Hey, it's been a while. I've been burnt out and busy with work, not to mention the new Final Fantasy Rebirth, FGO, Honkai Star Rail and Genshin.

I have a question, anyone know how to get tickets for FGO Fes? I'm looking to go this year, but so far can't find anything on it aside from the official website showing FGO Fes 2023.

No idea how to get em either...

So if any of you have experience, if you can share em that would be greatly appreciated.

SilverCrow, it would be interesting to see Marius using the Torashinai on Ares. Maybe we'll see it eventually.

AnimeFan13579, Kings Order is something I'm looking into bringing in to the story. It will be similar to how Bell uses Yoshitsune instead of Ushiwakamaru despite them being the same person.

But yes, when he inherits Artoria, or Arthur, whichever I choose, he will have access to all of them, including Rhongomyniad (which will also obviously have restrictions... or not).

But anyway, Artoria/Arthur is not coming anytime soon, not yet at least.

Axcel Allen, glad you liked that part with Ishtar. And yes, Marius and Asfi are quite similar hahaha.

Anyway, here's the newest chapter.

Xxx

A few more days passed, with the same routine as Bell sent the soldiers of Rakia back.

Until they stopped coming one day, and Bell stood on the plains watching the direction where the Rakia army usually marched from.

A bird flew down to his side, before transforming into Lili, and the prum asked, "They're not coming today?"

Bell nodded, "Seems like it…"

The part of his mind he inherited from Zhu Ge Liang was skeptical that they would give up just like that, and Bell took a deep breath, "Get Samira and a few of her team to scout out the surrounding areas."

Lili nodded, "Okay, will do."

She paused, before asking, "What about you, Bell-sama?"

The boy kept his eyes on the horizon, and he had half a mind to just go track down the enemy's base, but ultimately held back against it.

Bell answered, "I'll keep an eye on this front. In case they still come."

The prum nodded and turned to transform into a bird again before flying off.

The boy turned to face the wide plains again, but the Rakia army never showed up the whole day.

Four days later, the Rakia army still didn't show up, and Bell had sent Lili, Lena and Samira to scout out what the enemy was up to.

A few of the other Amazonesses were kept on lookout duty in case the Rakia army ended up marching on again.

That left Bell and the others in the village.

The villagers all looked on in awe as Bell, Welf and Aisha all carried large stacks of timber from one end of the village to the other.

Rina smiled gratefully as the three dropped the logs on the ground, "Thanks again for helping. I never really realized just how strong adventurers are."

Bell chuckled sheepishly, "Well, when you have our Falnas boosting us…"

Aisha snorted, "For the most part, yes."

Welf laughed softly, "But we're happy to help, especially when you have your festival tomorrow night."

A random villager walked past them, "Hey, thanks to all of you, we're actually ahead of schedule!"

Most of the villagers around them voiced their agreement, and Bell laughed softly, "You're all too kind, all we did was just move stuff around."

Rina smiled, "And that alone helped a lot, not to mention you're still keeping an eye out for the Rakia army."

Welf folded his arms, "Speaking of which, Lil Lili's taking a while, huh?"

Aisha scoffed, "If you're worried they're caught by the enemy, she's got Samira and Lena with her, I wouldn't worry."

The blacksmith smiled dryly, "I was more worried about whether they got lost or not."

Bell chuckled, "I think they'll be fine."

He turned, "Come on, we have more stuff to move."

(Linebreak)

Two more days passed, and yet again, the Rakia army didn't show up.

Today was also the day the village would have their festival.

Bell stood at the village square, where a huge unlit bonfire stood.

"Good day, Bell."

The boy turned to see Karm walking to him slowly, and he greeted, "Good afternoon."

Karm smiled, "I can't thank you enough. You've not only proven to have protected our village from the Rakia army, but you and your companions have even helped finish our preparations for the festival."

Bell chuckled, "It's nothing. I think it's a good change of pace, especially for some of them."

The elderly snorted, "Well, considering some of my men have had to stay in bed for a day or two, I'd say so."

The boy's face turned red slightly, "I-I meant my companions, they've been through quite a bit recently."

Karm chuckled, "I know, and I meant my men. Unfortunately, our community is pretty much limited to this, so some, if not most, don't have experience with women."

