In a mansion on Earth, four women were quietly drinking tea as they were going over paperwork.

“Has everyone gone over the information Cali provided?” Freyja asked as she fixed her golden hair.

“I believe we all have,” Miyuki answered for the others. Her slightly damp, long, and straight black hair implied she had recently gotten out of the bath.

Freyja nodded after she saw no one disagreed with her. “All right, then we will start the first official meeting of the Martel’s Harem Expansion Committee.”

“Freyja, your naming sense is terrible,” Lucibelle said with a slight groan. Though her red-tinted skin hid the slight blush she had, the way her tail twitched expressed her embarrassment.

Shalgana made a slight giggle as the beads in her hair slightly clicked. “I think it’s fine. Direct is good.”

Miyuki turned to Freyja. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I can understand Lucibelle and Shalgana given their cultures, but I’m slightly hesitant about wantonly increasing the number of rivals.”

Freyja nodded. “I’m not exactly thrilled about it. However, I believe it to be the better decision. Would you like me to go in more depth?” She asked when she noticed the looks of the others.

The other girls nodded, so Freyja continued.

“Basically, it stems from the fact that the world is no longer safe. Stronger people appear every day, which makes it harder for society to remain a safe place. Only those with real power will be able to control their futures.

“Knowing our Martel, if he can suffer alone to keep us safe, he would do without hesitation. However, he’s not a hero. He’s only one person who can do only so much. This is why he needs companions to help shoulder his burden. For simplicity’s sake, there are two types of companions he can have, men and women. They have to be completely trustworthy, but there is something that undermines that trust, jealousy.

“In a man’s case, jealousy will mostly revolve around us. I believe our beauty and being monopolized by one person may not sit right with some men. If a man were to develop feelings for us, jealousy could easily sprout and turn against Martel. For example, if someone thought: ‘if he dies, the women are all mine.’

“In a woman’s case, jealousy would most likely revolve around the fact that he has a relationship with multiple women. This distinction is why I prefer him to be companions with women as their jealousy will most likely not be directed at him but us. For example, ‘if these other women weren’t here, he’d be all mine.’ In this situation, there are many of us, making us a much harder target. That isn’t to say that he won’t be targeted by a jealous woman, just that it will be more unlikely.

“In regards to jealousy, women are also easier to placate than men will be. Even though they won’t get Martel to themselves, it is still possible for them to be romantically involved. This isn’t true for the man’s case as I know that Martel would be unwilling to share us, not that I would even consider it.

“Besides the other reasons I have stated previously, these reasons are why I am accepting of it all and why we are having this little meeting. We are looking to weed out those who have the potential for jealousy and could be a threat.”

The girls gave a nod of understanding.

Shalgana nodded, and the beads in her hair softly clicked together. “I can understand that some people may feel jealous. However, I feel proud that so many attractive and powerful women have become my sisters. It validates the worthiness of my husband.”

“You and Lucibelle are probably the only two that think that way, though,” Miyuki replied with a chuckle.

“All right, enough of the banter,” Freyja said with a smile. “What are your initial thoughts?”

“Given how little she speaks, I’m quite surprised at Cali’s thoroughness,” Lucibelle replied.

Freyja nodded. “Yes, that's why she’s perfect for the job. She’s taking on the observer role and not trying to be too involved, as per usual. However, I was referring more to the girls.”

“Speaking of the girls, isn’t he going a little too fast?” Lucibelle said with a smile. “He just left this morning.”

“Because of the time difference,” Freyja replied, obviously aware she was joking.

“I fully approve of Laelynn.” Miyuki replied seriously. “However, I believe it to be important that we give her some more time. She just got saved by a white knight and is probably experiencing her first crush. We need to let those feelings mature to see how she will handle them; whether she will be the jealous type. She has mental scars, but Martel is already beginning to heal them, so I expect them to be mitigated in the future.”

“I agree,” Freyja replied as the other two nodded.

“What do you think of Hestia?” Lucibelle asked.

“Hestia is extremely complicated.” Shalgana began. “I don’t think that she has any romantic feelings toward Martel, at least not at this point. Her feelings are most likely confused, but she most likely sees herself more in a subordinate relationship with Martel, if not friendship.

“Her status as a noble might also be holding her back.” Freyja added. “She is a duke’s only child, which makes the control of her marriage minuscule at best. She will most likely hold back any romantic feelings she may develop for him because of this. However, her romantic intent towards Martel is not required to be a companion, just her trustworthiness. I believe her to be trustworthy enough regardless of whether or not things develop in that direction. That being said, we need to maintain a certain level of surveillance on all of them.”

