Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

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Ganesha's arrival drew the attention of both Familias.

The Ishtar Familia had to accept Ganesha's authority. Their captain was Level 5, and their top members were just as strong. Overall, Ganesha's group was much stronger than Ishtar's.

More importantly, Ganesha's people kept the peace in the city. They managed the gates and kept order, so the Amazons had no choice but to back down.

August and Aisha Belka stopped fighting as soon as the authorities arrived. They had to show some respect.

But the other fight was a different story.

The Hestia projection pinned Ishtar down and threw punches at her face. Everyone turned to watch the two Goddesses.

Ganesha rubbed his temples.

"Hestia, let her go. Break it up," Ganesha ordered, gesturing for her to back off.

"Hmph. I'll let you off the hook out of respect for Ganesha," Hestia huffed proudly. She dismissed the projection back to August's side.

Ganesha breathed a sigh of relief. Hestia was reasonable. Gods on the good side were much easier to handle.

Ishtar sat on the ground, staring up at Hestia. Her rival stood there with her arms crossed, wearing an arrogant, victorious smirk.

Ishtar snapped.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Was she angry? Of course she was.

A mortal had humiliated her. Her divine charm didn't work, and she got beaten up by a fake avatar. She had lost all her dignity.

Ishtar scrambled to her feet and ran away crying.

Gods were slaves to their emotions. When they wanted to cry, they just cried. Ishtar didn't try to act tough. She ignored her ruined silk dress and ran back to her palace, sobbing the whole way.

"..." The street went dead silent.

The Amazons stared in disbelief. Ishtar was always a clever, untouchable leader. Seeing her beaten and crying in the dirt felt unreal. The Ishtar Familia had never seen their Matriarch fall apart like this.

The other Gods, like Hestia and Miach, barely reacted. For them, a god throwing a tantrum and running off crying was nothing unusual.

"Lady Ishtar," Aisha Belka muttered.

Her Goddess had just left her Familia in the middle of a crisis. Aisha was an executive, but she didn't have the power to handle a mess this big. As for Phryne Jamil, Aisha ignored her. The annoying captain was knocked out in the rubble.

"Let her go," Ganesha said, his masked face turning toward Hestia. "Care to explain why you two were brawling in the street?"

Ganesha was curious. Hestia and Ishtar usually stayed in separate groups. They hardly ever interacted, much less fought in public.

"She tried to use Divine Charm on my child."

"So I beat her up!!"

Hestia said it as if it was the truth. She wasn't ashamed. She won the fight, and that was all that mattered to her.

"I see," Ganesha said with a nod. That made sense. If Ishtar broke the rules and attacked first, then Hestia was right to fight back.

"Where is your captain?" Ganesha asked the Amazons. Phryne Jamil was conspicuously absent.

"Her?" The courtesans pointed toward a pile of debris.

A huge figure was sprawled out. August's double-layered magic had knocked her out cold. She wasn't dead, but she wouldn't wake up for a while.

Ganesha sighed and looked over the remaining Amazons. With their leaders gone or knocked out, they needed someone to speak for them.

"Who's in charge here?" Ganesha asked.

Aisha stepped forward.

"Ah, Antianeira." Ganesha recognized her right away.

Aisha Belka was known for her beauty, flashy fighting, and great potential. Talking to her would make things easier.

"This is Ishtar Familia territory," Aisha said, keeping her tone strictly professional. "The Hestia Familia marching in here and starting a riot violates the boundaries between factions."

"If your Goddess wants to pursue this, her only legal recourse is to formally declare a War Game against the Hestia Familia," Ganesha replied impartially.

The Gods cared a lot about pride. If you lost a street fight, it meant you weren't skilled enough. To settle a big dispute, you needed a formal challenge. A Guild-approved War Game was the right way to handle something this serious.

"Right." Aisha glanced back at her battered squad.

They had some combat courtesans and a few Level 2s. The Monster Rookie had wiped out their front line easily, and their Level 5 captain was knocked out in the rubble. Asking for a War Game now would be suicide.

"As for the unauthorized use of Divine Charm," Ganesha continued, "inform your Goddess she is required to attend the Denatus tomorrow morning. The Guild will issue a formal penalty notice."

Ganesha followed the rules exactly. He turned back to Hestia.

"I'll handle the fallout on your end," Ganesha sighed. "You'll likely face fines for the property damage. I'll file the report with the Guild and note the extenuating circumstances. They should be lenient."

The Hestia Familia were the victims here. They were attacked by an assassin and fought back, which matched Ganesha's sense of justice. He couldn't show favoritism, but he could make sure the paperwork showed they acted in self-defense.

"What a pain," Hestia clicked her tongue.

She still hadn't found the rest of the assassins. She wasn't worried about the fines. Thanks to the Magic Stones August brought in and his good Guild contracts, they had plenty of money. Paying for a destroyed tavern was just a small problem.

"Ganesha. What about the assassins?" Hestia narrowed her eyes.

Letting killers hunt rookies in the main streets was unacceptable. If that became a trend, nobody would ever sign up to be an Adventurer anymore.

