Chapter 87: Heresy ; Servitude

Looking at the two girls who have horrified looks while staring at the Excalibur floating in the air, a smile covers my face as I say while amplifying my voice,

"Tell me, mortals. What do you suppose is a becoming punishment for sinners who use my name to practice discrimination?"

Irina doesn't say anything as she continues to stare at the sword with disbelief, while Xenovia grabs her sword, removes the bandages, then yells,

"I don't care who you are, but I won't forgive you for claiming to be God!"

As if awakened by the yell, Irina shakes her head before pressing against the shoulder.

The next moment, a small glow covers the armband before it changes into a katana.

So it can change forms huh… If that's the case, then the complete Excalibur should be able to do so as well.

As expected, the floating weapon begins to change from a sword to a bow.

It's not limited to a sword. This is a chance as good as ever to find out some of the capabilities of Excalibur.

"What?" Irina mutters, flabbergasted.

"Arena," I mutter, forcefully taking the duo in front of me and Asia along with myself.

Irina and Xenovia are both befuddled as they look around uneasily before Irina inquires firmly,

"What did you do? Where are we?"

Smiling, I slowly float to the air before replying mockingly,

"What do you think?"

Seeing me float in the air, Xenovia says to Irina while pointing at the floating bow,

"Don't let him fool you. He's probably using the abilities of that thing."

Nodding her head, Irina says,

"So, how do we fight him?"

Xenovia doesn't respond as she stares at me with rumination.

Chuckling, I say while scratching my hair,

"Oh, it will be hard for you to fight if you're unable to fly, right? Very well, I shall grant you the power of flight."

I snap my fingers for the heck of it.

Gift:

-Insight

-Flight

My words seem strange to them, as Xenovia stares at me with bafflement, while Irina examines herself all over.

Xenovia seems like she wants to say something to Irina, however, before she can do that, Irina slowly floats into the air while exclaiming "Uwoh!" with delight.

Shocked, Xenovia drops her sword as she watches it all unfold before her eyes.

"How?" she asks me uncertainly.

"You should be feeling a change as well, no?"

In response to my words, Xenovia hops up and down a few times before she finally shoots to the sky at an astounding rate.

After a while, she gets a grip on her ability as she stops ascending.

That doesn't last for long, however, because she seems to have absolutely no control while flying sideways right into a building.

Xenovia has absolutely awful body-coordination. Is she really a sword-wielder?

Suddenly, she reappears once again, flying uncontrollably to and fro in the sky as her voice resounds within my head,

[God! Please provide me the strength to overcome this obstacle!]

…

For real?

"My dear child, you're aware that the one that gave you this ability is none other than myself, right?"

[What?! Why are you able to read my -]

Her voice gets cut off as I hear a loud crashing quite a distance away.

This is ridiculous...

"Let's go over there," I say to Irina who's playing around in the air and Asia who has been serenely watching everything take place.

Asia nods her head before revealing her Angelic form, which shocks Irina to the core as her jaw drops and her eyes widen.

"You're an Angel?!" she exclaims with stupor apparent on her face.

"Of course," Asia calmly replies, "I only serve His Holiness."

Storing Excalibur into my ring, I gesture to the two of them to follow me as I make my way over to where I head the crash.

There, I find Xenovia on the ground with several injuries all over her body.

How dumb…

Landing on the ground beside her, I place my palm on her head as I begin using Healing Factor.

"Are you really…" Xenovia mutters under her breath with confusion still visible on her complexion.

Smiling I gently walk back a few steps and float into the air.

-Deification.

While I'm changing form, I feel an astounding amount of energy accumulating within me at one spot for some weird reason.

I should expel it…

The moment I do so, a shock-wave is released as I feel a burning sensation all over my body.

Observing myself with Clairvoyance, I see that the runes on my body are different compared to the past.

They've changed? Does this have something to do with the energy I just released?

What could it be that have caused a change within me…

Thinking about it, it's either a result of me overusing my powers or the situation with Yuno.

I will have to investigate further sometime. For now, I think I should focus on these girls as this is what's important.

Shifting my concentration back to the Arena, I see Xenovia on the ground, gawking at me and on a few meters away from her, Irina is kneeling on the ground with hands locked.

[I've finally met God.]

Feeling the joy contained in her words, I grin before floating towards the two of them and saying,

"I can feel your faith for me, however, that doesn't wash off the disrespect you've shown toward me."

The moment my words pass through her ears, Xenovia moves swiftly and kneels in front me before saying solemnly,

"God I have sinned. Punish me as you see fit."

Going with the flow, Irina does the same, while Asia who's still in her Angelic form walks over to my side and looks down on the two kneeling humans.

"For the sins you've committed, you shall repent by serving me directly."

Raising my arms, I cover the two in an Illusion that makes the surroundings change from what it was to an endless white space.

I utilize Paladin's Aura before bellowing,

"Serve me as Angels!"

The two girls are so shaken that they begin to shiver in excitement before shouting together,

"Yes, Father!"

Using telekinesis, I bring them close to myself before floating down and placing my hands on both of their heads.

As I channel energy into them, both of them are enveloped in a pillar of light while their bodies float into the air and the angelification process begins to alter them.

For Xenovia, her hair turns to a paler shade of blue as runes appear all over the upper part of her right arm. As usual, the symbols appear on both of her hands before a pair of white wings extend from her back and a halo forming on her head.

As for Irina, her eyes both turn gray as a cross appears on her palm, before the other normal angelification changes occur.

I've realized this some time ago, but don't my Angels each have something "unique" about them? This requires further investigation in the future.

Irina and Xenovia both excitedly check each other's appearance out before examining their own bodies.

Getting more Angels to serve me truly something joyous. I'm looking forward to meeting more fanatics.

Not only that, I also look forward to meeting more interesting Devils. Speaking of interesting Devils, there is that girl who dressed in maid-like attire. Grafiya, was it?

Well then, I should train my underlings now.

I cancel deification before saying,

"Raynare, come over to the Arena and bring with you the others."

[Understood, All-Father.]

A few moments later, the rest of my Angels as well as Rias and her peerage, apart from Kiba, come over to the Arena.

"Let's play a little," I state with a grin on my face before pulling out Excalibur from the ring.

"I was unnecessarily interrupted before I could begin the daily training session. So, all of you present will fight me in a battle of attrition.

"You may go all-out. You will be rewarded and punished accordingly based on your performance."

Creating Caliburn, I throw it over to Xenovia before utilizing Paladin's Aura and shouting,

"Show me your worth!"