Warning: This chapter has not been reviewed by a native English speaker. Proceed at your own risk, and let me know if you found something VERY wrong…
The order of the Mortal Knights
By Javier Delgado aka Elnauhual
Fan fiction, inspired by "Oh My Goddess" by Kosuke Fujishima.
Chapter XXXIX
The New World Order
Heaven was overflowing with the gods emotions. There was exuberant joy, disbelief, astonishment, wonder... The previous fear at the unknown was gone. Now they were filled with a range vital sensation never seen before in that perfect and controlled world. Now the gods could not decide whether scream or sing or dance or simply run wild.
But if it seemed that nothing could overcome that feeling soon events even more extraordinary would come.
One by one, the gods that had been sealed because they were infected by the madness began materializing. Without any treatment sealing them had been the only way to prevent them to hurt anyone. Now their re-appearance caused panic… but it was very brief.
At first it seemed as if they had escaped from their magical prison, but the gaze of the freed gods was not of madness. Fearful at first, then incredulous, the gods approached them and discovered something wonderful , that soon was confirmed by the healers: there was no trace of madness in them.
There had to be some extraordinary power behind, since it had achieved what their healing arts could not do. There was no family or group who had not suffered a loss that seemed tit would be irreparable, and so a rumor was heard everywhere, a rumor that had a word that had never been heard before in the world of the gods, yet a word that mortals used frequently: "miracle".
The "miracle" was to be celebrated with songs and dances, with tears of joy and laughter, with emotion out of control.
Gradually the songs became praises when they realized who was behind everything and so, the songs to the powerful goddess among gods, the goddess Belldandy were heard everywhere.
Yet there was something else, another extraordinary even, so much wonderful that at first many refused to believe it, but after an official announcement was made and there was no more doubts: The ancient god who had ruled them for endless ages, the god they believed had been destroyed in the great catastrophe had returned and had summoned everyone to a special session of the council.
The gods stopped singing and celebrating as they tried to understand what was happening. Everywhere questions were asked yet no one had answers What would happen now? Where was the great Megamisama? Would there be two supreme gods? How the great goddess had healed the madness?.
An awkward feeling began to spread. All remembered the touch of the goddess, it had been a touch of peace and joy, that made the presence of the ancient god felt like a dream. Yet that the question was important: who would be the supreme god now?
-oo-
In the park of a small European town passersby tried to pretend they were not looking at a strange couple that seemed to have pop out of nowhere. One of them was a young man of Asian appearance, the other was a woman with golden hair and unearthly beauty. She wore a tight dress uniform that highlighted the outline of her athletic and shapely body, and that vision could not be ignored.
It was a strange couple. The young man seemed impatient as he examined his cell phone every few minutes. In contrast she seemed relaxed and calm. More than one passerby discretely took out his cell his phone to capture her image...
Keiichi was restless and simply could not stop reaching for his cell phone. With the set of observations he had collected he hoped the scientists could compensate for their low accuracy ,in order to obtain a good triangulation. By now it was useless to try to get more observations, he could no longer fell anything. In this moment he new the information was being processed by scientists from the University of Chiba with Galileo´s help. They would try to filter out the noise and compensate. He knew they were the best mind available and so the should not take too long, yet for him it seemed to take ages.
With some reluctance, Keiichi put his cell phone on his pocket and looked at Ghadril, she seemed so serene, but now he knew better, beneath her appearance, he knew that probably she felt as restless as he, just she was better at controlling it. As a warrior goddess she had been trained to act immediately.
At that moment Keiichi hear a notification and literally jumped, here was the message he was expecting. It was just a set of coordinates, a map and several extra notes. Meanwhile Galileo's voice complemented the information that had been sent.
- "These are the coordinates of the main building of a large corporation, but it´s public information does not appear to be correct, there is a high probability that it is only the facade of a secret organization, so the publicly available information surely was planted for hiding it. The coordinates point to a part of the building that officially does not exist, the security is too extreme and communication lines have military-grade encryption, I'm already trying to enter.. I recommend extreme caution, the building looks like a secret fortress. "
Keiichi replied:
- "Ghadril, we can not wait too long, the situation seemed already hopeless, we must immediately enter the place and..."
Ghadril interrupted him:
- "Sorry Keiichi, I am not taking you with me, you're not a warrior, you've already have done enough and now it´s my turn. I am a warrior goddess and my mission is to fight and protect... "
Before Keiichi could protest, Ghadril took the coordinates and disappeared. Keiichi tried to say something but the only answer he got was the murmur of the passersby, who have witnessed the disappearance of the goddess. Some of them nervously decided to leave while the boldest came near to see if something else would occur.
Keiichi was confused, and being the center of attention did not help, eventually he gave a resigned sigh then looked around and with several "gomenasai" with their correspondent nods he apologized to his audience. With hasty steps got away while thinking that maybe the goddess was right, he could do nothing as a warrior.
But then he stop and thought... maybe he was not a warrior but that did not meant he was useless, after all he was no longer the shy and passive boy he had been before meet Belldandy.
He took his cell phone and spoke to Galileo:
- "Keep looking all the information about that place, but we need help, try to contact someone in heaven, maybe Lind can think of someone."
There was a silence that seemed too long to Keiichi, then to his surprise Galileo replied.
- "Sentarō already gave me that order. I just received confirmation about our request for help. "
Keiichi felt a jump in his heart, Ghadril would not be alone, then he asked:
- "It´s another Valkyrie? Did Belldandy sent her? "
- "No, not a Valkyrie, but a demon, the contact is Hell."
-oo-
Shugahara screamed, he got up and ran to help Gyrid, he tore open her bloodied blouse. Blood was running out from the bullet wound but not as much as he expected. He felt relieved as he heard a slight moan, she was still alive.
She had escaped very narrowly from an instant death because the bullet have missed the hearth for just a few centimeters, yet it had gone through the lungs. Shugahara realized what would happen now. The chest cavity was being filled with blood and soon the heart would stop beating, death would came soon. She needed urgent surgery, and even that could be too late. He heard a laughter behind him and saw the woman, she had a sick grin on her face while she was holding his potion´s metal box. She told him.
