Valkyrie Smash

The call had been made and the Ritual was underway. With the Primordial approaching, it was expected that the human settlements would experience attacks intended to finish off the remaining humans so no soul could escape the eldritch abomination.

Countermeasures were put in place to ensure the safety of civilians. Some focused on preventing any Fallen would appearing among the adult population, others were intended to stop Primordial Spawn from reaching the settlements.

Both Valkyries and Nephilim were deployed. As the minutes passed no sign of danger was spotted anywhere, but it was exactly for that reason that everyone remained on high alert.

"This is… troubling." Mimir lowered the tablet in her hand and heaved a sigh.

She glanced at the crimson haired queen giving a speech a short distance away then at the Nephilim who had just arrived. An illusory pain drew a hand to her neck and as she gently rubbed it another tired sigh escaped her.

As a Nephilim, her shoulders didn't get stiff or require some kind of relief, but from time to time she found herself wanting a good shoulder rub or nice full-body massage.

"I could use some coffee right about now."

The moment she spoke the words, a large white paper cup appeared in front of her.

"Here you go."

Frowning, she glanced at the blue haired Nephilim who had appeared beside her at some point.

"Sigyn." Another sigh followed the name. "I thought Her Highness ordered you to remain at the palace?"

"The circumstances have changed, haven't they? I'm sure you can use all the help you can get!"

Defying the queen's order came with severe punishment, but for the time being there was no point in stressing over it.

Mimir took the paper cup and brought it to her mouth. Caffeine was another thing Nephilim like her didn't need but she still found herself addicted to it. The bitter taste of a hot cup of coffee never failed to get her thoughts in order.

"How were the humans?" Though her tone sounded casual, Sigyn's question seemed to contain copious amounts of malice.

"They were fine," Mimir replied evenly.

"Did any of them try to flirt with you?"

"Few had the courage."

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"So there were a few." The blue haired Nephilim nodded a couple of times, her smile remaining the same. "Alright, I should get going."

Just as she turned around to leave, a hand fell on her shoulders.

"Going where?"

Mimir was restraining herself at the moment. They were at a very sensitive point so the last thing she wanted was to deal with her man-hating friend.

"You should go back."

"Okay." Sigyn placed a hand over Mimir's. "Just let me grab the security footage from the last two days."

"Should I inform her Highness that you're here?"

Faced with that threat, Sygn froze in her place. Mimir let go of her and sipped from the paper cup again.

"We don't have time for this so I would appreciate it if you didn't cause any mess."

Her shoulders slumping, the blue haired Nephilim sighed in defeat and turned to stand beside her friend.

"I… just don't get it…" She said. "Why are we bothering with all of this? Can't we just find some nice and peaceful world to settle in?"

"There is no peace for us, Sigyn," Mimir replied. "There is no retiring from this."

Just then the tablet in her hand seemed to come to life. Glancing at it, she handed the paper cup to her friend and tapped the screen to accept the call.

"I'm guessing there is an update?"

The face that appeared belonged to Nana, Head General Sanderson's secretary and the Valkyrie handling their forces at the moment. Going by her expression, it was clear that something had happened.

[You need to see this.] Was all she said.

Since they were not that far apart, all Mimir had to do was teleport once and she arrived at the tent serving as the command center. There were quite a few others gathered around, both Valkyries and Nephilim.

A pair of drones passed in the gap between them carrying a pod of some kind. At first, Mimir was confused by what was happening, but when she looked through the transparent lid and saw what was inside her eyes narrowed as if she understood what was happening.

"Hervor?" Sygn muttered, her eyes wide with shock.

"She's alive," Mimir said as she turned away. "Worry about the other two."

Once they made their way inside, Mimir immediately spotted one of the two she mentioned, but seeing that the other was missing alarmed her.

"What happened." She asked.

