Astrea Record: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Tales of Heroes - Volume 3 - Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

A Smile Unknown to All: Twilight Answer

The monster was no more. Its final cry seemed to equal a mother’s grief and rocked the Dungeon floor. Then its huge body began to dissolve before exploding in a shower of ash. Black sand, painted crimson by the flames, fluttered in the air like snow, painting the eighteenth floor in ephemeral colors.

“…Did we win?”

It was Neze, battered and broken, who spoke first. She seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

“Yes…we did,” answered Lyu.

“Victory is ours,” added Kaguya.

The ash gently settled on the floor, leaving no doubt that Delphyne was well and truly gone. Astrea Familia paused, uncertain if they should believe it, before finally erupting into cheers.

“We did it!!”

“Well done, everyone!” cried Celty, running over to celebrate with her allies on the front ranks.

Lyana let out a deep sigh. “It was touch and go for a while there…” she muttered.

“Is everyone okay?” asked Maryu, checking up on her collapsed friends.

Iska fell flat on her back, utterly exhausted. “I just want a baaath!” she groaned.

Everyone rejoiced. Some even had tears in their eyes. Astrea watched from a distance, smiling at the sight of her triumphant children.

Meanwhile, Aiz was standing alone, her armor in tatters, when Riveria approached her.

“Aiz,” she said.

“…Riveria.”

The high elf was just as beat-up as she was, and her robes were torn in several places. Aiz looked up at her guiltily, until…

“Ow!”

Without another word, Riveria brought her fist down on the girl’s head. And she didn’t stop there.

“Oof! Bah! Ouch!”

Again and again, her delicate fingers produced the most unbelievable of sounds against the young Aiz’s head. Blue flames seemed to spark in her jade-green eyes, and Lyu and Celty trembled in fear at the apparent madness of their elven queen.

At last, Gareth stepped in. “Now, now, Riveria, that’s quite enough,” he said. “I think if Aiz is going to learn her lesson, you need to speak to her, no? Besides, all this beating is going to stunt her growth!”

At last, the furious elf loosened her fists.

“Owww…”

Aiz clutched her head with both hands, tears forming in her eyes. Riveria huffed with exertion, then finally reached out her arms. Thinking she was in for more punishment, Aiz flinched, but the next thing she felt were Riveria’s warm arms around her shoulders, and the elf’s soft cheek against her own.

“R-Riveria…?”

“You idiot, Aiz. Never do something so stupid ever again.”

“…Okay, Riveria… I’m sorry.”

At Riveria’s motherly words, Aiz softly closed her eyes, her head buried in the high elf’s stomach. She awkwardly raised her arms and wrapped them as far as she could around Riveria’s waist.

The heartwarming scene put a smile on Gareth’s face. A little distance away, Lyu was also watching, when Alize walked over.

“All’s well that ends well, right, Leon?”

“Yes… It’s finally over.”

Then all of a sudden, Alize seemed to trip and clung to Lyu’s side.

“A-Alize?!”

“I’m tired, Leon… Can you give me a piggyback?”

“I don’t think I can, Alize. I’m worn out, too…”

Her cheeks reddened, and the elf girl mustered a smile. Alize was smiling, too, her eyes closed like she was asleep.

“Hey, Leon,” she said. “Let’s go visit Adi’s grave after this.”

“…Yeah.”

“Let’s go see Leah, and all the adventurers who gave their lives for us.”

“…Yeah.”

Leon tried to stop her smile from turning into a frown, but a single droplet still ran from her sky-blue eyes and stained her cheek. Alize’s slender arms tightened around her shoulder.

“…That’s it, then.”

Evil stood watching justice from afar.

There was no smile on his lips, but no anger or sadness, either. It was as if he simply accepted the way things were. Like he had reached the end of a truly moving play and was still basking in the afterglow.

At that moment, a second god appeared.

“Yes, Erebus. This is the end.”

The dark god turned to see Astrea, clad in her pure-white robes.

“Good has triumphed, and evil has fallen,” she said.

