"You shall pay dearly for this!" Ryuu shouted, guided by a burning rage. "We will strike you down where you stand!" Ryuu's wooden sword clashed with the dagger, and Alise's blade met the greatsword. Valletta pushed back against both of her foes. As her eyes made contact with those of the two girls, her lips curled up into a grin.
"Idiots!" She sneered. "How could two Level fours possibly hope to defeat a Level Five?!" It was an impossibly powerful fist that answered her question.
"If numbers mean so much to you, then what do you make of mine?" The sturdy old dwarf strode right up to Valletta and delivered a rock-solid punch while she was busy with Ryuu and Alise. Despite her attempts to shrug off the girls' weapons and extricate herself, the evil warrior was knocked clean off her feet and skipped along the cobblestone.
"Elgarm!" Ryuu shouted in surprise.
"Are you okay, ladies?" he asked. "Curses, what was I doing? How could I have allowed these deaths to happen on my watch? Finn and Riveria ought to be ashamed of me." Gareth cast a horrified glance at the carnage, but it wasn't long before he returned his mind to the battle. A short distance away, Valletta had ground to a halt by driving her greatsword into the earth.
"Damn, that hurt!" she said, giving an ominous chuckle. "So Loki Familia finally decided to show, did they?! Where's your crew, old man? Is the great Finn Deimne too scared to come help?"
Gareth was unfazed, his voice like polished steel. "Sorry, but it's me you're dealing with today," he replied. "Finn's seen through your little distraction and is dealing with your true plan as we speak."
Valletta did not have to suspect the old dwarf's words for long, because soon a messenger ran up to her.
"Boss!" he cried. "There's smoke rising in the distance, where our allies are hiding! It looks like they've been attacked before they could carry out the assault!" Out over the rooftops, dark pillars of smoke loomed to the east and west.
I should have expected it. Finn is a great strategist; he must have already seen through this charade.
When she heard the news, the smile dropped from her face, leaving only a bitter scowl. "Man, f*ck you. Here I am, swingin' my sword round like a lunatic, and there wasn't even any damn point."
"Shit, what's even the point? You guys, hold 'em off. I'm leavin'."
"L-Lady Valletta?" her mooks stuttered. "You can't be serious!"
"You can't expect me to screw around here like a moron when nothing is happening anymore. I'm goin' home, and you guys are gonna be my meat shields, okay?"
"Running away? You think we'll let you go that easily?" It was Alize who moved to block her path. Flames of fury burned within her pupils, and she was joined by Ryuu and Gareth, wooden sword and battle-ax at the ready. But Valletta was not shaken.
"Oh, don't worry. You'll have much better things to do than go after a rapscallion like me."
She snapped her fingers, a delighted grin on her face. Her gesture was the signal for the last few remains of Valletta's unit, who had been hiding in the wings all along. From seemingly everywhere at once came the sound and force of explosions.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!" The earth shook, debris rained down from above, and everywhere people screamed and ran. It seems Valletta had been keeping one last trick hidden up her sleeve.
"Magic swords?!" gasped Ryuu. "They must be using them to blow up the buildings!"
"Oh no! We need to save everybody!" cried Alize.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Better hop to it, then, ladies!" Valletta sneered, finding joy in their plight. "You don't get a move on, and all these poor, innocent people are gonna be squashed like nasty pancakes!"
"Rgh…! Arachnia…!" Ryuu growled with loathing, but it made no difference. The woman turned and walked away as explosions and clouds of dust quickly obscured her.
"W-we've no choice…" stammered one of her subordinates. "Brothers and sisters! Rain down destruction! Take as many of them with you as you can!"
"Scoundrels! Help the people take shelter, lassies, Arin, you go as well. I'll do something about these fiends!" Gareth said as he took out his battle axe.
"Elgarm…!" said Ryu. "…I'm sorry!"
"Take care of them for us, old man Gareth!"
"Don't die on me, old man," I said. The only response from Gareth's direction was the sound of clashing steel. The two girls and I turned and ran.
"Let's split up!" suggested Alise. "Link up with our friends and the other adventurers!"
"Understood!" Alise and Ryuu moved swiftly, rescuing civilians from danger and eliminating any stray foes that crossed their paths. We already have bullet points for emergencies like these, and so the two girls and I tried to guide survivors northward, toward the designated evacuation point—Twilight Manor, home of Loki Familia.
Thanks to this plan, the adventurers also had a role to play. They stopped trying to fight off the attackers and instead began escorting civilians off the battlefield.
It was a swift and precise strategy, and every second that passed, more lives were saved. However, every moment that we faltered was a sacrifice of life too heavy to bear. Indecision was not an option for us.
.
.
.
Everywhere I looked, it was only carnage that I saw, or hell would be a more apt word.
"Aaaaagh!"
"My legs! Somebody, help!"
Some had been shredded by wooden shrapnel from window shutters torn apart in the explosions. Others lay feebly, their limbs crushed beneath fallen stone or blasted off completely. The cries of young and old alike spun together like thread.
The faces of Ryuu and others were harrowing.
"Those cowards!" spat Lyra. "Preyin' on innocent civilians…" While the prum ran around delivering healing potions, Kaguya was slicing up
rubble with her sword. Neither of them had time for their usual jokes.
"Lion!" shouted the far-eastern girl. "Use your magic! You're supposed to be
healing!"
Their voices drifted in the background as Ryuu shouted back to Kaguya, "I know! But my spells can't heal multiple people at once! There are just too many!"
Ryuu spells produced a soft green glow, like a sunlit canopy, but she could only treat one patient at a time. Out in the streets, Ryuu could see many victims who couldn't even stand, let alone walk, and there were surely more trapped beneath rubble or inside buildings who were still unaccounted for. It was clear there weren't enough hands for all the work that needed to be done. Suddenly, Ryuu's eyes fell upon a young human girl crying out in pain.
