Levi was organizing his harvest at the entrance and exit of the Elsoth Ruins.
On the other side, the members of the Artemis Familia, following behind Gojouno Kaguya and Alise, were chattering away—or rather, complaining about Levi.
"He has such a handsome face, but it's a pity about that mouth of his."
"Exactly, exactly. To think he'd disdain us! Hmph, who doesn't know that our Captain is a Level 3, a second-class adventurer?"
"And there's Lady Artemis too! In terms of martial arts alone, she can hold her own against a Level 5!"
The members of the Moon Goddess's Familia, aside from Captain Rethusa, were all quite young. Combined with the precarious life of an adventurer, they had long developed a straightforward personality of speaking their minds.
However, Rethusa and Artemis appeared somewhat silent at this moment.
Rethusa's vision was not poor, and she was acquainted with Alise and Gojouno Kaguya.
She knew that the two girls were Level 4 adventurers in life. After being 'resurrected,' their strength shouldn't have declined much. In fact, judging by their performance in saving Rethusa just now, they might have even improved slightly.
Even so, Alise hadn't even managed a single exchange before being silenced by the Captain of the Hestia Familia.
What did this imply...
Rethusa didn't say it aloud, but she already had the answer in her heart.
Artemis needed no mention.
The reason she had rushed to the Elsoth Ruins earlier was that she had detected a dangerous aura.
She had assumed that the Scorpion Antares, sealed by her former kin—the Spirits—had broken free.
But in reality, what had truly caused her discomfort, from beginning to end, was that pale-blonde youth—or rather, the black liquid flowing from his legs.
A multitude of doubts formed in the heart of the blue-haired goddess wielding a bow.
However, considering that Alise and Gojouno Kaguya were currently working under Levi, she didn't indulge her temper to ask them outright.
Just then, the white-haired girl walking in front suddenly stopped.
"We've arrived."
Hearing this, everyone following behind her couldn't help but reveal puzzled expressions.
"Arrived? But isn't this still just the forest nearby?"
"Kaguya, where is your camp?"
Only Artemis, being a deity, suddenly frowned at this moment.
"An illusion? No, it's a barrier!"
"I knew we couldn't hide it from you."
Alise giggled, retrieving an iron plate inscribed with over a dozen symbols from her bosom and infusing magic power into it.
In the next instant, azure light abruptly manifested on the surface of the originally plain-looking iron plate.
Under the illumination of the light, the scene ahead changed drastically.
The withered trees vanished, replaced by a clearing that had been artificially cleared, and several tents dotted sporadically across it.
"Alise, Gojouno, why are you back so early?"
Seemingly hearing the commotion outside, a red-haired girl crawled out of a tent, asking while yawning.
Then, she saw the dozen or so girls following behind her colleagues.
"Who are you?!"
Daphne placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist, her expression instantly turning serious.
Because of her questioning voice, Cassandra, who was resting; Hestia, who was reading a book; and Liliruca, who was consuming Ice-Fire Wine, all walked out of their respective tents.
And then...
"Artemis?!"
The twin-tailed goddess revealed an expression of surprise.
"Hestia, long time no see."
Reunited with a divine friend she hadn't seen in years, a faint smile couldn't help but appear on Artemis's face.
But in the next second.
"Wait, you're no longer a Virgin Goddess?!"
As mentioned before, the Three Virgin Goddesses could determine through aura whether the others had ever had a lover.
However, after Hestia got together with Levi, this authority had already vanished.
But Artemis, as the Disciplinary Committee Member of Tenkai, was still a maiden who had lived for nearly a hundred million years.
Upon realizing that her close friend Hestia had escaped singleness one step ahead of her, a look of env... ah, no, a stern expression flashed across her face.
Hestia shrugged at the words. "Ah, that's right. The meat grew legs and ran right to my mouth itself; could I really hold back from eating it and let some other guy beat me to it?"
In a certain aspect, she had indeed been changed by Levi.
Not only had she become increasingly lustful, but her skin had also grown quite a bit thicker.
Artemis naturally saw this as well. After a moment of silence, she began to introduce the two parties.
"This is my close friend from Tenkai, Hestia."
"Hello, Lady Hestia."
The group of girls standing behind her greeted obediently.
"Hestia, this is my Familia's Captain, Rethusa. This is Rethusa, and this is..."
With a smile on her face, Hestia greeted everyone from Artemis's group one by one, while not forgetting to call Daphne and Cassandra over.
As for Liliruca, she was currently using a pseudonym.
Moreover, she had frankly stated that she didn't wish to expose her identity before returning to the Soma Familia, so Hestia chose not to introduce her.
After both sides had gotten to know each other.
Hestia, as the second authority holder of the barrier—the first authority holder was needless to say, Levi—clapped her hands.
"Artemis, since you were brought here by Alise and Gojouno, then I assume you must have already met my Levi?"
Speaking of that pale-blonde youth, Artemis's expression also turned a few degrees more serious.
"That's right, but your child..." She hesitated for an instant, but ultimately chose to voice the doubts in her heart. "The aura on his body seems a bit off, and moreover, he doesn't seem to want to see us."
If it were anyone else, hearing such a response from a friend might lead to surprise, astonishment, or even anger.
But Hestia, at this moment, instead revealed an expression that said 'just as I thought'.
She had seen Levi use the 'Black Grail' domain, so she was very clear on what kind of feeling other deities would experience upon seeing that spectacle for the first time.
"Don't mind it. Those black liquids are an effect inherent to the armament Levi uses. He can control, retract, or even reverse them at any time."
"As for not wanting to see you... well, that's just my child's personality. He won't change, and I don't intend to make him change."
Seeing her friend's face full of doting affection and tenderness as she spoke, even Artemis couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth at this moment.
"Hestia, you've changed."
The twin-tailed goddess crossed her arms and shrugged. "Because I found my own [Unknown]."
"[Unknown], huh." The blue-haired goddess sighed upon hearing this. "I wonder where my [Orion] is?"
Although she forbade impure heterosexual relationships within her Familia, people were, after all, double-standard creatures.
Gods were merely more powerful people.
If she truly met the one destined for her, Artemis felt that in all likelihood, she would throw caution to the wind and pounce on him.
____
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