- "I know that some of these patches can heal her, I have seen how you used it. But if you want to used one of this you must tell me first the properties of the others. You have one or two minutes before she dies, I had intentionally avoided her heart "
Shugahara stood up and in a sudden act of desperation attempted to take the metal case from her, but one of the guards brutally beat him to the ground, the woman repeated the question with a frightful tranquility.
- "Why are the other potions patches for?"
Shugahara heard a cough from Gyrid, he saw how her face paled by loss of blood so he panicked and shout to the woman:
- "The blue patches are for healing wounds, yellow patches can petrify, green ones can provide great strength and speed..."
As fast as he could he explained the remaining content of the box.
The woman let out an evil laugh, slowly she took one of the few blue patches that still were left and offed it to the man. Shugahara tried to take it, but she withdrew it, and the guards grabbed him with violence, then she said with a cold voice.
- "Your lives belong to me. I decide when you will live and when you will die. Do not forget it."
Only then she handed the blue dermal patch that was impregnated with the healing potion. Shugahara took it and applied it to the wounded girl, he implored:
- "Live, please live, you must fight, magic needs your will, please, you must live!"
Then the general astonishment, the magic of the gods he became a reality.
The wound began to close, the color of her face recovered.
But it was not enough, suddenly she coughed and spat blood... The wound was too deep, the magic of one patch was not enough.
- "Please, I need another patch, even magic potions have limits."
The woman approached Gyrid with curiosity, she examined her and found the external wound was closed, but surely the internal wounds were still open. She smiled with delight, it was very interesting to know the limitations of the potion, then she looked at Shugahara.
- "I will not waste another patch at this woman. There are very few patch left. You'll have to give me your secrets to make more, I do not need her alive, I prefer to open her so see how much she healed "
Shugahara gasped with fury, he pulled the sharp piece of metal he had concealed in his hand, and threw himself against the women in a desperate attempt to get the box, but again was stop by the guards, one of them forced open his hand to remove the shard of metal. The guard handed it to the woman, who with curiously inspected it, testing its edge. she smiled as if she approved it and said:
- "I must admit that you are a very clever person, even under our vigilance you managed to get a weapon. I'll take this into account and I will not underestimate you again. "
Behind them Gyrid coughed, she seemed to be choking on her blood.
At that moment a noise was heard at the back of the room. There were murmurs, gasps and surprised exclamations. A kind of ghostly tunnel had formed and within it a majestic figure was materializing. The men looked at the appearance with amazement. They saw a beautiful woman, wearing something like a uniform and carrying something that looked like a Poleaxe made of a strange material. She had a proud and solemn stance... like a goddess.
The woman looked across the group of men sitting at the long table. They were the most powerful human beings on the planet, but she ignored them completely, Shugahara shouted desperate as soon as he recognized her.
- "Ghadril please help me, I need your magic to save Gyrid."
The goddess recognized Kenji´s voice, but before she could move a powerful voice was heard, Mr. Cromwell shouted.
- "Stop her, is an intruder, kill her."
The guards came out of their stupor and began firing at the goddess. She seemed to receive impacts of the bullets, but at their astonishment, the hardly reacted, as if the bullets were non existent, then the guards realized the bullets had fell to the ground around her without causing any damage. The goddess glared angrily at the guards, and the began shooting furiously. This time she acted. She moved her poleaxe and a sphere of light enveloped her, then the bullets began to bounce all over the place, some of the guards screamed as they were wounded and one of the men at the table in cried in horror as he heard the ricochet of a bullet near him and then he fainted when he saw a trickle of his own blood dripping from his arm.
Cromwell shouted.
- "Cease fire, you fools, you will hurt us all, she's just a woman, you do not need weapons, just stop her."
Some guards drew out knives and charged against the goddess, in response she slightly tilted her poleaxe toward them. Without warning came out a soft flash, that reached the closest guards. They barely uttered a scream before being reduced to ashes, after that the other guards did not dare to approach her, despite Cromwell´s shouting.
Seeing that the guards did no longer dared to attack her, Ghadril ignored them and ran to meet Shugahara and the wounded girl. She leaned at the girl, while Kenji began to explain:
- "She had a gunshot wound on her chest, I applied a healing potion, but she still has internal injuries, I need your magic to complete the working of the potion."
Without saying a word, Ghadril placed her hands on her breast and began chanting a spell. She was a healer among the Valkyries, but her healing magic always had been reduced to injuries caused by magic weapons, so her skills treating mortals were still lacking. But now she had learned to appreciated the value of human life, so even without Kenji´s orders she would do everything possible to help the wounded girl:
- "Meyiar flugo sunnan, myrkvið í gögnom, alvitr ungar, ørlög drýgia. Þær á sævar strönd settoz at hvílaz"
Above the girl a magic circle materialized while the goddess aura, usually invisible to mortals, grew to cover the body of the dying girl, she dodges would share some of her vital energy. The beautiful voice of the goddess echoed in the hall, and everyone witnessed her magic. Gyrid began to breathe easier, the natural color of her face returned and finally she opened her eyes, full of life, there was curiosity on them, she had heard a magical song that was familiar to her. Shugahara rushed to help her. Incredulous she looked at her chest, looking for the bullet wound and then at the to goddess who had healed her. Shugahara wept with happiness.
The goddess was exhausted after sharing her energy, but she felt satisfaction at her doing. She closed her eyes to concentrate in order to recover her strength.
But that was her fall. Ghadril had considered as harmless all the mortals in the room, including … the woman with mad eyes holding the metal box.
Shugahara saw the woman moving behind the goddess, but his cry of warning came too late:
- "Ghadril!, careful, do not let that woman touch you..."
The woman had already placed one of the dermal patches on Ghadril neck, it was the kind that had used to win the battle of the temple Tarikigonhan... the potion that could petrify a demon... or a god.
Ghadril barely gave a surprised look before her body took on the appearance of rock... She turned into a statue.
The woman with the mad eyes started to laugh and scream in a way that everybody felt a chill.
