Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

Let's keep pushing.

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Inside the Hestia Familia's residence, Artemis and her children were making their final preparations.

"Is everyone ready?" Hestia asked, watching the girls secure their weapons and supplies.

"WE'RE READY!" Rethusa answered, rising with the rest of the Artemis Familia.

She couldn't hide her excitement. This was their first journey to another world, and it wasn't just for sightseeing. They were going to face the legendary Heroic Spirits Hestia had told them about. The Artemis Familia had trained hard for this, and Rethusa was determined not to let her Goddess down.

"Then let's go!" Hestia pointed ahead and led the group toward August.

August lifted his hand, gathered everyone within his power, and opened the way.

He had never moved an entire Familia between worlds before.

As soon as they crossed over, twelve beautiful women appeared inside the Snowfield base.

Artemis, Rethusa, Lante, and the others had already met August's soldiers, so the military base didn't bother them. The real issue started when the two groups of women saw each other.

The room went quiet.

The nearby soldiers quickly cleared the way. They had been bored moments ago, but the arrival of Artemis Familia changed that. The sudden excitement had nothing to do with Servants or the Holy Grail War.

Watching these women clash promised far better entertainment...

Olga Marie and the others were just passing time in the base when the Artemis Familia showed up.

"Why are there so many of them?" Olga blurted out before Jeanne Alter could say anything. "I thought there were only a few!"

Twelve girls had arrived all at once. Most were beautiful, one was a Half-Elf, and all of them were with August.

How was this not another harem? Had he brought them here to start a civil war?

Artemis and her children were just as confused.

"Who are these women?" Rethusa whispered.

Something about the strangers felt off. They looked impressive, but the atmosphere around them showed they were anything but ordinary.

The two groups studied each other across the room, each waiting for the other to reveal something first.

"Why are you still here?" Hestia demanded.

"..." Tiamat moved, wrapped herself around August's arm, and leaned against him without the slightest concern for the atmosphere. "Mother will stay beside her child."

She chose to show August her most affectionate side and win as much favor as she could while she had the chance. All the romantic advice she had picked up was finally being put to use.

"Her child?" Rethusa repeated.

The Artemis Familia all looked at August.

"Tiamat—the Primordial Mother from Mesopotamian mythology," Hestia explained through clenched teeth. "According to her legends, she's the mother of the Mesopotamian Gods."

Hestia shot a glare at the Goddess holding onto August. Didn't Tiamat have enough children already? Why did she have to claim someone else's?

"My apologies, Lady Tiamat." Rethusa and the others quickly stood up straight. A Goddess who was the mother of a whole pantheon deserved respect, no matter how oddly she acted around August.

Space Ishtar stepped forward next.

"I am Space Ishtar. I believe we've already met."

She had the memories from the projected body August summoned in Orario, so she recognized the Artemis Familia right away.

"Ishtar...?" Rethusa looked closely at the black-haired Goddess. She resembled the projection they saw in the Entertainment District, but the feeling from her real body was much stronger.

As Artemis's followers, they understood a Goddess's presence better than most mortals.

This was unquestionably one.

"What exactly happened while we were preparing?" Artemis turned toward Hestia.

"I don't know." Hestia scratched her cheek. "But they do belong to this world. That much is true."

The awkward silence came back until Marie Alter stepped forward with a gentle smile.

"Hello. Since no one else seems interested in making introductions, I'll handle them." She gestured toward Jeanne Alter first. "This is Jeanne. I'm Marie Antoinette, the former Queen of France. The serious-looking woman over there is Olga Marie Animusphere. You could call her the leader who brought us together. As for the last member of our group, Ereshkigal is currently working, so she isn't here."

Her friendly tone helped ease the tension, even though the sense of vengeance around Marie's Saint Graph made Rethusa and the others nervous. Still, the introductions gave them something normal to focus on.

"You were a queen?" Rethusa asked in surprise.

The Artemis Familia had met royalty before, and Marie definitely had a royal presence. But her modern clothes looked much more like August's style than anything a queen from the past would wear.

Lante tilted her head. "If you're a queen, then why are you traveling with August?"

Everyone here looked suspiciously attached to him.

Marie laughed softly. "Because we aren't typical Heroic Spirits. I really was a Queen of France, but this version of me comes from the resentment and vengeful possibilities in August's memories. My history is real, but the person you see here is another path I could have taken."

She rested a hand against her chest.

"That makes me something unusual..." Marie then walked over to Jeanne Alter.

"...Jeanne is similar. The original Jeanne d'Arc was the holy maiden who saved her nation, but this Jeanne is an Avenger created from someone else's wish. She only exists because August and the people in his world remember her. If August and his world vanished, this Jeanne would eventually fade away too."

Marie's smile softened. "In a sense, the two of us exist beside August. Wherever he goes, we naturally want to follow."