From behind her came her eleven followers, while Gareth, Riveria, and Aiz appeared on the opposite side, trapping Erebus. Loki Familia, Astrea Familia, and the escort from Hermes Familia. All eyes were focused on the lone enemy king, stripped of his last line of defense.

“Excellent work,” he said, grinning. “I played the part of evil to the best of my ability, but in the end, your justice and persistence won the day.”

There were no more tricks up his sleeve. No more means to alter the board. Yet even now, the cornered god hardly seemed to care about his predicament.

“I’ll admit it,” he said. “You win. Nobody likes a sore loser.”

Contrary to his words, it didn’t feel like Erebus recognized his loss at all. He stood calmly, one hand on his waist, under the scornful gazes of Lyra and Kaguya.

“You’re talkin’ real tough for someone who’s about to be mincemeat,” said the former.

“I do hope you’re not expecting us to just forget about all this and let you go after everything you’ve done?” added the latter.

“Oh, good heavens, no. But what kind of evil would I be if I pleaded for mercy now?”

The girls seemed about to lose it, but Erebus only smiled back.

“Go ahead,” he said. “Hate me. For what greater joy is there for evil than to be reviled and hated?”

““Grh…!””

Lyra and Kaguya scowled with fury, and some of the other girls stepped forward, but Loki Familia bade them stay.

“We are but mortals,” said the high elf. “It is not for us to judge your actions… We’ll leave that to your fellow gods.”

“Your evil deeds end here, menace,” added the dwarf. “Have you any last words?”

Erebus looked blank for a moment, then answered.

“I do have a request, if you’d be so kind.”

“What is it?” snorted Gareth.

“I wish for you to send me back, Astrea. It is only right that evil should meet its end at the hands of justice.”

Astrea stared back at him but said nothing.

“And as for where it should be done,” Erebus went on. “I’m thinking somewhere high up, surrounded by the endless sky. Somewhere quiet, where the two of us can be alone, without these meddling mortals around to disturb us.”

Astrea’s followers were not amused by the brazen demands of their captured prey. “Y-you’re joking!” Lyra exclaimed.

“Are we sure we don’t want to take a swing at him?” said Kaguya, balling her fist.

“Wow! I’m amazed!” said Alize. “I knew he was arrogant, but this is ridiculous! This is beyond evil at this point; gods are a different breed!”

“Please stay quiet,” Lyu cautioned. “You’re not making it any better.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” said Erebus.

“What now?” tutted Riveria with spite.

Erebus turned and looked out off the cliff.

“Let my lovely follower go,” he said. “You don’t have to help him; just leave him.”

“!”

“Maybe the monsters will get him, maybe not. Either way, you’ll have done your part. So, just let him go.”

The girls were aghast. They wondered if the god might still be plotting something, and didn’t agree to his request right away. But far away on the ground, Vito looked up at his dark master.

“…E-Erebus…?”

Cut to ribbons by Kaguya and left to die, there was no way he was escaping the dungeon without a miracle. Erebus stared at him, then turned to face Astrea once more.

“He’s only one guy,” the dark god insisted. “What’s the worst that could happen? Then again, if you’re burning for revenge, I understand.”

“…Fine. We shall grant your request,” said Astrea.

“Oh, how benevolent. I knew you’d see it my way.”

With that, Erebus walked off past Astrea.

“Let’s be off then,” he said. “Evil to the very end.”

The adventurers turned and glared at him, but, restraining their various emotions, they calmly escorted him toward the surface. Hermes Familia surrounded him, while Riveria, Gareth, and Aiz followed.

Only Astrea Familia hung back. After a short while, Lyra kicked a stone in anger.

“Godsdammit!” she swore. “That guy pisses me off!”

“I don’t think I’ll ever find it in myself to forgive him, no matter what Lady Astrea says,” agreed Kaguya. “Every time I look at him, I think of all those he’s taken from us.”

The other girls clenched their fists or stared at the ground, silently echoing her words.

“Perhaps this is what it means,” said Lyu, “to fight evil instead of joining it.”

