[Lilith will appear shortly.] said the System.

  [Understood.]

  The anticipated moment had come at st. Noah had gathered every member of his family in his living room, and the eight candidates sat close to him. Ren, Fubuki, Asuna, Suzu, Kaede, Lizel, Akeno and Rias. Rias had challenged Raynare and seized the candidate spot, and Fubuki had also unseated Kyouka. Noah had pampered Raynare and Kyouka with an extended stay in their souls at night, doing plenty of naughty things, and they didn't hold a grudge against Rias and Fubuki.

  For three months, The candidates had devoted most of their time to training, and they all had gotten significantly stronger. Coupled with the magic items Noah had prepared, and the Yin Points and Yang Points he had saved up, he felt retively confident that whoever would be selected would be able to hold their own.

  "How are Vanessa and Cindy doing, Ren?" asked Noah, referring to the two former magicians that Ren had requisitioned to help with the dreaded paperwork.

  "They're coming along nicely. They still make the occasional mistake, but they're saving me a lot of time already." smiled Ren, one hand scratching Fenrir's ears. The divine wolf was quite happy with his life now, with tasty food, plenty of time to ze around, and always some people willing to pet him.

  "And you still haven't shown us the equipment you've prepared for the one who will be selected." pointed out Ren. The room became silent as the girls stopped their conversations.

  "Yeah, I didn't." smiled Noah. "You girls all have your own Master Craft level weapons and armor. In addition to that, this is likely the most important item."

  Noah took from his inventory what looked like a Christmas crystal ball, with a wooden base. The girls could see a few trees and a moderately-sized wooden house on a snowy field.

  "Is this what I think it is?" asked Rias, grinning.

  "What do you think is this, Rias?"

  "Some kind of dimensional space, where you can spend the night inside?"

  "Got it in one. But, this artifact, that I arbitrarily named Sanctuary, can use Seekvaira's time magic. By charging it with her magic power, the candidate will be able to accelerate the flow of time inside, up to a factor of twenty. And I should mention that this wooden house has a basement, and that inside this basement is a supply of my special stuff."

  "Of course, Master…" nodded Kaede with a grin. "We wouldn't expect anything different from you."

  "Yeah. The Sanctuary is made to be unremarkable from a normal snow globe when in use, so it would look inconspicuous if on a shelf, as an example, but it is not indestructible, so be careful with it. Should it receive critical damage, everyone inside will be automatically ejected, thanks to a failsafe magic, but the items will be lost. "

  "The second item, is this." Noah next took from his inventory a pair a narrow gsses with a thin metal frame and pced them on the table. They wouldn't look out of pce on any of his girls.

  "When you wear those, you will see auras around people or objects. They are, in essence, magic detectors, and the stronger the magic source, the more pronounced the aura you will see while wearing those."

  "That could be very useful." nodded Ren, taking the gsses and wearing them. She looked around, seeing auras on almost everyone, and noticing that the snow globe didn't have any aura. The brightest one was Ophis, pying a simple monopoly-like board game with Le Fay. A number of sweets were used as currency.

  She removed the gsses, and passed them to Akeno, who was curious about it, too.

  "In addition to those." smiled Noah. "I have stockpiled rge quantities of Yin and Yang Points, 210k and 4,5k respectively, and I will not mind if the candidate uses them all to buy what she needs to thrive over there."

  "Do you have recommendations, Master, on what to use those points for?" asked Asuna.

  Noah was about to answer when Lilith appeared. She wore an exquisitely detailed crimson dress.

  "Greetings Lilith-sama." said Noah as he stood and bowed. All the other girls quickly followed suit, excepted for Ophis who simply looked at the goddess with Curiosity.

  "Greetings, my Champion, and everyone. You all can sit down."

  Noah didn't sit, and instead offered his chair to the goddess, who graciously accepted and took pce at the end of the long table. Noah simply made another chair and sat nearby.

  "As usual, Noah, you haven't disappointed me. And the candidates you chose worked hard as well. Do you all feel ready to take up this great challenge?" asked Lilith with a smile.

  The candidates replied with varying degrees of eagerness and confidence.

