"Waiting for an existence like me—one capable of wielding the power of faith—to appear!"
The God of the Bible's astonishing declaration left Elise somewhat puzzled.
"Is there really no one else in this world besides You who can use the power of faith?"
After hearing Elise's question, the God of the Bible gave a bitter smile. "If someone like that were so easy to find, I would not have needed to wait so many years."
Elise could actually understand what the God of the Bible meant.
After all, she was an agent of the Lord God Space who had traveled through several worlds, yet even she had encountered only a handful of beings capable of wielding the power of faith, much less the God of the Bible, who had remained confined to this world.
If He truly had spent all these years waiting for someone who could use the power of faith...
Then what would have happened if I had never come to this world?
"Hypothetically speaking..."
"What would happen to this remnant projection of Yours if I had never come here?"
The figure before her visibly froze. He clearly had not expected Elise to ask such a question, but He could only spread His hands helplessly.
"If I truly never found the one I was waiting for, then I suppose I would eventually fade away with the passage of time."
"But!"
"There are no hypotheticals in this world!"
"After all, I found you, did I not?"
The God of the Bible fixed His gaze upon Elise, and the emotion emanating from Him seemed to be... gratification?
Sorry, but if I had never come to this world, You might truly have waited forever.
Elise sighed. Although the World Pass had arranged an identity for her, she ultimately was not a native of this world. That was something she absolutely could not tell anyone.
Still... the God of the Bible seemed somewhat different from what she had imagined.
After sensing the change in His demeanor, Elise finally relaxed slightly. It seemed He truly had no intention of attacking her.
"So what exactly have You been waiting all these years for?"
Although Elise could roughly guess His intentions from the original story, it would still be better to let Him explain it Himself.
He clearly did not have much time left...
"Thank you."
The God of the Bible naturally understood Elise's intentions. He had no desire to waste time discussing irrelevant matters either, so He went straight to the point.
"Everything I have done was for the future of this world!"
Was there only one world?
No, of course not.
Long ago, the God of the Bible had already discovered the existence of other worlds, as well as the dangers that could come from them.
Evil Gods!
In another world situated very close to theirs, there were three incomparably powerful Evil Gods!
Upon learning this, the God of the Bible understood that He was no match for those Evil Gods.
Not only Him, but even the Infinite Dragon God and Great Red, who dwelled within the Dimensional Gap, were far from being their opponents.
However, Great Red was rather special. Although it could not defeat the Evil Gods, it could prevent them from locating their world. In a sense, that alone was enough to keep the world safe.
Had other benevolent gods not been holding them back in their own world, those Evil Gods would probably have invaded this world long ago.
However, that could only ever be temporary. As time passed, the benevolent gods would inevitably be unable to hold on, while the Evil Gods would grow increasingly powerful!
Once their strength surpassed a certain threshold, even Great Red's power would cease to be effective.
Thus, the God of the Bible began laying His plans.
However, at that time, He also discovered that His world was plagued by many problems.
The foremost among them was Trihexa, the Beast of the Apocalypse—666!
That creature was far too dangerous!
As long as the Beast of the Apocalypse remained in the world, weaker life-forms could never be safe, nor would they have any opportunity to grow stronger.
Unfortunately, the God of the Bible and the Beast of the Apocalypse were beings of the same level. Killing either one of them would be extraordinarily difficult!
Therefore, all the God of the Bible could do was seal it away, leaving it for powerful individuals who might rise in the future to deal with when the opportunity arose.
The second problem was that the number of powerful beings in the world... was far too small!
Most of the world's powerful beings belonged to races born with innate strength, such as gods, angels, and devils.
However, the populations of those innate races were simply too small, and their growth cycles were hardly brief. Cultivating someone capable of surpassing the Evil Gods in the shortest possible time was as difficult as ascending to Heaven.
Thus, God turned His gaze toward humanity...
Although most humans lived for less than a hundred years, a span so brief compared to the lives of other races that it was almost negligible, the God of the Bible did not see things that way.
He saw possibility within humanity!
The possibility of defeating the Evil Gods!
Therefore, over the years that followed, the God of the Bible created Sacred Gears, Longinus, and other such armaments, ensuring that they could only dwell within humans or beings who possessed human blood.
That was not all. Among those Sacred Gears and Longinus were several particularly unique existences.
Each embodied the God of the Bible's understanding of certain concepts, and their vastly different effects could give rise to all manner of powerful individuals!
If the humans wielding those armaments united as one, they would surely be able to defeat the Evil Gods of another world!
The final problem was resources.
The Sacred Gears and Longinus had already been given to humanity. The next step was to enable humans to grow stronger within a short period.
When time was limited, resources had to be concentrated on select individuals, allowing the most exceptional among them to achieve greater growth in less time.
That was why Heaven's system had been created.
Under the system established by the God of the Bible, humans who possessed virtuous qualities and formidable strength would be selected and granted additional resources, allowing them to become powerful beings.
Such individuals were generally referred to by the Church as Holy Sons or saintesses.
Of course, those titles were not merely empty names. The system itself also kept records of them.
If they continued to grow, they might eventually gain the possibility of taking control of the system.
Perhaps as a precaution against the possibility that no natural wielder of the power of faith would appear in the future, the God of the Bible had decided to cultivate one Himself. A Holy Son or saintess who inherited the system would possess that potential.
It had to be said that the God of the Bible's luck was truly excellent, because Elise, who wielded the same power as Him, had arrived in this world.
"What I never expected was that you would bypass the system's selection process and proceed directly to the final step..."
"Still, this is for the best. It will save an enormous amount of time."
After hearing the God of the Bible's explanation, Elise finally understood His intentions. He was preparing to cultivate a successor!
Then I truly came to the right place!
"I can tell that you are a good child. Although you have a few minor flaws, they do not affect the greater picture."
At that point, the God of the Bible began examining Elise carefully.
"Mm. There are also several unusual powers within you that even I cannot see through."
If it is her, perhaps she truly can...
"Well? Are you interested?"