An island floated in a vast ocean of nothingness below a heavy silver sparkling mist, almost like clouds. On the island were 12 houses of varying design circling the edge. Above each of these houses was a single weapon: a sword, shield, bow, gauntlets, spear, chakrams, fan, dagger, ax, mace, wand, and chain. In front of each house was a woman. None of these women seemed human, at least not entirely. Their bodies appeared to be made up of different humanoid races as their height and skin color varied. Some had prominent traits like pointed ears, although other differences in their bodies were also present.

In the island’s open center, multiple green egg-shaped and human-sized lights began to appear until they numbered 100.

“What’s going on? Isn’t 100 the summons limit? Why have they all been summoned by one person? Wand-sister!”

“... Are we going to be calling ourselves by our weapons?” Wand Goddess asked.

“It can’t be helped,” Mace Goddess replied. “We were named by the different races, which means that we must also accept when they change our names. While I do admit being somewhat bothered by it, it can’t be helped.”

“Those mortals just forgot our names,” Shield Goddess said.

“The world has all but been destroyed seven times. Our names being lost is not too surprising given that we can no longer directly interact with the mortal plane,” Wand Goddess replied. “As for your original question, should the required material be present, it is possible for one nation to summon all 100. The reason why the summoning was never all at once before is that the nations agree to summon their own as it would increase the likelihood of summoning their heroes. Their hero and those who are not chosen would most likely become biased towards whoever summoned and helped them. The fact that one nation has taken up all the available summoning means that they are most likely trying to amass power or regain control. Such short-sightedness and will most likely backfire in the long run.”

“Who would do such a stupid thing?” Shield Goddess asked.

Wand Goddess closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them with a smile. “It seems as though the one who summoned them is that King who entered your favor,” She said to Shield Goddess.

Shield Goddess had a confused expression before her face became angry. “That bastard!”

“You should be very careful in deciding who your hero this time around, given how much he was a fan of the last one.”

“Enough,” The Sword Goddess interjected. “We have a job to do.”

All the sisters nodded and looked towards the sleeping and floating humans in the center of the island. With a flash, the 12 different weapons began to glow. The humans all started to drift, typically in a single direction towards a weapon. The amount of which they went towards the weapons seemed variable. One person hardly moved as he was being pulled between several.

If Martel were conscious, he would recognize several of the forms closest to the weapons as he knew them personally. The one closest to the sword was Freed, the one responsible for Freyja’s original death and her and Morgan’s parents' death. He had gone to prison after attacking Martel’s home.

In front of the bow with his wife, Yutsuki. In front of the dagger was his other wife, Kuromi. In front of the chakrams was his acquaintance from SUMA, Helen. In front of the chain was his family’s friend, Amanda. About halfway to the gauntlets was his friend, Carl. He could also recognize some of the other people in front of the other weapons, but many would be unknown. As for Martel himself, he was the sole person slightly moving between several weapons.

“Congratulations to several sisters,” Wind-sister said before she turned to Shield Goddess. “Especially to you.”

“Shut up!” The Shield Goddess shouted, knowing full well that the Wand Goddess was poking fun at her as no one had moved towards the shield. “Why does no one like the shield?”

The Wand-sister chuckled. “Don’t despair; maybe the irregular will have good compatibility with you.”

“Compatibility? Her, with the man? That’s impossible for our virgin goddess,” Chakram Goddess teased, which prompted the others to laugh.

“Shut up! You are all virgins too! Besides, we gave up our physical body so we couldn’t even if we wanted to!” Shield Goddess annoyingly shouted because it wasn’t the first time she had been teased, especially over such matters. Perhaps because she was the most childlike in appearance or the purest, she always tended to be teased by the others.

The 12 goddesses all moved to surround the comatose Martel. When they got close, a small white flame suddenly exited from his forehead and went straight to the Shield Goddess's glabella. She flinched when she heard a whisper in her voice say: “protect him.” Slightly dumbfounded, she blankly stared at him for a short while.

The other 11 goddesses were somewhat surprised, but only the Wand Goddess seemed to understand what happened. After seeing the Shield Goddess’s blank expression, the Wand Goddess couldn’t help but tease. “I know he’s a bit charming, but your response is a bit exaggerated.”

“Um, what? What! He isn’t! I mean, he is a little, but that’s not why... Ugh, just tell us which weapons he’s compatible with.”

