Inside the main office of the Ganesha Familia, filled with stacks of parchment and report documents, time seemed to stop ticking. The loud sobs echoing from behind the red elephant mask continued, breaking the silence in the most absurd way possible.
Dina and Vena, two Elf sisters whose abilities were acknowledged to be on par with Orario's top-tier adventurers, stood frozen. They, who were accustomed to responding to danger in mere milliseconds, were now completely paralyzed by the bear hug of the God of the Masses. Ganesha's broad shoulders shook violently. His tears dripped, soaking the two girls' clothes—a sight that had never even crossed their minds before coming to this place.
After a few minutes passed in a sanity-torturing awkwardness, Dina finally cleared her throat softly. She exerted a little physical strength to give herself room to breathe, then slowly held back Ganesha's sturdy arms to loosen the hug slightly.
"Lord Ganesha," Dina called out in the gentlest tone possible, maintaining her manners before the god who oversaw Orario's justice. "We are very grateful for your sympathy. However... if you don't mind, may we know what kind of story Lord Venti actually told you?"
Hearing that question, Ganesha took a deep breath, trying to stop his sobs. He released his embrace, stepping back while wiping the corners of his mask's eyes with a large handkerchief he pulled out from who-knows-where. The muscular god looked at them with a gaze that still radiated profound emotion.
"Venti told me everything last night through a letter," Ganesha said, his baritone voice still slightly hoarse. He walked over to his desk and picked up a parchment that appeared to be written in high-quality ink. "He wrote a tragic ballad. A tale of two innocent, pure flowers from an exiled forest, whose petals were forcefully torn away by a storm of darkness named Alecto."
Vena's eyes widened slightly. Her long ear tips twitched subtly. Pure flowers? Petals torn away?
Unaware of their reaction, Ganesha continued in a deeply passionate, theatrical tone. "Venti described your suffering in this timeline so beautifully yet heartbreakingly. He told of how your snow-white souls were chained inside a cave of despair, forced to swallow the poison of lies every day until your sanity eroded. How Alecto brainwashed you while laughing upon a throne of skulls, torturing you day and night not with iron, but with thorns of manipulation that tore at your conscience. Venti even wrote that every drop of your tears in the past froze into crystals of sorrow that supported the foundations of Evilus!"
Dina and Vena fell silent. They exchanged glances through the corners of their sisterly eyes, requiring no words.
On one hand, the core of the story was indeed true. The Dis Sisters' experiences in this timeline—memories they had absorbed amidst the Orariopiad battle—were indeed filled with brutal torture, manipulation, and brainwashing by Alecto. The Goddess of Vengeance had truly shattered their minds, turning them into bloodthirsty Evilus assassins.
But on the other hand, the descriptions Venti used were completely out of line. A throne of skulls? Crystals of sorrow? Pure flowers from an exiled forest?
Venti, with his natural talent as a bard, had spiced up the dark facts with hyperbolic metaphors and god-level dramatization. He transformed a report of criminal atrocities into an epic literary tragedy designed specifically to manipulate the emotions of anyone who read it. And seeing the reaction of Ganesha—who was notoriously soft-hearted and upheld high moral values—Venti's literary bait had been swallowed hook, line, and sinker.
Dina let out a faint, almost inaudible sigh. She had to admit, the god they served was a terrifying genius when it came to manipulating words and situations without ever having to lift a sword.
"We... appreciate your concern, Lord Ganesha," Vena finally said, choosing to ignore the bard's hyperbole and return to their main goal. Vena straightened her posture, staring directly into the eye holes of the red mask. "However, regardless of our past story here, there is one absolute question we must confirm with you as Orario's law enforcer."
The atmosphere inside the room slowly changed. The remnants of melancholic emotion evaporated, replaced by a cold, sharp seriousness.
"Is it really alright for mortals to kill a goddess?" Dina asked, her voice as cold as a sword blade freshly drawn from its sheath. "The laws of the lower world and those set by the Guild are very clear. For mortals to take up arms to kill a divine existence is a grave, unforgivable sin. Are you truly going to allow us to execute Alecto?"
Hearing the sharp question, Ganesha's posture instantly shifted. His shoulders, previously slumped from crying, now broadened and stood challengingly tall. His comical and theatrical gestures vanished completely, replaced by an absolute authority that reminded everyone why he held the title of Orario's God of Justice.
"By written law, it is absolutely unjustifiable," Ganesha answered in a low, chest-vibrating voice. He placed Venti's parchment letter back on the desk and looked at the two girls before him. "The rules of the lower world forbid mortals from forcibly sending gods back to Tenkai. It is a taboo. Violators will usually be hunted down by every faction and familia in Orario."
Ganesha paused his sentence, taking slow steps around his desk until he stood just a few paces in front of Dina and Vena.