  "Lilith-sama, can you tell us anything about the world one of my girls will be sent to, or the other Champions?" asked Noah.

  "I am not going to tell you right away. But the candidate will have a smartphone able to transmit both audio and video. She will be able to contact you once the initial briefing is over, and after being inserted into that world. You won't have to wait long before you start learning about it. And we may as well get the selection out of the way."

  Lilith pointed to an empty part of the room, where a rge wheel, mounted on a horizontal axis, appeared. The wheel was divided into eight sections, each bearing the name of one of the candidates.

  "My Champion, go turn that wheel, please."

  "Yes, Lilith-sama." nodded Noah as he stood and walked close to the wheel. Taking a deep breath, he seized one of the edges, and turned it vigorously. The wheel turned quickly, making at least a dozen turns as it gradually slowed down.

  Finally, the wheel stopped, with the arrow pointing to…

  Akeno's segment.

  Akeno tensed for an instant, then smiled. She hadn't truly believed she would be the one chosen, even if she had prepared for it. She would miss being away from her mother and Noah, but she was also very interested in exploring a new world, and gaining the perks that went with the position.

  "And that is done. Akeno, you have a few minutes to say goodbye." nodded Lilith.

  "Yes, Lilith-sama." smiled Akeno.

  She turned to her mother standing nearby.

  "Mom, I'll be away for a while." smiled Akeno, and Shuri hugged her

  "Be very careful, my baby!" cried Shuri.

  "Of course. I'll call every day if I can."

  "Yes. I'll pray every day for Lilith-sama to bring you home safely."

  "You can pray all you want, Shuri, but I can't interfere. That would be against the rules." smiled Lilith. "If it can make you feel better, I will just say that Akeno will be well equipped to face the challenges waiting for her. "

  "Thank you, Lilith-sama." bowed Shuri.

  Noah was the next one to give a hug to Akeno.

  "I'm going to miss you a lot. Call me often, Akeno. I'll be rooting for you."

  "You can count on it, my Master. While I'm gone, be sure to be very affectionate with mom, so she doesn't have time to miss me too much, okay?"

  "I think I can do that, yes." grinned Noah, before giving her a quick kiss. He released her, as the others wanted to say farewell, too.

  Rias hugged Akeno as well. "Be careful out there, Akeno. And bring us some souvenirs!"

  "Ufufu, I will bring plenty."

  One by one, the girls hugged Akeno and wished her luck. Before they all got their turns, however, Lilith stood and cpped her hands.

  "We're running out of time. We can't have the other candidates and gods waiting. One day from now, the world Noah visited previously will become avaible. All of you will have plenty of work to do over there. And do not neglect your training, because there are more troublesome matters for you all on the horizon."

  Lilith and Akeno disappeared, as well as the gsses and the snow globe on the table.

  …

  Akeno blinked as she found herself standing on a grassy pin surrounding a small hill. Previously, she had, like the seven other candidates, been wearing her armor and had her weapon strapped to her back. But now, her clothes had somehow changed into her white and red shrine maiden outfit.

  She looked around, and saw several people some distance away, two to her left, and four to her right. They had apparently been arranged into a loose semi-circle, with at least a hundred meters between them.

  One of them started walking toward the hill, then another, then another.

  Looking ahead, Akeno understood. On top of the hill was a long table made of dark gray stone, curved to form a semi-circle, and seven chairs of the same material, their tall backs facing them.

  Akeno walked toward her own chair, watching carefully her rivals as their walk slowly brought them closer to each other. They were two men, and four women besides Akeno. And they were a study in contrasts.

  The first man seemed to have high-tech prosthetics all over his body, while only his face and short blonde hair seemed natural. The other one, on the other hand, possessed the red eyes and white hair of an albinos, and Akeno estimated from his outfit that he lived in a medieval or fantasy-like world.

  The four women were also very different. The first to start walking toward the hill had blue eyes, long hair the color of burnt orange, and was wearing what was obviously some kind of high-tech pilot bodysuit, fire engine red in color. She looked at the others with obvious challenge in her eyes.

  The second was wearing a bck business suit with pants, and long light blue hair, the bangs covering her forehead cut at an angle. She nervously stared at Akeno and the others in turn.

