"Miss Kuroka, calm down. If you go now, won't that just make things even more troublesome?" Asia said, tugging gently at Kuroka's sleeve.
"But I can't let Shirone marry someone else, nya! Shirone is still so young, she's not even ready to have children yet, nya!" Kuroka protested emotionally.
It had been years since she last saw her younger sister, and now that very sister was about to be married off. How could she possibly stay calm?
"Alright, don't be so impulsive. If Akeno really passes my words on to Rias, then as long as they truly are as close as they claim, not just talking big, they'll know what to do," Rod said calmly.
He wasn't worried in the slightest.
After all, he had already made his point. If Akeno and Koneko still chose to hide things, then he could only respect their personal decisions. Aside from fulfilling his promise to Kuroka and rescuing Koneko, he had no intention of interfering further. Even if there were system tasks, he wasn't particularly interested in saving people who had already given up on themselves.
Besides, Akeno and Koneko's issues weren't truly severe. Compared to the shut-in vampire's extreme social anxiety, their psychological burdens were relatively mild.
If that shut-in had been brought out during the Rating Game in the original storyline, the intense psychological shock might have triggered his "time-stop" ability automatically. Even if Rias's group couldn't resist it, at the very least they could have forced a draw against Riser.
Yet even when Rias was on the verge of being married off in the original plot, she never considered using that option. It could only be said that, as a devil, her thinking was still far too humane.
With persuasion from everyone except Rod, Kuroka finally calmed down.
…
Night fell.
Rod received a message from Griselda, then teleported to the First Heaven.
Heaven remained as radiant as ever, angels of all kinds passing by him. By now, they were already used to seeing a human who didn't belong to the Church appearing in Heaven.
Watching the angels, Rod suddenly had a wicked thought.
What if he shouted through a loudspeaker that the God of the Bible had already disappeared? Would all these angels fall on the spot?
The idea lasted only a second before he dismissed it.
Too cruel, better not.
Heaven still hadn't mastered the method of reincarnating humans into angels. One careless announcement like that might paralyze the entire Heavenly system.
Arriving at Griselda's private office, Rod pushed open the door and saw Griselda, along with two other figures standing in front of the desk.
Both wore nun uniforms and had their backs turned. Hearing the door open, they turned around.
"Oh, Rod, you're here," said the first girl who came into view, an exotic-looking young woman with sharp, elegant brows and bright red lips. When she smiled, her neat white teeth gave her an energetic, heroic aura.
…
"It's been quite a while, hasn't it, Mr. Rod?" said another girl with chestnut-colored hair, smiling warmly. Compared to Xenovia's heroic sharpness, her features were softer and more gentle.
Irina Shidou waved at him cheerfully.
Rod had met both of them during a previous mission where they had fought side by side, though only once.
"It really has been a long time," Rod replied calmly.
"But it's rare to see you two back in Heaven."
"We've been traveling around the world lately, dealing with troublesome vampires and stray exorcists," Irina said with a nod. "But Miss Griselda suddenly called us back."
As exorcists and Holy Sword wielders raised by the Church, their duties normally kept them traveling constantly. New missions were usually delivered through local churches or communication devices rather than requiring them to return personally.
Unlike Rod, who could relax in a hotel bed whenever he felt lazy, they were essentially treated as tireless workhorses by the Church. Fortunately, their physical abilities were exceptional, otherwise, the job would be impossible.
"This time, there is indeed an important matter," Griselda said, clearing her throat to draw their attention.
Rod found it somewhat strange. Previously, she always sent missions directly to his phone, yet this time she had summoned him personally without revealing anything, making the situation feel unusually secretive.
Griselda looked at Rod and said solemnly,
"…Three of the King's Swords have been stolen."
"Not long ago, the three Holy Swords stored in the headquarters of the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and the Orthodox Church were each stolen. Our current conclusion is that rogue exorcists and priests disguised as believers carried out the theft. However, they could not have acted alone, so we suspect that the Godslayer Faction is involved behind the scenes."
Xenovia and Irina were stunned.
Holy Swords had actually been stolen?
"How could something that important be guarded so poorly?" Xenovia asked coldly.
"I don't know the exact details," Griselda replied. "But it's clear that the Church's internal situation is not very stable right now. This matter has already been reported to the Seraphs. They asked me to find trustworthy individuals to investigate the missing swords. The three of you are the only reliable people I currently have."
She placed a dossier on the desk. The documents listed the time and location of each theft, along with the types of Holy Swords stolen.
"During the ancient war, the original King's Sword shattered into fragments. Using alchemy, the Church reforged seven new Holy Swords from those fragments. Two were entrusted to the Catholic Church, two to the Protestant Church, two to the Orthodox Church, and one remains missing."
"The stolen swords are: the Catholic Church's Flash Sword(Rapidly), the Protestant Church's Transparent Sword(Transparency), and the Orthodox Church's Dream Sword(Nightmare)."
Their abilities were respectively: increasing the wielder's speed and attack velocity; rendering the wielder invisible while suppressing their aura; and creating illusions and dream-like mental disturbances.
Individually, the abilities were not overwhelming, but these swords were merely fragment-forged versions. The complete original King's Sword possessed the combined abilities of all seven, demonstrating just how versatile and powerful it truly was.
[Griselda has issued a new mission]
[Mission: The Lost Holy Swords]
[Objective: Locate the missing swords and uncover the mastermind behind the theft]
[Reward: Church Reputation +30, Random Rewards ×2]
As expected, a new mission had arrived.
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