CHAPTER 10
What I Learned: Twilight Answer
Red evening light leaked through the cracked stained-glass window, like blood mixed with tears. Lyu stood by herself at the center of the church, steeped in despair.
“Tell me, Leon! Make a choice! What will your justice be?”
The evil god’s question still rang in her ears. Her vision was distorted, like she’d fallen into a maze of broken mirrors.
She couldn’t breathe. It was almost like she’d forgotten how. The light pierced her eyes, but she couldn’t remember what it was or where she was standing. Her heart kept pounding, like it was trying to break out of her chest.
“Rest assured, Leon. This will be the last time I ask you about justice.”
The dark god smiled. Lyu was clutching at her chest, about to start hyperventilating, and her face was deathly pale.
“So hurry up. Give me your answer. Don’t wait for me to grow bored with you. You know what will happen to that girl if you do.”
“Grh…!”
As if on cue, an explosion painted the window in sharp shades of red.
Unbelievable plumes of smoke rose off Asfi’s body. It was difficult to believe that the scorched smell of skin and flesh was coming from her own body. She tried to regain her balance, only to remember that she had already fallen and now lay prone on the floor.
Her cloak had saved her life, but by now it had blackened and had basically disintegrated. It would not protect her from the next attack.
Asfi fought off the encroaching oblivion and forced herself awake. In her trembling arms, she gripped her whip.
“Haah… Haah… Haah…!”
Red drops of blood spilled from her lips as she panted, rising falteringly to her feet like a newborn fawn.
Olivas stood facing her, bathed in the bloodred of dusk, grinning.
“Adventurers always cling so stubbornly to life. You, girl, are no exception.”
Olivas gripped his magic sword and swung it mercilessly at the dying Asfi.
“Urgh!”
“Asfi! Dammit!”
Olivas toyed with his prey, intentionally avoiding the killing blow and instead blasting her along the ground. Falgar looked over toward where she lay, dashed against the rubble, but neither he nor anyone else in Hermes Familia was able to cut a path through the unending horde to reach her.
“Look at you,” Olivas sneered. “The sacrificial lamb, bleeding and burned, unable to even scream. I wish I could have this moment forever preserved in a painting, Andromeda!”
His body shook with an almost religious fervor. Then he turned and addressed the people around him.
“People of Orario! Do not avert your eyes! Gaze upon that which your cowardice has bought and weep! Let your cries be heard all across the city!”
The people were frozen in shock. They couldn’t even continue fleeing. All they could do was stare at the torment unfolding before them, their hearts and minds possessed by guilt and despair.
“Stop it… Stop it!!”
“Help her! Somebody help her!”
These were the two parents who had lost their young daughter.
“Grgh…!”
This was the man Ardee had spared.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee! Fools, can you not see that my allies hold your rescuers at bay? Her fate is sealed!”
Olivas had to try not to double over with laughter at the hopeless wails of the townsfolk. Their cries only fed the flames of his evil.
“There is no hope for any of you! This is the end, adventurer. After you, it shall be this city that burns!”
Framed by the cracks of the stained-glass window, Lyu saw her friend on the verge of death. That scene, painted in the shades of the setting sun, stole away what little determination she had left. Her heart filled with a despair she couldn’t shake. Another friend, about to be lost, just like Ardee.
“We stand at a crossroads, Leon. But don’t worry. No one’s looking, so choose.”
The god’s whispered tones were sweet and intoxicating.
“The one or the many. Your friend or the faceless masses. No one will know it was them you chose to forsake.”
A diabolical crescent etched itself into his lips as the evil god pressed the bouquet of ruin into Lyu’s unwilling arms.
Her heart raced. The world turned black-and-white, flashing rapidly between light and darkness. The crossroads approached. The time was nigh to make that terrible decision and see which way the scales fell.
“Leon,” said the mad god. “What is your justice?”
“I… I…! I…!!”
“She’ll come.”
While the scales of justice trembled, a second voice rang out. One that was not Lyu’s own.
“!!”
Lyu lifted her head. Erebus allowed his gaze to follow hers. The two of them looked through the broken window at a silent battlefield bathed in dusk.
“She’ll…come.”
Stained in the evening light, Asfi climbed to her feet.
“What?” said Olivas, wrinkling his brow.
“She will come. Our hope.”
Asfi stood at death’s door. It was hard to point to any part of her that wasn’t burned or bleeding. Her legs trembled, struggling to bear her weight as the blood drained from her veins. It looked like the slightest breeze would bring her down.
