"I never expected Elliot to have plans like that..."
After leaving the park, Elise and Laetitia returned to the dormitory together.
"He's the heir to a great family, after all. The fact that he was able to realize this much is already enough to prove how outstanding he is."
Elise's words caused a faint trace of dissatisfaction to appear on Laetitia's face.
"So that's why you accepted Elliot's confession?"
Laetitia pouted. When she had heard Elliot say those words earlier, she had already been unable to restrain herself and wanted to rush out, only for Elise to pin her in place with Prana.
Otherwise, Elliot would have left with his face bruised and swollen.
"That wasn't a confession."
Elise shook her head, rejecting Laetitia's interpretation.
A certain famous person once said that there was one confession in this world that could never be rejected.
"Can I pursue you?"
It sounded like a meaningless question, but there was actually some depth behind it.
Whether a boy chose to pursue a girl was his own freedom. He didn't need the girl's permission at all.
If he directly asked, "Would you be my girlfriend?"
Unless genuine feelings already existed between them, he would most likely be rejected.
But this question was different. It didn't really constitute a request, nor would it have any effect on how things developed in the future.
What Elliot had said worked on essentially the same principle.
Because even if Elise had truly rejected him, would Elliot really have given up?
Not necessarily, right?
So, in order to let Elliot preserve a little more dignity, Elise chose to agree and gave him the opportunity he wanted.
However...
Even if he had an opportunity, he would still have to actually see Elise again in the future!
After all, who was Elise?
She was an agent of Lord God Space!
Could she remain in one world for a long period of time?
Naturally, that was impossible.
This stay in Asterisk would probably be the last time Elise remained here for such an extended period.
She might return in the future, but when that would happen and how long she would stay were completely unknown.
Although Elise had given Elliot a chance, objectively speaking, his chances had been zero from the very beginning. Even receiving Elise's acknowledgment wouldn't increase them in the slightest.
Because Elise would never fall in love with anyone!
After hearing Elise's explanation, Laetitia finally breathed a sigh of relief. If Elise had actually chosen to enter a relationship at this point, she truly wouldn't have known what to do.
"So, do you need me to help make him realize it's hopeless?"
Laetitia was still plotting against Elliot, but Elise stopped her.
"There's no need. There was never any possibility to begin with, so going out of our way to trouble him would be completely pointless."
"Then let's go back to the dormitory together!"
With that, Laetitia took Elise by the hand and started running toward Saint Galahadworth's student dormitory. Elise, however, glanced at the time and murmured softly, "It's almost time..."
Once I separate from Laetitia, I'll go meet her.
...
This was a remote harbor. Hardly anyone ever came here normally, so calling it abandoned wouldn't have been much of an exaggeration.
Under ordinary circumstances, on a night like this, the surroundings were dark and there were no lights. Occasionally, people from certain special professions would even come here to throw things into the sea.
Normally, no sane person would ever come to a place like this, because the chances of something going wrong were simply far too high!
Yet at such an unusual hour, a lone figure walked to the edge of the pier and stared out at the distant sea.
The sea breeze brushed against her body, gently lifting her noble purple hair, allowing the moonlight to finally illuminate her face.
Her exquisite features immediately emerged from the darkness. Unfortunately, there was no one here to appreciate that beauty.
"You're here, Ely?"
Sylvia didn't turn around. Instead, she closed her eyes and asked softly.
In truth, Sylvia had no idea whether Elise had actually arrived, because the difference in strength between them had already grown unimaginably vast.
If Elise genuinely wanted to hide herself, no one in this world would be able to discover her.
But strength wasn't the only thing that mattered.
Although Sylvia couldn't detect Elise's presence, she had continuously felt a strange sensation, as though someone nearby were watching her!
Among all the people Sylvia knew, only a tiny handful were capable of doing something like that.
And Elise just happened to be one of them!
Sure enough, a few seconds after Sylvia finished speaking, movement came from behind her.
Whoosh...
A pitch-black sphere suddenly appeared not far away, and Sylvia turned toward it with a frown.
Unexpectedly, the pitch-black sphere instantly expanded to more than two meters in height, while something resembling a vortex appeared at its center, making it look even more like a black hole!
