After delivering their goddess' invitation to Ceraunius and Gamelia, Astraea familia along with Ilta and her two companions from Ganesha familia received quite a bit of training at the married couple's hands.
While Gamelia instructed everyone else, Ceraunius gave Alise some focused training. It was nothing overly serious to him, but to her, it was like her perspective on strength had fundamentally changed.
"You're doing fairly well, Scarlet Harnell." Ceraunius said, carrying himself with a completely relaxed air. "You, and your sisters have not let my big sister's sacrifice go to waste yet."
"You don't really…" Alise panted, barely managing to stay on her feet, legs shaking like they were carrying thousands of times their normal load. "Mean that…"
"Well, aside for the Juggernaut incident, I see nothing wrong with her judgment. Besides, I haven't seen you get serious yet, have I?" He explained with a small smirk. Realizing the look in Alise's eyes was clear. "You're right though. I do think you're still a bit lacking. I respect my big sister's vision, but I also understand she was desperate to find hope. So, understand, if we become familia I will not abide by any one of you squandering my big sister's sacrifice to empower you."
Alise gave a trembling smile. "I…" She gasped, taking a heavy breath. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Heh, ready to do something other than my familia's warm ups?"
"EEH?! Warm ups!?"
"Pfft, yeah, you've had it quite a bit easier compared to what we used to do. Even the Great Feud… Well, we've dealt with worse, about 4 times a year, well, until we were banished by those two ungrateful bitches." He grew quite ticked, and shot lightning everywhere for a moment before calming down, with a deep breath.
"It must have hurt…"
"Yeah, first I lose all of my familia to some ancient dragon accidentally created by the evil gods, and then I am banished from my home. I was 8 when all of that happened."
"Will you attack them?"
"Haha! No, I don't attack weaklings, unless they give me a valid reason they should die." He said with a thunderous laugh. "Seriously, they might have a chance if they all came at me, at once… Maybe. Depends on how much information they have about me. But if they did it now, it would be tantamount to suicide. Add my wife Gamelia into the fight, and it is an impossible height for them as of current."
"I see, well then, I suppose I'll just have to get stronger so they don't have a reason to attack you." Alise managed to say without panting, standing, still a little shaky, but standing nonetheless. "Show me, show me the path to power. Power so I may protect my familia, and the people of Orario. For familia, and for Justice, and for my goddess."
Ceraunius smirked, looking over the form Alise had. "Good, I will now test something you have only had tested, to my knowledge, twice before. Are you ready?"
Alise shifted slightly knowing that she hadn't been ready, now though, she was. "Yes, I'm ready."
"Good, you use fire, remember that inner blaze, and immolate your fears." Ceraunius said, nodding, receiving a final confirmation in return. "WIFEY I'M TESTING HER!"
"GOT IT HUBBY!!!" Gamelia shouted in return, much to the shock of the others around her.
"So, Lady Gamelia, what was that all about?" Kaguya asked, with far more curiosity than about how to get a share of Ceraunius' hunkness in her bed.
"Just prepare to deal with the monsters going crazy, you're going to slaughter all the monsters on the floor while they attack Riveria… Well, that's what they'll think is going on, really, they'll just be running in terror of my darling husband, Cera."
"Is it really something that terrifying…" Asta asked, then her, along with everyone's expression turned to fear, Ilta was the last to react with a gulp of fear.
"What… Is this? Such a strong presence?"
"Hehe, that's my husband, he's showing Alise what depths and heights our power has achieved."
"You're serious? That's him? This is… Impossible… Such a power… Are you also capable of this?"
"Yes, I am roughly just as strong as my husband. Though he is a little bit stronger. But I always win our mock fights."
"Hmm, why's that?"
"Sex?" Ilta guessed right away.
"Precisely, and I always win." Gamelia huffed, crossing her arms. "Alright, now it's about time those monsters are going to raid the town. Go deal with them. I'll be around to help if it gets too dangerous. Have a good slaughter!" She said with a twirl and smile.
Kaguya took command of her familia, and gave orders to charge into the fray. Leading the battle of adventurers against a whole floor's worth of monsters. A bloody slaughter, yet seemingly never ending.
Ilta and her two sisters from Ganesha familia had joined in the fray as well, each of them were freaky strong. Like a few berserkers unleashed upon the horde.
Gamelia watched and waited from a single solitary branch of the great tree in the middle of the floor.
"Wow, they're not doing too bad. Is this what you saw in them, big sister Alfia? The will to stand and fight despite the odds?" … "Then why'd they get so scared about a little juggy?" She wondered, kicking her feet. "Oh well, maybe they were just out of practice? I guess for them that juggy was a bit of a hurdle, and it suddenly appeared." She looked over to see Cera. "Oh my darling is so handsome! I'm jealous, Alise, I want to see him up close like that again! So exhilarating!! She's doing well to stay standing and determined against him. I think she might have just achieved a level up. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."
A few minutes of Alise burning with her wings of flame, she finally gassed out, and yet Ceraunius was still testing her.
"What's the matter? Giving up already? I haven't even moved yet."
"NO! I won't give up!" She answered through grit teeth, tightening her grip on her blade. She stood firm, albeit absolutely terrified, yet she still stood.
Ceraunius smiled, raised his hands, and brought them together with a clap. The reverberation of thunder throughout the floor single handedly caused mass confusion. And the Dungeon started the process of spawning something terrible. Not a juggernaut, but something else.
…