“None of the other girls particularly stick out to me, good or bad reasons,” Shalgana added.

Freyja nodded. “All right then, I officially bring this meeting to a close. Next, we’ll go for daily training.”

“You won’t.” Miyuki immediately replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Freyja, everyone knows how hard you have been working to catch up to us. While we all approve and support you in doing so, you need to take a break. If you aren’t careful, your body may break down, especially now that our stress reliever is in another world.” She replied with a slight grin.

“So, what do you suggest?”

“From what I understand, the System in the world that he is and will help one quickly learn faster than without it. Martel is planning on bringing us over once he has a sufficient base and facilities required for us. Given the time difference, fluctuating between 1 to 24 Earth time, that could be in as little as a few hours. You should relax for now as I imagine the amount we will be training in the future will increase greatly.”

“What will you be doing?”

“We’ll be doing the bare minimum daily training we normally do in the shelter, so why don’t you go find something to do and relax? I know Martel would want you to.”

Freyja gave out a light sigh. “Fine, I’ll go see the animals.”

The four of them went their separate ways as Freyja made her way outside to the makeshift pasture. The animals were mostly friendly, though they almost seemed to be attracted to her. Freyja smiled as she gave them all a little attention before turning around to go back into the house. However, she made a slight pause when she noticed something in the sky out of the corner of her eye.

The sky looked slightly weird, almost as if it was glass and was breaking. The crack did not seem extremely large, nor did it seem far away. It was almost like it did not exist in that piece of space.

Freyja didn’t move, almost as if she was drawn to it. The next moment, the crack suddenly broke, and something shot out from it in Freyja’s direction. There was an audible crack as the force field surrounding the mansion broke as the projectile landed about 20 feet away from her.

Freyja was momentarily surprised, especially because she felt as if something that broke through the force field should’ve caused much more impact than the small crater she saw. She quickly made her way over to the crater as she thought she heard a voice coming from it. What she found there astounded her.

Within the crater was a woman. The woman was astonishingly beautiful, even in the tattered state she was in. Her body was near perfection, even with the numerous wounds, silver blood, and tattered armor. Freyja was at a loss for words as she stared at the silver-haired woman, almost entranced by her appearance.

“Child, are you all right?” The woman asked weakly.

Freyja snapped out of her trance. “Yes, I’m fine.” She said as she quickly made her way to the woman. “You’re badly injured, let me heal you.”

“That’s all right. My wounds are not something that you can-” the woman began before she abruptly stopped, and a hint of surprise could be seen on her face.

Conversely, Freyja made a frown in confusion. “Why isn’t it working?”

“Child, it is working. However, my strength makes it inefficient. If I were mortal, I’m sure this interesting power of yours would be capable of healing me.”

“If you were mortal?”

The woman gave out an exasperated breath. “Child, what is your name?”

“Freyja.”

The woman’s eyes shot open before she laughed out loud, only pausing to cough up blood. “For someone who is entrapped by and hates my Fate, this situation is a little ironic.”

“Miss?”

“A name is more powerful than you think. While it can do nothing, it can also affect who one is; their Destiny, Luck, and Fate. To think the random place I broke through space was near you. Child, come closer.”

Freyja obliged as the woman lifted her hand and brought two fingers up to her forehead. It was a strange feeling for Freyja as she felt as if she couldn’t dodge even if she wanted to. Upon contact, a strange power began to envelop her body. She began to glow silver, and she began to collapse weakly, only to be caught a moment later by a man who had suddenly appeared behind him.

“My Hero,” Freyja weakly said she felt the warmth of his embrace.

Martel made a bitter smile. He had just been contacted shortly before about what was happening. The danger level of the situation to be unquantifiable. However, there was no way he could leave Freyja. The bitter smile was due to the situation he found himself in.

Because he had received a warning which caused him to go back, he was very much against traveling back in time. It could potentially create a secondary version of himself, one who went back in time and one who would remain in the other world. The latter couldn’t go back to Earth because the former who went back in time existed there. Additionally, he couldn’t have gone back in time, even if he wanted to. For some reason, the only time he could travel back to Earth was when he did. These were the reasons why he’d only appeared now.

Looking up at the crack in space and the woman in front of them, he finally knew the reason why he could only travel through now, almost like this woman had allowed it. The real reason was that the quick transfer of power from the woman to Freyja had stabilized the distorted space.

“What did you do to her?” Martel asked the woman.