Bell palmed his face, "Right…"

The village elder laughed wholeheartedly, "But no harm done, I'd say."

He paused, "Or rather… I'd say there is… In a way."

Bell raised an eyebrow, "Really? Why?"

Karm chuckled, "When the fire is lit, we have something called the Harvest Dance, you see."

The boy folded his arms, "The Harvest Dance?"

The older man nodded, "Generally men will ask the ladies to dance, and if a single unmarried man asks a lady for a dance, it means they like them. If the lady accepts, then they become a couple."

Bell nodded in understanding, "I see…"

Karm chuckled, "On rare occasions, some women will ask the men, but that's usually really rare."

He nodded, before rubbing his temples, "I see…."

Karm laughed, "You see why the ladies were annoyed now then?"

Bell sighed, "Yes, yes… I guess I can understand where they're coming from."

The boy shook his head, "Unfortunately, there's only so much I can tell my companions to do… Refraining from offering their… services, is unfortunately not within my authority."

The village mayor laughed again, "Again, no harm done really."

Bell chuckled, "If you say so."

Karm nodded, until he spotted a few women approaching them, "And I do. Now!"

The boy gave him a questioning look at the sudden raise in voice, and his curiosity would soon be satiated.

The village mayor smiled, "I heard from that renard of yours and her Amazoness friend that your cooking is to die for."

Rina spoke up with a few women behind her, "And it just so happens we are in need of a helping hand."

Bell let out a breath, "Haruhime and Aisha…"

He chuckled, "Alright, we can have a look at what we're working with."

The boy followed the women to an open space, where a few tables were set out with various ingredients and a few outdoor stoves.

One of the women spoke, "Usually each year we do roasted chicken and duck, some roast lamb, bread and vegetables, so that's pretty much all we'll have to work with."

Bell glanced over the ingredients at hand, "I can work with this. Is there a theme or something we want to stick to?"

That question surprised the ladies, and Rina shook her head, "Not really… I mean I guess if you had to have one, it'd be just to celebrate harvest and being together?"

Bell nodded, and a smile grew on his face, "Alright, if you don't mind me butting in and changing the menu, I have some ideas."

One of the women asked, "What do you have in mind?"

The boy gestured to the ingredients around them, "I'm thinking of making a stew with the chicken, then we can stick with the roast duck as you normally would. If you're okay with trying something eastern, we can also make mapo tofu…."

Bell went on to describe various dishes and how to make them, and Rina and the women had to take some time to process what he was talking about.

Rina pinched the bridge of her nose, "That… is a lot of options…"

Another woman sported a similar look, "Y-yes…"

Bell chuckled, "Well if we can't choose, we can just make all of them. I'm sure we have enough ingredients here."

A third woman asked, "Do you think we can make it in time?"

The boy just smiled, "Definitely."

Rina took a deep breath, "You know what, if Bell thinks we can do it, then let's do it."

Bell's smile widened, "Then let's get to work."

Soon, the boy started directing the women towards their respective stations, instructing them on what to do.

As the group worked, Karm and a few men stopped by to watch what they were cooking, and the village mayor couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.

That night, Welf had a dry smile on his mouth, something mirrored by all of the Hestia Familia members.

The blacksmith looked at their Familia captain blankly, "You went all out, didn't you?"

Bell chuckled sheepishly, "Well, we sort of got carried away in the moment."

A random Amazoness gaped when she saw the amount of food prepared, and she looked back at Bell, "D-did you come up with this?"

The boy smiled, "It wasn't just me, I helped a bit, but everyone else did the heavy lifting."

"Now that's just an understatement, it was more like you did most of the heavy lifting, and the majority of us did all we could to help."

The group turned to see Rina walking towards them, and Mikoto greeted, "Good evening, Rina-dono."

The woman smiled, "Good evening."

Rina looked around, "The festival's pretty much started, so please enjoy yourself."

They quickly noticed the villagers all moving towards the tables with the food, and the woman smiled awkwardly, "W-well, as much as you can…"

Welf laughed softly, "I see Bell's cooking never fails to impress."

Bell snorted, "Hey, it's not just me, okay?"

Daphne chuckled, "Well, I suppose the fact that you helped is more than enough."

