This is the full chapter release for Chapter One. Now working on Chapter Two :)
Chapter One "Chaldea"
"Just when Chaldea was finally getting a break from dealing with Singularities and Lostbelts," Olga Marie Asmleit Animusphere groaned. "No rest for the weary..."
The Director of Chaldea's comment resonated with her subordinates. Across the control room, men and women from all around the world made similar remarks about the never-ending workload that kept piling up. If it weren't for the mental resilience and the importance of Chaldea's work in ensuring the continued survival of mankind, Olga didn't doubt for one second that most of her staff would have resigned en masse if they worked in any normal line of work.
Still, Olga took great pride in her work, even if it was a back-breaking task. Few could claim the bragging rights of having saved humanity not just once, but multiple times from the brink of extinction. First, it had been the Human Order Incineration Incident, then the Remnant Order, followed by other major crises such as the Human Order Revision Incident, Ordeal Call, and Human Order Annihilation, among many other minor Singularities and Lostbelts that, if left unresolved, had the potential to wipe out humanity.
Her pride hadn't come without a cost... Olga shuddered, remembering how she would have died if it weren't for the timely intervention of one of humanity's greatest pillars, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. It still annoyed her to this day that she had been forced to become a Magical Girl, saving other timelines while her original body had been hijacked...
The Chaldean Director shook her head. There was no point in dwelling on the past, on how her body had been used by U-Olga Marie, Beast VII, to nearly cause the destruction of humanity. Beast VII had been defeated, and Olga had reclaimed her body...
"Really? Do you refuse to accept that I am still around?" A voice echoed in Olga's mind.
Olga sighed. She really wished Beast VII had disappeared like it was officially recorded, but the truth was that Beast VII was still very much alive and present. Beast VII still suffered from the terrible injuries that Chaldea had inflicted upon it while attempting to reclaim her body from the leader of the Apostles of the Alien World.
"You're freeloading off my body!"
The Director's brows twitched. She hated when Beast VII claimed her body as its own, but there were some elements of truth to its claim. Olga, before losing her body, might have possessed exceptional Magic Circuits—near the peak of what humans were able to possess in the modern era—but it was nothing compared to the body that had been transformed via Beast VII's possession. Her body had transcended human limits, similar to how Heroic Spirits were physically, mentally, and magically superior to most of humanity. By the standards of Servants, her transformed body was closer to what the most powerful Divine Spirits possessed.
Beast VII's accusations, which Olga would never admit publicly, were true in some ways. If her previous human brain had been the latest computer on the market, then Beast VII's body possession had elevated her brain to that of a supercomputer that was decades ahead of what was available to the public. Using this change, she could go through entire libraries of information like it was a walk in the park, greatly enhancing her abilities as the leader of Chaldea.
"Don't forget it's my powers that you have stolen from me that made Chaldea into a magical superpower on the same level as the Mage's Association and Holy Church!"
Olga snorted. "That isn't completely true." She turned to Romani Archaman, or his real identity as Solomon, the King of Magecraft. "He is the real reason why many believe Chaldea is as powerful as the Mage's Association and Holy Church," the Director refuted her body's co-inhabitant. "And you cannot forget the Servants that answer only to Chaldea."
"Marie, are you having an argument with U-Olga again?" asked Romani as he walked over with a cup of hot coffee in hand.
"Please stop calling Beast VII by that name!" protested Olga.
"Stop denying it! Everyone knows that is my name!" U-Olga retorted. "No one calls me Beast VII anymore. All you have to do is look at the memories when you are asleep, and I am allowed to use our body."
"Marie, you need to stop fighting with U-Olga," Romani sighed as he took a sip. "She is just a part of you, like the other Servants walking around Chaldea, sharing their bodies with their parallel counterparts."
"Beast VII is different! She tried to eliminate humanity and came very close to it!"
"So were the other Servants that were once our enemies before they joined our side," Romani chuckled. "Why can't you be like Jeanne and accept your Alter self?"
"Because Beast VII is not a possible version of me from another timeline!" Olga screeched loudly, and the rest of Chaldea ignored the noise, as it had become a common occurrence that they were used to Olga's issue with U-Olga.
Romani rolled his eyes and was about to approach the topic when the room went red, and sirens started to blare.
"Warning, source of foreign presence detected. Warning, source of foreign presence detected."
Romani and Olga quickly returned to their stations to take in the information being relayed to them verbally or electronically.
"It seems we may have finally discovered the source of why Mana levels around the world have been increasing, True Ether appearing for the first time since the Age of Gods, the reports of increased Phantasmal Beasts sightings, or the riots and protests breaking out all around the world due to religious reasons," remarked Romani as he went through the constant reports coming his way.
"What are the odds that Shirou and his harem happen to be where the otherworldly presence is being detected…" Olga said dryly, remembering how Shirou and his lovers just happened to be in Chaldea when Lev had set explosions to cripple Chaldea and betray humanity.
"Well, let's hope they are just as good at resolving the crisis as they were with Singularities and Lostbelts," replied a relaxed Romani.
