Unfair!
For a brief moment, Astrea even wanted to rush over, pin Isagi to the ground, and then pull off his black cloak.
Cheater!!
Though the Goddess quickly regained her usual composure and gentleness, her beautiful face was still slightly flushed.
In the past, she had always been the one 'teasing' her Familia... She used to tease Alise and Ryuu, and now she teased Cecil and Lefiya... She never imagined she would be 'teased' in return?!
The seemingly serious Goddess of Stars actually harbored many 'naughty thoughts,' like a child who refused to grow up.
Isagi knew this.
So...
'What kind of outrageous request will he make?!'
Astrea had never imagined she would lose so suddenly. Looking at the boy who was already walking towards her, his gaze constantly sweeping across her waist, her embarrassed feelings instantly exploded.
'I don't care!'
'I must strike first!!'
Divine dignity naturally prevented Astrea from going back on her word. So, before the boy could make an 'even more outrageous request,' she decided to resolve everything.
Of course, this was also a sure-kill technique that Demeter had taught her, one that only goddesses like them could employ!
"Eh?"
Suddenly, Isagi's vision went black.
Then, his face felt warm.
It felt so soft.
"?"
He struggled to move his gaze upwards from the darkness, leaving that boundless 'abyss,' and saw Goddess Astrea looking down at him, her face flushed with shyness.
Isagi was even more confused.
'No, do all goddesses like this?'
Recalling how Demeter had recently been hugging him out of nowhere from time to time, Isagi now seriously suspected that all goddesses enjoyed sexual harassment!
At this.
Seeing the boy's utterly bewildered gaze, Astrea was even more shocked!
'This... this had no effect?!'
'No way!'
The Goddess of Justice had indeed used this trick before. When dealing with the formerly mischievous Alise in her Familia, and when teasing the earnest Ryuu, Astrea often used her broad and warm embrace to make the children, who had just been incredibly stubborn and unruly, flee swiftly like frightened little rabbits! Whenever this happened, Astrea would feel a peculiar sense of pleasure, thinking, 'I won again!'
But now, against Isagi, it was completely ineffective?!
Actually, it wasn't completely ineffective; it was still comfortable, but the main thing was—the 'enveloping' feeling was still a bit less compared to Goddess Demeter. That was probably the difference between a beautiful, mature woman and a big sister.
In the distance,
Ais, secretly watching this scene, was stunned!
'What was that?'
'After training ends, do the losers have to do something like that?'
'It never happened in her Familia... Could it be a tradition of the Astrea Familia?'
Speaking of which, Mama Riveria also said that if she wanted to train with Isagi, she could let him rest on her lap after he was too tired to move from the ground when they finished.
This was a very good way to foster affection.
'So, the Goddess and the boy in the distance must be doing something similar, right?'
The golden-haired girl fell into deep thought for a moment.
And involuntarily,
She lowered her head, looking at the contour that had already risen and fallen beneath her pure white, form-fitting dress, thoughtfully, silently committing it to memory...
...
"What?! Say that again!"
"Lady Astrea, I want to see your sword."
'?!?!"
The Goddess of Justice, who had released the boy from her embrace, wore an incredulous expression, completely unable to imagine that Isagi's request after defeating her was so 'pure.'
'Turns out I was the only one with dirty thoughts?!'
'I thought the child of my Familia would make an 'outrageous' request to a goddess like me, so I struck first to prevent him from going further or anything.'
"But!"
'It was entirely my wishful thinking!!'
'This child, he was just staring at my waist, turns out he wasn't thinking about anything strange, but was looking at the longsword that was put away?!'
Astrea felt like she had been critically hit!
'And inexplicably, why did she feel even more annoyed?!'
"Take it..."
"So tired."
The Goddess finally, somewhat wearily, simply sat down on the grass.
'Thankfully, no one saw what just happened, or it would be too embarrassing!'
"!"
Receiving the silver longsword the Goddess handed over, Isagi had long been very interested in this [Blade of Justice], because it was a true Divine Artifact in every sense—
Blade of Justice:
The holy sword of the Goddess of Justice and Stars, used to judge the gods.