But her eyes shone bright. They shone with faith and determination, banishing the suffering and pain she felt.
“Leon will be here.”
When she heard the girl’s words, carried over to her on the wind, Lyu gasped.
“Leon?” sneered Olivas. “You mean Astrea Familia? Hah! Foolish girl! You must be mad! To think a messenger of justice would suddenly appear now, right when you need her? That’s the very height of folly! What could have possibly convinced you to spout such ridiculous claims?”
The evil lieutenant laughed, joined by his dark host. Their shadows stretched long and dark in the setting sun. Standing in their shade, Asfi closed her eyes.
“I know she will. Because…”
She looked up, and clutched her chest.
“If I can’t believe in Leon,” she yelled, “then what can I believe in?! Nobody else has given so much, lost so much, and hurt so much, all for the sake of peace!”
Asfi had seen it with her own eyes. She saw how Astrea Familia worked to keep the people smiling. She saw how Lyu kept on fighting, even when the evil became too great to bear.
No matter how loud the Evils’ laughter, the path of justice would never disappear.
“There’s no way I would lose faith in someone like that! That would be the same as losing my faith in everything!”
Lyu felt her fists quiver.
“A foolish hope! And still you cling to the false promises of justice! Look around you!” Olivas swept his arm in the direction of the terrified townsfolk. “Who among them can say they agree? Look at their faces! Not a one still holds trust in the justice you preach!”
In stark agreement with his words, the faces of the townsfolk were dark with despair. Among them were the young men who tossed stones at Astrea Familia, the woman who denounced them, and the parents of little Leah. They hung their heads in shame, as if now facing a trial for their actions.
“They rejected justice!” Olivas howled. “Why should it save them now?! Ha-ha-ha-ha! It shall not! And all of them know this!”
Olivas’s words rang true. Lyu stood in the crevice between agony and despair. She still didn’t know what justice was. She hadn’t reached her answer. And there were no stars to which she could turn.
And yet Asfi smiled.
“It doesn’t matter if they despair. It doesn’t matter if they falter in their faith. Those girls…will never forsake them.”
“What?”
Before Olivas’s puzzled gaze, before Lyu’s shocked eyes, Asfi’s mind dove into the past and recalled a powerful memory.
“Because forgiveness…is a part of justice, too. A dear friend once taught me that.”
“I’ve been thinking, Leon. Do you think forgiveness can be a part of justice?”
A memory of a story she had heard from the girl herself, about the time she defended a man who had erred.
“!!”
In the crowd, the purse snatcher tightened his fists as he thought back to that day.
“Aah… Aaah!”
Leah’s mother, who had heard those words straight from Ardee’s mouth, wept.
“If justice has hurt you, made you doubt, and still you find yourself wondering…then that’s the mark of a true believer.”
All the members of the Evils froze to listen to her words. Even Olivas just stood there, wide-eyed.
“That is the way of the righteous! Someone who still dares to walk the path of justice!”
Her voice touched everyone’s hearts. The people, the adventurers, the Evils, and even the god of primordial darkness. Erebus stood there in shock as a single tear ran down Lyu’s cheek.
“So yes, she’s coming. They’re all coming. Leon, our hope, is coming!”
Asfi’s heartfelt words rained down like a shower of stars, and before she knew it, Lyu was crying.
“Hmph! What nonsense. Enough of this, you’re only wasting my time!”
Olivas snarled at the unquenchable flame of determination in Asfi’s eyes. He raised his arm as if to bring a swift end to this idle distraction.
“Kill her, my brethren!!”
The Evils cultists all brandished their blades, descending on where Asfi stood, eager to grant her a swift death. Before she could think to stop herself, Lyu had started running. She leaped through the shattered glass window, exited the church, and cut down one of the cultists with her sword.
“Gaaagh!”
“What?”
“Leon!”
Both Olivas and Asfi cried out when they saw her, but Lyu barely heard their shocked voices as something took control of her. Her fingers gripped her sword. She swung, slicing through the crowd of darkness like a gust of wind.
“All alone, little girl?” Olivas laughed. “Did you come here to die?”
Sure enough, Lyu’s actions had solved little. She had chosen neither path set before her but had run straight from the crossroads instead. Soon, the evil god would make good on his promise and command his legions to put the innocent townsfolk to death.
All she was doing was acting on impulse. Even her brain was screaming at her, demanding to know what she intended to do with a heart still so full of doubt.
“Now, die!”
She heard Olivas preparing his magic sword.
“Leon!”
She heard her friend screaming her name.