The elf girl found it hard to breathe. To her, this was more than a simple triumph. Victory had come with its own difficulties.

“………”

Only Alize stood silent as the god left, as if searching for a truth that as yet eluded the others. Astrea, too, said nothing, and only cast her eyes downward.

Delphyne and Alfia were no more, and Erebus had been taken into custody.

Once this news spread to the surface, Orario’s protectors let out a cheer that rippled through every part of the city. Adventurers celebrated, while gods breathed a sigh of relief. Any remaining Evils had either fled the city or gone into hiding underground, and there were not enough of them to stage a meaningful counterattack. The rumbling from below had ceased, too, signaling an end to the worst of the fighting.

The dark, ashy clouds finally cleared above Orario, bathing the city of heroes in the light of sunset.

The rejoicing continued. By nightfall, the civilians had been let out of their strongholds, and they took to the streets in celebration. Strangers hugged one another, and everyone praised the adventurers who had fought so hard on their behalf that their weapons and armor were almost broken.

The adventurers shed tears for those they’d lost; their brave comrades, and the nameless heroes who had come before and given their lives.

Eventually, joy turned to rage, and people flocked the base of Babel to bear witness to their foe’s execution. Central Park was teeming with so many people that not everyone could fit there, and some had to climb atop buildings to get a good view.

Atop the tower stood two gods: one of justice, and one of evil.

“It’s the first time I’ve come up here, you know,” said Erebus, scratching behind his earlobe. “Just look at that view. There can’t be a better one in the whole city, am I right?”

The night wind ruffled his jet-black hair. Even from his position at the center of Babel’s rooftop, he could see much of the lamplit city beneath. Beneath those lamps stood the people of this fine city, eagerly awaiting his death.

“…I suppose I do have one, tiny complaint,” he said at last, returning his gaze to the two figures ahead of him. “Hermes, my old friend. Why are you here? Come to make sure I don’t weasel my way out of this?”

“Something like that,” the messenger god replied. “Sorry I couldn’t leave you two alone, but hey, pretend I’m not here, and you got exactly what you asked for.”

Under his watchful gaze, Erebus shrugged. Then Astrea silently approached him.

“It’s just the three of us now,” she said. “Everyone else is down there watching us.”

In one hand, she held a silver straight sword modeled after a set of scales—a weapon that looked extremely out of place in the hands of one so benevolent as she.

“The blade of justice,” said Erebus. “Of judgment. Why, it’s almost as beautiful as you are.”

Then he spread his arms wide.

“Do it,” he said. “Make it quick. Don’t think you get to torment me just because I’m evil. Even I feel pain…and I wouldn’t be caught dead screaming like a woman.”

He grinned. To the very end, he seemed to regard justice with a sense of smug superiority.

But Astrea did not frown in anger, nor did she offer any judgmental words. She only regarded him for a moment, then spoke.

“First,” she said, “I have something to ask you.”

“Ohh, you do like to keep me on the edge, don’t you? What could you possibly want to ask of someone as evil as me?”

Erebus received his answer soon enough.

“What is justice?”

“………”

That was the moment the dark god’s smile vanished. His eyes flew wide, and he stared at Astrea with pure, unmitigated shock.

“Astrea! What are you…?”

Hermes was just as surprised. But Astrea went on.

“You kept asking us that question, didn’t you? What is justice? How far does it go? And if we know, then we should prove it to you.”

Ever since the day he first appeared before Lyu in the form of Eren, Erebus had been demanding to know the true form of justice. Even after his grand reveal, he still came to Lyu, seeking her answer. He’d asked Lyra, Kaguya, and even Astrea herself about this concept, which lay at the far opposite end of the spectrum of morality.

“It’s almost as if,” said Astrea, “you were guiding us. At least, that’s how I saw it.”

“………”

“And now your work is done.”

Erebus remained silent and expressionless as Astrea spoke.

“Because you have your answer. You’ve seen them fight. You’ve seen them rise.”

At last, Erebus gave a twisted grin.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about, Astrea.”

“Oh, no, Erebus. You’re not talking your way out of this one, I’m afraid.”

