Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

After the announcement, every Master and Servant in Snowfield began thinking about what to do with Tsubaki Kuruoka, the girl who had summoned one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They all knew the risk: if the ritual connected to Pale Rider finished, the world would end.

August visited her as the new Master of False Assassin. Since the change, the Zealot was clear about her goal—she wanted to find and challenge a Hassan in this Holy Grail War. For now, she disguised herself as his secretary and followed him into the hospital.

As soon as she entered Tsubaki's room, she sensed Servants nearby. Several groups were already watching the girl, even if they stayed out of sight.

Tsubaki lay still on the bed, her mind drifting between sleep and waking. The Command Spells were still clear on her right hand.

"You want to heal her?" the Zealot asked.

She understood what Pale Rider meant. If the right conditions were met, the Horseman would start an apocalyptic ritual and doom the world...

Part of her found the idea tempting. August's home was full of unknown beings, each as strong as a Servant or even stronger. If the apocalypse wiped them all away, it would make her life much easier.

But she didn't let the thought go any further. Her beliefs told her to hunt heretical magi and monsters like Dead Apostles, but things had changed.

For now, she had to serve August.

"Of course. Someone needs help. Why wouldn't I save her?" August walked to the bedside.

He started chanting and cast a sacred healing spell on Tsubaki. As soon as the spell touched her, a wave of diseased power burst from her body and engulfed him before he could step back.

The Zealot had no chance to resist. One moment she was by the hospital bed, and the next, the same power pulled her into a Reality Marble with him. Their surroundings changed instantly.

"Master, where are we?" The Zealot stared around in disbelief.

A perfect replica of Snowfield stretched out around them, completely separate from the real city. She had examined Tsubaki's mind before August began treating her, yet somehow, Pale Rider had acted without her sensing a thing.

Healing one bedridden girl had somehow brought them both into this fake city.

"Someone else's territory," August answered.

Outside this place, his real body was still using all its power to fight the bacteria inside Tsubaki. As soon as his spell began to remove them, her body's defenses reacted and pulled his mind here. Whatever ran this place wanted to stop him.

"Come out." August looked across the false Snowfield.

"Now that I've forced my way in, I know you two have noticed us."

The Reality Marble copied the city exactly, with enough power to hold a whole second Snowfield in place.

August didn't bother searching any of it. He had entered enemy territory with just one Servant and no plan except to announce himself.

The Zealot looked at him. Was that really it? No investigation, no careful searching, no effort to find the enemy first. He had just walked in and challenged them right away.

"It's here," August said.

The Zealot stepped in front of him. She was tied to him by contract now, and no matter what she thought of her new Master, she couldn't let him die here. She wouldn't let Pale Rider hurt him either.

Black mist rushed at them, and the Zealot raised her arm to block it. She knew what was inside that fog. Pale Rider had only shown a small part of its true power as a Servant, but even that could be enough for God's descent.

The mist brushed her arm.

"How bad is it?"

August asked, raising his hand and sending healing energy into the arm she used to block. Her flesh had already turned dark. Pale Rider's plague had taken over her whole arm, far beyond what normal medicine could fix.

"AHHHH!" The Zealot ripped off the ruined arm and cut its link to her spiritual body before the infection could spread.

August's healing spell covered the wound and rebuilt her arm until a new one formed.

"It's strong." She squeezed her new hand through the pain and watched the black mist.

Disease had barely threatened her in life, and as a Servant it should have mattered even less. Her spiritual body could resist most infections, but one touch from that mist still cost her an arm.

"It isn't," August said. "The Master is."

The Zealot glanced at him.

"The insect Magecraft inside Tsubaki has turned the cells in her body into nests. Those bacteria have enough magical energy to give her the reserves of a top-class magus—"

The quality of that energy wasn't special, but the amount was. There was enough to let one of the Four Horsemen act freely.

Pale Rider had used that power to pull them into Tsubaki's dream.

"Should we kill her?" the Zealot asked.

If Tsubaki kept both Pale Rider and the Reality Marble going, killing her would end both.

"No." August stopped her before she could move.

The person in front of them was just a child. No matter how violent the Zealot could be—her faith would never let her kill an innocent girl. That meant August would have to handle this himself.

"Tsubaki Kuruoka," August called.

"Master of False Rider." He didn't know where she was, but he knew she could hear him. "You heard the voices outside, didn't you? By now, you should know what's happening to you."

Before August came, Commander James's soldiers had talked to Tsubaki, explaining her condition, who Pale Rider was, and what would happen if she stayed trapped in this dream. The military even brought in counselors to help her. Even if she didn't understand at first, she knew the truth now.

"Are you going to kill me?"

A scared voice called out nearby. Tsubaki appeared in a red dress, shaking with each step. Her face showed the fear of a child who wanted to hide behind someone stronger. Still, she forced herself to keep going.

She could sense August healing her real body. When he finished removing the bacteria, she would lose the energy required to keep this Reality Marble active.

By herself, Tsubaki had no more magic than a normal magus. Her true power came from the bacterial insect Magecraft inside her, each colony with its own magical pulse. August already knew everything about her condition.

"No." He shook his head.

August looked at the girl. "I came here to heal you. After you recover—you can keep fighting in the Holy Grail War or leave Snowfield and go wherever you want. No one will stop you."

Tsubaki stared at him without answering.

"But I think I know what will happen if I leave you like this," August said. "You'll follow Pale Rider through the underworld..."

"Are you okay with that?"

He knew what would happen if nothing changed. Pale Rider would take Tsubaki's mind into the underworld and show her the land of the dead—while her body would remain in the living world, asleep forever...

"Eh?"

Tsubaki didn't really know what it meant to wander the underworld. But she did realize something else—this man might be the only person who had ever come here to help her.

"What about my mommy and daddy?"

Even now, her first thoughts were of her parents.

They had given her life and raised her. Maybe the smiles she remembered were fake, and maybe their love hid other motives, but those memories were all she had. She was still a child. She couldn't let go of those feelings just because someone said her parents were monsters.

"I'm going to kill them," August said.

"Why?" Tsubaki's eyes widened.

She thought he would promise to spare them. Maybe he would say he could heal them, change them, or give them another chance. She even expected him to explain why they did what they did. But August didn't pretend.

'What is wrong with this Master?' The Zealot's mouth twitched.

She had met blunt men before, but this was something else. He had just told a little girl that he planned to kill her parents. Wasn't he worried she might lose control and send Pale Rider after them?

"Because they're monsters," August said.

"Anyone who could do that to their own child is a monster. People like that don't change... I hate them for what they did to you. They made their choice, and by this world's rules, I have to kill them."

August showed no anger. He spoke as if it were just another task he had to do.

"Zealot, do you think I'm wrong?" August turned toward the only Servant who had come into the Reality Marble with him.

For once, the usually hotheaded killer stayed quiet. One eyelid twitched at the nickname he used, but she thought about what Tsubaki's parents had done before she spoke.

"You're not wrong..." The Zealot stepped beside him. People who treated their own child like that had lost the right to be called human, and she saw no reason to show them mercy.

Pale Rider stayed hidden in the dream city, watching. It had planned to wait until the treatment was at a critical point before acting.

Now it hesitated.

Hestia's child was much more ruthless than it had expected.

Tsubaki looked toward where she could sense her Rider. Her lips parted. She wanted to ask them to spare her parents, maybe even beg August to save them.

The words reached her throat.

Then they stopped.

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

Bulk upload of 5 chapters if we hit 600 Power Stones this week!!

—•——•——•——•——•——•—

~ Every 300 Power Stones = Bonus chapter!

~ 40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)