Ishtar let out a low hum, then—
"Ha. That bitch Freya really is a brainless sow."
The dark-skinned goddess curled her lips into a faint smile.
"To think she'd let her 'strongest' piece come alone… I'll just charm her directly."
"When the one she treasured most—her so-called 'sworn little sister'—destroys everything she's built with her own hands… what a beautiful sight that will be."
Thinking this, Ishtar actually took the initiative and walked toward Lumine.
At the same time—
"Little sister, why have you come to me…?"
"Hmm?"
Lumine had no intention of listening to Ishtar's nonsense. Instead, she replied with interest,
"At a time like this, instead of thinking about running away, you're actually coming closer to me?"
"Without a doubt, that kind of inexplicable confidence is a fatal blunder—a move that'll cost you your life."
"Of course, even if you wanted to run, it would be useless."
As the words fell, an aberration occurred.
Under Ishtar's gaze, as the figure in her vision took slow, measured steps forward, the white dress she wore began to change.
Not just her clothes, but even the floral ornament in her hair gradually shifted in color—
Turning into deep, ominous hues that radiated pure danger.
This bizarre sight finally made Ishtar sense that something was wrong.
Fear took root in her heart.
Almost instinctively, she hurriedly attempted to activate her Charm on Lumine—
Unfortunately, just like the results of Aether's previous tests, Lumine shared a mental link with Renjiro.
She was completely immune.
At last, Lumine stepped right up to Ishtar, forcing the latter to retreat again and again.
Before long, Ishtar's back was pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window of the topmost room, with nowhere left to go.
"You—"
"Bang~"
Sword in her right hand, Lumine reached out with her left and clamped it directly around Ishtar's throat.
With only a slight exertion of force, the floor-to-ceiling window shattered, and the dark-skinned goddess was left dangling outside, her feet suspended in midair.
A goddess unable to use divine power was, in the end, no different from an ordinary person.
In that instant, Ishtar had wanted to suppress Lumine's every movement.
She didn't even have time to think—
Why is this blonde, golden-eyed girl immune to the Goddess of Beauty's Charm?
And then—
Her power failed to activate.
It was as if something—like a self-aware virus—had followed the direct contact between Lumine's left hand and Ishtar's neck, infiltrating her body.
In that very moment—
"W-what… what kind of monster are you?"
The dark-skinned goddess grabbed Lumine's left wrist, desperately trying to pry it away.
But everything was futile.
=======
The developmental capability of [Corrosion] manifested in this world for the first time.
Its essence, just as described before, was an ultimate virus endowed with consciousness.
If allowed to grow to its extreme, it too would become a form of Authority.
An Authority that could project one's own will onto external objects and control them.
At present, although [Corrosion] was only at the initial rank of "i,"
It was more than enough to deal with a mere ordinary person.
Divine power that couldn't be used might as well not exist.
What Lumine was doing now was simply her own version of what Antares had done before.
Back then, Antares could still be suppressed by the Moon Goddess's divinity.
But Lumine was different.
Thanks to Renjiro, just as she and Aether were immune to Charm, divinity couldn't suppress her either.
Because the former could even fabricate divinity itself.
And so—
"Me?"
A mysterious, profound, and terrifying smile curved across Lumine's face.
"I'm not telling you."
"Crack~"
As the black mist under Lumine's control spread across Ishtar's entire body, she did not hesitate—
And snapped the goddess's neck.
======
That night—
"Voom~"
A pillar of golden light shot straight into the heavens.
There was no doubt—this was Divine Protection.
Yet it was vastly different from the previous procedures of "return."
Because the dark-skinned Goddess of Beauty who ruled over the Ishtar Familia had entered the very fate that Artemis was once meant to suffer.
She had been killed.
Directly cast into a revival period that would last ten thousand years.
Perhaps, ten millennia from now, when Ishtar recalls everything that happened today, she might seek revenge once more.
But by then—
Who's to say?
Facing a fully matured Trinity, she might meet, in the truest sense of the word…
An absolute death.
=======
In any case—
At the same moment, in the Upper Levels of the Dungeon.
The Amazon warriors who had been confronting Renjiro, Vice-Captain Tammuz, and the cloaked woman all felt an extremely obvious wave of weakness wash over them.
Every one of them lost the power of Falna.
Their [Status] values were instantly locked.
For the moment, none of them understood what had happened—
Only terror and confusion remained on their faces.
Until—
"Oh my~ she really went and did it."
Renjiro spoke abruptly.
Immediately, he drew the attention of everyone present.
Facing the gazes of a group of enemies, Renjiro had no intention of explaining further.
In an instant, he issued a mental command, setting the Dungeon Giant Lizard pack beside him into motion, forming a counter-encirclement.
A group of monsters with potential Level 4 strength surrounding a group of ordinary people—
It couldn't have been easier.
And thus—
"I've waited long enough."
"It's time for my side to launch the counterattack."