"Waaaaah! It hurts! It huuurts!"
Her parents didn't seem to be nearby. Her arms and legs were covered in scratches, and her knee was still bleeding. She was sitting immobile, overcome by the terror of the situation. However, Ryuu couldn't leave her patient for even a moment.
I was busy pulling another victim from the rubble to tend to that girl.
When all of a sudden, a figure approached the girl and kneeled beside her.
"Oh, you mustn't cry, my dear," he said. "When you cry, you make everyone around you sad, too. Here, press this handkerchief to the wound."
Ryuu's eyes went wide. "It's you! Eren!" If the mysterious god noticed Ryuu's presence, he did nothing to acknowledge it. He continued to talk to the little girl, attempting to cheer her up.
"Stop bleeding…Stop bleeding…" he sang as the handkerchief quickly went from white to red. "There! All gone! Now, if you're brave enough to handle that, you don't need to cry, do you?"
"No, mister…sniff."
By the time Eren had completed his first aid procedures, the little girl had stopped crying. He smiled at her and offered his hand to help her up. "Good girl," he said. "Now, the evacuation point's just over there. Do you think you can make it by yourself? I have to help some other poor children who weren't quite so lucky as you." He pointed toward the skyline and to the tip of the Loki Familia headquarters that peeked over the other buildings.
The little girl wiped her teary eyes and returned a smile.
"Yes…I can do it… Thank you, mister!" Then she ran over to join a group of people the Guild were ushering to safety. Ryuu watched the whole thing from start to finish. Then, when she was finished healing her patient, she walked over.
"…Thank you, Eren," she said. "We really need all the help we can get right now."
But just as she was about to express her gratitude, the god spoke back.
"Oh, no need to worry. I just came over to offer you an apology, that's all."
"…Huh?"
"You see, I figured I'd take a leaf out of your book. Do some good for once. And do you know what I found?"
Eren smiled. "Helping the hurt, the weak. Why, if it doesn't give you such a rush! The thrill, the satisfaction! Now I see why you do it!" His joyous smile exuded an almost diabolical innocence.
"Wh-what…do you…?"
"So yes, I'm sorry," Eren went on. "I'm sorry I ever said your work was selfless. Now I know, there is a reward after all!"
He continued to ramble on. "Helping makes you feel strong!" he said. "Being thanked makes you proud! Giving charity makes you feel superior! And it all feels so, so good, doesn't it?"
Finally, having a good cause to look down on justice. All this joy was abundant in his merry voice.
"Oh, I wish you'd just told me this sooner! I was worried about you, you know! I thought you were working yourselves to the bone for no gain!"
Ryuu mumbled something in response, but only the last word was audible. "…back."
"I guess there are some truths even the gods don't know!" said Eren, failing to hear her. "Hands-on experience is just the thing for these sorts of conundrums!"
"…that back."
"Hmm?"
"I said, take that back, right now!!" Ryuu's fists were shaking. Her anger couldn't be clearer—but the god only smiled.
"Take what back?" he asked innocently.
"The complete disrespect that just came out of your mouth! You're saying the only reason we work is to satisfy our own egos!"
"Whaaat? So that's not why you do it? But then, what are you fighting for?" Ryuu fury was like raging hellfire, but the god did not back down. In fact, he pressed her with even more questions. He almost seemed to enjoy it. His attitude only fueled Ryuu's burning anger.
"Stop being obtuse! We fight for the good of the people. For the sake of order! So that nothing like what happened here in this street ever has to happen again!!"
"Is that not satisfaction, then?" said the god, in a soft, gelid tone.
"Wha—?"
Seeing that things were getting heated up, I decided to intervene as I put the patient on the make-shift stretcher and walked towards them.
"I mean you no offense, my little elf child. Think of it as nothing more than the mad insight of a capricious god. Just ask yourself this question, and see what you come up with…" He smiled a wide grin that didn't seem to reach his eyes, then spoke, slowly and deliberately. "What exactly is your justice?"
Ryuu could feel the blood rushing through her. Her eyes started to flicker. Seeing her stand there in silence, Eren delivered his final proclamation.
"Because if you can't answer that," he said, "then whatever you call justice must be twisted beyond measure. Far more than any evil."
"How dare you!!" That utterance was more than Ryuu could take. She strode up to the god, grabbing him by the collar. It didn't even occur to her that she was disrespecting a divine being. Fury commanded her, and all she wanted to do was glare into the god's dark eyes.
I grabbed Ryuu's hands, making her release the god. "Ryuu, why are you wasting time like that? Can't you see people need your healing magic?" I scolded her.
"Grr…Dammit!" There were still voices in the street, crying out for aid. Ryuu knew that, and so, clenching her teeth in anger, she turned away, leaving Eren alone. The god simply tidied his lapel and watched as the girls departed.
"Why are you always baiting her like that?" I finally asked him, as Lyra had told me, that he had met with them even after the purse snatching incident.
"…Pride. Ideals. Conviction," he said aloud, casting a defiant smile around the scarring aftermath of evil deeds. "Certainly, only a righteous soul could keep those lights burning forever. But if starved of reward, of thanks, of validation… how long would they last? I can't wait to find out…"
"If that is your sole reason, then find someone else. Ryuu is not that person." I have stared into his eyes and told him. "Stop messing with Ryuu, or the next time I will forget that you are a god."
He stared back at me with his dark, almost hollow eyes. "Are you threatening a god?" My eyes narrowed at him. That was not the answer I was seeking.
Before I could press him, I heard Kaguya's voice calling out to me. "Arin, stop with your chatter and come here." I could see her trying to lift a stone and rescue a kid from the rubble. I turned back to see that Eren was already gone.