"I hope Shirou doesn't have to resort to mana transfers like he does so often…" Olga groaned as she pinched her nose, feeling a headache coming.
- O -
Shirou Emiya groaned for what seemed like the hundredth time at the scene before him. If the people seeing what he saw had been from the Moonlit World, then they would have been shocked or outright terrified by what was happening in Ginza. The people he was watching were not fans "cosplaying" as their favourite fictional characters.
Each of the "cosplayers" that caught Shirou's attention were Servants.
He still found the situation absurd beyond belief despite being one of the organizers of the event. It was difficult to believe that a single vacation by Jeanne Alter to Japan had led her to discover the newfound hobby of drawing manga. A hobby that would lead to a series of events culminating in an advertising event that was currently taking place, involving many of Chaldea's roster of Servants.
His head started to throb with an influx of blood as he remembered how Da Vinci, with her usual antics, had triggered Jeanne Alter's newfound pursuit. Shirou had wanted to stop Jeanne Alter's works from being released to the public for various reasons, but his words had fallen on deaf ears, given that the manga and anime created by Jeanne Alter had become one of Chaldea's most successful money-makers and producers of Chaldea's soft power.
"Please come and support Heroic Spirit Works!" shouted Jeanne Alter as she walked around, handing out the latest manga while scantily clad in her black and pink bikini. "We are giving away Heroic Spirit Works' latest works for free as part of today's promotion!"
Shirou pinched his nose. It wasn't just Jeanne Alter, but many other female Servants wearing either their "summer/beach" Servant-class clothes or skin-revealing/body-conforming versions of their more battle-worthy attire that were walking around to advertise Jeanne Alter's latest works. As a result, many hot-blooded males, and a couple of lesbian-leaning females, rushed to see what some of the most beautiful women in human history were handing out.
Jeanne Alter's manga and anime exhibition wasn't just limited to targeting straight males or lesbians. Like their female counterparts, many of the male Servants were just as exposed or wearing skin-clinging clothes in the case of Cu Chulainn, so straight women and gay men were also attracted in droves.
His headache got even worse when he saw womanizers like Fergus mac Róich attempting to hit on the girls and women coming his way, and it was not just the male Servants who might be attempting to get into the pants of the opposite gender. Many of the female Servants were well on their way to competing with their male counterparts in seducing those attracted by their physical appearance or personality.
"I can't criticize them," Shirou sighed as he tried to beat down the headache. "Not when I have multiple lovers of my own..."
For a moment, Shirou was wondering how many potential men and women would be heartbroken by the one-night stands that were going to happen. Thankfully, to Shirou's relief, he wouldn't have to worry about the possibility of male Servants impregnating someone or female Servants getting pregnant. Chaldea's condition of allowing their Servants to roam the world once more with human bodies, or artificial ones like the puppet body that Da Vinci used often, was set in place. The last thing the world needed was a new generation of humans being born from the potent genes of Servants, some of them being children or descendants of Divine Spirits such as Zeus.
The children of Servants would upend the current fragile peace of the Moonlit World.
He quickly shook his head. Shirou didn't want to get bothered by politics right now when he was supposed to have the easy job of supervising Servants advertising Jeanne Alter's works, which, with some alterations to protect the secret of magecraft, portrayed the true events of many Servants' lives. These events had been covered up by "official history," like how many female Servants had been portrayed as men, such as King Arthur, Emperor Nero, or Francis Drake.
The shock of finding how so many people were mesmerized by the true story of one of his lovers was still fresh on his mind as he saw Arturia handing out a manga depicting a largely accurate version of her life as King Arthur.
He still disapproved that Arturia was walking around wearing armor protecting her limbs while wearing a royal-blue leotard in public for the sake of advertising, but that was more likely the jealous part of him watching the men and women looking at his lover with lust. His lover had wanted to flaunt her new, more mature form that other counterparts like the Goddess Arturia possessed, so he grudgingly watched as more people crowded around Arturia.
"Just because she got taller and has larger breasts!" grumbled Rin from beside him. "Doesn't mean she is more beautiful. Isn't that right, Shirou?"
Shirou sighed. It might be three years since he had fallen in love with all three women—Rin Tohsaka, Arturia Pendragon, and Sakura Matou—but it was still as difficult as ever to carefully play the delicate balancing act of keeping all three women happy. Still, he had to be thankful his lovers were so accommodating. Not many women were happy to share their men with another.
Hell, history was littered with conflicts breaking out because of love.
"It's not like you can't do the same," he smiled while holding back the nosebleed as he remembered when Rin had transformed into her Counter Guardian counterpart's busty form for the first time.
"Do you remember something~?" asked Rin in a seductive tone as she pressed her breasts against Shirou's arm. "I am happy to provide~ If that is what you want~"
Shirou Emiya was extremely tempted to take his lover to the nearest love hotel when a great surge of mana occurred not too far away from him.
"Chaldea!" He shouted as he instantly recognized the signs of spatial magic and the foreign Mana of another world that shouldn't be on Earth. "Prepare for combat!"
- O -
Several hours before Chaldea vs Gate invaders
"Itami! Stay with me!" shouted a familiar voice.