  The third girl had medium-length blonde hair in a bob cut, with a red ribbon tied in a bow on the left side of her hair. She was dressed in a dark red and gray schoolgirl uniform. This girl had an infectious smile as she grinned at the others, and Akeno found herself smiling back before she noticed.

  And the fourth girl… The fantasy-like cuirass, sabatons and single shoulder pte seemed to indicate her as coming from a fantasy-like world as well, but the thing that drew Akeno's attention was the expression on her flushed face, as if that young woman was expecting something from them. The blonde haired, blue-eyed girl, somehow aroused Akeno's sadism.

  None of them said a word until they reached the table, and each one was seated. After a few seconds where they looked at each other in silence, the redhead in a pilot suit snorted.

  "Let's get this over with! I am Asuka Shikinami, and I represent Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. I'm the best suited to lead you, so surrender obediently, and I'll treat you well."

  "Ara ara, that's an interesting decration, miss. Do you mind if I call you Asuka?" smiled Akeno.

  "I don't."

  "Thanks. I am Akeno Himejima, representing Lilith, Goddess of Conquest, Lust and Domination. It is nice to…"

  "Ahhhhh!!!" excimed the blonde girl with a bob cut, suddenly standing and pointing at Akeno with a grin. "I wasn't certain before, but I know you! You're the half devil, half fallen angel from the DxD world!"

  Akeno's jaw would have dropped to the floor if it was possible, while Asuka groaned.

  "…How can you possibly know about me?"

  "Well, your world is one of the most famous ones, and my friend Aria, the Champion, wanted to meet you and Rias and the others, so obviously…" The girl suddenly stopped speaking, seeing that Akeno and several of the others looked completely confused, while Asuka and the girl with light-blue hair were facepalming.

  "…You, what's your name?" asked Asuka with a sigh.

  "Ah, sorry sorry! I should have introduced myself properly first! My name is Chisato Nishikigi! I represent Susanoo, the God of Storms… Did I just put my foot in my mouth."

  "Yes, you did." snorted Asuka. "From their reactions, it's obvious that some people here weren't aware that their worlds has been inspired from fictions. You just served them one hell of an existential crisis on a ptter, you idiot girl!"

  "Oh... I'm so sorry!" shouted Chisato as she bowed deeply, regret painted all over her face.

  "Inspired, from a fiction?" asked Akeno, frowning as she stared at Asuka. "You mean that there's people in your world who know about me and my companions?"

  "Yeah." Asuka grimaced. "If it's any consotion, it took me weeks to accept that I, too, was one of the heroines in the fiction that served as inspiration for the creation of my world. A piece of advice, don't think too much about it. It's not worth it."

  "…You're right. I think I'm going to have a few choice words with a certain someone in the near future. Until then, I'll avoid thinking about it. Thank you for the advice, Asuka." sighed Akeno.

  "M-More importantly, you said your Goddess is the Goddess of Conquest, L-Lust and D-Domination?" asked the blonde girl wearing armor, an entranced expression on her face. An expression that caused the two men in the seats surrounding her to instinctively shift away from her.

  "Yes. But she's a good Goddess." replied Akeno, mentally pegging that girl as a hardcore masochist.

  The pervert regained control of herself, and she cleared her throat in slight embarrassment.

  "Ahem. Where are my manners. I am called Darkness, and I am a Padin in the service of Loki, God of Mischief. It is a pleasure to meet you."

  The young man with high-tech prosthetics stood.

  "The name's Genos. A S-rank member of the Hero Association in my world. If, as you cim, my world is based on a fiction, I guess it makes sense why there's always one threat after another popping up constantly. I'll consider the implications ter. My boss is the Champion of Ogun, the god of War."

  With this, he sat down, and the albino took his pce and made an awkward bow.

  "Well… I am Bell Cranel, it's nice to meet you all. I represent Eir, Goddess of Healing, and I'm also the familia member of Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth."

  "You represent two Goddesses?" asked Akeno.

  "It's not like that. In my world, Gods descend on earth to adopt humans as part of their familia, since they cannot have children due to their divinity. I am part of Hestia's familia along with my mentor Torri, and Torri is the Champion of Eir."