- "I have power over the gods!. At last, I have the power I always wish for...! "
Kenji embraced Gyrid, trying to master the terror he felt at the sight of the petrified goddess.
-oo-
The main hall of the council, reconstructed with the collective magic of Belldandy and all the gods, was a marvelous place, the extra space dimensions of this universe allowed not only for an incredible architecture, but it could accommodate a countless number of gods and this time it was practically full. In normal sessions many gods were just content to project their virtual images, but now all important gods were physically there, they felt the need to be convinced that the figure in front of them was the true Kamisama.
The old Kamisama looked around, he sensed the confusion of the assembled gods, even him could not understand how he was alive. He had reviewed the healers records and found that not even him had possessed magic enough to restore his broken body and repair his damaged code. If Belldandy had done it, then her power had far exceeded his. But where was the goddess?
He searched among those present, and murmurs rose. His puzzled look was not to be expected from an ancient and powerful god, so it was something completely unexpected. Normally no one would have dared to speak in the presence of the supreme deity, his mere presence inspired awe and fear, but the circumstances were extraordinary, now he seem to be just another god, as confused and surprised as everyone.
Kamisama could felt the thoughts of all gods and that only increased his frustration. Finally he had to admit his ignorance:
- "Where is Belldandy? I can not feel her presence. What happened to her? "
Those simple words increased the murmur among the gods. Kamisama was supposed to be omnipresent!, how could he not know?
Then a god parted away from the group of gods and slowly advanced to the center of the room, his steps were slow and uncertain, his face showed fear. Kamisama looked at him with curiosity. The god showed the marks of the senior members of the caste of healers so he decided no to enter his mind, it wold be better to let him talk.
- "What do you have to say?"
The frightened god avoided his gaze and said:
- "I... I think... Belldandy... err... the goddess Belldandy, Megamisama, has lost his mind."
The surprised voices among the assembly became so loud that Kamisama had to make an angry gesture to silence them. Then he ordered:
- "Explain yourself!."
- "A young healer informed us that... that... Belldandy ordered him" - the god stuttered, but realizing the impatient stance of the ancient god he finished his phrase - "Belldandy ordered him.. to contact Hell! "- A collective voice of astonishment was heard, followed by an absolute silence as Kamisama reacted with an angry look. The god could continued -" she also ordered him to exchange confidential information.. with... with them! We would then receive in exchange demonic magic that was supposed to be able to cure the madness. She want to use demonic magic that supposedly had been developed with the help of mortals. "
The hall erupted in shouts of disbelief. Someone shouted:
- "Impossible, Belldandy cured us from the madness, it´s impossible she could said that, she is the great goddess..."
Kamisama approached to the man, he shook with fear as Kamisama touched him. The god needed to verify those claims, impatiently he entered with violence into the mind of the healer. After a few seconds, Kamisama got what he needed, the man collapsed to the ground whimpering, but the old god ignored him, he was only interested in what he had found. The healer had told the truth!.
Then, ignoring the growing murmurs around him, he activated Yggdrasil´s main consoles using his highest level credentials. In his impatience he did not care showing to other gods privileged information. Thousands of pieces of information appeared simultaneously in a wild dance of data, the god could see everything going on in this world, but it was only thanks to his connection with Yggdrasil. He concentrated at first in the logs of everything that had happened while he was unconscious. Almost imperceptibly he closed fists in surprise. He saw the effects of Hannus self-destruction after they have found about his intent of betrayal. Even after he had use all his magic power to shield it, the destruction had been staggering.
Consequently, the world of the gods had fallen into chaos. Belldandy had been automatically been chosen as his successor by the system, since the most powerful of the council members have been killed instantly. Belldandy, commanding a group of Valkyries had averted the chaos and began to rebuilt their world. Kamisama could not help but admire her actions. He had been hearing praises for the goddess and they seemed to be justified. Belldandy deserved her title of goddess among goddesses.
Around him he heard a soft murmur of the gods as they recalled everything that had happened. The god realized he had made a mistake displaying data in the open, but it was too late to worry about it.
But more information kept coming, and an involuntary shudder ran through his body, it was data form the mortal world, it was about Belldandy´s actions before returning to Heaven. The data was sparse due the chaos but they were very disturbing and strange.
Belldandy had not only suspended the doublet system that prevented war with Hell, also he she had declared a grand truce along with Hild and in consequence now three mortals had been chosen as judges of gods and demons. In one stroke Belldandy had destroyed the balance of power the multiverse. What was the goddess intending to do? She had been designed and created to maintain the system, not to destroy it!.
But there was still more. He could see the strange behavior of Belldandy in previous days, her attitude changes, and finally found that a Ragna activation code had been issued!. Now he had realized why there were no Valkyries around him. The highest commanding elite of the Valkyries had been destroyed in consequence and miraculously one of them had been spared. Kamisama was angered, those goddess had been his most loyal and trusted subjects, now they have gone, and worst of all, there was no records about the incident. The Valkyries have cleared Belldandy and sealed all the records about the incident, not even him could read them. Yet for Kamisama, there was no mistake, Belldandy had done something that have required to invoke the highest security action. Even if the Valkyries have cleared her she was guilty of their deaths. For Kamisama, Belldandy´s order to use Hells´s cure seemed a minor problem compared to this.
The god looked with frustration at the information screens. He needed to find out more. For several hours while the Ragna code was implemented, Belldandy had been guarded somewhere by the Valkyries, she had been out of reach form Yggdrasil sensors. That should had been impossible.
For the almost omniscient god that was a maddening thought, so the closed his eyes and concentrated his mind to enter directly into the depths of the Yggdrasil system in search of an answer.
This time he took care that none of the information were leaked to the outside view, the god around him only could see a soft light enveloping him, as quintillion of data information units enveloped him like a magical aura.
Soon he found that a strange anomaly had occurred. There had been an intrusion into the system security!.
Astonished he found that the one behind it had been a mortal man. He recognized Keiichi, Belldandy´s friend!.
He once had toyed with him and thought he was harmless. There were only a few gods (and demons) that could have breached into Yggdrasil, but remembered that now this young mortal had the authority of a judge of gods and demons. He realized that now the boy had access credentials that were almost as high as his own, yet he needed more than that. He needed to have depth knowledge of the system to go through all system defenses leaving barely no trace.
