The order left no room for hesitation. Adventurers like Raul had no choice but to rush off immediately, carrying Finn's message through the war-torn city. Behind them, their comrades continued to bark out commands, urging and encouraging their comrades as best they could.
Finn, however, lowered his gaze to his right hand. "This situation couldn't possibly get any worse, yet the thumb is still only tingling?"
His instincts had never once betrayed him. Under such dire conditions, the throbbing pain should have been unbearable by now, not this faint, irritating prickling.
Unless… this wasn't yet the true disaster. Unless everything they'd faced so far was merely the appetizer. The thought lit up his mind like lightning.
"Akira!? How could I forget him?!"
Though Akira's rank was only Level 3, Finn had long since learned to never dismiss him so lightly. Every sign pointed to strength and ability that could not be measured by numbers alone.
And then there was what the scouts reported earlier, the sudden appearance of wounded adventurers at the Dian Cecht familia's medical clinic, their lives saved, alongside the strange magical tools Akira had supplied.
The pieces clicked into place. Finn exhaled sharply, as if the weight pressing down on his chest had lifted. His eyes sharpened with a rare, almost boyish gleam of hope.
"Then the chance of victory rests in his hands. It's up to you, Akira."
And what of Akira himself?
Pulling his awareness back from the resonance within Alfia's hair ornament, he summoned forth the mission that had haunted him since the moment he had arrived in this world.
[Mission]: Within three months, survive the "Return of the Gods" and the "Seven Days of Death," and confront Evilus.
Reward: Artifact— The Infinite God-Chasing Wand
The mission text pulsed in his mind, cold and merciless.
The "Return of the Gods."
So it begins here…
Akira's gaze shifted to the heavy curtain he had marked earlier. The traces of the assassination squad still lingered. Among them was that presence, the evil god who conspired to drag the order gods back into the heavens.
"Very well." Akira whispered, lips curling faintly. "Then let me give you some trouble."
From the opposite end of the street, Alise burst forth from the darkness, her battered figure illuminated by flickering flames.
"Astraea-sama!"
"Alise?" Astraea turned in shock, her eyes widening as she beheld her familia rushing toward her. "Why are you here?"
"Are you unharmed, Astraea-sama?" Alise asked, panting heavily. "I suddenly felt a chill… as though something dreadful was about to happen. I knew I had to find you."
Behind her, Neze and the others stumbled forward, their armor in tatters, bodies bruised from forcing their way across battlefields and through encirclements. Their exhaustion was plain, yet still they ran.
For a fleeting moment, Astraea's divine composure cracked, surprise flashing across her face.
Then—
Clap. Clap.
Applause. Slow, deliberate, and utterly out of place.
Every gaze, Astraea's, Hermes', Alise's, and her companions', snapped toward the source in the shadows.
"The goddess of justice." A man's voice, smooth and magnetic, rolled forth.
"Forever stepping forth regardless of consequence, it took me far too long to find you."
He stepped forward, words rich with mockery yet tinged with amusement.
"I had considered burying you first, to let justice perish and leave this land to drown in darkness."
Yet his tone showed no reluctance. He was smiling.
"No, Astraea. Congratulations. Your unyielding resolve and the devotion of your familia, they've given me new hope."
Applause rang out once more, echoing like cruel laughter in the alley.
"Since you were not chosen as a sacrifice, you will instead bear witness, to the end. Witness the evil to come."
The abyss stirred.
The scattered flames that danced overhead tore away the final veil, illuminating the depths of the darkness.
"You, the goddess of justice… watch to the end. Let the gods themselves see whether this world can yet be saved."
From the shadows emerged the silhouette of a god. Darker than Hades, brighter than the abyss, his eyes burned with strange, unsettling light.
"You—" Astraea's face blanched in recognition.
Hermes too paled, his voice breaking. "It's… you…?"
The so-called "evil god," the mastermind of this carnage, merely curled his lips into a smile. Without another word, he turned and vanished into the darkness.
"What… what just happened?" Neze muttered, frozen.
Alise whispered faintly, unable to comprehend the power that had just passed them by.
Astraea, paralyzed for an instant, snapped out of it.
"Hermes, we must follow. We must confirm this."
"No, Astraea!" Hermes caught her arm, eyes grim.
In that instant, the burned-out husk of a building collapsed before them, raising a suffocating cloud of dust. The way forward was buried beneath rubble.
"Not now! If that's truly him, we can't walk blindly into his trap. If you're caught at this moment, Astraea, the entire battle collapses."
Hermes' voice trembled with urgency. He knew all too well the weight of what they had glimpsed. If his suspicion was correct…
"Everyone retreat! Now!!"
But his warning was swallowed by the world itself. The ground convulsed beneath their feet. A blinding radiance tore through the night.
The sky roared, the earth heaved, and heaven and earth resonated in violent unison.
"What… is that…" Alise whispered hoarsely, her eyes fixed upward.
From the east, a towering pillar of light surged into the heavens, its brilliance shattering comprehension itself.
It was a cry, no, a scream. The death wail of a god.
The energy seared the city, dissolving time itself into chaos. Adventurers, evilus, even the gods, all froze at the sight, petrified by the sheer immensity of it. The ground bucked wildly. The divine radiance drowned out all lesser powers, leaving only fear.
Central Square.
"No…" Loki's face was pale, her eyes wide as the blazing column engulfed her vision.
"B… B…" Raul stammered, despair choking his throat.
Finn, whose heart had steadied so many times before, felt his composure spiral into freefall.
"That is God's Return!!"
No answer came. Only the earth splitting apart beneath them.
Another deafening boom.
"What!? Two in succession!?"
North of the city, a second column of light split the heavens. Lyra, Kaguya, Shakti, and Adi stared in trembling silence, the flood of brilliance cascading like a waterfall.
"What's happening!?" Ryuu gasped, her face pale, her body locked in astonishment.
Then a third. From the west, another beam of holy light pierced the sky, relentless.
"Impossible…" Asfi stood frozen, having just delivered Riveria and Gareth to safety in the central square.
A fourth.
The city fell into chaos. Panic took root.
The "Return of the Gods" was no longer prophecy. It was reality. And those forced to bear the consequences were none other than the adventurers.
"Our god…has been sent away?"
Some adventurers who reacted quickly rushed to protect those who had already lost their falna, shielding them behind their own bodies.
"Hey! Hurry up and get to the back! Now isn't the time to be standing around in a daze!"
The black-silver dagger in the hands of the "evil god" flashed again and again, each strike forcing gods who had been cornered into becoming sacrifices.
Five pillars.
The blinding beams that pierced the heavens finally came to a halt, for a moment. But just as the adventurers of the order familias thought it was over, the world mocked them with cruel irony.
Six pillars.
The divine light that lanced into the sky illuminated every face in its merciless glow. All color drained from the adventurers' expressions, leaving them hollow, lifeless, as though they had truly reached the end of days.
"The lord of the Belinus Familia has been sent back!"
Guild Headquarters.
The flood of emergency reports overwhelmed the guild's staff, and a counter girl broke down screaming.
Faces went pale. Hands trembled. No one knew what to do. They tried to cling to sanity by shouting, but their voices only carried fear.
Royman sat frozen, his mind blank.
"The adventurers who've lost their falna are being hunted by the evilus?"
No matter how they shouted or wailed, the glory of the divine lights did not stop.