?


    "My name is Perseus. I''vee today to ept your surrender."


    Sam''s first reaction was ''''Are we doing Greek mythology now?'' But he quickly regained his focus seeing that more intruders were stepping out of the portal.


    "Hey bossman, don''t you think this is a bit, um… bad?" One of them said. Everyone was so used to women with perfect faces and bodies that they refused to believe she wasn''t a giant gori. A giant gori with an eyepatch.


    "What''re you talking about, cyclops? Is there anything more exciting than invading an enemy base?" Followed a tiny man sitting on her shoulder, his appearance reminiscent of a certain Gollum.


    "They''re the same as the others. No humans in sight." Thest one was a tall man covered in a ck cloak. If not for his extremely hunched back he would''ve been more than two meters tall.


    "I see, I see. Maybe we''re much closer than we thought." The man named Perseus said, his eyes surveilling the surroundings before returning to Sam. "Something tells me you are the leader. Do you mind telling your subordinates toy down their weapons? I already said that I ept your surrender."


    Something about the way he spoke ticked Sam off. Raising his right hand, he caused the rings around his arms to appear again. Spinning them a few times he then closed his fist allowing them to slowly fade away. A momentter the light pir disappeared showing that the Bufrost has been closed.


    "Um, bossman…" the gori- woman named Cyclops nced behind her sounding a bit shaken. "The gate… it closed…"


    "I don''t know how things are usually done on your side, however over here we don''t really surrender without a fight," Sam spoke, trying his best to keep his voice neutral. "But, well, maybe I should extend the courtesy to you. You''lly down your arms and answer all of our questions. Do that and I''ll make sure to negotiate your safety with whoever sent you here."


    "I''m thankful for the offer, but as you might''ve guessed we can''t really afford to surrender here. Our goals are beyond your understanding, you see."


    No sooner had the words left his mouth than a violent impact resounded right above his head. Without a care he turned to look at its source, and though he seemed extremely calm his eyes sharpened the next moment.


    "You are…"


    Nino who had rushed to attack had her spear blocked by a transparent dome-shaped barrier, presumably generated by the tiny man as he held a glowing orb in his hand.


    "What in the…" he said, his eyes wide like saucers.


    "Bossman! What''s going on here!" Therge woman spoke sounding more rmed than before.


    "Cyclops!" The first intruder called as she tossed hernce toward the other three, jumping backward as she dodged CS''s ws.


    Therge woman acted despite her confusion, reaching into her backpack taking out a long spear that couldn''t possibly fit inside andunching it toward the short-haired Valkyrie before catching thence.


    Like a noble cat CS dodged the spear, sliding away with her ws carving lines into the floor while her opponent picked the new weapon.


    "Be careful, Antia!" Cyclops warned. "Those don''t seem as weak as the others."


    "I have eyes as well." Said the woman named Antia as she picked up the spear, spinning it around and causing its tip to glow. At the same time, golden lines began to appear on her almond-colored skin drawing beautiful curves along her arms, legs and face. As she gradually entered a state of focus, her dark purple hair began to flow upwards, a strange aura enveloping her and a crescent-shaped halo appearing over her head.


    "Five! I''ll take care of this one." Said CS, a wild grin taking over her face. "You focus on the Doctor."


    As if toplement her de-like ws, light covered her body morphing into a white suit of armor adorned with feline ears and a thick tail. Her Ruby eyes reflected her spear-wielding enemy, and without making a sound they both disappeared at a speed that bordered on teleportation.


    The sh sent a shockwave through the portal room announcing the start of the battle.


    With her attack blocked Nino teleported away. The remaining Valkyries put their hands out and summoned Baldr''s light, each one shooting a thin light beam at the three behind the barrier.


    A small explosion shook the ground but when the smoke subsided the barrier was still standing.


    "Whoa… this doesn''t look good." Jumping from one building to the other, the fifth intruder watched as more and more Valkyries joined the battle. "These are nothing like the previous ones."


    Just as his foot touched the ground he rolled over avoiding a beam then jumped again with a red arrow knocked on his longbow. His aim was the petite blond girl who had a small ster pointed at him, but before he couldunch the arrow he saw two giant mechanical armsing down on him.


