"Lord Michael, we've intercepted a signal from the border!"
"What is it?" he replied
"It looks like the Red Dragon Emperor has paid us a visit."
"Tell him to leave immediately. Even he, as legendary as he's become, can't just waltz in without permission. Who let him in?"
"We don't know, sir."
"Find him and bring him in for questioning. Gabriel, come with me."
"Yes, sir." I said.
Michael and I exited the large door of the Sixth Heaven sanctuary. We went to the lift to take us to Seventh Heaven.
As we were reaching closer to Seventh Heaven, Michael noticed something odd about the clouds.
"Awfully grey today…"
"Aren't the clouds supposed to be always white?" I added. "Especially this close to Seventh Heaven?"
"That should be the case."
A while later, I heard something even more unusual – thunder.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
"Probably just Metatron trying another 'ninja technique.' I swear, after he started watching this thing called Naruto he won't shut up about them."
"You're probably right."
However, we were quickly proven wrong.
We reached the entrance to seven heaven to a deafening silence.
As we approached the palace, I noticed one peculiar thing – It was getting dark.
Impossible. There's no night in Heaven! Even after Jehovah's death, the light still shone.
Then, all of a sudden, a massive explosion caused a terrible quake. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the palace.
From the entrance, we saw a group of angels being flung out as the gate to the palace was completed shattered as if it were made of glass!
"Oh dear!" I exclaimed.
"I'll take care of whatever's in there," Michael said to me as he pulled out his swords of light and charged in.
As Michael was fighting the whatever was in the palace, I began to see the source of the impending darkness.
Out in the vast, clear sky, a strange portal akin to a black hole opened forth, unleashing a horde of fallen angels and devils!
"The Khaos Brigade!?"
I unleashed my power on a group of them. However, in spite of my reputation, I would not be able to hold them off for too long.
As a horde of devils were about to overwhelm me with dark magic, they were stopped by someone unexpected.
The allied fallen angel blocked the devils' hits and then redirected them right back to clear the playing field.
He really shouldn't be here, but at this point, I'll take any assistance I get.
"Y'know, I was hoping for my homecoming to be less chaotic," said Azazel.
"So, what's your business here, Azazel?..." I inquired.
"I was just curious as to who managed to breach Michael's Holy System Control."
"It may have been the Red Dragon Emperor," I answered.
"I doubt it's quite that simple and I think this may be connected to the fall of Asgard,"
"The fall of Asgard!?"
That was news to me. How did that happen?
"Loki has been sealed up in Mjolnir. Who else could have done it?"
"His daughter, Halja, the Goddess of Death, who likely acquired a fragment of the Red Dragon thanks to his help.
Some say her attacks are to avenge her father. But I have a different theory – The power of the Red Dragon is getting to her head. Her megalomania didn't stop at drawing power from Asgard, but also drawing from the Holy System."
"Pretty accurate, if I do say so myself."
The voice came from the palace.
Before I could do anything, in a flash of light, Azazel's left arm was suddenly lobbed off.
I frantically picked up the weapon he was holding in that arm.
The culprit revealed itself, wearing the Red Dragon Emperor's armor, kept aloft by glowing red wings. She then lowered her helmet, revealing her face that, despite there still being a faint level of light, was completely shrouded in darkness.
"Halja!" I exclaimed.
"You would be a fool, however if you think my conquest will end there…" she continued as she descended to the ground.
"It's also foolish to think taking my arm off will stop me," Azazel commented. "When the other arm came off, it was of my own free will."
"Trust me. That's the least of your worries. Michael and the rest of the Seraphs were no match for me. Now that I'm in control of the Holy System's power, whoever does stand a chance against me will soon no longer pose any threat."
I unleashed a powerful attack on her with my Power of Retribution. However, as I fired off the attack, she was surrounded by a powerful aura that absorbed the attack.
"Impossible…"
"I who shall awaken…"
"You need to get out of here! She is unleashing the Juggernaut Drive!" Azazel demanded. "Take the Dragon Spear to the shrine in Kyoto! They'll know what to do with it!"
"What about you!?"
"Your life is more valuable than mine. I'll hold her off. You need to inform Issei and Vali about this. They're the only ones who stand a chance of making this right."
I charged towards the nearest slipgate to the right of the lift. He wasn't kidding. Only someone with a Longinus Sacred Gear equal to or greater her's would be able to take her on.
However, as I was going through the slipgate, I felt a massive shockwave strike my back.
The last thing I could see as I had barely made it through, was scattered feathers falling through the air
The next thing I knew, I was lying down on a quite comfortable bed.
I scanned my surroundings. I appeared to have woken up in a traditional Japanese house.
There was a woman soaking what appeared to be bandages in water.
She had black hair tied up into a ponytail with a bow and her eyes were hazel and soft as clouds. She was modestly dressed, but there was an air of bygone mysticism to her.
"It's okay, young lady. You're safe here," she said. "My, my. Your kind seems to appear around here a lot," she added, giggling.
I was feeling a bit woozy, so I laid in bed for a bit longer. I didn't really have strength to protest her calling me "young lady."
However, not long later, I found out the meaning of her latter statement.
A bearded man walked in. Someone I was quite familiar with.
"B-Baraqiel?..." I weakly exclaimed.
He suddenly began to surge with electricity and whipped out a sword of light.
I was about to try and defend myself by I began to feel a sharp pain in my back as I assumed a fighting stance sitting up.
"Easy there, young lady. I encountered you with a pair of your wings missing," she softly said, tracing her finger down the white shirt I was wearing to bandages below my chest. "I'll take care of this…" she added.
"Honey! Leave our guest alone!" she barked at him. "She's had enough trouble as is!"
"Y-yes ma'am!" he abrubtly replied, dissolving his sword.