“………”
Only a cruel death awaited her. Very soon, those flames would engulf her, leaving naught of her fledgling justice but—
“Roooaaaaaaaghhh!!”
The sounds of heavy footfalls. A voice trembling with fear. But an indomitable spirit. Before Lyu’s eyes, the flames that were about to consume her disappeared.
“…Wha…?”
All she could manage was that one, feeble sound. Someone had covered for her rash mistake. The purse snatcher. He had jumped in front of Lyu, arms outstretched, taking the blow meant for her. The smell of burning flesh accompanied a billowing cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, the man fell to his knees.
“Khrrrh!”
He was not an adventurer. No familia counted him among their ranks. He was just a criminal who had attempted to rob a god and been acquitted by Lyu’s friend. A petty thief who could only run away from a fight…or so Lyu thought.
“You… Why…?”
Lyu could barely keep her voice steady as she interrogated the dying man.
“I just wanted…to give somethin’ back…to that kid who bought it…”
The man didn’t even turn back, as if there were no face he could possibly show her that would be appropriate. Thus only his words told Lyu how he felt.
“I been thinkin’ how to do it…for a long, long time… Guess I finally saw my chance…”
“………”
Lyu noticed her own hands were trembling. Her breath caught in her throat, and she was steeped in a feeling she couldn’t quite explain.
The man tilted his head and looked up at the sky.
“Hey,” he said, as if speaking to somebody up there. “Did I repay my debt…to justice?”
Then he collapsed loudly. After that, there was no sound. Time itself stopped. Everything mixed together and melted away, leaving only a blinding white. A singular justice that went on and on in Lyu’s mind.
The next moment, she saw it.
In a field of golden wheat, dyed orange by the setting sun, she stood there, bathed in light.
“Leon.”
She was smiling. Just like she had been back then.
“Justice will go on.”
Those were the words that Lyu had learned from her. The words the grief and loss had caused her to forget for a time. That was her answer. Justice never died. Even if it wasn’t right at first, it could carry on in a different form. Just like how the man who Ardee saved had gone on to save Lyu, justice could endure and pass to someone new.
“Ardee…”
Lyu’s quivering lips spoke her name, even though she wasn’t really there.
And then what she had always wanted to tell her but never had the chance.
“Thank you…”
The evening light faded to nothing. The very last thing Lyu saw was the girl’s smile.
“That ordinary man…stood up for her?! The helpless…becoming the protector?!”
Olivas could not conceal his surprise. To him, the residents of Orario were nothing more than a convenient hindrance, bringing down the adventurers of Orario, as well as allowing him to satisfy his own sadistic desires.
Yet one of them had acted on his own initiative, to protect those who fought on his behalf.
“Does that mean…he believed in justice after all?!”
That was the flame that threatened to capsize evil’s rule. A drop of justice that shone in the all-engulfing dark. Olivas was right to fear it, for it was a sign the people’s despair was turning to hope.
“Leon… Ardee…”
Seeing the path her late friend’s justice had taken, Asfi quietly shed a few tears.
Lyu stepped in front of the fallen man, wiping her eyes and looking straight ahead with clear determination.
“Erebus,” she said. “You want to hear my answer? Here it is.”
With the god listening in the church far behind her, Lyu laid her heart bare.
“Justice will go on! Justice is the light of every star we leave behind, so that those after us can follow!”
Lyu’s powerful voice struck awe into the hearts of the adventurers, and their fingers tightened around their weapons.
“Even if our flesh and blood withers and fades, justice will never be silenced!”
Her brilliant determination, brought back from the brink of death, entranced the townsfolk and commanded their total attention.
“That is why I will never give up!”
Her voice carried to the church, where the evil god stood alone, grinning.
“I will fight against despair with my dying breath! Until all that I am is ash!”
Her voice carried to Asfi, who gave a fragile smile on the verge of tears.
“I will count each saved life a blessing and pass on my justice to all!”
Her voice rang in the eardrums of everyone present.
“I will never let justice die! That is my answer!”
Lyu looked now upon a new path. A path of light, crafted from the dust of fallen stars. Deep inside her heart, her friend’s dreams burned brightly still, banishing her hesitation. She stared unflinchingly at the minions of evil, who still weren’t sure how to respond to her resounding determination.
“Ha! Inspiring words, girl. Let’s see if you can live up to them!” growled Olivas, undaunted by her righteous message. Already recovered from his momentary upset, he transformed his scowling features into a hideous smile. “Look around you! Your honeyed words will not save them now!”