  Akeno nodded, and everyone looked at the st candidate that had yet to introduce herself.

  She stood and made a respectful bow.

  "It's nice to meet you all. I am Miwa Kasumi, and I'm an exorcist. In my world, negative feelings accumute and form monsters called Curses, and we're in charge of purifying them. I represent the Goddess of Hunting Artemis. Please take care of me."

  "Those Curses sound like Hollows from my world." nodded Akeno.

  "Ah? Hollows, with holes in their chests and white masks?" asked Chisato.

  "Yes?"

  "That's strange! Hollows are part of the Bleach fiction, not the one you're supposed to come from. Unless…" Chisato squinted her eyes.

  "Unless the Goddess in question decided to use several fictions as inspiration to create a single world, to make things more interesting." said the Goddess in question, appearing along with six other beings.

  Akeno bowed deeply to Lilith and the other Gods and Goddesses. They were all muting their auras, but it was obvious as a gnce that they were more than human.

  Six thrones appeared behind them, and all but one deity sat down. The goddess still standing was just as devastatingly beautiful as Lilith, with a perfect face, green eyes and long dark blue hair. She wore a simple white tunic.

  "Greeting, everyone. For the six of you who never met me, I am Artemis, Goddess of Hunting, and I will be the one giving you the basic information you need before entering that world. The information you will be provided with will only cover the surface, though, and you will have to interact with the locals to learn more."

  "You will all be inserted in a city called Fuyuki, in Japan. The technological level is equivalent to what most of you are familiar with, and Darkness and Bell will have help from their Systems to get used to life in this environment. That world has many hidden secrets, but it will be up to you to find them."

  "This pnet is almost exclusively poputed by humans who do not believe in magic, but there are three supernatural factions of note. The Magician Association, who you will have to integrate eventually to deal with the second major crisis. The Catholic Holy Church, whose upper echelons practice magic in secret. And the True Ancestors, a small group of powerful vampires who you will likely not have to deal with, unless you actively seek them."

  "About three weeks from now. Something called the Holy Grail War will start, and be centered around Fuyuki City. Seven Masters will each summon one Servant and compete with each other to seize the Holy Grail, a magical construct that will grant them one wish. Or so they believe. But this one will be a little different, with seven additional Masters. You guys. Your first mission will be to summon your own Servant, using a catalyst we will provide you, then compete against both the locals Masters and the other candidates to reach Holy Grail first."

  "In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter which one among you gets the Grail, as the winner will only receive an honorific position and a tie-breaking vote, but you must absolutely prevent the local Masters from reaching it first. Because the Holy Grail has been tainted during a previous Holy Grail War, and it will fulfill wishes in a malevolent way. As an example, a foolish Master wishing to resurrect a dead retive might result in creating a zombie, leading to an undead outbreak."

  "All you will have to do is touch the Holy Grail, and we will purify it. You won't get to make a wish, but then, none of you really need it, being the subordinates of our Champions."

  Artemis smiled as she decided to give them a bit of time to digest the news.

  "Now, I'm sure you have many questions already, so let's answer a few of them."

  Bell was the first to lift his hand.

  "Artemis-sama, what are vampires?"

  Artemis waved a hand, and the translucent image of a dignified-looking, middle-aged man appeared beside her.

  "They look like humans most of the time, but they feed on blood. And for most of them, human blood."

  The image changed, showing the same middle-aged man, but with his mouth wide open, revealing two sharp pairs of fangs, and his face distorted in a wicked expression. His nails had also turned into cws.

  "Not all of the True Ancestors are preying on humans, and there are less than twenty-five of them. They live in hiding, mostly for fear that the strongest of them, who is an ally of humanity, would find them and kill them."

  Artemis had showed the image of a beautiful young woman with red eyes and medium length golden hair as she mentioned the strongest True Ancestor, then both images disappeared.

  Akeno lifted her hand, and Artemis nodded to her.

  "Artemis-sama, are we to fight in the middle of a city? Won't that cause massive colteral damage?"

