Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

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The Danmachi World—The Hostess of Fertility

Hestia sat with her head held high, looking unbearably pleased with herself.

"Well? Pretty amazing, right?"

She proudly showed off the footage she had recorded using a bit of Divine Power—It captured the opening clash between Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes—and Enkidu, the Chain of Heaven.

"Wow... So these are the heroes of that world?"

Hephaestus snacked while watching the two Servants fight. Their attacks couldn't threaten a Goddess like her, but the show was still impressive. Two great heroes had reunited and marked the occasion by trying to blast each other away.

Even she felt like joining in.

"That world looks so exciting..." Demeter muttered, unable to hide her envy.

Schemes, grand battles, and legendary heroes using their strongest attacks right away all seemed much more exciting than life in Orario.

The Gods were tempted!!

Unfortunately, only Hestia had seen it in person, and remembering that made the others a bit less excited. At least they weren't jealous enough to start fighting.

"So those are the heroes from the new world?"

Several waitresses crowded around, as curious as children. Hestia's recording showed them all kinds of new things: undead monsters, Heroic Spirits, Servants, and the Holy Grail War. Each new explanation left them amazed.

Gilgamesh's booming laugh was especially memorable. He sounded like someone having the time of his life while preparing to erase half the landscape.

The Artemis Familia had also gathered to watch, and most of them looked stunned.

Rethusa slowly turned toward Artemis, then pointed at herself.

Her meaning was obvious.

'You want me to fight them?' She had thought these so-called Heroic Spirits would be strong but still manageable. Then she saw the weapons they carried.

A sword capable of splitting the World.

Chains designed to bind the Divine.

Was Artemis trying to send her Familia to their deaths?

Artemis watched the sky split open on the screen and came to a different conclusion. If her children survived a challenge like that—they might earn enough Excelia to level up.

Artemis nodded without hesitation.

Yes, Rethusa was supposed to fight them.

"...Seriously?"

Rethusa wondered if her Goddess had lost her mind. She was just a poor Level 3. How could she fight monsters like that?

Then the footage changed, showing August fighting the Assassin-class Servant with nothing but a greatsword.

Rethusa raised her head.

'Oh. If that's the level we're talking about, maybe it's possible.' She wasn't scared of fighting. She just didn't want to be wiped out without a chance.

'So there are weaker Servants too. Good... A weaker one might be beatable.'

"Pathetic," Artemis muttered, noticing her child only felt brave after spotting a weaker opponent.

Rethusa and the other Artemis Familia members stared back, silently defending their right to survive.

The Goddess and her children started arguing just by looking at each other.

"Lady Hestia! Is there more?" Tiona Hiryute asked, practically bouncing in place.

"SHOW US MORE!"

Her eyes sparkled. Tiona loved wild heroic stories, especially when they were real and happening in a place she could actually visit.

Ais Wallenstein watched beside her with the same starstruck expression, her golden eyes fixed on Gilgamesh's strange sword and the devastation it had caused.

"I want that weapon—" Ais imagined herself holding Ea. If she had a sword capable of producing an attack like that, the One-Eyed Black Dragon might not survive a single strike.

"I wonder if Lord Goibniu could make one..."

"I absolutely cannot!"

Goibniu stepped out from a forgotten corner of the tavern and turned down the idea before she could finish. She was asking too much. That weapon was clearly beyond normal divine skill. It looked like it was made for one person and tied to a power no ordinary God could copy.

Gods always gathered when something interesting happened. They thought Hestia would just bring back a few stories, but instead she showed them recordings of legendary battles, strange worlds, and impossible people.

Many of them regretted not meeting August sooner. His power was still developing, yet it had already begun connecting entire worlds. Given enough time, there was no telling how far he might go, or what kind of chaos he might stir up along the way.

The male Gods wanted in on the fun!

Hestia was back in the spotlight, surrounded by gods trying to talk her into bringing them along next time.

She wasn't stupid enough to agree.

Hestia was happy to brag, show off her recordings, and make every mortal in the tavern jealous. But sharing August's power with the other Gods? That was something she would never do.

While Hestia basked in everyone's envy, the man responsible for all the excitement was asleep at home.

After working for nearly an entire day, August had returned to his apartment, collapsed onto the bed, and fallen asleep. Nothing short of waking naturally would get him up again.

Lili was sprawled nearby in an equally unladylike position. She was exhausted too, and when it was time to sleep, she slept.

Neither of them knew what was happening in Orario. August hadn't even shown up in the city, but already another legend was spreading in his name.

The human who could stand against heroes from another world.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

The Type-Moon World

August had gone home, but the world hadn't forgotten the outsiders he left behind. Both Human Order and the Will of the Planet were now wary of them.

August had already brought another group of soldiers from his Earth into Snowfield, and they were disciplined to a nearly scary level. They weren't just mindless weapons. Each one had strong human desires: ambition, loyalty, curiosity, pride, and the will to fight.

Those desires made Human Order uneasy.

Alaya's first thought was to get rid of the humans who had come from an unknown world. They were dangerous, unpredictable, and didn't belong in the history it was supposed to protect.

Then there were the six women who had escaped from the Throne of Heroes.

They were never supposed to exist. Some were just made-up possibilities from a young man's memories and a game's imagined stories. But their names were now written into the Throne, and even worse, they could move in and out of it freely, come down to the world, and become August's Heroic Spirits without needing permission.