Cassandra giggled and nodded, and Aisha started to walk forward, "In that case, let's not wait any longer. I'd hate to miss out!"

Haruhime gaped, "A-Aisha-san!"

The Amazoness grinned back at her, "Hey, if yall wanna wait, I won't complain cuz there's just gonna be more for me!"

The renard quickly chased after her friend, and Bell sighed in exasperation, "Sorry about that."

Rina giggled, "It's alright, I can understand where they're coming from."

The woman gestured to the crowd, where Welf and the others were also joining in on the festivals, "Let's join them, shall we?"

Bell nodded, "Sure."

A short while later, everyone was enjoying the food and chatting amongst each other.

Haruhime ended up garnering the attention of many young men, but thanks to Aisha, Daphne, Cassandra and Mikoto, they kept a respectful distance.

Not to mention the many Amazonesses taking the chance to offer their services again.

Welf and Bell stood at a side, quietly enjoying the food as they watched everyone socialize.

The blacksmith commented, "It's a shame Lil Lili isn't here to enjoy this, huh?"

Bell smiled, "Her, Samira-san and Lena-san, yeah. Remind me to cook something for them when they get back."

Welf snorted, "Pretty sure she'll ask for it even if I don't."

The boy nodded, "Probably, I can see that happening."

The redhead looked at his friend, "So, when are we gonna go back?"

Bell shrugged, "No idea, depending on what Lili and the others find, we might just go straight for the enemy camp."

Welf hummed, "I see… Not a bad idea, if we can end this quickly, we can go home sooner."

The boy chuckled, "Glad you're looking forward to going back."

The blacksmith snorted, "And you're not? I like this place, but sitting here and doing virtually nothing is not gonna let me forge a good sword."

Bell laughed softly, "Patience, I'm sure we'll be going back soon."

"Alright!"

A shout from the bonfire caught their attention, and they noticed a middle aged man standing there.

The man smiled, "The sun's going down, so what do you say we start the Harvest dance?!"

Everyone exploded into cheers and roars, and soon, various men and women started to pair up and dance around the bonfire.

Welf raised an eyebrow, "A harvest dance, huh?"

Bell nodded, "Yeah, apparently it's to celebrate the year's harvest and pray for a good harvest the following year."

The redhead hummed, "I see…"

The boy smiled, "And well, apparently if a single male asks a female to dance, it's sort of like a proposal."

Welf hummed again, "I see, I see…"

Bell chuckled, "Good thing I told the others about it in advance."

The pair looked over to see some of the younger men asking some of the Amazonesses to dance, only for them to refuse.

The blacksmith snorted humorlessly, "Yeah."

"You wouldn't happen to be open for a dance, would you, Bell?"

The pair turned to see Aisha approaching them, a glass of wine in hand.

At that exact moment, back in the Hostess' kitchen, Ryuu was in charge of helping Mia cook for the night.

The elf held a wooden ladle as she stirred some soup, and she felt a disturbance.

CRACK.

Before she realized it, the ladle in her hand had been snapped in half.

At one side, Mia raised an eyebrow as she stirred fried some vegetables, "What did you do now, you clumsy elf?"

Ryuu stared at the broken ladle in her hand, "... I have no idea why, but I just felt really annoyed all of a sudden."

The dwarf snorted, "Go get a new one, and don't break it."

The elf nodded, "Thank you, Mama Mia."

Bell felt a shiver run down his back, and he smiled awkwardly, "I think you might have drank a bit too much, Aisha-san."

The Amazoness scoffed, "I'm not a lightweight, okay?"

She threw an arm over his shoulder, "At least ask Haruhime for a dance, yeah? She'd be over the moon if you did!"

The boy just chuckled awkwardly, "Well…"

Before they could continue their conversation, however, a familiar voice reached their ears.

"Bell-sama!"

The trio turned to see Lili, Lena and Samira entering the village.

But what caught their attention was the fact that the two Amazonesses were lugging two tied up figures with them.

Bell blinked as he pushed Aisha off of him, "Lili… W-what?"

The two figures were Marius and Ares.

The prum smiled at him, "We managed to find the enemy camp and captured their god and general!"

The captain of the Hestia Familia nodded, "I can see that, but why?"

