Ais slowly opened her eyes. Her golden hair shimmered faintly in the dawn light. The loli-like "War Princess" rose to her feet, sword in hand.
She coldly said, "I want to fight. I want to defeat the enemy."
Murderous intent colored her young face.
Above, the sky was still heavy with dark clouds. The fires had been quenched by Akira, but plumes of black smoke still rose here and there, vanishing into the storm. Not a single bird dared fly.
"Is this the end?" Lyra whispered, her voice hoarse. Her throat was raw from shouting through the night.
"We've searched everywhere. If we still haven't found him…" Kaguya said flatly, tossing aside an empty potion bottle, "…then he's probably already a corpse."
She glanced at her companions, faces pale and haggard as they carried the last of the wounded, and smirked at the pink-haired pallum beside her.
"Your face looks awful."
"Want me to lend you a mirror? Yours looks even worse."
Lyra forced a weary smile through her exhaustion.
"When this is over, I'm locking myself inside for days."
"I second that." Kaguya stretched her back with a sigh, then suddenly asked, half-teasing, "Hey, do you think those potions from Akira double as beauty products?"
"What nonsense are you spouting now?" Lyra shot back, frowning.
"Just kidding."
"…I might try it next time."
They had spent the entire night rescuing lives after crushing Evilus. Adventurers, healers, guild staff, townsfolk, everyone worked tirelessly.
The Astraea Familia were no exception. In fact, the girls who carried the banner of justice worked harder than any. At first, Akira only treated the gravely wounded. But as time dragged on, Maryuu and the other healers were pushed past their limits, pale and barely able to stand.
Even as exhaustion weighed on him, Akira insisted they rest, choosing to shoulder the burden himself but the others refused. In the end, they rotated shifts, lightening the physical strain, though the toll on their minds was another matter entirely.
The once-bustling streets had turned into ruins. Silence blanketed the city.
"Neze, what about infectious disease control?" Alise asked.
Though weary, she stood resolute, her willpower alone holding her upright.
"Dian Cecht familia's team have already sprayed the preventive agents." Neze replied. "And with that little saint here, they say there's nothing to fear."
"The saint… ah, the doll-like girl. Good. Then rescue here is finished. Let's move out." Alise nodded, rallying the others as they left behind the ruins of war.
"I want a hot bath, hot soup, and then to fall asleep hugging Akira." Lyra sighed dreamily.
"You can forget the last part. After resupplying, we patrol again. Evilus might not be done yet."
The two women trudged on, too tired to even look at each other.
Everywhere, the city lay in wreckage. Crumbling walls, collapsed ceilings, shattered beams, broken lamps spilling the last glimmers of light. Even torn magical cloth and scattered tiles littered the ground. It was devastation so great one might think a dragon had torn through Orario.
The road was rugged beyond belief, the kind of path that would make ordinary people stumble and fall before even taking a single step.
Even for seasoned adventurers, the trail was harsh. And in their current state of extreme exhaustion, every step felt heavier than carrying a mountain. Yet, walking along that perilous path, Lyra casually kicked aside the sharp fragments of a broken magic stone lamp scattered on the ground, sending them tumbling off the side of the road like a mischievous child playing in the dirt.
"Even extraordinary adventurers can be exhausted to death, you know? We haven't had a proper rest since that nightmare battle."
Her voice, drawn out with a mixture of complaint and stubborn liveliness, carried through the dreary atmosphere.
Though Kaguya remained silent, her usual stoic expression unchanged, Lyra's constant stream of complaints did not cease. And yet, no one frowned at her words. No one thought of her as noisy because everyone understood.
They noticed that Lyra's endless chatter, her frivolous nagging, was protecting their hearts.
Whenever the party was cornered in the dungeon, whenever despair began to creep in, Lyra would never allow silence to suffocate them. She would talk, joke, nag, even spout utter nonsense, just to keep that crushing stillness away. It was her wisdom as an adventurer.
A kind of spiritual support, her way of lifting the suffocating pressure that clung to exhausted bodies and heavy minds. That was the duty Lyra had silently taken upon herself. She didn't say it aloud, but it was the role she had chosen, the burden she willingly carried for her companions.
And though none of them spoke it, Alise and the others felt gratitude stir in their chests. Even in this unbearable situation, even when they were pushed to their very limits, seeing Lyra act as if nothing had changed gave them a fragile sense of normalcy. And with that came a glimmer of relief, enough to bring faint smiles to their faces.
"Oi, everyone! Delicious food is waiting for you! Hurry it up already!" Akira cupped his hands around his mouth, his voice booming like a trumpet across the dreary road.
"Here it comes!" Noin's spirited reply matched his volume, her energy almost infectious.
"Akiraaa." Alise's lips curled into a pout as she dashed forward, throwing herself into his arms. "Let me hug you for a while, I'm so tired."
Iska quickly followed, her eyes gleaming with mock annoyance. "Tch, sly! I want one too!"
"Well then, add me in." Asta declared briskly, striding forward with a determined air.
"Eh… I-I… I'll join too…" Celty's face turned red as she shuffled closer, mumbling softly.
Behind them, Neze, Ryana, and Maryuu exchanged amused glances before laughing and trailing after the group.
Before long, Akira found himself buried in the center of a crowd of girls, their bodies pressing together in shared warmth, their tired but genuine smiles lighting up the gloomy path.
"Hey, useless elf! Don't shove me so hard."
"It's your fault, Kaguya, you're the one pushing in."
"You two, honestly… can't you stop bickering for just one moment?"
Their voices overlapped, the familiar rhythm of their squabbles echoing in the damp air. Then, as if on cue, everyone burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
The sound was bright, even defiant against the oppressive atmosphere. Of course, Akira had to ruin it at the perfect moment.
"Ugh, it smells like sweat. You girls reek so bad." He muttered, wrinkling his nose in exaggerated disgust.
The smiles froze. The girls had been running around all night, drenched in sweat, carrying the stink of battle and exhaustion.
"What did you just say?!" ×11
Their voices thundered in perfect unison, sending a chill down Akira's back.
Meanwhile, above them, the rain continued its endless descent.
From the dark sky, thick clouds wept like a grieving mother, releasing countless raindrops that fell heavily like sorrowful tears.
The heavens themselves seemed unable to decide whether it was day or night. The sky was neither bright nor dark, but a sickly gray, like rotting moss, stretched endlessly overhead. And beneath that mournful curtain of rain lay countless graves.
This place was not utopia, nor the threshold between heaven and earth. It was nothing more than a cemetery, bleak and desolate, tucked away in a corner of the maze city.