Danmachi: the Great Devourer

C238: Partnership

Date published: 7/12/2025.

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Just like that, the second official day of the war ended with Lancer dying and Ruler changing hands. 

The following day was much more peaceful as Rin was primarily doing reconnaissance to find other servants or masters. She already knew where one was, so she left the loss hounded Shirou and instead focused on sniffing out the other servants. 

She did momentarily find Washio's old trail that leads to the temple but a brief investigation did not reveal anything as Souichirou Kuzuki roamed around without revealing any detail. Caster is still dealing with Ruler and gradually healing Assassin.

Due to the loss of control, the draconic mana acts akin to a virus that feeds on the servants own energy to multiply and continue attacking his body from the inside. This might be due to its original owner's grief that the mana responded with. It certainly doesnt help Caster that Martha continues mentioning that it's holy retribution for her villainous actions. 

Of course she says this, still unaware of Casters background. Though if she knew, she would have turned into a caring mother for Medea but would have still disciplined her that she chooses to continue taking villainous actions even when she is free to be as she wishes. 

In the morning of the 4th day, Rin eventually receives a text message from Axel for a meeting. She has an odd mood as she makes her way to his home on the outskirts. Half of the time she is lost in her thoughts and skipping along as if she didn't do anything wrong then immediately twiddle her fingers, looking at the direction where Archer is following her from.

Archer is most definitely shocked at the current behaviour of Rin, seeing her go through so many mood swings is a novelty that he decisively feasts upon with his eyes. Though he does keep a small distance away, relying on her master marker to keep track of her and ensure he doesnt 'see' her doing this, the talents of an Archer are hide to stop when he chooses to scout her vicinity and coincidentally notices all this happening multiple times in a row. 

Archer would naturally not admit to any form of spying as it would ruin any form of reputation he has with his master. Eventually the duo arrive at the mansion on the outskirts of Miyama Town. Rin knocks on the door and after a brief moment, it's Sakura who opens the door with Axel following around. 

"Come in Come in" Axel acts his usual hospitable state as he ushers Sakura to lead Rin forward even though Rin already knows the way. Archer seems to feel chills all over his body as he notices Axel's gaze on him. "You too, c̶͍̹̟̈ͅǫ̵̨͍̟͆m̸͙̝̚e̵͉̾͒͘ ̴̛͙̩͚̕i̶̧͉͗n̶̢̘̬̫̋." 

Archer can only uncontrollably step forward and enter the house, he can feel the dense energy which allows him to enter a physical state. Rin notices this and frowns at the feeling of compulsion magic used on her servant. "Teacher, I might respect you but please don't bully my servant" 

Axel's only response to her words if to manifest a folded fan and whack her on the head. "ACK" She shrinks in response as Axel leads the way, rejoining Sakura, he begins his lecture. "I shall bully him if I wish, unless you wish from the grail for me to respect you. Then I'm sorry but the grail will not be able to fulfill it."

He arrives at the courtyard door and opens it to reveal Washio learning draconic magic with his mother. He has his top bare as even when practicing magic, he involves physical movement until he reaches a point where the spells are innate and infused into a semi permanent dragon heart. 

"Because i'm stronger than the grail and it's magic" Axel declares his statement as fact while walking inside. The trio follow as Sakura works to support Washio, providing him towels to wipe off his sweat or providing her own insights to help the boy along. 

On the side, Rin and Archer are pondering Axel's words. Rin is slightly heartbroken that she might not be able to achieve her wish even if she won. Archer instead finds the statement absurd but he is also a counterforce guardian and has witnessed many magical and technological wonders of ancient ages and this is the first time he heard something like this. 

"Don't believe me?" Axel naturally notices Archer scepticism, to be Archer hesitantly nods"

"Then tell me, how many moons were there when you were alive and not yet a heroic spirit?" Axel asks with a hint of a smile on his lips. 

Archer is confused as is Rin. While she knows in history, there had always been 1 moon, the second had showed up over 20 years ago, long before she was born. Archer shares this sentiment as he confidently states, "There is only one moon" 

"I see, then look up" Axel responds as he too looks up. Rin also follows as they find the sun's light weakening ever so slightly. Archer follows as he is now thoroughly shocked. 

This whole time he had been under the impression that the original moon had just gotten closer to Earth through some sort of strange means but now he can clearly spot the new second moon and the original as a crescent moon just neighboring the second moon. It had passed through it's new moon state and is now visible once more. 

It's not too strange to sometimes see the original moon in the early mornings but Axel's action makes it far more clear to the group. He especially notices Archer's shock of seeing two moons in the sky. 

"Where do you think the second moon that never moves comes from?" As Axel says this, it's Rins turn to be shocked as while Axel had taught her, he had never shared the news of making his domain open to this world, saving it for after the war. As such, she never knew he was the one who brought this moon here. She was born many years after this happened. Archer shares Rin's sentiment but only for a moment as wariness steps in. 