Astrea smiled sweetly.

“We can always do this down there, in front of all those people, if you prefer?”

“…Are you really a goddess of justice?” Erebus sighed. “Because right now, you seem more like a hunter, like that Artemis.”

Astrea’s threats caused Erebus to wear a frown for the first time.

“That’s rude to her,” Astrea said, still smiling. “She’s far more innocent and pure than I am.”

“I think you’re both probably equally bad,” said Hermes, off to one side.

A bead of sweat worked its way down Erebus’s temple, and he let out a resigned sigh. “I should have known you wouldn’t let me keep my dignity.”

Compared to the smile of evil, this one was altogether different.

“I am glad you feel that way,” said Astrea. “Consider it punishment for all the trouble you’ve caused.”

“…I should have asked someone else,” said Erebus, looking into her sweet yet mischievous smile.

Her eyes were the same shade as the starlit sky above. Erebus lifted his head and braced his eyelids against the wind, awaiting the moment he would pay the price for his sins.

“Hrgh… Hrgh… Hrgh…!”

One man huffed and puffed his way up the seemingly endless stairs. His wounds only partially healed, Vito trained his eyes on the top of Babel.

“Grh… My…master… Erebus!”

Having escaped the Dungeon using his hidden passage, Vito emerged on the streets of Orario, careful to escape detection by its jubilant adventurers. He sneakily made his way to the tower before slipping inside.

He had failed to stem the bleeding completely, and the arm that Kaguya had sliced off was still missing, but Vito pushed himself on to be by his dark master’s side. However, it was not to save him from the blade of justice.

“What are you doing…? What were you thinking…?”

Down on the eighteenth floor, when the two had locked eyes at the very end, Vito had seen something. A look in his dark god’s eyes, saying, Live.

He needed to ask Erebus what it meant. Was he not evil? Was his cruel and callous nature not precisely what had charmed Vito in the first place, and driven him to sacrifice so much when he refused to serve anyone else?

Vito had to know what it meant. Though his body felt like lead, he dragged himself on, hurling himself up the countless steps, until at last, he reached the rooftop and saw his master standing beneath the starry sky.

“!!”

“Tell me, Erebus. As the goddess of justice, I would like to hear what you think justice is.”

Seconds passed. The wind blew. Beneath a sea of stars, Erebus opened his eyes.

“…You told me there was no such thing as absolute justice.”

“Yes, I did.”

“I don’t think that’s right, Astrea. In fact, I think I see it now.”

Erebus looked her straight in the eye.

“Now that I have stood for evil, I think I finally understand.”

By living on one face of the coin, he understood its reverse. By standing at one extreme, he had managed to see the other side.

“Understand what?” Astrea asked.

“Justice,” said Erebus, “is a dream.”

Everyone listening was struck silent. Astrea, Hermes, and Vito, watching from the shadows.

“Our children come up with the funniest ideas. Take the Trolley Problem, for instance.”

Erebus began speaking of the decision he had once presented to Lyu.

“If you don’t pull the switch, you’re letting five people die. If you do, you’re killing one. A simple choice that they believe forms the basis of all morality, ethics, and justice.”

“………”

“But I don’t think they’re right. I don’t think that’s what justice is at all,” he went on. “Justice is not simply to choose. It is to take.”

“To take?”

“Yes. To see beyond two choices. To produce a third. To birth a million answers, and pluck from them a single one.”

The dark god nodded.

“Justice is to ignore the rules, to defy norms. To make the impossible possible. Sweep the scales aside. Whatever works.”

“Erebus…”

Hermes spoke his old friend’s name with a surprised yet sorrowful tone.

“That is what mortals call justice…and what we call heroism.”

That was Erebus’s answer.

Dreams and ideals lay far beyond the reach of even the most ambitious mortal, farther still than the gods themselves. Yet despite this, they still believed in them.

This was the true form of justice. Anyone could claim that dreams were just fantasy. Anyone could say they didn’t help address the true injustices in the world. Anyone could ask, If it isn’t possible, then why even try?

