Warily, Marty slowly opened his heavy eyes. He felt extremely muddleheaded as he had a hard time recalling his last few memories. After several seconds, his eyes suddenly shot open. “Kuromi!” He shouted as he sat up with a start. He looked around surprised as all that he could see was pure whiteness that seemed to have neither a beginning or an end.

“Don’t worry. She is all right.” A voice suddenly said behind him.

Marty turned around and saw a beautiful golden-haired woman who he had not seen in a long time. “Artoria? How are you here? Where is here? Why haven’t you answered my calls?

“Don’t you want to know what happened to Kuromi?” Artoria asked with a smile.

“You said she is okay and you don’t strike me as a liar.”

Artoria smiled brightly. “Do you want to know where here is? Well, it’s within the depths of your soul. I believe your consciousness has entered your Soul Core, where I have been sleeping. Try to look outside.”

Marty was a little confused because there was no outside, but he tried to look anyway. After several seconds, he finally decided to focus on looking beyond and succeeded as the scenery changed into something similar to a 360° view showing the situation outside. When he saw where he was, he became emotionally choked.

They were back in his mansion, and he was on his absurdly large bed. Kuromi was snuggled up to his side as if she were placed there by someone else. All the other girls were also snuggled up on the bed, which was at over-capacity. Looking at the scene before him, he felt like the luckiest bastard in the world.

“I seem to have successfully managed to call you within your Soul Core. This core is where you produce and hold mana. Your consciousness resides around your Soul Core. Once inside, you can freely interact with your inner world.”

“Inner world?”

“Just think of a place that you remember very well,” Artoria replied with a smile.

Marty closed his eyes and thought about a particular place. Soon, the panoramic view changed once again, and it became a rolling grassland with sparse amounts of flowers and a lone cherry tree. When Marty opened his eyes, he was shocked by how real it felt.

“The reason why I never answered your summons is that I was asleep until just a short time ago. I used up all my strength when I was helping you fight Fafnir, the Red Dragon, and was only able to recover part of it when Miyuki gave you the flame of her love.”

“I understand. So, why have you called me?”

Artoria gave an awkward look. “You are as sharp as ever. Indeed, I brought you here because for a reason beyond greetings. I’m afraid I have bad news. Nidhogg is awake and will begin attacking Albion soon.”

“How do you know and how soon?” Marty asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Two weeks, Earth time. As to how I know? I have my means.” Artoria said gently, obviously unwilling to say how she knew.

“I see, so what does that have to do with me?”

Artoria gave him a shocked expression. “What do you mean? You’re the only one who can stop Nidhogg.”

“So? What does it have to do with me?”

“Do you mean to say going to let all those innocent people die?”

“There is an infinite number of worlds with an infinite number of people. I bet billions of innocent people died while we had this conversation. What do their lives have to do with me?”

“What about the people you know?”

“I’ll just bring them here before anything bad happens,” Marty replied, seeing that Artoria was disgruntled. “Artoria, I’ll be blunt with you. Killing the Red Dragon almost killed me. As far as I understand, Nidhogg is stronger than Fafnir in terms of its soul. I’m almost guaranteed to die if I try to absorb it. I have no obligation to help them, so why should I willingly do something to cause my death?”

Artoria gave a long look at him before she sighed, having given up. Though she had no intention to, being within his Soul Core meant that she did have access to some glimpses of his memories. She knew why he was so adamant against not fighting Nidhogg. If history were to go through the same path as with Shiba, all the girls but Yutsuki would die. Even though having gone to Kuhon and meeting Miyuki and Kuromi could set off a butterfly effect, it was an unnecessary risk that Marty was unwilling to take.

“Fine, do you remember what originally happened when you fought Nidhogg?” Artoria asked.

Marty thought for a second. “By the time I went to check on Duran, it was already too late. Nidhogg and its soldiers had already begun their attack. They stood no chance. Their armies weren’t stationed correctly, and it was like an ambush from behind. Nidhogg regained much strength from the negative emotions caused by its actions continued to slaughter wantonly. The girls all insisted on fighting, even the ones who had no emotional tie to Albion. While I kept Nidhogg at bay, they slowly began to die one by one, outnumbered by Nidhogg’s soldiers. I was only able to wound Nidhogg by luck, which allowed me to start to absorb it, but I wasn’t strong enough. Cali sacrificed herself so that my body would not be destroyed along with my soul.” Marty said with bloodshot eyes as he trembled, remembering a memory that he wanted to forget.  

