Valkyrie Smash

Chapter 377: What are you?

"General Carter, have you ever heard of the Jotunn?"

Nathaniel's mind blanked out for a moment. His extensive experience as a politician and military leader allowed him to mask his expression perfectly. Nevertheless, the gaze directed at him by the man in a lab coat suggested that his efforts were futile.

"The Ice Giants from Norse mythology?" He said, feeling cold claws slowly tightening around. "Don't tell me we have new aliens to deal with…"

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The scientist remained silent, his expression betraying no emotion. After a few tense seconds, his eyes moved to Rosita Walsh, petrifying her entirely.

"I assume the news has already reached you."

Rosita's mouth flapped a few times. Whatever words she was about to say came out as unintelligible groans, shattering whatever dignity she had as one of the highest-ranking military officers in the world. Sam Sanderson sighed, though it was unclear whether it was out of annoyance or sympathy for the female General's pathetic state.

"May I ask what news you are referring to?" Nathaniel asked, feigning ignorance.

"Terrorists, General Carter." Said the scientist, his voice showing a hint of true emotions for the first time. "Vile, worthless scum who sought to take advantage of the chaos we're facing."

"Jesus…"

Nathaniel widened his eyes, though only acting in part. He turned to Rosita who seemed to have shrunk beside him. Her eyes fell to the paved ground, shame keeping her head down. He shifted back to the Head General trying to gauge his reaction. To his shock, their eyes met at that moment, causing the claws gripping his heart to tighten once more.

"Do we know their aims?"

The question was delivered naturally, even with the pain piercing his chest. Nathaniel started to suspect something was wrong with his heart. It didn't come as a surprise; after everything he went through in the past ten years, he suspected it was only a matter of time before the stress caught up to him. That didn't make it any less dire, though.

"That is irrelevant." Said the scientist. "I have already taken the matter into my own hands. It will be over before the next sunrise."

Once again, Nathaniel's eyes shot open, this time overcoming his control to show his genuine emotions. Rosita looked up with a start, her shock more than apparent. The scientist turned away from them and addressed a Valkyrie that was waiting by the sides.

For some reason, his voice didn't reach the two Generals even though he was standing a few feet away, almost as if everything in his direction was muted.

The two generals waited patiently for him to be done. Once he turned to face them again, Nathaniel brought forward the question he was waiting to ask.

"Head General Sanderson, correct me if I'm mistaken, but… you don't plan on using the Nephilim to deal with the terrorist matter, do you?"

"Of course not," Sanderson replied. "The Nephilim are here to defend against the Primordial."

"... I'm not sure I follow…"

"Well, since some morons decided to steer up trouble, we lost what little time we had for the evacuations." The scientist began fiddling with his tablet as he spoke. "Our only choice is to spread the Cleansers over the entire settlements. Of course, since we have a much wider area to cover, the number of escorts needed quadrupled. Things are going to get messy so I suggest you go back to your rooms."

The explanation was clear and the two Generals heard every word. Even then they still failed to grasp what the scientist was talking about. Time was limited from the beginning. Plans that would've taken months or even years to execute had to be implemented in a week.

The public wasn't even given the time to process what was happening properly, but now they were being told they no longer had the day they put aside for the evacuation.

"The Primordial… it's already here?" Rosita muttered.

Her words snapped Nathaniel out of his daze.

"It can't be…"

"It sure can," Sanderson replied. "Now, I would much appreciate it if you returned to your rooms. The hotel is safe so you don't have to worry about losing your sanity."

And just like that, the scientist walked away, paying them no mind as he went around talking to the Valkyries and Nephilim.

"Sir, should we return to the suit?" One of the bodyguards stepped forward to ask. Having listened to the conversation, he was quite stressed, and being in the presence of so many aliens wasn't doing him any good. He expected his employer to be the same but to his surprise he found the old man smiling.

~[ ]~

'This is… really bad…'

When the Valkyries took him away, Rollo knew he was in some serious trouble. His current situation could be called exactly that, but compared to what he had in mind, it was completely different.

"Um… would you like something to drink?"

The soft feminine voice sent chills throughout his whole body, prompting him to press his legs together even tighter. Shaking his head, he kept his gaze down and muttered in a barely audible voice.

"N-no, I'm fine…"

"I see…"

The silence returned and with it came another wave of anxiety and stress. The boy glanced at his left only to look away the next moment. He glanced at his right and did the same but for a different reason. he wanted to run away but couldn't bring himself to even stand.

He was sitting in the middle of a wide sofa with a Valkyrie on each side. He recognized both from their appearance in the award ceremony. Of course, he never expected to meet either of them at any point in his life, let alone sit among them.

One of them was the pink haired Ichigo. Her height alone was quite intimidating, but what made it difficult to even look her way was her well-endowed figure. For a hormone-driven teenager like him, being in her proximity was a disaster waiting to happen. The other one was CS. Though her figure was much more normal, she was a peerless beauty nonetheless.

If only she didn't look angry the entire time she has been around.

"Seriously, why am I stuck babysitting at a time like this?" She said, leaning into the sofa and resting her arms on its back. Rollo shrunk a little, afraid of touching her by accident.

"I for one am glad Doctor assigned us this task." Ichigo replied with a wry smile. Her halo glowed with a faint white glow and the sounding staff in her hands made a weak jingle when she moved. She was in the process of using an ability of hers, though Rollo had no idea what it did.

"Seriously kid, what did you do?" Asked CS.

It took the boy a few seconds to realize she was talking to him.

"Eh? Ah! I… I don't-"

The door opened just then and cut him off. Rollo had no hope of his salvation coming through it, but when he saw the look on the Valkyrie that had just entered he felt a sudden urge to visit the toilet. Her name was Nino, if he remembered correctly.

"Please tell me you came to take my place."

Ignoring CS's inquiry, Nino stopped in front of the boy. Her ruby-red eyes landed on him with a glare. Having no idea why she was upset only made things worse for him. After a brief moment of silence, the Valkyrie finally spoke, asking a question Rollo didn't understand.

"You… what are you, really?"