[140] Goddess Freya’s Scheme
Chapter 140: Goddess Freya’s Scheme
—
While Aqua’s fight with Thor had come to an end, the Nordic Brothers against Ai and Ichigo was far from done. They were nearly equal in power, with Ichigo standing a bit under Baldur in power, while Ai stood quite a bit above Vidar.
If not for having to help Ichigo now and then, Ai would have beaten Vidar by now.
Ichigo wasn’t weak, and in fact, was nearly unbeatable if energy attacks were used against him, so Baldur stopped most of his solar energy attacks when he realized that. He rather used the vigor of the sun to amplify his strength. He kept Ichigo busy with his fists, and that had Ichigo on the back of his foot.
In his backup, Ruby shot beams of light from inside the barrier, toward Ichigo—the energy submerging into his body which he used to amplify his next attacks.
Ai, on the other hand, did not require such assistance. She wielded two holy swords, borrowed from Irina and Xenovia, that she used to parry Vidar.
[Image Here]
Her twin swords clashed against Vidar’s heavy longsword, a chime traveling the air, as light shone after each of their clashes.
Their swords locked against one another, and Ai used that opportunity to kick the Nordic God in his stomach. He was sent flying backward, and she took that as a chance to cross her two swords in an ‘X’.
“[Birth of a New Star]!” she shouted, and pure solar energy concentrated where the two swords crossed. A hyper-hot beam of plasma shot toward Vidar, which he blocked by shouting a spell that created a defensive barrier in front of him.
– Dham!!
The barrier shattered like glass and the beam slammed into Vidar. The god let out a scream of excruciating pain, his tolerance against heat far weaker than his Light God of a brother.
“Vidar! Tell me if you want to switch!” Baldur sounded enraged as he yelled for his brother's opinion, but Ai didn't give the younger brother a chance to reply.
She ended the beam and rushed toward Vidar with her swords chiming as they cut through the air. Vidar tried to block but he was too slow, the swords sliced into his chest.
“Argh-!” he shouted in pain as two deep injuries gushed out blood.
Ai found it satisfying, allowing a pleased smile to cross her lips. She was about to go for an ending attack when the sky lit up in the distance.
A rainbow light shone and went away just as fast, and a moment later the world thrummed with the sound of conclusion.
Everyone turned their heads to look in that direction, knowing that something had… gone wrong. Someone was defeated.
Ai felt her heart growing heavier as she focused on her eyes to activate long vision. Just as she did, she caught the figure of a Warhammer being carried on the shoulder of a white-haired deity, the tail of a white tiger swinging behind him. Her heart skipped a bit, fear etching it, before she recognized the face as her son's.
Just when she let out a sigh of relief, her son closed the distance and appeared in the nearby sky, the hammer of his enemy swinging backward.
“WHAT?!”
“W-why does he-!!”
Baldur and Vidar shouted in shock, Aqua rushing toward the former to slam Mjölnir into his face.
That's when the Bifrost opened in the sky again. Aqua grinned, letting out a laugh, as he let out another command: “Close.”
This time, however, it was opposed by the voice of an old man coming from behind the Bifrost. “No.”
The Bifrost opened, and though Aqua was about to command again, it shone down on the two Nordic Brothers at the speed of light and vanished just as fast.
The light ceased to exist, and the figure of the injured Baldur and Vidar vanished.
The Instant Dungeon collapsed immediately, it couldn't hold on any longer. The aura of the world shimmered for one last time, passing over the ruins of Tokyo, replacing it with the unharmed reality.
Aqua clicked his tongue in annoyance, while Ichigo and Ai let out sighs of relief. While Aqua found this to be a missed opportunity, annoyed that he didn't get to fight the two Gods when the whole reason he was holding back against Thor was to conserve his resources, the two adults were pleased to finally be able to let their guards lower.
The battle had ended, as abruptly as it had begun.
And it resulted in the fate of Norse's great loss. Not only did they lose their strongest God after Odin, but they also lost their most iconic and legendary weapon, Mjölnir.
* * *
The three of them landed back inside the barrier that was slightly cracked from the impact of attacks sent its way.
