Wednesday, 25 December 2019

8:30 PM AEST – Australian Eastern Standard Time GMT+10

A Naruto and High School D×D /ハイスクールD×D Crossover

Disclaimer: "Naruto" is a property of Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and Studio Pierrot; "High School DxD" is a property of Ichiei Ishibumi and illustrations by Miyama-Zero. I do not own any of them.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Reader discretion is advised.

A/N: It seems I won't be a seminarian after all, and thus I will pursue another path, and that is in Theology as a layman, and most probably be a teacher of Theology.

A/N: The first part of this chapter is all about Gabriel in the Imperial Family.

A/N: THIS IS FINAL CHAPTER OF AURELIO/POPE PIUS XIII-CENTRIC CHAPTERS SINCE HE HAS SET THE STAGE FOR HIS FATHER NARUTO.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Romance, Comedy, Epic Fantasy, Drama, Supernatural, School Life, Real Life Politics, Religious Issues

Warnings: Violence, Strong Language, Sexual Content, Long Speeches, Foreign Languages, SOME CHARACTERS WILL BE OOC

Tags: God/Immortal/Badass/Intelligent/Overpowered/A Serious Naruto/Harem/Minor crossovers/Ecchi/Limes/Lemons (Maybe)

Universe: Animeverse/Mangaverse

Series: The Chronicles of the Eternal Sage - Main Series

"Jutsus/Time change/ Place change"

"Gods/Goddesses/Heavenly Beings/Demons or Dragons Talking"

"Gods/Goddesses/Heavenly Beings/Demons or Dragons Thinking"

'Flashback'

"Talking"

"Thinking/Telepathy speaking/News/Messages/Videos/Different Languages"

Translation if using a different language.

"We profess that there is no salvation outside the Church. …For the Church is the pillar and ground of the truth. With reference to those words, Augustine says: `If any man is outside the Church he will be excluded from the number of sons, and will not have God for Father since he has not the Church for mother."

- Pope Leo XII, Encyclical, Ubi Primum (A.D. 1823)

Volume 4 - In the Year of Our Lord

Chapter 14: Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus

Previously from the Chronicles of the Eternal Sage: Omnipotence…

"GAAHHHHH! COME AND FIGHT ME, BROTHER!"

Aurelius raised an eyebrow at what she called him, but he nodded in agreement. "Aye, sister, but unfortunately for you, I'm tired of fighting an unnecessary fight."

"Caelesti Ars: Vox Imperator," he muttered but his voice was carried by the wind, and all became quiet.

Gabriel narrowed her eyes as the wind howled around them, and she felt like she was forced to be on her knees, but she resisted and did quite well in Aurelius' opinion, but he knew he had to exert more to subdue his sister.

"Quas… Wex… Exort…" the pinnacle of Arcane arts was used once more, and all the world felt it. Three different orbs surrounded Aurelius, and he struck Gabriel with a deafening blast and she was frozen in place as the blast took her down.

Aurelius held Dawnbreaker walked toward the stunned Gabriel who cannot move and all she could do was watch him as he held his sword upward. "I am sorry sister, but I need you to have a clear head, for later."

And Dawnbreaker came down to her and all the world turned black.

Story Start.

"Bless me, father, for I have sinned," whispered a voice, distinctively from a woman whom Aurelio knew exactly who, from behind a curtain over a screen. Aurelio closed his eyes as he leaned to the wooden wall, thoughts clear of anything but God and the penitent with him, absent of any personal attachments. This has always been his procedure in the last four centuries that he was a priest during the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and he has heard thousands upon thousands of confessions every day.

"It has been three months since my last confession and I accuse myself of wilfully entertaining impure thoughts and took pleasure in it during times that I fall into an empty state of mind where idle thoughts can freely fall into disaster, which led to unchaste actions to myself…"

The memory stopped there as Aurelio opened his eyes and looked to his side.

"Why was I thinking about that?" He asked himself as he sat on a rock beside the downed Gabriel and held Dawnbreaker with his right hand, then a few moments later, his father stood beside Gabriel and picked her up, but he did not look to him and simply closed his eyes as he cleaned off the blood from the wound Gabriel gave him.

"You're an idiot, did you know that?" He heard his father said calmly, then, he looked up and saw Him gone with the wind and the unconscious Gabriel with him.

"I know," he muttered to himself before he stood up and stretched his body as he watched the sun slowly made its descent behind the mountains as Dawnbreaker's light dimmed and the sword vanished to where Aurelio kept it.

"Why was Laetitia's confession stuck on my head? I'm used to her and Elena's confessions and I throw them away from my mind as usual, but why did this last one stick?"

-Throne Room of the Empyrean Palace: Later that day-

Soon, Aurelio stood at the heart of the Empyrean Palace, within the Throne Room and all the monarchs sat upon their thrones, Naruto included, who then glanced to Leviathan and saw her face was red in anger, then, He turned to Lilith and she composed herself more than He anticipated, Kaguya was indifferent though, which He expected much from her.

"So, I told you to contend with her, right?" The Emperor's voice boomed throughout the entire throne room and Aurelio nodded silently.

"Then, what did you do?" He asked His son who muttered under his breath in reply.

"I nearly killed her…" his voice was quiet, but everyone heard him.

"Nearly killed her!?" It wasn't Naruto this time, but Gabriel's sister, Leviathan, and his mother. "She was barely alive! Death was already with her, you idiot!"

"That's my sister there lying down in the Observatory, my sister! Your aunt! And you almost killed your aunt! For what?!" She bellowed and the rest of the women glanced toward her. "Your father said, 'contend with her', not kill her! You should have ended it faster and now you have that stupid scar in your face!"

"You used Dawnbreaker's poison to her! That's stupid, and you're stupid! You're a complete dumbass, and you're the Pope! The Pope, Aurelio! Not Lucifer! Not Beelzebub! Not Asmodeus! Not Belial! You are the Pope, the Vicar of Christ! And you acted more like Satan when you pushed Gabriel into her breaking point!"

Queen Katerina Leviathan Ōtsutsuki Uzumaki… Queen of the Seas, Mother of the Storm (that is, of Aurelio). Her anger was righteous of course, what her son did, it was almost unforgivable, but nothing is unforgivable, especially for her, a divine spirit of the Lord.

"Enough, Leviathan," said Kaguya in a very calm manner, eerily calm even, but that was just the usual Empress Consort Kaguya. "Yes, Aurelio nearly killed Gabriel, yes, it shouldn't have ended that way, and yes, that duel was completely unnecessary and could have ended in another way, but what's done is done."

"But mother-" she said but Kaguya interrupted her.

"I said, enough; everything that transpired yesterday was witnessed by myself from the Crystal Tower."

Lilith took that moment for her thoughts to be heard. "You can't blame Leviathan for her anger, mother, righteous it was, and we all know it. But the question remains… why did Aurelio do what he had done? Now Gabriel lies far from the eyes of Heaven and they will seek her, but they will never pierce the veil that which protects Aetherius."

"Lilith, while we are all admonishing Aurelio here, why not try to look at his point of view," offered Scáthach and everyone looked at her. "Yes, he is the Pope, he should have acted much better seeing as he is held to the highest standards, but I felt Gabriel's bloodlust seeping from her; she was already overflowing, and Aurelio here unknowingly made her snap through his own anger at the current state of the Church."

"Gabriel was a ticking timebomb that started from the end of the Great War, and Aurelio pressed the detonator more than 500 years later, and probably pressed too hard, because, we haven't discussed this yet, Gabriel lost all her virtues sans chastity in a quick successive manner, no thanks to Aurelio's stupidity, of course, if she wasn't Gabriel the Seraph, she'd more than likely become a fallen angel, but that's not my point," she paused as she scratched her chin.

"My point is Gabriel needed that release, which Aurelio gave in the form of a battle. She fought in a large scale war and never recovered from it, and that was more than 500 years ago; all the pent up stress from that war just suddenly got released, as a warrior I know that feels, why do you think I almost always drag most of you to have a spar every week? Or spend some time alone with our husband?" She rhetorically asked and continued. "She never found any outlet after the Great War and it resulted in what happened today, which then leads to this question: why did Aurelio do what he did?"

"He didn't have much of a choice, sure, we can blame him, he's the one that challenged Gabriel which was stupid as he is stupid and left her in the state Naruto brought her in, but we cannot deny, Gabriel needed to release that or else she'll be drawn to madness one day," she explained and they got her point. "Though, it could have been dealt with in another, less bloody way, like you know, talking to her and not playing with her mind, like Aurelio did so splendidly stupid."

"And now she's aware of who we are," muttered Jeanne with a pensive look on her face.

"Oh yeah, fucking shit," groaned Mordred as she leaned back on her throne as she caressed her pregnant belly and Altria rolled her eyes at her daughter's attitude.

Amaterasu just scratched the back of her head and sighed quietly. "So let's conclude this, alright. Aurelio, you're supposed to be coming in Japan soon, get out of here and apologize to Gabriel deeply when she wakes up… I don't know when, just get out here, pay your penance and leave your mother for a while."

Aurelio kneeled and vanished over a magic circle and left the Empire as he returned to the Vatican.

"How is she?" Asked Inari.

"Terrible," replied Altria as she fixed her military dress. "But she's going to be fine. Dawnbreaker's poison has been successfully extracted from her body, and since Lancelot is here, I've sent Guinevere to tend on her with Cleria."

"Mhm," hummed Kaguya as she looked toward her daughter Leviathan. "Katerina… do you know what triggered Gabriel?"

Leviathan looked down and shook her head. "I don't."

"It was you," she said, and Leviathan looked toward her. "Gabriel broke when she realized who you truly are when she asked Aurelio who you are to him. She broke when she learned that you are his mother, her seal was shattered because she hates you, she loathes your existence, and now she learns that not only you are alive, you're the mother of the Pope, and your father is with you, who in her world, is supposed to be dead or missing. It drove her nearly to madness but was reined in by her pent-up bloodlust"

"Don't ask. I witnessed everything from the Crystal Tower."

The Queen of the Seas was stunned and Kaguya ignored her as she floated up from her throne. "Don't show your face to her when she wakes up, not yet, no, we don't want anything happening like what happened to Aurelio and Gabriel, let your father talk to her first."

Kaguya opened a portal and she entered it but left it open as she turned back to Leviathan.

"Because the woman you defended with such righteous anger towards your son, will not hesitate to kill you the moment she lays her eyes on you."

-Casa Santa Marta, Vatican City: A day later-

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: "Now, I am going back to Him who sent me. None of you is asking me, 'Where is it thou art going?' so full are your hearts with sorrow at my telling you this. And yet I can say truly that it is better for you I should go away; He who is to befriend you will not come to you unless I do go, but if only I make my way there, I send Him to you. He will come, and it will be for Him to prove the world wrong, about sin, and about the rightness of heart, and about judging. About sin; they have not found belief in me. About the rightness of heart; I am going back to my Father, and you are not to see me anymore. About judging; he who rules this world has had sentence passed on him already. I have still much to say to you, but it is beyond your reach yet. It will be for Him, the truth-giving Spirit, when He comes, to guide you into all truth. He will not utter a message of his own; He will utter the message that has been given to Him, and He will make plain to you what is still to come."

"May the words of the Gospel blot out our sins," said Aurelio as he kissed the sacred book held by a deacon.

"Praise be to Thee, O Christ," a server said as he spoke for the people in attendance at Casa Santa Marta which has been modified for the requirements of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite of Mass.

Then, the Pope moved to the ambo or lectern or the pulpit made for him and looked at the full chapel, and they all curiously observed the new scar that he had on his left eye; he noticed their stares of course but went on with his homily for the Fifth Sunday after Easter.

"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti… You're all curious about this new scar on my face, and the only thing I'll tell you is that an angel of the Lord gave it to me when we fought," he said, and he saw their collective eyebrows furrowed. "And I returned the deed in kind by the end of it and I won decisively; that was yesterday when I vanished during the afternoon, and I still feel like I'm a complete and total asshole for what I did to that angel, forgive my language."

He cleared his throat while everyone digested what they just heard but their thoughts were cut short when he began his homily.

"In the Epistle today, Saint James reminds us that we must not only hear the Word passively in our lives, but we must also act according to the Word, to work in good faith if you would, something those Protestants don't know about; rather, it is necessary that we mustn't just carry a proverbial checklist to tick off what we've done in every day of our lives, thus, we must allow our faith to be integrated in our thoughts and actions, in what we do in our lives, and by the Gospel, we heard this Fifth Sunday after Easter, we have the Holy Spirit to help us, the Lord sent him to us, we only need to pray and ask, then in due time, we shall get what we truly need and what we deserve in the eyes of God."