"M-Mimir…" Tears gathered in Eira's eyes. "Thyra… she…"

Expecting no casualties among combatants would have been foolish, but hearing that a Nephilim had already lost her life still came as a shock.

"We analyzed the footage from the drones." Came a calm and collected voice. "There is no doubt about it. It's the work of a Fallen." .net

Nana walked over and extended the tablet in her hand toward the green haired Nephilim. Taking a look at the contents, Mimir pursed her lips and furrowed her brows.

"This is… a troublesome one."

"That thing…" A murmur came from the Cleanser sitting beside them. "It wasn't… it wasn't affected by my Purge Field at all..."

Mimir lingered for a moment then turned to the silver haired Valkyrie.

"Some kind of puppet?"

"Clearly." Coming closer, Nana tapped the tablet screen then slid her finger on it, moving the footage forward. "And not just one."

The drones had remained behind after Eira teleported away. While there, they recorded a peculiar scene where a group of headless people gathered around Thyra's motionless body before walking away.

"We have yet to find the puppeteer," Nana said.

"How come it's already this... rational?" Mimir asked. "Even if we were careless, I doubt it could have stayed out of our radar long enough to reach this level…"

Once they're infected with Madness, even the most harmless of people would turn into a ferocious beast driven by the desire to commit evil. Under such a mindless state, the Fallen would hardly be capable of hiding its presence for long.

"That does not matter for the time being." Nana sighed. "We need to take it down before the casualties increase."

Their enemy controls a horde of headless corpses; the longer it remained on the loose, the more thralls it would be able to gather, greatly increasing the damage it is bound to cause.

"I will gather a few good trackers," Mimir said. "We still need Cleansers, but…"

Eira's Purge Field might have failed to incapacitate the headless puppets, but that didn't mean the puppeteer wouldn't be affected. Considering its abilities and how it remained undetected for so long, Mimir believed that their opponent had already reached a level where the power of a single Cleanser wouldn't be able to restrain it.

"I… I will go." Though appearing reluctant, Eira clutched her sounding staff as she stood up from her seat. "I can't just hide after everything that happened…"

"That would be a great help." A relieved sigh escaped Nana.

"Here. I will go as well." Sigyn raised her hand, speaking in an even tone.

Mimir turned to her with a sharp glare but the blue haired Nephilim only shrugged.

"I disobeyed her Highness's orders. Might as well be useful and lighten my punishment."

Though she saw no reason to stop her, Mimir didn't feel like letting her go. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she turned to the Valkyrie and asked

"As for the other Cleansers-"

"I will go."

The clear voice drew everyone's attention to the entrance of the tent.

"Eleven…" Nana muttered the Valkyrie's name.

"You need Cleansers, right?" The idol spoke in a calm, emotionless tone. "I can't be sitting around doing nothing."

The mood inside seemed to drop even lower than before. Everyone, with the exception of Eira, was aware that the three members of the Aurora's idol group were ordered to remain on standby despite the dire need for Cleansers.

The Head General planned to make use of their popularity if the evacuations didn't proceed as expected so having them roam around didn't seem like the right idea.

"This is too dangerous." Nana shook her head and said. "We can't put you at risk like that."

"Many more people might have died while we 're discussing this." The idol retorted. "If the situation is as dangerous as you say, we need to put an end to it and fast."

Silence permeated once more as the two Valkyries stared at each other. After some time, the one with silver hair heaved a defeated sigh.

"I wish I didn't have to do this but…" Pausing for a moment, she met the idol's gaze again and spoke in a serious tone. "The Falln uses some kind of spatial manipulation ability through the thralls. We don't know its range yet so it would be for the best if you remained as far as possible and only used your drones."

"Understood." Eleven bowed her head as she spoke. "I will go inform the others."

Once the idol left, silence enveloped the command center once more. After some time, a sigh escaped Nana and Mimir followed suit.

"A broken heart?" Sigyn held her chin as she wore a much more serious expression. "She carries the mark of unrequited love…"