Sring—!
"First... I think we have to take him down before we can think."
"Yeah...!"
Seeing the madness swirling in his eyes, Akumo and Bell immediately drew their blades, preparing to pour their combined assault upon him. However—
"Don't talk nonsense. Do you truly believe trash like you can leave a single scratch on this body?"
Grin—!
"And... your opponent right now isn't me."
Eton, wearing that twisted smile, directed his voice toward the pillar of fire erupting violently behind him.
"Isn't that right? Goddess."
Precisely, he was speaking to the burning egg within the pillar.
Thump—! Thump—!
"""""!!"""""
'The egg... it's pulsating!?'
The anomaly did not end there.
Crack—!
"The egg...!! It's breaking!"
The egg of flames that had been burning for so long finally shattered its shell, revealing its true form.
"What... is that!?"
".....Patron.... Deity....?"
"No... that's...!!"
It was an overwhelming presence, entirely different from Hestia, as if the flames themselves had coalesced into a god.
"My name is... Vesta."
Slide—
"The Eternal Holy Flame, and the Fire of Everlasting Protection."
Vesta—the goddess who named herself so.
Her blue eyes turned toward them, and she continued in a detached tone.
"The deity of purification who repels evil and safeguards justice...."
With those words, she introduced herself.
"Vesta...?"
"It looks like Lady Hestia... but it is not Lady Hestia....!"
"The divine aura, the appearance—everything is different..."
"What on earth happened!?"
Everyone was struck with horror at her completely transformed state. Ilia described her in cryptic terms.
"The [Heavenly Cloth]....! To seize the [First Flame] and manifest it like this....!?"
"[Heavenly Cloth]....?"
'Did Lady Hestia... actually fuse with the flames...!'
By merging herself with the fire, Hestia had been reborn as a new deity.
".....W-what are you saying, Lady Hestia? Stop acting cool by changing your way of speaking..."
Step—
"Lady Hestia is Lady Hestia! Come back to being our lazy, clumsy Patron Deity like usual!!"
Clench—!
They could feel it instinctively—the original Hestia was deep in slumber. Even so, the girl could not accept it and shouted at the goddess, but—
"Unnecessary."
"Ugh...!?"
"What have you come for, children?"
She merely asked for their purpose with clinical indifference.
"What for...? W-we came to get our Patron Deity back!"
"At this rate, Lady Hestia will...!!"
This time, the voice of her first follower—the hero she loved most—reached out to her.
"That, too, is unnecessary."
It did not reach her.
"This is the process and the conclusion I desired. It is the divine will. This decision shall not be overturned."
Vesta answered like a machine, a mere component of a larger system.
"Do not misunderstand, children."
"This is not invasion, nor dominion, nor ruin."
Whoosh—!!
"It is merely Tuning."
In accordance with her will, the searing flames flickered with intense heat.
"Tuning... you say...?"
'If we move recklessly... I don't know what will happen...'
"....I am simply restoring the lower world to its proper form. I shall purify the impure legacy brought by the heavens."
Akumo cautiously asked for her intentions, and Vesta responded by raising her hand toward him.
Flash—!
"...Eh?"
And then, a pillar of flame pierced through Akumo's heart.
**
Thud—!
""""""!!!!""""""
With the sudden attack, Akumo, his heart pierced, collapsed to his knees.
"....!! Brother!!!!!!!!!!!"
""Akumo-san!!!!!!!!!!!""
""Lord Akumo!!!!!!!!!!!""
"Akumo....!?"
The sight of Akumo falling in an instant caused the party's thoughts to grind to a halt.
"....!!!!!!"
Grind—!!
'This... isn't an attack...!!!'
But Akumo, who had received the strike—no, who felt the 'Calling' directed at something deep within him—felt differently.
Whoosh—!!!!
He could feel the dragon's fire boiling uncontrollably from his depths.
The dark, ferocious flames of hatred were erupting.
"Kuaaa....!!!!!!!"
Flare—!!!!
"Everyone, get away from me...!!!"
In an instant, black flames surged from Akumo, enveloping his body. The sight was hauntingly similar to that day.
"Hehe.... Hahahaha!!!!! Look! Look at that foolish, filthy appearance!!"
"....Have you come of your own accord, O Flame of Ruin?"
But it was different from that day.
The embers that had ignited again without reason or preparation were uncontrollable. Akumo had to focus all his nerves on suppressing the Black Dragon's flames.
"Why so suddenly...! Why... did you have to touch 'this'...!!"
In a state of extreme agitation, Akumo asked Vesta, the one who caused this situation, for the reason.
".....Then why did you sneak into this place?"
"That's...!!"
"To save me like a hero? Or just out of personal greed?"
"!!"
Vesta continued as if piercing through his inner self, speaking the cold reality.
"It is different from the time with Artemis. No, perhaps it is the same?"
"....."
"Your body is broken, and your opponent is not a monster, but a 'human' just like you."
Slide—
"What will you do? You."
To Vesta's question, Akumo's answer was already decided.
"....A miracle."
"....?"
"Just like back then, I'll have to make a miracle happen...!!!"
The miracle of the moon that first created the Divine Tool.
It was irresponsible, and even he thought it was a gamble, but—
"Together with everyone!"
"I will save you!"
Akumo, currently burning, was not the only one there.
"....!"
'Then....'
"Then...!!!"
Did that sight convey something to her?
"In the truest sense, come and save me."
""!!""
Whoosh—!!!!
""Ugh...!?""
Leaving only those words, Vesta separated them with a wall of fire.
"Dammit... B—"
"First, that filthy fire."
Rip—!!
"K-ku-hack....!?"
The moment Akumo turned his gaze toward Bell due to the sudden separation, Eton's hand snatched away his black flames, plundering them instantly.
