?


    Sam felt his chest tighten with each passing second as he waited for the others to make sure everything was safe. Once he teleported there with There''s help, the sight caused him to lose bnce and fall to his knees.


    Everything that happened after was a blur. He shut down all of his enotions just so he wouldn''t lose his mind as he dealt with the aftermath of the disaster.


    He made sure to check on the Valkyries first. Truska, Trenta and Venti were all heavily injured. ording to them, one of the enemies managed to sneak behind the ship''s barrier. He nned on nting bombs to blow it up, and though they caught him before he could do it, the man still managed do inflict some heavy damage to the craft.


    The Bifrost was gone. Looking at what''s left of the ship, it was clear that the Olympians were targeting the portal gate itself. There was no need to wonder why they did it. The moment he lerned of what happened Sam understood that the enemy was trying to keep them from leaving this world.


    Putting that aside, Triska''s quick reaction helped save a vitalponent of the ship which he was very grateful for. A second before everything blew up she created a barrier to cover the side of the ship where Eir was located. Without it healing the injured Valkyries would''ve been a great ordeal. Sadly it couldn''t solve all of theur problems.


    One dayter, Sam sat in the infirmary, or what was left of it at least. In front of him was a projection ying recordings from thest battle. His mind worked at full capacity trying toprehend what happened, but despite rewatching them multiple times he has yet to discover anything of note.


    Beside him, B3''s unconscious body was lying on one of the beds and JX9 was on the other. The two remained motionless, neither of them breathing or showing any sign of waking up.


    While tending to their injuries Sam found out that their vitals were normal, but despite that the two of them showed no sign of waking up. They weren''t dead, but at the same time they weren''t alive as well.


    The strange sword the enemy leader used was clearly the reason behind their current state. It left no trace behind, not even a scratch, as if it never touched either of them.


    During the fight B3 seemed to lose controle over one of her drones. When he noticed that the Olympian had used her sword to cut empty air around the drone just before it happened, Sam concluded that the crimson de is capable of severing the connection between the drones and the device B3 uses to control it, which wasn''t a satisfying answer since he still didn''t understand how it''s possible for that to happen, or how the de is capable of passing through solid matter without leaving any


    In conclusion, that sword was special. The "can''t let anyone else have it" kind of special. It might be that the Olympian herself is the one with the power, but that didn''t matter. Sam nned on getting his hands on both of them. Once he has the time to do his job he was sure he would understand everything.


    As he was in deep thought, the door slid open and Someone came in. It was Nino. She looked on edge, the stress she felt visible in her expression. Sam spared her a nce then returned to what he was doing.


    The Japanese doll stood beside B3''s bed, looking somberly at the unconscious Valkyrie.


    This was the third time she came over since the battle ended. Sam wanted to believe she was just there to see her friend, but he knew a big part of it was because she wanted to get away from the others.


    "Aren''t you going to say anything?"


    After a couple of minutes her voice finally broke the silence. Sam looked away from the projection and saw that she was watching the recording as well.


    "What do you want me to say?"


    There was another moment of silence, and then something seemed to smap.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Someone with my exact face attacked us! She did this to B3, JX9 and almost had Ichigo and Sitta as well! But no one is saying anything! No one is bringing it up!"


    Sam kept his mouth shut.


    "Why…" Nino said, slightly trembling. "Why is no one saying anything? Why are they pretending they didn''t see it? Why…" as the tears began flowing, the young Valkyrie let out what has been eating her from the inside. "Why is no one ming me?"


    Sam knew Nino would be at the center of the events ever since the intruders recognized her back in the forty sixth base, he even entertained the idea that they might know someone who resembled her. Still, it was a bit baffling to see her exact twin on the enemy side.


    "Odin designed your current body." Sam said, trying to diverge from the topic. "It''s just a coincidence that you happened to look the same."


    "No…" Nino shook his head. "She called me her sister and I...I know who she was…"


    "Really?" Sam raised an eyebrow. Of course, he was already aware of those details.


    "Atropos…" Nino said in a trembling voice. "That''s her name…"


    "Yeah. Sitta already yold me." Ssm replied.


    "No. I mean… I knew even before that. Remember when I said I recognized some of the names in that video?"


    "The one about Greek mythology?"


    "Yes. I… it was back then that I heard it first…" seeming to calm down, Nino began wiping her tears with the sleeves of her uniform. "When she called me her sister I… I wasn''t surprised at all… I wasn''t even surprised that she looked just like me…"


    "I see…"


    The only things Nino felt at the time were rage and hatred. Sam was slowly piecing the story together in his head, which gave him a hint about B3 and JX9''s condition.


    Atropos is one of the Three Fates from Greek myth. She''s the goddess responsible for cutting the thread that represents a person''s life, allowing her to decide when they die. Sitta''s report said that the Olympian said something about wanting to meet Lachesis, who he assumes is Nino.


    From how Perseus introduced her and the short exchange she had with Nino when the two of them shed, Sam concluded that Atropos had killed her two younger sisters, iming her position as the only fate. Of course it was a bit of a stretch since he was basing his knowledge on the mythology, but he had a feeling that he was right on the mark.