“This time it’s different. You know ahead of time you can take extra measures.”

“Even if we do obtain a strong fighting force to wipe out Nidhogg’s soldiers, Nidhogg itself will only die if I absorb it. That’s almost guaranteed death, and I refuse to sacrifice Cali in my stead. Naturally, I will do something. I’ll give them a warning and help them prepare for the fight even if it’s a hopeless battle.”

Artoria sighed. “Fine, I can see I won’t change your mind. I guess I’ll move on to the other reason.”

“What other reason?”

“An excellent benefit of being able to enter your Soul Core is that you have control over what happens inside of it, excluding other souls. Moreover, you can perfectly duplicate your present strength. This provides an excellent opportunity for you to train. While you cannot increase your physical strength or amount of Ki, you can increase your control over your strength and techniques. On top of this, while you can simulate battle damage, it will have absolutely no repercussions and no risk of permanent harm. As such, let’s fight.” Artoria said with a smile as a sword suddenly appeared in her hand. Impressively, it was Gram, except a pure white version.

Marty raised an eyebrow. “Fine, I’ll humor you,” Marty replied as he too drew Gram.

“Be careful,” Artoria said with a smile.  

Marty prepared himself, but Artoria did something he did not expect. Instead of approaching him, she swung Gram at him very quickly. It was a Wind Blade.

“Shit!” Marty exclaimed as he quickly equipped his Soul Armaments and boosted his defense as much as possible. Marty was struck with a massive explosion. When the dust finally cleared, he revealed an enormous cut across the ground. At the very end was an extremely distressed Marty. His Soul Armaments were broken, and he had taken extensive damage.

“If you don’t take this seriously, I won’t hold back anymore,” Artoria said with a smile.

Marty’s eyebrow twitched. “Were you this strong when you beat Nidhogg?”

“I naturally was not this strong. This was my strength at its strongest, which I obtained many years after I originally beat Nidhogg. If you can beat me, you’ll have absolutely no problem beating Nidhogg.”

“I still won’t be able to absorb Nidhogg though.”

“Regardless, don’t you want to become stronger? This is a means.”

Marty stood up as all the damage he had taken healed. “Come!” He shouted, resolved.

Artoria smiled but didn’t respond. She shot to him as the two Grams collided and Marty shot back like a cannonball.  

…

After three hours of Artoria unscrupulous beating, Marty started to become wary. “How much longer?” He asked.

“Well, when we started there was about four hours till dawn,” Artoria said with a smile. Marty relaxed a little as he knew he could hold out for another hour. However, that soon turned to despair when he heard Artoria’s following words. “Although, your perception of time is about five times slower with the current strength of your soul, so we still have another 17 hours.”

“@#$##%!”

 ...

Artoria let Marty off the hook a little early, and he woke up before dawn.  

After he had disappeared, a woman dressed in a black kimono appeared behind Artoria. At Yami’s approach, Artoria’s face turned dark. “I told him. What’s your angle?” Artoria asked

“Why the hostility? If I wanted you gone, I could have easily destroyed your soul as you slept and absorbed it to help strengthen my own.”

“I know that, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“I don’t have an obligation to tell you, but I might as well. It’s quite simple. I know what he went through I don’t want him to go through that again.”

“Well, I don’t think it will. He is adamant about not getting involved.”

Yami sighed. “If Fate could be changed from a simple decision, that would be best. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will work that way. No matter how much you struggle, Fate is not an easy thing to change. Though the small details may change, the result is like the past, unchangeable by mortal means. His Fate should be unable to change, but the Fate of his girls… Well, I suppose there is hope.” Yami said as she looked off into the distance. “Will he be able to break their Fate? Or will Fate claim them?”

 

Thanks to David, Marty’s body was now fine, and he had slept for an extremely long amount of time giving him plenty of energy. He didn’t feel tired in the slightest even after such a brutal training session with Artoria. The reason one would feel wariness would be because of excessive use of one’s emotions, mind, soul, or body. The training that Marty had done hardly used any strength so he wouldn’t feel tired.

Marty spent some time as he snuggled up against Kuromi. He wasn’t sure how or why she was, but Yutsuki had managed to get to his other side while Cali and Shiro had obediently left him alone to rest. A rare treat, though it tasted bittersweet.