Then a figure Sylvia knew incomparably well stepped out from within that black hole, and the surrounding air grew heavy at the same moment.
Sylvia could sense that Elise's body was overflowing with power beyond anything she could imagine!
"You finally decided to show yourself, Ely..."
Although she addressed her with the most intimate nickname, the look Sylvia gave Elise was extremely strange.
"No. Calling you Ely doesn't seem appropriate anymore. Can you tell me who you are?"
Sylvia's voice was extremely soft, as though some kind of power had been woven into it. Anyone who heard it would unconsciously obey what Sylvia told them to do.
This was the power of mind control!
Sylvia was Sigrdrifa, a Strega whose ability allowed her to transform her singing into virtually any ability!
Aside from healing, she could use almost every kind of power!
That was why she was also known as the all-purpose Strega!
At this moment, Sylvia wasn't merely using the power of mind control. She had also layered numerous supporting abilities over it, including interference with the outside world, concealment, and more.
"What are you talking about, Sylvia? I'm Elise!"
The Saintess whose body was shining with light said this, but Sylvia couldn't stop herself from retreating.
Clearly, she didn't believe her.
Her face practically had 'Do you really think I'm that easy to fool?' written across it, leaving even Elise feeling rather helpless.
Still, Elise hadn't expected Sylvia to think this way.
Elise was somewhat surprised. Although she had guessed that Sylvia might become hostile toward her, the reason behind it was truly ridiculous.
Forget it. I might not come back in the future anyway, so I may as well make this dramatic.
Elise opened the eyes she had kept tightly closed. In that instant, the dark warehouses around them seemed to become separated from the rest of the world, turning hazy and unreal.
"What is this?!"
Seeing such a sight for the first time, Sylvia's eyes immediately widened.
It far surpassed anything she had imagined. Or rather, it surpassed anything humanity itself could imagine.
Before Sylvia could react, Elise's voice entered her ears.
"I am Elise. Of course, I'm not entirely Elise either."
"Aside from my identity as a human, I possess another identity..."
"In your words, I suppose it would be called..."
"A god?"
A god?
Was this some kind of international joke?
If this were a mythological world, the existence of gods wouldn't be anything strange. But Asterisk was a world where technology had developed to an extremely advanced level.
Although there was a unique power system such as Prana, technology still made up the overwhelming majority of civilization. One of the Integrated Enterprise Foundations was even essentially a research institute.
So there were still a great many people in this world who believed in science, and Sylvia was naturally one of them.
When Elise said those words, Sylvia's first reaction was that the person opposite her was some lunatic proclaiming herself to be a god, because what she was saying simply wasn't realistic!
But...
For some reason, Sylvia couldn't bring herself to say those words!
She looked left, then right, only to discover that she couldn't understand the scene around her at all. It seemed as though she had already left the harbor from moments ago and arrived in some unknown new place.
If it had merely been teleportation, Sylvia could have understood it, because Elise did things like that all the time.
But what she was seeing clearly wasn't teleportation!
"This is creation. The creation of a world."
Seemingly seeing through Sylvia's confusion, Elise spoke up at that moment, drawing her attention back.
"We weren't transported somewhere else. I directly created an entire world right where we were standing!"
The instant Elise finished speaking, the chaotic scenery around them began to transform. The pitch-black background became towering mountains and flowing rivers, while the barren earth filled with flourishing life.
It was practically like paradise!
Sylvia found it utterly unbelievable. An ability like this had completely surpassed the scope of the Starpulse Generation. It had even surpassed the limits of humanity itself!
"Now you should be able to believe me, right?"
"I wasn't lying. I am the god worshiped by the Church!"
Although Elise had become a god in the world of High School DxD, details like that didn't really matter, did they?
Having inherited everything from the God of the Bible, Elise was unquestionably a true god!
"A god..."
Sylvia lowered her head, eyes widened as her pupils continuously contracted and dilated, as though she were forcing herself to accept this reality.
Soon, her expression calmed down, and the way she looked at Elise changed once again.
"If you really are a god, why did you take over Elise's body?"
Elise: ???
Seriously? That's what you think?
I took over my own body?