"Some people come to Mass every Sunday and other Holy Days of Obligation; that is good because they have fulfilled their obligation to assist at Mass. Here, they have come to be nourished at the altar of our Lord by Christ's Body and Blood during the consecration. Yet, despite this great gift that has been extended unto them, these same people return to the world outside as if nothing changed. That is because they do not allow their hearts to be open to grace and the promptings of the Holy Spirit," he said and noticed some people looked down as if guilty as charged, yet he continued.

"Again, I say to you, it is not enough to only hear the Word, we must also act according to the Word. The signs of the Holy Spirit send us into the world to live out our faith. From the nourishment that we received from the Holy Eucharist; we are sent into the world to live out the Beatitudes. Some people reflect that they know of nothing that they need to confess in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is quite stupid and that makes them extremely stupid which could send them to Hell, maybe they should reflect upon their sins of omission and thus, the ways in which they have failed to live out the Beatitudes." Another proverbial bullet came from him and he noticed another set of people flinched slightly from his words.

"Very soon, in our Liturgical Calendar, our Lord Jesus will ascend to the Father in Heaven, and the Apostles will then gather in prayer and the Holy Spirit shall descend upon them in Pentecost - the birth date of the Church. From this gift, they take they have heard from the lips of Christ and begin to be the teachers and doers of the Word. The Apostles extend this same invitation to us to follow them and to become true heralds of the Gospel. Not only in word, but also in deed."

"There are many who fear this invitation because they worry that they do not possess the strength to become a herald of the Gospel, I've heard this from many people, and all I say to them is that we must remember that not only did the Holy Spirit descend upon the Apostles, but the Holy Spirit also came down upon us when we received the Sacrament of Confirmation," he paused as he looked at everyone in the chapel. "Through the reception of this sacrament, we were infused with grace and received the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

"These gifts and fruits guides us to live out our Catholic Faith amid a hostile world, in which I have taken into calling Babylon because that is simply what this hostile world has become: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth, and the Church is the New Israel of God that stands alone against her," he paused as he prepared to continue his original topic.

"From these gifts and fruits, we are given the strength to become faithful heralds of the Gospel. From these gifts and fruits, we are given the courage to stand against sin and to remain close to Christ as we work to restore all things to Christ. Let us not just look holy but let us try as hard as we can to become holy. In this manner, we will not only hear the Word, but we will also become doers of the Word."

"Our journey to the end will not be meaningless, I can assure you that. We've already come far, we could have given up, but we didn't. This journey is not just for us, it is also for others. Even we become scared, we must not be filled with cowardice, because we know that there is a meaning at the end of this journey that we all must take - Salvation at the end of the long path that we've all walked."

Then, he ended his homily with one last sentence, "For the sake of what we believe in, we will muster our courage and fight to the very end. Be a saint, what else is there?... In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."

-Later in the afternoon: Apostolic Palace-

Naruto sat at a chair near the empty desk of Aurelio as He waited for his son to arrive from his daily Rosary from the gardens. He seemed to be deep in thought as he stared at the gilded golden crucifix that stood at the right-hand side of the desk, with a clock and a lantern nearby.

There were also two different dip pens and a black quill on a marble pen holder on the left-hand side of the desk accompanied with a tiered nib holders with many nibs, and with three bottles of ink that sat nearby a wax burner with several bars of sealing wax for wax seals, as well as two gilded box of calligraphy set, one for Western and the other for Oriental East, beside a small flag stand with two flags placed - Vatican and the Empire.

Naruto knew that Aurelius loved calligraphy, and he went as far as having done his all written works with calligraphy, especially now that he was elected pope, all his documents and signatures are done by the art of calligraphy, yet he wrote fast, but every stroke he did was measured and perfected by years of experience, probably the Uzumaki and Ōtsutsuki blood in him.

The Emperor's thoughts went back towards the Crucifix at Aurelius' desk in which He gave a small smile and muttered, "Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccáta mundi…"

"Beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt," finished Aurelio as he entered his office. "Oftentimes, I want to say, 'My Lord and Brother', but that would lead to many complications."

Naruto looked to Aurelio who went toward his desk and sat down, "He is my son as much as you are."

"I know," the Supreme Pontiff replied offhandedly. "But in any case, Lord Father, what brings you here? You're still supposed to be in Japan, and we're supposed to meet there in a few days."

"I am everywhere," replied the Emperor, in the same way as Aurelio did. "You should talk to your mother before you head to Japan, and Angela wants you to know that the Basilica on Artemis is finished and ready to be consecrated as the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Mary Queen of Heaven, it just needs to be scheduled."

"She could have said that to me herself," said Aurelio as he signed a document with a classic wooden dip pen regarding the coming Third Vatican Council.

"I went there earlier, so she requested it to me, besides, she's too tired from her tasks. Remember her face when I appointed her as General of the Eighth Imperial Legion?" He asked and his son nodded as he stifled a laugh.

"Her face was so downtrodden and was like, 'Why me? Pick someone else, father', and I'm leaning on agreeing with her. She's still just a young angel, and we've been burdening her with too much responsibility."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yes, I know, Angelo even complained to Mordred about it, but once I finished reshuffling the bureaucracy and the hierarchy on Luna, she will have fewer duties than she has now and she will have more time to take all the rest she needs."

"Hmm," hummed the Pope, then he realized what his father said first. "Wait, Angelo complained to Queen Mordred? A pregnant Queen Mordred? Is he stupid? Maybe he asked the wrong person, he should have asked Queen Altria, his mother… of all the Queens he would complain to, it had to be the pregnant one and his sister."

Naruto laughed and leaned back on his seat. "He realized that when Mordred promptly released Clarent to his face without saying anything, which is a first since her mouth during her past pregnancies would have made any sailor blush. She might be channelling Scáthach there."

"That's a scary thought, I'd rather have her mouth running off to you-know-where instead of a 'Queen of Shadows 2.0' because I can hear her from a mile away and avoid her, unlike Queen Scáthach who might pop out suddenly from somewhere and stab me with Gáe Bolg."

Naruto cracked a smile before he stood up and said. "I shall leave you now, and I'll tell you when Gabriel wakes up, also, before you head to Japan, you will receive and bless the Empress Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, alongside the Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael."

Aurelio raised an eyebrow as he took a parchment from his neat pile under his desk to write a letter while his father continued.

"The first space warfare supercarrier and her three space warfare battleships are ready to launch in a few days and they will be coming here in the Vatican, and Empress Kaguya will also be carrying ZGMF-IX30A Strike Archangel as a special package including a METEOR for special use which has already been delivered in Insula Neronis. The reason why I decided to have it brought with Empress Kaguya is that ZGMF-IX10A-2 Mercy Freedom is finished and has already been used by Angela a day ago."

"What?" Aurelio looked gobsmacked while his father vanished from his office, so he muttered to himself. "Oh dear, I have to tell that to the mess that is the Italian Government, and my Gundam? Dear Lord, why this early? It's only 2018, not 2100 and you're going to get those Gunpla fanatics in a frenzy with a real-life functioning Gundam… and why on earth did Angela not tell me about that? Oh, that woman…"

He stared at the empty spot where his father sat and muttered to himself once more. "What about ZGMF-IX29A Imperial Justice? When is that going to be finished?"

He wondered to himself, then leaned forward and took his quill pen and opened his inkwell. "Eh, never mind… I've work to do."

-The Emperor's Observatory, Empyrean Palace: Two days later - 1st May, A.D. 2018-

It was a usual sunny morning in the Imperial City as the sun's light was reflected from the surface of the Empyrean Palace and the golden light that was reflected by the tower spread all around the central regions of the city; and the tourists wandered in delight while the Aetherians moved on their daily life, though, given the chance, they still wondered at the sight of God's almighty power that manifested in the construction of the tower.

But within the halls of the palace, things were not as normal as they have been just a week ago since Naruto brought Gabriel to the Empire, and in fact, things were not as normal as it was more than 5 months ago, ever since Queen Mordred became pregnant for the fifth time within the last 500 years.

"Will you fuck off!? I've got no time to deal with your bullshit today alright!? Fuck off before I throw Clarent to your face!" Cleria, whom Naruto sent back to the Empire earlier than anticipated, heard Mordred as she walked toward Mordred's office in the Empyrean Palace, and soon, she saw the Archduke of Pendragon bolted out of the door for a safe measure to not receive Clarent in the face.

Then, he saw Cleria and motioned her to get away from his mother; but Cleria pointed down the papers that she held that must be given to Mordred.

"No, give that later, when she has cooled down," he whispered to her, and she noticed his tired blue eyes.

"But Queen Grayfia wanted this brought to her by today," she reasoned, but before the Archduke could answer, Naruto came by.

His eyebrows arched and He smiled at them. "Oh, what's this, your mother running her mouth again?"

"Yes, father," replied the Archduke with trepidation in his voice. "Unfortunately."

"I'll handle her, give me those papers Cleria and I'd rather spare you from her onslaught," said the Emperor and took the bundle of papers from Cleria's hands. "Now, off you go."

Then He walked away and left the two as he went towards Mordred's office with an amused face as he listened to Mordred's foul mouth loudly from her office. And it seems she was just angry at everyone and everything.

"Oh, what a feisty mouth you have today..." said Naruto as He stood by her office door, and she just looked at Him and swore to herself.

"Oh, shit, shit, shit, fuck, fuck, fuck... Sorry 'bout that, dad," she muttered as Naruto entered and placed down the documents that He took from Cleria on her table, while Mordred just stared at the papers.

"More paperwork?" She asked; her tone and mood went upside down from earlier.

"Yeah, and by the way, Cleria was about to deliver that to you, but I'd rather spare her from your onslaught earlier which I'm sure Angelo and Arthur already received in full."

Mordred sighed and scratched the back of her wild long hair. "One is my younger brother and the other is my son."

"Do you care about the difference? Both could be easily your brothers or your sons," said Naruto and Mordred merely shrugged and took the papers that Naruto brought to her and went through them.

"Hmm… ok, reinvesting the surplus from the budget back… good idea… to the military and infrastructure, great. But why do I need to sign this?" She asked Naruto who gave her a pointed look.

"You just said it, military and infrastructure budget. You command a branch of the Imperial Legion, your signature is needed because the Honour Guard receives an additional budget from the surplus that we had," explained Naruto then He left her to her job and exited the office to his actual destination.

-Sanctuary of Raphael, The Emperor's Observatory-

The Empyrean Palace has many rooms and sections that not even the public knows about, and this is one of them. A sanctuary of healing, named after the Archangel Raphael, patron saint of healing, and now, one of the Archangelic beings lay within.

Naruto entered through the double carven stone doors and they closed behind him as quickly as they opened for Him, then, He created a hole at the golden curtain made of light and there He saw Gabriel at the centre of the sanctuary, above a bed of lilies.

She slept in peace as if she was in Heaven, and that may be true, since this certain sanctuary is actually in another dimension, hence the golden curtain of light that served as the last barrier between Terra and Caelum, Earth and Heaven; He walked through the hole and it was closed behind Him.

Naruto stood by Gabriel's right and held His right hand over her and whispered. "Wake up, child."

And there was a bright light, then green eyes opened.

"…" she stared at the high ceiling while Naruto stood in silence and waited for her to get her bearings straight, which she did not second too soon and looked toward where Naruto stood, and tears fell from her eyes.

"Father… why?" she asked, her voice timid and uncertain. "Why did you leave us?"

"You knew I'm still out in the universe..." He said, and she gave Him a small nod as she wiped the tears from her eyes, then, Naruto helped her sit up, but she did not let Him go.

"Your presence, I could feel it from everywhere, that even Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host, could not," she said, her radiant eyes drowned in sorrow as she whispered. "Yet not even once I could lay my eyes upon you, but you were always with us."

"As was my intent," said Naruto, as He helped her stand from the bed, toward a bench. "Since I destroyed Lucifer's physical form five centuries ago, alongside Beelzebub and Asmodeus."

"But why?" she insisted. "Why did you have to leave us? Lilith I could understand, I knew what she was doing, but you, father? Of all the beings that could have left Heaven, you?"

Gabriel took a good look at her father and she felt conflicted inside, after years of absence, all she felt was conflict within her.

"The Lord never really left Heaven," said the Emperor. "The System is still there, not here, the Son and Spirit are there, not here, the Queen of Heaven is there, not here, and the Father was never away. I have always been everywhere, and I was never away. Your real question is why I vanished from your sight because I have always been there, through various people. I have always been with you."

