"It's not over."
Finn, still under the effects of his berserk state, spoke in a rough voice as he turned toward the shores of Melen, where Judas and Riveria were still battling the Dis Sisters.
Now that their respective opponents had been defeated, the executives of the Loki Familia began converging, forming a perimeter around the last remaining enemy.
"Shit! Shit! Why!? Why can't we beat them?!"
Dina Dis exclaimed in pure frustration, nearly wanting to claw her own hair out.
Cough! Cough!
"Big sister Dina… this is bad. We've completely run out of healing potions."
Vena Dis said while coughing up blood.
Looking at their current state, the Dis Sisters were disheveled and looked completely haggard, their bodies covered in injuries.
Their weapons and equipment had either worn down or been completely destroyed during the battle.
Compared to their miserable state, Judas and Riveria looked mostly fine.
Aside from a few scratches, it almost looked as though they hadn't just gone through such a difficult battle.
Dina's curse magic, [Diaval Stige], allowed the sisters to swap their preferred stats with each other, granting them pseudo Level 7 strength.
However, under the curse's effects, Dina was limited to melee combat while Vena was restricted to magic.
This was an inherent weakness that could be exploited by experienced opponents or those already familiar with their fighting style.
Against the combined efforts of Judas and Riveria, they had been unable to gain even a single advantage from the start of the battle until now.
'Defeating them wasn't the difficult part... finishing them off is.'
Judas thought as he felt his Mind reserves drop below fifty percent.
It had been quite a while since he had pushed his Mind pool this far.
The only reason the Dis Sisters had managed to hold on for so long was because of their cockroach-like survivability.
It was something they had honed over the years after constantly being hunted due to their association with Evilus.
There was also the fact that Judas and Riveria had to be careful to ensure their battle didn't spread into the town, since the citizens were still hiding inside their homes.
A single stray blast could have cost dozens, if not hundreds of innocent lives... a fact the Dis sisters had shamelessly used as a shield to drag out the fight.
But even with their dirty tactics, the end was in sight.
The thin red light enveloping their bodies flickered before finally fading away.
"My curse… its time limit is already up?"
Dina muttered, staring blankly at her trembling palm.
"Hmm... what great timing. Seems I didn't miss the party after all."
A rough voice came from the side.
When everyone turned toward it, they saw Gareth standing there with a giant axe resting on his shoulder, Lefiya quietly standing behind him.
"Lefiya... I'm glad you're okay."
Looking at her student, who had been abducted by the Kali Familia earlier, Riveria let out a sigh of relief.
"I-I'm sorry for causing everyone so much trouble."
Lefiya lowered her head apologetically.
"You don't need to apologize, Lefiya-tan."
A playful voice came from another direction.
"If anyone's to blame, it's this little twerp for causing us so many problems."
Loki said as she carried Kali over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes before roughly tossing her onto the ground with a painful-sounding thud.
"Aghk!? Did you really have to throw me like that?!"
Kali complained as she rubbed her butt while wincing in pain.
"You were the one who picked a fight. A loser like you doesn't have the right to complain!"
Loki smirked before stomping all over Kali's body.
"Judas! You're here!"
Tiona, who had been walking behind Loki, suddenly shot forward like a cannonball and latched onto him like a koala.
After all, ever since he had left on his journey to defeat Antares, it had been weeks since she had last seen him.
"Tiona... it's nice to see you too."
Judas replied with a wry smile, making no effort to pry her off.
"It looks like you've been poisoned and beaten up pretty badly... stay still and don't move too much."
He added after noticing her condition before immediately casting a healing spell on her.
"Ah... I'm cured! Thanks a bunch!"
Tiona said with her usual bright smile as she looked over herself.
"Judas..."
Ais muttered quietly, her eyes fixed on him.
She couldn't help but let out a small smile.
Seeing this, Judas simply nodded in her direction.
Ais nodded back.
There was no need for words between them.
"Huh? Looks like everyone's here..."
"Let's wrap this up already. I need to take a shower after dealing with that disgusting frog."
Bete spoke with his usual swagger, his hands tucked into his pockets as his gaze swept across everyone present.
Seeing their enemies casually chatting amongst themselves, almost as if they didn't exist, angry veins bulged on the Dis Sisters' foreheads.
'How dare they...'
'They're looking down on us!'
They gritted their teeth, their bodies trembling with absolute fury.
Yet, despite their rage, they weren't stupid.
Completely outnumbered and outmatched, they knew a direct confrontation was suicide.
They exchanged a glance and silently agreed to retreat.
Without another moment's hesitation, they turned around and ran as fast as they could.
"Big sister Dina… I want to kill them. I want to slaughter every last one of them! Especially that hateful brat, Judas!"
Vena hissed, her voice shaking with malice.
"Don't worry, Vena."
Dina promised, her eyes cold as she pushed her body to its physical limit.
"We will have our revenge. I swear it."
But before they could get very far, a large ship suddenly docked along the shore, blocking their escape.
"You're not getting away."
Looking up, they saw a Pallum and an Amazon standing atop the ship, looking down at them.
"I heard from the captain."
"I won't forgive you for what you did to Alicia."
Tione glared at them as she and Finn jumped down from the ship, landing directly in front of the sisters.
"Tsk..."
The Dis Sisters clicked their tongues before turning toward another direction.
But Gareth was already waiting there, his axe pointed directly at them.
"Where do you think you're going?"
He slammed the butt of his axe into the ground.
His presence resembled an immovable wall that refused to yield.
"Dammit... they've surrounded us..."
The Dis Sisters looked around.
The executives of the Loki Familia had completely encircled them, each with their weapons drawn and their eyes locked firmly onto the two sisters.
"The infamous Dis sisters. It's been seven years since we last crossed paths."
Loki said, stepping forward with a confident, sharp smirk.
With her entire elite force backing her, there was mathematically zero chance of escape.
"I highly suggest you make things easy for everyone and surrender right now."
Hearing this, Dina didn't look afraid.
Instead, a grin spread across her face as she met Loki's gaze head-on.
"Hah!? You think you've won?! We still have an ace up our sleeve..."
"If you don't let us go right now, you'll regret it."
Dina threatened.
"Hmph... empty words."
"Why are we wasting so much time? Let's just crush them."
Growing impatient, Bete charged forward.
Seeing that the Dis Sisters intended to fight until the bitter end, the others also rushed in.
"Rage, Second Eden! Sweetly rot..."
However, instead of moving, Dina closed her eyes and began a short chant.
A dark purple aura erupted from her body, intertwined with a fiery crimson glow.
The instant Finn, who had already returned to normal from his berserk state, heard the chant, his eyes widened in realization.
"Everyone, be careful!"
"Don't interrupt my big sister!"
Vena shouted as she thrust her magic sword into the ground, creating a circular wall of flames around the two of them.
"What the..."
Bete muttered, skidding to a halt as the wall of fire suddenly blocked his path.
Judas casually swept his arm through the air, casting a gust of wind that immediately extinguished the flames.
The magic sword in Vena's hands shattered into countless pieces.
Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
Yet, for some reason, a wild grin spread across her face.
"...Final Song! Diaval Luminis!"
The moment Dina finished her chant, she slowly opened her eyes.
Her pupils glowed with a brilliant purplish-pink light.
It was the very same radiance that appeared whenever Freya activated her Charm.
Without the slightest hesitation, Dina locked her gaze onto Judas...
...and cast her magic.
'We win.'
---
(A/N: *Insert Mr. Krabs' "How do we tell him?" meme*)
+15 chapters at patreon.com/drdedot