However, Elise didn't deny it.
The changes she had undergone were indeed rather drastic from Sylvia's perspective. And since the truth about Lord God Space couldn't be revealed for the time being, it would be easier to brush things aside this way.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Do you think there's anyone else in this world whose existence is closer to that of a god than Elise?"
Rather than answering Sylvia directly, Elise countered with a question.
Just as she had said, Elise was the Church's Saintess and possessed peerless strength. Saying that she was the person closest to divinity wouldn't have been an exaggeration. But...
"Elise is my friend. Can you give her back to me?"
"What do you think?"
The Elise standing before her didn't directly answer Sylvia's question, but that response already made her intentions clear.
Sylvia's heart sank as she assumed a combat stance.
Although she possessed the courage to oppose a god, when it came to actual strength, she truly had no confidence.
Ever since the beginning, Sylvia had never once defeated Elise.
Not even a single time.
And now Elise's body had supposedly been taken over by a god. Did Sylvia have any possibility of winning at all?
"Not even the slightest..."
Although she spoke such discouraging words, Sylvia had no intention of giving up. Instead, her gaze became even more determined.
"My best friend has been treated like this. How could I possibly stand by and do nothing?"
Elise: ...
Stop. Stop saying that!
If you keep going, I really might start crying!
Elise had never known how to face Sylvia, because out of everyone in this world, Sylvia was the person whose feelings toward her burned the most fiercely!
But Elise had abandoned everything and chosen the path of the Saintess.
No matter how passionate those feelings were, and no matter who they came from, Elise could never respond to them!
Because ultimately, she would leave this world. Her opportunities to meet Sylvia would probably become fewer and fewer as well, wouldn't they?
This was also a problem that had troubled Elise for a long time.
Rather than letting Sylvia suffer when that day finally came, it would be better to gradually weaken the connection between them...
It wasn't a perfect solution, but at the very least, it could be considered a good one.
"You should understand, shouldn't you? If you fight me, there is absolutely no possibility of victory. No matter how you calculate it, the answer will always be a meaningless zero."
"Even so, do you still intend to oppose me?"
Elise's voice gradually became ethereal, as though she truly were a god looking down from the highest heavens, majestic and dangerous!
"Of course!"
The instant those words fell, Sylvia's singing reached Elise's ears. She seemed to be attempting to activate her Strega ability and launch an attack at Elise, but...
"I told you. It's useless."
The surrounding air seemed to solidify. Sylvia could no longer hear the sounds around her, and her own voice likewise could no longer travel through the air.
Sacred Speech: Halt!
Although the name of the ability was exactly the same as the one Elise had once used against Julis and the others, its effect was completely different!
Elise hadn't targeted everything in the surroundings. She had only selected sound itself and the Prana within Sylvia's body, so unlike what had happened with Julis, the scene didn't resemble time itself being frozen.
But even with so many restrictions, its power was still unimaginably overwhelming!
Even when Elise had still been human, her Sacred Speech had been enough to completely toy with Sylvia. How much more overwhelming would Elise be now that she had become the God of the Bible?
Sylvia could only watch helplessly as Elise came closer and closer, unable to do a single thing about it.
"The difference between humans and gods is absolute. Even Fan Xinglou, Banyuu Tenra of Jie Long Seventh Institute, is ultimately only an immortal, still within the realm of humanity. She cannot be called a god!"
Only those who had truly come into contact with gods could understand just how terrifying divine power really was!
That had been true for Elise in the past, and it remained true for Elise now.
Gods weren't different merely because their strength was greater. They were lifeforms that existed on an entirely different level in the truest sense!
In this world, aside from Elise, there was no one else like her!
"That's why I'm capable of doing something like this."
Snap!
Elise raised her hand again and casually snapped her fingers.
With that crisp sound, everything around them changed once more. The two of them seemed to return to their original location, the deserted harbor in the Water City.
"Do you understand now?"
Faced with such unimaginable pressure, Sylvia was already drenched in sweat, but ultimately, she still had to make her choice.
"Of course I understand!"
The purple-haired figure suddenly charged straight toward Elise. Although she couldn't use Prana, her body could still move!
That was Sylvia's answer.
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