"Heh, forced? No, no, no, Maria is so pure, so beautiful, how could she ever do something like that!"
"It was you... you, you piece of trash, you lured her into corruption! Ugh... what a shame, my Maria... now she's become a devil too..."
"I'm sorry, Maria... but you and him... you have to be purified."
"No! Darling! I don't want to die! I don't want to...!"
"No, no, no, no, no, no...!"
"Hehe!"
The hidden trigger clicked.
A pillar of fire roared skyward, and two neighboring shops on the street were blasted clean off the ground!
A fresh black-robed figure stepped slowly out from the shadows of a street corner, gazing at the sea of flames with a soft, low chuckle.
"My dear sister Maria, rest easy now... go in peace, you and your ex-husband, and your current one. As for the child you had with our brother... I'll raise him well, see him grow up properly."
"I hope you all enjoy yourselves in the Heavens."
Another black-robed figure flickered out from a corner. He gave a sinister little smile, turned with sword in hand, and once again plunged into the chaos deep in the streets!
...
Fighting erupted across one battlefield after another, and Orario's already gloomy sky filled with smoke and firelight!
The relief forces from both Freya and Loki Familia had been intercepted and cut off en route ahead of time, and on top of that, the staggering combat strength their enemies displayed had dragged them into a grueling fight.
The Dis Sisters, as blood relatives, understood each other perfectly. Fighting in tandem, they could easily punch above their level. Even with Hedin and Hogni working together, without support from the other Einherjar, they would still be at a four-to-six disadvantage, and that was without considering the sisters' dangerous magic and curses.
And on Loki Familia's side, things were even more cursed.
Twelve Spirit Soldiers, each equivalent to Lv.5, made their first appearance and caught the Familia completely off guard. Even though these mindless things couldn't match genuine Lv.5 fighters in actual combat ability, their numbers gave them an overwhelming advantage.
Against the Loki relief force, which had only a single Lv.5 in its ranks, that was more than enough. Any lower-level fighter careless enough to let a Spirit Soldier land a blow would likely be gravely wounded in a single exchange.
And this was exactly why Basram had the confidence to block the entire squad on his own.
With both reinforcement forces from the city's two great powers anticipated and intercepted on the road, the only ones left who could mobilize large-scale troops were the military police of Ganesha Familia and the allied army made up of the various mid-tier factions.
Modi, Soma, Hathor, Set, Mani, Apollo... the warriors of every familia set aside their usual grudges and were already locked in fierce combat with Evilus soldiers and zealots all across the city.
Even the overlord of the Pleasure Quarter, Ishtar Familia, sent out a token handful of people as a show of support.
On the logistics side, everything was running at full tilt as well.
The medical teams, built around Freya Familia's Andhrímnir and Dian Cecht Familia's healers, and the forging factions under Hephaestus and Goibniu, were all busy at their various strongholds.
In this moment, the whole of Orario ran like a wound-up machine, racing along at full load.
In the attic of a tall building somewhere, a window stood wide open.
Two figures draped in broad black robes stood quietly, gazing out over the city engulfed in war.
The tall, burly one of the pair kept his eyes fixed on the center of the venue the entire time.
"Heh. Seven, eight years, and Orario's already fallen this far. Truly pitiful."
"Then again, it's exactly this kind of environment that forges the truly strong. Take that wild boar kid from Freya's house. He's grown up already. Looking back, all those beatings he took weren't for nothing after all."
He rubbed his stubbled chin, his gaze turning amused.
"Hm, Lv. 6? No... he's already at the point where he's just one Great Feat away from stepping into your league and mine."
Before he'd finished speaking, the slender, strikingly curved gray-haired woman beside him cut in coldly:
"Our level? Heh... even within the same level there are gaps. You don't get that?"
"Even the two of us, facing a calamity like that, could only scramble to hide and scrape by. Let alone these half-baked ones now?"
With that, she stopped paying any mind to Zald, who was still tracking the wild boar kid by his presence, and slowly opened her eyes, revealing mismatched irises. Her gaze swept past the clamor and landed precisely on one figure among the Demeter group that had just joined the gods.
"Let me see with my own eyes just how much you've grown over this stretch of time."
"I hope... you won't disappoint me."
"Otherwise... I wouldn't mind stepping in myself and disciplining you personally, with my own hands."
Zald shuddered and warily backed a few steps away from the witch.
Discipline him personally?
He knew better than to provoke her.
...
At the center of the venue beneath Babel, the White Tower.
Leon and his group kept Goddess Demeter shielded in the middle as they fought their way through the panicked crowd, cutting down more than ten of Evilus's lunatic believers, and finally arrived, shaken but safe, at the position held by Freya, Loki, and Astraea.
Watching the Demeter group arrive late, Loki, who had been restlessly observing the battlefield, folded her arms, narrowed her crimson eyes a touch, and sidled up grinning to needle them:
"That's so you, Demeter. You take your sweet time with everything!"
Freya's lips curved as well. Her gaze drifted lightly over Leon, Persephone, and the others, and she picked up the thread in a soft, gentle tone:
"Demeter has always been this easygoing, completely unlike me... Sometimes I do envy you a little."
Demeter only answered with a faint smile and didn't take the bait.
Lately Demeter Familia had been drawing a bit too much attention, and right now she had no desire to stand out any more than necessary.
Fortunately, the two goddesses Astraea and Artemis walked up side by side at that moment, conveniently drawing everyone's attention away.
They glanced around, exchanged a knowing look with the other gods, then spoke up softly:
"Well, now that all of us dead weight who need the children's protection are gathered, then..."
Demeter shot Leon a discreet look. He met it in silence.
Just now, when we were talking it over, who was it that said they didn't want to show off?
Whatever. If anyone's house had outstanding talent, who wouldn't want to show it off in front of their friends?
Leon understood the mindset perfectly, because he loved to show off too.
He hadn't, before, because his strength hadn't been there yet.
But now?
Leon flicked his coat, strode forward, and advanced to meet the Evilus forces closing in on the venue.
He casually drew his staff and gave his wrist a shake.
With his steady steps, figure after figure split off from his side like phantoms and solidified. By the time he stopped walking, ten identical Leons stood there in the field!
The striking sight seized the attention of every god, as well as Ottar, Riveria, Adi, Alise, Kaguya, and the others!
"...Frost Armor!" x10
Protective buffs complete, Leon's performance officially began.