Sure enough, the situation looked dire. Asfi was at death’s door, unable to aid Lyu in the fight. Falgar and the rest of Hermes Familia were also on their last legs. Lyu stood no chance of turning it around on her own. And soon, Erebus would make good on his promise and slaughter the bystanders for Lyu’s failure.
So Olivas was confident, sneering at the lone elf who dared stand in his way.
“You’ve changed nothing, girl,” he said. “Soon you and all those wretched people will—”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” came a voice. “’Cause we’re here now.”
There were those in this city who could follow up on Lyu’s determination.
Lyu’s eyes went wide. Olivas gasped. Asfi clenched her fist, welcoming the moment she knew would arrive.
Everyone spun around to see the source of the voice. It came from high atop the city walls. Framed against the setting sun stood a single girl. Her sudden appearance shocked the Evils and adventurers both.
Olivas staggered. “Y-you!” he cried. “It can’t be…!”
Her flame-colored hair danced in the wind. And in a proud, strong voice, she declared, “Justice has arrived!!”
“The sound of battle has changed,” muttered Alfia. “Did somebody pass me?”
She stood on West Main Street, having suffered not a single scratch that would call her overwhelming superiority into question. She knitted her narrow eyebrows and pondered. Her opponent, Riveria, on the other hand, was battered and beaten, but she wore a triumphant smile.
“Astrea Familia!” she said. “I always knew you girls were resourceful, but I never expected you to be bold enough to take the walls while the bulk of the Evils marched into the city!”
Her keen elf eyes picked out the figures standing atop the fortifications. She had been watching them ever since they initiated their ambush, taking the walls’ defenders by surprise and using them to swiftly reach the northwest district.
“This must be your work, Slyle,” she said. “Your quick and decisive thinking reminds me a lot of our own prum!”
“Yeah. They got there so fast,” agreed Aiz, appearing beside her, also covered in cuts.
Alfia shook her head and turned to leave. “It’s pathetic,” she said, “that they can’t even hold their own positions without our help.”
However, Riveria and Aiz weren’t about to let her get away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Riveria called out after her. “Aren’t you worried what we’ll do if you leave?”
“If I help,” added Aiz, “will you let me cut up all the bad guys? I can do that and help at the same time, I promise.”
Riveria grinned at Alfia like a merchant beginning negotiations. “My long-range magic can reach the battlefield from here,” she explained. “I’ll probably damage the city in the process, but it’s already in shambles, thanks to you.”
Riveria was deliberately provoking her. But that didn’t mean what she was saying wasn’t the truth. If Alfia really wanted to uphold Erebus’s will, she couldn’t leave Riveria unattended.
“…Impudent woman,” she muttered before turning back to face the two adventurers, their staff and sword at the ready.
Meanwhile, on Northwest Main Street, Zald glanced over in the direction of Olivas’s army.
“I could butcher the two of you right here,” he said, “but it is already too late.”
He turned to look back at Gareth and Shakti, who stood on the brink of defeat, their weapons and armor all but destroyed.
“Eight years have passed since Zeus left the city,” he said. “I suppose even baby chicks grow up in time.”
“That may be true,” said Shakti with a fearless smile, “but those girls are special!”
Beside her, Gareth offered a grin as well. “Why not stand down and let us pass, Zald? It’s not like a couple of old soldiers will make a world of difference at this point.”
“I cannot,” came Zald’s reply. “Erebus instructed that no adventurer should pass, and I mean to uphold my end of the deal.”
With that, he pointed his slab of black steel at the pair. It was easily larger than a full-grown man. Gareth and Shakti both scowled as they saw the conqueror still intended to block their path.
“So then, what if I’m not an adventurer. Is that okay?”
At that moment came a voice. A clear, sonorous voice that cut through the thick tension hanging in the air. Gareth and Shakti wheeled around, and they both went wide-eyed with shock when they saw who it was, as did Zald.
“It’s you…” he muttered. Though the helmet covered his face, the surprise in his voice was obvious. He pondered a moment, and then…
“Very well,” he said. “Zeus always did harbor a fondness for you. In light of that, you may go.”
On his lips he wore a smile.
“I’m sure that font of evil will be pleased to see you…though I doubt he quite intended a meeting such as this.”
“Alize! Everyone!”
The elf’s voice cut through the evening sky as the members of her familia assembled before her. Some leaped from wall to wall, while others handled the long distance in a single drop.
“Leon!” cried Alize, running straight over to Lyu. “We came to get you!”
The other girls then gathered around her, each saying their piece.