"But of course, there are always exceptions within any blind justice," Ganesha continued. His eyes glared sharply from behind his mask. "I heard from Venti that you have inherited the memories of the Dis Sisters. You must know full well how devastated Orario's previous era was, correct?"
Dina and Vena only nodded slowly. The bloody memories of the Dis Sisters embedded in their minds were tangible proof of that dark era.
"In that Dark Era, and at its peak during The Great Feud which nearly brought down this city, the line between what is permitted and what is forbidden became extremely blurred," Ganesha explained, his voice heavy with the weight of history. "Countless gods and goddesses were forcibly sent back to Tenkai. Be it gods from the Evilus faction executed by the Orario alliance, or Orario gods murdered by Evilus assassins. The death of a god was no longer a foreign concept on the battlefield. The law cannot stand tall when the sword of despair is already at everyone's throat."
Ganesha crossed his muscular arms over his chest. "The absolute exception to that prohibition law only applies if the execution is carried out on the basis of justice, and is directly supervised by another god acting as both a witness and guarantor. If I, Ganesha, permit and oversee Alecto's repatriation, then your actions will not be murder. It will be a judicial verdict."
Hearing this logical and firm explanation, Dina and Vena felt a slight burden lifted from their shoulders. They did not want to tarnish their god's good name.
"Furthermore, the two of you truly came at an incredibly fortunate time," Ganesha added, his tone softening slightly. He leaned against the edge of his desk. "You should know that Alecto is not being held in an ordinary prison. She is secretly imprisoned in a high-security isolation cell in the Guild's underground dungeon. The public has no idea she is still in the lower world."
"Why did the Guild keep it a secret?" Vena asked, her brow furrowing slightly. "Considering how much chaos, suffering, and slaughter Alecto and her familia caused in the past, doesn't the Orario public have the right to know and demand her execution?"
"Precisely because of that massive-scale chaos, the Guild chose to keep her alive," Ganesha answered, his jaw tightening. "Initially, Alecto's secret detention was done purely for one purpose: to extract information regarding the remnants of the Evilus network, their hidden bases, and their funding and weapon supply sources. However, that Evilus goddess is exceptionally stubborn. Despite years of interrogation, she absolutely refused to open her mouth. She merely laughed and mocked the investigators."
Ganesha let out a heavy sigh, his eyes staring blankly toward the window showing the hustle and bustle of Orario outside.
"However, the situation has changed drastically as of late," the god continued. "When the remnants of the Evilus organization launched an attack and clashed fiercely with the Loki Familia a few months ago in the artificial labyrinth, Knossos... their main leader gods, Thanatos and Enyo, were confirmed to have been sent back to Tenkai. We received absolute testimony from the top brass of the Loki Familia regarding this."
This information surprised Dina and Vena. The Dis Sisters' memories did not cover recent events, but as former Evilus executives in this timeline, they knew how massive Thanatos's role was. Thanatos's downfall meant the backbone structure of Evilus had been completely shattered.
"With the return of Thanatos and Enyo, and the destruction of the Knossos facility, Evilus has most likely been totally eradicated and splintered into uncoordinated small cells," Ganesha explained. "For that reason, the Guild had actually agreed in a closed meeting to send Alecto back to Tenkai. Her presence in the Guild's cell no longer provides tactical value. Keeping her longer would only waste resources needlessly."
"Then, why hasn't her repatriation to Tenkai been carried out?" Dina cut in critically.
"The timing wasn't right," Ganesha shook his head slowly. "Orario has recently been hit by too many major anomalies in succession. Starting from the movement of the School District, then the Orariopiad festival which consumed the city's entire attention, not to mention the major incident of Bell Cranel's disappearance, and the Loki Familia's expedition crisis on Floor 60, followed by the Orariopiad Finals that just ended yesterday. The Guild was too busy handling administration. Our attention was divided, so Alecto's repatriation schedule kept being postponed indefinitely."
Ganesha straightened up, looking at the two girls before him with a faint smile behind his mask. "So, when Venti sent the letter last night and requested that the right to repatriate and execute Alecto be handed over to you to close the wounds of the past... Royman from the Guild and I immediately reached an agreement. You two are truly lucky. Had you come a month earlier, the Guild would have never allowed you to touch her. But today, you are the executioners who will finish our pending work."
Dina and Vena bowed their heads in unison, offering a sincere gesture of respect. Not only to Ganesha's justice, but also in silent admiration for Venti. Their seemingly lazy god, who was always seen drinking wine, had actually calculated the Guild's political momentum with pinpoint precision. Venti knew exactly the right time to strike the bureaucracy, utilizing the Guild's scheduling bottleneck to present a gift of legal vengeance for his foster children.
"We understand, Lord Ganesha," Dina said. "We are ready to do it."
