Three Months Later…

  Three months had passed in Orario, a span of time that felt both fleeting and moal.

  With the arrival of spring, the city transformed; warm breezes rustled through budding trees, and the air was filled with the melodious chirping of birds.

  Flowers bloomed, and is buzzed joyfully, heralding a season of renewal and growth.

  Yet, beh this vibrant surface, a pall of gloom hung over Orario, suffog the joy the season typically inspired.

  The Evilus, that insidious fa of chaos aru, had grown bolder i months.

  Their heinous activities surged, leaving a trail of fear aation in their wake.

  The city, often a bastion of adventure and hope, now bore wito unpreted violenbsp;

  It was as if the very essence of spring had been tainted by their malevolence.

  On a particurly harrowing night, the city was alight with fmes as a factory dedicated to processing magic stones was engulfed in chaos.

  Thick plumes of smoke spiralled into the sky, darkening the stars above.

  The sounds of panic filled the air as citizens fled from the inferno, their shrieks mingling with the horrifying ughter of those who sought to plunge Orario into disorder.

  The air was filled with the acrid stench of burning flesh mingled with smoke, casting a shadow of dread over the city.

  As the bze threateo spread, endangering nearby streets, the unmistakable csh of ons pierced through the cacophony, a rallying cry for order in the face of chaos.

  “Gaaaaah!!” The final scream of an Evilus thug reverberated through the night.

  A bded b whirled through the air, cutting down adversaries with lethal precision, while ice spears shot forth, cleaving through the ranks of chaos.

  “Lyra-san, that’s the st one!” Vasiliki called out, her breath ing in quick bursts as she surveyed the aftermath.

  Lyra nodded, her gaze sing for her captain.

  “Alise, warehouse number 3 is clear!” she shouted, her voice cutting through the tumult.

  “Move on to number 4!” Alise’s voice rang back, clear and anding.

  “Take Vasiliki, Iska, and Maryuu with you to clear out the se,” she added, already direg the flow of battle.

  “Sure thing,” Lyra replied, the urgency of the moment propelling her forward.

  “Well, you heard her, let’s go!” she instructed her team, each of them rallying in the face of adversity.

  As they sprioward the arget, fmes tio lick the edges of the factory, casting long shadows that daninously.

  “Use ice to freeze the enemies and ter the fmes,” Lyra anded. Vasiliki sprang into a, juring a path through the chaos with her ice magic, freezing adversaries in pce, while the others dealt the finishing blow as they advanced.

  ‘Ugh, they sure are w me to the bone. Draii will have to pensate me for this,’ she thought, a hint of exasperation mingling with her resolve.

  Draco had temporarily assigned her to the Astraea Familia while he and the Bahamut Familia tackled the enemies and the fire that had spilled into the streets.

  Alise and the other members also advanced behind them, fog oragglers as they approached the factory's core.

  “Kaguya, Ryuu, go ahead and ehe main force,” Alise anded as they arrived at the heart of everything.

  Kaguya, a raven-haired woman a striking scarlet kimono, and Ryuu, a blonde elf donning a cloak and mask, sprinted forward.

  “Our captain really loves to keep us busy,” Kaguya remarked, her tone a mix of exasperation aermination.

  Ryuu offered a subtle nod, her expression unging.

  “Don’t fall behind!” Kaguya urged, pig up her pace, her swlinting in the firelight.

  Despite their slender physiques, the two girls surged forward with a grace that belied their size, slipping into the ranks of the Evilus with deadly precision.

  The Evilus, their milk-white robes, were taken aback by the ferocity of the assault.

  Kaguya’s sword sliced through their defences, while Ryuu’s wooden sword cracked against bone.

  One by ohe foes fell, their numbers dwindling in the face of the two skilled fighters.

  Though the evilus outnumbered them by a lot, the oute seemed iable.

  Soon, the st of their foes fell to Ryuu’s wooden sword.

  Kaguya, exhaling a despo sigh, raised her hand to her cheek.

  “How disappointing,” she muttered, a flicker of frustration in her eyes.

  “It’s perplexing how these wretched weaklings inflict such suffering.” she remarked.

  Beh her posed exterior, Kaguya grappled with a growing anger, haunted by the faces of the is nearby who had fallen victim to the evilus’ cruelty.