Kamisama kept this search and saw something that make him feel fear.
Keiichi had entered into an ancient and forgotten information cache whose existence should have been a secret for everyone. The only other person who knew it beside him was dead long ago.
He entered into the access logs of that ancestral library, it had records of the earliest days that no one should know. Through the data he saw Keiichi as he entered the place, but there was also another consciousness there and the young mortal had a fight with it, he searched the ID of the second presence and froze in fear. He was Belldandy´s father. He should have been dead unless...something he knew had been activated!.
The fear broke the trance and fell to his knees, he had to put his hands on the ground to keep balance while there was a collective gasp of surprise among the gods assembly. The sound made him aware of the situation. He made a great effort to calm down. He was Kamisama after all. No one should know about Belldandy´s father and what they have planned. Slowly he stood up, with a violent gesture he dissolved the information screens that still remained. The gods realized something important had happened, but Kamisama´s next order took all by surprise.
- "Look immediately for Belldandy, sealed her and her powers using my authorization code. I declare her guilty and should be execute for high treason."
There were screams of horror. Everyone had seen the screen before, there were some strange events yet they saw no signs of treason. Everyone had felt the goddess love for all those that have been healed, treason was unimaginable.
Then from the back of the room, a weak and trembling voice was heard, as they recognize it everyone became silent:
- "You do not need to search for me. Here I am to respond to all your charges."
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, and soon almost as one, the gods gave a cry of horror.
-oo-
Keiichi walked back and forth impatiently. The minutes passed slowly and he did not had any news about the warrior goddess. While he was sure that no power on earth could hurt her, still he felt uneasy. Kenji´s disappearance had been very strange and he suspected there was magic involved, so although nothing in the world of mortals could affect the goddess, magic could.
Then he heard Galileo´s voice coming out from his phone found his worst fears have come true.
- "Keiichi, Ghadril is in danger, for an instant I had access to one surveillance cam. I saw how Ghadril was attacked using magic. It seems one of the Urd´s potions was used to petrify her. According to Dr. Shugahara notes, a god can remain several minutes in that state before it becomes irreversible, but powerful magic is needed to reverse the power of the potion. "
Keiichi felt terror, but tried to think of something...
- "You told Sentarō had contacted Hell. There is no time to lose, even if it´s a demon they should help us, among Urd potions there must be the antidote, please, help Sentarō to convince them to send someone! "
Galileo's voice only answer.
- "I will fulfill your orders."
Then the young man collapsed on a park bench while his arms pressed against his chest, he felt powerless. He groaned in frustration. Around him some turned to see him, but most ignored him as they continued with their lives.
In the great hall of the council of the gods a frail figure gaunt slowly toward the center of the room. It seemed that she hardly could keep up and it was only by her sheer force of will. Her hands trembled and her face looked vaguely familiar, but no one among the gods had seen something like that... it was several moments before they would recognize her.
- "Belldandy sama!"
Murmurs, shouts, sobs were heard, because the state of the goddess. The closest to her sought in vain to perceive her presence and power... but not one could perceive anything. That explained how she had appeared without anyone feel, she was so weak her powers almost have vanished.
The goddess continued her slow advance to the center of the hall, several times she came close to collapse, but no one dared to help her even if she seem to be dying.
The gods turned their faces to avoid her gaze, as they gradually began to understand what had happened. The great energy that had invaded them, the great power that he had healed the sick, the great magic that had healed the old Kamisama... all had come from the goddess Belldandy, and now she it had been almost completely consumed. The goddess had sacrificed herself giving everything she had!. Some gods felt to their knees at the thought, others wept, and others covered their faces, yet nobody dared to help the goddess.
She finally got near the old Kamisama and then collapsed completely exhausted. Still she managed to raised her head and stared at the god.
The goddess spoke with a weak and trembling voice.
- "I'm glad to know that I was able to heal you, I was not sure I had enough magic left. But seems that my reward for doing so is to be charged with treason, still I'm here, at least I hope I could get some answers. "
The old Kamisama raised his eyebrows in surprise. Somehow he had expected a confrontation with the goddess, a struggle for power, but nothing like this. He was not able to understand. He was used to think that a Kamisama was the most important being of his world, a title that he had struggled to get and would do everything to keep, yet this goddess, acting as a Kamisama has sacrificed herself for others, even for him. That was so wrong, It was other gods the ones who had to sacrifice themselves for the Kamisama. So he exclaimed indignantly
- "What have you done? Yo were Megamisama, not only you have upset the natural order of our world, but now you are dying, you were the supreme goddess and all they should give their life for you. Why have you reduced yourself to this state? "
Belldandy gave a sad smile and with a condescending tone she replied:
- "So you really do not understand. I suspected that, yet wished to be wrong. You care little about others lives, except when you can make use them, you consider yourself as a god above every other living thing, individual lives have little value to you unless they have some use. Your kindness is just a facade... "
Kamisama frowned and said.
- "You were destined one of the supreme gods. The most perfect being of our world. We could have ruled together. You were so beautiful and powerful. But you betrayed the very essence of our world. From the moment you had a half demon sister we should have suspect it. All your actions betrayed the fate of the great gods. "
- "Are you accusing me of treason?, you, the one who knew about my father´s plans? You knew he was planing to use me and my sisters to control the three universes. Why do you kept silence? "
Kamisama leaned down and whispered at the prostrated goddess... ensuring that no one could hear him.
- "Your father was a dreamer, he created the three you to take control and unite demons and gods, and even he really expected to leave you in power, I helped him but I had a better idea. I was waiting for the best time to take control of you and your power, you would had been at my service. "
Belldandy opened her mouth in amazement, then tried to speak, but she was barely audible.
- "My parents died during a mission ...- the goddess stop abruptly, she had a thought about this, then said in accusing tone- did you interfered with the ADX program...? "
The goddess could not finish... Kamisama abruptly extended his arm toward her and with his magic the goddess was thrown several meters back, knocking her unconscious. He spoke with all his might.
