Whoosh!
Like a gust of wind sweeping through the area, many monsters did not even see what had passed them before they were already dead beneath a flash of white light. Not a single magic stone that dropped from their corpses was left behind.
The Barrier of the Stars was the safeguard Elise had placed upon the members of her Familia. The moment any one of those barriers was triggered, she would know immediately.
Just like that time with Ishtar's Familia, she could clearly sense whose barrier had been activated.
And this time, it was Alise.
There were only two possibilities.
First, Alise had encountered danger alone, and the Barrier of the Stars had activated to protect her.
Second, Alise and Astraea had both fallen into danger, and Alise had stayed behind to cover Astraea's retreat.
No matter which it was, it meant Alise was in crisis. Elise had to return as quickly as possible.
How fast was Elise?
From the thirty-something floors back to the surface of Orario, it would take her roughly half a day at most. She could only hope the Barrier of the Stars would hold out a little longer—and that Alise could endure a little longer as well.
Otherwise, all the time she had spent beating her up... ahem, helping her improve her endurance would have been for nothing.
But just as Elise was about to pass through the thirtieth floor, her steps slowed, as if she had discovered something. She began scanning her surroundings.
With her sharp perception, she quickly sensed something unusual.
Buried beneath this floor were objects containing immense energy. If stimulated, they would likely explode immediately.
And in the shadows of this floor, figures clad in black seemed to be lurking...
"There's no mistake. This scene—"
This was a trap set by those bastards from Evilus in the future, specifically to deal with the Astraea Familia!
The things buried underground were Firestones, functioning much like explosives.
But...
Why was she encountering this now?
Elise frowned in confusion. Could it be that damned butterfly effect again? It shouldn't be...
When the people hiding behind the scenes saw Elise stop, they slowly stepped out of the shadows.
As expected—it was that group from Evilus.
"Heh heh, didn't expect we'd meet so soon."
"Saintess of Scales... quite the grand title. What a pity. After today, there won't be such a person in Orario anymore."
"..."
Elise watched the man's performance expressionlessly. Whether it was her instincts or the judgment of [Scales of Judgment], both told her the same thing—there was not a single decent person among them.
In that case, I won't have to hold back when I kill you later...
Be grateful. Reincarnation exists in this world. You'll get an early chance to start over as better people.
But before that, there was one thing Elise wanted to ask.
"The incident on the surface—was that your doing as well?"
She was referring to Alise's Barrier of the Stars being triggered in Orario. Now that she had run into Evilus here, it was hard not to connect the two events.
Was this operation planned by Evilus?
Was Ishtar involved?
Elise did not know, so she decided to verify it with them. Whether they answered truthfully did not matter.
Yet after hearing her question, these people actually began discussing it among themselves.
"Hey, what is she talking about?"
"The surface? Did we have other arrangements up there?"
"Could she mean the cooperation with the Pleasure Quarter?"
"So that means they've already made their move?"
The Evilus members, initially confused, somehow managed to piece together something during this brief exchange—though they were completely off the mark.
"Hahahahaha!!"
"Even the heavens are helping us! With things like this, your Familia—your so-called justice—will vanish from Orario!"
They burst into laughter right in front of Elise.
"So it really was you..."
Elise's expression turned cold. From that member of Evilus, she could roughly infer how things had progressed.
Ishtar's Familia must have joined forces with Evilus to attack the Astraea Familia's base...
Alise had stayed behind to cover her goddess' escape...
Why was this tragedy happening again?
Would Freya not intervene at all?
"Tch, I almost forgot about that... If the Astraea Familia is destroyed, She would probably be quite pleased, wouldn't She? She would definitely try to pull me into Her Familia..." Elise muttered softly.
But the people of Evilus had no interest in whatever small movements she made. They had already made thorough preparations.
"That's right!"
"We did all of it!"
"Die in this explosion! Hahaha!"
They laughed wildly. But in Elise's eyes, they were already dead.
"Since you like explosions so much, then the consequences of one should be borne by you instead, don't you think?"
"I won't disturb you while you play with that thing. I'll be taking my leave first..."
BOOM—
A violent explosion erupted instantly. Ferocious flames swallowed the figures behind her in a heartbeat.
The Firestones that were meant to be detonated by Evilus had instead been triggered by Elise herself.
The Dungeon was damaged—but it did not repair itself immediately.
Because something was being born from within it...
...
"Huff... huff..."
"You're really strong. If it weren't for the captain, my neck would probably be bleeding right now..."
On an empty street, only Alise and Kaguya remained. Astraea stood behind Alise, silently watching everything unfold.
Her expression was somewhat downcast. She had not expected matters to develop this far.
Alise struggled to prop herself up with her sword, refusing to fall. But the trembling of her hand told the truth—she had little strength left.
Her body was covered in sword wounds, blood seeping out. If not for her armor protecting her vital points, her condition would have been far worse.
And what about Kaguya?
A black-clad figure lay in the distance. Her clothes had been torn to shreds in battle, large swathes of pale skin exposed to the air.
At this moment, Kaguya had completely lost consciousness. She could not even twitch a finger. Anyone passing by could have simply picked her up and taken her away.
So what exactly had just happened?