"The Catholic Church understands this first and foremost, for when God emptied Himself, all the eternal doors of the universe, of space, of time, were lifted. I'm everywhere always, as the King of Glory comes into the presence of mankind in every single Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You know this already, Gabriel, for every single consecration of the Bread and Wine echoes through time to the very moment that the Last Supper happened again and again, and Heaven rejoices every time, and during the Crucifixion, time was broken. But why not even the ever-open eyes of Heaven did not see me? That's because Trihexa happened in that last battle."

Gabriel was silenced, eyes wide open, and her father continued. "Trihexa is a very dangerous being, the amalgamation of all the world's hate, from the very beginning of this universe to its very end. All beings, from the past to the future, all focused in that being. Something Alaya and Gaia never knew, nor tried to learn about it as they are as stupid as they are beautiful, and thus, it became a mindless homicidal creature…"

He paused as Gabriel looked toward Him but continued soon after.

"Or so we thought, and that was then, I decided to solve this not with a flick of my finger, but in centuries of planning, just like the coming of the Messiah was foretold in the Old Testament and did so in the New, and building safeguards to secure the World itself from Trihexa, and Trihexa from itself."

"Lilith will explain everything to you, why an Empire? Why I created this country? Its purpose, and all that it stands for. Because I know that you are going to ask the same things that she did… as did Leviathan."

When Leviathan was mentioned, Gabriel's mood soured, and it was obvious, but she did nothing as she leaned on Naruto's shoulders, and remained in silence.

"Leviathan… why did you bring her with you?" she asked, confounded as she tried to make sense of things at hand.

Naruto sighed, and it was long and tired. "She came to me and repented all that was done for thousands of years ago. You should have a long and thorough conversation with her, as well as Lilith. And as for your mother, she'll come to you later, some things have taken her attention now, for this world is on the brink of destruction."

The angel remained in silence as she watched her father stood up and left her from her seat, then, she saw Naruto turned to her and spoke. "The world has fallen low, and it is up to them to rise, through the redemption of the Cross, and the Church that came after it. The demonic cannot take physical form, but his power continues to rise through the years since Eden, we have work to do, and Aurelius Marcus will talk to you soon, and you will talk to him in return, come, follow me."

"Where?" she asked Him, and He turned back to her and smiled.

"Can't I take a walk with my daughter?"

-An hour later-

For Gabriel, the Empire looked different now than it did before like a veil was lifted from her eyes, and now, she can truly see what it is. In the gardens at the shadow of the Empyrean Palace, she felt like she was in the Garden of Eden before the Creation of Man, in her new eyes, she saw the lines that rooted from the tower that spread to all directions; her father said they are connected to both the World and Heaven - the foundation is rooted to the World, and the pinnacle of the tower pierced through the Realm of Heaven.

"'Quid est veritas? What is truth?', asked Pilate to Jesus, and that moment was like for eternity… do you remember?"

Gabriel looked behind her and saw Lilith for the first time since the veil was lifted from her eyes, and she was radiant so to speak. Her white hair braided intricately, and her eyes showed a spectrum of emotions; from joy to sorrow.

Lilith walked towards the balcony as Gabriel turned her gaze back toward the city below as she answered. "He didn't answer him because He is the answer and that Pilate answered his question and St. Jerome contemplated about it when he translated Pilate's question to Latin, and when he rearranged the letters, came out 'Est vir qui adest', that is, 'the man in front of you', a perfect example of an anagram."

"Ask the other beings from lesser pantheons what is truth, and they will give you its definition, and only the Lord said, 'I am', because He is the Truth itself," the angel finished, and Lilith hummed in reply.

"Did father said I'll tell you everything you need to know?" Gabriel nodded while Lilith sighed as she leaned back on the balcony.

"I shouldn't have talked to Him about that, now He points to me when someone asks Him the same questions," she muttered to herself before she prepared herself for a long talk with her long-lost sister.

"So, let's start with the easiest explanation: The Empire as we see it, is the prototype and prelude for the New Heaven and New Earth, while this city is the prototype for the City of God - New Jerusalem…"

-Vatican City State: Next Morning: 2nd May, A.D. 2018-

It was a lukewarm day, a cloudy sky, but the sun's light always pierced through thin clouds. A usual day in the Vatican, full of people in line to enter the Basilica of St. Peter, but then, many of them are just ignorant tourists, or so Pius XIII said to a conversation with the Italian Prime Minister before the Italian general elections last March, and now, Italy currently had a hung parliament.

"Tourists come and go, but the Church remains. We are eternal, they are not. Salvation is here, not there. We have the Lord with us, not there in the outside world that has become the Whore of Babylon. We must be all pilgrims, not mere tourists with a bucket list to complete… for there is no salvation outside the Church, stay within, whatever it takes."

He turned away from the window, to his desk, to an elderly man in a business suit; it was the President of Italy with him. "So, Signore, it doesn't matter who becomes who in your country, they will be always limited by a term, We are not. Conte, Salvini, you, it does not matter, We do not care, it's not Italians that made your country great, it was the Church because all of Italia belongs to the Church."

The President felt a bead of sweat fell down his cheek as he listened to what the Pope said.

"But the Freemasons through Vittorio Emanuele and the House of Savoy destroyed it, but one day, all Italia will be once again Stato della Chiesa… Status Ecclesiasticus, then, Europa, from Londinium to Hierosolymum, from London to Jerusalem, just like the Roman Empire under Trajan, all will be the State of the Church, the Papal States, and the rest will be Sacrum Imperium Aetherium, for we must prepare for the worldwide apostasy that is to happen soon, when Rome loses the Faith, just before the end."

"And when We say that the European Union will be dissolved in this quarter of the century, We meant it. Before or after Britain leaves, Italia will and must leave that wretched Union. Soon, We will talk with Poland and Hungary, then other countries in the East of this continent about the destruction of that union, you can tell that stupid French President about that as well as the German Chancellor," he concluded and the president remained silent in deep thought as what the Roman Pontiff said provoked his thoughts.

The President was not able to formulate any words as the air felt off, and he looked outside the quiet sky, but Aurelio interrupted him. "Presidente Mattarella, what you feel is what I told you about yesterday, come, let us meet the Flagship of the Holy Aetherian Empire, and her escorts."

He wasn't even able to give him a reply as he walked out of his office, so, as he was a guest, he just followed him out, and out toward the square, and there he stared at the sky that rumbled and there it was, in a blink of an eye, a monstrosity that was more than capable of immense destruction, and with it, dust and powerful gust of wind, appeared as it travelled through the Hyperspace from Luna to the Roman airspace within a few seconds, and time was distorted which is why the president felt off several minutes before the spacecraft arrived.

"Empress Kaguya Ōtsutsuki," he heard Pius XIII whispered. "Watch out for the blast of wind."

And he was right as a powerful gust of wind blew through Via della Conciliazione to the Piazza San Pietro, and he shielded his bespectacled eyes with his hands while Pius XIII stood undeterred by the powerful gust in silence as his red cape danced violently with the wind, but died down soon after, and he glanced at the tourists and pilgrims and other residents of the nearby Rome, and all were amazed, terrified, or both.

"This is the Supreme Pontiff, Pio XIII," his voice was amplified in Italian and everyone heard him. "Calm down, this is not an alien spacecraft, that's stupid, this is the newest flagship of the Holy Aetherian Empire, hull classification: Holy Imperial Space Warfare Supercarrier-1, His Holy Imperial and Most Royal Catholic Majesty's Ship: Empress Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, coming to receive her Pontifical blessing, alongside the Space Warfare Battleships Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael…"

After that announcement from the Pontiff, clouds parted and three large ships came down from the sky, all looked similar to one another, and respectively in order of precedence in the Heavenly Realm - Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host, Gabriel, the Messenger, and Raphael, the Healer.

And so the world learned that day, that the Empire was already a space-faring civilization, and truly, the most powerful nation in the history of the world.

-Gold Room, Empyrean Palace: 2nd May, A.D. 2018-

Katerina Leviathan Ōtsutsuki Uzumaki. Queen of the Seas. That was the name she took after she became queen, to avoid controversies from Heaven, Earth, and Underworld, and most especially to her descendants, in the House of Leviathan of the Old Satan Faction, which she knew, already took notice of her and her children in the Empire, most especially her eldest son Aurelius Marcus, being the Prime Minister or Steward of God in all technical sense as the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church echoed from Isaiah 22:22 and Matthew 16:19.

Though, she has put that aside for the moment as she faced her current predicament and the one that sat in front of her. Gabriel.

"Gabri-"

"No, stop. Just don't, Leviathan, no. I'll speak first," said Gabriel, her face stern, then, she added. "Please."

Leviathan took note of the sudden change in her tone and remained in silence as she watched her sister who sighed tiredly as she leaned back on her seat.

"In the year of Our Lord 1493, Father left Heaven because of you, I saw Him leave, and that was the last time I saw Him or so I thought…" she started, her eyes closed. "Then came 1538, Sacrum Imperium Aetherium was founded, and in Heaven, we knew nothing about, as if it already existed beforehand as a different realm."

"It did not make sense then, and now, after nearly five centuries everything finally became clear as the day the Lord rose out from His tomb on the third day," she said and paused. "This empire is the prelude to the New Heaven and the New Earth. The true Universal Church, in the reunion of the Church Militant which is the Catholic Church, Penitent which is Purgatory, and Triumphant which is the New Jerusalem - Heaven."

"Ætheria… Æther, the realm of quintessence… of the highest heaven, Empyrean… such play on words when you were planning this empire, and I never saw it before until the veil upon my eyes were lifted, and then, I see your son, my nephew… my brother, upon Peter's Throne, holding the Keys of the Kingdom until the end of time."

Leviathan listened in silence as Gabriel continued, her voice lower than before, yet, clear as the morning sun that rose behind mountains from the east.

"It made me realize during my conversation with Lilith yesterday, that truly, the time of the end has come, and that what the Apostle John saw and wrote in his Revelations is about to be fulfilled in its full terrifying glory. This world has fallen low, it has become the Whore of Babylon and all must come out of her to the loving arms of God through His Church. How did Aurelio know it, before Heaven did? Before Michael the Prince of the Heavenly Host, whom the Holy System has been entrusted? Before me, the Messenger, the Warrior of God?"

Gabriel looked to her right where a new painting hung, and it was Aurelio in the very moment he was crowned as the Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, with the Triregnum upon his brow, and in front of him, the Cardinal Protodeacon and younger brother, Francois who fixed the tiara upon Aurelius' brow.

"Thou art the father of princes and kings, the ruler of the world, the vicar of thy Saviour Jesus Christ on earth… his coronation usurped Lucifer as ruler of the world, it should have never been abolished by Paul VI," she muttered and Leviathan shook her head.

"Father gave him virtually unlimited power in this world as His steward, above any secular power or government, and technically, equal to the Holy Aetherian Emperor whomever that might be in office, but not in practice today as in this case, it is Father, who is both God and Emperor, but no one besides us know the first part, so Aurelius is exercising his powers equally, in both religious and temporal affairs."

Gabriel shrugged in reply, her eyes lingered upon Aurelio's tiara from the painting. "In virtue of his pastoral office, he is God here on Earth, being the head of the visible Church and the representative of God's will. Upon his throne, the Throne of Peter, the Church shall prevail against the gates of Hell, until the end of time."

"The answer for your question, Gabriel, is that he was granted the gift of knowledge," spoke Leviathan and Gabriel finally turned towards her. "He sees things as what they truly are, hence, the attitude to some people. The Mysteries of God hidden from Mankind has always been very clear to his eyes, he sees from the eyes of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

"That is why he knew before Heaven did because he can see through the eyes of God. Not perfectly mind you, he is nigh-omniscient, not omniscient, he is a living mystic of the Church, and many within the Church will rise against him and all those in Heaven."

Leviathan continued her answer to Gabriel about her eldest son Aurelio until Lilith came by them with a remote on her hand and interrupted them.

"Before you continue your theological and metaphysical discussions, watch the news," said Lilith as he opened the TV and went straight to the news channel.

"… coming live from the Vatican City, we see right now, four massive spacecrafts bearing the symbol of the Holy Aetherian Empire, and we heard from Pope Pius XIII earlier that the largest one is the Space Warfare Supercarrier-1: Empress Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, with three Space Warfare Battleships - Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael…"

The three sisters watched silently as the live footage from the Vatican showed the four massive spacecrafts above the city, then Gabriel noticed the name of the three battleships.

"Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael? Uriel is going to throw a fit. Michael will just smile, and Raphael might do the same. Me, what?"

