Pure-white light streamed from Brynhildr’s arms. She had more to explain about the Valhalla Program; words felt thin—better to let Aphelia see, clear as dawn.
A soft knock brushed the door.
Anxiety pricked; Brynhildr folded the light away. Their eyes met. Aphelia nodded. Brynhildr’s form broke into white radiance and sank into Aphelia’s body.
"Aphelia, are you still there?"
Violet’s voice flowed through the wood. Aphelia had stayed too long; worry colored Violet’s tone like dusk.
"Uh—I’m fine. Violet, come in."
Her heart jolted; Aphelia erased every trace of Aether in the room. Brynhildr’s existence was too staggering; she couldn’t risk Violet knowing.
Shame pricked, bitter as frost. Brynhildr was the one the Valkyries awaited. In Aphelia’s era, her body was gone; in this age, it lay intact.
For now, Aphelia wouldn’t let Brynhildr return to that body.
If the true Valkyrie came back, then what was Aphelia?
"Good that you’re alright. You’ve stayed so long… Aphelia, want to see the stasis tank holding your body?"
The question jolted her; a wry smile tugged. Of all topics, this. She’d dodged Brynhildr and the body, only for Violet to bring it up.
"Violet, why suddenly talk about seeing her—my body?"
Aphelia stood, trying to veer the talk away. Violet stepped close and took her hand. Six fully armed soldiers filed in behind her.
Their leader saw Aphelia and bowed, respectful as ritual smoke.
"Honored Valkyrie Commander, greetings. The Nine-Tailed Fox Guard salutes you."
Unease tightened like a string. They looked ordinary, spec-ops at best—yet Aphelia couldn’t see through them at all.
The lead youth sensed her gaze and smiled, about to speak—when another squad burst in. Yi’s Executors leveled rifles at the six, even at Violet.
Yi squeezed the trigger without hesitation, eyes blood-red, shouting—
"Lady Brynhildr, get clear! They’re fakes!"
The warning hit like thunder. Aphelia moved to act—Violet warped into ink-black shadow. Eldritch miasma surged, a Daemon Beast lunging from the dark.
Fierce firelight flooded the conference room. The Executors opened up; rifles spat flame, pouring rounds toward the so-called Nine-Tailed Fox squad.
The six soldiers twisted into monsters in a blink. Raw Aether and dense eldritch miasma churned within. Inhuman limbs rose as shields; their roars shook like Daemon Beasts.
Yi saw the change and drew the huge pistol at his waist. Its oversized caliber felt pre-modern, etched with vintage grace. He aimed and fired.
BOOM!!
A cannon seemed to explode indoors; crimson fire flashed before Yi. The hand-cannon’s jewel-bright round tore the arm-shield and sheared half their bodies.
After the shot, Yi clenched his teeth and backed to the center. The emergency hand-cannon’s savage recoil had dislocated his entire left arm.
"Fire! Fire! Don’t stop—keep them suppressed!"
With a breach forced, Yi wouldn’t waste it. He had to buy Aphelia time; only she here could truly crush a Daemon Beast.
"Still playing that trick on me?!"
Crimson Flame hardened into blades. Two girls in ornate dress reappeared, cleaving the shadow binding Aphelia. Scalding rounds grazed her cheek; she lunged, eyes cold.
Shock struck like ice. She hadn’t expected eldritch power to mask itself this deep—nor that it hid in flesh, wielding Daemon Beast ruin.
The severed shadow didn’t retreat. It cackled, shrill as steel, and lunged at the ornate girls. Faces darkened; twin crimson blades lifted to stab.
"Valkyrie, you’re far too arrogant!"
The feral shadow split into three and juked past the blades. Flame-scorched air screamed; the shadow slid close to Aphelia’s side.
Razor claws burst from the dark, stabbing at their vitals. A Daemon Beast wouldn’t worry her—but these claws held purest Aether, the eldritch opposite.
"Ancient Martial Flow—Shattering Fist!"
Green light flashed in the girls’ eyes; they became Bracer Gauntlets on Aphelia’s arms. Scorching flame rode her punch-wind and met the claws. A blast erupted.
Even the Executors outside were caught. Heat-waves and shock hurled everyone. The lab shuddered; red warning lights flared, then vanished beneath fire.
Guards flinched hard. Minutes later they reacted, wrenching radios and shouting for army support.
"How could this be?!"
Violet, mid-talk with United Government delegates, jolted. The blast came from the conference room they’d just left.
She threw up an Aether shield to guard them from the spreading shock. Even a kilometer away, ripples layered across the blood-red barrier.
Dread flooded her thoughts. Was it aimed at the delegates, or at Aphelia? Either way, it was disastrous—the enemy had infiltrated the rear, unseen.
Blood-red armor and her Demonic Spear formed on Violet. She gave quick orders, then surged out as a scarlet blood-shadow, arrowing for the blast’s heart.
Smoke curled above as another shockwave detonated, stronger than before. Thankfully aloft, not in the lab. A gale hit the ground; people stumbled and tumbled.
"Violet, save them first!"
From the smoke, two dueling shapes appeared—Aphelia wreathed in Scarlet Inferno, and a pitch-black twisted foe.
Aphelia now wore crimson armor. Her Bracer Gauntlets, artful yet heavy, smashed sonic booms before the shadow. It knew no pain; clawed tendrils raved at her.
Hearing Aphelia, Violet looked down at the fire-sea. Yi and the Executors were wrapped in Crimson Flame, spared the blast. Shadows below clawed through the fireballs.
Seeing the twisted figures, Violet’s face darkened. She blurred into a scarlet shadow. Her Demonic Spear bloomed blood-red Thunder and thrust into them.
"So hard—what is this thing?"
Her Demonic Spear met a warped arm-shield. It pierced most of the body, yet the feel was harder than Daemon Beast scales. No enemy should be this tough.
Shadows swarmed Violet as she dove. Twisted limbs struck madly. The claws’ Aether purity shocked her; she slid sideways, her Demonic Spear snapping up to parry.
The parry backfired. Explosions blossomed between Violet and the shadows; blinding light swallowed her silhouette.
"Valkyrie, your companion…"
"Mind yourself!"
Scorching fists punched through the shadow’s torso. Aphelia roared and tore it savagely in two.