The Wand Goddess nodded and brought her attention to Martel. The other goddesses were also very curious. Among the 800 total people that had been summoned through the centuries, only three were irregular. An irregular was someone who showed a significant affinity with more than one weapon. This was rare because a person typically would only focus on one type of weapon, be interested in one type of weapon, or be compatible with a type of weapon. That wasn’t to say that everyone else didn’t have some affinity with other weapons, just that only one stood out. Being irregular meant that the person’s affinity was very close to multiple weapons, not how much affinity was there. The goddesses were curious to see what weapons he had an affinity with.

After the Wand Goddess made a flick and the air changed. Twelve weapons each shot a beam of light poured Martel. Once the beam of light’s intensity settled, the goddesses, who were all dumbfounded, couldn’t help but exclaim. For most weapons, the light, which represented affinity, was comparable to the best affinity of the other humans. Additionally, his affinity with the sword, shield, and wand were all insanely high.

“Shield affinity! Shield affinity!” Shield Goddess can help but shout.

“His wand affinity is also amazing, I wonder…” Wand Goddess said as she looked over at the Shield Goddess.

“I will fight for him.” Sword Goddess said.

“No! He’s mine!” Shield Goddess shouted.

“Oh my, our Shield-sister has finally grown up and wants a man. How wonderful.” Fan Goddess said with a smile.

“You!!!”

“Enough, let’s awaken their Talent so we can see who is truly appropriate to bear our weapons.” Sword Goddess said.

The other goddesses nodded, and the silver mist above the island began to descend. Part of the reason why people from another world were summoned is that all of them had at least one Talent that could be awakened. Talents were not something unique as the native inhabitants of the world could also have Talents. However, only 50% were likely to have it, and those who did were usually weak. Generally, only 25% of the Talents could even be considered useful. However, a rare few could have more than one Talent. Part of the reason they summoned people from another world is that they were guaranteed to have a Talent. Only seven among those summoned had a Talent that was considered to be useless.

The moment the mist touched the unconscious bodies, it slowly began to be absorbed by the humans with one exception. The moment the fog touched Martel, there was a small *bang*, and the mist began to be absorbed quickly to the point where all the goddesses were surprised.

“Hey, I’ve never seen our Blessing be absorbed this fast. What level Talent could this possibly be?” Chain Goddess asked.

“Will we run out of Blessing? Should we stop it?” Ax Goddess asked. “After all, even if his Talent is amazing, he is only one person. If none of the others awaken their Talent, it will be a great loss.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Wand Goddess replied. “The reason why so much Blessing is used is that there is not one Talent, but three. Two of which belong to this young man, while the third belongs to the soul attached jacket he is wearing. The speed he is absorbing our Blessing also seems to be the nature of one of his Talents. However, you are right that we might have run out of Blessing if not for the fact that one of his Talents already seems to be around 90% awakened.” Wand Goddess continued as she glanced over at Shield Goddess. “Although I cannot say for sure, the fact that his Talent is already nearly awakened is perfect for us. The alignment of the two worlds should support the demon’s King to come through this time, which means this will most likely be the last time we need our Blessing. If his Talent were not partially opened, we would not have enough Blessing. However, now we will have extra Blessing, which we can use to give at least a couple of our heroes some benefit.”

“Who should we give them too?” Mace Goddess asked.

“I’m for giving them to this fellow.” Wand Goddess said. “Although I’m not sure what his Talents are, I can already tell that they are both high-level given by how much Blessing he needs to awaken them. Additionally, his affinity with weapons means that he should be a good fighter. We should wait until we know his Talents are for sure, however.”

“Well, it looks like it’s just about done.” Ax Goddess said.

The Wand Goddess nodded and waited a few more seconds before Martel finally stopped absorbing the Blessing. Her eyes flashed her moment before a holographic light screen appeared in front of her. She stared at it for a second, rubbed her eyes, and looked at it again before she burst out in laughter.

“What’s so funny? Are his skills useless?” Shield Goddess asked.

“No, far from it, they’re amazing skills with the potential of infinite growth, especially together.” Wand Goddess replied before she flicked the screen, which split and appeared in front of all of the other goddesses.

“Wow, this is incredible. I kind of want him for myself.” Bow Goddess said.

“No, he’s mine!” Shield Goddess shouted.

“Well, it’s a pity he can’t wake up so we can ask him which weapon- oh, he did wake up.” Mace goddess said as she noticed his subtle movements.

