The brilliant, vertical beam of sky-blue and golden light pierced the clouds, announcing to all of Orario that a deity had been forced back to Heaven.
Luki slipped from the girls' grasp as his trembling knees gave out, crashing heavily onto the street. Not even noticing the impact, his gaze locked completely on the top of Babel. The sheer exhaustion from the divine spell was nothing compared to the sudden, hollow ache opening up inside his chest.
"Hestia..." he whispered, his voice broken and hollow.
He stared at the fading particles of light with pale, utterly beaten eyes. Beside him, Ryuu and Lili remained frozen in silence, watching the sky as the final traces of the goddess vanished into the morning air, leaving Luki behind in the quiet street.
"Hestia..."
A suffocating knot tightened in his chest. He wanted to scream her name until his lungs tore, but his voice failed him. The raw, heavy sorrow washed over him, a crushing realization that he never got to say a proper goodbye.
But grief was instantly ripped away by agony.
Luki's eyes snapped wide. A sudden, terrifying wave of unnatural pain sliced through his spine, ripping into his very being. His mouth fell open in a silent scream before a deafening roar tore from his lungs.
"AAAAAHHHH! AAAAAHHH!"
He slammed face-first into the ground, nearly bursting his third eye in the process, his body twisting in unnatural, violent contortions. But he didn't register that pain, because there was another way worse.
The small wings flared out rigid, trembling so hard the feathers threatened to burst from the skin out of sheer stress. The fingers clawed at the hard ground until his nails bled, his teeth grinding together with enough force to shatter, eyes darting frantically from side to side in a swift, erratic blur, as if his very soul were being turned inside out.
All this while he thrashed blindly, his spine arching off the ground in brutal, jagged spasms.
"Luki?!!" Ryuu cried out, dropping to her knees immediately, her hands hovering in absolute panic.
But before she could even touch his tearing wings, another sharp cry cut through the air.
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS! AAAAAHHH!" Lili screamed, collapsing right beside him.
Her body curled into a tight, agonizing ball, her small hands clutching desperately at her own chest as if trying to hold her shattering spirit together. She writhed on the stones, weeping in pure terror as the same invisible, agonizing force began to tear through her.
"Lili! Luki! Stay with me!" Ryuu's voice turned frantic, her usual calm completely obliterated.
She threw her weight over them, pinning Luki's thrashing limbs and pulling Lili against her chest, trying to stop them from breaking their own bones against the hard street.
"Listen to my voice! It will pass! You're going to be okay!"
"AAAAAAARRRGGHH!" Luki shrieked, his wing-ears pinned flat against his skull in absolute torment, his legs kicking violently against the dirt.
"RYUU! HELP! AAAAAGHHH!" Lili wailed, her voice cracking as the overwhelming sensation crushed her breath away.
They thrashed like feral, dying creatures in Ryuu's grip, their muscles locking up so violently that the elf could feel the supernatural heat radiating from their skin, trapped in a torment that no medicine or magic could ever reach.
Flash!
A sound tore through the air as the fabric at the back of Lili's shirt was suddenly ripped wide open, exposing her bare skin. Before Ryuu could even react, a pale, stained hand pressed firmly against the small girl's back, causing her fading Falna to erupt into a sudden, glowing light.
Ryuu's eyes widened in sheer shock as she looked up at the newcomer, her breath hitching in her throat. But before she could utter a single word of question, the man spoke in a dull, mechanical tone, his long black fringe completely masking his eyes.
"They are losing their powers through the Falna now that their patron has been exiled, I will place my brand back onto Lili. But I cannot do the same for the boy." He stated flatly, his hand never leaving Lili's skin.
As if to instantly prove his point, Lili abruptly stopped thrashing. Her agonizing screams ceased, leaving her completely paralyzed in the same wide-mouthed expression of torment, her body locking rigid while the deity silently performed his work.
This was Soma, God of Wine and intoxication, and the true master of Lili's Familia.
"AAAAAAAGHHH!" Luki's deafening shriek shattered Ryuu's brief daze.
His body twisted in another violent convulsion and one of his arms swung wildly, striking the elf squarely in the chest with crushing, supernatural force. The impact hit deep, knocking the breath from her lungs.
Gritting her teeth against the sharp ache, Ryuu promptly released her grip on Lili, leaving the girl to the reclusive god, and threw her entire weight back over Luki to pin him down.
"Luki! Stay with me! Hold on, please!" Ryuu pleaded, her voice straining as she pressed her full weight against his chest.
He kept screaming, a raw, unending sound of absolute agony, but with the elf pinning him down, his violent thrashing finally subsided. His face contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated pain.
Then, terrifying and unnatural noises began to echo from within his body, sounding dangerously like bones breaking, violently reshaping themselves.
Snap! Crack! Crunch!
His muscles locked, seizing up with sickening rips and tears beneath his skin as his frame began to visibly deform.
His body twisted slightly, shrinking and losing mass by the second. The towering two-meter frame of the warrior withered away, reducing him to just under one hundred and eighty centimeters. Ryuu, who had just been fighting with everything she had to restrain his supernatural strength, could suddenly feel almost no resistance beneath her hands.