"I'll put my people on it," Ganesha promised.

"Good." If Ganesha gave his word, his Familia would root out the remaining rats.

"We're leaving." Hestia signaled her Familia to move out.

August watched the exchange in silence. He nodded respectfully to Ganesha.

Hephaestus, Artemis, and the other Gods who had been watching came over to join the group. Now that things had calmed down, they were ready to tease Hestia about the street fight.

Watching her defeat Ishtar had been great entertainment.

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As the group left, some of the workers in the Pleasure Quarter looked at each other nervously. The Monster Rookie had destroyed buildings without much effort, and his Goddess was fierce enough to make Ishtar flee in tears. Would they blame the district for what happened?

Aisha noticed their unease.

"Relax. You saw how that man operates," she reassured them. "As long as you don't cross his bottom line, he treats women with respect. No sleaze, no discrimination."

"He's driven by strength. Even in the middle of a chaotic brawl, he kept a cool head and prioritized his targets."

Aisha realized why August hadn't used his strongest attacks on them.

He knew the Amazons couldn't seriously hurt him, no matter what they did. Instead of wiping them out, he used her magic to stop Phryne Jamil, who was the only real danger. His sense for tactics was impressive.

Aisha's logic calmed the nerves of the working girls.

"The Monster Rookie lives up to the hype."

"I'd let him take me right now!"

Samira, a Level 3 executive standing behind Aisha, grinned fiercely. The desire to claim a man like that burned hot in her chest.

August was handsome, but more importantly, his eyes never wavered. He didn't care about the odds or the reputation of his enemies.

That kind of courage was insanely attractive.

Samira's bold attitude broke the remaining tension. The courtesans began whispering to each other, sharing ideas about what it might be like to win over a warrior like him in bed.

"Alright, sisters. If you're on the clock, get back to work. If you're off, get some rest. Don't stress over tonight's mess."

"Got it."

The courtesans scattered back to their quarters. The explosive turf war ruined business for the night. Getting some sleep was their only option.

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Ganesha stayed behind to oversee the cleanup. He watched Hashana Dorlia managing the scene.

"Hashana. Why did you point August toward this district?" Ganesha asked.

Hashana could have just followed the rules and ignored the bounty hunting. Hestia probably wouldn't have pushed the issue with the city watch. But giving August the broker's location started a fight between two Familias.

"Damage control," Hashana reported honestly.

"Another faction posted a hit on the underground board. 10 million Valis for the heads of everyone in the Hestia Familia, excluding the captain."

Hashana explained what he knew. There was a bounty on the whole faction. No matter how things looked, putting such a big hit on inexperienced members was a dirty move.

"Given the Monster Rookie's track record, if we didn't give him a target, he would have hunted down the assassins himself. The collateral damage across Orario would have been catastrophic."

"Selling out the underground broker contained the blast radius to a single district," Hashana explained.

Keeping the violence in one area helped maintain the city's stability. That was exactly what the Ganesha Familia was meant to do.

"Good call..." Ganesha didn't fault Hashana.

Managing a localized riot beat dealing with a city-wide warzone.

"I just didn't expect Lady Hestia and Lady Ishtar to actually throw hands," Hashana admitted, shaking his head.

He thought August would just destroy the broker's hideout and be done with it. But when Ishtar tried to charm him, everything changed. Hashana stayed quiet to avoid getting caught up in the chaos. Watching two Goddesses fight in the dirt was something he'd never seen before.

"Neither did I." Ganesha had expected a simple, contained fight. Seeing two Goddesses go at it was definitely not what he had planned.

"By the way... that projection..." Ganesha paused. Unless his eyes played tricks on him, August had manifested a physical avatar of Hestia.

"The rookie's magic," Hashana explained. "According to Ishtar, he can summon projections of beings he acknowledges, granting him access to their specific traits and powers."

"It's crazy. I never thought Lady Hestia would take over the projection just to make Ishtar cry."

Hashana saw that calling him the 'Monster' wasn't an exaggeration. Magic that could copy a God's abilities well enough to hard-counter a Divine Charm was unheard of.

"Incredible." Ganesha marveled at the sheer versatility of that kind of spell.

"Tomorrow is the Denatus. It's going to be a bloodbath," Ganesha noted.

He could already picture the chaos that would break out in the council chambers. Hestia was on a winning streak. She had just approved the execution of Antares, and now she had beaten up a rival Goddess in public. Her reputation had never been better.

"Lord Ganesha, I'm worried Ishtar might escalate this," Hashana said. A humiliated Goddess might burn the city down just to salvage her pride.

"She won't. Ishtar is much more resilient than you think," Ganesha replied calmly.

He understood how her mind worked. Freya was still her primary obsession. If Ishtar planned to settle scores, taking down Freya remained her ultimate goal. Plus, August had clearly won over the rank and file of Ishtar's forces with his raw display of power.

'She won't pick a fight with the rookie,' Ganesha thought.

Not while Freya is still breathing in this city...

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