Both can tell that Axel just informed them of a giant world wide secret but with how carefree Axel is about mentioning this, they soon calm down while Axel cancels his little darkness spell. 

"Teacher, why did you call us here? Was it just to tell us this out of the blue?" Rin cant help but question as this whole scenario is strange. First there was seeing Washio, who she was under the belief couldn't be a mage, casting spells much stronger than her own, though he is reliant on chants and hand movements. The second is that she spotted command seals on Washio's hand but made no mention of it. 

The third detail being her teacher's odd mood as he told his 'big' tale of effectively being god. She already knew that he was extremely powerful, comparable to ancient magicians that would make them worthy of being a heroic spirit but still alive. Yet now she learns that he far outpaces ancient mages and heroic spirits as he created an actual moon, one that doesnt affect anyone or anything's gravity but also sat over their half of the world her whole life. 

"I have a request, a personal one, outside of my role as Mediator. I know im not supposed to but I wish to support my son in his goal." he informs them as he takes on a melancholic pose, bent over, his elbows on his knees with his hands locked and his head resting on them.

"What request teacher" Rin almost regrets asking as she can already tell that her own efforts thus far would be for nothing. Perhaps that is why her teacher took the initiative to tell her that the grail is ineffective against him. She gains a small blush at the embarrassing thought that her teacher already knows her wish when she thought she was being secretive.

"I'd like for you to work with Washio and help him to win the grail war." Rin's fears came true as her head does droop in sadness. Axel gives her a pitiful expression as he truly doesnt want to force her with this.

"May I ask why? What makes his wish more important than mine?" Rin does say with some emotion, almost yelling but having been half raised by Axel, she knows that her acting like this would only make her teacher pity her even more which she doesnt want. 

In response to her question, Axel simply asks her to look forward. When she does, she spots her sister, Sakura enthusiastically talking with Washio. A hint of blush on both their faces at their closeness, especially since the boy is bare chested and covered in sweat upon his muscles. Rin already knew the two were in a relationship and draws a blank on what her teacher is trying to tell her with this.

Axel huffs as he slides over the recorder but not before pressing play. Rin and Archer hear the whole story. Archer has little reaction as the current version of him doesnt really know anything about Sakura. Rin on the other hand is touched by Washio's selflessness. She lowers her head once more but this time, she raises it with a strange conviction.

"I'll do it, tell me what I should do?" Rin states with a new goal in mind. She can still reach her wish if she is patient but for now, she will secure her sister's future happiness. 

"Washio is supposed to be the one to convince you, so play as if we just casually chatted and maybe play a bit hard to get. Should be fun to watch for a while." Axel says with a hint of chaos in his tone as he already fished out another video camera to record.

Rin agrees to his request but decides to play a bit deeper to make the mood seem better. "Teacher, let's make it a bit more realistic, since you told me so much about you. Can you share a bit more?"

"Hmm, where do I start? I have a crazy life, filled with tons of danger until I have gotten strong enough to keep myself and others safe." He ponders as he chooses to begin from the start.

He explained how he was born on a different world where people who share similar names and abilities as heroic spirits lived their lives as immortals while actual mortals ventured into a dungeon to make a living. At least until Axel arrived and a whole jar of crazy was released and he destroyed the dungeon. He explains his initial powers which belonged to a variety of creatures and even gods or demigods. How he had reassembled his original soul but retained mimicked forms of the original powers he had gotten. Throughout the told story, he avoided telling the duo about his relationships. But he did mention how he took his first born into the dungeon with him, his devouring countering her own.

Rin tentatively asks, "How many children do you have?" 

"Um…the short answer is a lot, all spread out throughout various worlds with their own mythical powers far different than the magic of this world. The long answer, Washio is only the fifth child from the second generation out of six children." Rin nearly faints as she then looks at her teacher's wife with a strange expression. Wondering how she gave birth to so many children with Washio remaining unaware of his siblings all these years. 

Axel chuckles at her confusion as he clarifies that Murasaki Shikibu is not his only wife. He currently only has one child with each of his wives with Raikou and Freya being the only ones to bear a second child but both are part of the upcoming third generation. 

After the wondrous discovery, Rin and Axel change their interests back to various magic theories like they used to before the war. Axel would casually explain various magi-tech tools he was designing while Rin explains how she can help or even details about the war and how she took down Lancer. A major part of their conversation was hidden by a mini veil around the trio. When the conversation became much more casual, Axel dropped it so the others could hear them again and sense as if nothing had absolutely happened. 

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Word count: 2122

Drop a comment if you wanna judge my writing or the story. I'll try to respond, especially if you're confused or anything.