After a few minutes, Marty stealthily got up. The girls were all so tired that they didn’t wake up. Only Cali noticed as she didn’t need sleep. However, she couldn’t leave without waking Yutsuki, so she didn’t.

About half an hour later, the morning sun slowly began to spill into the bedroom. The girls started to stir, and their movements ensured that everyone woke up.

“Kuromi, are you are right?” Miyuki asked when she saw Kuromi stir.

“Mistress? Am I still alive?” Kuromi asked, confused. She looked around to get her bearings. Her initial reaction was to look for Marty, but when she saw the space next to her and felt the lingering warmth and familiar smell she relaxed.

“Stop calling me Mistress and call me by my name directly.” Miyuki chastised. “I’ve always thought you as a sister, and I know Marty wants as little of a hierarchy in his harem as possible.”

“All right, Miyuki,” Kuromi replied.

“Where did Marty go?” Yutsuki asked with a slight blush on her cheeks when she remembered she had slept next to him.

The girls all looked at each other as they wanted to know this as well.

While this was happening, Shiro’s nose twitched. “Breakfast!” She shouted as she dashed out of the bedroom. The other girls laughed and followed suit, much more slowly. When they arrived at the dining room, they found Marty and Anna hard at work, preparing a hearty breakfast for everyone.

“Anata, what’s the occasion?” Miyuki asked.

Marty looked a little embarrassed. “Well, seeing that everyone’s alive, I thought it was worth celebrating. As the saying goes, it’s the man’s responsibility to put food on the table, so I decided to take that thing literally this morning.”

The adult girl’s eyes lit up when they heard this as there was a subtle implication in his words. Cali and Shiro’s eyes lit up when they heard the word ‘food.’

Marty looked at Kuromi who’s typically cold face turned a shade of red as she looked away, unable to meet his gaze. He walked up to her, hugged her, and kissed her forehead. “I’m so glad you’re alive.” He said gently.

“Thanks, Anata,” Kuromi said, quieter than a mosquito.

When he saw the other girls envious looks, he gave them the same treatment. Shalgana and Lucibelle were giddy because he had rarely shown such affection to them. He didn’t even let off Yutsuki who nearly passed out from embarrassment. They shared a hearty breakfast as Marty inquired what their plans were for the day. Soon after, Miyuki pulled him aside.

“Anata, is something wrong?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You seem distracted.”

Marty gave a nod. “There is something I have to deal with, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Okay, just remember that we are all here for you need us.” She said before she kissed his cheek.

“Thanks.” He responded with a gentle look.

 ...

“You looked tired, Marty,” Duran said with a weary smile.

“There’s a reason for that,” Martel said with a smile. “I was busy ensuring that it would be safe to remove as many soldiers as possible from the Eastern front.”

Duran cocked an eyebrow. “Really? What did you do?”

Martel didn’t reply directly but withdrew a foul-smelling sack which slowly fell open to reveal the contents.

Duran’s expression changed violently before he finally calmed down. “Put that away.” He said with a wave of his hand, which Marty obliged. “Did you do that yourself?”

Marty rolled his eyes. “Do you have to ask?”

“… No, I suppose not. What happened?”

“Well, since the first time I left, my strength and abilities have greatly increased, which allows me to be more direct in my endeavors. I remembered that the crown Prince of Carlisle was amassing power under the guise of preparing for the throne, but it seemed more like he was trying to replace his father.” Marty said before his right arm draconified.

“I approached him, pretending to be Fafnir, which he could only believe. My reason for appearing was simple, Fafnir wanted Nidhogg dead and was using the armies Roxburghshire and Camelot. The threat of Carlisle lessened the number of available soldiers, which was unacceptable. As such, I offered my help in supporting the Crown Prince, now King. As thanks, he gave me the heads of the former King and the aid that had suggested the assassination plot, as you saw.”

Duran sighed. “And Freed? What happened to him?”

“He’s in prison for life on multiple attempted murder charges and for being considered a threat to society.”

Duran furrowed his brows. “For life? In that case, why not just kill him?”

“That’s just how my society is.”

“Could he… Suffer an accident in prison?”

