"Run!"
At the sharp command, Artemis's familia dashed around the ruins, carrying bundles of firewood.
The twenty women spread out, placing the firewood at designated spots.
Several scorpion-like monsters sensed the disturbance and rushed toward one of them.
Captain Rethusa tightened her grip on her short sword, stepping in front of the monster to block its path.
Silver light flashed. With the speed and power of a Lv. 3, she cleaved the scorpion-like monster into a cloud of black mist.
"Those handling the firewood, keep running! Guards, if you can't hold them off, call for backup!"
Rethusa issued the command to her comrades.
After losing the goddess Artemis, they had been reduced to mere mortals.
Without the Falna of a god, they were powerless.
As a result, every member of Artemis's familia chose [Conversion] without hesitation.
"Are you truly resolved?" Hestia had asked again and again.
Once [Converted], returning to their original familia would require at least a year of waiting.
For Artemis's familia, this was an incredibly painful blow.
Once, they had been the very symbol of freedom and justice.
They didn't belong to any nation, nor did they serve any city.
They had crossed countless battlefields, slaying endless monsters.
Artemis fought for all the people of the world.
But once they [converted], restricted by the Status Update, they would settle in Orario.
"As long as we can rescue Artemis-sama, I'm willing to do anything."
"Honestly, Orario isn't so bad. I've been wanting to settle down somewhere for a while now."
"There must be plenty of handsome adventurers there, right? Time for a fateful encounter."
"I'm sure Artemis-sama would love it."
"....."
Before Hestia could ask, all of Artemis's familia had already given their answers.
Some were blatant lies.
But their bonds with Artemis were without any falsehood.
"I understand. In the name of Goddess Hestia, I bestow upon you the power of Falna."
Hestia acknowledged the girls' resolve.
Lv.3's captain, Rethusa, along with several Lv.2 members, joined Hestia's familia.
Having regained their strength, they sprinted under the moonlight.
Run...
Run.
Run!
Even as the stingers of the scorpion-like monsters loomed dangerously close, even as terrifying creatures surged forward, the girls didn't stop for a second.
They trusted their comrades.
Under the influence of Artemis, each of them embodied nobility and righteousness.
Swords danced, and the songs of magic echoed through the forest.
In the flashes of light, countless scorpion-like monsters dissolved into black mist.
The girls knew it well.
They had committed a sin.
Had they been able to withstand Antares's assault, Artemis wouldn't have needed to use her Arcanum to save them all.
In a sense, the twenty of them were the very source of this tragedy.
"Run!"
Rethusa shouted, her voice piercing the night.
What the girls carried in their arms was both hope and redemption.
On the day the goddess was swallowed, Artemis had cried out just like this.
It pierced their eardrums and tore at their hearts.
An orphan, once saved by Artemis, had wept as she charged toward Antares, only to be stopped by Rethusa.
Powerless, the group couldn't save Artemis.
No... even with the power of Falna, they were nothing but a burden.
Rethusa bit her lip, making the difficult decision a captain had to make.
"Run!"
She took Artemis's final words to heart, dragging her sobbing, wailing comrades as she turned away.
Before that pitch-black monster.
As Artemis expended every last ounce of her power to buy time.
Artemis's familia chose to flee.
They didn't witness the final scene, nor did they hear her dying farewell.
The twenty maidens had committed the grievous sin of abandoning their Familia Goddess.
"Run!"
Rethusa plunged into the sea of monsters, using herself as bait to buy time for the others.
When exactly had her tears stopped flowing?
No, they probably never did.
The moment she abandoned the goddess.
The moment she found the spear and reunited with the remnants of Artemis.
The tears never ceased.
What awaited Artemis's familia was not salvation, but a far more despairing truth.
The goddess had been devoured.
Genkai was about to be destroyed.
Under Artemis's command, the twenty powerless individuals scattered, rushing to the surrounding cities to convey the current situation.
They understood this was the goddess's kindness.
Only in this way could Artemis's familia, who had committed a grave sin, momentarily forget their tears and wails, and throw themselves into their quest.
Yet in the dead of night.
The moon, high in the sky, branded itself upon each of their eyes like the emblem of the familia.
Even scattered across different cities, all twenty girls would stare blankly at the moon.
They could not deceive themselves.
The Artemis clinging to their spears was but a remnant.
Farewell would come.
The sin of abandoning the goddess would haunt them forever.
"Run!"
Rethusa struggled to handle the monster before her, yet this cry echoed through every maiden's lips.
"Run!"
The shouts rose and fell, reverberating endlessly around the ruins.
The guilt would never fade.
The agony of choice, like those tears, would never cease.
Everything was as it should be.
But Bell Cranel offered an answer.
On the day they completed their quest and returned to the goddess.
Facing the girls who wept uncontrollably, Bell said, "Please, run."
There is no time for tears.
There is no opportunity for mourning.
If you feel pain, then run without ceasing.
The youth presented a new possibility before their eyes.
Rethusa chose to believe.
It was not the self-destruction of those with no way out, nor was it being blinded by sin.
Not only she, but all the girls discovered a truth.
Artemis had changed.
The goddess who once charged ahead, utterly indifferent to matters of love, had transformed into a young girl in love.
That was what they had once wished for.
Love is a beautiful thing.
This was the heartfelt truth the girls had once spoken.
Artemis had found the object of her affection.
Knowing this, they gained another reason to save the goddess.
They wanted to see Artemis smile. They wanted the remnants of this love to become reality.
Such was the simple reason the maidens held in their hearts.
Pure, yet heartwarming.
This love alone must not be trampled by monsters.
The youth was a greedy man.
Yet that very greed captured the maidens' trust and yearning.
The answer lay before them.
The boy showed them the way.
Though thorns grew thick and the path was rugged, the girls kept pace, running wild.
"Run!"
Artemis's familia offered cheers for the goddess's love.
Under the cold moonlight.
Woodpiles rose high.
The flames of redemption began to blaze fiercely.