Lena giggled sheepishly, "We kinda got caught? So we had to fight our way through, and one thing led to another…"

Samira nodded, "It was a good fight."

Marius sighed, "A Level 3 against a battalion of Level 1s… of course…"

Bell looked at the two tied up men, "So… I guess if you two are here…"

Lili nodded, "At the moment most of the men in that battalion are out of commission. They still have yet to recover from your Noble Phantasms, Bell-sama."

Ares snapped his head up at Bell, "Noble Phantasms?! You're a Heroic Spirit?!"

Bell walked up to them, "No, but I'm the heir to the Throne of Heroes, I think you'd know what that means, god of war, Ares."

The god blinked, "Oh…"

The habits of Zhuge Liang showed, as Bell stared at them, "Now, what do you two plan to do?"

Marius stared at the boy, and he felt wary looking at him, opting to stay silent.

His patron god, unfortunately, was not as smart, "I PROPOSE YOU JOIN MY ARMY! TOGETHER WE CAN RULE THE WORLD!"

Ares grinned despite being tied up, "With your Noble Phantasms and my blessing, we would dominate every corner of the world!"

Bell blinked in surprise at his words, before he sighed, "Unfortunately, I'll have to decline your offer, Ares."

The god blinked, genuinely surprised, "Wait, what? Why?"

Marius couldn't take it anymore, "WE ARE AT WAR! YOU BUFFOON! OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T JOIN YOU! NOT WHEN THEY'RE KICKING OUR ASSES!"

Everyone sweatdropped, and Welf couldn't help but comment, "Well when you put it that way, it couldn't have been any more obvious."

The crown prince of Rakia cried, "Finally someone gets it! Thank you!"

Marius turned to look at who spoke up, and he blinked, "Wait, you're Welf Crozzo, aren't you?!"

The blacksmith blinked in surprise, "You recognize me?"

Welf took a good look at who it was, "Wait, Marius?!"

Bell raised an eyebrow, "You know him, Welf?"

The redhead sighed, "Y-yeah… Marius is the crown prince of Rakia… and we used to play together before I left."

Ares' eyes lit up, "OH! The lost child of Crozzo! You can join us too! With your magic weapons and his Noble Phantasms, we'll rule the world! We'll even overlook the fact that you left us!"

Welf sighed, "I feel sorry for you, honestly, Marius."

The prince sighed, "Yeah, well… It is what it is."

Lili spoke up, "Umm, I hate to interrupt the reunion, but shouldn't we decide what to do with them?"

Bell nodded, "Definitely."

All of them looked at Bell, but before the boy could decide, Ares spoke up again, or rather, shouted, "Before you decide our doom, I challenge you to a duel! Mano a mano!"

Everyone, including Marius, simply stared at him as if he was dumb.

The villagers, on the other hand, all were just watching behind them in slight disbelief.

Bell took a deep breath, "Since Lili, Lena and Samira did an excellent job bringing you here, we might as well bring you back to Orario."

Ares blinked, "Eh?"

The boy nodded, "Load: Gilgamesh."

To their surprise, the golden aura formed around Bell, and Ares quickly realized what was going to happen, "Wait, we can discuss terms! We can nego-"

Before anyone could react, Enkidu's chains were wrapped around the god, earning a yelp from him.

Bell stared at the god, "I'm sure the other gods back in Orario can decide what to do with you."

The boy glanced back at the crowd, before adding, "But for now, you'll have to stay put."

Ares gaped, "Wait, are you just gonna leave me here?"

Bell nodded without a second thought, "Yes."

The boy paused, before he added, "But… Marius, was it?"

The prince nodded, "Y-yes."

Bell nodded, "You're welcome to have some food for the night. Lemme know if you want some."

Marius blinked in surprise, "O-oh, okay?"

By now, most of the members of the Hestia Familia and Ishtar Familia had joined them, and Daphne asked skeptically, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Bell?"

The captain of the party nodded, "Yeah, it'll be fine. No one here has the ability to break those chains, the stronger the divine power, the stronger the chains will bind him."

His eyes glowed with power and authority, "Besides, if anyone from the Rakia army comes, well, I'm sure they already know what's coming."

Most of the villagers shivered when they heard the coldness and ruthlessness behind his words, and they were quickly reminded of how strong Bell really was despite how kind he'd been.