- "Traitor, you do not deserve to be listened. You would only would lie to justify your actions. You will be executed immediately! "
He extended his arm and closed his fist. Something that looked like snakes of light, emerged form it and twisted their way around the goddess body immobilizing and blocking what little remained of her powers.
The god's words resonated in the hall while all the gods were completely silence. The assembly of gods could not understand what was happening, they have heard as if the goddess had accused of something to the ancient god, but it had no sense for them. Also the furious reaction of the god was incomprehensible. While some of Belldandy´s actions did not seem to make sense, she was still the supreme goddess of this world and she should be heard. But nobody dared to oppose the wrath of god.
After few moments of awkward silence Kamisama raised his arms and began a strange and ancient invocation. Among his arms began to form a circle of a sickly greenish light and the space around it seemed distorted and blurred. His voice then exploded like thunder in the silence of the room.
- "I request system access to the protocol 235.45 v2, I am requesting summary execution of a god.
An impersonal voice that froze the heart of the gods was heard. It was Yggdrasil voice. They have never heard it before, Yggdrasil was not supposed to be an AI. The voice was cold, and the message was terrible.
- "Authenticating credentials: Kamisama level credentials are required to grant access to high-level functions. " - A seal appeared above the god, it wrapped around him briefly before disappearing, the voice continued with its impersonal tone: - Identity confirmed. Granted access to summary execution codes, designated as protocol 235.45 v2 "
A magic circle of high level encryption appeared before the god, he touched it and gave on order:
- "I invoke the eternal darkness of the total annihilation".
That caused a collective cry of terror. Kamisama was starting the ancient ritual for destroying a god. In the long eons of its existence only very few times had been invoked and only after a trial where the council listened to the evidence, but now Kamisama was about to use it forcing his authority.
In the hall a growing murmur began to rise. The fear of the gods wrath was slowly replaced by an outrage and several voices dared to defy the will of the ancient god
- Goddess Belldandy is the kindest one!
- Belldandy cured the madness, she healed me!
- She brought us back hope when all was lost.
- Belldandy does not deserve to die.
- We want to hear what she came to tell us!.
The last sentence rebounded as the gods began to repeat it and echo it. It continue as a soft rumor that grow until it became a chant- "Megamisama should be heard"!
But the god did not seem to listen, he continued with his invocation. The encrypted magic began to release its power as the god used his personal encryption code to unleashed it. A sphere of absolute destruction began to grow concentrating such a destructive force that no god could survive it. Belldandy would be reduced to absolute nothingness.
The cries of indignation grew along the chant:
- No, Belldandy must not die! We want to hear her!
The sphere of light and darkness grew bigger and it floated towards the unconscious goddess, the angry god ignored the cries of protest around him. The space-time continuum in the center of the sphere became distorted creating a vortex from which nothing could escape. The radiation emitted by stray matter after entering the void and being destroyed become intolerable.
Suddenly something had appeared in the middle of the room, it was an unbearable darkness. Something even more terrible had appeared above the sphere of destruction.
If the sphere was eternal destruction, the total darkness seemed to be even more powerful as it began to devour the sphere. Kamisama had been taken by surprise by the strange phenomenon and began to fight to maintain the shape of the sphere of destruction, the struggle between the two powers grew and it seemed it would devour the hall, the gods cried out in terror.
A powerful voice was heard above their cries.
- "Enough!,if we keep fighting we could destroy our world! "
The voice took by surprise the ancient god, he stopped fighting and the circle of destruction was devoured in a split second, then the darkness began to devour itself until finally the light returned to the great hall.
Kamisama slowly turned and looked for the owner of the voice, then exclaimed in surprise.
- "Chancellor Myr!"
The chancellor was standing in the great doors of the hall, he was accompanied by the goddess Peorth and two Valkyries, who apparently had helped him with sharing their powers.
Myr had a tired expression, for an instant he seemed about to collapse, but Peorth help it, he sighed and with an effort he left her behind and advanced alone.
Then he spoke with a gentle voice, as if he had never dared to oppose to the supreme god of this world.
- "I am sorry to interrupt, but you have no right to execute a god who still is the current Kamisama, that would be an act of betrayal and I am sure you would never do that."
The old Kamisama looked confused, he looked at his hands that had held before the power of destruction, then regain composure and asked.
- "What kind of power have you used?. Never before you have showed signs of having such powers, you always have preferred your studies and other useless pastimes. "
- "You forgot my brother was Belldandy father and our powers were similar? You forgot also that I was have once been considerate a candidate for your current job? But I never liked what meant having so much power, so I never used it, not until now. This goddess you have attacked have healed my soul and I have a debt to pay. Moreover, it would say that this goddess had saved our universe, and you want to to destroy her just for some ghosts of our past. "
- "So you will also claim I'm a traitor? Will you use your power to challenge me? "
- "No, even if I feel you deserve it, but that only would destroy our world. There are bigger priorities. Belldandy has informed me that there is a great danger that threatens us."
- "So, do you want us to believe that? but it´s useless, this goddess can not longer be a Kamisama Her powers have all but disappeared. "- he laughing wryly," and I feel that her remaining magic is so weak that I just have to wait for her to die. Look- He showed something that had appeared in Belldandy´s chest... it looked like an egg. - She can no longer support her angel. I don´t know what do you want, but if your are not going to challenge me, you have nothing to say. She will die anyway. "
As he spoke, Peorth and the Valkyries took Belldandy. Peorth tried to use her magic to heal her, but her powers were insufficient. She looked at Myr and shocked her head. she told Myr:
- "He is right, Belldandy is dying. She has sacrificed all everything she had. She tried to show us how to save ourselves, but we did not listened. She has used all her magic power to cure the madness and to save Kamisama. To do that she absorbed the madness of everyone who was infected within herself and is still she is fighting it. I don't think she can survive for long. "
Peorth eyes filled with tears, and along her many gods began to mourn.
Kamisama resented that. He had been the supreme god of this world and the will of the gods has been part of his own power and now, he had lost it. He looked around, and for the first time in his life saw looks of disapproval. For the supreme god, who had always had blind obedience, this was a shock.