Human Order had every reason to oppose them.

Three of the six were Beasts.

Tiamat—the Primordial Mother.

U-Olga Marie.

And Space Ereshkigal from the Servant Universe.

Human Order couldn't just ignore three real Beasts walking around Snowfield together.

Gaia, however, saw the situation differently.

The Will of the Planet didn't care much about humanity as a whole. August was still an outsider, and outsiders were usually seen as enemies. But the people with him were clearly lives from another Earth.

They were human.

They brought more than just destructive power. Gaia could sense what they had accomplished: their work to protect nature, restore damaged land, and defend life in their world.

And unlike many magi, August wasn't trying to seize the Root or break the planet's laws.

He wanted to travel...

He wanted to fight...

Gaia found that easy to understand. Living things compete. Civilizations test their weapons. Strong beings challenge each other.

So Gaia's answer was simple.

Let them fight!

Gaia wanted to see what people from another Earth could do. As long as August didn't threaten the Proper Human History of this world, Gaia was fine with letting him go wild in a Singularity, a dying timeline, or a world already doomed.

Those places were expendable.

Human Order wanted the outsiders removed.

Gaia wanted to watch.

Neither side would yield.

Since Alaya and Gaia couldn't agree, the Counter Force couldn't fully act against August's group. Human Order still had its own agents, and its choices weren't limited to Counter Guardians like EMIYA or Okita Alter.

It also held a far greater trump card—

Artoria at her peak. King Arthur, wielding the Holy Sword of the Planet.

But without Gaia's permission, even Excalibur's power would be held back. Using even a third of its real strength would be almost the limit.

Alaya wanted August gone. Gaia refused to provide the authority needed to do it.

The disagreement turned into a struggle between the two halves of the Counter Force.

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Far beyond ordinary reality, within an isolated imaginary-number space connected to countless parallel worlds, Zelretch watched the situation unfold.

"I never expected so many strange creatures to descend at once."

The old magician looked over the records in front of him. Several Beasts had left the Throne by themselves.

Was that even supposed to be possible?

It wasn't that Zelretch refused to intervene. He just wasn't confident he could win.

His power came from the Second Magic. By pulling mana from parallel worlds, he could keep up an almost endless supply of energy. But some of the women around August were especially tough for him to face.

Tiamat was one of them.

If her Sea of Life touched him, it could change his very being and turn him into something else. Even endless mana wouldn't help if his body and soul changed before he could react.

People called Zelretch a monster who was beyond normal humans, but he knew one thing: every expert has opponents they're not good at fighting. If he went into Snowfield and Tiamat caught him at her full power, she might drown him in black mud before he could get away.

And those six women expected everyone to believe they were ordinary Servants?

Who would fall for that?

August alone already qualified as an entire faction.

Human Order had asked Zelretch for help, but he wasn't about to follow a one-sided order. He would only step in if both Alaya and Gaia agreed. Without a contract from both, he didn't have to do anything.

"If I antagonize him, that army of demigod-class humans might erase the Mage's Association from history..."

Zelretch knew August came from beyond the worlds he could see. Even the Second Magic couldn't look past the limits of the known parallel timelines, but August crossed those limits like they were nothing.

Zelretch could leave the Mage's Association and hide away in his own space. But what if August kept getting stronger, surpassed him, and came back for revenge?

Why would anyone want to provoke someone with that much potential??

Gaia also seemed willing to let August go on, which made sense to Zelretch. The planet had once allowed Crimson Moon to appear. Since Gaia hadn't tried to stop him, Zelretch had taken on the responsibility for humanity and defeated him.

That victory had come at a cost for Zelretch.

"Should I bring someone else here?"

Ritsuka Fujimaru came to mind—a savior who seemed especially good at solving impossible problems. If Zelretch brought Ritsuka into this world, it could lead to a huge battle.

But that would cause another problem.

"ORT would wake up."

August could escape with his people, but the rest of the world's inhabitants couldn't. If ORT woke up, the Spider would eventually wipe out all remaining life.

"That would be a disaster." Zelretch ran his hand through his beard.

"Better to watch for now."

Even if ORT showed up, the three Beasts might be able to hold it off long enough for people to escape the planet. For now, August was still considered human. This was a fight between two groups of humans, and if Zelretch picked a side without a good reason, he would be denying the humanity of the other group.

He decided to watch for now.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

Zelretch was not the only one keeping an eye on things.

Several powerful True Ancestors and Dead Apostles were also watching Snowfield. The fake Holy Grail War involved the Human Order and several vampires, so the disturbance had caught their attention.

They looked toward the city, then they turned away.

Three Beasts were already present. Who would want to go near a Beast?

Beasts represented both the good and bad sides of humanity. They were meant to be defeated by human history, and for vampires or other nonhuman beings, facing a Beast was like going against the laws of nature.

Tiamat was especially dangerous. Her Sea of Life could change their bodies in seconds, taking away their original form and turning them into creatures without the powers of a True Ancestor or Dead Apostle.

They would end up as lumps of changed flesh.

Even Zelretch was afraid of that kind of change. The weaker Dead Apostles had no desire to risk it themselves.

And then there was ORT as well.

Another natural enemy to worry about.

"Who released those things from the Throne of Heroes?"

"How could the Throne allow this?" The watching vampires muttered curses under their breath.

August's arrival made some people thrilled and others miserable.

Some were too scared to even admit they had seen anything.

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