“That’s impossible unless his- he did wake up.” Wand Goddess said as her face turned into a dumbfounded expression.

“No other summons have ever awakened before.” Shield Goddess said.

Shield Goddess’s words were the first Martel heard once he had recovered enough from his magically induced sleep. He didn’t know why, but he felt as if the voice was familiar. As if it led him from the darkness. When he opened his eyes, he saw the source of this voice. Looking down at him was a girl about 3 1/2 feet tall. Her hair was brunette and braided while her face was a bit babyish; her body was relatively human-like, except for her feet and breasts, large for her body size. He was sure he didn’t have any memory of her appearance, but he had heard the voice. Almost instinctively, he said to her: “Loli Big Boobs.”

There was a moment of silence before all the other goddesses burst into laughter except for the stoic few who still couldn’t help but chuckle. Shield Goddess was grinding her teeth.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Wand Goddess shoved Shield Goddess towards Martel with a laugh. “I like you. I’ll leave her to you.”

Surprised, the Shield Goddess stumbled right up to Martel, who quickly sat up to support her.

“Are you alright?” he asked her gently as he felt a sense of familiarity and comfort.

Slightly overwhelmed, Shield Goddess paused for a moment before her face turned red and she ran behind the Fan Goddess before she peeked around the side and stared at him.

“If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.” Wand Goddess said.

“No, he’s mine!” Shield Goddess replied before her face reddened again, and she hid back behind Fan Goddess.

“Excuse me, what’s happening here?” Martel asked both the goddesses as well as himself. He had fused with a future version of himself, so he had some knowledge of the future, albeit one he had already changed. He had expected to be summoned to a different world, but he had no memory of this encounter. Although the memory of this time in this world was mostly missing, some parts were correctly remembered. Noticing the other sleeping bodies around him, he thought that perhaps he initially did not wake up. This time he did for some reason, most likely due to his fused souls.

“Enough with the nonsense. Since he’s awake, let’s have him pick a weapon.” Sword Goddess said.

“Okay then,” Wand Goddess said. “Do you see the weapons above the houses? Pick one for your use. I recommend-”

“The shield, I choose the shield.” Martel interrupted.

Shield Goddess’s face flashed a brief smile before she steeled herself. “Why did you pick the shield?”

Martel looked her in the eye. “Because the reason I gain strength is to protect the people that I care for. To me, the shield symbolizes that.”

“You got a good one.” Wand Goddess replied with a slight tone of disappointment. “Say… Martel, how would you like to make a deal with us?”

Martel’s eyebrow raised his he had not yet shared his name, but ultimately wasn’t surprised. “Depends on the deal.”

“If you promise to do everything in your power to kill our enemy, we will do everything in our power to help you.”

“Only a promise?”

“Only a promise.” Wand Goddess affirmed. “However, if you think a promise with a goddess can be easily broken…”

“… Describe your enemy for me.”

“Pale skin, white hair-” Wand Goddess began before she paused due to the Killing Intent that momentarily seeped from Martel. Several of the other goddesses flinched while the Dagger Goddess narrowed her eyes, and the Sword Goddess gave a rare slight smile.

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes.” Wand Goddess continued after she regained herself. “Well, if you have any requests or questions, please ask them now. Unfortunately, you have a limited amount of time you can stay here.”

Martel nodded and looked around a bit as he thought about what he wanted. His eyes were momentarily stunned when he saw Kuromi as he had only expected Yutsuki to have been summoned. “Do you mind if I decide who gets what weapon?”

“Depends on the weapon as I won’t speak for my sisters.”

“I want the bow to go to her in the dagger to go to her,” Martel replied, pointing to Yutsuki and Kuromi, which prompted a confirming nod from the respective goddess. “Have you decided who you will give the sword to yet?”

“Since you chose the shield, it would go to the fellow closest to it.” Sword Goddess replied.

Martel narrowed his eyes. “I would like someone else.”

“Too bad.”

“Are you sure? This guy is likely to do many terrible things.”

“The strong do what they want.”

“There’s a high possibility that I will kill him.”

“The strong do what they want.”

“Is there a problem if I do?”