“Finally found ya, you little runaway,” said Lyra, both arms behind her head. “You know, we busted our butts lookin’ for you. Anythin’ to say for yourself?”
“Apologies are weak,” added Kaguya, walking over with a modest smile and a graceful walk, before flashing Lyu a devious grin. “Show your repentance by acting as my peon for a week, you idiot.”
“Lyra, Kaguya… Gladly. I will make it up to you, whatever it takes!”
Seeing their two smiling faces, Lyu was filled with remorse…but more than that, with joy. A fire spread through her cold arms and legs as the other voices of her troupe joined them.
“We were worried about you!”
“Well, that cheered you up, didn’t it?”
Olivas froze in shock. “Astrea Familia?!” But soon his smile returned. “So what? One measly group of second-class adventurers isn’t enough to stop our army!”
The cultists let out a cry of triumph and swarmed the girls, attempting to overwhelm them with numbers.
“Hm,” said Alize. “We can’t have a decent conversation with all this noise. And there are people to save, too…”
The girl was undaunted by the oncoming army. With one hand on her hip, she puffed out her chest underneath her breastplate and cried, “Let’s do this, everyone!”
In her right hand, she pointed her blade, Crimson Order.
“Nobody else gets hurt! Your days of tormenting the weak are over!”
On her command, the other girls all brandished their weapons and attacked. Like the snap of a bowstring, or an outburst of emotion, they leaped into action with a singular cry.
“Haaaaaaaahh!!”
The two forces met. A swing of Lyu’s wooden sword leveled numerous foes in an instant, while Kaguya’s blade dispatched her enemies swiftly and silently. Lyra’s boomerangs swept the battlefield, denying the fanatical cultists the opportunity to martyr themselves, while magical bombardments mercilessly swept up the leftovers.
There was no hesitation. The girls moved as one. In each of their eyes shone the light of determination. All of them had realized one very important thing—that while they may not yet have their answer, they could still go on, guided by the light of the stars, walking alongside their undying justice.
Their offensive was swift and devastating. Like a surging river, they collided with the Evils horde and forced it back in an astonishing display of flashing swordplay and booming magic.
“…They’re fighting,” said a man, one of the townsfolk, as he stared in wonder. “So fast…and so strong.”
“All…to protect us…?” asked another.
They were not combatants. All they could do was hide behind those who were. To see the adventurers fight so fiercely on their behalf moved them, and a sorry feeling worked its way up their throats.
“We don’t deserve this…”
The man recalled what that gray-haired young girl had told him. That each lost life was a burden the girls of Astrea Familia would never forget. Yet even so, they always strove to walk the righteous path. Blinded by grief, he and others had repaid their goodness with stones, and the guilt was almost enough to crush him.
It was then that a single war tiger approached.
“Hey, will you cheer them on?” he asked.
“Huh…?”
“It doesn’t matter what you did in the past. Those girls are fighting for you.”
It was Falgar, finally able to break through enemy lines, thanks to Astrea Familia’s timely arrival. Though too injured to fight, he addressed the crowd on the adventurers’ behalf.
“Please,” he said. “Lend them your strength.”
The young man started to cry. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes, and he choked.
“Get them…”
Then, with all his heart, he screamed the words he had been unable to say for so long.
“Go get ’em, Astrea Familia!!”
Following his lead, more and more voices erupted from the crowd.
“Come on! You can do it!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything we did!”
“Win this thing and come back, so we can give you a proper apology!”
Men and women, old and young. All added their voices to the chorus. At the center of them all stood Leah’s mother.
“…Honey, I think it’s time.”
“…Dear?”
“Our little girl may be gone…but we don’t have to hold it against them anymore.”
Her husband’s voice cracked as he spoke, and he fought to hold back his own tears.
“We were supposed to protect her…and we didn’t. We’ve blamed those girls for so long, but that isn’t what Leah would want… It’s time to make amends.”
The woman began sobbing, then broke down into tears. She fell to her knees, weeping.
“I believe in you… You can do it!!!”
At long last, she found it in herself to support justice again.
“My, how the tables have turned.”
Staring out of the window, Erebus feigned surprise. There was no smile on his lips this time, only a wide-eyed look.
“I’ll be. You really did it. There’s no arguing it. You forged hope from despair before my very eyes. Just you and your ten companions.”
There was nothing in his voice but pure admiration. For all his divine wisdom, even the god who claimed to represent pure evil could not perfectly know what was happening on the game board after it was flipped it over.
“So, Leon… Is this your answer?”
