As God's first retainer, Michael shared the closest bond with the God of the Bible.
The overwhelming aura of the Seventh Heaven had initially masked God's presence from him.
But after Rias's declaration—and the ripple of power the System sent out—he caught a familiar scent.
That trace drove Michael to dash toward the System without a word.
The other three Seraphim, puzzled, hurried after him.
Halfway there Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel sensed the same presence; they fell silent and unconsciously picked up speed.
This was the Seventh Heaven, the former residence of God.
Even though their Lord had been gone for centuries, His most faithful servants still refused to rush recklessly through it.
Even flying was forbidden here.
Golden wings swayed as they ran; a journey that normally took minutes was covered in under a third of the time.
They only stopped when they reached the Life Tree System.
By then, bewilderment had vanished from their faces.
The aura here was so dense.
It felt as though their departed Lord still stood before them, listening to their prayers as He always had.
Ripples continuously quivered across the surface of the System's glowing sphere.
In the past they would have done everything to stabilize it.
Yet now they simply stood in place, as if sensing something more.
Tears welled uncontrollably.
By the time they realized, their clothes were soaked.
Meanwhile Rosen remained inside the System, repairing it with the knowledge of the Bible Loligoddess.
The instant he linked with the System a flood of chaotic data surged into his mind.
An ordinary person's brain would have fried, but for Rosen it was nothing.
"What a mess—it's a miracle this thing is still running."
After seeing the System's internals Rosen was astounded.
Its underlying logic resembled a programmer's code; software always spawns new bugs thanks to environmental variables, so coders must periodically collect and fix them—maintenance updates, in short.
Yet after the Bible Loligoddess disappeared the System had soldiered on for centuries without collapsing.
As for what Michael and the others could do, on the surface they maintained the System, but in truth they couldn't fix it when real problems arose.
They could only temporarily disable some malfunctioning functions and alter the environments the System touched.
Take Aisia's Divine Artifact that could heal Devils—"Mother's Smile".
To keep the System from crashing, they had no choice but to expel her, keeping her beyond the System's sphere of influence.
Rosen quickly spotted a slew of errors and disabled features; under the infusion of Divine Power they auto-repaired at speed, and when they couldn't, the Bible Loligoddess herself stepped in to patch them.
"Oh, leave a few of those bugs alone."
Rosen said.
"You mean the functions tied to certain Divine Artifacts? Understood. Those artifacts altered by the System are indeed intriguing."
As Rosen's Familia, the Bible Loligoddess naturally knew the DXD storyline.
The moment Rosen spoke, she caught his meaning.
About half an hour later.
The vast majority of System errors had been corrected.
And in the eyes of Michael and the other Seraphim, the sphere of light symbolizing the System now shone brighter than ever.
The radiance was dazzling, almost bewitching.
Then they noticed a figure stepping out of the light sphere.
With the sphere no longer shielding them, the power of the God of the Bible poured forth unimpeded.
The instant they felt that might, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel dropped to their knees, faces awash with reverent excitement as they prayed.
At that moment they were like any common believers, palms pressed together, countless praises spilling from their lips.
It was only natural.
For standing before them was the very Lord.
Rosen and the Bible Loligoddess looked down silently at the four Seraphim.
"My Lord…"
Michael's voice broke the stillness first.
His once-unruffled tone now trembled with barely suppressed tears.
As the highest Seraph of Heaven, he had beheld the Lord's form countless times.
Yet now, with the true Creator returned, that familiar yet foreign holiness set Michael's very blood aflame.
Beside him, Gabriel and the other Seraphim instinctively held their breath, fingertips quivering.
Six golden wings folded neatly behind each of them.
Tears slid down their cheeks, falling through the air to scatter as motes of light.
"How do you feel now?"
Rosen glanced at the Seraphim below, then smiled lightly at the Bible Loligoddess.
"…They have truly had a hard time these past centuries."
The Bible Loligoddess sighed softly.
The Four Great Demon Kings of the Netherworld had been dealt with by her, yet Devils did not depend on Kings to exist.
Old ones died, new Devils simply took their place.
Fallen Angels were even freer by nature; even if Azazel died it would hardly change their future.
But Heaven was different.
Once the God of the Bible fell, Heaven's future could only be described as pitch-black.
Fortunately Michael and the others had the wit to seal news of her death, preventing mass Falling and chaos.
Just imagine.
Had the news been confirmed, Heaven, the earthly Church, and all believers would have collapsed in an instant.
"Still, she's back now, strong as ever."
The Bible Loligoddess' voice brimmed with emotion.
"Lord Rosen, the stage is yours. Though they don't know your face, they can sense your power and presence; they won't mistake you or doubt you."