Rethusa and the others finally realized why these Heroic Spirits were so close to him. It was more than just affection. Their existence depended on the memories August held.

"That sounds almost forbidden..." one of the Amazons murmured.

"Think about it," another whispered, pressing both hands to her cheeks. "The entire world forgets you, and only one person remembers you still exist..."

"That's so sad."

Their faces fell as they pictured it. If everyone else forgot you, but one person still remembered your story, how could you not care deeply for them?

August reached over and smacked the nearest Amazon on the head.

"What are you getting emotional about?"

"Ow!"

"Stop turning everything into a tragic romance." He rolled his eyes and looked down at Tiamat, who was still clinging to him. "And could you stop doing that with your aura? I can barely feel anything else."

Tiamat's mana wrapped around August like a second skin, smothering every trace of Hestia's presence she could find. She clearly had not forgiven the Hearth Goddess for leaving with him. Now she clung to August, determined to bury Hestia's scent beneath her own.

"No." Tiamat tightened her hold. "A child without Mother's presence is incomplete."

She looked completely serious, but everyone could tell what she was up to.

With the Divine Pact no longer restricting her in this world, Artemis immediately sensed Tiamat's mana clinging to August. She gave Hestia a pointed nudge with her elbow.

"Aren't you going to stop her?"

Hestia looked remarkably calm.

"She doesn't understand."

Everyone turned toward her.

"In August's world, we sleep together every night. We share the same bed and live under the same roof. Other than the final things lovers do, we've already done almost everything else!"

Her confident tone left several of the younger girls speechless.

Was this the composure of the rightful first wife?

'Amazing...' The same thought crossed more than a dozen minds.

Tiamat glared at Hestia.

"JEALOUS... JEALOUS... JEALOUS..."

No matter how much mana she used on August, she couldn't erase the bond on his back. His Falna and his first contract were with Hestia, and that connection was deeper than anything she could hide.

To make things worse, Commander James and the soldiers had already revealed enough for Tiamat to understand how August felt. Hestia wasn't just the first Goddess he met. She was the first woman he truly loved, and as long as she held that place, everyone else would come after her.

"One day, you'll make a mistake," Tiamat muttered. "Then Mother will pull you down."

"Hmph. Don't waste your time... I won't make one!" Hestia crossed her arms.

Her confidence wasn't empty.

Hestia was a virgin goddess, guardian of the hearth and all it represented. She had always kept gods and mortals at the same careful distance. No matter how many divine romances unfolded around her, she had never once been tempted to follow.

Even Artemis, her closest friend and also a virgin Goddess, knew where the line was between them. Holding hands, hugging, and normal affection were fine. Anything more was off limits.

That unwavering nature was the source of Hestia's confidence.

She didn't need tricks.

She only had to remain herself.

Tiamat may have been the Primordial Mother born from August's memories, but even she could not rival a bond that had been there from the beginning. The more certain Hestia grew of her place beside him, the harder the six Heroic Spirits found it to deal with her.

"As expected of Goddess Hestia," one of the soldiers murmured. "Her position is almost impossible to challenge."

Commander James and the other senior officers watched the whole exchange from a safe distance.

To anyone looking in, the situation was clear. As long as Hestia stayed as August's first choice and kept his trust, her place beside him was safe for life. Even more, she was a free Goddess who could marry him without limits. Getting rid of her would be nearly impossible.

The older officers felt let down. They had hoped for a dramatic showdown between the women, but Hestia's position was so strong that no one dared challenge her openly.

'What a waste.'

Hestia turned her head. She could sense their disappointment.

"It seems certain people sold my August behind my back." She raised one small fist and breathed against her knuckles. "I wonder whether those people can survive being punched by a Goddess."

"..." The soldiers stiffened.

Hestia realized something was up. The Heroic Spirits stood in front of her with the confidence of women who already had permission to follow August home.

The officers closest to her quietly stepped back.

"He did." Jeanne Alter pointed at Commander James without a second of hesitation.

The officers froze.

"We agreed to assist their military," Jeanne continued, "and in exchange, they'll give us legal identities and permission to live in August's world."

She exposed the entire agreement on the spot.

Commander James stared at her. WAS SHE SERIOUS? They had just made the deal, and she had given them up the moment Hestia raised her fist. Did she feel any guilt at all?

Jeanne saw their faces and rolled her eyes.

"Please~ I'm an Avenger. Betraying you is perfectly normal." She jabbed a thumb toward herself. "Did you honestly mistake me for that naïve village saint?"

Commander James and the officers fell silent.

She had a point... This was not the holy maiden Jeanne d'Arc. Jeanne Alter could betray them and not lose any sleep over it.

One officer slowly looked at the others.

"We're not surviving this, are we?"

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