Heaven's leadership had changed hands. Michael was no longer its leader, and in his place stood a young girl named Elise.
The news swept across the entire world like a tsunami!
The upper echelons of countless pantheons were left speechless by the revelation.
But upon closer consideration, certain clues became apparent.
The aura of the God of the Bible had spread across the entire world not long ago, and only a few days later, Heaven had already installed a new leader...
There had to be something going on!
The greatest possibility was that this being named Elise was the God of the Bible!
During the welcoming ceremony Heaven had held some time ago, Elise had been treated entirely as a god.
The other pantheons might think so, but the fallen angels and devils absolutely could not. After all, God had fallen before their very eyes, and they had jointly suppressed the news. How could He possibly have returned from the dead...
Wait!
Was that actually possible?
Some of the devils who had existed for an exceedingly long time recalled the immense power of the God of the Bible, and their expressions turned grim.
That being had been most skilled in things like creation and resurrection. Even if He had faked His death, it would not have been that strange, would it?
Damn it!
Had the previous Four Great Satans sacrificed themselves for nothing?
Throughout the Underworld, countless devils began to panic, and even the devil nobility was affected.
In the end, not even the Satans were spared from the turmoil. Or perhaps they were the ones caught most deeply in it.
They were Satans, after all. No matter what happened, they had to shoulder responsibility for the entire devil race.
Those who wear the crown must bear its weight.
That saying described their present circumstances perfectly.
Because of the appearance of the God of the Bible, unrest had already begun to spread through the Underworld, and they had dispatched people to calm the populace.
However, that could only solve the problem temporarily. It would never work in the long run.
Such was the pressure brought by the God of the Bible!
Left with no other choice, the Satans of the Underworld gathered together to consider how they should resolve the problem.
Satan's Castle.
"Today, we have gathered here..."
"I trust everyone already knows the reason."
As the foremost of the Four Great Satans, Sirzechs spoke first. At the same time, he swept his gaze around the room, taking in everyone's expressions.
"Of course we do. This whole affair has been driving me crazy these past few days!" Serafall clutched her head in anguish.
"Why can't the people below behave themselves? Because of them, I haven't had any time to spend with my dear Sona!"
"This is no small matter. That is the God of the Bible!" Ajuka reminded her. "Things are actually still manageable on our side. The ones truly panicking are the Devil Council."
"Ever since those old fossils learned that the God of the Bible had revived, they have been so terrified they can barely eat. Hahaha!"
The current Four Great Satans of the Underworld had all been chosen from among the younger generation of devils. None of them were pure-blooded devils.
Most of them were descendants born from unions between devils and humans after the great war in which the God of the Bible had fallen, when the devils had sought to restore their depleted numbers. They had never personally witnessed the God of the Bible and could only learn about Him through ancient records and legends.
"We seem to have strayed from the subject. Let us return to the matter at hand."
"What does everyone think of Elise Holiness?"
No matter the faction, no one would care if an unfamiliar name suddenly appeared.
The problem was...
The moment this person appeared, she had immediately become the leader of an entire faction. That made the situation rather thought-provoking.
This was Heaven they were talking about!
Did the devils not know what the angels were like?
More importantly...
"This is footage one of our intelligence agents recorded through a familiar at the time..."
Sirzechs placed a projection on the table, and the other three Satans turned their attention toward it.
"No matter how you look at it, that is the highest possible form of ceremony!" Serafall stared at one particular figure in the recording and sighed helplessly. "So she really is the God of the Bible!"
"Is that not a little too hasty a conclusion?"
"But other than the God of the Bible, who else could make every angel behave like this?"
"There may be another possibility. Perhaps she is not the God Himself, but His successor, or perhaps His daughter..."
"Now that you mention it, that really is possible!"
"Then what about her strength...?"
As the leader of a faction, her strength naturally could not be lacking.
The Four Great Satans were the same. Every one of them stood above Satan class, and two among them were even Super Devils.
Yet the God of the Bible was equally impossible to underestimate. According to certain ancient records and the accounts of older devils, the God of the Bible had possessed incomparably formidable strength!
He had even surpassed the Super Devils of their race!
"Since we are dealing with the God of the Bible, even if she retains less than a tenth of her former strength, we must still make every possible preparation."
"Then what attitude should we take toward her?"
Determining how they should treat Elise was no simple matter.
After all, they knew absolutely nothing about this new leader of Heaven, while their own intelligence would almost certainly be known to the other side...
If she also supported peace negotiations, then there would naturally be no problem.
But... if she was the sort of being who despised evil to the bone, the entire Underworld would be in grave danger!
After all, the former God of the Bible had defined devils themselves as evil. No matter how they tried to defend themselves, it had been useless.
"All we can do is wait and observe..."
"We are far too lacking in intelligence. Even after dispatching all our subordinates, we have obtained nothing useful."
As a Satan, Sirzechs had naturally paid the utmost attention to this matter. The instant he received the news, he had sent out every spy available to the Underworld.
Yet even now, they had not received a single useful report. They had not even heard of Elise leaving Heaven!
"Does that woman plan to shut herself inside Heaven for the rest of her life?" Serafall could not help grumbling.
"We should be understanding. She has only just assumed the position of Heaven's leader, so she will need some time to settle in."
"At the very least, she will not make any moves in the near future. We devils must seize this opportunity!"
"Agreed."
The four of them nodded. Although this gathering was called a conference, in truth, it was merely a performance for the devils beneath them, meant to show that the Satans were already working on a solution.
In reality, they had not discussed anything of substance. They had merely exchanged some basic intelligence.
Besides... the Satans did not hold absolute authority over the Underworld. Even if they reached a conclusion, the noble factions could restrain them and prevent them from acting. Sending people to investigate was already the limit of what they could do.
"We can leave the rest for those old nobles to worry about. That will give us a chance to relax too!"
"Mm-hmm! I still need to go back and see my dear Sona!"
"Then, everyone, if I receive any important information, I will notify you immediately."
In the end, the Underworld merely heightened its state of alert.
However, the discussions among the devils continued.