DANMACHI: Is it wrong to be a Reincarnator in a Dungeon?

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"We fight for the cries of those that suffer but never their silence" - Author 

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"HESTIA-SAMA!"

Ryuta barged into the church, his actions causing a stir as Hestia quickly rushed up from the basement where the rooms were-

"Ryuta-kun?"

Seeing Ryuta's state, panicked and oozing with curses, Hestia was in a panic. Without any hesitation she rushed towards Ryuta and used the barrier as a catalyst to use a portion of her arcanum.

What she used was not the spell that Ryuta had developed but her own discovery after messing around with the barrier.

God's were not allowed to use their arcanum but Hestia discovered that she was able to use a portion of her's so long as she used the barrier as a catalyst.

This limited her abilities greatly but it did allow her to use one of her most powerful abilities-

When Ryuta realized that his worries were all for naught, he immediately shut down, his body gave in as he felt the warm embrace of his Goddess envelop him.

He was not the type to lower his guard, after his experiences in his first life, Ryuta had developed a predisposition to doubt everyone. 

It didn't matter how close he was to a person or how kind they were to him. Ryuta never fully opened his heart to anyone, never again, shall he fall prey to the hands of those that desire to control him-

But Hestia-

She was the only existence that allowed Ryuta to open up.

Hestia was the only existence in which Ryuta could show his weakness and vulnerabilities.

She was also the only existence Ryuta knew who could handle his problems.

The curse would have spread, consuming his entire being and letting loose a disaster, but he knew that Hestia could deal with it.

The tiny speck of power he borrowed from her allowed him to multiply the time he could unseal his strength as well as allow him to rapidly recover from the negative effects of his abilities.

Not only physically but also spiritually, the cleansing that Hestia gave him was more than just a simple recovery of the body. His entire being was cleansed- body, mind and soul.

As he embraced the darkness, he could only do his best to fall as gently as possible into his Goddess' embrace-

Hestia caught Ryuta, her hands trembling as her arcanum activated. A mere speck of what it was but this miniscule amount had quickly dissipated the curses that threatened to consume Ryuta's entire being-

"Ryuta you!"

Hestia was about to go off on her first familia member, the captain of her familia but-

Seeing the peaceful look on his face and his clothes that were in a mess, Hestia, as naive as she was, understood that he had gone through something terrible.

Earlier that day, Hephaestus had come to "tell on" Ryuta for his acts of "blasphemy", using his falna to use the power of Hestia. 

When that happened Hestia used that opportunity to make fun of Hephaestus as she showed of the spell.

She watched as Hephaestus' face turned green in annoyance at her display but, not giving up, the Goddess of Smithing informed her of the secret deal that Ryuta had made with her.

It was about the dealings that he would have with the Loki and other exploration familia regarding artifacts.

When she learned that Ryuta could make artifacts, Hestia tried to act as if she already knew but Hephaestus saw through it.

Though, as their discussion continued, Hestia lost any reason to get mad at Ryuta. She immediately understood the reason for his actions and with all that he has done in the past three days. She didn't really see any reason to doubt or get mad at the kid.

In fact, she felt that Ryuta, despite giving of an air of a cool and dominant man, in her mind, the image of that man had been shattered turning into the image of a 13 year old kid trying to look cool.

Ryuta's acts of hiding his actions, keeping secrets, being overly dramatic with his "evil" and "serious" demeanor made her think of only one word- 

"Chuunibyou"

When Hephaestus finally left, Hestia was waiting for Ryuta to return. 

She knew that Ryuta was busy testing the artifacts with the Loki familia, he may have even started playing tricks on Loki. Hestia didn't plan on mouthing off, she also wanted to make Loki become dependent on her captain's artifacts.

Then when the time was right, she would reveal the true face of "Pierrot"-

She wanted to scold Ryuta for a moment before commending him, she was expecting to have an entertaining evening playing with Ryuta but-

Midnight came and he had yet to return.

A deep sense of foreboding washed over her and just as she was about to rush out of the church she heard Ryuta come back.

Battered and covered in curses, Ryuta called out to her, panicked and worried.

Without any hesitation she rushed at him and now, he was lying peacefully on her lap.

A bright golden flame enveloped her and her precious child, Hestia used this moment to look at Ryuta with her eyes that were covered in golden flames.

What she saw almost made her cry, Ryuta's soul, the flame that represented his soul was not ordinary.

Unlike other souls that glowed with vitality, Ryuta's did the same but the flame was erratic.

The flame of Ryuta's soul was not dying, no, it was the opposite, it was brimming with near endless vitality but the problem was that the flame was covered in- scars.

A pure and untainted flame would burn calmly, a peaceful flame that was not affected by anything. Like a candle flame unaffected by any elements.

Ryuta's flame burned with intense vitality but the way it burned was as if it was contending against powerful winds and various forces that tried to "blow" it out.

If someone like Freya or Thanatos were to take a look at his soul, what they would see is a brilliant white soul covered in black scars. 

Unfortunately, Hestia could only see Ryuta's soul as a flame but that flame was enough for her to understand what kind of life Ryuta had lived until now.

Moreover, unlike other God's, Hestia could feel the longing within Ryuta's soul. His deepest desire, one that maybe even he did not know or acknowledge.

When she saw this desire of his a smile bloomed on her face.

She did not know what kind of power Ryuta had, what kind of madness it was that he carried. 

Hestia, at this point, had lost all her worries and fear of Ryuta.

Until moments ago, she still held some reservations, especially in relation to how he would treat his future companions.

But, upon seeing the deep longing in Ryuta's heart, Hestia finally trusted the man.

Broken as he may, he was still a kind soul, a pure soul with a simple desire.

"Sleep my child, rest, do not rush, take it slowly, we won't disappear, I promise"

She whispered to Ryuta who showed a rare smile, not the fake smile he used consistently, but a true smile born from the deepest depths of his heart.

Hestia did not stop her power, instead she continued nursing Ryuta, his body may have been purified but his soul and mind were still in a deep tug of war. She could see this struggle and fortunately, the bounded field that Ryuta had set up- the barrier that used both his and Hestia's power allowed Hestia to continuously use her arcanum without adversely affecting the world.

In fact, not a single God noticed the activation of an arcanum, moreover this was the power of the eternal torch, a flame that purifies everything. It was a flame that could burn the world if it was not properly controlled.

Her ability to use it was even sealed the moment she descended but now-

She was using it continuously, it did not carry as great of a power as it should have but the mere usage of it to cleanse Ryuta's mind and spirit body was already something that should not be possible using normal methods.

Even an altar that used wood soaked in her blood would not be able to showcase such effects and yet-

"Rest now, for this is your home"

She whispered once more as Ryuta's eternally tense face finally relaxed. 

Edward and the new members could only watch from afar, the sight of a God using their arcanum was something they had never seen before.

But what intrigued them even more were the countless magic circles that covered the whole church.

In fact, the light of the golden flames were suppressed by the crimson magic circles.

If one were to look at it outside, they might even believe it if someone claimed that the Hestia familia was summoning a demon with the brilliance of the crimson light.

Fortunately, the exterior of the church was layered with multiple illusion bounded fields that prevented anything happening within the church from being seen outside.

Of course, Edward and the rest were unaware of this as they were left frozen at the sight inside the church.

As the new members were frozen, Edward finally snapped out of his shock, his mind letting out a huge sigh as he wondered-

'Really… is this even Danmachi anymore?'