The cold look vanished, and Bell looked back at the villagers and comrades, "Sorry about that, please don't let that affect the festival, okay?"

Rina nodded slowly, "R-right, of course."

Karm chuckled and shook his head in exasperation, before he turned to his fellow villagers, "You heard him, let us continue! We have a feast tonight! It'd be a shame if we let it go to waste, no?"

(Linebreak)

A short while later, Bell stood inside Karm's room.

The mayor looked outside of his window, where they could see Ares still chained up, with Marius still tied down by a chain but a lot less restrained.

Karm glanced at Bell, "So with the god captured, I believe that concludes your business here."

The boy followed the old man's gaze, and he nodded, "Yeah, that seems to be the case. I plan to stay the night, and we'll leave first thing at dawn."

The mayor nodded, "I see. Though you did come here to fight against the Rakia army, Ares and his vassals have never done harm to our village, so I hope his punishment won't be too harsh."

Bell raised an eyebrow, "Hmm? Why so?"

Karm chuckled softly, "Perhaps because of how easily you fended them off, they just don't seem to be the malicious type, not to mention, that Marius seemed like a good person."

The boy hummed, "I see. Frankly I'm leaving it to the gods in Orario, and knowing them, it'll probably be something more humiliating than anything."

The mayor nodded, "In that case, then I'll leave it at that."

Bell smiled, "It's getting late anyway, so I'll be retiring for the night."

Karm chuckled, "Very well. Good night, Bell."

The boy headed for the door, "You too."

(Linebreak)

The next morning, Bell and his party along with a chained Ares and Marius stood at the edge of the village.

Karm and the other villagers all stood before them, and the mayor spoke again, "It has been a good few days, thank you for everything, all of you."

Bell smiled, "Anytime, I know it's still against your customs, but if you need help."

Karm laughed wholeheartedly, "Of course, we might very well take you up on that offer!"

The boy nodded, "Until next time then."

Bell turned to where their carriage was parked, "Over-Load: Achilles."

In an instant, the three horses and chariot appeared, and everyone boarded the carriage.

As they did, Ares gaped, "Y-You're using Achilles' powers as a means of travel?! YOU'RE A GENIUS!"

Naturally, no one bothered to respond as they zoomed back towards Orario.

A short while later, in a meeting room inside the tower of Babel.

Ares alone sat in the center of the room, still chained by the Chains of Heaven, while Bell stood at a corner of the room.

The boy stood in silence, and normally he would be in awe of the many gods that were seated before him.

But with the influence of Gilgamesh and the memories of the various heroes he had inherited, all of a sudden the gods didn't seem so impressive anymore.

"Are you okay, Bell-kun? Are you sure you don't want to sit with us?"

The boy turned to see Hestia and Artemis, and he smiled, "It's fine, it already feels weird being here, I think standing in the corner is better."

"Well, it's not like anyone will dare do anything to you, not when you have his powers flowing through your body."

Bell turned to see Ishtar walking to them, an uncomfortable expression on her face.

The boy smiled softly, not letting Gilgamesh's displeasure affect him, "Unfortunately, I can't keep Enkidu's chains without using his powers."

Ishtar snorted, "Is that so? I think it's quite unnecessary."

"If that's what he wants to do, then you can't really stop him now, can you?"

The four turned to see Loki, and the red haired goddess thinned her lips as she walked up to Bell, "What's done is done, so make sure you watch your back from now on, kid."

With that said, Ishtar and Loki went to sit down, and Artemis sighed, "I can sort of understand where they're coming from…"

She glanced at Ares, who was still chained up with Enkidu's chains.

Hestia nodded, "Bell-kun, I think you should release him. He may have waged war on Orario, but he's still a god."

Bell looked at the two goddesses, and he sighed, "Fine."

The powers of Gilgamesh left his body, and so too did Enkidu's chains.

The boy looked at his two patron goddesses, "I'll be heading back first then, okay?"

Artemis nodded, "Of course."

Hestia got an idea, "Oh, and can you make something for lunch?"

Bell blinked, before a smile formed on his face, "Alright, what do you want?"

The goddess folded her arms, "Hmm, I can't decide, so how about everything you can think of?"

