"Why won't it work?"
Elise floated alone within the Seventh Heaven. Having just obtained the God of the Bible's system, she was preparing to use the power of faith to enhance her abilities.
However, judging from Elise's expression, the process did not seem to be going very smoothly...
The power of faith from the outside world flowed into Elise's body without the slightest obstruction, and she was able to wield it perfectly, yet the results were nowhere near as good as she had imagined.
Had her strength increased?
With the reinforcement of faith, it naturally had. But the improvement was so negligible that Elise might as well not have bothered!
What exactly had gone wrong?
Burn faith and forge a divine body.
Elise had attempted this back in the first world she visited. However, at the time, she did not understand the power of faith particularly well, and she was far too weak. Her body had been completely incapable of bearing so much power of faith.
Naturally, the attempt ended in failure, and Elise suffered a considerable backlash.
Fortunately, the world she had been in at the time was merely comparable to medieval Europe and had not produced many exceptionally powerful individuals.
Even after suffering the backlash, Elise could still deal with that world's strongest individuals with ease.
However, at the very moment her attempt to forge a divine body failed, Elise obtained something—or rather, a stone.
Within the Lord God Space, that stone had been identified as crystallized faith.
At the time, Elise had wondered what use it might have, but after failing to discover anything for so long, she eventually gave up.
Afterward, the stone remained stored in Elise's inventory (see Chapter 2), and she barely ever took it out throughout the many worlds she visited later.
Could it be that I need to use that piece of crystallized faith now?
Although Elise remained doubtful, she had no better idea, so she could only take it out of her Lord God Space inventory.
She would never have noticed otherwise. The moment the stone appeared in Elise's hand, she sensed that something was wrong.
Originally, the crystallized faith had merely been a multicolored stone. Although it was rather beautiful, it truly seemed useless.
But now, the stone was actually emitting a faint glow.
Could it be detecting the power of faith nearby?
Elise could not help suspecting as much, but she had no evidence.
"But what am I supposed to do now?"
Judging from the reaction of the crystallized faith, Elise's current inability to forge a divine body was undoubtedly connected to it somehow.
As for how significant that connection might be, Elise truly had no idea.
However, as she held the stone, Elise recalled something she had experienced in the past...
Had she not done something similar with this kind of crystal before?
"Back then, I think I chose to... fuse with it?"
That's right. Elise was remembering what she had done when she first obtained the Urm Manadyte...
Fusion was also a form of assimilation!
Besides, this crystallized faith had originally been born from Elise herself. Had it not been one with her from the very beginning?
Still, this was ultimately nothing more than an idea. Whether it could actually be done would only become clear after she tried.
In the past, Elise had suffered a backlash from this crystal because her body was not strong enough. But things were different now.
After being tempered by a God's Blessing in the world of DanMachi, Elise's body had undergone an absurdly tremendous improvement.
In the past, without using any energy, Elise had only been slightly stronger than an ordinary person. But now...
It would not be an exaggeration to call Elise a dragon in human form!
Under these circumstances, her chances of success might be much greater.
And so, Elise began to act. She gathered the power of faith in her hand and slowly brought it closer to the crystal.
Ding!
As though sensing the power of faith around it, the crystallized faith quickly absorbed the energy Elise had gathered in her hand. At the same time, the light radiating from it grew increasingly dazzling...
Good. This proved that it could indeed absorb the power of faith. Elise could also sense an inexplicable feeling of intimacy coming from the crystallized faith.
"Are you... conscious too?"
A thought suddenly occurred to Elise. Since the Urm Manadyte possessed its own consciousness, why could the same not be true of this crystallized faith?
Perhaps she simply had never noticed it...
"Ah! I shouldn't have neglected this stone for so long. If only I'd remembered it sooner!"
Elise clutched her head in distress. She had actually overlooked such a treasure. It seemed she would have to reflect properly on her carelessness.
"But now isn't the time to talk about that!"
Now that Elise had confirmed her theory, she no longer hesitated.
She had to make the same choice she had made back then!
She would use the power of faith, continuously infusing the crystallized faith with energy while absorbing it into herself.
At the same time, since it could absorb the power of faith, Elise had to keep her own power at a level capable of suppressing it. Otherwise, she might suffer another backlash just as she had in the past...
"There are more things to consider than I expected."
"I probably won't be able to deal with anything else for a while. I'll have to leave Heaven to Est..."
"I hope they can withstand the pressure from the outside world."
This attempt was different from the previous one. Ultimately, the difference in strength between the Urm Manadyte and Elise had been enormous, so fusing with it had not taken much time.
The crystallized faith, however, was different. According to Elise's perception, the gap between the two of them was extremely small, and both were closely connected to the power of faith.
Although Elise was certain that she would succeed, she truly had no idea how long it would take.
Still, with the assistance of the God of the Bible's system, it should take less time than she imagined... right?
So from here on, she was leaving everything to her...
"Est."
Embracing the crystallized faith, Elise slowly closed her eyes as the power of faith swirled around her.
At that same moment, Est, who was in the Fourth Heaven, sensed the message Elise had sent her...
"What's wrong, Est?"
Seemingly noticing the change in Est, Ophis immediately turned toward her.
As expected of the Infinite Dragon God, Ophis truly deserved her place among the world's strongest beings.
Even though Est had merely raised her head slightly, Ophis was able to detect the shift in her emotions.
Not even a Seraph like Gabriel had noticed it.
"Sister sent me a message..."
"She's doing something important right now and can't step away for the time being."
"So Heaven's affairs have been entrusted to us."
At that point, Est paused briefly and looked at the two people beside her.
"Is that all right?"
"Since it is the Lord's will, every angel shall obey!"
"Elise is my companion too. I will help her."
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