Then with one final, throat-tearing shriek of torment, Luki went completely limp, collapsing unconscious onto the cold stones.
On his bare back, the glowing Falna finally sputtered and died, leaving his skin completely blank... and without the symbol of Hestia.
"Haaa... it's over..." Ryuu fell backward, panting heavily as she finally let her head drop against the stone street, her throat burning.
A slight shifting sound to her side caught her attention, forcing her to lift her head through her exhaustion.
Lili was now sitting on the cobblestones, her expression entirely calm. The only remaining trace of her previous, terrifying agony was the thick layer of sweat glistening on her skin. Beside her, Soma was completing his work, his stained fingers pushed the last of the glowing, floating divine symbols back into her skin, sealing the Falna shut.
The vibrant flame of Hestia's emblem was officially gone, replaced by a wine glass surrounded by a crescent moon.
With this, Lili's connection to the divine was restored, and her powers remained intact.
"Done," Soma uttered flatly. He stood up without ceremony, brushing off his loose, stained robes.
Lili immediately collapsed forward, catching her weight on her forearms. Her breath came in ragged, uneven gasps as she stared blankly at the dirt beneath her, eyes were dull and downcast, her mind clearly still trapped in the lingering echo of that terrifying, soul-deep torment.
"Lili... your clothes..." Ryuu muttered, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.
Lili blinked, looking up at the elf, her mind still too fogged by the aftershocks to fully comprehend the words. Then, a sudden, cold breeze brushed against her bare back, accompanied by the distinct, loosening sensation of fabric sliding away from her skin.
"Eep!" Lili shrieked, her face flushing crimson as she instinctively clamped her arms over her chest.
She grabbed desperately at what was left of her shirt, which, stripped of its entire back panel, could no longer support itself against her torso.
Soma witnessed the sudden panic but showed not the slightest sign of a reaction, his face frozen in the same mask of total indifference. Yet, his actions spoke volumes.
Raising a single hand, the torn piece of fabric he had ripped away lifted into the air into his palm and with a gesture, the cloth flew back onto the ruined shirt, instantly restoring the garment back to normal.
"Soma-sama...?" Lili whispered in a deep suspicion tone, entirely at a loss for how to react to this sudden, unexpected display of "kindness" from the reclusive deity.
Not that Soma cared in the slightest.
Without offering a single word or another glance, he simply turned on his heel. He took a few quiet steps before disappearing entirely into the wind, leaving the two girls alone to deal with their problem.
"That was... wow..." Lili muttered, staring at the empty space where the god had been.
"Yeah... wow," Ryuu breathed out, wiping the sweat from her own forehead.
"What do we do now?" Lili asked, her voice trembling as she looked at Luki's unconscious, shrunken body.
"Now, we go home, we need to leave before any other deity finds him."
Ryuu pushed herself up, grunting as she hoisted Luki over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
"Ryuu-sama... I can't walk," Lili whispered, her legs shaking under her.
"I understand. You are still too weak after everything. Come here."
Ryuu reached out, helping Lili to her feet and supporting the small girl against her side. Slowly, the two began their heavy march back toward the Hostess of Fertility, with Lili barely feeling her legs and Luki completely out cold.
By some stroke of luck, the streets remained entirely deserted. No gods or executives crossed their path, likely because they were all still gathered at Babel for the Denatus.
That was a massive relief. Luki was in his most vulnerable state, and it would only take a single touch from a predatory deity on his bare back to force him into a new Familia, sealing his destiny forever.
As if they had been waiting for this exact disaster, the other girls were standing outside the tavern.
Chloe immediately rushed forward and took Lili from Ryuu's side. Ryuu moved frantically through the entrance, carrying Luki, while Mia promptly flipped the open sign to "Closed" and slammed the door shut, locking it tight.
Inside, Ryuu hurried up the stairs and carefully deposited Luki back onto his bed. Chloe brought Lili in right after, placing her right beside him. Though conscious, the small chimeri was still deeply shaken, staring blankly at her sleeping friend.
"Explain," Mia ordered, arms crossed and a deadly serious expression.
Ryuu nodded and began to explain everything in careful detail. She recounted the brilliant pillar of light from Hestia's banishment, Luki's sudden and terrifying agony, his physical transformation, and the abrupt appearance of the God of Wine.
Mia grew quiet after listening to the entire story, her eyes narrowing as she slipped into deep thought. She began to mutter under her breath, and the only thing Ryuu could clearly catch was, "...Soma must have been waiting for this..."
Mia then snapped out of her thoughts, turning sharply toward her staff to deliver her orders.
"Everyone, high alert," Mia commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument. "If any god approaches this tavern, you retaliate with lethal force. I don't care who they are."
The expressions of the girls instantly hardened. A heavy, suffocating atmosphere filled the room as they nodded in unison.
"Syr, you stay here with me," Mia ordered firmly, her eyes locking onto the silver-haired girl.