The woman made a gentle smile. “Nothing bad. You’ll probably thank me shortly.” She said with a slight chuckle. “The two of you make a lovely couple. I truly hope that the two of you are blessed and never come to blows with one another.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Please don’t make statements that sound like foreshadowing,” Martel replied helplessly.

The woman made a chuckle and looked as if she was about to continue speaking, but her complexion changed as she looked up.

Following her vision, at the slight crack from the sky, Martel suddenly saw another figure appear and slowly make his way down towards them. A middle-aged man who held a spear, had a patch over his left eye, and a Raven perched on his left shoulder had suddenly appeared. Martel’s expression crazily changed as he instantly remembered someone matching that description, someone he’d never want to meet.

The man glanced down at three of them. “So, this is where you went, Freya.”

Freyja, who was almost completely paralyzed as the strange power went through her body, glanced up at the man, but she could not speak. However, this wasn’t a problem as he wasn’t referring to her.

“Leave me to die in peace, Odin.” The woman, Freya, replied.

Odin narrowed his eye. “In that case, I’ll take you and the woman you have blessed.” He said before he reached out his hand towards them, and an ethereal hand suddenly appeared.

Martel despaired as the ethereal hand made its way towards them. There was absolutely nothing he could do. The strength Odin was using seemed as if it would break apart the very space it was going through. Space seemed to be locked, and he could barely utilize his Ki and mana. All he could do was tightly grip Freyja and pray for a miracle.

In the next moment, an ethereal fist suddenly smashed into the hand, destroying both.

“Who?” Odin suddenly shouted as he took a slightly defensive stance towards the direction the fist came flying from, which coincidentally was from the same direction as the hole in the sky.

A new hole had appeared along with a new figure. The male figure had a white body, but a blue face and throat. In the center of his forehead was a sideways and closed eye. A living cobra was wrapped around his neck.

“Odin, that is enough. Do you want to anger Him?”

Odin narrowed his eye. “Welcome, Shiva the Hypocrite. I’ve only come to take my wife back.”

Shiva narrowed his eyes at Odin's provocation but didn’t reply.

Freya laughed. “Take me back? I refuse. You are the one who put me in this state.”

“Only because you would not listen.”

Freya laughed. “Because I wouldn’t listen? Or because I didn’t play my role as our cyclical history dictates?

Odin raised his eyebrow at her.

Noticing Odin’s reaction, Freya laughed. “Are you curious as to why things didn’t go as you had planned? I know about it. In your wisdom, you found a way to retain the memories of your past lives, and I stumbled upon it this time! I remembered everything, the birth of the world, Ragnarok, all of it. So after numerous cycles, why have you done nothing to end it? Done nothing to defeat Ragnarok? Done nothing but let history repeat?”

“That’s because-”

“I don’t want to hear your contrived excuses! Was it because you feared breaking Ragnarok would end the cycle? That you would no longer be King? Or do you enjoy toying with me time and time again, forcing me to be your wife? As soon as I tried to successfully defeat Ragnarok, this was the result.” She continued with a self-deprecating laugh.

Odin, who had decided not to reply to Freya, turned to look at Odin. “I’ll be taking my wife and that woman back with me.” He said as he once again reached out.

Shiva, who had remained silent the entire time, once again stopped him.

“Shiva! Why do you stop me!” Odin said in palpable anger.

“You know full well we are not allowed to harm or force those of this world to worship us. We are supposed to stay away.”

“Who made you the defender of this world?”

“I did. It is my nature and my benefit to ensure that He does not wipe us out because we did not listen. Haven’t you noticed that we are being watched right now?”

Odin frowned but did not reply.

“The only reason we know is that He is letting us. You can take your wife back, but that woman must stay.” Shiva continued.

Odin didn’t say anything as he appeared to begin to reach out but suddenly attacked Siva with his spear. Shiva, who was ready for it, calmly intercepted the spear with his fist. There was a massive collision, as the space around him seemed to distort.

“Are you done with your childish rant?” Shiva asked as he withdrew his fist that now had a small cut. The next moment, he suddenly reacted and reached out towards the three people below. Odin suddenly stopped him making his reach fall short.

“Odin, you!”

“Accidents happen,” Odin replied calmly, but it was apparent he was not backing down.

Martel, who found himself frozen holding onto Freya below the quick exchange, suddenly trembled. The drop of Shiva’s blood that was on Odin’s spear had fallen off and was heading directly towards him. This is what Shiva had tried to grab. Martel wanted to move, but he couldn’t under the presence of the two beings.