Grin—!
"Hehehe.... Hahahaha....!!!!!"
The incomparably powerful and dark black flames were now in his grasp.
"What a beautiful and pitiful end for a hero!"
Thrust—!
"What a filthy flame, the very one I have craved so much!!!!!"
Eton smiled as he looked up at the black flames in his hand.
Simultaneously, Vesta's divine oracle echoed out.
"I shall deliver the oracle."
"Forbid entry, and do not permit transgression."
"Exclude invasion, and annihilate all that approach."
With that, Vesta's mouth provided the answer for this 'story'.
"In this story, neither [Hero] nor [Warrior] is required."
"This is not a story of the Familia."
From the moment the thunder of heaven and the fire of heaven clashed, this was the story of the uninvited guests of the lower world, started and continued by a god.
".....Withdraw, [Familia Myth]."
With the collapsing Great Temple as her backdrop, she sent a final wave of flames toward them.
KABOOM—!!!!!!
Their hope was severed.
***
They could not approach.
Rumble—!!!!!
She was too strong.
Whoosh—!!!!!
She was a transcendent existence.
"Dammit...!!"
The flames, which burned no one, neutralized the Familia members with their mere flickering.
Even a single spark made the atmosphere tremble, the earth shake, and the temple scream.
"Everyone...!!"
Throb—!
"Uuuugh...!?"
When the flames roared, I could do nothing.
"Heh, why are you so desperate?"
"....Eton."
"As a warrior, you were simply defeated by a greater power. Is that not all?"
That goddess, clad in the [Fire of Heaven], was the strongest existence in the current lower world.
"Gasp...!? Kuaaaaa....!!!"
"This is the [Fire of Heaven]....? This is the power of a god....!?"
Even the blue flames of Kazuki, which he could pride as his masterpiece, lost their color before the crimson light.
Even the sword of the girl who represented the God of War's blade fell before the sharp heat.
"This is.... a [God]...?"
"A [Deus Dea]... unreachable by the residents of the lower world...."
The fox's sorcery, said to contain the mysteries of the lower world, and the Pallum's wisdom to protect everyone—all were incinerated.
Grit—!!
'Move...!! You haven't even fought yet...!!'
"Lady Hes... tia!!!"
"Patron.... Deity....!!!"
Only the heroes with indomitable wills still stood before Vesta.
"....."
Step—
"I shall uproot even the smallest seeds of rebellion. I will break even the will to resist."
But the divine touch was now poured upon everyone.
Boom—!
"""""!!"""""
Everyone's bodies became... incredibly heavy, unlike anything they had felt before.
"No way.... No, it's impossible...!!"
"Akumo-san... what on earth is this...!?"
'This feeling...!!'
It was the nightmare adventurers experienced from the Death God's gale during the Great Feud.
"The Falna is...."
"""""!?""""""
"How....!? Surely...."
'There are party members here who aren't Lady Hestia's followers...! Take me for example!!'
Before the power of a god, a child's questions were meaningless.
"Akumo!! You have to get out of here right now!"
"I know!!!"
When that thought filled Akumo's head, he was finally able to move.
"Ahahahaha!!!!!! How merciless! The incarnation of the Holy Flame is as relentless as hellfire—"
Sring—!
"!?"
From the beginning, he was an existence whose blessing known as Falna was already broken.
CLANG—!!!!!!!!
"No matter what meaning you have, no matter what sacrifice follows this act."
Clench—!!!
"I will say it once more."
Sring—!!
Akumo finally struck back against the flames that had overwhelmed everyone.
He raised his sword. An utterly ordinary sword, a steel blade used by common soldiers.
"I'll show you a miracle...!!"
***
Step, step—
"Tsk! A foolish warrior looks so unsightly!"
Apparently, that sight displeased Eton, and he stood before the goddess.
"Now, Goddess. Instead of those wingless followers, use me to your heart's content to deal with that fool...."
"Begone."
"....!?"
The moment he gathered his strength to kill Akumo, a cold declaration fell from Vesta's lips.
"I told you not to approach. You rotten brat. Impurities like you are unnecessary for my duty."
"!!"
"I shall fulfill my mission of purification without anyone's help. All that remains is to construct the [Formation]."
As she spoke, an aura identical to her divine presence bloomed throughout all of Olympia.
"In place of my blood, Prometheus previously placed [Spirit Fragments] into the city's torches."
"They are not many, but every burning flame is a [Hearth]. Thus, the conditions are met."
And so, the purification began.
"To purify this land, I shall manifest my [Temple]."
A massive, colossal fire erupted, and light enveloped the continent.
Rumble—!!!!
"T-this light of the flames...!? Finally...!!"
"Ryu...!! Aisha! Take my hand!!!"
Flutter—!
"We are withdrawing immediately!!!!!"
"W-wait!? The others are still...!!"
"We have no choice but to believe in them for now!!"
Meanwhile, Ryu, Asfi, and Aisha, who had been blocking the troops from outside the room—
Predicting a second shock based on Rhea's reaction, they immediately leaped into the sky and fled the scene.
"How...!?"
'The goddess herself should have stripped them of their wings...!!'
Seeing the three whose Falna had not disappeared escaping, Eton recalled someone's sword strike.
CLANG—!!!!!!
—'I'll show you a miracle!'
"No way....!!"
'Did he block it...!? By himself....!!'
His shock at such an astounding feat lasted only a moment.
"Farewell, my beloved children."
Flare—!!!!!!!!
A massive surge of fire engulfed everyone.
"Patron Deity....!!!!!!!!"
"Lady Hestia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Their memories were severed right there.
"Manifest in my name."
Whir—!!
"[Aedes Vesta]."
The flames of purification bloomed brilliantly and overwhelmingly, illuminating every existence on the continent.