"That's my work, Gabriel, with the help of people living in Luna, especially Angela, also, yeah, Uriel is not included because we only planned three battleships to accompany the HIMS Empress Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, plus five destroyers with three nearly finished and two that are currently under construction." Gabriel looked to Leviathan who just noticed the camera focused on Aurelio at St. Peter's Square.

"There is Pope Pius XIII, with the… Italian President? Look, a hatch is opening from the bottom of the Empress Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, and what is that? Is that a robot?"

"That idiot!" Exclaimed Leviathan while the two women looked toward her in surprise. "Why does he have to show off that blasted Gundam! It's 2018, not 2100! I should have never allowed that project to come forward."

Gabriel looked surprised as Leviathan continued her rant, while Lilith just shook her head. "Father gave the final word on that one though, and Angela was surprisingly enthusiastic when she received Mercy Freedom a few days ago."

"What?" Leviathan asked, confused as to why the Archduchess of the Dragonlands would be happy, as she knew the woes Angela carried at this time.

"Father reduced her workload, by a lot, after Aurelio appointed your third grandson as the Martian Field Marshall and concurrent Cardinal-Archbishop of Artemis-Aurelius, so he will work on Mars and at the same time, help Angela in Luna since his workload is so little compared to Angela," explained Lilith while Leviathan raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, interesting, but anyway, Aurelio still needs to apologize to Gabriel; and it will happen, the question is when? That fool will be in Japan tomorrow."

-St. Mary's Cathedral, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan: 3rd May, A.D. 2018 - Heisei 30-

3rd of May, in the Year of our Lord 2018, Thursday on the Fifth Sunday after Easter, Feast of the Saints Philip and James, Apostles of Christ, and it was a perfect time for Aurelio to begin his evangelization of Japan, and he has already attracted the attention of the media, both national and international about many things, for example, the way he preferred the Mass be offered and the way Aurelio arrived in Japan aboard his aircraft, the 10th copy of the ZGVCV-20 Miracle, with the call sign Pontifex One, a VTOL zero-gravity VIP military transport aircraft as well as a CAS gunship and a stealth FTL strategic heavy bomber.

Truly an overkill for a transport aircraft, or so said by Pope Pius XIII himself, but the engineers of the Empire would have nothing less for him and the other members of the Imperial Family, and as they said, the world is a very dangerous place now, and it is better to appear and use items befitting his station rather than show false humility in public. This too, applied to the clergy and prelates that are part of the Imperial Family, dress and act according to their station, most especially the Cardinal-Princes of the Empire, because they are also Princes of the Church.

Before his arrival in Japan, the Government has officially recognized the Pope to be addressed as 教皇 - Kyō-kō, the same way the prelates of the Church in Japan have used for some 40 odd years, instead of the old 法王 - Hōō originally used by the Japanese Government.

教 "Kyō" could be translated to "teaching", and 皇 "sumeragi" in kun'yomi can be "emperor", thus in unofficial translation to English, the Pope is called "Emperor of Teaching or Doctrine", and as it stands, in Japan, he is as such:

教皇ピウス十三世 - Kyōkō Piusu Jū san-sei

St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo was very minimalistic in design, something Aetherians would have never liked, but it possessed its charm, and with Aurelio's specifications, the modern met the old perfectly, with the embroidered banners, carpets, and most especially, the regal baldachin or the canopy over the Cathedra that was installed before Aurelio arrived.

Aurelio had conversed with the Archbishop of Tokyo before the Mass and told him he wanted to have a new Cathedral built that will embody Japanese culture with Catholicism and that he'd pay for it from his account.

The Archbishop gave his consent, yet Aurelio voiced a new concern; on how the laity would react, and the Archbishop assured him that the reaction would be positive.

And with Aurelio at the moment, he sat at the Cathedra modified to his colours and his Coat of Arms which replaced the Coat of Arms of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tokyo for the duration of his visit in Tokyo, which was just during that day, as he headed for Kyoto tomorrow, for Yasaka.

His mitre pretiosa was removed from his head as the Kyrie rang out from the choir, the clergy and the prelates of Japan in attendance, then, he stood up and chanted.

"Gloria in excelsis Deo!"

And the people, priests, bishops, nuns, religious sisters, as well as the choir that consisted of lay Catholics sung in the tone of Missa I "Lux et origo", as it is still the Easter Time even if it is a Feast Day of two Apostles. Behind the shadows of the crowd, one figure stood in silence, unnoticed by most, face obscured by a white mantilla over her head, she wore a simple white kimono, with a golden obi.

One of three of the Cardinal-Princes, the Cardinal Secretary of State specifically, noticed her, at the edge of his eyesight, he saw their younger sister, Princess Yasaka, whom they are supposed to meet tomorrow for the first time, after 12 years of absence.

Augustus was in his choir dress, as did his brothers who were cardinals as well, for they are not part of the mass, but merely honoured guests in the Mass offered in the Extraordinary Form or the Traditional Latin Mass, something a good number of modern Japanese Catholics never seen nor heard of, completely unlike the Japanese Catholic martyrs only a few centuries ago.

"What is she doing here?" He whispered to his brother Cardinal Francois, who was ignorant of whom Augustus saw.

"Who?"

"Yasaka," he replied, and the other brother that was with them, Vortimer, immediately looked conspicuously for her, but Augustus nudged him with his elbow.

"Later, brother, later, we have a Mass to listen, and we still have to meet the Prime Minister and the Emperor, before we even deal with Yasaka tomorrow, but that's mostly with the Pope, not us, and in Kyoto not here."

"As the days until the Third Vatican Council opens grow shorter, it seems that Pope Pius has completely crushed oppositions within the Roman Curia, having arrested many on charges of treason, heresy, and apostasy, with allies and younger brothers now in positions of power following the footsteps of his former apprentice and predecessor Pope John XXIV, now, his gaze turns toward the Bishops' Conferences around the world, particularly in Europe," said a reporter from a news media outlet.

"Now, what do you think of his plans now?" the reporter turned to a guest who sighed deeply.

"Well, Pope Pius XIII has taken the Vatican by storm, every movement and statement from him are measured, even if they don't seem that way at first. He planned this for a long time, 4 centuries, he used various means with the help of the Empire to set up the stage for his ascension to supreme power, and now, he is steering the Church back to orthodoxy and traditionalism which he said was overtaken by heterodoxy and modernism, and he has two former popes in his pocket, Benedict XVI and Francis, both on different sides of the political spectrum," started the guest while the others in the panel remained silent.

"He knew that these problems that the Church faces today will erupt one day in this day and age, he knew and prepared for it, and the key factor on that is that he must be in the Chair of St. Peter, and now he is there, clothed in supreme power."

"Rumours have it that he was elected in the Papacy 12 times in the last 3 centuries, but refused them all, bidding for the right time, and, choosing the name 'Pius' at his supposedly 13th election, with the last 'Pius' being Pope Pius XII, is full of symbolism, harking back more than 4 centuries to the Pope that ordained him to the priesthood and paid for his education in Europe, Pope St. Pius V, Ruler of the Papal States."

-After the Mass: Sacristy-

Aurelio wore his choir dress after the Mass as he prepared to head out and meet with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet whom welcomed him earlier and was also in the Mass alongside other representatives of various groups like the Shintoists, Buddhists, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses and many more, and with the Emperor, whom he knew since the man was still a young prince.

"Brother," whispered Augustus to him; he now wore his ordinary dress, which consisted of a black cassock with pellegrina and scarlet piping, and a scarlet fascia around his waist, in contrast to Aurelio's choir dress. "Did you see someone at the Mass earlier?"

"No, you know we don't focus on the people unless it's the Homily, right? But if you are asking if I felt Yasaka's presence from the back of the Cathedral, then the answer would be 'yes'," answered Aurelio as he fixed his zucchetto upon his head.

"And also 'yes', I'm wondering what is she doing here earlier, and I felt she vanished from Tokyo after the exit procession, and good for her soul that she did not go for Communion, she has been in the state of Mortal Sin for the last twelve years or so."

Augustus nodded in agreement before he went out of the Sacristy followed by Aurelio, where the Archbishop of Tokyo with other important prelates waited for him, and a lot of media, both local and international, as well, but they were held back by the more advanced and heavily armoured Holy Imperial Palatine Guard and the Pontifical Swiss Guards in simple black suits with him.

"Holy Father! Holy Father!" Shouted the media, but the Guards stopped them, and Aurelio motioned them to be silent, then, at that moment, an armed man with a knife, who appeared to be an Arab, charged toward Aurelio's back.

"Allahu A-!" The man didn't finished as Aurelio grabbed the man's arm with the knife toward him, then spun him around and broke his arm, before he grabbed the man's neck and raised him from the floor with his right arm straightened, all while he stood without a movement from the rest of his body, and his face was not even serious as caught by the cameras.

His brothers' reactions were also caught on camera, and it showed that they were nonchalant about it.

"Ah, I've been wondering when this man would do this," they heard Aurelio said as he choked the man with his right hand. "I could feel the intent of this man since we landed here earlier this morning."

Augustus shrugged and continued to walk away with his other brothers while Aurelio threw the man to the Palatine Guard near him and one of the Guards, Laetitia, stomped on the man's head with her left foot covered in a sabaton and knocked him out, then, she promptly had the man dragged by the other Palatines away, to be interrogated and punished according to the Code of Imperial State Law and the Code of Canon Law.

"Hmm, a Mohammedan huh, and in Japan? That's some dedication to try and kill you in a country foreign to both of you, and that's the first time that happened in your Pontificate," said Laetitia who walked beside Aurelio away from the media.

"The first of many," said Aurelio as he saw the Japanese Prime Minister from a distance.

"Once the Council has been called in the Vatican, I will start the reversal of Nostra Aetate and the destruction of the 'Spirit of Assisi' which John Paul II deeply regretted privately, as well as the expansion of the norms set out by Summorum Pontificum."

Laetitia hummed in consent while Aurelio continued. "And the restoration of the Breviarium Romanum for those Orders who would rather use it, which would probably also make many Jews hate me, they already do anyway, after I recited the Good Friday Prayer for the Jews as originally written, not the revisions of Pius XII, John XXIII, and Benedict XVI, orémus et pro perfidis Iudaeis."

"The Western media will have a field day when that happens, imagine the headlines: 'Pope Pius XIII: Islamophobe, Anti-Semite, and Bigot', whatever that means, but do I care? You know me, my dear granddaughter, I don't," continued Aurelio while Laetitia nodded as she knew her grandfather better than most.

"Caritas in Veritate, Charity in Truth, we are called to proclaim the Truth, because that is the greatest act of charity we can ever do, and proclaiming the Truth will not make you nice, for we Christians are to be kind, not nice. St. Peter carried two swords, and so I shall, and I do."

Aurelio continued quietly as they approached the Japanese Prime Minister. "Mohammedanism has been on war with the Faith, with God and His Holy Church since Lucifer in the guise of my aunt and sister Gabriel came to that so-called 'prophet' six-hundred years after the Word became Flesh, and he did so again with some few more, and they are slowly winning in Asia Orientalem, Europa and Americae Septentrionalis thus it is rightly the time to put down the ploughshares and take up arms and put on the Armour of God, for we were never supposed to turn the other cheek literally, as many mistakenly thought."

-Gold Room, Empyrean Palace: Same time-

Gabriel had taken a liking in the Gold Room, even though the Empyrean Palace had thousands of rooms from above, to its deepest parts. 'Felt like Home', said Gabriel when she was asked by Grayfia yesterday. She sat there in silence, relaxed on the couch as the television showed a live stream of Aurelio's first day in Japan in any official capacity. She watched as the Holy Mass started and ended, and she felt the strong power of the Eucharist spread over Japan, and, she knew that one day, the Faith will grow stronger in Japan.

She was surprised when she saw a man tried to stab Aurelio, but that was merely in the spur of the moment, for she knew firsthand the capabilities of Aurelio, as she traced that scar from navel to collarbone and the phantom pain that she felt while she did that. Perhaps she was not yet fully healed, only God can tell.

"Time heals all wounds, or so they say," said a voice from behind, and Gabriel turned to see Cleria in her usual business dress. "My lady."

She bowed and Gabriel's eyes widened slightly. "Cleria… Belial."

"Uzumaki, Your Grace, for the Lord Father made me anew, for a world without end," said Cleria as she entered the Gold Room and sat on chair nearby Gabriel. "There are things that could have been, or we wished could have been, yet as the Emperor always said, 'our experiences have their purposes, whether we live to see them or not'."

