"Full transparency, my legs are killing me." Elegy announced, "Hate, I changed my mind. Lemme climb back on your back."

"Absolutely not, stop abusing him." I shot back.

"I don't really mind though, as long as you guys behave." Hate complacently shrugged.

"Behave? What are you, a kindergarten teacher?" Elegy scowled.

"How should I know?" He glanced back, "Well, for what it's worth, I hope we get to figure that out soon."

They're wasting their energy, talking like that while running. Our angel bodies seem to all have a set default stamina and strength stat, so though they are a bit faster than me, I can definitely hold out for longer. Dammit, I could've been sleeping in a long time ago by now, but here I am helping a bunch of random idiots I just met. Hate doesn't even realize how slim of a chance we have of even making this sudden plan work!

"...We will." I sighed after a brief pause, "If I recall correctly, the map said we shouldn't be too far from the Gods' Abode. If we hurry, we'll definitely have enough time to chat it up with the Gods and work something out."

"You're so sure of yourself." Elegy asked, "Where'd this sudden blind optimism come from?"

"You kidding?" I smirked back, "It's the only thing we've got to work with!"

We ran and ran until we eventually found a clearing in the endless sea of buildings and houses. No, rather than a clearing, it was just one giant yard with a large mansion in the middle. Just running from the street to the front entrance was taxing enough, so you could imagine the relief on our faces as the doors opened once we made it halfway.

"You again?" A muscular titan clad in a large robe tilted his head, "Err, I-I mean...! Welcome, what is it you seek-"

"Can we revive now?" Elegy immediately popped the question.

"No." The taller, lanky giant standing next to the other one frowned.

"What if we say please?" He continued.

"Still no." The muscular one immediately replied.

"Okay, then what if we write a 200 page essay documenting all the valid reasons why doing so would benefit the fate of the universe?" He remained adamant about this.

"..."

"......Hm?" The lanky one smacked the muscular one, "You buffoon! You can't seriously be thinking about it!?"

"N-No, it's not that, Selz! It's just-!" His friend quickly went defensive, "I mean it's like, y'know? I kinda wanna see what they would think up. N-Not that they'd get their way after, of course!"

"No revive, no hyper detailed essay." Elegy stood his ground.

"Oh come on! Listen, how about we give you one single wish each if you do the essay, okay!?"

"If the wish allows for us to revive." I chimed in.

"We'll give you seraphim rank?" He raised a tempting Eyebrow.

"No-Wait, yes!" I went to correct myself, "Absolutely, we'll take it!"

"What are you doing!?" Elegy lightly shoved me, "That's not what we're after!"

"Hey, anything's better than nothing!" I squabbled back.

"Silence!" The lanky God raged, "There will be no such thing! Seraphim rank is earned by those who are deemed worthy of it, not some amateur essays!"

"...Don't worry about him, he's been having a rough couple of cycles." The muscular one whispered.

I'll bet. After having to deal with all the angels' shenanigans and outlandish requests, I'd be cranky too. Especially since they probably just got done talking with Throne and Vastoria... Hey, wait a second!

"Did two seraphim happen to come talk to you two just now, by any chance!?" I shouted.

"You are the first to come by." Lanky groaned.

"Aww, that's kind of sad..." Hate slumped forward, "You're like the grandparents who live super far away and can't see their grandchildren. No one comes to visit."

"...Right." Muscular glanced around before nodding, "In any case, if you have no more questions, we'll be seeing you off now."

"Of course we do!" Elegy immediately shot back, stopping the Gods from sending us away, "We hardly know anything about this place, after all!"

"Hmmm..." Lanky groaned, "Then, what is it that you wish to know?"

"Your names, for one thing." I added, "We get you're Gods, but which ones? There's Four of you in total, but we only see two."

"I'm Prylos, and he's Selzion." Prylos explained, "The other two are taking care of things back down in the World of the Living."

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"Ahem." Selzion cleared his throat.

"And about this New Heaven, is there a way to leave somehow?" Hate mustered up the courage to ask, "Like, revive me as a baby or whatever. I don't care, just bring me back to a world that I'm used to."

"Is the aura of this world not already comforting enough?" Selzion raised an Eyebrow.

Aura?

"Yes, the very air of Heaven 2.0 was made to instill an overwhelming feeling of security and nostalgia." Prylos took over with the explanation, "There should be no way for any angels or seraphim alike to feel as if they're not used to living here."

"But I do!" Hate shot back angrily, "I hate it here! It's boring, bland, everyone looks the same and no one wears clothes!"

He's really raging hard in front of the Gods. Frankly, I'd be too scared to raise my tone this much, but here he is absolutely whaling on them. Fearless, he's a totally different beast than me or even Elegy, who can be seen taking a couple steps back just in case the Gods get triggered and he needs to run away. How admirable.

"H.T..." Selzion's Eyes glistened, "Is this truly how you feel?"

"Yeah!" He waved his trembling fist in the air, "Send me back to the world I know! I don't care what era I'm in, nor how rich or poor of a family I'm born into! Reincarnate me in the middle of a war, I don't care! Just get me out of this godforsaken place!"