  "The local Masters will not do anything big during the day. The Magic Association, working together with the Holy Church, will set up a city-wide magic array that will influence the civilians' minds, giving them a light compulsion to stay home at night. The Masters and their Servants fight during the night, and they do not do it in the middle of residential areas. At least, those are the rules of the Holy Grail War. It wouldn't be the first time someone doesn't follow them."

  "In addition, each of you will receive one artifact called a Reality Marble."

  Artemis opened her right hand, and a rge iridescent pearl appeared above it.

  "Using a reality marble will send you and your allies, as well as any Master or Champion in the surroundings, into a temporary dimension. There, you can fight to your hearts' content. The reality marble can be maintained for twenty minutes, then need two hours before it can be activated again. That should be plenty enough for your needs."

  "Thank you, Artemis-sama." nodded Akeno.

  "You're welcome. Chisato?"

  "Yes!" grinned Chisato, lowering her hand. "Artemis-sama, what are the rules about competing with each other? Can we settle this peacefully like adults?"

  "Of course. Keep in mind, though, that the servants you will summon have minds and ambitions of their own, and that once one of you touches the Grail, the surviving candidates will be expected to follow the victor's lead until the second crisis had been dealt with. So, you cannot just decide to cooperate as equals, unless you touch the Grail yourself and decide to do things this way."

  "As for what happens if you lose to another, in the event of you surrendering or being captured, that will be up to the whims of the candidate who defeated you. If you are killed, however, we will resurrect you in your world of origin, and you can return to your partner's side, but neither you nor the Champion will ever be able to set foot in this world."

  Genos cleared his throat, and asked the next question.

  "Artemis-sama, how is the retionship between the three factions?"

  "The Magician Association and the Holy Church are acting like rival nations. They will scheme to weaken each other if given an opportunity but will avoid outright fighting. And they are both very hostile to the True Ancestors.

  Asuka lifted her hand next, and Artemis turned her gaze toward her.

  "Artemis-sama, isn't that competition a bit unfair in the first pce? I mean, let's take Akeno's case as an example, since she's the only one among the other candidates I know about. She can summon lightning bolts and fly, yes. But against my Red Empress, she doesn't stand a chance."

  Akeno's polite smile twitched, and Artemis smiled as she shook her head.

  "Asuka, you shouldn't rely only on what you think you know, or you'll come to regret it. Although, if you end up defeated by Akeno, you will likely find it to be a blessing in disguise, in the end. But I digress. None of you should underestimate each other. And that doesn't even take the Servants into consideration."

  "Now, before we give you the opportunity to choose your catalyst, we will speak a little about Servants. Servants are historical or legendary figures, enhanced by their own legends. None of them are weak, but they are also divided into categories, each of those categories enhancing one aspect of their combat potential."

  "Sabers are said to be the strongest in head-to-head battle. Archers have exceptional awareness, and most of them can for example spot a bee at a range of two kilometers. They also require less mana from their Master to maintain their existence. Lancers are the most versatile css, but focus on close combat."

  "Riders have enhanced leg movements, allowing them to advance or retreat more easily than other csses. Casters can create territories where they gain various perks, as well an enhance the magic abilities of their Master, but are weaker in close combat. Assassins also are generally on the weaker side, but can better hide their presence and are great ambushers."

  "Lastly, Berserkers have great combat power, potentially stronger than Sabers, but are much harder to control."

  "Of course, what I just said are general tendencies, but there are plenty of exceptions. And you should refer to your servant by the name of its css, because revealing the Servant's identity to other Servants or Masters will give them a significant advantage."

  Artemis waved a hand, and seven piles of… things appeared between the gods and the candidates. The vast majority of the objects seemed to be severely damaged. A lot were obviously just fragments of something bigger.

  "Those are all catalysts, artifacts that once belonged to the Heroic Spirits or are reted to their legends. They have been sorted by css, and each of you is to choose one. We will proceed by the seating order, so, Asuka, you choose first."

  Asuka nodded and left her seat, examining each pile from up close. After a few minutes, she decided on one and picked up a damaged spearhead. The tip was broken, and the shaft had a veiny texture, but the strangest thing was that both the spear and shaft were made of a cobalt blue metal.

  "Have you made your choice?" asked Artemis.