    "Well, shit…"


    He let the arrow loose and curled up guarding himself with both arms and legs. Nine''s giant blue arms hit him like a wrecking ball smashing him into the ground creating a huge crater.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That wasn''t so bad…" he said only to notice the rain of energy bullets heading his way. "You gotta be kidding me.."


    Seeing that her spear couldn''t prate the barrier protecting the intruders'' leader Nino joined CS in attacking Antia. The two moved in sync with other Valkyries slowly pushing the dark-skinned woman into a corner, however the longer that went on the more uneasy Sam be.


    "They have yet tond a hit…" he said with a click of his tongue.


    Despite the overwhelming number of attacks Antia sessfully evaded, dodged and parried everything thrown at her. Her expression didn''t change as well as if all those movements weren''t enough to make her break a sweat.


    CS was gradually growing frustrated from having her ws miss every time leading to her movements bing sloppy as she tried to catch up and surpass her opponent. The dark-skinned woman on the other hand seemed to be more confident with her moves as if her golden eyes were capable of seeing in the future.


    "This isn''t good…"


    They were up against five intruders at the very least, three of which remained static and another leaving to shoot projectiles from a distance. They were at the center of the base surrounded by Valkyries from every direction, however they were still holding their ground with their leader remaining calm as if everything was under their control.


    "Three, put them in a box." Sam gave the order and the young Valkyrie followed.


    Zero Three ced her hands together, green symbols forming rings around her body.


    ''Hm?'' Just then Sam noticed something strange. ''Wasn''t there someone else…''


    His eyes widened realizing the cloaked hunchback was gone, but before he could say anything he heard the sound of something crashing behind him. Turning around he saw arge metallic cylinder nted into the floor blocking a long curved de as it headed in his direction. The one swinging it was the cloaked hunchback who looked like the grim reaper with the creepy white mask under his hood and therge scythe held by his bone-thin arms.


    "Don''t worry, I got him!" B3 said as she jumped in to cover for Sam.


    With the scythe bouncing off the red cylinder the hunchback jumped away with his form fading into the background. Just as he was about to bepletely invisible two other red cylinders fell from above forming a triangle around him.


    "Oh no you won''t!" B3 eximed and with a snap of her fingers the three cylinders opened up sending tendrils of lightning thattched on to the grim reaper and electrocuting midair.


    Seeing that the enemy was taken care of Zero Three shifted her focus back to the other enemies.


    The box she created was invisible until it shrunk to the size of the dome-shaped barrier covering them. Sparks filled the interior as the two barriers collided. Therge woman seemed to get even more restless, but the goblin on her shoulder and the man named Perseus were calm as if nothing had changed.


    "Trying to crush and grind us huh?" The goblin said. "That''s one cruel way to use arts."


    "You done yet?" Asked Perseus.


    "One moment… alright!" Hilding the orb in his hands up the goblin-looking man shouted. "Antia! You''re good to go!"


    A wave of aura exploded from the orb washing over everything in less than a second. It didn''t seem like it had any effect on the Valkyries, but Sam knew something had changed at that moment.


    BANG!


    A loud impact drew his attention to CS. The dark-skinned woman managed tond a hit, and though it was reflected by CS''s armor the fact that she was going on the offense confirmed his prediction.


    The attack created an opening Nino immediately targeted. Her spear wasing down on the enemy, coated in her force field for maximum damage. It looked like she was going tond a hit, the woman named Antia had no time to dodge. And so she didn''t.


    Nino''s spear cut right through the intruder. It went down from her left shoulder straight to her right nk, however something wasn''t right. There was no wound, not even a scratch. The de went in and came out facing no resistance at all as if it had cut through nothing but air.


    "NINO!"


    Her inability to understand what happened caused Nino to freeze midair. Antia casually turned around paying no mind to the energy bullets passing through her body. She gazed at the Valkyrie with the distinct Asian features, time slowing to a crawl, then with a single swing she cut a gash through her chest.


    "You aren''t her after all."