"Argh…" Itami groaned but yelped when he felt his body shake violently. "What was that for, Risa?!"
"Just making sure you are with me!" shouted Risa as she put Itami down gently and her hands pressed onto his chest. "Don't think about dying on me, you hear me, Itami! You can't be dying to a lowly Yokai that you could have easily taken down if you hadn't been exhausted and forced to protect me."
Itami had so many questions after hearing his ex-wife's words.
Yet, he couldn't help but focus on the mysterious sight before him. His ex-wife's hands were glowing. They weren't emitting light from an object like a flashlight, but from Risa's hands. If Itami hadn't gone to Falmart to learn magic was real, he might have wondered if he was seeing things.
"Are you using magic?" Itami blurted out in shock.
"Itami, you need to get out of that habit. I don't use magic; that term is reserved exclusively for True Magic." Risa shook her head. "What I practice is magecraft. MAGECRAFT."
He was going to ask what the differences were between "True Magic" and "Magecraft" as he had never heard those terms in Falmart when he noticed the area that Risa was pressing on felt odd. Itami could feel the tips of Risa's fingers and the bottom parts of her palms, but the rest of her hand didn't seem to be pressing against his chest. Another strange feeling was that he was feeling air pass over his chest that he rarely felt before…
"Itami, calm down," Risa scolded him. "Your heart has been pierced, but I am maintaining the blood flow to your brain and vital organs. If I am not interrupted while casting the CPR spell, then you are not in danger of dying."
The Japanese Lieutenant had already been shocked that his ex-wife was able to use magic, but the fact that the CPR magic spell was working made Itami question his memories. Lelei, being one of the most brilliant and talented mages, had been designing a magic spell to emulate CPR after receiving some first-aid training from the JSDF. The young girl had only just started developing the theoretical stages of the magic spell and was nowhere near making a functioning magic spell.
So, how was Risa able to use Lelei's proposed CPR magic spell? Almost as if sensing Itami's thoughts, Risa started explaining, "Chaldea, as part of their self-proclaimed duty to safeguard mankind's existence, released several magic spells that benefit everyone's wellbeing. The CPR magic spell being one of them."
"Chaldea?"
"How can you forget about the organization that maintained Human Order, and thus saved the human race several times?" Risa shook her head. "Argh, I forgot. It must be the shock of having your heart pierced that is muddling your memories."
He was about to reply that his memories were not affected by the shock of having his heart damaged when Risa gasped in shock.
"Itami, when did you acquire a magic spell or item that could remake your heart if it was damaged?" asked Risa as she stared into Itami's eyes.
"I don't have any magic spells placed on me or possess any magic object that can do such a thing." Itami shook his head. "It's because I am Rory's Apos-"
"Were you chosen as a vessel for a Heroic Spirit? Or possibly a Divine Spirit?!" exclaimed Risa before she started to look at Itami jealously. "This is so unfair! I spent nearly three decades worshipping and dedicating myself to gods, but you, who doesn't care about such things, are blessed to… It's so unfair…"
The words "Heroic Spirit" became another in a growing list of words that Itami was going to investigate, but Divine Spirits seemed self-explanatory to him.
"I am kind of a Divine Spirit in the process of fully beco-"
"What?! I have never heard of this before! This is more outrageous than becoming a Demi-Servant or Pseudo-Servant."
Itami was about to respond when he blanked out for a moment as the blood flow maintained by Risa's magic spell ended. He snapped out of semi-consciousness as his heart healed up and returned to normal function.
"I think we have a lot to talk about," said Itami as he glanced around his surroundings, where he spotted the corpses of several unfamiliar creatures that clearly didn't belong to any species he was familiar with from Falmart. What surprised Itami the most was that many of the damaged or well-intact corpses bore an eerie resemblance to Yokai from Japanese folklore. "Are those Yokai?"
"Of course, they are Yokai." Risa rolled her eyes. "You have encountered them countless times in our duties as exorcists. Why are you acting as if it is the first time you have seen-" Her face started to pale, and she stared at Itami with shocked eyes. "Are you Itami Yoji?" She screamed frantically while shaking him.
"Of course, I am Itami Yoji!" He shouted as his head jerked forward and backwards.
"Were you born on XX-XX-19XX?"
"Yes, I was born on XX-XX-19XX! Why are you asking?"
Risa started to ask questions, first common ones that anyone who knew Itami would know, then the questions started to become very specific, ones that very few people Itami trusted would learn.
"Are we married?"
"No, we used to be. We divorced two years ago," replied Itami, and he was surprised by Risa's responses as she started to cry. "What's wrong?"
"My husband's dead, isn't he…?" Risa sniffled in despair.
"What are you talking about… I am alive, am I not…?"
Risa started to wipe away her tears. "This must be very confusing for you… I am not the Risa Aoi you know. In this world, I never divorced Itami."
For a moment, Itami didn't know what was going on until he started to remember a trope that had started to become quite common recently in his otaku hobbies.
"This is a parallel world, isn't it…?"
"Yes, it is. I wonder if Zelretch or Alaya had a hand in your transportation to this world…"