He looked at Myr and said.
- "So this is your plan?, do you want to put everyone against me?"
Myr he answered impatiently:
- "I told you I am not interested in power, but more important- he spread his arms as if he were embracing all the gods in the hall- you have no right to decide on Belldandy´s life."
The old god retorted angrily: - "There cannot be two Kamisama and she is no longer able to be one."
Myr smiled, and said calmly: - "You are right, so in order for her alive I will ask her to be exiled to the world of mortals. That way she will not be a threat to you."
Kamisama was taken by surprise, then began to laugh and finally said.
- "And I thought you wanted to save her, but for a god that's worse than death."
Myr shocked his head slightly and said:
- "For many gods it might be, but there are powers that you do not know in the mortal world, powers that I am just beginning to understand."
- "Powers in the mortal world? I do not care, do what you want!. We can do without mortals. "
Myr then raised his arm and showed it to all the gods and then told Kamisama.
- "Really?, I must tell you that the infection behind the madness has not been eliminated from our world. Only this, something created by mortals, can prevent us from getting infected again. I suggest you not to try to break the alliance with humans. We need them."
Many gods looked at the bracelets in their own wrist, some gods had turned them away in disgust only to fell to the infection, finally the fear to madness had been bigger and now everyone used them. Myr took one of those bracelets from his pocket and tossed it to Kamisama. The god used his magic and the bracelet became suspended on the air, in from of him, he examined suspiciously. Finally took it on his hands, with surprise he felt the energy emanating from him, and asked:
- "I this really the work of mortals? "- With curiosity is placed on his arm, he felt the amazing rush of energy it contained. One of the reasons for granting wishes to the world of mortals, was as an exchange to their world in order to extract energy from their universe, and now the mortals themselves were giving them that energy with an unexpected purity. He thought for a moment and said: - "Okay, we will not break our alliance with mortals, but Belldandy must not return to the world of the gods. I'm Kamisama, and that is my will. Unless you want to challenge me and return to the violence of the primeval times. "
- "I do not want that. I will submit to you if you let me save Belldandy´s life. "
- "We agree. Get her out of here! "
- "But before that, you owe your life to Megamisama, She still has the title. You have a debt to pay to her. "
Kamisama said nothing. But Belldandy body rose in the air, Peorth and the Valkyries looked at her with fear. but this time the god levitated her almost gently, once she was in front of him, he put his hand on her face. He closed his eyes and muttered a few brief words. Then Belldandy body descended to the floor. Peorth rushed to received the frail body on her arms. He examined her, with eyes filled with tears, then she made a nod toward Myr. She took her into her arms and left the room carrying an unconscious Belldandy
After they left Kamisama rose in the air and spoke before the gods assembly.
- Belldandy will live, but she will no longer be an immortal. she would spend the time she has left in the mortal world. That is my will!.
He began to hear a murmur of protest, but Kamisama made a violent gesture, and the hall was emptied from the gods presence. Still he was the most powerful being of this multiverse.
-oo-
Shugahara was terrified. During the battle of the temple they have sealed the petrified demons as soon as possible to preserve their life, but he did not have such power. The goddess would not survive too long in that state. He tried to calm down and think, he was a Mortal knight", he had been chosen to be a judge of gods and demons, he must have some kind of power!. He closed his eyes to tried to ignore the cries of the mad woman, maybe he had received some hidden knowledge, like Keiichi... He tried to visualize Urd´s book, how it was encoded , and in his mind he tried to recreate it. Then as he remembered a particular passage, he felt as if a barrier was broken, as if he had put a key into a door and then into his mind he was revealed an unknown source of knowledge. He was right , ancient knowledge had been imbued into his mind with the title of judge... somehow a spell from Urth book have unlock it.
Now he knew he could not reverse the magic potion without an antidote, yet there was a way to preserve her life.
He touched the face of the petrified goddess and said with conviction.
- I'm Shugahara Kenji, judge of the Order of Mortal Knights, I have authority over gods and demons, I am the Judge of the magna truce and guardian of the sacred grounds of the Tarikihongan temple. I give you my protection.
The marks on Shugahara face, those marks that were invisible to humans but were the signs of his authority began to glow and a magical seal formed over the goddess. Then Shugahara heard a song behind him. It was Gyrid, she was still weak yet she was trying to use the magic she knew. The seal entered into the goddess forehead and multiplied over her body. Shugahara heard Gyrid chant and repeated it, they have not much magic, but it could help. Then saw as the skin of the goddess began to lose its stony tone and finally recovered it´s color. The body of the goddess no longer looked like a statue but a realistic wax figure. His protection would keep the advance of the potion, although he could not reverse it.
Shugahara sighted with relief, at least Ghadril would live bit longer. He embraced Gyrid thanking her, when he saw something strange and could not help thinking: what else can happen now?
From one of the monitors around the hall there was a shine that somehow seemed very familiar. The surprise made him hesitate, then he felt a presence from one he was already extremely sensitive.
He decided he would not allow a repetition of what happened to Ghadril, he looked at the mad woman, she still held the metal box with the trans-dermal patches and knew he had to do something. At the time from the tray began to emerge a figure and everyone turned to see it.
Shugahara jumped at the woman while shouting at the top of his lungs
- Urd, this woman has my box of potions, beware...
The surprised woman tried to prevent him from taking the case, and inadvertently put a patch on Kenji´s hand.
Shugahara watched in horror as his hand turned to stone as the potions effects progressed petrifying his body. Just before losing his conscious he saw his beloved Urd as she took him in her arms... while the woman with a gesture of triumph hovered behind her with another patch...
Mir took Belldandy from Peorth´s arms, along them there was Chrono and Thrud, a young Valkyrie recruit. They walked in silence, anguish was reflected on their faces. The god stopped, hesitated a moment as he decided his next step, then closed his eyes to concentrate and opened a portal, usually they were never used near inhabited areas, but he did not care. They went through and arrived at Othala´s healing place.
The goddess looked with surprise at his unexpected visitors, she cried at the sight of Belldandy body, and urged them to put her on a platform. Mir tried to explain what had happened but she told him.