It is one of the laws that maintain the order of the world.
Light and darkness will always exist, and the hazy chaos will not disappear.
Even so,
The right path will always be there, and people with justice in their hearts sing praises, moving ever forward under the guidance of the stars, flowing ceaselessly.
Combat Art: Divine Judgment
- Must wield with justice in heart
- Calls down starlight that judges all evil in the world
(When the light of the stars converges here, people's hope for justice will surely descend.)
"Hiss..."
It was not a weapon forged by a god, but the Goddess of Justice and Stars' innate 'exclusive weapon.'
In the city, Hephaestus and Goibniu, these gods of blacksmithing, would create weapons and equipment for adventurers, which would naturally contain a hint of divine power, making them completely different from weapons crafted by the children of the lower world (blacksmiths).
But even so, compared to this [Blade of Justice], it was entirely different.
Isagi looked at the slender silver longsword in his hand, then suddenly asked Astrea beside him.
"Lady Goddess, how strong is a god's power?"
"Ah..."
The Goddess didn't quite understand why Isagi would suddenly ask this, so she said,
"Only in terms of destructive power?"
Because some gods' powers are not meant for conflict. For example, the God of Forging could hammer 'the world' into a blade; the Goddess of Beauty could easily rewrite the memories and thoughts of millions, shaping them into her beloved 'perfect kingdom'; and if it were a 'martial faction' god like herself, if they truly fought, 'The world would definitely be destroyed.'
This was the most basic rule that the gods, even those from the Dark Familias, adhered to when they came to the lower world, mutually constraining each other.
"Absolutely do not use their true divine power."
"I see..."
So, Isagi gave up the idea of trying out the combat art of this Divine Artifact.
However,
The boy suddenly thought again.
'If gods are so strong, why don't they eliminate the Dungeon?'
The so-called great quests, including the [One-Eyed Dragon], all involved monsters appearing in the Dungeon. So, if gods wanted to help the lower world, wouldn't it be better to just directly eliminate the Dungeon?
Many ancient heroic tales and legends also contained records of Spirits imploring gods to descend their divine power and directly eradicate powerful monsters.
At this,
Astrea merely smiled, without answering.
The [Covenant] between the gods and the Dungeon could not be told to the children.
But its very existence already said a lot. In a sense, the Dungeon itself was an existence no weaker than the gods.
So, the adventurers' ultimate wish was to complete the three great quests, not to conquer the Dungeon itself...
As night approached,
Filvis bid farewell to Lefiya and Cecil at the entrance of Daedalus Street; they had met on the way and walked home together.
Watching the two girls' figures disappear into the intricate alleys of Daedalus Street,
Filvis then put away the smile on her face.
Then,
She returned to her Familia's base.
The usually noisy mansion was now empty. Timing it, the other members were probably drunk on Divine Wine and heading to the poor Goddess Penia's place to update their status boards.
Unbeknownst to everyone but her, all members of the Dionysus Familia had been given Divine Wine and transferred to Penia's Familia.
Of course,
They were all completely unaware, still believing themselves to be adventurers of the Dionysus Familia.
Filvis knew this was the cunning Wine God preparing for his future 'feigned death.'
"When the Artificial Labyrinth tracked by the Dark Familias is discovered, the Wine God's Familia will go to subjugate it together. Afterward, Penia will be sent back to Tenkai in the Labyrinth, and the Wine God's Familia will naturally lose their Falna."
"Other Familia members seeing this scene will naturally believe that the god sent back was Dionysus."
Thus, no one would guess the true mastermind.
After achieving his ultimate wish to destroy Orario, the Wine God would still be able to hide in the shadows, enjoying the chaotic feast he orchestrated.
What Dionysus wanted was always the scene of monsters from the depths of the great pit emerging to ravage the world again, bringing countless destruction and chaos after Orario and its powerful adventurers were gone.
Destroying the city was a necessary process, not the goal.
