"Lady Astraea, what exactly are we doing?"
At this moment, within the Garden of the Stars—the headquarters of the Astraea Familia—everyone had gathered around a table, silently watching the actions of their goddess.
On the surface, everything appeared no different from usual, but everyone present could sense that something about the atmosphere was off.
In the end, it was Alise who finally voiced the question.
"Right now, Orario... no, more accurately, the Pleasure Quarter is under attack. There is nothing we need to do except remain here and wait."
"The Pleasure Quarter?"
Lyra looked confused. Having only arrived in Orario recently, she did not fully understand what their goddess meant.
But Alise and Kaguya both widened their eyes.
The two of them had thought of the same possibility almost simultaneously. After exchanging glances to confirm it, Kaguya spoke with a trembling voice.
"Lady Astraea... don't tell me the one attacking the Pleasure Quarter right now... is our captain?"
"..."
Faced with Kaguya's question, Astraea merely smiled without answering.
But in everyone's eyes, that reaction was already an admission.
Their captain had really gone to attack the Pleasure Quarter?
No wonder the atmosphere tonight had felt so strange.
Elise had attended the banquet together with their goddess, yet not long afterward, strange explosions began erupting from the direction of the Pleasure Quarter. Just as Alise and Kaguya were preparing to investigate, Elise had already returned with Astraea.
"I'll leave Lady Astraea to all of you!" Elise had said before departing once more. "I've already upgraded the Familia's defensive systems. No matter what happens tonight, none of you are to leave!"
Even then, they had already begun to suspect something.
So Elise really had gone to do something this outrageous.
"Will the captain really be okay alone...?"
A cold light flashed through Kaguya's eyes. She did not even bother using those strange nicknames she usually called Elise anymore.
"Should we go help her?"
"I think so too. Doing something like this alone has to be dangerous, right?" Alise and Lyra quickly nodded in agreement.
Although their relationship with Elise was somewhat complicated—they were always getting beaten up by her, and Kaguya could even insult Elise right in front of their own goddess—when it truly mattered, helping was still helping.
After all, Elise was the captain of their Familia.
Compared to the trash of the Pleasure Quarter, she was on a completely different level.
Elise only beat them up. She even helped raise their status values.
Before Elise suddenly appeared, the fastest known speed for a Level 1 adventurer to rank up still required at least two and a half years.
Yet Elise had pushed their abilities upward like a runaway carriage in only a single month. Several of their stats had even reached S-rank.
Honestly, Alise and the others felt they should be thanking Elise. Without her, there was no way they could have advanced this quickly.
As for the Pleasure Quarter...
Those people truly devoured others whole without spitting out the bones.
Aside from Lyra, everyone present had clashed with the Pleasure Quarter to varying degrees before. Naturally, none of them held a good impression of it.
That was precisely why, after learning what Elise was doing, they wanted to help voluntarily.
"There is no need for that..."
Astraea smiled and shook her head.
"Elise already guessed you would say that..."
"Instead of thinking about helping me now, think about how to improve your own strength so you can survive a few more punches during training. Those were Elise's exact words."
"Hah?!"
That sentence completely shattered the mood of the three girls.
"We were only being polite! She doesn't seriously think we can help a monster captain like her, does she?!"
"Exactly! Sure, she's ridiculously strong, but against an entire Familia? Don't end up making us pay to ransom you back later!"
Although none of them said it openly, everyone silently made up their minds.
They needed to hurry and continue exploring the Dungeon.
They could not keep letting Elise protect them like children forever.
Being constantly protected by the same person never felt good. Even without possessing the rabbit's level of admiration from the original story, it still left a bitter feeling behind.
...
Meanwhile, Ishtar was currently rushing back toward the Pleasure Quarter.
The distance between Ganesha Familia's banquet venue and the Pleasure Quarter was not especially far, but it still required some travel time.
And Elise's planned assault had taken place precisely within that brief window.
Boom—
Pitch-black flames descended from the sky, instantly engulfing Ishtar's carriage in fire.
But the people inside had no intention of surrendering.
This time, Ishtar had not brought many attendants to the banquet. In total, there were only around ten members.
Among them, only one was Level 3. The rest were all around Level 2.
At this point in time, that was already considered a fairly powerful force.
No wonder Ishtar was able to secure a place for herself within Orario.
But before Elise, it simply was not enough.
Every Level 2 had already been touched by the black flames. In mere moments, they transformed into human torches.
Only Ishtar herself and the Level 3 remained inside the carriage.
Bang!
As expected, the Level 3 immediately made the correct judgment upon seeing the situation outside.
She blasted away the roof of the carriage in one strike and escaped together with Ishtar, preventing the black flames from spreading onto them.
But what awaited them next was something far more terrifying.
"What's going on?"
Having only just landed outside the carriage, Ishtar still had not fully grasped the situation.
It was only after she saw the Level 3 of her Familia collapse onto the ground that she finally understood.
"So the attacker's target from the very beginning... was me?"
At this point, every member of Ishtar Familia around her had already fallen.
If not for the fact that their souls were still glowing faintly, Ishtar might have believed they were already dead.
Slowly, Ishtar raised her head, intending to memorize the face of the attacker.
If she could make direct eye contact, she might even be able to charm the assailant into serving her.
However...
"What the hell is that thing?"
Hovering in the air was a humanoid figure obscured by what looked like layers of mosaic distortion.
The sight was deeply unsettling. Ishtar could not make out what lay beneath it.
"Damn it! Damn it! Get up already, you useless trash!"
Furious, Ishtar screamed at the people lying on the ground.
But it was useless.
Even after using her charm, her Familia members remained unconscious.
"I refuse to die here! I still haven't enjoyed enough of the lower world! As long as I can reach that place...!"
Watching the distorted figure slowly drift toward her through the air, Ishtar finally abandoned all hesitation and turned to run.
As long as she could return to her Familia's headquarters, no one would be able to harm her.
But Ishtar now possessed nothing more than the body of a mortal.
How fast could she possibly run?
Before long, she found herself cornered in an alley.
Feeling the cold wall behind her and watching the approaching mosaic-like figure, cold sweat began running down Ishtar's face.
"Whoever you are, if you spare me, I can absolutely give you a reward you'll be satisfied with!"
"Money, women, even my own body—I can give you anything!"
Yet the only response that came from the distorted figure was a soft laugh.
"Heh... you really look pathetic right now, Ishtar."
That voice caused Ishtar to freeze.
Not because she failed to recognize it.
But because she knew it far too well.
The person she had always regarded as her greatest enemy.
"Freya!!!"