- "I saw everything, I was in the council chamber until Kamisama expelled us all. She examined the goddess, but she was not sure what to do. "- she put her hands on the fragile body of the goddess, whispered a decoding spell and the code of the goddess became visible. Millions of complex code sequences floated in the air, the healer examined them and became pale, with trembling voice she said- Most of his divine code has been invalidated, she can no longer absorb energy, nor from Yggdrasil nor from the bracelets created by the mortals. The energy that Kamisama provided to her will only last a few hours more. It´s almost like a death sentence. I cannot restore her code, its encrypted and locked with Kamisama´s encryption key.
The goddess trembled and began to mourn, but Mir took her by the shoulders and told her.
- We can still save her. Lind was also was stripped completely from her powers and from her energy, but managed to survive. Chrono explained to me what happened.
Othala looked in awe at the young Valkyrie, she said:
- "So they really could save Lind? I wish I could meet them again, They have my eternal gratitude if they can save Belldandy." I never thought that I could owe some much to the mortals.
Chrono said.
- We can rely on the power of Mortal Knights. Keiichi was able to give Lind new code and provide her with new facial marks, but not goddess marks, nor demon marks, but as a mortal. Such is the power over gods and demons that a judge from the magna truce has.
Othala winced at those words.
- But will no longer be a goddess, she will never return to us.
Chrono took her hands and with hope in her words said:
- But she will live and I think the vital energy from the mortal world to help her to heal. We need to send her as soon as possible, but she will need her to regain consciousness, since she will have to travel alone. I have tried to ask authorization for a portal to the mortal world but Kamisama has blocked all access, I think he will authorize a portal only for Belldandy. It that is so, Peorth will need to locate Keiichi and open the portal as close to him as possible. But we do not know if we can communicate with him to explain the situation.
Othala thought for a moment and nodded. She gently touched the goddess face and looked at her code still visible, then said:
- Not only her goddess powers have been locked, but seems also part of her memory. It's as if Kamisama wished to prevent her from remembering something. That part I can not restore it, It will take too long. But look at this – She highlighted a piece of code that the rest. - Somehow she still a bit of power, enough control a portal, and I think her heart will do the rest to find Keiichi. Her feeling for him are very strong. But we will need everyone help, I am not sure how much she will remember So we depend on her feelings as guide and we need to support them. That's all that is within my reach.
Mir approached, kissed the unconscious Belldandy on the on the forehead to and muttered an old protective spell.
- Othala, please do all you can, I will record a crystal explaining the situation to that young mortal, I'm sure Kamisama will try to break the magna truce, but he will need to reunite with Hild and the mortals. He may try something. They should be prepared.
The goddess nodded then with an elegant movement she began plotting an intricate magic circle. The other goddesses observed and then followed her to complete the circle runes. contributing with their own power.
-oo-
- Kenji, Kenji, please, can you hear me.
Shugahara heard a distant and distorted voice. Everything was in darkness and could not see who was speaking. He tried to answer but his body did not respond, then realized he was not breathing... and panicked. The distant voice said.
- You will have to fight to regain the control of your body, magic also needs of your will...
The words echoed in his brain... just a few moments ago he had said the same words... so he tried to fight to get control of his body, then began to feel lacked of air... he struggled with all his will and violently sucked air, and cry out for the effort.
After the sensation of breathlessness he began to breathe as fast as he could... and the distant voice said with a hint of anguish.
- Slow down, you are hyperventilating!. Your body will take a bit more time to respond, but you are no longer petrified, you are safe!
He still could not open his eyes, trying to control his breath he said with hoarse voice:
- Urd?. Is it you?
As an answer he heard a sigh of relief and felt warm lips in a long, passionate kiss. Then he felt something falling on his face... and felt something wet crossing his face... somehow he knew they were tears. It was the second time that Urd was crying because of him and felt terribly guilty.
Now the magic power of a goddess tears and the passion on the kiss had filled him with magic energy, and now he felt like a fire was starting in his body. He continued to struggle against the lingering paralysis until he felt as if invisible chains had been broken... with his regained freedom he raised his arms and close them around her goddess, and gave her a passionate kiss...
Shugahara finally opened his eyes and marveled at the beautiful face before him. He gently took her face so he could see her better. The goddess wept in joy. Shugahara could not stand that sight so he hug her and said.
- Urd!. Are you okay, did that woman harmed you in any way?
At these words the goddess pulled away abruptly and suddenly she slapped the astonished man...
-" Kenji!"- she said in anger -" Do you think someone could use my own potions against me? I will not forgive you if you ever put your life in danger again!
But the wrath of the goddess was brief. Her eyes moisten again. Ignoring the pain, Shugahara drew her tenderly and despite her feeble protests he embrace her in a protective gesture. She could be a powerful goddess and yet he knew she could feel pain because of him.
- Urd, forgive me, I was so afraid that something could happen to you, I did not think on anything else except trying to save you.
Urd moaned slightly and told him pained expression:
- Stupid!.
Shugahara laughed at that expression so uncharacteristic of Urd and the goddess made an angry gesture that only made him laugh more, finally she could not stand and began to laugh with him.
The man touched the goddess face and both fell silent, they committed themselves into a passionate kiss that began to boil their senses, when suddenly... the heard a cough..
At that moment Dr Kenji Shugahara realized they were not alone, he looked around guiltily. He saw Gyrid, the girl was looking at him amazement and with tears in her eyes. Also there was Ghadril, who had a sorrow expression. She was the one who had interrupted them.
Around him there were several guards with scared expression and almost frozen in fear, while the men in the elegant suits were sitting at the table, but with a strangely subdued look...
- "What happened here?" - Asked Kenji – Ghadril, are you okay? Where is Cromwell and that mad woman?
In answer, Ghadril put her hands on her chest, bowed her head in respect, and knelt before him:
- "Shugahara Kenji, judge of mortal knights, I have failed my mission and I endanger your life. My honor as a Valkyrie have been stained. I thank you and the goddess Urd for having saved my life. My debt will be eternal. "
Shugahara was about to reassure the Valkyrie when an impatient Urd began to levitate in the air taking him along with her. They floated until the got a few centimeters above the great table and sat on top of it. Urd's eyes had changed, now she smiling in a way that made clear she was the daughter of Hild the ruler of Hell.