Martel made a bitter smile. “If you’re asking me if I could kill him, the answer that is only a maybe. You know I was against killing him because it would not be a matter of justice, but vengeance. While I now don’t have as much of a problem doing so, it is currently near impossible for me to kill him. He’s in a high-security cell that I can only get into through teleportation. However, due to concerns with employee security, the entire prison is surrounded in a Rewrite Field, which could prevent me from entering. Even if it didn’t, they could revive Freed, which I know they would do. There are too many unknowns, too many risks, and potentially no reward. While I’m not happy with him still being alive, I can be content with him behind bars.”

“… I understand. It’s unfair for me to expect anything from you when I can do nothing.” Duran self-deprecatingly replied.

Marty shrugged. “It’s fine. Death is too cheap for him. Besides, I’ve been having fun toying with him.” He said with a slightly evil smile.

“What did you do?”

Martel didn’t reply but stood up before he changed the subject. “Do what you can to protect this world. It’s what she would want.”

Duran nodded. “Yes. You know, I’m starting to think she was unfit to be a queen.”

“No, she was able to be her true self because she wasn’t one,” Martel replied with a soft smile.

Duran nodded. “Well, you’ll have your military.”

“Good,” Marty replied before he disappeared with a flash of purple.

Martel then went to Roxburghshire and informed Queen Morgan, who had secured her position as Regent as her husband’s health was poor and failing. She prepared to welcome Duran as well as prepare her troops.

Marty told the two of them the fight itself would probably be hopeless. Nidhogg would be too difficult to stop, so he offered to take them all away. However, they declined after they confirmed that he could take them away at the last second. This was their home, and they were its rulers. They had more responsibility to stay than anyone else so they could not leave. Marty could only give up with a sigh before he left to visit an old acquaintance in a cabin. Then, he went to meet Yggdrasil.

“You came,” Yggdrasil said as Marty entered.

“You could’ve told me Nidhogg was going to wake up around now,” Marty replied.

“I did not have an exact time. You are here now, are you not?”

Marty rolled his eyes. “I hope you have a plan. I almost died killing Fafnir. I’m not fighting Nidhogg.”

Yggdrasil looked at Marty in silence for a few seconds. “You are my plan.”

Marty snorted. “Fat chance. The only reason why I beat Fafnir is due Nidhogg destroying most of its soul. Even if my soul has strengthened since then, Nidhogg’s soul is at full-strength and carries the power of destruction. The chance of me beating it is low, killing it is next to none. There is nothing you can say that will make me fight it.”

“Nothing?” Yggdrasil asked. If his mask of a face could move, he would be raising an eyebrow. “I can give you what you want.”

Marty scoffed. “What I want? How could you possibly know what I want?”

Yggdrasil stared at Marty as he slowly spoke a single word. Marty instantly draconified with an expression of extreme rage, and he erupted his killing intent without holding back. Gram erupted from his hand as he charged forward. While he slashed down, his Ki took the shape of a Dragon tail as it headed straight for Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil raised his large hand, blocked Marty’s strike, and forced him back.

Marty steadied himself while staring daggers Yggdrasil. “Yggdrasil! You owe me an explanation!”

Yggdrasil looked at the Ki Dragon and Gram with a trace of sorrow. “If I could leave, I would fight in your stead, but I cannot. This is all I can offer as an apology.”

Marty did not reply to him.

“It is impossible for you,” Yggdrasil said as he realized Marty’s thoughts. “Only I have the authority. If you wanted to do it, not only would you have to become stronger than me, but stronger than the rules that control this world. That level of strength is something you may never touch. You’re a thousand times more likely to kill Nidhogg than ever reach the level of strength. Only I can do it, and even then only because the circumstances allow it. If things were different, even I would be powerless.”

Marty slowly nodded as he withdrew his Ki and Gram. He slowly walked over to a nearby pillar he began punching it. “Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!” He continuously shouted as he struck the pillar. It took a while for Marty to calm down. “Fine, you win,” Marty replied, spiritless. “Assuming Nidhogg and I fight, what will be the result?”

“While Nidhogg’s soul may be full-strength, it currently has not completely recovered. It plans to use the negative emotions driven by war to recover, so you can defeat it before that happens. If you only defeat it, it will only be temporary and not worth our deal. Assuming you try to absorb Nidhogg, then your soul will most likely be destroyed, and Nidhogg will possess your body.”

“Then, to kill Nidhogg?”

