated Hell. This version of Hell truly had an apocalyptic visual feel, with destroyed houses everywhere and Little Demons caught in the crossfire of the battle. Although these Beast-like things lacked much intelligence, most knew of the danger. Those who stayed away were fine; those who didn't were left as piles of minced meat and green, foul-smelling blood. The Seven Virtues surrounded the remaining spherical part of the Lord of Heaven, infusing it with the power of Holy Light. The Seven Deadly Sins didn't take the opportunity to sneak attack. Likith had returned to the Seven Deadly Sins with Mili. All the Great Sins surrounded Mili, and seeing that she was fine, they were at peace. It seemed everything had passed.
"It hurts! Why did you hit me, Master?"
Just as Artoria was feeling sentimental, a sudden pain on her head snapped her out of it. Most importantly, she was surprised; it had been a long time since anyone could bypass her intuitive perception. Was it because she lacked the ahoge's blessing that her intuition had decreased? But the main issue Artoria faced now wasn't the intuition blessing, but the Ancient One's angry gaze. She knew she was in the wrong, but looking at the wooden stick in the Ancient One's hand, Artoria couldn't help but mutter a complaint.
"Isn't the trouble you caused this time enough for a beating? I'm telling you, hitting you is light punishment."
Seeing Artoria's somewhat defensive look, the Ancient One's anger flared. His beard was almost flying from rage. He sent her here for a trial, not to destroy the world! Why didn't she understand? If it weren't for that Gluttony Lord opening a demon gate very close to him with very violent mana, he wouldn't have known such a thing was happening in Hell, and that it was about to be destroyed by his own disciple. He really wanted to know how the version of himself in another Universe taught this 'troublemaker.' He felt like his heart couldn't take much more. At this rate, forget finding a successor; he might just drop dead from anger tomorrow.
"I know I was wrong about this. It was my mistake that almost caused an irreversible situation. But this ultimately happened because of Heaven. If they hadn't tried to conquer Hell, I wouldn't have used my Noble Phantasm."
Even while admitting her mistake, Artoria decided to drag the culprit out. She recounted the whole sequence of events to the Ancient One. As she spoke, the Seven Deadly Sins also gathered around. Although they were surprised that Artoria was human, she was undoubtedly a powerhouse who had saved Hell. Seeing Artoria being questioned by her Master, these demons didn't kick her while she was down. Instead, they spoke up for her, occasionally adding 'rhetoric' to Artoria's words to make Hell out to be the ultimate victim and Heaven the 'oppressor.'
"I see."
In the end, the Ancient One compromised. He glanced at Artoria, surprised by the child's charisma. It was hard to imagine how she had become friends with these cunning demons. But speaking of demons, he had to address today's events. The Ancient One turned his gaze toward the Seven Virtues. These seven didn't care about anyone else, tirelessly pouring energy into the white spherical object, refusing to give up.
"To be honest, it's not appropriate for us humans to intervene in the struggle between Heaven and Hell, especially people like us. Their existence maintains the safety of the spirit realms. If human souls have nowhere to go, it will trigger a series of troubles. For example, the souls of those who evolved into powerhouses among humans certainly cannot remain in the human world."
Even knowing the situation, it wasn't something for humans to solve. The Ancient One looked at the Seven Virtues, then the Seven Deadly Sins, and then at Artoria's carefree look, feeling exhausted again. He knew how difficult it was to choose once involved in this. Even a sorcerer like him would usually stay away. But it was also his responsibility for arranging Artoria's trial in Hell. This was like Buddhist teachings: everything has a cause and an effect. The cause he planted back then had now yielded such a troublesome fruit; he considered it his own bad luck.
Crack!
While the atmosphere was at a stalemate, the sound of an eggshell cracking came from the Seven Virtues' side. This immediately drew everyone's attention. The spherical object now had a crack down the middle, as if a life form was breaking through the shell to enter this world. This scene stunned everyone. Artoria could recognize that this was the remaining part of the Lord of Heaven's body. Why did it suddenly turn into this? Under everyone's astonished gazes, a tender and cute loli... oh no! A young child, appearing only four or five years old, appeared before everyone. What was most shocking wasn't her youth, but the twelve wings behind her.
"My Lord."
The Little guy opened her eyes. A pair of deep blue eyes were as profound as the ocean; such a gaze didn't belong to a child at all. She spread her wings and floated in mid-air. The Seven Virtues knelt on one knee, showing their loyalty to the little one. Artoria looked at the rows of fair legs and pure white panties—well, Gabriel's were pink—and fell into a state of appreciation. The only male present, the Ancient One, closed his eyes without a change in expression. As an elder powerhouse from Taiwanese, even if these Angels were older than him, he still followed the principle of'see no evil.' Although everything appeared to him as nothing more than pink skeletons, he closed his eyes to avoid gossip.
"Rebirth? Or..."
How could Artoria miss such an interesting event? She quickly walked up to the Lord of Heaven and carefully examined the cute little face. If one ignored her eyes, she was a very cute little girl. Artoria voiced her question; she was curious if this person had prepared for this long ago, being able to survive this way. Was this her original appearance, or was she reborn using the remaining parts after her body was destroyed? Artoria's approach made the Seven Virtues nervous, but at this juncture, they were self-aware enough not to step forward and say anything 'rude.'
"That wasn't my body to begin with, just a product of energy projection."
Artoria thought the Lord of Heaven wouldn't answer her, but the Little guy replied quite seriously. In other words, this form was her true body. The form that appeared at the beginning was like a pilot driving her Gundam. That spherical object was her cockpit, or rather, an energy shield. She was lucky; at least she lasted until the Ancient One arrived and didn't turn to ash under Artoria's attack.
"Next, how do you plan to proceed?"
Since things had reached this stage, Artoria directly brought up the most important matter: Heaven's future plans. The Seven Deadly Sins were drawn in by Artoria's words. They all looked at the tiny tot. Although they were surprised that the Lord of Heaven looked like this, her next words would determine whether the war between Heaven and Hell would continue. The Seven Virtues' expressions also shifted; this was the most critical moment. Everyone's gaze was focused on the Lord of Heaven.
"Heaven will withdraw from the battle and will no longer attack Hell."
Hearing Artoria's words, the Lord of Heaven's expression didn't change. Her exquisite, cute face tilted up slightly, as if trying to maintain dignity by looking down on others. She spoke these words solemnly. However, this sentence clearly made the Seven Deadly Sins unhappy. They were the 'victims,' weren't they? Look at how Hell was destroyed by the battle; their houses were demolished! To think she wanted to brush it off with one light sentence—no way. There had to be compensation. But since this battle was won because of Artoria, it wasn't convenient for them to speak. So, they turned their gaze to Artoria, hoping she could demand some good things for Hell. How could Artoria not know what these demons meant with them staring at her back? They just wanted Heaven to bleed a little. Artoria naturally supported this idea; she wanted a piece of the pie too! Although she only acted because she promised the little Sloth, she'd be a fool not to get some good stuff now. Thinking of this, Artoria flashed a cunning merchant's smile.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.