Cid felt nothing at all toward the prayers echoing in his mind, voices describing the suffering of the world. If anything, he found them a bit noisy.
After adjusting slightly, he forced himself to ignore the emotions carried within those voices and extended part of his mental awareness into the interior of the giant sphere.
Within the pure white space, countless strands of golden Magical Power drifted about, each carrying specific information. Though he was curious about them, he hadn't forgotten the commotion caused by the sphere earlier.
The passage had been sealed, spatial movement restricted, and various magical traps had been set up. Even if those traps were now broken, the Angels in Heaven likely didn't know that yet. Otherwise, those spells would have already been replaced.
Dispelling them would take some time, but at most a few minutes. Someone would definitely arrive.
He didn't have much time.
He quickly scanned through the information, skipping anything irrelevant. Even if he could process hundreds of golden clusters per second, compared to the endless expanse of golden Magical Power filling this space, it was still insignificant.
"..."
The Angels were moving faster than he had expected.
Fluctuations of Magical Power were already coming from the entrance of the Seventh Heaven. That meant they were extremely close. The remaining Magic Circles would be dismantled within tens of seconds at most. If they realized the arrays were already broken, they would arrive instantly.
While rapidly scanning the golden clusters, Cid poured more Magical Power into his projection. He was already prepared to instantly eliminate the Angels and then face the descending God of the Bible.
If possible, he didn't want to fight.
After that earlier blunder, he had completely lost the mood for it. Not to mention, he was clearly in the wrong this time. Forcing a fight under these conditions would make for a terrible "Eminence in Shadow" performance.
Time ticked by second after second.
The Magical Power fluctuations at the entrance grew stronger and stronger, yet Cid still couldn't find any golden cluster that explained how the giant sphere had tracked him.
Just as impatience began to creep in, the pure white space seemed to respond to his emotions.
The endless golden clusters parted from the center, opening a path.
A single golden cluster followed that path and floated up before him.
Staring at it, while sensing the increasingly violent fluctuations from the entrance, Cid reached out and plunged his hand into it.
...
The entrance to the Seventh Heaven opened once more.
Stepping in was a handsome young man with a gentle presence, six pairs of golden wings spread behind him. The Archangel Michael.
But at this moment, his expression was completely at odds with his status. His face was pale, filled with urgency, and a trace of blood lingered at the corner of his mouth.
After noticing the anomaly in the "System," he had rushed toward the Seventh Heaven. Along the way, in his haste, he was injured by one of the spells left behind by the God. Even so, he didn't stop to treat his wounds. The moment he entered the Seventh Heaven, he flew straight toward the "System" at full speed.
In just a few seconds, Michael reached the center of the Seventh Heaven.
What came into view was the massive sphere of light, absorbing the prayers and faith of believers and continuously sending blessings across the world, radiating an overwhelming holy brilliance.
"H-How is this possible? What exactly happened? Why… why is the System suddenly releasing such intense light?"
After the death of the God of the Bible, the System left behind had been managed by Michael.
But Michael was still an Archangel, not a God. At best, he could barely maintain its operation.
And under those conditions, how much of its original power could the System display?
The answer was less than one-thousandth.
Yet now, in Michael's eyes, the System before him, radiating endless holy light, was shining as if the God of the Bible were still alive. It displayed the full brilliance expected of the God's greatest creation, endlessly absorbing the prayers and faith of believers across the world, converting Magical Power, and returning it as blessings.
…
Cid opened his right eye. A vivid flash of crimson flickered across his pupil before disappearing in an instant, so quickly it almost felt like an illusion.
He glanced at Asia and saw that she was still in a daze. Tilting his head slightly, Cid blinked in confusion.
I only used 0.01x soul extraction to add a bit of pressure. Why do you look like your soul was about to be pulled out? Is your soul defense really that weak?
Normally, it should take at least 0.05x to actually pull a soul out. Getting your soul dragged out at just 0.01x...
Have you had an out-of-body experience before? Otherwise, how could your soul defense be this poor?
"Snap!"
While grumbling inwardly, Cid casually snapped his fingers in front of her. The Magical Power carried in the sound forcibly pressed Asia's soul back into her body.
Clarity returned to her eyes.
"Ah, Cid-san, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to zone out."
Now fully conscious, Asia had no idea her soul had nearly slipped out. Thinking she had simply lost focus, she quickly apologized, believing she had been extremely rude.
"It's fine."
Cid waved it off. After all, strictly speaking, it was his doing that her soul had nearly left her body.
"More importantly, do you have somewhere to stay?"
"N-No, Cid-san."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Cid's lips.
"Then, would you be interested in working for me (would you be interested in becoming an assistant to an Eminence in Shadow)?"