And yet the world needed dreams. Everyone knew this, and everyone knew what to call those who achieved them.

“And that was your true goal, all along?” asked Astrea,

“Heh, so you already figured it out, huh?”

“Yes. After our discussion on justice, I could hardly fail to notice.”

Erebus gave a weak smile. This whole farce had been in vain.

Then Hermes spoke, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.

“Erebus,” he said. “We may not have gotten along too well up in heaven, but I knew one thing for certain: even as the god of the underworld, you never liked seeing mortals die.”

Erebus turned his head to look at the battered and scarred city below.

“I wanted an answer,” he said. “A sign to show this world which way to go.”

“Erebus…”

“I wanted to see the light of our children, of a people who keep on chasing their dreams, no matter what hardships await. I wanted to see the heroes this world needs.”

That was the dark god’s true desire. That was the only thing he wanted.

“And that is why you chose evil,” Astrea said. “You led the darkness in an attempt to birth a future hero. You recruited Zald and Alfia to put Orario through a trial.”

Together, they had deceived thousands, sacrificed their allies, and in the end, themselves. Erebus had cast aside his compassion and put Orario through a gauntlet. This had been the goal all along, from the onset of the Great Conflict, right up until the final showdown.

“Was there no other way, Erebus?”

“I’m afraid not, Hermes. You know that as well as I. Zeus and Hera are gone, and in spite of the covenant, the promised time fast approaches. Time will not wait for us. The hands of the clock keep on moving.”

What he spoke of, only the gods knew. And so only they could truly sympathize. Hermes voiced no objection, but looked down at the ground.

“Perhaps Leon didn’t find her answer in the end. Perhaps none of them did. But that’s okay. It’s still okay.”

“………”

“Because I believe the light of hope awaits them, at the end of their journey. And once they find it…I have no doubt they’ll pass it on.”

Erebus’s voice sounded gentle and kind, a far cry from his primordial darkness. It sounded like the soft swaying of wheat stalks in the twilight glow of evening.

“You were right, Astrea. I’ve caused a lot of trouble. In the end, that’s all I wanted.”

He shot them one last mischievous smile.

“…You sent countless lives up to heaven. You selected your champions and presented them with trials. You transformed good and evil into a foundation for this city’s future.”

Astrea calmly listed off the god’s crimes.

“That was your will,” she said at last. “That was your justice.”

Erebus only grinned.

“That wasn’t justice,” he said. “Like I said, justice is a dream. This was nothing more than the whims of a capricious god. There’s a name for that, and it’s evil.”

The dark god had claimed so many lives, and he wasn’t about to let Astrea have her way. What he had accomplished was neither proud nor noble—it was despicable. All his sins were his own. All the people’s hate was his to bear. There was no whitewashing the things that he had done.

Erebus was intent on being branded as evil to the very end.

“Is that so? Then, as the goddess of justice, allow me to pass my verdict.”

Astrea took up her sword of judgment, and without compassion or mercy, laid the dark god’s heart bare.

“You,” she said, “are a necessary evil, not absolute evil.”

“You are a stepping stone that will raise our children toward heights they might never reach. You are the shadows that work alone, reviled by all. Our children may never understand you, the other gods may mock you…but I will never forget your sins.”

The goddess’s voice was solemn as she enumerated the dark god’s offenses.

“…You’re ruthless, you are,” said Erebus with a grin. “I wanted to go out like a badass, and here you are making me sound like a fool.”

“I’m afraid I must have missed the part where that was my problem.”

“Heh. Yeah… You got that right, at least.”

Erebus couldn’t help but laugh, seeing the sweet smile on Astrea’s lips.

“I’ll say it again: You’re a fine woman, Astrea. I wouldn’t mind waking up next to a goddess like you.”

“Well, I would, Erebus. You’re far too contrary for my tastes.”

“Ha-ha… Damn, you’re really gonna do me dirty like that, huh?”

Then Erebus turned to the other god present.

“…Hermes,” he sang. “This is why I asked Astrea to bring me up here. Don’t go blabbing to others about what you saw here, all right? This is for the three gods…and one human.”