Erebus watched closely as the elf girl flitted like a gale wind between her enemies’ weapons, faster and stronger than anything else on the battlefield.
Then, in a flash, the evil god’s diabolical smile returned to his lips.
“If so,” he said, licking them, “I shall have to uphold my end of the deal. I shall not rest until every last bystander breathes their last.”
Erebus placed his hand onto the deserted railroad switch, ready to unleash a bomb-laden cart onto the rails and reveal to Lyu just what reward her answer had earned.
“Let’s see your precious justice carry on after this,” he said. “We’ll see how undying it is after a good old-fashioned massacre.”
“Before you do that,” came a voice, “do you think you could indulge me for a bit?”
For the second time, Erebus’s face was tinged with surprise. A pair of footsteps echoed on the wooden floor, and a figure stepped out of the darkened church aisles and into the light.
“…Astrea?” said Erebus, stupefied by her sudden appearance.
“Yes, Erebus. It’s me. It is good to see you again…though I suppose it was only a few days ago that I was last in your presence.”
Her walnut hair flowed like a celestial river, and her indigo eyes twinkled like the stars. Erebus gave a twisted smile, unable to hide his shock.
“Wait, you seriously came here? Alone? I knew you had moxie, girl, but damn! Ha-ha-ha, well, this I didn’t expect at all. Great job, O Goddess of Justice.”
Erebus did not ask how she had come here. He expected it was probably Zald who let her through the blockade. The neurotic Alfia was one thing, but Zald was precisely the kind of man to do it, too. He was keen-witted, honorable, and closely in tune with Erebus’s own wishes.
Astrea answered the dark god’s leering gaze with a stout, firm bearing.
“Of course I did, Erebus,” she said. “After all, it’s important to repay the favor of looking after my children.”
“Oho, well, I’m honored.” Erebus laughed. “But did you not think I might leap on you and plunge my knife between those ravishing breasts of yours?”
His eyes became a pair of upturned crescents. Erebus flicked his wrist, and as if by magic, a knife as black as night appeared in his hand. It was the very same knife that had sent so many gods to heaven at the climax of the Great Conflict.
“There’s no reason I kept you alive,” he said. “You could just as well have died that day instead of one of them.”
His eyes were filled with a pure and bitter bloodlust, as they were on the night he carried out his mass execution.
“Is that your evil, then?” Astrea asked. “To defend yourself with a blade against mere words?”
“…No, it isn’t,” said Erebus. Then, with a theatrical shrug, “Or at the very least, it isn’t my style. All right then, let’s talk. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, as well.”
“About justice?”
“Precisely. I wondered what the goddess of justice herself makes of all this. Just as an aside, you understand.”
His smile deepened. The deities of good and evil stood opposed as the sounds of battle rang out over their conversation.
“Let’s talk, god to goddess, while our children play at war outside.”
Raised yells shook the old rafters like distant thunder. Erebus listened as though to sublime orchestral music, then launched into his question.
“So, Astrea,” he said. “Answer me. What is it that mortals call justice?”
The question that Lyu and Kaguya had been so hard-pressed to answer. Astrea’s reply was comparatively simple.
“The stars,” she said.
“Huh?”
Inquisitively, Erebus arched a single eyebrow.
“It doesn’t have to be stars, either,” Astrea went on. “You see, there are many justices here on earth.”
“Very poetic,” replied Erebus, unconvinced. “But I’m not here to listen to you deflect the question. I don’t care what these mortals mistakenly believe. Which is the real justice? Absolute justice, if you will?”
But Astrea only smiled and shook her head.
“Listen well, Erebus. There is no such thing as absolute justice.”
The two stood, face-to-face, framed against the stained-glass window and the starlight magic of Lyu and her friends that caused it to light up in a kaleidoscope of different colors.
“If one justice ever reigns supreme, then the mortal world has failed, and our children will be forgotten. There will be no freedom; only tyranny, oppression, and control.”
“Isn’t that what you want? Just think: perfect order, no more wars. Everyone living in peace and harmony, just the way you like it.”
Erebus gave a slight, mocking smile, but Astrea flatly rejected his suggestion.
“There can be no peace through oppression,” she said. “All it does is establish a new power structure: one that justifies the violence of the oppressors. Eventually, submission becomes stagnation, and stagnation becomes regression. The whole world rots away into nothing.”
“But mortals don’t need that to hurt each other—just take one look outside. Why does it make a difference whether there’s one justice or many?”