Aqua let his Icons vanish from the sky, but not entirely. It remained connected to him by a thread, causing him to hold the appearance of a tiger. His family had let their guard down, but he didn't have the luxury to.
‘I’m too used to things going wrong just when it all seems alright.’ he noted.
Although this time around he was fairly confident it wouldn't be the same, he didn't want to take the chance.
“Onii-chan!” Ruby threw herself into his arms, shaking. She had fought powerful enemies in the past, but this was the first time she was so helpless—the power gap was too much, and she could barely do anything to help her mother and uncle.
“It's alright now,” he ruffled her hair and kissed her head. His eyes met the other Cat Yokai/White-Tiger behind Ruby, Tsubasa’s mother seemed to have regained her energy after a long time.
Even in this situation, she licked her lips as she eyed him like candy. ‘Weirdo.’
“Aqua, some of the girls have passed out earlier. Will they be alright?” Ai stepped to his side and asked, her tone bearing the grace of a queen.
He looked into the house, his perception focusing on the unconscious girls in there, and nodded a few seconds later, “It's just a spiritual pressure blackout, they're fine.”
“But what's going on here anyway?” Now it was Ichigo's turn to ask, his crystalsapien from changing back to human. “Am I the only one, or were those Nordic Gods?”
“They were,” Aqua nodded at him. “And they are incredibly strong. I'm impressed seeing you handle them on equal grounds.”
“Well,” Uncle Ichigo took the compliment by looking at the hammer on his shoulder. “Surely you have done better. Is he dead?”
“He is,”
“Does Odin exist in this world? Wouldn't he come for revenge?”
“He does, the ‘No’ you guys heard earlier was from him. And he'll probably be here for revenge in the future.” Aqua said and silence fell in the area.
Ai sighed, rubbing the side of her head, “But why is all of this happening? Have you done something to offend them? You should be careful with these Gods, Aqua.”
“It was not me, mother,” he looked at her. “It was you.”
“What?”
“Your ex, Ruby, and my biological father,” he paused for dramatic effect, “That man is the ‘World Spirit’ of Norse.”
“.....”
* * *
Far from Japan, in the higher dimensional skies of Germany, Asgard floated in the cosmic emptiness. The royal castle was a source of rage and loud shouts now, as the Gods were agitated by the earlier events.
“Father! How can you pull us back at that moment?! We would have killed that little bastard who dared take Thor's life!” Baldur was Thor's older brother, he had taken care of his little brother for hundreds of years till Thor grew stronger than him. So he felt incredible rage right now, learning that his younger brother was gone and killed.
Vidar, however, had another idea. “While I don't agree with brother Baldur's words,” he said, knowing it wouldn't have ended well if Odin hadn't called them back, as he said, “I don't understand why you wouldn't let us bring an army to Japan and ravage that stupid household!”
There were a dozen more Vikings in the room, and double the Valkyries who were related to Thor in one way or another: admirers, lovers, and daughters.
They were not openly yelling at All-father Odin, they wouldn't dare to, but their harsh expression said they agreed with the two Princes.
“Silence!” All Father Odin, sitting on his throne, with the spear Gungnir on his hold, let out a shout while tapping the floor with Gungnir’s end. The room went silent in an instant. “You think I don't want to?! Who do you fools take me for?!”
“....”
“....”
Odin the One-Eyed, Killer of Giants, the God King of the Nine Realms. Of course, he was no coward. He just didn't want to lose his sons, that's why he pulled them back at the last moment.
His two sons calmed down and lowered their heads, beginning to kneel down. The forces standing behind them followed right away, all kneeling before the All-Father.
“We apologize, father.” Baldur, the oldest, the one who had seen his father in action the most, apologized as he recalled the old days. How dare he raise his voice toward a man who can split the earth with his spear?
Odin gruffed and scoffed, “We can't make rash decisions. It was already pushing it by sending three of you instead of just one to Japan.” And it was stupid how they were somehow defeated by a 15-year-old mortal turned Demi-God. How did that work?! “If I send an army now, that will be declaring war on Shinto. Can we afford that in these dire times? Right when we are playing with Aztecs on the side? Hah, just say you want Ragnarök at this point!”
“....”
“....”