"Good," Ganesha nodded in satisfaction. He walked toward the door and opened it. "Follow me, you two. I will escort you myself."
Dina and Vena stepped out, following Ganesha out of the office, walking down the long corridor of the Ganesha Familia headquarters illuminated by rows of magic stone lamps. The heavy footsteps of God Ganesha echoed against the stone walls, while the footsteps of the two Elves made absolutely no sound, stepping as lightly as a breeze.
As they walked down the spiral staircase to the ground floor, Ganesha looked back, glancing at them over his broad shoulder.
"Before we head to the Guild, there is one thing I want to ask," Ganesha said, breaking the silence of the corridor. "Have you two ever heard of the Prison City Burgen?"
Dina and Vena exchanged a brief glance. Both shook their heads slowly.
"Never, Lord Ganesha," Vena answered honestly.
It was only natural they didn't know. Before they were saved by Venti's wisp and given the Anemo Calyx, Dina and Vena in Venti's timeline were merely two outcast Elf girls exiled in the remote village of Hjaðningavíg. They were blind to the political map, the world's prisons, or Orario's judicial system. They only knew suffering, starvation, and discrimination.
Seeing their confused expressions, Ganesha let out a soft sigh and began to explain while continuing to lead the way.
"Burgen is a Prison City located far outside the walls of Orario," Ganesha clarified, his voice echoing softly in the spiral staircase. "That place is a hell on earth specifically designed to imprison high-profile criminal adventurers, dangerous fugitives, and of course... the remnants of the Evilus faction members."
Ganesha's pace slowed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He turned around to look at them directly.
"Almost all Evilus adventurers captured alive by the Guild or the Ganesha Familia are thrown in there indefinitely. That includes the remaining members of the Alecto Familia who once served as the executors of their goddess's cruel commands."
Ganesha leaned forward, looking at them with a gaze that tested their resolve. "Do you wish to go there? If your vengeance also encompasses the pawns who tortured you, I can arrange permission for you to enter Burgen. You can pass judgment on the remaining Alecto Familia members there."
The offer hung in the air, heavy and full of temptation. For many people tortured to the point of madness, eliminating every root and branch of the organization that destroyed their lives would be an absolute satisfaction. Ganesha was offering them a legal slaughterhouse stage.
However, Dina and Vena did not react with bloodthirsty enthusiasm. Their expressions remained calm.
Their minds drifted for a moment, accessing the dark memories of the Dis Sisters recorded within their souls. Those memories replayed the moments they were captured, bound, and dragged inside a caravan enduring brutal physical torture. They remembered the pain, the humiliation, and the absolute despair that paved their way toward madness.
And at the center of those early torture memories, there was only one dominating adventurer's face: Morgath. The Level 4 veteran adventurer who spearheaded Evilus's hunt to mentally break exiled Elves like them.
Dina and Vena's original memories overlaid the Dis Sisters' dark memories. They vividly remembered the day Venti's wisp arrived to bestow the miracle of the Anemo Calyx upon them. With that wind power, Dina and Vena had decimated Morgath's forces and killed the man with their own hands in Hjaðningavíg.
But the reality in this timeline was different. The Morgath in this timeline had also already been killed by the Dis Sisters.
The root of the physical executors who first ruined their lives was already dead. The remaining Alecto Familia members rotting in Burgen were nothing but errand dogs who had lost their fangs.
"No, Lord Ganesha," Dina answered in an extremely clear voice, devoid of the slightest hesitation. "We have no business whatsoever with the Prison City of Burgen."
Vena nodded in agreement, completing her sister's sentence. "We only want the true Executioner who held our puppet chains in the past, and that is Alecto."
Ganesha fell silent. He stared at the two Elf girls for a long while, searching for a sliver of hesitation or deception in their eyes. But all he found was extraordinary clarity.
Ganesha's lips curved upward, forming a smile behind his mask. He had once again found the reason why Venti trusted them so deeply.
"So, your only target is Alecto?" Ganesha asked once more, as a final confirmation.
"Yes," Dina and Vena answered in unison. "Only Alecto."
"Good. Very good," Ganesha chuckled softly, his laugh echoing with profound authority. He spun around, resuming the lead toward the exit of the Ganesha Familia headquarters. "Keep that calmness in your hearts. Do not let your past in this timeline overtake your rationality when confronting her later. Follow me, we will head to the Guild headquarters right now."
Outside the building, Orario's sunlight welcomed them. The hustle and bustle of the labyrinth city felt like a stark contrast to the silent mission they were about to undertake. Dina and Vena walked behind Ganesha's broad back, their steps in sync.
Today, in the depths of the Guild's damp underground dungeon, far from the sun's reach, a chapter of suffering entangling two different timelines would finally meet its end. An absolute verdict from the wind of freedom had been handed down, and its execution could no longer be delayed.
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