Five severed the Cmity''s head while Three pierced its body with hernce. It was a pretty blunt attack. Without the support of the energy des they had to put more force and pressure on the weapons resulting in them receiving a significant amount of damage.


    [GET OUT OF THERE!!!] B3 shouted.


    Realizing what was about toe the Valkyries quickly got away from what''s left of the Torso''s corps. Three secondster anotherrge explosion shook the continent as all of the energy the Cmity had absorbed came out in one go.


    Five and the Valkyries from the forty fifth base used their drones to create a tube shaped force field redirecting the energy toward the sky.


    A pir of light shone for a couple of minutes piercing the red sky above painting a scene that was equally as beautiful as it was horrifying.


    [Wow, that sure looks great.] B3 said [who would''ve thought something so beautiful could be so deadly.]


    [What? Being sentimental doesn''t suit you, B3.] Said one of the Valkyries.


    [Oh shut up! I can be as sentimental as I- huh? Where are you going!]


    As soon as the light from the explosion began to fade Nine and Zero Five turned around and took off without saying a word.


    [Our base was hit by the beams from before.] Zero Three exined. [They''re probably worried about the old man.]


    [The old man?] B3 echoed.


    [The Doctor who does our examinations. They''ve been getting attached to him quite a bittely.]


    [Hmm… that sure is strange. We rarely ever meet our physicistso I don''t see how you''d get attached to yours.]


    [Oh we do meet him a lot.] Three spoke, sounding a bit annoyed. [He''s weak and annoying. The other day he was beaten by a bunch of soldiers. Can you believe it? He couldn''t do anything even though they were just humans!]


    [Um, your doctor is a human as well, right?]


    [Well, yeah, but!] Zero Three sighed. [Well, I guess you have a point.]


    [Now I feel curious about this Doctor of yours.] Said B3. [How about we stop by their base before going back home?]


    [Good idea!] Said one of the Valkyries.


    [Hey! We left the basepletely defenceless, you know! We should hurry back!] Another rejectd the idea.


    [C''mon! We came all the way here! Let us get some fun while we still can!] The third one protested.


    [It won''t take long. We probably won''t see their humans anyways. Not until the radiations are cleaned.] B3 said.


    "Aaaaaa-ah, look at what you''ve done."


    As the five Valkyries turned around about to follow behind the first two they all froze in their ce. Looking back their eyes moved toward the center of the crater created by therge explosion from a moment ago.


    [... What…?] Zero Three could only stare in astonishment. She felt that her eyes were ying tricks on her, even though she was watching the footage disyed inside her headgear.


    Over therge pool of molten earth and radiations stood a female figure. It wasn''t the limbless Torso, which should''ve been a relief, however the sight only brought terror to the Valkyries, even with all the restrictions ced on their sense of fear.


    The figure was more defined, detailed with clothes covering it, long purple hair flowing behind it and facial features showing an sorrowful expression. It looked strangely human. No, no human is capable of standing in that kind of environment. The Valkyries wouldn''t be safe as well, there is a limit to how much radiations they can withstand without their full body armor.


    [New enemy spotted! Prepare fo-]


    Before she could finish her words, one of the forty fifth base''s Valkyries lost her upper half.


    [R6…] B9 muttered the name of herrade, watching as what''s left of her body tumbled to the ground.


    "I would say an eye for an eye but…" floating in the fallen Valkyrie''s ce was the strange figure, having instantly teleported to their location without anyone noticing. "We are enemies, right? Killing each other is what we do."


    A humanoid female figure with voluptuous proportions. Large breasts, wide hips and thin waist. Everything bordering on the unrealistic side stuffed into a tight suit that left nothing to the imagination. Diamond shaped half transparent purple panels formed six wings behind her back, the glow they emitted casting a shadow over its face as it smiled at the Valkyries.


    "So? Who wants to die next?"


    p This was the first time they met one. A talking Cmity. Recognizing it as an enemy the Valkyries began to move despite their emotional state.</anda>


    The first to go on the offensive was Zero Three. Her expression had faded as she locked her eyes on the target. With hernce in hand she charged forward, however before the tip of her weapon could pierce it the female figure disappeared.