“If you cannot defeat Nidhogg’s soul, the only way will be to kill you. So long as your body dies, Nidhogg’s soul will not have a vessel to possess and dissipate.”

“Is there much point in being rewarded if I won’t live to enjoy it?”

“What do you think?”

Marty sighed. “I want payment in advance.”

“Just before the fight starts. I can prevent you from leaving.”

“I want two more things. The first is that I want you to sync the time between Earth and Albion.”

“Small matter, already done. Time-flow is relative, so it’s not difficult for me to mess with.”

“Second, I want you to swear not to interfere with Cali at all. No matter what life she decides to live, you allow it and do not force or tempt her to follow any path. She decides her life.”

“I agree.”

Marty nodded again before he left, back to earth.

After he had come back, the very first thing he did was to find Miyuki to ask for a favor which she immediately complied to.  

A couple of hours later, Thomas drove up to Marty’s mansion.

“All right, Marty, why are you so mysterious? Was this business deal?” Thomas asked.

“I just got something to pay off my debt and then some,” Marty replied with a small smile.

“Really?” Thomas asked skeptically.

Marty didn’t reply. He just smiled as he snapped his fingers, which was quickly followed by a loud thump.

Thomas was shocked as the largest energy Crystal he’d ever seen suddenly appeared before him. It was the size of a boulder.

“How is it? Will this do?” Marty asked.

“According to the current price, you weren’t kidding,” Thomas said with a gulp. “However, isn’t this too large? It’s very impractical.”

“Besides this, I also have a method to extract the energy from it and cut and shape it.”

Thomas’s eyes lit up when he heard this. “Say, Marty...”

“Before you ask, are you sure you can swallow this on your own? The price will skyrocket if I don’t share it with someone else. Moreover, I intend to bring Yutsuki’s father in on this.”

Thomas nodded. “I understand, you’re the sentimental type.” He said with a happy smile.  

Marty rolled his eyes. “There’s also one more thing I need you to arrange,” Marty said as he nodded to his side. Suddenly, two figures appeared. Thomas was startled by their appearance as he hadn’t noticed anything.

“These are two of my subordinates. They and their families were willing to follow me back to this world. I want to prepare status for them as well as a home nearby for them and their families.”

Thomas nodded. “Let’s add that to the bill.”

Marty turned to the two men. “If you have any needs, Thomas will take care of you.”

The two men knelt in front of Marty. “Yes, Master!”

These two were Shiba’s subordinates who had also been reincarnated. It was unknown if any others have been reincarnated, but only these two had sought him out of their own accord. As they were willing to continue to serve him, Marty decided to use them to act as a line of security for the girls. At first, it was only for when he would be gone, but now it seemed as if it would become permanent.

End of Day -14 

 

The next day the sale was official, and Marty was no longer in debt and now a multimillionaire. He very quickly got all of his finances in order. After all, he wasn’t sure if the girls would want to go back to their worlds without him. He doubted they would stay, but it wasn’t impossible, so he needed to make sure that they could live a worry-free life. If they wanted to go back, Cali was more than capable of taking them.

After he finished all this, he immediately informed Miyuki about all of his finances as she was the most capable of understanding and utilizing them. Marty trusted her completely, and she gave him the money in the first place.

Miyuki didn’t think much of it at first, but as they continued to go over it, she started to realize something was wrong.  

“I’m not sure, but why does it feel as if you are preparing for your death?” She asked him. Marty didn’t respond, but she noted that his body slightly trembled. Startled that her casual question seemed to be spot on, Miyuki became excitedly worried. “Anata, what’s wrong? Tell me, please. I can’t lose you again.”

Marty hesitated before he told her. He explained the situation but didn’t tell her why, only that he had to. His guilt prevented him from telling her the reason why. However, Miyuki didn’t look into it too much. If he was doing it and keeping his motivations from her, then he had his reasons. She was inherently nosy and mischievous, but she was still tactful. “I suppose you’re planning on fighting Nidhogg alone?”

Marty nodded.

Miyuki gave an angry look. “Are you serious? We are not ornaments! We are strong too! I know for a fact that they will all be willing to fight alongside you.”

“Absolutely not!” Marty exclaimed, unable to hide a trace panic. “This is for me to deal with, alone.”

Miyuki was about to reply, but she hesitated and bit her lip before she walked out of the room.