Goodness. I didn't get the impression she was this domineering.
"I just wanted to ask you one question, Gabriel," Baraqiel commented. "How did you get a hold of Azazel's artificial Sacred Gear?"
"He gave it to me to deliver to Kyoto," I responded. "Right before taking on the Goddess of Death by himself to buy me some time, saying that my life was more valuable."
"They were right. She did wipe them all out."
"Your one question has been answered, dear. Let her rest."
Baraqiel shuffled out of the room as I finally was able to rest.
"I'm Shuri Himejima by the way. I found him not too differently from when I found you. I nursed him back to health, one thing led to another, and now we're married with a newborn child."
"That's great…" I said, slipping back into a coma.
After a while, Shuri was able to get me back on my feet.
I went outside to get myself some much-needed fresh air. Baraqiel was out there already.
"Glad to see you're up," he commented.
I nodded.
"I'm sorry I lashed out at you earlier. I heard my former master had met his end travelling to Heaven to fight off Halja and the Khaos Brigade. I feared it was at the hands of the Angels, but I was wrong."
"How did you get here? Was it another fight with her? Asgard?"
"No. It was completely unrelated. The date when Azazel was slain is a complete mystery."
I was confused. Unless I was out for longer than I thought, it only took place a couple days ago.
"I heard you and Shuri had a child."
"Yes, we did. Would you like to see her?"
He led me inside to a small bedroom where the baby was sleeping peacefully in the crib.
"I think she will very much take after her mother," he said. "But what troubles me is that she already has my eyes.
I don't want her to become a fallen one like me. Especially as most of who's left of us is under the employment of the goddess of death. If anything, I want her to have a clean slate from the shameful things I have done – white wings like yours."
"No. That would attract even more trouble. Halja would want to hunt down any pure angels that remain.
So, what's her name?"
"Shuri decided on the name Akeno."
That raised a red flag.
Akeno Himejima? I've heard of her. She should be around 18! Why is she a newborn?
Not to mention, now that I think about it, Shuri Himejima is supposed to be dead by now!
I said nothing to him of this. I don't know enough about my situation to tell him properly.
A couple days later, I was given some spending money to go into Kyoto and deliver the Spear.
"Be careful, Ms. Gabriel," Shuri said to me. "Don't let them know we're associated or who you really are. We're not on good terms after I married one of the fallen."
"I understand."
I boarded a bus to Kyoto. At the station, the attendant asked for a name. At the spur of the moment, I answered "Gabby."
Ever since then, the alias stuck.
A lot was on my mind. What happened as I went through that slipgate? Did I accidentally travel in time?
I arrived at a shrine. The front gate had the characters "Himejima" written on them.
One of the first people that caught my eye was a bushy haired man with deep blue hair and blue eyes. He appeared to be sweeping the grounds. A servant, presumably.
"Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes, actually." I replied, pulling out the Spear. "It's a rare mythical artifact I came across. It needs to find an owner."
"Oh yes. I can take this to someone who'll take care of it."
"Thank you so much."
It was nice of that man to take care of that for me as soon as he did. I didn't want to involve myself in that more than I needed to.
But the incongruency of the timeline was still bothering me. I ran over to the bus stop and took another bus to Kuoh Town.
While I'm out, I might as well take care of Azazel's other request.
Another thing that bugged me was that the cars passing by all looked about 20 years old from what I had gathered on Earth. That wasn't helping anything.
I was searching all over for a ridiculous-looking mansion that the Red Dragon Emperor was supposed to be living in. I wasn't able to find it.
I did remember, in my head, the address of where his home was supposed to be.
The address was right…but it was just a normal-looking house.
I knocked on the door and a young couple answered the door.
"Excuse me, is this the Hyodo residence?"
"I'm sorry, but no one by that name lives here…"
"Sorry to bother you," I responded as I left.
They don't live there. That's odd.
I then went to a library. I looked at an encyclopedia for information. For some reason, it didn't have any information past the year 1990.
After some looking, I unearthed another encyclopedia. This one focused on the occult. I was quite familiar with it. To the casual reader, it would be an interesting guide to the various myths and legends. Little do they know, it's a goldmine of useful information about what was beyond their understanding.
The encyclopedia, again, was a 1990 edition. But it should have been just fine for my use.
However, there was a bigger issue. It was supposed to have a section on "Longinus"
But there was nothing there. All that I could find that was remotely about it was the spear that pierced the side of The Christ after his death.
Curiosity hit me. I searched for Vali Lucifer.
Nothing.
I searched for Boosted Gear. Nothing.
I searched for Divine Dividing. Nothing.
Zenith Tempest. Nothing.
Incinerate Anthem. Nothing.
Any relic that was a Longinus was not included.
I know this encyclopedia. It should have them!
I would have yelled that last sentence out if I wasn't in a library. I, instead, stormed out.
It dawned on me.
"Whoever does stand a chance against me will soon no longer pose any threat"
She wasn't kidding at all.
If she truly is the goddess of death, she wouldn't simply take their lives.
With the power that she obtained from the Holy System, she took their very existence!
I took a bus back to the Kyoto station that would take me back to the outskirts where Shuri and Baraqiel were.
The revelation hit like a two-ton weight on my head.
I am stranded on Earth, 18 years in the past, with no one who can help me stop the mad goddess who overthrew Heaven.
This combined with the pain from my injuries caused me to nearly fall over.
However, I was caught by someone familiar.
It was that servant from the Himejima shrine.
"You alright?" He said. "It was a good thing I was heading home when I did."
"I'm fine. Thank you very much."
"My names Hikaru Fujiwara, by the way. And you?"
With how much help he's been today, I had to tell him plainly, "Gabriel."