    "And the second one."


    The Valkyries turned in the direction of the voice, watching as everything happened in slow motion.


    The Cmity pped the Valkyrie at the very back and the next moment her whole body popped like a water balloon.


    [K9!!!!]


    "Seriously? You''re all way too slow." The Cmity spoke again, its voice tinted with surprise and disappointment. "How were you able to defeat the Maestro?"


    The monster lifted its hand about to hit another Valkyrie-


    "Hm?"


    However it was blocked before it could connect by none other than Zero Three.


    "Nice! At least one of you is capable."


    [Make it two!] B3 shouted, swinging both of her arms. The next moment two of her lightning rods mmed the Cmity on both sides of its head.


    Zero Three quickly moved out of the way, stepping on the halo of one of her drones as lightning exploded from the rods binding the female Cmity. The green des making her wings glowed brightly as she red at the enemy then, with her force field charged to the maximum, the young Valkyrieunched herself thrusting hernce toward the enemy.


    "Oh! Greatbo!" The Cmity spoke once more. "Alright, I''ll let you live."


    Even though she broke the sound barrier at such a short distance Zero Three''s weapon met nothing but empty air once again as the target of her attack was nowhere to be seen.


    "You on the other hand." The Valkyries heard the voice say "you are not enough."


    [Ah…]


    Turning around, Zero Three was shocked by the sight of B3''s body being split apart.


    "If you survive this much then congrattions."


    [... stop…]


    "Hm? Stop? Why?" The Cmity replied to the young Valkyrie''s quiet murmur with a question. "I dont remember you stopping when killing our kind."


    [DON''T DO IT! FIVE!]


    Hearing Three''s shout, the Cmity shifted its head to the left only to be met with the glow of a green de. Zero Five came flying at her top speed swinging her halberd with every bit of power she could generate. A loud ng echoed through the sky but sadly the Cmity suffered no damage as it stopped Five''s weapon with one hand.


    "You shouldn''t have returned." Said the Cmity.


    Five retracted her weapon and prepared for another swing, but by the time the halberd came down the target was already gone.


    "Well, let''s call it a day with this much."


    Appearing right beside her, the Cmity grabbed Zero Five''s right arm ripping it off with a single pull leaving the Valkyrie paralyzed with shock.


    "I hope you''d be prepared by the next time." Said the monster. "This much will never be enough to stop us."


    ~◇~


    25th of July 2036.


    The day humanity was once again reminded of the terror they were up against.


    Less than a month after J?rmungandr''s defeat the Cmities began a full force assault on several locations on the frontline.


    Thankfully none of civilian settlements were impacted, however the Resistance army suffered the biggest losses since its establishment.


    The bases that faced the brunt of the attack were the first, fifth, twenty fort and fifth, twenty nh, forty sixth and fiftieth. Among them the twenty forth and fifth were wiped outpletely by Fenrir, one of the Ragnarok Heralds.


    The death count reached twenty thousand four hundred and sixty two.


    A total of seventy three Valkyries were destroyed, some of which were from bases that received rtively no damage.


    The records submitted by some of the surviving Valkyries showed the appearance of a new kind of Cmity, leading to the confirmation of several theories, one of which is the existence of a sentient entity behind the monstrosities driving humanity toward extinction.


    Seven of the new type were spotted. All of them had the distinct appearance of an otherworldly beautiful woman and the ability to converse, although they showed no interest of having a peaceful talk.


    Many were quick to point out the simrities between the strange female Cmities and humanity''s supposedly strongest weapon, the Valkyries, however the suspicion was cleared after footage from the battle near the forty sixth base arrived.


    The new type showedplete resistance to the radiations contaminating the area where the battle took ce, something the Valkyries weren''t capable of. The difference in fighting power was another proof. As it turned out humanity''s strongest weapons were utterly useless when faced with this new enemy. That led to all eyes being pointed at the man who created them in the first ce, however Odin was nowhere to be found.


    After doing irreparable damage to the front line the Cmities once again retreated deep into the red grounds. The whole incident seemed like nothing more than a warning. The real battle had yet to begin, even then humanity didn''t seem like it has any chance after all.