CH. 287: Judgment

Ryuu had seen a lot of deaths after coming to Orario. Yet, Phryne's death gave her cold feet. The crimson spear toppled the best of the best armaments in Hephaestus's shop.

'It's not a weapon that was crafted by Hephaestus.'

Hephaestus always left her symbol on the weapon on a spot that could be seen easily. This weapon had no mark. If it was Hephaestus's creation, the three goddesses in the room wouldn't be so surprised.

'Just where did this come from?'

She couldn't wait to hear Asahi's story after dealing with this situation.

Meanwhile, Asahi shared a glance with Loki.

'Which trick is she playing now?'

Both had the same thought. Ishtar had been so arrogant until now. What changed so suddenly? Asahi was baffled.

Was she scared of him?

He looked into her eyes. There was neither infuriation nor darkness in the amethyst pupils.

Only fear.

"Please," Ishtar pleaded once again.

"You don't get off the hook for threatening us. Loki, do you want to do the honor?"

"Not here. The aftermath will half destroy this tower."

A golden pillar rises after a deity dies in the mortal world. The surge of energy disintegrated everything in its wake. All the people in the tower will die if they kill Ishtar here.

Ishtar's face turned pale. She got up and leaped for the exit. Alise dashed behind to catch Ishtar but Tammuz blocked her path.

"Leave my mistress alone."

Asahi was about to make Ishtar fall on her face with his telekinesis but Loki stopped him.

"Lemme!"

Loki chased Ishtar, her scarlet ponytail wildly swishing behind her. She nimbly overtook Ishtar, grabbed her hands, and pinned her down.

"Gotcha!" Loki licked her lips with a grin. "Always wanted to push down a goddess of beauty. It ain't so bad, yeah."

Ishtar clenched her jaw and struggled to break free. She was always the one to push everyone underneath her. Yet, here she was, under another goddess.

"It's not the time to be horny," Asahi shouted.

"Fine," Loki grumbled and eyed Ishtar on the verge of tears. "Jeez, what're ya cryin' for? It's not like you're dyin'. Do better up there, and ya might get another chance in a couple of hundred years."

Ishtar bared her teeth. "I don't want to."

Almost every god was like her, desperately clinging to the thrill and joy provided by the mortals. The Heaven Realm was all about a bored god talking to another bored god out of sheer boredom. A sheer cycle of not-so-fun life unlike the lower world, where everyone carried an unpredictable factor.

"I won't go before crushing that fake goddess of beauty!"

Ishtar shouted and shoved her knee in Loki's stomach. Loki scoffed and retaliated with a punch that left Ishtar dizzy.

"This should do."

Asahi nodded and observed the battle between Tammuz and Alise. Tammuz put up a somewhat decent fight against Alise. Then again, Alise's specialty was rapier, not unarmed combat. She easily blocked the flurry of punches and kicks aimed at her face and shin.

Tammuz grew frustrated. His mistress was getting ravaged by the trickster goddess while he couldn't do anything. After becoming level 4, Tammuz spent most of his time pleasing Ishtar. His senses had dulled considerably in the debauched life.

He overextended a jab, leaving himself open. Alise exploited the gap and shoved her fist in his abdomen. The strength of a level 5 lifted him in the air, knocking every bit of air out of his lungs.

Alise pulled back, and Tammuz collapsed on the floor, gasping.

The spectacle ended in less than two minutes.

Alise stretched her arms with a wide smile. "That felt good. I want more~."

Kaguya ignored her willful captain vying for attention and smiled at Asahi. "Nice job as always..."

Asahi found her smile a bit forced. He could feel the dissatisfied emotions through her eyes. His instincts made him sharper than before. Unfortunately, this wasn't the time nor place to ask about her problem.

Astraea took a long sigh. "Asahi… I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"We'll talk later."

Where did this wave of depression come from?

Confused, Asahi escorted the 'prisoners' down the tower. Ishtar tried to use her amazoness servants for help, but Asahi knocked them out before they even got a chance to fight.

People outside whispered when they watched Ishtar being escorted by Astraea Familia. They didn't elaborate on anything as the Guild handled these situations better.

The group made their way into the yard of the stardust garden. Astraea stood before Ishtar, looking at her with calm eyes.

"—Ishtar, you joined hands with the Evilus after knowing the evil they brought to the city."

Her voice lacked the usual warmth, instead, it carried dignity worthy of her title.

Ishtar squatted and covered her ears. "No. No. Stop!"

Astraea paid no heed to her tantrum and continued, "As a punishment of your crimes, I sentence you to die."

The words of judgment struck Ishtar.

"Noooooooo—"

Ishtar's shriek grew faint as a golden glow erupted from her body. The judgment of the deity blew her into particles.

A golden beam shot into the sky. The brilliant pillar radiated a mass of energy that made Asahi's instincts go wild. It wasn't an attack he would escape unscathed with his body.

Astraea chased the pillar with her eyes before a relieved sigh slipped past her. Six months ago, she had judged Erebus the same way. The God of Chaos loved the world, the people, and especially his children. But he had sacrificed everything to build his ideal world where heroes emerged again and pushed back the dungeon's threat. His noble intentions and chaotic methods didn't bode well for Orario, so Astraea extracted justice for the innocents.

She still felt a little bad for doing this to Erebus.

This time, however, there was only relief in her heart.

'Love changed me…'

She glanced at Asahi, who smiled back at her. She unconsciously returned a delicate smile.

'It's not so bad after all.'

Everyone in Orario was stunned until they saw the source—the home of the Goddess of Justice. Some cheered, some just smiled, while some wondered which god received Astraea's divine judgment this time.