Marty sighed as he collapsed into his hands. A short time later he went downstairs only to find himself surrounded. Looking at the varying angry and concerned looks, Marty immediately knew Miyuki told them.

“We are going to fight with you,” Caelia said.

“Fight! Fight!” Shiro parroted with a fist pump.

Shiro’s reaction softened Marty’s heart a little. “It’s not that simple,” Marty said as he flashed through those terrifying memories.

“Are you looking down on us women?” Shalgana asked indignantly. “Honorable Husband, we’ve all noticed that you’ve been trying to become stronger as quickly as possible and we know it is because you want to protect us. However, we are not weak! We’ve been training hard, so we will not be your burden. You have helped all of us, and now it’s time for us to help you. Miyuki told us. Although I don’t dare say we can fight Nidhogg, we can fight Nidhogg’s soldiers. They have the strength of a Rank 5 Ki user. All of us, besides Miyuki and Kuromi, have Peak Rank 10 Ki. We can fight!”

Marty was somewhat taken aback by Shalgana’s speech. “Yes, that is their strength, but there are many of them. On top of this, they all carry the strength of destruction. So long as there is enough of them, they can even bring down someone who has Peak Rank 10 Ki.”

“Then we will be careful,” Caelia replied.

Marty was internally struggling. He was afraid he would lose them again. By no means did he want to prevent them from fighting, nor did he look down on them in any way, he only wanted to protect them. He thought about it and perhaps it would be different this time. They had died because they separated to try and save as many people as possible as Nidhogg soldiers had already entered the city and begun to slaughter. However, this time, the army would be involved directly. There was an excellent chokepoint that they could utilize, and the soldiers could act as meat shields to let the girls take a reprieve. When he thought it through, and he realized they would probably intervene anyway, he could only sigh. “So long as you all promise to do as I say, then fine.”

The girls all showed a mixture of happiness and relief as he finally relented. “Good, so what is the plan?” Miyuki asked.

“My klansman would be willing to help” Shalgana added.

Marty facepalmed. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of that. It seemed as if Shiba’s memories had given him a narrow mindset. “Good. You will prepare some overnight bags. I have some things I need you all to do.”

The girls nodded hastily and quickly prepared.

 ...

That evening the girls plus Elizabeth were in the living room.

“So why am I here and what required me to take a month off?” Elizabeth asked, disgruntled that Marty hadn’t informed her about anything other than he needed her for a month.

“You, Lucibelle, Cali, Yutsuki, Miyuki, and Kuromi will be heading to Lucibelle’s world. Lucibelle and Yutsuki will be responsible for preparing troops, Cali will be responsible for transportation when needed, and Miyuki, Kuromi, and yourself will get Ki.”

“Wait a minute? You can decide to go to another world?”

“Yes,” Marty replied.

“No wonder your harem has been growing,” Elizabeth said.

Marty ignored her and turned to Lucibelle and Yutsuki. “Do you two know what you need to do?”

“Leave it to us,” Lucibelle replied.

“Good,” Marty replied before he gave a nod to Cali who quickly took them away.

“Morgan, you’ll go back with Shalgana to drum up support. How has your Dimension Door come along?”

“I’m proficient,” Morgan grumbled. She was acting unhappy, but Marty could tell she was happy to be of use.

“Good, I’ll send the two of you there now.” At the snap of his fingers, the two of them disappeared. Then, he turned to Caelia and Shiro.

“I hope you don’t expect me to rally the Demihumans,” Caelia said with a trace of sadness as she felt separated from her kind.

“No, I expect you to meet the person who will,” Marty replied as he handed her a letter.

“Who?” Caelia asked.

Marty didn’t reply immediately, but came up to her, kissed her forehead and hugged her. “Do you remember when I told you that I do not expect you to forgive me for what I have done, but not for what I am doing?”

Caelia nodded.

Marty smiled, stepped back, and snapped his fingers.

The next thing Caelia and Shiro knew, they stood in a forest. They weren’t exactly sure where they were, but the makeshift cabin nearby seemed to be their destination. As they turned to approach the cabin, the door opened, and a figure could be seen within. Cali and Shiro both stopped in shock. They both begin to shake of disbelief and excitement as tears appeared in their eyes, and a smile appeared on their faces.

 ...