The drop of Shiva’s blood, carrying Odin’s divinity, struck Martel square in the forehead and quickly absorbed his body. Indescribable pain began to course through his body as it expanded like a balloon before contracting, appearing to bubble in some places. He felt as if his body would burst at any moment, but he had a strong desire to stay alive, encouraged by the small amount of warmth he felt from the woman in his embrace.

Martel had to do something, and there is only one thing he thought he could do, devour. Devour. DEVOUR. That one thought repeated Martel’s mind as he desperately fought the immense body of energy. However, it was a losing battle as the energy was rampant and enormous.

Freya, who watched the couple struggling, had a look of sadness on her face. She saw from the barely conscious Freyja’s expression that she was far more worried about Martel. “This is all I can do for you, as I can do nothing for him.” She said with a sigh. Her blood began to turn into a silver fire before it gathered to her palm and shot out towards Freyja.

After she did so, she glanced up at the emotionless Odin. Instead of anger, only complex emotions could be seen on her face. She turned back to the two of them before she spoke in a near whisper as her body began to break apart. “If you survive, if you become strong enough, please come save me and break me out of this cursed cycle.” She said before her body turned into dust.

The moment the silver flame touched Freyja’s body, the previous silver glow suddenly started to wrap her as if she were in a cocoon. Unlike Martel, who was in tremendous pain from the wild energy, the energy given to Freyja was extremely temperate and integrated with her seamlessly.

Even though Freyja could not see Martel, who was positioned behind her, she could almost feel the pain and suffering through the hand she held. She desperately wanted to do something but could do nothing.

After the blood drop entered Martel, a bloodied aura began to surround him, stemming from his head before moving down his body. Wherever the bloodied aura went, his body would react more violently. The bloodied aura slowly made his way down his body and his arms, leaving a path of hemorrhaging in its wake. The moment the bloodied aura came in contact with the silver cocoon, a small conflict occurred, but this wasn’t the most interesting reaction.

In his and her mind, they heard His voice. From Freyja’s chest, a golden flame suddenly appeared. This golden flame traveled down Freyja’s arm until it contacted Martel’s hand. In the next moment, a golden flame also appeared from Martel’s chest, passed through the bloodied aura, and reached his hand where the flames soon intertwined. Quickly, the flames began to expand and surround them both.

“God-Slayers,” Odin said as his expression changed from his apathetic amusement to seriousness.

Shiva, who had previously been looking at them out of concern, cocked an eyebrow at his expression changed to one of interest. “Indeed. The woman seems to be a descendant of a God-Slayer, while the man seems to be both a first-generation God-Slayer and has killed at least a god without utilizing that strength. Interesting. What do you think you’re doing?” Shiva continued after he noticed Odin take an aggressive stance.

“Getting rid of a potential threat,” Odin replied emotionlessly.

Shiva quickly moved between them. “Impossible. Even if I don’t let you, He won’t allow it.”

“Are you going to let them exist? Surely you aren’t blind. Excluding the fact that my wife gave the woman her Divine Seeds, the boy already has many Divine Seeds, and he’s somehow absorbing my divinity and coalescing Divine Seeds from it. Additionally, he has the power of a God-Slayer. Simultaneously having Divine Seeds and the God-Slayer power means that he even has the power of Origin and that it can be passed to his wives. While he may be weak now, that power has the potential to surpass all of us. Are you telling me that you will allow that kind of threat to exist?”

Shiva gave Odin a condescending look. “I wouldn’t dare even if I wanted to. Besides, I have no quarrel with him; his quarrel at this point is only with you. Don’t think because you will be reborn with your realm’s cycle that you will be invincible. He can permanently end you if He wishes for it.”

His words ticked off Odin, but he couldn’t retort. He turned to look back at Martel and Freyja. Noting they had begun to stabilize, he angrily turned around. He entered back into the crack in space that healed upon his departure.

After he confirmed that Odin had left, Shiva glanced back at the two of them before he left.

A couple of minutes went by until the golden cocoon surrounding the two of them suddenly began to wane. A crack suddenly appeared that quickly spread throughout the shell before it shattered and disappeared, revealing the couple within. Compared to before, there were some subtle changes to them.

Freyja had become more beautiful to the point where her appearance seemed to be near perfection. She could easily give Cali in her adult form a run for her money. Additionally, the bangs that she had wrapped around her eye were now silver while the rest of her hair remained gold. Even beyond her overall appearance was the fact that her temperament seemed to have changed. She seemed to radiate love, but also a sharpness that could easily keep the average person at bay.

