It was an indifference rooted in the marrow. As if they weren't warriors come to deliver judgment, but clowns who had wandered onstage for others' amusement.
"Oh my, oh my, look who's here!"
The man who had struck first turned around and spread his arms as if welcoming honored guests.
"If it isn't the famous Astraea Familia... our young ladies of justice?"
"Oh my, what a lovely expression..."
He narrowed his eyes and drew a deep breath, as if savoring the despair in the air.
"Anger, pain, and helplessness... It's just wonderful!"
"More!"
Another man in a black robe stamped his feet in excitement, flailing about with a twisted look on his face.
"Make justice struggle a little more! Yes, yes, yes, yes! Just like that, that's the expression, so beautiful! Heh heh heh, just like that! Hee-ha!"
"Heeheehahahahahaha!"
The mad laughter surged in like a tide, drowning the corpses that had yet to cool, drowning the last cries for help, and drowning the trembling fingertips of the girls gripping their weapons tight.
Someone stepped on a severed hand that had rolled to their feet, and it gave a sharp crunch.
The brittle snap of bone was like a string finally breaking.
No angry shout, no demand for answers.
Both sides exploded into motion at almost the same instant.
Red-eyed, teeth clenched, the girls charged headlong into that sea of mad grins.
"You bunch of lunatics!"
"Die!"
Alise shattered the ground beneath her feet, her blade driving straight for the leader's throat.
"Heh, little girl, you think that amateur swordplay is going to cut it?"
Blades clashed again and again in a shower of sparks, ringing out with the clear clang of steel on steel.
In just a few seconds the two had exchanged over twenty blows, but to her surprise, her own blade was being held back easily by her opponent's single hand.
It couldn't advance an inch.
With that one exchange, Alise's expression turned grim.
"You're... Lv.4...?"
The words were squeezed out through her teeth.
The utterly ordinary-looking man across from her hadn't even moved his feet. He tilted his head, studying her like a moth caught in a spider's web, his gaze shifting slowly from the blade to Alise's face, slightly twisted with rage.
He had blocked every one of Alise's attacks with ease, and then the ordinary-looking man licked his lips bloodthirstily.
"Well, who knows?"
The two stood locked in place, facing off, while all around them the sounds of slaughter had erupted like boiling water.
As she listened to the countless wails, screams, and frenzied laughter, Alise's face darkened inch by inch.
"This guy..."
He's at least Lv.4, maybe even a fighter just one step away from Lv.5.
Elsewhere.
Kaguya was taking on two at once, her twin blades crossing to catch two slashes amid a clatter of steel.
She caught one of them off guard with a kick that sent him flying, and while the other was still stunned, she abruptly released the pressure and, before he could react, drove her short blade, Futaba, straight into his heart.
"Gh... dirty..."
Kaguya flicked the blood from her blade in disdain.
"You're Evilus, and you want a fair fight in a battle to the death? A newbie? No... Lv.2, maybe?"
"Then that's just pathetic."
She shook her head, pushed the strange thought aside, and quickly looked around, taking in the whole battlefield.
"Wait, that guy...?"
Suddenly, her gaze froze.
Kaguya saw that the enemy leader had driven Alise back in disarray, that she was barely holding on, and that he was forcing her guard wide open; his next strike would draw blood. Kaguya's expression changed. Her tabi-clad foot tapped the ground and she shot toward Alise like a windblown leaf!
The killing blow fell with a clang, only to be caught in midair by a tachi and a wooden sword.
"Don't move!"
"Hm?"
The man looked puzzled, then immediately noticed the owners of the two blades.
"Oh? Oh, oh, oh? I see. Your friendship really has me too scared to move."
The ordinary-looking man raised both hands in mock surrender and, a smile on his lips, backed away one slow step at a time.
"Now, now, now, don't look at me like that. A guy like me who wants to live a long life knows that a wise man bows to circumstances."
Ryuu and Kaguya helped Alise up from either side, their sword points still aimed steadily at him, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Only after backing off more than ten meters did the man lower his hands, sheathe his sword, sweep back his black leather coat, and stuff one hand into his pocket. He looked around with a relaxed expression, and at last his gaze settled back on the three of them. He tilted his head, eyes amused.
"Scarlet Harnel, Yamato Rindou, Gale. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
He smacked his lips as if tasting some delicacy.
"The apostles of justice of the goddess Astraea, three famous Lv.3s teaming up against a nobody like me. Wow, I'm truly flattered."
He paused, and seeing that the three remained unmoved, their eyes as wary as ever, he smiled again.
"Come on, don't stare at me like that. I really am a nobody, and you should know that better than anyone."
As he spoke, his smile deepened a little.
"After all... I shouldn't be on Orario's wanted list, should I?"
The wanted list?
Alise, Kaguya, Ryuu, and Lyra, who had just arrived, all narrowed their eyes at once and took a fresh look at the man in front of them.
He clearly had the strength of an upper Lv.4, yet everything about him, his looks and his presence alike, seemed unremarkable and utterly ordinary. No, in a crowd he would be the least noticeable of all. No, he had deliberately ground himself down into the drab background of the crowd. The only thing he couldn't hide was the flicker of madness that occasionally leaked out from beneath that false smile.
Keenly sensitive to the scent of Evilus, the girls had no doubt: the mad, chaotic smell clinging to this guy couldn't be faked.
Alise raised an arm across in front of the others, her expression grave.
"Who exactly are you? As far as I remember, Evilus has no expert like you."
"Expert?"
The man's mouth twisted in self-mockery.
"In your eyes, someone with my strength counts as an expert?"
He lowered his gaze as if chewing on the words, and then...
"Hahahaha..."
Laughter burst out without warning, carrying an irrepressible edge of madness.
"Interesting, so interesting!"
"If that's the best your eyes can do, then this Orar..."
His words broke off abruptly.
Every face present changed at once.
"What is this!?"
The ground beneath their feet was trembling, ever so faintly.