"Gods clean up after gods."
Hermes spoke the reality of the situation, his face devoid of its usual playful smirk.
"This can't be...."
"More importantly, go. The city's appearance has already turned strange, hasn't it?"
Gods clean up after gods.
It was a divine decree that the children must carve their own path.
"....!"
Asfi gripped her hands tight.
"When I get back.... I'm going to land a solid punch on that face of yours, so be ready... Lord Hermes!!"
Whoosh!!
At his words, Asfi immediately deployed the wings on her boots and began flying toward the city.
"Your dependent is quite a good girl, isn't she?"
"Right? She's my pride and joy."
Hermes replied to Aphrodite's remark with a bitter smile.
"Indeed. Unlike you, who's sacrificing Hestia without a second thought."
"....Say what you like. I have no excuses anyway."
"That's enough, both of you. We have our own work to do, don't we?"
The gods standing upon the chessboard had to move to fulfill their respective roles.
"You were surprising too. I thought you'd cause a massive scene to stop Hestia's involvement."
"Of course I threw a fit—the very moment I first met Ilia and the others."
'I tried to stop Hestia, but I was the one who ended up being persuaded...'
"If you say another word, I'll beat you with my hammer until you're speechless."
The God of Adventure and the Goddess of the Forge departed, sharing those bitter words.
"Shall we overlap my 'curiosity' with your 'concerns'?"
Regardless of the price, they moved to save this Lower World.
In that movement, it was only natural for the Goddess of Beauty to join as well.
"Just like last night, Olympia has turned back into ruins...! And what is this dust of light falling over our heads...!?"
"A crimson light from the temple.... no, a pillar of flame...!"
Meanwhile, in the ruins of Olympia where the truth had been laid bare.
Akumo's party stood aghast at the completely transformed landscape.
"....The Goddess Vesta has descended! Then, is this the Flame of Purification...?"
"Purification...? Then you mean that Goddess actually pulled this off!?"
"....That is."
Just as Rhea was about to answer Aisha's shocked question.
Thud!!
"Explain yourself properly."
With a face more serious than ever, Akumo coldly demanded an explanation from Rhea.
Rumble—!!!!!!!!
"Unless you want to die."
The pillar of fire rose from the basement of the Great Temple where Bell and Hestia had entered.
Hestia's 'sacrifice,' and the unknown entities clouding his mind.
Unable to restrain the turbulence in his head, Akumo had to obtain information by any means necessary.
Dash!!
Clang!!
"""""!?"""""
At that moment, soldiers of Olympia surrounded the group alongside Rhea.
".....So, in the end, this is what you wanted?"
Clang!!!
""""!!""""
They swung their swords at Akumo without a word. Akumo parried their blades and spoke quietly.
"Silencing those who have seen your shame... no, is this case a bit different?"
Regardless, the murderous intent transmitted through the steel made their intention clear: they would not let the party leave alive.
"....!? What is the meaning of this! They are Hestia's Familia! Lower your weapons!!"
However, Rhea seemed completely uninformed of their actions, as she desperately shouted to stop them.
"....We cannot do that."
"What...!?"
"A new [Oracle] has been handed down!"
The words that left their mouths were utterly bewildering.
—Exterminate the Hestia Familia and burn away the tainted flames.
A bone-chilling oracle had bloomed from the stone tablet that conveyed Prometheus's will.
From this moment on, Bell and Akumo's party were no longer guests, but their enemies.
"Ha...! Ahahaha....!!!!"
"Lord Akumo....?"
Misfortune does not wait for a convenient time.
Knowing this fact all too well, Akumo actually laughed at the situation.
"Rhea."
"Y-Yes!?"
".....From now on, choose."
""""Haaah!!!!!!!""""
Even as the soldiers' weapons closed in on him, Akumo looked at Rhea and asked with absolute gravity.
"Are you coming, or are you staying?"
Whish!!
"Lord Akumo!! It's danger—"
The attacks reached right before his nose.
Blink!
".....Eh?"
'What... just...?'
However, only a bizarre sight filled Rhea's eyes.
Thud—
In the split second of a blink, every soldier who had been attacking Akumo was collapsed on the ground.
"I'll ask again."
Step—
"This has already surpassed the realm of mortals. This is the work of gods, moved by gods."
It was a situation where it seemed no being of the Lower World could dare interfere or change anything.
Slowly—
"Even so, I am going to move."
As if he had ever done otherwise.
With that thought, Akumo extended his hand toward Rhea.
"In this [Adventure], will you follow?"
Dash!!!
"..."
As Akumo ran with the party, he thought about the ambush that had just occurred.
"Lord Akumo.... Miss Rhea is...."
"For now, stay quiet. We're going to find Bell first."
".....Yes."
Ultimately, Rhea had made her choice.
—'The [Oracle] is.... absolute.'
—'If we defy the divine word, everything will perish... just as it has until now, and just as it will in the future...!'
To her, who had watched through the flames for so long just how terrifying the power of the gods truly was.
—'O Flame!!!!!!'
Akumo's proposal was a foolish one she could not accept.