  "Yes, Artemis-sama." nodded Asuka, and the pile from which she took the spearhead disappeared.

  "You have chosen an Assassin-css servant. Next is Chisato."

  Chisato jumped from her seat and examined the piles of rubbi… catalysts. She quickly found something and picked it up.

  "Artemis-sama, is this really a catalyst?"

  Akeno was also a little confused as she examined closely the thing in Chisato's hand. A mostly pink book with a soft cover, featuring the cartoonish picture of a fox girl in a blue kimono and apron. The title was 'Tamamo's fan club, a guide to prepare you to be a perfect housewife!'.

  "It is. And the Servant linked to this one isn't weak by any mean. Are you choosing it?"

  "Yes, it sounds interesting!"

  Artemis nodded and made another pile disappear.

  "You have chosen a Caster Css Servant. Next is Genos."

  Genos started examining one of the fifth remaining piles. Finally chose one of the few catalysts that looked retively intact, and this one was actually a set of two weapons. A naginata, and a katana, whose sheath was bound to the naginata's shaft.

  Akeno mentally winced, as she had her eyes set on this catalyst.

  "I choose this one." decred Genos, and the pile disappeared.

  "You have chosen an Archer Css Servant. Next is Bell."

  Akeno raised an eyebrow at the idea of those two weapons being used by an Archer, but didn't waste time on it and focused on examining the remaining catalysts.

  After hesitating for a few minutes, Bell picked up a painting representing a dragon standing over a huge pile of gold and treasures, fmes about to spill from its maw.

  "Bell, you have chosen a Berserker Css servant. Next is Akeno." said Artemis after Bell confirmed his choice.

  Akeno nodded and walked closer to the piles. After realizing that it would be very unreliable to try to get the servant css of her choice by making a guess on the catalyst's nature, she instead decided to try to get a female one. She would likely get along better with a woman, and she didn't really want to have to deal with a man other than Noah.

  After a moment, she decided on a red and white dress. It was badly frayed and the colors had faded, but the dress was of a very elegant and daring design, and she felt very curious about what Heroic Spirit would wear such a dress. She would have assumed the servant was a Caster, if not for the css already being selected by Chisato.

  "I'll borrow this one, Artemis-sama."

  "You have chosen a Lancer Css servant. Next is Miwa."

  Akeno tried to think about any historical or legendary female spear-wielding user she could think off, but couldn't imagine them wearing a dress like that. As she did, Miwa picked up a catalyst, a single gold coin with the face of a woman crudely printed on it.

  "I have chosen, Artemis-sama." said Miwa.

  "Good. Your Servant is a Saber. And the st pile is for Rider Css Servants. Pick one, Darkness."

  "Yes." smiled Darkness as she walked over to that pile.

  Suddenly, her eyes widened and her nostrils fred, and she picked a… riding crop. It was obviously old and in a bad state, but it was without a doubt a riding crop. A fitting item for a Rider Css Servant, assumed Akeno, but it was clear to anyone looking at the pervert that she didn't have horses in mind when she chose it.

  "I want this one, Artemis-sama!"

  "As expected of you, Darkness." smiled Artemis.

  Darkness shuddered as she noticed the judgmental gazes from the other candidates, obviously getting aroused. Seeing her reminded Akeno of the face Rias made that time when Noah took them both on a shopping trip. With him having in his pockets the remotes of two egg vibrators. She smiled fondly at the memory.

  Artemis waited until Darkness was back on her seat before she spoke again.

  "In a few moments, you will all lose consciousness. When you wake up, you will be in Fuyuki City, and you will have gained a System. The system will give you some additional information and tell you how summon your Servant. The catalyst and reality marble, the smartphone allowing you to communicate with your partners, as well as any equipment the Champions have provided you, will be in your inventory."

  "While the Holy Grail War is set to start in three weeks, you can start competing against each other or recruiting allies right away. You must however be careful not to let civilians learn about the existence of magic, or both the Magic Association and the Holy Church will make it their priority to silence you."

  "Then, all that is left is to wish you all good fortune."

  Akeno was about to thank her, when she lost consciousness.

  Ayato_kanzaki