That night, without any member of the Familia knowing, Elise slept in Astraea's room.
Perhaps the goddess had planned this from the very beginning.
Using an overwhelmingly forceful attitude, Astraea firmly kept Elise locked at her side, while Elise herself barely resisted due to feeling guilty...
It could be said that Astraea thoroughly experienced the sensation of having both body and soul purified by the Saintess.
Of course, Elise did as well. The goddess' soft and embracing chest was incomparable to ordinary people, whether in touch or warmth. It was truly the finest of the finest.
"Lady Astraea, it's so hot... could you not hold me so tightly...?"
Feeling the suffocating pressure against her face, Elise simply had no way to fall asleep peacefully.
Today's Astraea was far too forceful. Elise was genuinely afraid the goddess might do something irrational.
And the current situation...
Elise was practically curled up within Astraea's embrace, her face pressed directly against those two overwhelming masses, like a pedestrian getting struck head-on by a speeding vehicle.
Especially when that vehicle's headlights were extraordinarily huge and dazzlingly bright.
"Of course not, Elise." Astraea tightened her embrace even further. "Freya's scent still lingers on your body. Even after cleansing you again, I couldn't completely remove it..."
"Freya definitely planned this from the beginning. I absolutely cannot let her succeed, so you'll just have to endure it for tonight, Elise!"
Receiving the goddess' refusal, Elise felt deeply troubled.
Most importantly, Freya's Charm had actually awakened her masculine instincts. If not for the fact that her current body was female, she probably would have lost control long ago.
Seeing Elise's troubled expression, Astraea leaned closer to her ear and softly whispered:
"Do you want to try it, Elise?"
What did she mean?
Elise completely failed to understand Astraea's sudden question.
Only when the goddess awkwardly looked away did Elise finally realize what she meant.
"Do you want a taste? Although I don't know whether I actually have any, but... you're my child after all, so tasting the flavor of love should be fine!"
The goddess' crimson face already foretold that what followed would definitely not be suitable for children.
But how could the Saintess possibly lose to mere desire?
Elise had restrained her desires for more than ten years already. Close physical interactions with women were also common for her.
She could completely treat herself as a woman.
But the problem was that Freya had only recently used Charm on her...
In this regard, Astraea perhaps ought to thank Freya instead.
Otherwise, the goddess would never have succeeded so quickly.
So...
Although nothing was stated explicitly, anyone who understood would understand.
Elise had always been a pure and kindhearted good child, even earning the title of saintess outside.
The goddess greatly appreciated Elise's efforts and specially descended to the mortal world to feed her...
Cough! To bring her a delicacy absolutely impossible to taste in the mortal realm!
Congratulations to Elise for unlocking a new achievement!
...
The next day.
"Hey, did you see it? That pillar of light last night!"
"Isn't that obvious? With such a terrifying disturbance, even sleeping people would've been woken up!"
Today, the citizens of Orario were even noisier than usual.
Countless people crowded in front of the Guild, wanting to ask about the specific details behind last night's divine return incident.
However, the Guild merely comforted the people as usual and did not reveal any information publicly.
It was almost as if they had anticipated everything beforehand, with all the follow-up arrangements already prepared in advance, simply waiting for Ishtar's departure.
Such developments left countless people dumbfounded.
They seemed to understand something and stopped questioning the Guild.
Moreover, the attack on the Pleasure Quarter had been incredibly bizarre.
Aside from the Ishtar Familia's chief goddess Ishtar being forcibly returned to Heaven, there were surprisingly no recorded deaths anywhere within the Pleasure Quarter.
Yes.
Not a single person had died!
Even the Amazons engulfed by those black flames woke up in the morning with little more than their clothes burned away.
They had suffered almost no injuries whatsoever.
It was simply unbelievable.
Furthermore, just like those who escaped earlier, these Amazons also had their Falna sealed due to Ishtar's departure, leaving them in a state where they could convert to another Familia at any time.
Before long, these prostitutes would likely be absorbed by other Familias.
Since Ishtar was gone, their future paths would depend entirely on themselves now.
Perhaps this was actually good news.
At the very least, they would no longer be forced under Ishtar's orders to commit terrible deeds.
To be honest, many Amazons had never held favorable opinions of Ishtar anyway.
Abusing subordinates had been a common occurrence, and one careless mistake could easily result in death.
Now things were different.
With Ishtar gone, they could finally work peacefully within the Pleasure Quarter without fear.
After all, women in their profession never needed to worry about lacking valis.
Outside the Pleasure Quarter, countless Familia members, gods, and Guild employees had gathered.
"What a miserable sight."
Loki, who had come to watch the spectacle, sighed from the side.
Just last night, she had still seen Ishtar.
Who could have imagined that it would become their final meeting in the lower world?
After seeing the massive fire last night, Loki and Riveria had also returned to their Familia.
It had to be said that Loki Familia's members were extremely capable.
Loki quickly received a large amount of useful information.
Yet even after learning all of that, Loki still felt deeply shocked.
The pitch-black fire had burned throughout the entire night, only finally extinguishing shortly before sunrise.
Although there had been no casualties, every building within the Pleasure Quarter had been completely destroyed, reduced entirely to scorched ruins.
Black smoke still rose continuously from the wreckage.
The once incomparably prosperous Pleasure Quarter no longer existed.
The resulting losses were unimaginable.
Even rebuilding it would require an astronomical amount of money.
Most female adventurers and goddesses looked upon the scene with schadenfreude.
However, certain men and male gods clearly felt otherwise.
"Damn it! Who did this?"
"To commit such cruel acts against a sacred place like the Pleasure Quarter!"
"Lady Ishtar!"
There were many other similar cries as well.
Quite a few male gods even collapsed to the ground, pounding the earth while crying bitter tears.
"I knew this would happen."
Not only Loki, but many goddesses and female adventurers also watched the scene speechlessly.
Without question, these were the male gods and male adventurers who frequently visited the Pleasure Quarter.
Naturally, what awaited them was a merciless beating from the female members of their own Familias before they were forcibly dragged away under everyone's contemptuous gazes.
However, Loki did not leave immediately.
That was because a silver-haired figure had already arrived.
"This is rare. You actually came here, Freya..." Loki opened her narrowed eyes and stared seriously at Freya. "You did this, didn't you?"
Ishtar was no pushover.
There were not many gods capable of suppressing her.
And Freya just happened to be the most likely suspect.