The blood moon had risen by the time he returned to the plaza. Aria was there, which he noticed, and which he'd been expecting. She was dressed with the kind of deliberate care that communicated intent clearly to anyone paying attention. She'd been waiting for him, then stopped waiting and came to find him, which was also characteristic.
She looked at the three still-glowing evolution spheres floating overhead with an expression that was trying to be casual.
"Not finished yet?"
"Watch." He said. The spheres had begun to crack.
Lines spread across their surfaces, slowly at first, then branching, then running together until the whole structure of each sphere was a web of fractures. The Divine Aura leaking through the gaps was different from what had gone in: stronger, sharper, carrying the specific weight of Angels who had crossed a threshold that most Angels in history never reached.
The spheres shattered, causing a golden light to scatter across the plaza like a brief meteor shower and then it faded.
Three figures stood where the light had been. Lysandra, Nova, and Eveline—each with eighteen wings now. Their ranks have climbed to peak High God Tier across the board, two or three levels of advancement, compressed into a single evolutionary event. Haru had briefly wondered if the GM's evolution process might push them all the way to the Supreme God Tier, but it hadn't. Still, peak High God Tier was not a disappointing outcome.
Among the three, Eveline's aura was the most striking. The Fallen Angel's eighteen wings carried something that went beyond the normal Fallen Angel darkness. It was the kind of evil that made the Dimensional Demons' aura feel almost ordinary by comparison.
A black winged Angel from the depths of hell, if hell had standards. She and the Fallen Angels under her command were the giants of the Angel Race. Where Orthodox Angels stood at a human scale, Fallen Angels ran nearly ten meters tall in their natural form, making Eveline's legion look like an army of dark titans. She could compress that when the situation called for it, but in full form the difference was unmistakable.
All three bowed, "Praise you, Lord Almighty."
He looked them over and checked their status panels in sequence.
_____________
Lysandra
Eighteen-Winged Angel.
Strength: Peak High God Tier.
Growth potential: Peak Supreme God Tier.
…
Nova — Eighteen-Winged Creation Angel.
Peak High God Tier
Growth potential: Peak Supreme God Tier.
…
Eveline — Eighteen-Winged Fallen Angel.
Peak High God Tier.
Growth potential: Peak Supreme God Tier.
_____________
He now had five eighteen-winged angels: Celestia, Yvonne, Lysandra, Nova, Eveline. Five angels with peak Supreme God Tier potential, where before he'd had two.
"Rise." He pulled the last Supreme God Tier Godhead from his storage ring, Dantean's Intermediate-stage Supreme God Tier Godhead, and handed it to Nova.
"Absorb this and get to the Supreme God Tier as fast as you can."
Her eyes went to the Godhead and stayed there for a moment.
"Before you ascend…" He added, "…build today's Angel Reincarnation Pool."
"As you command, Lord Almighty." She took the Godhead with both hands, "I will not fail your trust."
Haru dismissed the three to rest. Then he looked at Aria, who had been standing quietly through all of this with the patience of someone who had decided patience was the correct strategy.
"The moonlight tonight." he said, "Is exactly as I described."
Aria's cheeks went red. She had nothing to say, so she didn't say anything, and they went 'moon gazing' for the rest of the night…
…
The Next Day.
Haru woke up refreshed and Aria was already awake beside him, her long hair pinned up now rather than loose, a small change that did something noticeable to her bearing, a maturity that hadn't been there yesterday. She helped him dress with the attentiveness of someone who had decided this was a role she wanted rather than one she'd been assigned.
He asked how she felt. She went red and gave him a look that communicated several things without saying any of them, then nodded once, which covered it.
Breakfast was careful and unhurried. He handed her several Intermediate God Tier Godheads across the table, a small fraction of the tens of thousands he'd taken from Tenebris, unremarkable to him yet significant to her.
"Absorb these and become an Intermediate Goddess." She took them without protest. Their relationship had crossed a threshold, and with it, the particular awkwardness of accepting resources from someone who was technically your liege lord had dissolved.
She needed to ascend quickly and both of them knew it. Lysandra and Eveline were peak High Goddesses now. Mary and Sylvana were also High Goddesses. At the same time, Aria was 'only' a peak Lower True Goddess. Imagine one of the Divine Emperor's companions, who commanded her own forces, was currently the weakest person at that table by a considerable margin.
Her goal wasn't to match them, she was realistic about that. What she wanted was to lead a legion, to become a proper commander, not someone who held that authority because of her husband.
This required strength that didn't make the appointment look embarrassing. Even if the Angels and other believers won't question Haru's decision, she still had that much pride left in her. Becoming a High Goddess was her target before the Divine War began and maybe even to reach its peak if fate cooperated.
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