Compared to Freyja, Martel’s changes were more subtle. His body was slightly more muscular, but most of the change was internal as his muscles had been improved in quality. His appearance also changed somewhat. He had become more attractive but also had a strange and almost devilish charm. Additionally, he felt as if he could use Emotion Magic more efficiently, but it wasn’t an earth-shattering change.

“Freyja, are you all right?” he asked quickly.

“I’ve never felt better.” She said with relief after she confirmed he was also all right.

Martel was about to continue, stopped when Morgan’s Dimension Door appeared next to them. All the women who had been in the shelter below appeared, and Martel couldn’t help but give a bitter smile as he saw their tear ridden faces. He had intentionally cut off all surveillance to keep them in the dark as he was not expecting it to be a happy ending. Luckily, it hadn’t come to that.

He and Freyja quickly consoled the girls, but Martel noticed an interesting phenomenon. The girls almost seemed more concerned about Freyja than himself. This didn’t bother him too much as he meant that they were getting along well with each other. Still, he could not help but feel it might also be because of the change she had experienced subconsciously affecting them.

Upon smothering Morgan with a hug, as she was previously kicking his ankles and mumbling ‘stupid idiot making me worried,’ Martel turned to the girls. “I need to give myself and Freyja a full check to make sure we are all right.”

A few girls had a look of surprise, but a knowing smile appeared on their faces.

“I don’t see a problem with it as long as you give us a checkup soon too.” Miyuki vivaciously replied.

Martel rolled his eyes. “Sure.” He said, a little shamelessly, as he swept up Freyja in a princess carry and teleported down into the shelter.

...

Several hours later, Martel was cuddling with Freyja with a stupid grin plastered on his face.

Freyja was almost pouting. “You’re such a bully.”

“Can’t help it,” Martel shamelessly replied with a shrug.

“At least I managed to stay conscious this time.” She continued as she pinched his side.

“You make it sound like I do that on purpose.”

“You do,” Freya replied matter-of-factly.

“I should make that reality then,” Martel said as he embraced and kissed her.

“Wait, stop, stop!” Freya replied with a fluster when she finally caught her breath. “My body can only take so much!”

“Fine, fine,” Martel said with a teasing smile.

“Seriously, you still haven’t used Ki or magic. I’m terrified of what would happen if you did.” “Want to find out?”

“I’m good.” She replied as she flicked his nose.

Martel chuckled as he gently stroked her hand in his. “You should go pack up so I can bring over to Gēmā.”

“Is everything ready?”

“No, but I don’t like the idea of not being with you. It isn’t safe.”

“It isn’t safe over there, either.”

Martel tilted his head. “I think I’ve had this conversation with your sister before.”

Freyja shrugged. “Whoever they were, they could move space as you can. As such, no matter where we go, there’s always the potential of them suddenly appearing. There may be more restrictions that I’m unaware of, but it should be a possibility. However, at least on Earth, someone is keeping them in check. Whether or not some is keeping them in check in other worlds is unknown.”

“So you’re saying you’d rather remain on Earth?”

“No. If we only act based upon our fear, it will constrict this too much. That is possible no matter where we go. Every time you get in a car, there’s a chance of dying. There is always a risk; we need to lessen it while maximizing the rewards and not let fear control us.”

“… You’re right.”

“Of course I am, and not just because I’m your wife.” She replied with a smile. “Go finish up with everything you want to do before bringing us over.”

“Okay, I will.” He said before he gave her a quick kiss.

“Actually, quite a bit of time should have passed in that world. Are you going to travel back?”

Martel nodded. “Because I’m going under my own volition, instead of being warned about it, it’s safer. Besides, I have a lot to do in a short time.”

“Alright; go back to your new girlfriends.”

“What makes you think that?”

Freyja smiled, “I just know you that well.”

Martel rolled his eyes while he got dressed. He got an incredible number of notifications from the System, so he organized them by importance. He used his eyes to check Freyja Status even though he had done so previously to ensure that she was all right. At that time, he only got necessary information about her condition as she did not have a System herself. However, as they had shared some time intimately, it fulfilled one of the requirements of obtaining the System. What he found astonished him.

Name

Freyja Cross (Le Fey)

Title

Inheritor of Fólkvangr

Race

Hero

He continued to glance at Freyja’s status with some surprise. She was now sitting on her bed, seemingly immersed in something, most likely going over the System herself. Leaving her to play with her discovery, Martel quietly created Dimension Door, but, before he left, he lovingly glanced back towards Freyja. He mumbled with a smile, “My Goddess, My Hero.”

End of Day 84