“Because different ideologies can coexist,” said Astrea, giving a smile at last. “All those seemingly incompatible justices can join hands and work together…like they do now. Like those girls do. That is the light that we call hope.”
For the first time, it seemed that Erebus had no comeback. He stood there pondering what Astrea had told him, resting his elbow on his hand and cradling his chin like a child.
“I see… Stars, you say. Hope. A myriad of justices, working together, perfect for the imperfect mortals who call this realm home.”
He considered Astrea’s words courteously, turning them over in his head, muttering to himself and nodding along to his comprehension. There was a certain congeniality to his manner not unlike that of his alter-ego, Eren, and not at all how one would expect an emissary of evil to act.
However, Astrea stayed silent, for she already knew what he was going to say next.
“…But a patchwork justice can’t possibly give me the answer I seek,” he said. “What a shame.”
He turned back to her, flashing her a goading grin.
“Erebus,” said the goddess, leveling a serious glare. “Why is it you want to know about justice? Why do you want to know about the future of this world if your aim is to end it?”
It was the first time Astrea had asked Erebus about his motivations.
“Is that why you came here?” Erebus replied. “To ask me that?”
“Yes. I would like to know your divine will.”
“I see. Well, apologies,” answered Erebus with no small measure of exasperation, “but I’ve already answered that question for your girls. Ask them if you want to know, but I can’t promise you’ll like the answer.”
“………”
Astrea just stared at him in silence. Erebus gave a cynical grin back. For a while, neither of them spoke. Then, the sounds of the battle outside began to change.
“Not hearing so many weapons,” said Erebus, casting a glance through the window. “Justice must be nearing its well-deserved victory. I suppose we’ve been talking for far too long, haven’t we?”
Then he turned his back. “Very well,” he said. “Since you were so brave to come here all by yourself, there will be no slaughter today. Come, Vito.”
Erebus casually began walking away, and his unremarkable lieutenant slipped from the shadows. He had been standing guard the whole time, even when Alfia was there. As he rejoined his master, he gave the fickle god a sigh and a smile.
“Will that be all?” he asked.
“Yes, I think so,” Erebus replied. “It’s been an exceedingly worthwhile trip, and I got to meet someone I didn’t expect. Let’s head back. Tell Alfia and our troops to stand down.”
Abandoning his pact with Lyu, Erebus jovially made to leave, then at the door, he turned and looked back.
“Farewell for now, Astrea. The next time I show my face, it will be to usher in this land’s demise.”
With that, the evil god and his follower departed, leaving Astrea alone within the ruined church. With no one left to answer her, she asked a single question.
“Erebus,” she muttered. “What is it you want?”
“Hraaaaagh!”
Lyu roared as her sword struck home, shattering the magic sword in Olivas’s hands and leaving a deep gash in his chest. The impact broke bones and drew a spray of blood, knocking the man off his feet and into a pile of rubble.
“Grh!”
“Lord Olivas!”
One of his subordinates ran over to him.
“Lord Olivas, we must retreat!” they pleaded, helping their commander to his feet. “We cannot hold out much longer!”
Olivas wiped the blood from his mouth and glared back at Lyu with bloodshot eyes.
“I-impossible,” he growled. “Our force was clearly superior, so why…?”
Among the girls of Astrea Familia, minds and weapons unbending, it was Lyu who answered.
“Because of our resolve to believe in justice. That is why we won.”
“You sniveling whelp!! Curse you!!”
Olivas’s face became twisted with demonic rage. He clenched his jaw tight enough to shatter his teeth, then yelled, “Retreat!”
Humiliated, angry voices swept the crowd, and the evil horde turned and hastily left.
“Hmm, probably better to let them go,” remarked Kaguya, allowing her sword arm to fall limply by her waist.
“Yeah,” said Lyra, putting on a brave face despite her trembling knees. “Our side’s in no condition to chase ’em down, least of all you and me.”
“But at least we managed to save everybody,” said Alize, resheathing her sword and beaming like the sun. At that moment, a jubilant cry erupted from the townsfolk.
“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Alize turned to see that many were openly weeping tears of joy. Some were even smiling. The surviving adventurers raised their arms as if to say, “Good job!”—all sharing in the taste of victory these girls had won.
Alize smiled warmly, basking in the moment for a while, before walking over to Lyu.
“Leon.”
“Alize…”
It had barely been five days since the two last stood face-to-face, though each of them had changed so much in that short time that it felt as though they hadn’t seen each other in years. Both had been following their own path, questioning what was right and searching for justice.
