The evil man grinned, he had a plan now. Alise and Neze continued to assault the evil dagger wielding man, however, it wasn't enough he was still WAY stronger than both of them. Alise had just recently gained her status and was currently fighting with brand new equipment, she had hardly any practice, and she was still just child sized. Neze was a werewolf, without a status, and struggled to keep up with high power attacks due to the broken hand.
The evil man on the other hand, was clearly a high level 1, with experience in fighting others. This was little more than an annoyance for him, though, the face kick from before took out one of his eyes, and the punch bruised his liver and kidneys. Thus he was put in a desperate spot, when he found his opening he pushed forward through the two girls, and ran in to attack the woman who'd called out earlier. He couldn't see who it was but he didn't care. "Die!"
In the moment, the clear lack of skill and ability became rather apparent in both Alise, and Neze. They had been staggered back, and injured with the evil man's charge forward. Neze had stumbled back against a crate, Alise had been completely knocked down to the ground & hit her head pretty hard. Both looked in shock and horror as the man was about to kill a goddess. Neze tried to move, Alise tried as well, neither could pull it off… They were forced to watch as it happened.
"Mommy!" Alise cried out, struggling to move.
Neze realized that the girl who came to rescue her would soon lose what she did, just because she helped. She howled again, pleading for help.
And just as the evil man's blade drew less than half an arm's length away from Astraea's body. A blur of silver, so fast, Astraea was the only one who managed to see how it happened. The evil man was now coughing up blood and reeling on the ground, arms, legs, and spine all broken… Shattered. Standing over the evil man was Shurry, showing a ferocious expression…
"Don't kill him just yet. He's going to tell us what's going on." Astraea ordered, hoping it would work out. This boy, he's incredible! Utterly incredible! Who's child is he?
Shurry looked up, ears flickering gently. "You? You feel like my other mommies do… You're a goddess right?"
"Yes…" She waited, thinking he was cute.
"Well, if you want answers from him… Might need to be quick…" Shurry noted, and then moved away, but the man didn't know much, and didn't last long. He did get hit with brutal efficiency from someone who's raw ability proved to be a good warm up for a level 7 after all… "Is the bad man broken?" He asked, poking the corpse.
"Yes, it looks like it. A shame we didn't get much from this… Alise, are you and that girl alright?"
Alise struggled, sitting upright. "It really hurts… But magic should-"
"Hmm? Neze I knew that that was your howl. What happened?" Shurry asked, worriedly walking up to the injured Neze.
She turned away, unable to bear looking at him. "They… They killed my friends… All of them…"
Shurry's eyes went bloodshot, in that very same instance. The very air surrounding him trembled at his anger. But, he remembered what one of the things Lyca had taught him… "I'll get revenge. But first let me heal you up." He said, clearly struggling to smile as he cast his spell healing all of Neze and Alise's wounds.
"Huh? It doesn't hurt anymore?!" Alise cheerfully smiled. "Hey there, my name's Alise, what's your name little wolfy, is it Shurry?"
"Yep! Are you okay?"
"I am now, thanks to you. It was so cool how you beat the bad guy down like that! How did you do it?"
Shurry tilted his head, very confused about that question. "I just did it? What else is there to say?" He asked rather curiously, and cutely.
The stunned silence of Alise and Neze was clear, and unbroken until the sound of someone giggling broke it. "Watching you children interact is adorable. I love it."
"Lady Astraea, was it? You're right, watching my nephew play around has been quite interesting." Lyca appeared from the direction of the orphanage. "As for the other matter, they were members of an organization known as Evilus, it's rare for them to act so openly in broad daylight, but it seems today was one of those rarities…"
"Oh my, If it isn't the renowned wolf of the Hera familia… Lyca the Lycan. So then, I take it that shurry here, a child of Zeus? He must be rather proud of him."
"Lady Astraea, it would be great if you didn't ask leading questions like that-"
"No! I'm Shurry, and I'm mommy Hathor's little boy!" Shurry declared, clearly not disturbed about sharing who he was.
"Oh? Well then, I'll have to send her my thanks for her child's treatment of my own's injuries."
"But, weren't you the ones who helped Neze? She's my friend. You helped my friend, so I helped you."
Astraea giggled lightly and then went back to a composed expression. "Even so, I can't ignore the treatment of my darling Alise's injuries."
"Let me join your familia!" Neze asked, with a fire in her eyes.
"And why do you want to join my familia?" Astraea asked, though this was a question that need not be answered with words, only an expression was needed. "And, what is Justice?" She asked.
Tripped up, Neze was about to stammer her words. "I… I lost my friends and family… I don't want that to happen again."
"Then why not join your friend's familia?"
"Because, as I am now, I'd only slow him down! I want to get stronger without relying on my friends, so they can rely on me!"
Astraea smiled warmly. "You're a good child. I'll give you my blessing, and help you to grow… To grow into the woman you want to be."
Shurry looked a bit sad, but also happy… From there, Astraea left with Neze added to her ranks. Shurry and Lyca waited to move, then Lyca told him about what happened in the other place they had smelled… He clenched his tiny fists.
"I want to go home now, Aunty."
"Alright, I'll make sure you get there."
…