“Yes.” Wand Goddess interjected. “You may be punished to some extent if he is innocent of any severe crimes in this world. If he is killed, a new Sword Hero must be chosen among otherworld humans. They will most likely be weaker than him, will most likely reset to Level 0, and have an experience penalty before they can level up. Of course, that’s nothing compared to the penalties the person who killed him would have. Without just cause, even another hero could lose all their strength and status.”

“… Fair enough, I guess.” Martel thought before he paused for a second. “Why summon people from another world instead of using the local inhabitants?”

“We created magic to support and strengthen the inhabitants, one that can evolve based upon the thoughts and desires of the user so long as there is a basis or cost. The pinnacle of this occurs to those who bear one of the 12 weapons. If we gave our weapons to the local inhabitants, the magical support would be extremely limited due to the confines of the users' minds. For example, if we never summon someone from another world, we would never have gotten the Leveling System that has now become predominant. Additionally, people from another world are extremely likely to have useful Talents, present company included.

“It is not uncommon for the summoned people to be relatively strong. You see, people get stronger in this world by defeating creatures and gaining experience, which is then used to level up. However, the amount of experience gained is not based on levels or strength, but the status difference between creatures. For example, you have Ki, which makes you far stronger than your stats reflect. If you kill something whose stats are higher than yours with Ki, you will gain far more experience.”

Martel nodded before he pondered for a bit. “Since you are all goddesses, I assume you all have your authority over certain fields. Who is the goddess involving justice?”

“That would be your goddess,” Wand Goddess said as she looked at Shield Goddess.

Martel nodded as he looked over toward Shield Goddess. “What would be a just punishment if someone falsely accused the Shield Hero of a crime?”

“Who dares! Kill him directly!” Shield Goddess immediately shouted.

[So much for being impartial,] Martel thought. “How about monetary compensation?”

Shield Goddess tilted her head for a moment. “If the accused wants it, though only several billion pieces of gold will suffice.”

[That much gold probably doesn’t even exist!] “I see.”

“I still think that a person should die for transgressing against my hero.” Shield Goddess muttered.

“… Given that I will probably have to kill many people, I would like to distinguish between those who are deserving and those who are innocent. Any ideas?”

“I can do that!” Shield Goddess replied. With a flick of her fingers, some of the silver mist descended towards Martel and entered his eyes.

“I will throw some benefits in too.” Wand Goddess said with a smile as she also flicked her fingers and silver mist descended into his eyes. All the other goddesses decided to follow suit. After about a minute, it finally stopped. “It’s done.”

“Okay, what did you do?”

“We gave you a Talent. You will learn more through your Menu.”

“From what you said before, Talents seem innate. How could you give me one?”

“You are half right. The mist is Blessing, created of the faith of those that follow us, which we typically used to awaken Talents. However, we can also give specific Talents based upon our domains of control, but this is extremely cost-inefficient compared to awakening inherent Talents. If not that we believe this to be the last of The Invasion, we wouldn’t be willing to use up our Blessing as we would wish to save it for the next generation.”

“I see. I would also like the ability to conceal my status from prying eyes.”

“Small matter, I can do that.” The Dagger Goddess replied. With a flick of her, some of the mist entered Martel, noticeably less than before.

Martel pointed to Kuromi. “She is extremely suited to be an assassin. However, she has a personal creed not to kill those who are not an enemy or the innocent. Being able to distinguish that would be useful.”

“You seem quite familiar with her,” Shield Goddess said with a slightly disgruntled tone before she flicked her finger to send some of the Blessing entered Kuromi.

Martel decided not to comment on the Shield Goddess’s statement.

“What is the level of technology for this world?”

“Some of the previous hero’s compared it to your Renaissance-era regarding technology.” Wand Goddess replied.

“Has it not changed after many years?”

“Unfortunately, no. You see, magic is beneficial but also slows down technological growth. This, coupled with society being constantly nearly destroyed, causes technological growth to be heavily stagnated. Even magical growth is restrained due to lost knowledge.”

“I see. Any concerns if I introduce higher technology.”

“Please feel free to.”

“Are the laws of this world the same as my world? Mayonnaise won’t turn into an addictive poison, right?”

Wand Goddess tilted her head in confusion. “I don’t know what this ‘mayonnaise’ is, but you should be able to create anything in this world that you could create in yours with the same effects.”

“What is the condition for magic in this world?”

“Having mana for power, occasionally materials to sacrifice, and a chant and/or motion for spells is how it is typically done.” Wand Goddess replied.