"I was a pure-blooded devil, I came from Belial's line, and I had an Anglican exorcist lover in my time in Japan, and now, I'm a daughter of the Emperor of the Holy Aetherian Empire that happened to be the Father Almighty, or was it the other way around? I don't know, because when our father is concerned, nothing makes sense in face value."

Gabriel smiled in remembrance as replied. "Well, that's how our father is, or as I remember from times past, it has been half a millennia since I truly saw Him in His full glory, and He never changed from His nature - that is, always for the good, the good of all Creation."

Gabriel's reply etched a smile upon Cleria's face as she fixed her ashen hair to a bun. "How true, I'm His secretary, and I know mostly everything that He requires of us, though maybe a short break can be possible soon because I do want to talk to my older cousin Diehauser, should he ever come here in the Empire, or with me returning to the Underworld."

-Fushimi Inari Taisha, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, Japan: 4th May, A.D. 2018 - Heisei 30-

Now, the media have followed Aurelio since he landed in Yokata Air Base aboard the Pontifex One yesterday morning, and now, even as this was supposed to be a private visit to his long-gone younger half-sister, who happened to be a priestess from a completely different religion, for the sake of appearances truth be told but only a few knew that, and the media are still with him, much to Laetitia's chagrin.

Flanked by his brother cardinals, Vortimer and Augustus, Aurelius strode forward, with his red cape trimmed with gold linings and red cappello romano, and on a short distance from his sides, marched the Holy Imperial Palatine Guard in their armour and some stopped at different security posts while the Swiss Guards in suit followed closely.

The sun was high up, and the wind was mild; it was just perfect, and there she was in a distance, Yasaka, in her full ceremonial dress, stood with some of her servants, all prepared for Aurelius' arrival.

Yasaka, aside from the golden hair and eyes that match, was the quintessential traditional Japanese woman, or rather she became after the one she mated with abandoned her, and her mood did not match the scenery, just like when their father came to her, she felt conflicted, because Aurelio was the brother she loved the most.

The one she and her other half-siblings went for advice and insights in their own lives, and just like their father, she felt like she betrayed him, and in repayment for what she perceived as her betrayal of the then-Cardinal Prince Aurelius, as soon as he stood in front of her with a small smile.

She knelt.

She knelt, she who is both the daughter and High Priestess of Inari, to the Vicar of Jesus Christ.

She knelt in front of the cameras, in an official capacity as High Priestess and the Leader of the Kyoto Youkai Faction, she knelt and took his right hand, and kissed his ring, the Ring of the Fisherman, the other symbol of the Papacy aside from the Two Keys and the Triregnum.

Aurelio can honestly that it was the first time for many years that he was surprised, and not in a particularly good way, even his brother cardinals were taken aback by their sister's actions.

"Did you all see that? The Head Priestess of the Kyoto Temple kneeled to the Pope! To the Pope of the Catholic Church!" A journalist hushed to a colleague but was overheard by many.

"That's his younger sister, you know, half-sister to be accurate, and I've heard they haven't seen each other for 12 years, so, it's probably an impulse on her side."

"But still, she is a priestess of another religion foreign to the Church," said another journalist. "It's just quite disconcerting to watch, and they're supposed to be equal as both are religious leaders."

"Eh, the Imperial Family has a set hierarchy, and with Prince Aurelius as Pope, he is now technically held equal to the Emperor and the Queens, while above all his other siblings, including Princess Yasaka, but the Pope said that he is only equal in office, not in standing," replied another quietly.

"Yasaka," whispered Aurelius as he put his left hand under her chin and lifted her face. "Stand up, dear sister."

He pulled her up to his height and she cried quietly on his chest. The Pope kissed her right temple as he calmed her down with a caress of her head and whispered to her. "Yasaka, I know what you're thinking, and forget about it…"

"Everything has already been forgiven in that Cross, provided if you truly repent for it and act in good faith, and I know that you do," he continued as he broke the hug. "It's just, your situation is most especially delicate for me, as the Supreme Pontiff, you know my duties to our father and the Faith."

He then held her face near him and kissed her on her forehead, all while there are still cameras around them. "Come, let us talk in private."

At his mention of the word 'private', he glanced to Laetitia who understood the silent command and moved forward with the Palatines and had them block the entrance with their shields, while Aurelio had his brothers followed him and Yasaka as they went in the residential area of the Shrine, in silence.

"You look beautiful as usual Yasaka, it's been twelve years after all, and I'm sure our Father said the same. Now, where is my niece?" They walked up the steps and from the top, a small figure ran down and there she was, Kunou, dressed in ceremonial clothing, jumped to Aurelio's torso and he grabbed her by her waist.

"Ah, just the one I'm looking for, how are you, little one?" He asked the young girl who pouted at him.

"Uncle!" She whined. "I'm not little anymore!"

"Well, the lot of you are still children to me, so, you're little to me."

Yasaka smiled as she watched her elder brother mess with her only daughter and child, after all, she never did saw her daughter with Aurelio, as Kunou was the only one that went to the Empire alongside her servants in the last ten years. But one day, she promised, that she will bring Kunou to the Empire, as mother and daughter… as daughter and granddaughter of the Emperor.

"What you did earlier will inflame Shintoists in this country, little sister, and probably Buddhists as well, and maybe the Imperial House of Japan," said Aurelio as he sat on a zabuton inside Yasaka's room while caressed Kunou's head who laid down on his lap comfortably.

Yasaka, who sat opposite of Aurelio sighed as she watched her elder brother before she replied. "Maybe, but not the Imperial Household, since Akihito, who we know will abdicate next year, and Naruhito his successor, knows the truth very well, and the entire family too, so don't get worried about them, and just ignore the rest."

"It's not about me, Yasaka, it's about your position here in Kyoto," he said but Yasaka just waved him off nonchalantly.

"As I said, don't worry about me what you should think about is on how you will invigorate Catholicism here in Japan and increase the conversion rate," she said to Aurelio who continued his ministrations on Kunou's hair. "It's going to be difficult, but I know you can do it, you wouldn't be my Pope and brother if you couldn't."

"They are all greatly concerned about the meaning of their lives," she continued as she adjusted her obi. "The adults are overwhelmed by work, and the rest are overwhelmed by habits and traditions that dull personal conscience. Those are some of the primary reasons why this country is stagnating in its population, hence, that is where you should start."

Yasaka then stared toward Aurelio's eyes and finished her statement. "Spearhead the changes to the very heart of this country; give meaning to their lives and history will thank you for it one day."

Aurelio glanced at the family portrait nearby before he sighed loudly.

"Give me 500 years… or a world-ending disaster, like Gojira, resurfacing."

Yasaka quickly replied and said. "You have it… wait, what?"

-Kuoh: 5th May, A.D. 2018 - Heisei 30-

"Laudetur Iesus Christus!" Greeted Aurelius to Jaune who welcomed him and his brothers to the manor. He learned that the Emperor was not at the manor now, and now, he had the media that followed him dismissed, for this was now the most private affair he had to go.

"In Aeternum! Amen. Uncle," returned Jaune as he knelt with Issei behind him.

"Where is Father? I know He is not here now, because if he was, I'd see the Imperial Standard flying on the roof," asked Aurelius and Jaune sighed before he replied.

"Kuoh Academy, I will be going there with you, I know you're scheduled to visit it in an hour, but somehow, this day feels something bad is going to happen," said Jaune while the clergymen nodded in agreement.

Augustus looked up to the sky, thoughts swirled upon his eyes, wherein lies the gift of his blood, from his father and his mother, and he was the Secretary of State for that reason, because of his foresight. He glanced at Vortimer who shared his thoughts and nodded.

"The days grow darker and darker still, and soon the world shall fall into despair and the cleansing fire shall rain upon the face of the earth, and once the seals are broken, the Four shall tread over the ashes, until the Lamb returns," said Vortimer as he quoted a book of the Empress Kaguya.

"Dark imagery, but the truth nonetheless, the Empress knows it better than most of us and the Queens," replied Augustus and Aurelius remained in silence, but not for long as he walked to the manor.

"Before the trumpets are sounded," they heard him said as he walked. "… and after the first seal is broken, I shall ride upon the White Horse."

It was early in the morning when Aurelius arrived, and as Jaune said so, he accompanied his granduncle to the Academy, where the President of the Student Council and the other Student Council officers, just like they did to the Emperor when He came there for the first time.

The Palatine Guard lined up on the walls of the Academy, both for the Emperor who arrived much earlier for the last time in his official visit and the Pope as his last point of visit in Japan. The Dragonguard remained by the shadows, as they have always done, sans Elena, who flanked Aurelio's back alongside her elder sister Laetitia as usual.

"My greetings to you, Your Imperial Holiness, Pope Pius XIII, we shall welcome you as we did to your father, His Imperial and Most Royal Catholic Majesty, the Emperor, and I, Sona Sitri, President of the Student Council, officially welcome you to Kuoh Academy," said Sona as she curtsied to the Pope who returned the gesture in kind, and within the mind of the Heiress, she'd rather be as far away as possible from him.

"This aura… feels familiar to the Emperor, this is dangerous, very dangerous…" she thought to herself, but her peerage members were also on the same line of thought. "I've heard that he fought Azazel and utterly destroyed the fallen angel last year, just like he did to the Seraph Gabriel a few days ago, but why did you have a fight with one of the most powerful beings of Heaven, when he is the highest authority on the Church here on Earth?"

"My gratitude, Ms Sona of House Sitri, I believe you know why I am here, just as my father, the Lord Emperor, is here," he stated, and the young woman nodded as she led him in the Academy.

"So, you feel it too?" Jeanne stood by a tree with Aurelio as they watched Naruto talked with the administrators near the forest behind the Academy.

"I do, Your Majesty," said Aurelio. "Albeit not as clear as the Empress does, but it seems her time sitting around in the Crystal Tower was actually about something not even I thought about in these times at the current state of the Church."

Jeanne raised an eyebrow before she replied. "Hmm, well, that is your bad, since we have been thinking about it before you even became the Supreme Pontiff, and things are rarely as they seem. Just look at the Organization for the Preservation of Human Order from that universe Kaguya-sama is watching, Finis Chaldea."

"Wait, that universe exists? I should pay a visit to Chaldea then with my phone since I'm up to date in the Japanese server and the English server," muttered Aurelio but Jeanne shook her head.

"That is for your father to decide, Aurelio, besides that world is just one of many that the Empress has been watching."

"That is true, my queen, this world… and its parallels across the Omniverse, will not like what we have in mind, yet it is for them to be as ready as they can be. Besides… hmm?" He turned to his side and found no one. "Where is Jaune? He said he'd meet us here."

"Most likely lingering in the base of the Gremory Heiress, he wants to get close to his cousin, and… what's this, a devil I haven't met before, hmm, in the Old School Building?" The Queen of Light looked back to the old building behind them and Aurelio hummed quietly.

"A phoenix… no Phenex… I know this signature, I felt it before, in Paris a year ago, when I was walking around Île de la Cité in disguise, in a restaurant nearby," murmured Aurelio and his eyes narrowed. "Riser Phenex, huh. Rias Gremory's fiancé, but that's not our problem now, is it?"

"No, but it will be, Jaune is there, and knowing the kid, especially with Issei with him, problems will arise from him, and it will be directed to us," said Jeanne about her grandson while Aurelio shrugged.

"Sounds like -!" he was stopped by the explosion that came from the Old School Building, even the Emperor from a distance away looked toward the source.

Jeanne looked back to Naruto who nodded, and then she turned back to Aurelio. "Your father said in my mind that you should check out your nephew, since you were here for him in the first place, however…"

Aurelio glanced where Jeanne looked at and saw a figure step out from behind a tree, and it was Noctis Lucis, the only man older than him in the order of the children in the Imperial Family. "What are you doing here?"

Noctis smiled at his younger brother by a few months and shook his head. "You always get the fun, while I, the eldest between us, are sitting ducks back in Mithrim. Now, I've been keeping an eye to this Riser Phenex, ever since he tried to harass one of my granddaughters in London. So, I was keeping tabs on him using our agents in the Underworld, and I knew he'd be here today, and perfect timing, since you are here, Queen Jeanne too, and Lord Father."

"I'm telling Lunafreya - ahem, excuse me, Agrippina," joked Aurelio while Jeanne sighed at the two.

"Really?" Noctis' tone was dry, and Aurelio ignored it. "She'll get you for that."

"I'm surprised you don't have your guards with you, how's the J-pop boyband?" jested Aurelio while Noctis sighed and shook his head.

"They're around," he replied, and Aurelio hummed.

"I see," replied Aurelio before he turned serious. "Noctis, just watch my back, I'm going in the building, stay here."