"Wouldn't it be better if I went upstairs to care for Luki-sama and Lili-chan?" Syr asked softly, tilting her head with a worried expression.
"No," Mia replied flatly, casting a sharp, suspicious look at her. "You are the weakest one here. It's better for you to stay put and be careful."
Syr offered no argument. She simply smiled—the same gentle, sweet, and timid smile she always wore. Yet, beneath her calm eyes, there was something unreadable, a flicker of something far more mysterious.
Meanwhile, without another word, the waitresses hurried up the stairs together. Not long after, they walked back down completely changed, their usual tavern uniforms swapped for their old battle gear, weapons firmly in hand and ready for war.
Anya led the way down in light armor, gripping her massive black spear with deadly ease. Behind her, Chloe followed silently, her fingers lightly resting on the hilts of her dual daggers.
Lunoire stepped into the room next, adjusting her gauntlets as her heavy boots thudded against the wood. Ryuu descended last in her light battle tunic and green cloak, her hands tightly gripping her wooden sword with absolute focus.
"That's it, girls," Mia growled, a dark grin spreading across her face. "If any deity tries to pull something funny with the kid..."
She turned heavily, stepping into the kitchen for just a brief second. When she returned, she was rolling up her sleeves, a massive meat cleaver catching the dim light of the tavern in her grip.
"Hestia won't be the only one heading up today."
The tavern was no longer a place for food and drinks. It was a fortress, manned by an elite squad ready for war.
...
A heavy atmosphere weighed over all of Orario. The streets were completely empty, as if every resident had vanished into thin air, yet the city pulsed with an underlying, frantic energy.
"Let's go, my children! Everyone ready?! Today is the day we ascend to the top of Orario!"
"Quick, quick, quick! We have to get there before anyone else!"
"To the Hostess of Fertility tavern! We must capture Hestia's lover at all costs!"
Today was a day of pure chaos. And not just because a goddess had been exiled. It was because the giant chessboard of Orario had just gained a new, vital key piece that would decide who became king.
Luki Bryan, the lover of Hestia.
The moment the ceremony at the amphitheater ended, the gods grew too restless to maintain any composure, with some abandoning all divine etiquette and sprinting away.
Armies of adventurers were mobilizing. Countless Familias gathered with a single objective, but this time, it was far from noble. In the past, these same warriors had sworn to help Hestia rescue her son; today, they competed for his possession.
A Level 1 with the raw strength of a Level 6. It did not even need to be said what would happen once he finally leveled up.
High above at the top of Babel, Ouranos stood in his familiar dark robes, watching the city with absolute impassivity, countless strategies shifting behind his firm gaze.
"Have the ordinary citizens been evacuated?" he asked, seemingly to the empty air.
A tall, heavily built man stepped out of the shadows. He wore polished armor and a longsword, his chest bearing two distinct emblems—the seal of the Guild, and another mysterious mark.
"Yes, Ouranos-sama. With the help of the Ganesha and Hermes Familia, we evacuated all the surrounding districts to nearby villages overnight. The rest are secured inside our facilities, all sleeping in peace."
"Great. With this, perhaps less blood will be spilled today," Ouranos murmured.
He then, shifted his gaze toward a specific district, spotting a massive wave of incredibly powerful, determined adventurers. Leading them with a calm, tender smile was Freya.
The Goddess of Beauty paused in her tracks and looked up at the tower. As if she could see him directly, she offered a soft wave to Ouranos before continuing her march.
Ouranos frowned, turning his eyes back to the city as a whole. Similar scenes played out in every corner—entire Familias mobilizing to conquer, to help, to defend, or simply to flee the impending crossfire.
The ancient god sighed heavily.
"I worked so hard for this city, a symbol of hope against his forces... but now that I have stepped out of my chamber, now that I see this... I see how right he truly was. Gods cannot be controlled. Order cannot be maintained forever. So let there be..."
He paused, his voice dropping into a deeper, terrifying resonance.
"I am Ouranos, God of the Sky, Ruler of the Heavens. I am the pioneer who first descended to this world, the one who created and spread the Falna to all mortals. For centuries, I have suppressed the Dungeon from the shadows, keeping the monsters from devouring the surface. I sacrificed my own Familia, my freedom, and my friends for the sake of duty, all so this world could grow at its own pace. The former god-king of the Greek faction."
Ouranos looked out over the sprawling, chaotic city one last time, his gaze freezing into ice.
"But it seems these young, foolish, and impulsive deities have forgotten just how vast the sky truly is."
Turning abruptly, he began to walk away, his armored human subordinate following tightly at his heels.
"Captain Cid, prepare my forces," Ouranos commanded. "Because today..."
As he spoke, a cosmic glow gathered around his right hand, and a majestic banner began to materialize out of thin air. Falling open in a smooth wave of heavy fabric, the standard revealed the exact same emblem engraved upon Cid's armor—the long-forgotten crest of the Ouranos Familia, a gold-bordered circle, framing a deep expanse of a starry night sky in the center, with a pair of wings wrapping tightly around the edges.
"Today, the Ouranos Familia rises again."