His sons kept their heads low. Of course, just like him, they must also have a hard time following the situation. After all, did it make any sense?
How can a mortal become a demigod?
Putting that aside with the excuse of his origin, as the son of Yaggdrissil, even if it was a vessel body that conceived him, how did he defeat Thor?
And how did he override the command of Bifrost from opening?!
“We'll get an opportunity, we have all the time in the world,” Odin said in the end, his pride as a God unbroken. Rather than fear that a young man was this strong in such a short time, he felt cold and calculated rage. “Why must we rush it? We already did so and lost Thor, we can't be making the same mistake.” he ended with a huff.
“What about Yggdrasil?” it was Loki who spoke, walking into the chamber with his daughter Hel by his side.
Odin frowned, glaring at him for openly speaking of this matter in front of so many people, but he answered anyway, “We will have to hold on to that as well. We'll provide him with other sources of power than that woman and boy. Preferably out of Japan. The boy has grown strong fast, he ought to hit a ceiling soon. We'll wait, even if years pass until we're ready.”
To begin with, Odin wasn't excited to go along with Yaggdrissil’s plans. He only did what he did because it was necessary for the sake of preserving the Nine Realms.
“Fine with me,” Loki shrugged. Odin felt his fingers twitch at the nonchalance of the Evil God; he must be happy that Thor was gone. It irritated Odin beyond belief.
But he didn't say anything, which allowed Hel to speak. “Annoying. I've been waiting to have my hands on that brat for a while now. How incredibly annoying…!” She complained before taking note of Odin's cold stare. She scoffed and looked away.
“What of Aztec? Quetzalcoatl?” changing the subject, Loki asked. “Has Rossweisse returned?”
“She has yet to,” Odin said. “But earlier she contacted us, and it's safe to say things haven't delved into chaos. This was just bait, a false report anyway. They did get mad when they realized, but we pretended we didn't know either.”
Not all mythologies prophesied their own end, but both the Norse and Aztecs do. In Norse, the end of the world is dubbed as [Ragnarok], which is said to come after a series of events and actions. In Aztecs, the end of the world is predicted to be brought by earthquakes and is tied to their belief in a cycle of creation and destruction. It's dubbed as the [End of the Fifth Sun]. The current era, known as the Fifth Sun by the Aztecs, is believed to come to an end with catastrophic earthquakes after a series of events tied with one another.
Odin sent Rossweisse to give the Aztecs a scare. The Valkyrie was ordered to tell the Aztec Gods that Ragnarok and End of the Fifth Sun are related, and that the day will be coming soon—that’s why Quetzalcoatl, the God King of Aztecs, had no choice but to hear the report by herself. That was why she was forced to leave Japan for a bit.
But what did that achieve?
Nothing.
After taking all these risks, things ended in a foolish display of defeat for the Norse.
Bad days were coming, and Odi had little ideas to salvage his realm from them.
“....I've heard your explanation my king, but,” it was then that the Queen of Asgard walked into the grand hall. Most people were bowling already, but even Loki and Hel lowered their heads when she entered. She was Loki's master, after all. “Are you saying you're not going to take any active approach to get revenge for my son?”
“....”
“If you allow me to suggest something,” Freya, the Nordic Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr, pointed a graceful finger at one of the Valkyries who were bowing.
“I'd like to send this girl, with Rossweisse once she returns, to Kuoh High School. They'll be dubbed to have fled Asgard, and we will actually cut them off our ranks for the foreseeable future to make that appear true, and they'll work as spies to trap that boy. He likes women, I hear, and I'll use that weakness of his against himself.”
For she, who's the God of Love and Sex, it was a perfect plan.
Odin, however, saw a problem. He looked at the girl whom Freya pointed at, a blonde-haired and blue-eyed goddess of a woman with a hammer in one of her hands.
Brigid Thorsdottir, Daughter of Thor.
[Image Here]
He was unsure if sending Thor's daughter to avenge her father by using her body was the most ethical option for revenge here.
“I accept,” However since the girl raised her head and showed no opposition, why must he judge?
Indeed, they shall wait for an opportunity in the future, even if it were to take them years. But at the same time, they will be attacking the young man where he showed weakness already.
Odin felt pleased at his wife's wisdom.
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