When he opened his eyes the first thing Sam saw was his legs dangling in the air as the scenery below him kept changing.


    ''''... Miku...''''


    Twisting his neck to see what''s behind, he realized that the blond Valkyrie was the one carrying him as she flew at top speed, her expression serving as a reminder of how grave the situation was.


    ''''What''s going on!!!?''''


    B3 was right beside them asking that question as frightened tears flowed from her sapphire eyes. In her hands she held the box containing the Valkyrie heart creating the force field around them.


    Thanks to their quick thinking and immediate response, the two young Valkyries fled the area the moment they sensed something was off, making sure that keeping him safe was their top priority.


    ''''Where is... Five...?''''


    Having cked out for a couple of seconds Sam was struggling to get his thoughts in order. The first thing he wanted to know was whether the ponytailed Valkyrie had survived the explosion or not. A momentter he began to panic as well, but thankfully a voice came from his earphones putting his heart at ease.


    [D-Doctor!! That''s not what was supposed to happen, was it?]


    Letting out a sigh of relief, Sam took a moment to regain his calm before replying.


    ''''How are yo doing, Five?''''


    [I''m perfectly unharmed.] She replied, her voice carrying a hint of surprise. [Though a wave of radiations is starting to spread in the area so I will be retreating as well.]


    ''''Yes. We will be returning to the base now. Once you get there make sure to get a full examination.''''


    [Understood.]


    Now that he was sure of Five''s safety it was time for him to put his mind into thinking about what went wrong. It didn''t take him long to understand what caused that phenomena, however he failed toprehend how it could happen.


    ''That golden ring, it was the same as the one used by the purple giants Torso created...'' Sam thought. ''But that one was the fifth form, I purposefully left it forst since I knew what kind of effect it has...''


    He wanted to order the Valkyries tond so he could check but decided otherwise. It would be for the best if they returned to the base first to avoid any potential dangers.


    ''Shit... What''s going on!!!''


    ~[ ]~


    With Miku flying at top speed the three managed to reach the base in less than an hour, though going in proved to be quite difficult with the defensive barrier being up. A number of Valkyries were already out surrounding the base as they prepared for battle.


    Sam had to send in a message exining that there is no enemy attack, only then did they open the gates and allow him in.


    After going through a thorough cleansing he came out to find the white hairedmander waiting for him, her brows bent into a deep frown as she stared at him with crossed arms. Shizuru was there as well giving him a concerned look while clenching a hand to her chest.


    ''''Before you ask, I don''t know.'''' Sam said before starting in the direction of hisb.


    ''''Then who does!?'''' Alice yelled, but hepletely ignored her.


    Once he was in his familiar seat Sam was finally able to rx. Elina was there as well, however when she saw the angrymander and the worried girlfriend she just retreated into one of the corners and kept her mouth shut.


    ''''Something went wrong with the experiment.'''' after a long silence Sam finally spoke, but then he went silent again before turning to Alice with wide eyes. ''''Actually, all things considered, it was an unexpected sess. Turning to the additionalputers on his right he began typing on the keyboard and a few secondster several videos began ying showing the footage captured by the drones before that gigantic beam was fired.


    ''''Whoa...''''


    The one gawking in disbelief was Elina who was leaning close to the multiple screens, the scientist inside hering out when she heard the word experiment being mentioned.


    ''''How in the world...'''' she began, gazing at Sam with eyes wide open.


    Sam turned to his Asian girlfriend and stared at her for a moment. Shizuru, feeling confused, blinked a few times before tilting her head a little.


    ''''I think what you said about the Valkyries and Nephilim being rted in true.'''' Sam said.


    ''''Really?''''


    ''''Yeah. If we needed any confirmation then this would be it.''''


    ''''Hold on.'''' Elina spoke. ''''Aren''t these the strange runes that blue Nephilim had over her head?''''


    She had taken the liberty to mess around with the video while the others spoke, slowing it down until the symbols in the golden ring became visible. Looking at the screen for a moment, Sam shook his head.


    ''''No, that''s the formation Torso had used that day.''''


    He began typing again and a new window appeared. It was the menu disying the five forms he ned on trying that day. He opened the parameters of the first form staring at them for a few seconds before checking that of the fifth. Once he did he heaved a tired sigh and leaned on the back of his chair.


    ''''The parameters have been switched. What was I expecting?'''' He said, adding a short defeatedugh.


    Not only were they switched, some of them have been altered as well, specifically the ones that determined the strength of the force field and the speed at which the symbols moved.


    Though he was working on low juice the whole time Sam was sure he would never have made such an obvious mistake.


    ''I should''ve made another check...'' he thought.


    Questions began to pour inside his mind. He already knew that someone is able to sneak into hisb without being noticed, however this wasn''t the same as a book being stolen. Whoever did it must at the very least know how to operate the equipment in theb, not only that but


    ''They knew the fifth formation would work...''


    Suddenly the whole incident seemed a lot more sinister. The potential danger aside, whoever messed with the parameter knew very well what kind of effect the formation has. They had purposefully messed with the settings making it so that the first thing they try would be the yellow beam, ensuring that the results would far surpass the one Torso used.


    If Five had been facing the wrong direction who could say what kind of disaster would''ve resulted.


    ''''Alice, do you have anything on where the beam had hit?'''' he asked, turning to his white haired lover.


    ''''About that...'''' Taking out her her phone, themander went through the emails she has been constantly receiving for thest hour. ''''ording to the third base, which took over operating the satellites after the headquarters fell...''''pausing for a moment, she squeezed her eyes shut and added. ''''You blew up a hole in south America.''''


    ''''... what?'''' Was the collective response of everyone in the room.


    ''''Check your inbox.'''' She said. ''''I didn''t believe it myself but...''''


    When he opened his mail Sam found a link to the report Alice was referring to. The moment he opened it his heart almost stopped, his eyes locked on a single photo taken from earth''s atmosphere.


    A faint red trail was drawn across the pacific ocean stretching from what was once south Africa to northern parts of south America were arge ck hole covered a big part of thend.


    ''''Haha...'''' Elina let out a nervous chuckle. ''''This makes our strongest warheads seem like firecrackers.''''


    ''''You''re telling me this is the result of a single explosion?'''' Shizuru spoke, a hand covering her mouth as she took in the sight.


    ''''To put it simply...''''Alice began, the corners of her mouth curving upwards as sweat beaded her pretty face. ''''You blew up most of Colombia and Venezu, and let''s not mention everything the beam passed over. The actual damage is still being calcted, but it''s clear if we don''t hurry up and clean it we will be looking at an entire decade of nuclear winter at the very least.''''


    Right now word have been sent to all bases and human settlements to take shelter in preparation for the inevitable blowback. The waters surrounding the site of the explosion were already showing signs of contamination. Things were only going to get worse from there.


    ''''Hold on...'''' leaning so close to the screen that her nose almost touched its surface, Elina squinted her eyes at the ck hole for a couple of seconds. ''''Isn''t this where...''''


    Just then a beeping sound came from Alice''s phone as she received a new email. Opening it, her pale face went even paler as she real through the contents.


    ''''They''re saying they spotted what is believed to be Jotnar''s remains near the edge of the ck hole...''''she said, her terrified eyes shifting toward the one behind this whole incident.


    Hearing the name of one of the five Ragnarok heralds, the other three couldn''t help but stare at the white hairedmander.