  At that moment, a shadow suddenly detached itself from the chaos, a man with madness gleaming in his eyes.

  He emerged from hiding, his magic crimson sword raised high.

  “Dieeeee!” he screamed, a desperate frenzy driving him forward as fmes erupted from the on's tip inte ball, expanding ominously toward Kaguya and Ryuu.

  This was defihe instrument used to cause the ret fires.

  “It’s an ambush” Ryuu cried out to warhers.

  Instinctively, Kaguya and Ryuu leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the fiery ball. The fmes roared, a chaotice that threateo engulf everything.

  Luckily they mao avoid it, and hoped that the others behind them did too.

  “Oh no… Alise!” Lyra screamed, the colour draining from her fabsp;

  Wheraced the path of the attack, it turned out to nd where Alise had been standing just moments ago.

  “Quick, Vasiliki, put out the fmes!” Lyra instructed, but Vasiliki remaiill.

  She had been one of the first to react, trag the path of the attad Alise minor support with her ice magic, but Alise had seemed to manage just fine on her own.

  Cecil had taken a earlier than Vasiliki as she had been closer, so Alise was mostly safe.

  The evilus man watched in glee, his shoulders heaving with every breath.

  However, before he could relish his success, time seemed to stop.

  The fire parted, and a figure emerged from the sea of fmes, unharmed.

  “B-but how? Impossible!” the man stuttered, shaking with rage.

  Before him stood Alise, casually bing her fihrough her long red ponytail.

  “ime you attack with fire, make sure your target isn’t the ‘Scarlet Harnell,’” she jeered, her hand on her hip and a smug grin on her fabsp;

  Vasiliki, the evilus man, and some of the Astraea familia girls were stunned into silence by her remark, while others nodded in uanding.

  ‘By the gods, isn’t she embarrassed to state such a thing out-loud?’ Vasiliki thought, trying her best to maintain a ral expression.

  “The fmes of evildoers leave no marks on my fake aiful skin,” Alise added nontly.

  ‘Ah, I see why Draii doesn’t like her,’ Vasiliki thought, stifling a ugh that threateo escape.

  “Alise, your clothes are on fire!” Lyra yelled, breaking the silenbsp;

  “Put it out, or we’re going to see a lot more than your fair skin!” she added.

  Startled, Alise quickly noticed the fmes lig at the hem of her clothing.

  She frantically extinguished the fire, struggling to show no hint of embarrassment as she faced the evilus man again.

  “These things happen; failure is the mother of success! Now, I am oep closer to perfe,” Alise decred with a straight fabsp;

  Vasiliki couldn’t hold bay longer and burst into ughter.

  Alise, however, paid no attention to her and tio stare at the evilus man, waiting for him to respond.

  “That’s a lot of words to avoid admitting you made a mistake…” Lyra ented.

  “Hmm, it must be o cover all those inve fws with optimism,” Kaguya chimed in.

  “I won’t hear another bad wainst Alise,” Ryuu interjected, defending her.

  “Try ing up with something to vince us,” Lyra retorted.

  “Y-you!” the evilus man struggled to speak, raising his sword, his face flushed with anger, breaking the lighthearted atmosphere.

  The Astraea familia wasn’t taking him seriously at all.

  “Oh, you were listening to that!” Alise addressed the man with a bright smile.

  “Shall we do our introdus then?” she asked her familia members, excitement bubbling in her voibsp;

  She had been eager to showcase this to someoher than their goddess and the Bahamut familia; it was an act meant for the eyes of the evilus.

  ‘Don’t tell me they’re about to do that,’ Vasiliki thought, c her fa shame, even though she wasn’t part of it.

  “Protectors of the weak,” Alise began, and the others kly what to do.

  “founders of the strong and weak, Arbiters uered and uned, weighing all atop the impartial scales of truth and w.”

  Alise was immediately fnked by her familia members—elves, humans, dwarves, pallum—all young girls, yet their eyes burned with a united passion for justibsp;

  “Our wish is order, our every dream a smile. Our backs as shih the wings and sword of justice.”

  They turheir backs simultaneously, their cloaks fshing the emblem of their familia: four sets of wings and a sword resembling a set of scales.

  It was a symbol of justice, synonymous with their goddess's name.

  “We are the Astraea familia!” they shouted in unison.