"....If that is their choice."
Then he would respect it. Their choice was also a decision made of their own free will.
"The oracle is absolute!! Kill the outsiders.... Kill them!!"
"""""Ooooooh!!!!!!"""""
Dash!!!!!
From the Great Temple, Eton ruthlessly commanded countless soldiers to slaughter the party.
".....Lord Prometheus, my patron deity whose face I have never even seen."
He gripped his hands tight.
"Are you watching this commotion from somewhere even now?"
He knew all too well that he was merely a pawn dancing upon a chessboard.
"What do you think of me? Or is even this action within the palm of a god?"
Because of that, he desired a flame that would burn more fiercely than anything else.
"Do you think I care...!!! I have waited for this moment!"
His eyes snapped open wide.
"I will use even the Goddess of the Sacred Flame to carry out my path!!!"
"Stop me if you can! Hahahaha!!!!!!!!"
He sought a raging fire that would incinerate the chessboard itself.
"Have you fallen that far.... O [Hero of Yesteryear]."
However.
"The price of a choice is something you have to clear away yourself."
Crunch!!!
Akumo had no intention of showing mercy to the soldiers trying to attack him and the party as they headed toward Bell.
"They won't be dead. Though... if they come at me again, I won't hold back."
Dash!!!
As they drew closer to the Great Temple where Bell was presumed to be, the number of soldiers and the sounds of explosions increased.
Boom—!!!!!!
Rumble—!!!!!!!!
"What a complete mess... soldiers, priestesses, and us...."
'And also....'
Visible from a distance were dark red silhouettes.
—Uoooooh!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dozens of Flame Phantoms. they were charging toward the group.
"Dammit, they're just annoying in numbers..!"
Just as Akumo was about to swing the sword he had seized from the soldiers.
Kaboom—!!!!
"Everyone! Are you alright!? I've scattered Burst Oil for the time being!"
"...Asfi! Good timing!"
With the support of the timely arrived Asfi, they were able to quickly head toward the altar.
"We have to regroup with Bell right now! That's the priority!"
Like it or not, Bell would be caught in the center of the incident.
Akumo instinctively felt that joining Bell was the first priority, and—
Thud!
"Ugh....!?"
"Bell...! Are you okay!?"
Just as he thought, Bell was reaching his limit at the altar, fighting dozens of soldiers with an exhausted body.
"Ugh.... I'm fine, I can still stand... Hurry, to the Goddess....!"
".....That is."
"....? Miss Ilia....?"
Even in that state, Bell looked for Hestia, and that sight filled Ilia's heart with overwhelming guilt.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Bell...!"
Drip! Drip!
"I have no right to apologize like this...! We were trying to take Lady Hestia away from you...!"
"I was prepared to be hated by all of you....!"
Ilia had thought it would be easier if she were hated from the start if she was going to be hated anyway.
However, Olympia would not leave them be, far beyond what she had imagined.
"....Why."
"....! I'm sorry for deceiving you....! I'm so sorry for betraying you...."
"No!! That's not what I'm blaming you for!"
"....!?"
Bell did not explode in anger at Ilia, who was only spitting out apologies.
"Why didn't anyone... tell us!!!?"
"Why didn't you say it was hard!!!"
Hestia, Ilia, and all of Olympia.
"We haven't even tried to combine our strength yet!!"
They had been continuously excluding the very first method that came to the boy's mind.
"I can't do anything alone! But if everyone is together, we can do anything!! We might have found a solution!!"
Bell shouted at her with all his heart.
In his adventures, he had seen the sights created by everyone's potential, so he shouted with sincerity.
".....I-It's impossible. Both Lord Prometheus and Lady Hestia judged that [this was the only way]...."
But this was the work of gods. It was not something that could be solved by the children of the Lower World interfering.
"Thinking that there's only one path! I've stopped giving up like that!!!"
He had seen it with his own eyes. He had thrown himself into the fray to prove it.
—'The arrow is aimed not at the Goddess, but at destiny.'
On the day when a moon more beautiful and bright than any other had risen.
Just as he had personally saved a Goddess alongside his hero.
"No matter how much you weigh it, if someone gets hurt! Then there's no choice but to break the scales themselves!!!"
So he would not give up. Even in this situation, he would never give up.
"I haven't given up yet! Miss Ilia! So please, don't apologize!!"
Reach—!
"Please.... lend me your strength!!"
Just like his older brother figure, the boy reached out his hand to the girl.
"....Actually, I should be stopping you."
She gripped her hands tight.
"For the sake of the Lower World, I mustn't let you meet Vesta. If I don't, everything Olympia has done until now will come to naught...."
Because of that, the priestesses could only follow orders.
"....But, this isn't right. This behavior is wrong."
Grasp—!!
"So... I will become your strength!"
However, at least one girl took the hero's hand.
"Thank you, Miss Ilia! Let's go!"
Was it the heart of a girl who wanted to save everyone?
'Yes.... if you are going to struggle like a [Hero]....'
Dash!!!
'Then I have to watch it until the very end....'
Or was it the heart of someone filled with immense guilt?