"..."
Riveria looked at the eleven girls before her, her heart unbearably heavy.
Alise Lovell—who once wore a bright, sunny smile every day—now had scars marring her face. That cheerful glow she used to carry was gone, replaced by the kind of hollow smile that shatters like glass the moment it's touched.
And it wasn't just her. The others were in similar states.
It's even worse than I imagined, Riveria thought grimly.
"Five of them are crippled," she murmured. "That means they can never return to the frontlines again."
In this labyrinth city, losing your life wasn't the worst fate.
Disability was.
Death meant the pain was over—you no longer had to think about the future. The suffering was left to the ones who survived.
But being crippled meant that agony became your burden to bear. And for someone who once stood tall as an Adventurer, to be forced to accept a broken body... that was a cruelty even death couldn't match.
"Don't worry, Lady Astraea."
Alise still tried to smile, trying to soothe her goddess instead.
"Kaguya and I just lost our right arms, that's all. Orario's technology is amazing. I've seen people with prosthetic limbs before—specially crafted ones. They're just... expensive. We'll probably have to go into debt as a Familia."
Her gaze drifted, almost unconsciously, toward the missing part of her body. She bit her lip hard.
She could lie to others, but she couldn't lie to herself.
A loss was still a loss. Even if she got a prosthetic arm, her days as an Adventurer were over.
Only whole Adventurers could keep pushing forward. A crippled one, no matter how talented, had no future.
Eighteen years old.
For most, life was only just beginning.
For an eighteen-year-old level 4 like Alise, her talent was nothing short of extraordinary. But that brilliance had now been cut off completely.
No one could accept that kind of fate.
"Yeah. It's just an arm," Kaguya said softly.
She looked down at her own right hand—or rather, the space where it used to be. Regret flickered in her eyes, but her face remained calm.
"Maybe losing an arm means our journey as Adventurers ends here. But I lost it protecting everyone else. That's... worth it."
But Astraea's heart only grew heavier.
She could hear the grief and pain in their voices, even as they forced themselves to sound strong.
Worth it? Maybe it was. After all, six of her children had survived intact. But regret? That was unavoidable. Because five others—her precious children—had been robbed of their futures.
"Alise… Kaguya… your journeys as Adventurers won't end here."
Astraea clenched her fists. She already knew the truth—she could no longer blindly cling to the idea of justice.
If justice truly existed in this world, then why had her children nearly died in that hellhole called the Dungeon?
Was this the reward for righteousness?
Why? Why did those who followed justice always meet such cruel ends?
"Lady Astraea, you're…"
Knock, knock.
Before Alise could finish, a knock echoed through the room.
Riveria opened the door. Tsuna entered with Finn and Gareth behind him.
The two executives glanced at the Astraea Familia's battered girls, and their expressions darkened. The situation was even worse than Tsuna had described.
Tsuna's gaze shifted toward the communication screen—where Loki's face appeared.
"Miss Loki, how'd it go?"
"All done," Loki replied with a grin. "Astraea's decided to become my subordinate goddess, and her Familia will be officially attached to ours."
Subordinate goddess… the same arrangement Freya had in the original tale, Tsuna thought.
He didn't know exactly how divine hierarchy worked between gods, but this definitely wasn't a casual decision.
If Astraea had chosen this path, it meant her children mattered to her more than her pride as a goddess.
Once Tsuna confirmed that, he immediately got to work.
Since Astraea had made her choice, the corresponding "treatment package" needed to be applied.
"Subordinate goddess… Lady Astraea, you mean—"
Kaguya nearly jumped to her feet. She knew exactly what that meant. Astraea would lose her divine autonomy, bound by Loki's authority—her freedom all but gone.
"Begin treatment," Tsuna ordered calmly. "Everyone, stay quiet."
At his words, the Healing Rabbit appeared before the Astraea girls.
Its small hands clapped together, and a translucent barrier expanded, enclosing the group in shimmering light.
Grant them hope—by any means necessary.
"—Hhh!"
At once, from the stumps of their missing limbs, bloody white bone began to grow.
"Wh-what is this!?"
The sight made the girls flinch, their hearts pounding.
But then, before their eyes, the impossible happened—those bones extended rapidly, joints connecting, then muscles and veins knitting together over them.
Flesh formed, skin followed. Within moments, the missing arms and legs were whole again.
The room fell silent.
"Regeneration…" Riveria whispered, her pupils trembling. She had never witnessed anything like it.
To see lost limbs regrow—it was nothing short of a miracle.
The Astraea girls stared in shock, touching their restored bodies as if afraid they'd disappear.
"It hurts…" one of them hissed. The pain was sharp, overwhelming—the raw ache of life returning to something long dead.
Their new limbs were still weak, trembling, but warm. Real.
"...It's back," Alise breathed. She stared at her right hand, curling her fingers slowly. Every nerve screamed with pain—and hope.
"This is… real…"
Even Kaguya, usually the calmest of them, was shaken.
Their lost futures had been restored.
And in that moment, she finally understood why their goddess had made such a heavy decision.
Lady Astraea… you gave up your freedom for us.
Astraea exhaled softly.
As she watched her children rejoice, the weight pressing on her heart finally eased.
For her, protecting their dreams and their futures—no matter the cost—was worth everything.