“Typically? How about turning mana directly into spells?” Martel asked, thinking of Morgan’s discovery of directly converting mana into magic.

Wand Goddess raised an eyebrow. “It definitely can be done but is avoided due to difficulty. An extensive understanding of every aspect of what the spell requires is needed. It could potentially hold too many variables, whereas chanted spells do not. However, it is far more versatile than standard spellcasting. If you’re interested, you can find my old book of magic, which is now the bottom of the Labyrinth created by that poor child. Within it, you will find the origin of magic theory. If you are capable, your magic will expand beyond the limits of the System.”

Martel gave a confused look as he pondered. “You have personal items down there?” He asked as he had no memory of such a thing.

Wand Goddess nodded. “Yes, we all have a few personal items we left on the mortal plane. These bodies are only our souls, which can be given physical form due to this small plane's nature. To help protect our world, we gave up our bodies in exchange for the magic to support the world and the 12 weapons. We could only leave our personal effects on the mortal plane.”

“Can you tell me where they are?”

“We can give you some hints on a few of them, but most have been lost to time. It takes some effort to look and see the current situation of the world, and we cannot interact with it even if we wanted to.”

“Oh, does that mean I will be unable to contact you?”

“Not completely. The weapon is the only way to directly contact its respective goddess so you can contact my Shield-sister any time you wish. I will add that we typically refrain from contacting our heroes for quite some time so that they can grow on their own, but I believe we can make an exception.”

Martel nodded and began to ask a few additional questions toward the System of magic and use. Previously when he came to this world, he had brooded in his depression. All the girls that were now his wives were dead, so he went through this world haphazardly. In particular, he rarely paid attention to anything, and he went solo. This, coupled with his damaged memory, meant specific information that could prove useful for gaining more strength.

Finally, it was time for him to leave as everyone else had already finished obtaining their talents.

“Come here for a second.” Wand Goddess said as she pulled Martel away for a private conversation. “How much do you remember?”

“Pardon?”

“You should’ve already experienced our summoning once. If I’m not mistaken, you should be repeating your past.”

“… I’m not repeating my past, but what makes you think so?”

“There are a few reasons. The biggest is also the first. When you first entered this realm, you had what we call a Wisp Of Obsession exit your body, which entered my Shield-sister's body. That Wisp of Obsession went to her because it was part of her soul. However, this should be impossible because they can only be created after death. Additionally, the target of her obsession was you as it would not have stayed with you otherwise. Secondly, the moment you saw her, you immediately called her by what sounded like a nickname. Thirdly, you are far too calm for this entire situation. Fourthly, most of the questions you asked implied you had some prior knowledge, filling gaps. Fifthly, you have obvious animosity towards a being you should have never met or even known about.”

“… You must be the smart one. You’re half right. As I said, I’m not repeating my past, and that’s the point.”

“So, you obtained your memories of the future? But that does not explain the Wisp of Obsession.”

“This is because a future version of myself went back in time. I managed to fuse with that soul. It seems that the wisp traveled along with it.”

“I see.” Wind Goddess said with a nod. “A mutated soul should explain why you woke up. Then can I count on you to take care of my Shield-sister?”

“... To what end?”

“Look, the fact that her death left a Wisp Of Obsession on your body means that her feelings for you were not normal. At the very least, she considered you close to family, and a Wisp Of Obsession can influence a person’s emotions. What I’m asking of you is, no matter what her feelings are for you, that you return them.”

“… Even if they are romantic?”

Wand Goddess nodded. “Even so. However, she is only a soul, so that makes anything physical…” She began before she hesitated.

“Impossible because souls have no genitalia.” Martel finished.

“You knew?”

Martel nodded. “I was quite bummed when I first found out.” He said, which received a snort and chuckle from Yami and Artoria, the two souls that dwelled within him, respectively. “However, physical intimacy is not required for those types of feelings. Although to be fair, I am already married.”

“… The bow and dagger heroes?”

“To name a few.”

“To name a few.” Wand Goddess repeated with a chuckle. “Well, that certainly explains one of your Talents.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll find out later. Right now, we are running out of time.” Wand Goddess said as Martel noticed that the green portal that initially brought him here had reappeared. “Quick, everyone, say goodbye to our brother-in-law.”

Martel’s eyebrow twitched and twitched again when the other ten did so.

The last thing Martel remembered in the space was the cute scream of the Shield Goddess, “You jerks!”