The boy chuckled, "If we have enough ingredients."

With that said, Bell left the building, and Hestia and Artemis both went to sit at their seats near Loki and Ishtar.

Soon, most of the gods who bothered to attend were seated, and Hermes stood next to Ares, who now sat on the floor cross legged.

The god of messengers sighed at the sight of the war god, "Alright, Ouranos has given me full reign on this, so we'll decide what to do with Ares considering he declared war on us."

A random god yelled, "EXECUTION!"

Everyone looked at him as if he was dumb, and he shrunk, "Umm, sorry…"

Loki cackled, "How about we get him to pay a hefty fine? Enough to keep all of us filthy rich for a few years? Rakia's pretty wealthy, right?"

Hermes pointed at her, "Good idea, we'll keep that in mind."

"Get the entire Ares Familia to act as clowns in Orario!"

"Get them to run around the continent naked!"

Gods and goddesses continued throwing random ideas out, usually dumb ideas that mainly involved heavily damaging Ares and his country financially or just plain up humiliation.

The more they discussed, the more Ares wanted to just straight up go back to Tenkai.

(Linebreak)

Later, Bell was in the Hostess of Fertility, and he sat at the bar, sipping on a glass of soda.

"You seem pretty free-nya."

Bell glanced back at Anya, "Yeah, Hestia-sama and Artemis-sama are in that meeting to decide Ares' punishment, and I don't feel like going home yet."

Chloe snorted as she walked past with a tray of food, "And you come here?"

Syr giggled, "I think it's perfectly fine, we get to spend more time together, right?"

The boy chuckled, "Exactly."

Mia scoffed, "I don't mind you spending time and money here, but you could help, you know?"

Bell just smiled at her words, and Ryuu sighed and shook her head in exasperation while putting in an order for some customers.

The elf then asked, "Speaking of which, how did it go, actually? You managed to bring Ares and the crown prince of Rakia back to Orario."

The boy stirred his soda with his straw, "Well, it's a bit of a story, but I guess we have the time."

Mia cut him off, "Not for them they don't, you can tell us what happened after hours."

Bell blinked, before he chuckled, "Right, of course."

The boy continued to enjoy his soda, the other waitresses taking the hint to focus more on work.

Until he heard another familiar voice, "Now why the hell are you here alone, rabbit?"

The boy turned back to see Bete, "Bete-san?"

The werewolf scoffed and sat down next to him, "Gimme a mug of mead."

Mia just nodded, while Bell asked, "Drinking already?"

Bete scoffed, "Just came back from dealing with the dungeon, Finn had me babysit the small fries today."

The boy smiled, "How'd they do?"

The werewolf snorted humorlessly, "Like shit, but at least they didn't screw up much."

Bell chuckled, "Right."

Bete glanced at him, "So, what about you? Would've thought you'd have some of your shitty teammates with you."

The boy hummed, "No, not today."

The werewolf stared at him for a bit, before scoffing, "Whatever, not my fucking problem."

Mia slid the mug of mead to Bete, who quickly grabbed it and started downing it.

The werewolf let out a big breath, before asking, "So, when are you up for that rematch, you shitty rabbit?"

The boy grinned, "Anytime, any place."

Bete smirked dangerously, "Oh, really now?"

Before the pair could continue, Mia cut in, "If you want to start something, do it outside you fucking lightweight of a werewolf!"

Bell shivered at her glare, and even Bete felt uncomfortable, "S-sorry, Mama Mia!"

The waitresses giggled at his reaction, and the boy went back to drinking his soda.

Bete, on the other hand, just grumbled and downed more of his mead.

Later that evening, Ishtar was in her office, having read the report from Samira and the others after they returned.

The goddess sighed and massaged her temples, "Why now?"

She glanced at a letter on the table, and she could already feel the Geas' weight on her being, as if warning and stopping her.

Ishtar sighed again, "What a pain…"

At the end of the letter was the name of the person who wrote it.

A familiar name.

Thanatos.

XXX

That's it for this chapter. A bit on the shorter end, but it also marks the end of the Rakia arc and the beginning of the Xenos arc.

It might take a while to get the next chapter out cuz of burnout from work, but I'll try to get it out as soon as I can.

As usual, read and review please.