Lucibelle and the others suddenly found themselves in Lucibelle’s office.

“What the?” Angelique exclaimed as several people suddenly appeared in front of her.

“Little sister!” Lucibelle exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her.

“Back already?” Angelique asked with a forced smile, both happy to see her and complaining.

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy to see me?” Lucibelle asked back with a slight pout before she turned into a slight grin. “So, when are you getting married?”

Angelique gawked. “How did you know?” She blurted out before she blushed.

Lucibelle eyes shot open. “Seriously? How did he propose? Do you have a date set? How are you further along than me?”

“It wasn’t romantic at all! He just brought it up out of nowhere and rambled on as to why it would be a good idea. His insecurity was so cute.” She said with a chuckle.

“Well, you have to tell me all about it, but right now we should get rooms for our guests,” Lucibelle said before she began to introduce everyone. Soon after this occurred, two more people suddenly appeared in the room. Everyone was startled because it was Marty’s method, but almost none of them recognized the two. It took several seconds for Miyuki and Kuromi to realize who they were.

“You two were reincarnated, and you didn’t tell me?” Miyuki asked with a hint of anger as she recognized them as part of Mahesvara’s Shadow.

The two of them knelt. “Forgive us, Mistress. We were always nearby in case you needed us, but we felt better not to interfere with your life, and we have our own families.”

“Yet you appear now after my husband returned?”

The two men didn’t respond.

Miyuki sighed. “Oh, we should get some rooms as I understand that obtaining Ki will be sudden and painful.”

Angelique nodded before she got everyone into their rooms.

 ...

Shalgana and Morgan found themselves in front of a large number of gers on plains. Shalgana was little surprised that they had appeared so close to her clan as they had moved since she had left. However, her surprise was short-lived due to her near worship of Marty. Morgan followed her as Shalgana walked in with her head held high. Her status was extremely high being the daughter of the Khaqan and wife, albeit nominally to her disappointment, to the next Khan. As they entered, many visions were aimed at the two of them. There was some surprise as they recognize Shalgana, but there was much more surprise after they saw Morgan. As she had spent little time in the sun and was a different ethnicity, Morgan had fairly white skin. On top of this, her facial features, Golden hair, and unique clothing gave an exotic look, and many eyes glistened with immoral thoughts at her.

Morgan was already numb to them as she had received many in her world as countless would lust after her appearance and position. She couldn’t help but frown and feel slightly disgusted. She instinctively compared them to Marty who lacked that look. Her vision became gentle as she remembered how his gaze would always be filled with care and concern.

Shalgana also saw these looks at Morgan, and she became quite indignant. “Who dares transgress my man’s woman?!” She shouted.

At her words, everyone who had impure thoughts rapidly cast aside their vision.

Morgan felt flash of pride before she humphed. “Who is his woman?” She mumbled.

When Shalgana heard this, she quickly stopped and turned to face her. “Morgan, you really should stop acting like that. If you keep making the statements that you don’t mean, you may end up with nothing. If you aren’t careful and you respond like that when he wants to confirm your feelings, he may take it as rejection.”

“What does that matter to you? Aren’t you already his wife? Don’t you want fewer women in the picture?”

Shalgana couldn’t help but get angry at Morgan’s words. “You’re an idiot. Out of all of you, I feel the weakest, and I’m particularly jealous of you! I know he’s kissed you, twice! Compared to you, he’s hardly been intimate with me at all! I would rather not be his ‘wife’ if I could be in your position now.”

Morgan clicked her tongue and was disinclined to respond. However, it did not keep her from mulling over Shalgana’s words as the two of them went to meet Shalgana’s father.

 

After he had packed everyone off, Marty began to relax. He had used Dimension Door several times, and he felt a little fatigued. After about an hour, he began to focus inward, and he opened his eyes in his inner world. There he saw Artoria meditating over her blade.

Artoria smiled at him. “Back for more?”

Marty couldn’t help but groan.

Artoria chuckled. “It’s better this way, you know? When was the last time you fought someone stronger than yourself? Besides Fafnir, never. If you spend your entire life stepping on ants, you will never truly know how strong you are, and you will not know how to fight those that are stronger than you. You will never exceed your limits.”

Marty’s eyes focused. “Then let’s fight!”

Artoria smiled, she shot up in front of him and, with a slice, sent him flying.

End of Day -13