"Welcome back, Filvis."
"Mm."
"You did very well. The Freya Familia has actually started preparing for an expedition. It seems the Goddess of Beauty has indeed been provoked."
Previously,
The black-robed girl who led a group of special monsters to attack Ottar and his group in the depths of the Dungeon was Filvis.
"After returning, try to go out more. Lately, it's been good; letting everyone know you have new friends will reduce those suspicious glances."
Dionysus was very satisfied with Filvis's actions, thinking she truly was his most trusted child.
Compared to her, those 'allies' were much more troublesome.
Habitually rubbing his forehead, the Wine God returned his gaze to the guest sitting across the round table. He was of the same kind as Filvis, an unusual individual who had 'resurrected' due to the special magic stone within his body.
Olivas Act, the 'White-Haired Ghost.'
He was once a cadre of the Dark Familias, the culprit who orchestrated the 'Nightmare of the 27th Floor' incident two years ago, causing numerous adventurer deaths in the city.
He also died at the scene, but, like Filvis, he was resurrected due to that 'existence' from the Deep Floors.
Because of this,
His identity was very special, both representing that Deep Floors existence and having connections with the God of Death now hiding in the Artificial Labyrinth, as well as the remaining Dark Familia cadres.
In Dionysus's view, he was one of the few 'clever' and 'big-picture-minded' individuals.
"The [Mother] is very displeased with the previous failure, constantly urging us to bring Ais (Aria) to her."
"Ais hasn't been going to the Dungeon lately."
"Indeed..."
Olivas and Dionysus were both very dissatisfied with the previous attack, which was led by another unusual individual, Phryne Jamil, who appeared as a red-haired woman.
This individual was completely brainless.
She actually wanted to directly snatch someone from Loki's expeditionary force, and the result was that the matter of the special monsters existing in the Deep Floors was completely exposed.
Dionysus disagreed with this approach, but couldn't stop it, so he could only send Filvis to 'help,' which was actually to execute his 'remedial plan'—to provoke the city's strongest Familia, make them launch an expedition, and give this 'ally' a good beating to make her calm down first.
Of course, more importantly,
An expedition to the 60th floor for special monsters would take a long time, even for the Freya Familia.
And what he lacked most right now was time; he just needed to keep delaying. Even 'selling out allies' was fine. Dionysus never imagined that when the city was destroyed, everyone would still sit down together to celebrate with a feast.
So, what was most important now was this:
Absolutely prevent the city from discovering the existence of the Artificial Labyrinth.
That was the stronghold of the remaining Dark Familias, and the key to his plan.
"But Loki and the others have already noticed."
The Goddess most skilled in schemes and conspiracies had already realized that the special monsters in the depths of the Dungeon had some connection with the Dark Familias on the surface—because man-eating flowers were discovered in the port city!
It could be expected that
Soon, Loki would lead her Familia to the port city of Melen to investigate.
Another target must be pushed out to attract Loki's attention.
So...
It's decided then: the Rudra Familia.
The 'malicious' Dark God never got along with the other Dark Familia gods, because he was also a 'brainless' individual.
From the very beginning,
Dionysus had excluded Rudra from his collaborators, partly because he was already the target of [Gale]'s pursuit.
Originally,
He should have been caught by the remaining Astrea Familia members, then sent back to Tenkai, making the Dark Familias disappear from the city on the surface.
Thus, if the Dark Familias no longer existed, no one would notice his plan.
But the Wine God never expected that
It's been a year, and [Gale] still hasn't found Rudra, which even made Dionysus a little anxious.
"Did you bring that thing?"
"Mm."
Olivas nodded, taking out something wrapped in cloth from within his robes.
He opened it.
Revealing before the Wine God's eyes a crystalline, curled-up, tiny, ugly infant.
"Take this to Yama; he should like it very much."
At the same time,
Filvis quietly watched the scene before her, but what she was thinking was how to remind Isagi and Lefiya so that the boy and girl's investigation wouldn't be swayed by her god's schemes and go off track...
___
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