Raphael was not surprised by Pain's true identity.
When he had gone to the Giant King's Court with Klein and the others to open a passage between the Forsaken Land of the Gods and the outside world, Raphael had spoken with the Ancient Sun God's remnant psyche. He had guessed Pain's identity then.
Pain said, "Actually, I-or rather, the Sun God-noticed very early on that God Almighty intended to awaken within him, so he made preparations well in advance.
"The Sun God's plan was actually to split off a unique personality avatar and reclaim the characteristics, minimizing God Almighty's influence.
"Sasrir was merely a diversion. I was the one who was really supposed to reclaim the characteristics.
"Although God Almighty never found me, he learned of the Sun God's plan. That was easy enough, since they shared the same field of vision, and God Almighty also possessed the authority of the Spectator pathway."
Raphael understood now. The Demon Personality said, "So you had no choice but to resort to a more radical plan."
That more radical plan, of course, referred to founding Rose Redemption and gathering the strength of most of the gods and Kings of Angels of that era to kill God Almighty and buy time for the Sun God.
"Yes," Pain replied. "I believe you already know something of what happened afterward. The Sun God's plan failed, and many of his characteristics were taken.
"I suffered a devastating blow as well, losing most of my memories and living on as Pain.
"But my fate is rather special, after all. Unless a Great Old One intervenes, I'm essentially unable to die."
"Even if I'm killed, I can use a Beyonder characteristic as a source of power to restore Pain's consciousness. If someone uses that characteristic to advance, it becomes