He walked forward but Noctis blocked him. "Oh no, I'm coming. You always get the fun; besides, I have a bone to pick on that prick."

"Language," said Jeanne and Noctis froze and smiled sheepishly.

"… apologies…" he muttered and followed the amused Aurelio toward the building.

Jaune blocked a blast of fire from a man in his early twenties with short blond hair and dark blue eyes, a high-class devil from a powerful family, Phenex, but he did not care about that, after all, he just got attacked. The scenario as it happened was that he, alongside Issei and the other representatives were in a serious discussion with Rias and her peerage as they detailed future steps to ensure something that happened with the religious sister Asia never happen again.

And in that moment, Riser Phenex came, he strode forward with arrogance and sat beside Rias who was visibly disgusted, and Jaune took note of him as he never met him before, nor he intends to, yet it seems he has been deprived of God's Grace again and the world was not on his side.

"Hoh?" Riser raised an eyebrow at Jaune's shield. "Impressive, made in Aetheria?"

Jaune sighed while Issei shook his head, and on the other side, Rias and her peerage were alarmed, as this was a breach of diplomatic rules, and it happened in her territory no less.

"Wrong, child," they all heard a voice and saw Aurelio with a companion who was recognized by the two teens from the Empire. "It was made in the Heavenly Realm, now then, explain this course of action that you took, and in the Gremory territory no less, Phenex."

"You're…" Riser stepped back while Rias narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here? This is none of your business!"

Pius XIII stood in silence while Noctis beside him spoke. "But it is our business because the kid you attacked? That's our nephew, boy, and his grandmother is outside, as well as his grandfather, so, you're going to regret this badly."

"Tch! Who the hell do you think you are!?" Shouted Riser and charged toward Noctis, but before he even reached the black-haired man, he was bound by silver chains that appeared from the floor and the walls.

"It burns, doesn't it?" everyone looked at the Pope who observed Riser who tried to free himself to no avail, and the chains slowly burned his skin.

"GAAAH!"

"It is the Chains of Heaven after all, but anyway," he turned to Jaune, who stood straight. "Jaune, do take them away from here, this is not going to be clean, and besides, they will be affected as well if they don't leave."

"What?" Jaune asked with trepidation on his voice, he feared what he believes would happen next. "What are you going to do, uncle?"

"Exorcism."

Rias and the other devils in the room felt a chill from their backs and beads of sweat fell down their faces, while Jaune and the other representatives were apprehensive. "Uncle, that's too much, he didn't hurt me at all!"

"It's not because of that nephew, it's because of Noctis," he said, and the young teen looked toward Noctis who inclined his head. "Besides, this will be not the full Rite from the Roman Ritual."

The Imperial Representative swallowed hard and called out the others to go with him outside as Aurelio erected a bounded field around the immediate surroundings, and suddenly, he was dressed in his choir dress, with a purple stole.

"Now then, In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen."

Most Glorious Prince of the Heavenly Host, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in our battle against "principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places".

Riser once more tried to break free but once again to no avail.

Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. The Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into Heaven. Pray, therefore, the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain me captive and do injury to the Church.

Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us: take hold of "the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan," bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit "so that he may no longer seduce the nations".

Aurelio's eyes glowed bright gold and a tome appeared before him as the devil tried to resist the powers from the prayers of Aurelio.

"In the name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints, and, powerful in the holy authority of our ministry, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil."

"GAAAAHHH!" Riser's screams echoed beyond the room and were heard outside by everyone.

"God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God."

Behold the cross of the Lord; flee, bands of enemies.

Noctis watched as Aurelio held a crucifix before the pained Riser.

He has conquered, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the offspring of David. May thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us. As great as our hope in Thee.

Naruto stood quietly with the others as the wind blew from the sky and danced with the trees around them, He knew what Aurelio has done, He could feel the power of Heaven through him and while not a problem per se, the devil he has exorcised was from the aristocracy and the diplomatic relations were already sour from the beginning, and Cleria will have to deal with it one day, or even Grayfia may, as the Prime Minister.

"No, no, no. That's one of the worst ideas ever came to me since eternity."

"A penny for your thoughts, majesty?" asked one of the administrators, meanwhile, Jeanne stood quietly nearby her grandson and schoolmates as she felt Heaven's power flow from above, and she concluded that Aurelio truly performed an exorcism.

"Grandma…" called Jaune and the Queen turned to him while Rias and her group remained in silence.

"Hmm?" she turned to him and asked. "What is it, Jaune?"

The young man composed himself as he saw the stoic face of his grandmother - something he thought would never see again in years. He was terrified, to say the least since his ever-peaceful, soft-hearted and loving grandmother rarely become like this and her face just scared him, and not only that, her hair and skin somehow became pale, like death.

Her eyes too, it became yellow from its blue, and he does not even know if she was aware of it. Though by the look of his grandfather as far as he can see, He knew about it, and as usual, He did nothing, nothing but watched with His all-seeing eyes.

"Eh… don't you think Uncle Aurelio went over the mark this time?" asked Jaune, but he shouted on his head that it was a stupid question, but Jeanne did not mind.

"Hmm, Aurelio does things that allow him to make his point across as clear as possible," she replied while Jaune sighed, he thought she was about to reprimand him. "But do I care? Hmph! Not a chance."

Jaune immediately took notice of her change of tone, before he could even say anything, she continued. "Let him do what he wants, God gave him free will just like He did to all of us, besides, I'm not the one picking up the pieces that he leaves behind anyway."

Jeanne walked away from Jaune and his schoolmates and went toward the Old School Building, with unknown intentions.

"Jeanne!"

Everyone took notice of the sharp tone the Emperor used and the power behind that one name call, and suddenly Jeanne turned back to her usual self and her usual complexion. Then, they all turned towards the Emperor whom they noticed had his eyes closed.

"Come, leave Aurelio and Noctis be," ordered Naruto and as she was back her normal self, she nodded with a smile and walked away with Naruto, but the Emperor was not finished and turned his gaze back to the high school students, to one specific person.

"Rias Gremory."

His voice was stern, and the young devil was compelled to stand straight, His aura was completely over them all, and without any choice, she answered, with a slight stutter.

"Y-Yes, Y-Your Imperial a-and Most Royal C-Catholic Majesty?"

"Be grateful to my son, after all, he did you and your family great favour, and I'll handle the diplomatic blowback, should the need arise," said the Emperor as He left with Jeanne and the administrators to have their talks continued in the Administration Office.

Though, before that, Jeanne heard a whisper from the Emperor to her. "All according to the plan."

And a small smile formed at her serene face.

Aurelius and Noctis watched silently as Riser Phenex writhed in pain as the chains held him from being expelled to Hell even though his exorcism was a very powerful one. The two brothers were content at the effect of the exorcism's effect on the devil's very being, and that it should suffice as a statement from the Church and Empire.

"Back to Hell?" The Pope asked his elder brother who nodded.

"Back to Hell," replied Noctis who scratched the back of his head. "Mother and Aunt Leviathan will kill us for this if Father does not."

Aurelio merely nodded as he dealt the final blow.

"Upon the virtue of my office vested by the Triune God, I, Pius XIII, Vicar of Jesus Christ, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Seraphim, of the Cherubim, of Thrones and Dominions, of Virtues and Powers, of Principalities, of Archangels and Angels, send you back to Hell!"

With a flick of his fingers, Aurelio removed the chains that bound Riser and the devil was immediately expelled to Hell, and not in a fine way, for an exorcism, may they be a minor or a major, was a brutal and archaic ritual, designed to call upon the full power of Heaven through the Church and face the forces of evil head-on, and it does not always end perfectly.

Aurelius knew that clearly, it was instilled to him when he was younger, and he knew cases of exorcism that went wrong, such as the case of Anneliese Michel from Germany during the 20th century, whose story became the basis for the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but he was glad that this one went completely to his favour.

"They might, but it seems Queen Jeanne was about to do that until she suddenly calmed down, probably Father's doing," said Aurelius as he cleared the tools that he used for the exorcism while Noctis sat on a couch nearby. "We felt that tremendous aura from her, I didn't think it was from her, because it was darker, yet felt familiar."

"Yeah, never thought that the Queen of Light had a darker side, but Father knows the truth, so better not speculate on anything and just ignore it," replied the Archduke of Mithrim as he stood up from the couch that he was on. "But then, even with all the amount of knowledge that we have, in the end, we still know nothing."

"How true," replied Aurelius as he watched Noctis opened the door and left the room, while he remained silent by himself within the empty clubroom.

"… For in much is wisdom, is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow… grandmother always reminded us about that."

-Later that day-

Naruto sat in a couch with Jeanne by right side and Noctis on his left while the administrators sat on the other, and one of them happened to be the Lord Gremory - Rias Gremory's Father and Lord Gremory, Zeoticus.

"This is quite a pickle, Your Imperial Majesty, what your son, the Holy Father, did," said the red-haired man who scratched the back of his head.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, just between us in this room, I'd have done the same thing as the Pope did, if I were on his place, he was provoked and retaliated as was his right, but I think he went a bit too far… I know how powerful an exorcism is, much more done by someone of the current Pope's calibre," he continued while Naruto hummed in agreement.

"Should I assume that most of Heaven and Underworld knew already about what happened between him and the Seraph Gabriel?" Zeoticus nodded while the other administrators looked to one another, meanwhile, Jeanne sighed.

"Yes sir, as well as the Norse, Romans, and Greeks among other the European Factions, as well as the African ones…" he muttered in reply, but the room was silent, and he was heard clearly. "The Fallen Angels know it as well since they were eyewitnesses during that duel."

"Hoh, it seems the Gremory Large Enterprise wasn't only expanding on Italy for business I see, and it seems the Cardinal-Secretary of State was right about what he reported to me before I picked up the nearly dead Gabriel from the barely unscathed Aurelius," said Naruto while Zeoticus' eyes widened slightly when he heard the last part because all everyone knew was that Aurelio fought and destroyed Gabriel, but no one knew what happened afterwards.

"Y-You have Gabriel?" One of the administrators asked in Zeoticus' stead.

"That is correct," replied Naruto as he crossed his arms. "I picked her up from death's door and left Aurelius to go back to the Vatican by himself while I went straight to the Empyrean Palace, she's awake now though, but I locked her in the Palace grounds for the meantime."

"Lock? A Seraph?"

"Surprised? Don't be," said Jeanne before she glanced towards Naruto who leaned his head slightly in gratitude.

"Anyway, back to the topic, I've heard that you made the arrangement between Riser Phenex and your daughter, Rias, and my son interfered with that and now, Riser was sent to the border of Gehenna and Cocytus from what Aurelius said because he did not use the full Rite of Exorcism, which would have effectively doomed Riser Phenex to eternal torment, just like other almost countless devils in Gehenna," said Naruto while Zeoticus gulped loudly, as he did not want that for anyone he knew, and certainly not to a High-Class devil from a Pillar house, God knows how many of them were sent to Gehenna by powerful exorcists.

"Uhm… the Phenex Family does not know yet since I've only told my son Sirzechs about it, and he knows best how to handle it on the side of the Underworld, or maybe Lady Serafall Leviathan should be told as well, but knowing her… probably not a good idea, since how she reacted on the news of Gabriel being crushed decisively in battle, by the Pope no less, when they should be allies."

"Rest assured, they are allies, that duel was just a sideshow, don't worry about it, besides, Gabriel and Aurelius are due to talk soon." Naruto cleared His throat as he stared towards Zeoticus who gulped once more.

"Now, about Riser Phenex… when every party has been informed, send a message to my nephew, and he'll be sure to send it my way," continued the Emperor as he looked down his watch.

"On to the next part of this conversation… I heard you want to open a partnership with the Uzumaki Corporation International…"

Rumours about the 268th Pope had been around for some time, as far as nearly a century, and that was about the rumours of his ability to bilocate, and of course, sceptics have shot down those rumours because they said there was no scientific evidence for such phenomenon, or at least they tried to shut it down nor disprove it to no avail, and the rumours persisted on that because many people have spotted Aurelio at two completely different places at once.

One occasion was when he was on a live interview within the Vatican, and at that same time, he was seen on the sidewalks of the Imperial Palace District, near the Cathedral-Basilica. But of course, sceptics still tried to debunk it, as they cited time difference and distance between the Vatican and Aetherius, yet it was also countered by the fact that the said footage was taken at the same time the interview was on as per the timestamps are given.

Though while the common humans can argue as much as they want, the answer will never be given to them unless someone has decided to pry those answers from him forcefully, which of course would never happen, however, if someone did receive an answer, truth is what they shall receive.