“You asked me what kind of justice we all follow,” said Alize, as the other girls all looked on. “After you left, I kept on thinking about it… But it’s no use. I can’t come up with an answer just yet.”
Contrary to her words, the flame-haired girl wore a bright smile. And so did Lyu.
“Neither can I,” she replied. “Even now that I know what justice really is, I still don’t know what we can call our justice.”
“That’s the same as me, then!” said Alize, her face lighting up. “Let’s keep on searching together!”
“Huh?”
“For what we can call our justice!”
From a distance, Asfi heard the girl’s voice and smiled.
“Asfi, are you okay?!” cried Falgar, running over to check her injuries…but when he saw the mysterious smile on her lips, he paused. “…Asfi?”
“You were right, Falgar. I do know what needs to be done.”
Reminding her war-tiger comrade of the words he had once told her, Asfi spilled the feelings that were in her heart.
“I know who has to speak up. I know who has the power to banish Orario’s despair.”
It wasn’t the Braver or the Warlord. It wasn’t any of the other first-class adventurers.
“If our enemy calls himself evil, then only the girls of justice can raise the banner of hope.”
Falgar looked on in surprise while Asfi let her mind melt away at the sight of the setting sun.
“There is no simple answer to what is justice,” said Alize. “The more we keep moving forward, the more complicated it becomes. Different people, different times, different places—there’s no one justice that fits all. But even so!”
Alize raised and clenched her battered fist.
“Even so, we have to keep pursuing it! Even if the gods themselves make fun of us!”
With a defiant smile, she spoke the undeniable truth.
“Because the pursuit of an ever-changing justice is something only we ever-changing mortals can do!”
Back at the church, the girl’s goddess smiled.
“So when we die and go to heaven, let’s shove it in their faces! Tell them we found our justice! We may struggle, we may make mistakes, we may lose some fights, but we can tell them the answer we found and prove it with our entire lives!”
“Alize…” muttered Lyra, eyes wide in wonder.
“Don’t worry, girls! If I die first, I’ll come down from heaven to give you all a good poke!”
“Heh.”
Kaguya closed her eyes and chuckled.
“So keep on moving forward, without fear!” said Alize.
Her will was proud and strong. Her eyes twinkled bright. Her oath was solemn. Seeing Alize give her speech to the girls of Astrea Familia, she felt the stagnation vanish from her own heart.
“Alize…”
They could correct their mistakes. They didn’t have to choose the right justice the first time. So long as they weren’t afraid. So long as they kept moving forward.
This won’t be the last time I waver, I’m sure.
No doubt they would hurt again. Despair again. Lose their way again.
But the important thing was to continue their journey. The long, long journey in search of justice.
“Come on, girls, let us be born anew!”
A loud voice cut through the twilight, echoing in every corner of the city.
“Right here and now! Let everyone in Orario hear it!”
Over on West Main Street, Aiz looked up to the sky while a warm smile crossed Riveria’s lips.
“A song of light that cuts through despair!”
On Northwest Main Street, Gareth stroked his beard, and Shakti gave a fond smile.
“A cry of justice that brings new hope!”
Up on the roof of Guild Headquarters, Raul gazed on in wonder while Finn offered a look of respect.
“We follow our duty! We balance the scales! Until the day the stars claim us!”
The song of justice commenced.
A solemn oath to keep on pursuing the righteousness in their hearts.
The red-haired girl held her crimson sword of order tight.
“Be a fortress of law! An honest crown! A light that banishes evil! Protect your friends, connect your hopes, and entrust your dreams to them! Justice will go on!”
The words of that song were burned into the city and its people. They were etched into Lyu’s heart, never to be forgotten.
“When dark clouds blot out the sky, we must never forget the stars that shine behind them!”
The light of justice had been laid low by evil, but still it endured. Now, that light rose into the night sky once more, bathing the City of Heroes in starlight.
“In the name of our goddess! Like comets in the sky above, we leave our starry trails on this earth where’er we go!”
The adventurers filled the air with joyous cries.
The people wept openly.
And Lyu and her friends added their voices to their leader’s pledge.
“This I swear, on the sword and wings of justice!!”
Their voices shook the city. The hopeful cheers of the people could be heard on every street corner.
Somebody cried. “How can we see the stars when dark clouds gather to hide them?”
Somebody sneered. “Just like evil swallowed the justice we all took for granted.”
The girls smiled. “Then we will cut through the darkness and bridge earth and sky with stars.”
Despair was banished, chaos groaned, and light returned to Orario.
On that day, justice was reborn.
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