It was happening again.
All of Evilus's recent attacks were primarily aimed at inciting pure chaos.
They would appear suddenly, kill indiscriminately, and destroy buildings and streets. This was exactly the reason why the city's public order was rapidly deteriorating.
The common folk did not know if the same terrible thing would happen to them tomorrow.
Right after Valetta escaped, the next location was immediately attacked.
After years of laying low, although Evilus now lacked a significant number of mid-tier and high-tier combatants, their lower ranks had swelled to a considerable size.
This massive scale allowed them to employ a strategy of attacking multiple locations simultaneously, then retreating decisively after causing a certain amount of destruction.
In contrast, the city's military police consisted only of the Ganesha Familia and the Familia of Justice, Astraea.
Although other Familias had joined the city patrols, they were only temporary assignments, and they were far from adequate in terms of reaction speed and overall experience.
The scene was a complete mess.
Alise called upon the Adventurers present to immediately begin rescue efforts.
The dusty air was filled with an unceasing, interwoven chorus of crying and wailing.
Rayleigh pushed aside a collapsed stone wall, rescuing a trapped mother and daughter.
The little girl hid tightly in her mother's arms, trembling uncontrollably from the fear.
Seeing this, Rayleigh gently activated Kaidō.
He extended a single finger and tapped the little girl right on the forehead. Her eyelids immediately grew heavy, and she soon relaxed, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Witnessing this gentle magic, the girl's mother bowed to Rayleigh in deep gratitude.
Rayleigh quickly helped her back up.
The more he used it, the more he realized just how miraculous Kaidō truly was.
It did not just heal physical injuries.
Kaidō also had numerous other practical functions, such as restoring a person's Reiatsu, soothing the anxious mind, and slowly mending the damaged soul.
Depending entirely on its application, it might even be able to successfully treat deep psychological problems.
The members of the Astraea Familia were all beautiful girls with an incredibly high level of approachability, and the traumatized people they rescued quickly began to relax in their comforting presence.
But in this sudden attack, there were also many tragic victims.
The cruel members of Evilus had struck with terrible decisiveness, delivering fatal blows that either pierced the heart directly or quickly slit the throat.
Their vicious attacks were so precise, it was almost as if they knew exactly where their targets were located ahead of time.
Thinking deeply about this unsettling fact, Rayleigh could not help but consider the dark possibility of a hidden mole on their side.
This specific food distribution relief effort had been decided upon strictly by the upper echelons of the Guild.
Evilus had clearly known the exact location well in advance.
Orario was definitely not a small city.
Even with their large numbers, if Evilus had not known the target location beforehand, even a desperate carpet search would have taken them a while, and they would have been discovered long before finding it.
Who could the traitor be?
Where were they hiding?
Could it be someone working inside the Guild itself?
Or a member of the Demeter Familia?
Or perhaps someone from the Ganesha Familia or the Loki Familia?
'Hmm? Who is that?'
Just as Rayleigh was lost in his serious thoughts, a familiar figure entered his line of sight.
It was Erebus!
No...in this disguised form, he was called Erin.
Erin was currently helping a small child to his feet, comforting him gently.
He was very close to them. Upon discovering a God lingering at the dangerous scene, the Elven girl hurried over.
"Lord God, it is very dangerous here, please... huh? Lord Erin?"
She had just met him not too long ago.
Ryuu had certainly not forgotten this strange God.
Seeing Ryuu appear before him, Erin smiled to himself.
This was all perfectly within his calculations.
"Ah, it is the little Elf of justice I met last time."
"...Hello." Ryuu was not very good at dealing with him.
She offered a stiff, unnatural greeting.
It was Erin who spoke next.
He watched the child, now full of life again, safely run off, and he spoke with a wide smile, "My, my, so helping the weak is truly this pleasant and fulfilling. No wonder... it's so very addictive."
"Huh? What are you talking about..."
"Haha, I have just come to understand it. Your 'justice' is not without compensation. It comes at a hidden price." Erin laughed with sheer delight, his body actually trembling from the force of his unrestrained smile.
"A price?"
"That's exactly right. This power that safely places you above the weak, is not that sweet sense of superiority is the true reward?" Erin wore a knowing expression, as if he had perfectly seen through the entire mechanism of her heart.
"You! What did you say?" Ryuu was instantly angered by Erin's mocking words.
That kind of talk, it was a complete negation of her, and a negation of the Astraea Familia justice.
It was as if he were loudly saying that everything they did was nothing more than the arrogant pity of the strong for the weak, that they were merely enjoying the pathetic sight of the weak groveling in gratitude.
That kind of sick, twisted notion was not the pure justice they upheld at all.
Seeing Ryuu so easily provoked, the corners of Erin's mouth lifted a few more degrees into a smirk.
Just as the Elf seemed about to verbally explode, a warm hand suddenly appeared on her head.
Rayleigh appeared right beside Ryuu with a calm grin, gently patting her head.
Ryuu completely froze!
But the familiar, comforting presence quickly told her it was Rayleigh.
But this was very strange.
She felt absolutely no repulsion towards Rayleigh touch!
No, it was not that she ever disliked Rayleigh.
It was an incorrigible, deeply rooted trait of the entire Elven race.
Mysophobia.
Elves possessed an extremely severe sense of personal cleanliness and found physical contact with anyone outside their own race completely unbearable.
Even a mere brush of the skin could cause intense revulsion, or even a literal allergic reaction.
Only those truly acknowledged by an Elf could ever touch them safely.
It was precisely because Ryuu could not stand this strict arrogance of her own race that she had left the home forest for the outside world, eventually arriving in Orario.
And Alise was the very first person she had fully acknowledged.
Taking that meaningful connection as her chance, she happily joined the Astraea Familia and gradually opened her guarded heart.
But she had also realized something important over time.
Her own deep "arrogance" seemed to be the most severe of all.
To this very day, only a tiny handful of people could touch her without her feeling a strong aversion, and not a single one of them was male.
She had been on a team with Rayleigh for months.
Because Rayleigh was very gentle and highly observant, he had deliberately maintained a respectful physical distance between them.
The few, extremely rare instances of contact had always been buffered through layers of clothing.
A gesture this direct and intimate was likely the very first time.
And she felt absolutely no inner resistance at all!
No... in fact, a hidden part of her was actually a little bit happy about this warm contact!
"Lord God, could you please not provoke my dear little Elf with your cunning words? Unlike your turbid self, she is very straightforward and incredibly sensitive."
Ryuu turned to look at Rayleigh and clearly saw that although he had a polite smile on his face, that smile was genuinely terrifying!
When Erin saw him appear, the smile on his face remained, but the actual mirth in it completely vanished.
It was a fake smile that did not reach his eyes at all.
His narrowed eyes opened a tiny crack and a sharp, calculating gaze fell heavily upon Rayleigh through the slit.
"My apologies. I was just curious about something," Erin said slowly. "I really wanted to know what justice truly is. I just did not expect her to react so strongly."
"Is that so? To think you have lived for hundreds of millions of years and still don't know something so simple. It seems 'omniscient' is just a polite compliment for the Gods then," Rayleigh replied smoothly.
"Haha, no offense intended. If you are the one asking this particular question, you should understand, right? This is not me looking for trouble."
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