Aurelius sat on a couch within the Occult Research Club, it has been some time since Noctis left him and his eyes were closed as he reminisced about the times he bilocated, most especially a certain case in Japan, a decade ago, when he still wore black and scarlet.

-Flashback: Somewhere in Japan - 10 years ago, A.D. 2008 - Heisei 20-

In a dark room, at the dark of the night, a woman, of early adult age, with a black hair dyed to blonde and tanned skin sat on a floor, naked as she was on death's door, with a swollen belly, a sign of the later stage of pregnancy. She wore a pair of glasses and she sat there with tears from her eyes, tears of sadness and regret.

While she wallowed in that dark place, there was Aurelio, alone in a corridor nearby as he trod slowly upon it, consumed by random thoughts while he simultaneously did work in Aetherius - a usual practice with his ability of bilocation to relax at the same as he did work.

Then, he felt a dying aura nearby, and his eyes searched from the source, then he saw the tiled floors had a trail of blood, and upon closer investigation, his eyes narrowed.

"... someone is miscarrying a child in..." his eyes followed the trail and saw that it led to a female toilet. "... a toilet, oh Lord."

With that, he hasted and was inside the room before anyone could have seen him, and there he saw a mirror above a sink broken, and below it, a badly bruised woman, with blood from her forehead, and from her vagina, mixed with tears and sweat, then Aurelio heard her speak.

"... I am sorry..." her voice was soft, tired even, as she looked down on her belly. "I am sorry... I am a weak person so... I won't be able to become a mama... I am sorry."

"You will be a mother, do not worry child," whispered Aurelio as he outstretched his right arm and called forth to Heaven.

"Caelesti Ars: Raphael."

Heavenly power soared through Aurelio's arm as he called out the name of the Angel of Healing, and healed the woman to her perfect state, without wounds nor illness, from within and without, as well as the life within her - that precious child that she bore.

"Imperatoria Ars: Restitutio."

Strange circles with runes appeared around Aurelio's arm as he restored the original appearance of the woman and clothed her with clothes that she was familiar with, and she did notice it as he lifted her from her position and she faced a mirror.

"I am Aurelius Uzumaki, what is your name?"

The woman looked to herself on the mirror as she raised a hand to her cheek, slow as it may be, she was in shock, but she did not forget Aurelio's question.

"I… am Saki Yoshida."

It truly was a metamorphosis.

-End Flashback-

-lio. Aurelio. Aurelio, are you there?" The Supreme Pontiff opened his eyes and saw his elder brother with the young devils who watched him carefully as he looked towards them.

"I am here, just reminiscing about something," replied Aurelio while Noctis hummed to himself, his eyes filled with a waltz of problems and solutions.

"About?"

"Nothing that matters at the moment, anyway," he looked at them softly as he stood up. "I've much work to do since Father said that he will deal with the diplomatic relations in the matter of Riser Phenex, who would probably not wake up for a long time."

Rias' eyebrows raised when she heard what the Pope said, and she dared to ask a question, but Akeno beat her to it.

"What do you mean, Your Holiness?" Shuri's daughter asked while Aurelio looked to her and replied.

"What I did is what I call a partial exorcism using Pope Leo XIII's prayer, and it nearly sent Riser Phenex to eternal torment in Gehenna, and being sent on such a proximity to the Lake of Fire, it would reduce him into a vegetable state for an unknown amount of time due to the trauma induced by both the exorcism and being sent near Gehenna, that and also when I held him in this world with the Chains of Heaven." When he finished his explanation, he gauged their reaction and was not surprised to find them slightly disturbed, even if they did not like the person he sent to that state.

"If I used the Old Rite of Exorcism, which by the way I will restore as the only proper Rite, with the full grace of God, that would have effectively sent him to Gehenna with all the other nearly countless devils and demons that are burning in that eternal place, and you would probably never see him again, unless of course…" he trailed on and did not finish what he said as he knew the young devils understood what he implied to Rias and her peerage - if the disturbed look on their faces were to go by.

"Anyway, I must go, for tomorrow, I'm in Nagasaki, while in Aetherius, there is someone I need to talk to, and the Third Ecumenical Council of the Vatican is coming very soon," he said as he began to leave the room, then, he did not expect for Rias to kneel in front of him, as he knew how proud the young woman has been, as told to him by his nephew.

"T-Thank you," she stuttered slightly while the rest of the people watched. "For what you've done today."

Aurelio blinked before he took her hand and led her to stand straight, then he held both her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "This isn't over yet, Rias, once the Four Satans and the aristocracy of the Underworld learn of what happened today, you have to be ready."

"And by the way, I have done nothing, I merely protected Imperial interests, and that is my nephew, and your dilemma was merely along the way."

-The Holy Imperial Elder Council Chambers, The Empyrean Palace: 10 days later - 15th May, A.D. 2018-

"Now that we are all here, we can sit down," remarked Cleria as she watched as all the Ministers of the Imperial Government gather within the Round Table of the Elder Council. The Ministers present did not include the Queens as they were supposed to arrive last, and Cleria wanted to gather the others before the proper meeting.

"As you may all know, 10 days ago, there was an incident in Kuoh Academy, within the Occult Research Club," she started while the others nodded in agreement. "And our beloved Pope was forced to intervene, now, 10 days later, we have received confirmation that the entire aristocracy of the Underworld, the remaining houses of the 72 pillars, has, learned of the altercation between the Holy Father and Riser Phenex."

"Which comes to the main topic of today's meeting," she explained as she looked at the clock nearby. "The current Satan Leviathan, Serafall, formerly of House Sitri, has sent an official proclamation, dated yesterday, detailing a need for further diplomatic discourse in the wake of what she called the 'Kuoh Incident', between the Underworld and the Holy Aetherian Empire."

After she said that, the Ministers discussed with themselves such a proclamation, bold as it may be at this point, meanwhile, the current Cardinal-Archbishop and Patriarch of Aetherius, as well as Primate of the Empire and Minister of Faith, sat in silence as he contemplated the recent events since his uncle's state visit to Japan.

"You seem troubled, Your Grand Eminence," asked Cleria as she sat down beside the Cardinal-Prince who sighed, his black hair combed back as he fixed his zucchetto, while his blue eyes glowed in dim light.

"A bit, to be honest," he replied as he scratched the back of his head. "Uncle Aurelio has always been very careful and precise to everything he has ever done in the 478 years that he walked in this world, but I don't think taking on the aristocracy of the Underworld is a good idea at this point, even if the Satan Leviathan wrote what she did."

"He may be more powerful than all of them, but I don't think he can take on Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub at the same time, not without Uncle Noctis at his side at least since those two are more than a match to the two Satans" he finished while Cleria hummed to herself as she relaxed back at her seat.

"Well, as far as I know, I don't think Sirzechs Lucifer will be angry he might actually thank the Holy Father personally and probably secretly."

"Huh?" the Cardinal-Prince blinked in question, for he did not expect to hear that. "What do you mean, Cleria?"

"There have been rumours, picked up by the Dragonguard, that Sirzechs Lucifer was trying to find ways, secret ways, to end the engagement between his 'beloved little sister' and Riser Phenex, and with what the Holy Father has done, the Satan Lucifer just found the perfect reason to have the engagement broken."

"Hoh?" the Patriarch of Aetherius was impressed at what he had just heard, not by just his voice, but by his expression as well. "As expected of Uncle Aurelius, always working many steps ahead, theorising all possibilities, well I suppose he wouldn't be the Fourth Grand Magus of the Arcane Institute if he wasn't like that."

"Your uncle is many things, Yoshitsune, one of them is being utterly adaptive to any situation, you can trust him to pull out things all of the sudden," said a new voice that entered the chambers, and the voice also called the Cardinal-Prince's name.

However, his full name is as followed. Prince Yoshitsune Minamoto Paulus Cardinal Uzumaki - Archbishop and Patriarch of Aetherius, Primate of the Empire.

The Cardinal looked to the source of the voice and saw Queen Amaterasu, alongside other Queens, followed by the Emperor who entered the chambers last.

"Grandmother."

He is also a grandson of Queen Amaterasu, a descendant of the ancient Minamoto Clan through his mother and was named after Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, his ancestor.

"Sit down, all of you, and let this council begin," commanded Naruto as He came upon His seat, while Leviathan stood up and spoke.

"Just as Cleria have probably already said, Serafall… Leviathan, sent a proclamation to us, through her sister Sona Sitri and gave it to our representative who then sent it here to Aetherius. Now, of course, we are all in agreement that to continue our plans for the next millennium, we require furthering our diplomatic relations with the Underworld, just like we need to do with the other factions."

"Your Imperial Majesty, a moment, if you will," said Yoshitsune as he raised his right hand and Leviathan nodded, thus he spoke. "Concerning the incident in Kuoh, shouldn't the Holy Father be here? Seeing that he was part of it."

"Where the hell are you looking at nephew?" A new voice said and Yoshitsune's head turned toward its source as it continued. "I'm here."

And indeed there was Aurelio, in a chair near the Emperor.

"Well, I'm both here and in the Vatican at the same time. Bilocation, have you forgotten?"

-Apostolic Palace, Vatican City State: At the same moment-

Aurelio sat behind his desk as he read through some petitions that he had received from the public, and his opinion varied greatly, from "great" to "utterly stupid", and at that moment, Augustus, his Cardinal-Secretary of State and younger brother sat in front of him and read some of the petitions himself.

"Holy Father, would you ever consider allowing communion for the divorced and remarried? As well as those who are in same-sex relationships," read Augustus in an uncharacteristically playful tone while Aurelius snorted unceremoniously as he continued his reading.

"That's the 20th similar petition for this week this last letter asked almost the same thing, with the addition of asking the blessing of the Church for those who are in a so-called homosexual marriage, whatever that means," said Aurelio as he put down an envelope and picked up another. "They never learn, don't they?"

"No they don't," said Augustus as he tossed the letter to another pile that contained letters that have been read already. "It doesn't matter what we say, they'll push their degenerate desires against God's own Will; humans have been doing that since Adam and Eve, good grief, it pleases me to know that Aetherians doesn't succumb to anything outside of the Divine and Natural Law."

"Well, the Aedra were meant to be humans originally anyway, until Samael ruined everything, but then, if he didn't tempt Eve, we wouldn't be here."

While the brothers conversed, Gabriel entered the door without as much a warning, much to Augustus' surprised, with that, Aurelius cleared his table and motioned Augustus to leave, and Queen Nero's eldest son bowed to him and Gabriel as he walked out.

"So, it seems our Heavenly Father allowed you to leave the Empire freely." Aurelio gained a small smile while Gabriel sat down where Augustus sat originally ever so slowly. Her wounds seemed to not have healed fully yet, in which he grimaced unnoticed by her. "Oh, dear…"

"Aye," she replied with a relieved sigh, relaxed even, and the airhead façade that he knew was completely gone. Unexpected by the Supreme Pontiff since this was the first time they interacted after their duel. "And I will return after I report to Michael, and if he does not have any duties for me."

The Pope raised an eyebrow in question but gave her a smile in the end. "I… have a request for Michael… but before else, I truly apologize for what happened."

Gabriel's features softened as she looked down to her feet, face hidden from the Pope as the words exchanged between her and the monarchs of the Empire emerged to her thoughts. The discourse left her bereft of any questions, only actions that needed to be done accordingly.

"No," she began, her voice calm and her emotions secured, just like the Gabriel of old. "It is nothing, it couldn't be helped, it was bound to happen, I was at fault too, in fact, most of it was my fault, and your actions were merely the catalyst for something that started years before your birth… nephew."

A joyous smile formed on Aurelio's face as Gabriel raised her head and looked at him with a similar smile of her own.

"Thank you, Aunt Gabriel."

"No, thank you for helping me, even if I had to bear this wound from navel to collarbone," she replied in jest while Aurelio shook his head.

"We are even though," countered Aurelio as he pointed at the scar over his left eye. "I'll bear this for the rest of eternity."

The Messenger of Heaven had a sad smile on her face as she remembered vividly the way she gave him that scar, but it vanished a moment later as she remembered what Aurelio said earlier.

"Now that we got that out of our chests, about that request, what is it?"

Aurelio's face turned grim and this was noticed by Gabriel who furrowed her usually softened eyebrows, then Aurelio looked toward the windows of his office before he spoke.

"The Third Ecumenical Council of the Vatican commences on Sunday, the 20th, after the Solemn Pontifical High Mass of Pentecost, and I have already sent invitations to the Orthodox as well as the Church of England and the Lutheran Churches," began Aurelio as Gabriel listened. "They have all answered already, some agreed, and some refused to come."