...Oof, calling Heaven godforsaken? But of course, he's not just saying it to be ironic. His voice echoed through the air, he was being forward and earnestly spoke his mind. Hate is just a guy that wants things to go back to how they were, and the Gods seem to understand his pleas very much.

"We've had many similar complaints from the other angels as well, H.T..." Prylos nodded, "This is Heaven 2.0, right? Our goal is to make your new lives as happy as can be, after all."

"Of course, and that is precisely why..." Selzion approved, "We'll look into adding a clothes store in Heaven 2.0."

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***

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"Eh?" We couldn't believe our ears.

"Yes indeed, it seems you people dislike seeing bare bodies even with our censoring." Prylos nodded happily, "Which is why, starting next cycle, you'll all be able to grab a free pair of clothes to your liking from the aforementioned stores."

"Wait, is it even a store then if everything's free?" Elegy wondered.

"You're asking the wrong questions here!" I berated him, "Dammit, we didn't come here for clothes! We came here to find a way to help Hate!"

"We understand that, M.G., however..."

"Migu!" I corrected them.

"...Migu, we understand your inclinations to help this particular angel out of... the goodness of your heart, I presume?" Selzion's face shrunk into a scowl as he said the last part, "However, there is simply no way for anyone here to revive as you say. After all, Heaven 2.0 is beyond time."

"There's no way, you guys are making that up!" Elegy refused to believe it, "First of all, aren't you Gods? Gods can literally do anything!"

"We may have created this world, but it operates freely without our input." Prylos explained, "Kind of like programming a game."

"Programming?" Hate tilted his head.

"Guess none of you are from the technological era..." He chuckled.

"Grr...! Then, if we can't escape Heaven 2.0..." Elegy groaned, "We might as well be the best version of ourselves we can be. Tell us how to become seraphim!"

Finally, he's resorted to my plan! The Gods obviously don't want anyone leaving, or who knows, maybe they're telling the truth and really can't resurrect anyone, but either way we're just wasting time in asking them to send us back down. We should at least grab as much info as we can before the White Monster approaches us.

"So, you wish to earn the rank of seraphim?" Selzion smirked, "Alas, none of you are even worthy enough to learn of the method to attain the rank, much less actually get it!"

"You guys are really lousy Gods, y'know that?" Hate sighed, "I get the feeling you're just purposefully wasting our time with all these empty promises about helping us."

"..."

"...Wait, you are!?" We jolted, "What the hell!"

"Well now, we're just passing the time with idle chitter-chatter." Prylos chuckled.

"Uhh, yeah? Valuable time that we are very much running out of!" I yelled, "Ugh, useless pieces of...!"

"Migu, where are you going!?" Elegy looked back as I stormed off in the opposite direction.

"Let's go, Throne and Vastoria aren't here, so we're just wasting our time here!" I yelled back, "Follow me!"

"But-!" Hate spoke up.

"Rule 1, dammit!" I ordered.

Timidly, with a generous serving of hesitation and uncertainty, the two glanced back a few times between me and the Gods before ultimately leaving them alone. The Gods had this annoying, shit-eating grin on their faces as if they were gloating their victory over us. Ugh, how annoying!

"Where are you even headed to?" Elegy asked.

"Throne and Vastoria flew off in the direction of the Gods' Abode, however they must have simply flown past it and aimed for somewhere else." I pressed on angrily, "As far as I'm concerned, our best shot is to just keep going in the direction they went."

"But they're a lot faster than us with their wings, though!" Hate complained.

"Look, it's this or resetting our progress and wiping our memory clean!" I furrowed my brows, "Hate, do you wanna give up, or do you wanna cling to what little hope we have left!?"

"...Hold on tight!" He contemplated it before lifting both Elegy and me onto his back, "There, now we don't have to match our pace!"

"Hate, dude! I-I mean, this is faster, sure, but...!" Elegy worried, "Won't that place all the burden on you?"

"I roped you guys into my selfish wish." He smirked, "It only makes sense I do the most work, right?"

Hate, he's really trying his best to make sure he gets his way. Call it stubbornness all you want, but in my Eyes I only see a man that gets things done. At first, I said this entire plan is fueled by blind optimism, but now I'm not so sure.

"Rather than blind optimism, it's more like the power to press on no matter how small our chances are!" I pointed with my finger, "Onward, that-a-way-!"

As if fate threw a messed up joke right in our faces, the very moment I pointed towards the direction we were headed to, a large gate had appeared on the horizon. Its bars were jagged and spiky, and it was closed so that none may enter nor leave. A singular guard remained on standby, ready to shoo away anyone that tried passing through without his permission.

"Halt. Past this gate is H district." He stomped on the ground, "You are not allowed to pass through-"

"Excuse me!" Hate ran him over like a speeding train as he made short work of the mighty gate, "Phew, that was terrifying. Running face first into a steel gate, I mean."

"Y'know, we could've just hopped the fence..." Elegy reminded us.

"Never mind that!" I ordered, "Don't you dare slow down, Hate! Looks like we entered forbidden territory, so from now on—Don't stop until we find Throne and Vastoria!"

This guy's strength never ceases to amaze me. Hey, shouldn't all the male angels here have an equal strength stat? Guess those gilded arms of his really do give him a leg up from the rest of the competition... Bahahaha, the Gods should've never made an enemy out of us!