Inside one of the rooms of the "Twilight Manor," Alise, tear-streaked, clung to her goddess like a child confessing a mistake to her mother. Astraea, gentle as always, patted her daughter's back, offering forgiveness and comfort little by little.
"Alise, this expedition wasn't your fault."
"The ambush by Evilus was never something we could have foreseen. Rats and vipers that hide in the dark always have a chance to jump out and bite—those people are that sort of filthy lot."
Alise's shoulders trembled. Even her tears paused. She looked up at Lady Astraea in disbelief.
In Astraea's eyes, she could see a cold light, a murderous intent Alise had never once seen before. The Astraea of the past would never have shown this. The Astraea of the past would never have called anyone rats and vipers—even if they were from Evilus.
But now, Astraea didn't bother to hide her malice. She let it spill out without restraint.
"Lady Astraea…"
Not just Alise—every child of the Astraea Familia noticed it in that instant. The goddess who had always been gentle, always centered on "justice," seemed… changed.
Astraea understood the gazes and the doubts in all her children. She admitted it: she had been changed—by the shameless scum of Evilus.
"Alise… Kaguya… Lyra… this failed expedition isn't the fault of any of you."
"Everything is Evilus's fault. They run rampant, a pack that vents its resentment on us and craves revenge. That is what drove them to do this."
"At the beginning, I never should have looked at them with 'expectation.' I should have given them the plainest answer: 'destruction.'"
"Three years ago, 'Silence' and 'Gluttony' joining hands with Erebus already said enough. A clumsy kind of love, perhaps—but I took it as proof there were still stars in that night."
Because of that, Astraea had reassessed the rest of the dark faction, granting them the chance to choose "justice" and "fairness."
But this expedition woke her up.
The truly clumsy souls within Evilus died three years ago. Those ones sullied themselves to achieve a greater good. What remains now is pure stupidity—no, pure evil.
"They aren't self-stained for the sake of good—they are filth itself."
"Lady Astraea, didn't you say before…" Alise remembered her goddess's words: that not everyone inside the dark faction was bad.
"This expedition proved it: 'Silence,' 'Gluttony,' and Erebus are the only three within Evilus who once gave Orario even a glimmer of hope. The others are not. They only vent their anger, and for that they will ignore any consequence."
Astraea admitted she had misjudged. In Evilus, the only ones fit to be placed on the table were those self-stained 'heroes.' The rest were just insects.
"But those low-level adventurers in Evilus…" Alise recalled what Astraea had once said—that many of them were ordinary people deceived by the dark gods.
"They are ordinary people who lost hope, seduced by evil deities into becoming Evilus's vanguard. Their fate may be tragic, but that does not give them the right to point their guns at other innocents. The moment they made their choice, they were already colluding with Evilus."
"We do not have the right to forgive them on behalf of the innocent people dragged into this."
"From the moment they decided, their path could only end in death—whether cut down in battle or charging forward with Flame Stones to blow themselves up."
The block in Astraea's heart finally cleared. Her children had already brushed past death once. If she still refused to see clearly and kept giving Evilus 'another chance,' she would be failing her own children.
She had thought it through completely.
When it comes to Evilus, strike them all down. No need to consider their purpose, reasons, or hardships. They made their decision; they should be erased from this world. Otherwise she would not be the goddess of justice Astraea—she would be a hypocrite masquerading as a saint.
After venting her feelings, Astraea hugged Alise. The image she'd seen through that black coffer—their ravaged bodies and desperate struggle—made her chest clench with pain all over again.
"This is my order. Next time you face those lunatics, show no mercy. They need no sympathy."
"If you pity them, who will pity you?"
Astraea's words settled like a weight on every heart.
They all knew what their goddess had paid to pull them back from the edge of death. Now they also understood why she would say such things.
It isn't that no one in Evilus deserves sympathy—it's that your sympathy should not be spent on Evilus. When they fell into Evilus's trap, who pitied them? Who saved them?
"Also, I've already spoken with Loki. She won't let them off lightly this time. She'll press the pursuit with everything she has. I share that intent. So we struck a deal."
"She will shoulder the political pressure. We will hunt those people down."
"In exchange, I will become Loki's subordinate deity, and you will be half-merged into the Loki Familia."
Guilt pricked Alise at that decision.
"But becoming a subordinate deity… Lady Astraea, your freedom—"
"It's fine."
Before Alise could finish, Astraea already understood and almost laughed.
"Truth is, Loki's only condition for making me her subordinate deity was… letting her use my lap as a pillow."
"???"
A lap pillow? Loki did all that… for a lap pillow?
The girls of the Astraea Familia stared, dumbfounded. They looked at their goddess—stunning figure, statuesque curves, long legs, long hair, a flawless face. They had heard rumors that many gods had courted Lady Astraea.
Then they thought of Loki's reputed fondness for beautiful women.
Suddenly, it didn't seem so unbelievable.
(End of Chapter)
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