"But I will not take 'no' for an answer, not now, especially in the current state of this world and the Church," he continued before he looked back to Gabriel who has probably already connected what Aurelio wanted.

"I would like to make a request to you, my dear aunt, if you would be so kind to help your nephew and tell them that this is not an invitation, especially to the Patriarchs of Moscow and Constantinople, but a summon by their superior the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ and Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church."

Gabriel, having already heard everything that she needed from her father and sisters, agreed wholeheartedly with a small bow.

"So be it, little brother."

Aurelio smiled brightly to his sister to which she returned in kind.

-St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City State: 5 days later, Solemnity of Pentecost - Sunday 20th May, A.D. 2019-

In the morning, Aurelio had offered the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite for Pentecost, and in the noon, Aurelio had opened the Third Vatican Council, and with Gabriel's help, all representatives from the main denominations of Christianity came, albeit begrudgingly, yet they cannot disobey Heaven, but it formed some reservations in their heads that the Pope somehow had the Kingdom of Heaven itself on his pockets.

It made them realize that Aurelio is more dangerous than they thought.

But the truth still evaded them, and they will never find it if Gabriel had a say in it.

In any case, all the pomp and circumstances were laid out, and Aurelio was carried in his full regalia toward the high altar of St. Peter's all while the choir chanted the Imperial Acclamations similar to the one during the coronation of Charlemagne, but modified for the Emperor and his son, the Pope.

And so the choir sang, and the people repeated.

Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat!

Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands.

Then everyone heard: Exaudi Christe! Pio Summo Pontifici et universali Papæ, vita!

Here, O Christ! Life to our Lord, Pius the Supreme Pontiff and Universal Father.

But that was not what made the people look twice to the choir, but the next acclamation to the Emperor who sat quietly within the Imperial stands installed on the right of the High Altar, slightly higher than the seats of the Bishops and closer to the Papal Throne installed beneath Bernini's Baldacchino.

Exaudi Christe! Naruto excellentissimo et a Deo coronato atque magno et pacifico imperati Aedrum et Iaponicum Aetherium ac patricio Romanorum, vita et victoria!

Hear, O Christ! Life and victory to the most excellent Naruto, crowned by God as the great and pacifying Emperor of the Aedra and Japanese Aetherians, and Patrician of the Romans!

The media, both secular and non-secular, would most likely dissect the acclamations used to the best of their abilities, and some people may begin new conspiracy theories, but as usual, the Empire and the Holy See will ignore them.

The interior of the Basilica looked different from the way it did during the morning, but that may have been due to the atmosphere, for the nave remained as it was - full of tiered platforms side by side for the desks and chairs of the bishops and other guests. Though one major change is the fact that the electrical lights were closed, and the beeswax candles suspended on high chandeliers that echoed from some centuries in the past were turned off as well.

It was dim within the Basilica, and the only source of light was from the windows, from the sun, but then, that would not last soon, and when Aurelio was sat upon his throne on the High Altar beneath Bernini's Baldacchino in his full regalia with the Triregnum upon his brow, he raised his Papal Staff and struck the ground with its bottom, and the sound reverberated through the Basilica and much the shock of many, the beeswax candles began to light on their own from the seven Liturgical Tapers at the High Altar.

Yet they remained in silence as they all knew those candles were not electric, but real candles, thus one question came to most - how was that possible?

Soon, Aurelio made his opening speech, with variance in topics mentioned, then, he turned to the Protestants and the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches, Eastern and Oriental, who are dressed in their liturgical vestments like the Catholic Bishops. He even had the Patriarch of Moscow and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople seat together, despite the issues that continued to rise between the two Patriarchates.

"To that end, I did not invite you here, I summoned you here, and at the behest of the Kingdom of Heaven in which I am the steward, the 268th in succeeding St. Peter, you came, now, let me tell you this: In the end, so long as our banner is the Cross with the Christ crucified and the sign of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the ones who persecute us and will persecute us, led by the Antichrist, will not care," he paused at the end of that sentence as he took on the atmosphere that resulted from what he said.

At the Imperial Stands to the Pope's right, Gabriel observed the ones she called while her father sorted out the files that are necessary for this specific council

"Those who are led by the Antichrist will not care," he repeated with a stronger emphasis. "They will not care whether you are Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, or whatever Protestant denomination you children belong, despite the differences in doctrine and dogma in which the Church is right about everything, to them, we are all Christians, hence the Kingdom of Heaven is asking you, why are you still away from home where you can stand strong? Why are you still away from us, when there is no salvation outside the Church?"

Then to the Catholics in attendance, clergymen and otherwise, he turned and spoke.

"Now to you, my brethren, my brothers and sisters, you must be the Maccabee, you must be ready to suffer, you must be ready to be persecuted. The battle lines have been drawn, let me ask you, will you be the Maccabee?" He asked while they remained silent as he continued.

"Will you follow the honourable pattern of the great saints? Male and female, of the Early Church? Now is the time, this is it. Now is the time for great saints. Now is the call for honour and glory for God and His Church."

"In the first three Crusades, no one said to a good few faithful men that they need to do this, or you need to do that. They lined up and they took the red cross alongside the corrupt men around them, and said that this is an honourable moment no matter what, they want to be part of this, they want to live honourably, they want when they die, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ Our Lord, to look them in the eyes and say, 'well done good and faithful servant'."

"And I implore you, in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of all the angels and saints, to take up arms, put on the Armour of God, and raise the Cross of Our Lord as our banner, with the sword of St. Michael to point us the enemy and the standard of St. Joan of Arc to lead us in battle, because God wills it."

"And again, will you be the Maccabee? Be a saint, what else is there?"

And one key sentence sent waves throughout the Church and the world as a whole.

"We are not here to build a new world order of the ages; we are here to restore God's Order in all the facets of society. As one of my predecessors and an old friend's motto said, Instaurare Omnia in Christo. To restore all things in Christ, for there is no salvation outside the Church because it is the pillar and foundation of truth."

And after that, the first deliberations began, and that is on the topic of the nearing reinstitution of the Roman Inquisition. From one Bishop to another, then to some of the Cardinal-Princes, all argued on pro et contra of its uses.

That went on for some time until some bishops truly infuriated Aurelio with their stupidity and the Pope exploded, like thunder and lightning upon a storm's arrival.

Truly the Storm of Aetherius.

Though, one sentence truly silenced them all.

"I am the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Vicar of Jesus Christ, clothed in the Omnipotent Glory of God! Who in the Seven Heavens, do you think you are speaking to, mongrel?"

And in all that, Emperor Naruto spoke one sentence that shook Gabriel's core.

"And let the End begin."

-Omake: In Apocrypha, in the Future-

A Holy Grail War. It sounded interesting, as Aurelio thought, he stood behind a tree as he watched the altercation below. There, he saw another version of his father, a Master of this war, it seemed, and with him, this world's Mordred and Jeanne. He even recognized some figures, like that William Shakespeare and Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, but he paid them no heed.

"Greetings!"

"Who the fuck are you?" Demanded this world's Mordred.

Then Aurelio looked at her and greeted her politely.

"Hi, Auntie!"

From behind the scenes, Laetitia palmed her face, same with Elena her younger sister and the golden-haired woman with them, apparently their mother.

Something ticked off Mordred when she heard those words.

"A-Auntie?! Fuck you! CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR!"

The Pope just faced the blast from Mordred's Noble Phantasm, and it did not work on him, and it pissed off Mordred even more, but everyone heard Naruto's amused laughter.

So, Mordred began his chase of Aurelio who laughed alongside Naruto.

Then the Pope came by the Servant Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc.

"On the behalf of the Church, I would like to apologize for what happened to you in Rouen," then he dodged a strike from Mordred who was now on a warpath.

"By the way, you're my aunt too!"

Jeanne barely heard those words, but she heard them, nonetheless.

"I'm sorry… what?"

"You're my aunt, or rather, another you, just like Auntie Mordred here- whoops."

Mordred instinctively fired another Clarent Blood Arthur.

"You both also gave me a lot of siblings."

Jeanne blinked and Mordred stopped her chase of him.

"Siblings? Don't you mean cousins?" Both asked him at the same time.

"Nope," he replied with a nervous laugh, while Naruto continued his loud laughter.

"His other self is my father, so…"

Mordred fired a Clarent Blood Arthur towards Naruto who dodged it while laughing all the way.

Jeanne just blushed.

"Also, his other self is God, Father Almighty, and yes, my father."

…

Silence.

"I'm sorry, what?"

That seemed to have been Jeanne.

"You heard me right, I'm his son, the Third Begotten Son."

"I have to apologize if I don't believe you," said Jeanne.

Mordred looked at Aurelio, then to Naruto. "Pfff! Naah, no fucking way."

"Behold!"

And then, twelve silver wings appeared from his back, and a golden halo behind his head as he was dressed in his full regalia, Triregnum and all.

Eyes shone brightly.

Jeanne bathed in the light of Heaven, while Mordred just gawked at him.

"And remember, you two are my aunts!"

THUD.

Jeanne fell on the ground.

And smoke came from Mordred's head.

Then Naruto came to Aurelio and said.

"Holy Father, I read your letter, where's the checklist?"

Aurelio gave him a clipboard. "Just sign above your name and status after that.

"…" Naruto read over and wrote some things while Jeanne and Mordred finally recovered. "And done."

He gave the clipboard back to the Pope who returned to his normal appearance.

"Thank you, now, you should get those two," he said to his father's alternate who laughed loudly.

"I don't think the Bishop of Rome should be saying things like that."

"Not necessarily, I am the Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the World, Vicar of Jesus Christ, arranging such things is not beyond my role, adding to that, being Ruler of the New Papal States, or some have taken to calling, the Holy Roman Catholic Empire."

"Really?" asked Naruto and Aurelio nodded.

"So, how many children do they have each?"

"Five with Queen Jeanne and five with Queen Mordred, plus a lot of grandchildren. By the way, Queen Jeanne is pregnant with her sixth, just a few years after her fifth."

That was overheard by the two women and Naruto laughed again before Aurelio bowed slightly.

"I must go, far too many worlds to go."

And a portal opened behind him and walked through it, then vanished.

Naruto then looked to Mordred and Jeanne and began whistling to himself.

"Don't get any ideas!" Shouted Mordred with a small blush.

Jeanne, being Jeanne, just blushed in silence.

"Too late!"

His grin was wide, and Mordred chased him throughout the place, all while a blush adorned her face.

Jeanne joined soon after.

Shakespeare just wrote with a big smirk.

A/N: Oh dear, there we go, as promised, this is the last Aurelio/Pope Pius XIII-centric chapter, and as we have just witnessed, Aurelio prepared the way for his father with the Third Vatican Council and the Roman Inquisition. The next chapters will embody the name of this volume - In the Year of Our Lord.

Also, yes, the Holy Father, Pope Pius XIII, channelled Archer Gilgamesh on that last part, tone and all.

Lastly, he plays F/GO in this story, on JP and NA servers and he is a massive whale with an EX luck with all the SSRs at NP5. Thus, if I make another story, this time, on Naruto and F/GO, he might be the troll character, having known the entire story and trolling another version of his father, and probably spoil things at crucial moments.

Like Fake Enkidu being Kingu after all.

I can't seem to make the Coat of Arms of Pope Pius XIII and the Empire, even though I have described what it looked like, I just can't put myself to do it.

I'M PLANNING A NARUTO/OVERLORD オーバーロードCROSSOVER, NOT A VERY SERIOUS ONE. NARUTO TAKES OVER AINZ OOAL GOWN AND BECOMES THE ONE THAT SENDS YGGDRASIL TO ANOTHER WORLD.

If you have any questions, or if you want to play some video games with me, contact me in any of these accounts:

Discord: Ex-Durandal 24#9066

Steam: Pope Pius XIII (Profile pic is the Flag of the Vatican City State)

The Elder Scrolls Online: NarutoUzumaki24 - Megaserver: PC-North America

Blizzard (Overwatch): ExDurandal24#1315 - Server: Americas

GOG Galaxy: Jello242

Uplay: bfigu

Xbox: JelloUzumaki24

Fate/Grand Order (NA - English): Bonjello, 267,838,861 - Main Account

Fate/Grand Order (NA): Pius XIII, 517,360,382 - Second Account with Musashi-chan

Fate/Grand Order (NA): Pius PP XIII, 016,060,494 – Third Account with Gramps

Fate/Grand Order (JP - Japanese): Augustus, 960,768,286 - Beginner Account

Fate/Grand Order (JP): Claudius, 453,568,669 - Endgame (QP Hell) Account

Merry Christmas and may God bless you all, see you next year.