He turned again. To the top of the stairs, where his sole follower stood.

“!!”

Vito reeled with surprise. He had heard the god’s whole confession, believing they were all unaware of his presence.

But Hermes didn’t even look in Vito’s direction.

“All right,” the god of boundaries said. “I promise. After today, I’ll forget everything I saw and heard here. It will be unwritten, absent from both our Oratoria and that of our children.”

“Thank you…my friend.”

The two gods exchanged no more words than that, as though none were needed between two so closely knit as they. With no more regrets weighing on his mind, Erebus turned to Astrea.

“End it, Astrea. For real, this time.”

He lifted his arms gently, welcoming her sword in his breast. Astrea closed her eyes. Not to doubt or reconsider what she must do, but merely to grant a moment of calm.

“Just tell me one last thing,” she said, looking back into his eyes. There was no good and evil now—just one god speaking to another.

“Do you love this world?”

A shooting star raced across the sky. The night wind whistled. Erebus watched it all, as the breath of the world rustled his jet-black hair. Then he turned his back on it all, and smiled.

“Of course I do, Astrea.”

“I love all our children.”

It was a smile unknown to all, beside the three who shared the rooftop with him.

“………”

Astrea cast her eyes downward. When she looked up again, it was with the determination necessary to carry out her duty.

“Erebus, you will face judgment for your crimes.”

There was no last will, no sore words, no apology.

Right up until the blade fell, there was only the smile of one committed to evil.

On that day, another god was sent back to heaven. The whole city watched a golden pillar of light pierce the firmament and rejoiced. The evil god who spread death, struck fear into the populace, and garnered so much ire was gone.

They would praise the blade that struck him down and ended the reign of absolute evil.

But the goddess would never forget his necessity.

He never asked for pity.

He never asked for praise.

What he did was evil. The dark god had said as much himself.

Just as there were countless forms of justice, so, too, was his evil only one of countless many.

“Hrgh…hrgh…hrgh…! Erebus…you tricked me!”

The man’s screams bounced off the walls of the subterranean waterway.

“Absolute evil? Hah! Dreams? Hah! You knew of my defect and still you seduced me! Oh, how cruel! How barbaric!!”

He huffed and huffed, trembling with indignation. He ran, hair disheveled, through the muck before suddenly coming to a stop.

“Heh… Heh-heh-heh-heh! This isn’t over. Oh, not by a long shot! I swear on my hatred of the gods themselves that I shall see this world remade!”

He was crying. But as he cried, he laughed. He knew not why he cried, or even that he cried. He simply gave himself over to the ruinous urges seeking to control him.

“I shall see this world’s defects erased! Heh-heh-heh! Hee-hee-hee! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!”

“You’ll pay… You’ll pay… You’ll pay for this, Finn!!”

In the dark depths of a labyrinth of stone, Valletta cursed her defeat.

“I’ll never forget this pain…this humiliation! I’ll get you, Finn! Just you wait!!”

Valletta clutched her wounded shoulder, eyes wide like a wild beast. Her blood-soaked hand trembled with anger, feeling the brand left by her detested foe.

“Just you watch!!”

Only the walls of the man-made labyrinth heard her vengeful scream.

Evil persisted. It slunk back to the shadows, spread its roots, and prepared for the day it might once rise again.

Justice, too, went on, its dreams still far out of reach.

“Nonetheless…”

Astrea stood at Babel’s peak, looking out over the city. She focused on the lights dotting the streets and protecting every window. The lights of a people who had overcome their trials and protected their city.

“Keep searching,” she said. “Keep asking. Keep wanting. Keep on looking for real justice—one you can pass on to others.”

Braver and his comrades were there.

Warlord and his fellows stood strong.

And the followers of justice gazed at the stars above.

“I pray,” said Astrea, “That at the end of it all, the final hero will be born.”

Hope. Sadness. Order. Justice…and dreams.

The goddess thought of the future and swore a solemn vow.

“We will always watch over you,” she said.