Proudly she lifted the silver lid covering one of the trays of food and several squeals were heard, inside there were several mice, Urd took two of them by the tail and immediately put the cover in place.
With a smile that could get chills she put the mice on Shugahara´s hands. Kenji winced... he looked around and saw several piles of clothes... as if the owner of those clothes had vanished leaving them behind... he gasped and tried to say something. Finally he could say...
- "Are they?... are this?... "
- They will not bother you again. - Urd took the mice by the tail and they squealed in terror – This is just because they tried to hurt you, but I still have to think about a more appropriate way of punishment for them.
- "And the other mice...?"
- "Some of this gentlemen would not wish to cooperate, but they have changed their minds." - she raised her voice, "do you agree?"
A submissive chorus of - "Yes ma'am" - was heard around. Kenji could not help laughing... obviously Urd did not care those people had been the most powerful men on the planet.
Urd looked at him annoyed at her sudden laughter, then she pointed to Gyrid and exclaimed in a voice that demanded immediate response.
- "Now... will you tell me... who is she? He seemed very worried about you and did not want to let you go. "
Kenji stopped laughing immediately, he had detected a tone of jealousy... which in Urd´s case could lead to a situation in which the Second World War would seem to be a minor conflict.
Kenji called the girl, and she approached sheepishly. She had realized that Kenji had been calling "Urd" to that beautiful and voluptuous woman who also had magic powers... that was the same name as the legendary author of the manuscript...!
Shugahara slowly descended from the table and adopted the formal pose a university professor, in all seriousness he said:
- "Urd, she is Gyrid, the last survivor of the sisterhood of Urth.
Urd react to the name. It was the same name from Fafnir pupil. She floated in the air and approached to the young girl. With curiosity she gently touched her face, Kenji said then.
- "Gyrid, she is the goddess Urth, the author of the manuscript you studied and the founder of the fraternity to which you belong, the sisterhood that until a few decades guided mankind."
The goddess and the girl looked at each other in amazement, the goddess suddenly spoke an old poem, one she had spread among the sisterhood to identify them:
- "Nótt Vard í bæ, Nornir kvómo?"
Gyrid looked at her astonished and answered with the following line of the poem:
- "Thaer öðlingi aldr er .. um skópo."
Urd's eyes misted, then she touched the bloodstained blouse of the girl, looked into her eyes and then hugged her tightly, as if it she were a long-absent daughter, and said with emotion.
- "Kenji, it means that my work has not been lost completely, even after all this time someone still goes ahead with my dreams and I feel that there is magic in her, but"- her expression hardened as she floated away and said to her- "I think that dam couple has something to do with that blood. They hurt Kenji and they hurt you. I will have to prepare an appropriate punishment"- She rose in the air and -" and also I think I will have punish these men... "
The men in question wailed in fear and Kenji gulped...he did not even want to imagine what Urd would considered an appropriate punishment... he interrupt her.
- "Urd, at the moment we need those men. We have important business to attend to, so you will have more time to plan something a… a more appropriate punishment. "
Urd then drifted toward Kenji... he swallowed at the slow and menacing advance of the goddess. She said angrily.
- "What Important issues? Are they more important than me. I left you a message about some activities we would have as soon as we meet again... "
She continue her slow advance until her lips were placed just a few centimeters from the flustered professor´s lips.
Kenji closed his eyes for a moment sighed, he raised his arms and drew Urd to advance those few centimeters left. For a few seconds he allowed to felt intoxicated by her presence. The last few days had been a real hell: he had been kidnapped, drugged, tortured, beaten and finally petrified, besides that the fear when Gyrid and Ghadril had been in danger... he really deserved a break.
He did not hesitated more, he made a decision and said:
- "Gyrid, I think I will have to leave the world in your hands, at least for a time. Ghadril is a wise goddess, she will support you in everything. I am confident that you have the heart to make the right decisions. There is a boy called Keiichi, speak with him and he will put you in contact with the brotherhood of primates. They can help you with their knowledge about the world and I am sure they will be happy to meet you, they can be your guide. Ghadril please take care of her and give her your full support. "- Then he embraced an impatient Urd and whispered softly on her ear," Can we go to a little more private place "?
Urd whispered something in return, Shugahara nodded and blushed... the couple rose in the air and in some strange way, they entered the reflections of a monitor screen, disappearing.
Gyrid was left stunned. What was all about?. Who was Keiichi?, what primates? TAKING CARE OF THE WORLD?, she looked at Ghadril in despair and asked her.
- "Are you also a goddess?"
The goddess stood up with pride and with a martial tone she said:
- "Goddess Ghadril, first class Valkyrie, assistant healer, temporarily assigned to the mortal world.. Shugahara San has ordered me to protect and assist you. I will do everything you command. "
- "But... but... what do I have to do."
The Valkyrie softened her stance, she looked at the distraught young girl and smiled... since Takashi has allowed to glance into his soul she had a better understanding of the mortals, and now she was able to see the irony of the situation and with a somewhat teasing tone, she said:
- "Do whatever you want. The world is yours and Shugahara San trusts you. I am very curious to see what you can do with it. "
And so, the conquest of the world took place!.
The "real" New World Order have just began, led by the best person for the job: Someone who never have dreamed to have power for herself.
-oo-
An old woman was walking down the path of a public park. Her wrinkled face denoted an advanced age, and had quiet and serene expression. Her clear blue eyes looked at the world with the curiosity of a child, it was as if everything were new to her. She wore a white long and simple dress, with her long silver hair falling in a cascade down her back. It was easy to imagine her as a character out of an old saga.
Distracted by the world, she stumbled upon a young couple, the young men reacted angrily yet at seeing her face he could not help but avoid her gaze and ask for forgiveness. The old woman had a poise and dignity that left no doubt that she must be someone important. Without having say anything the young couple offered to help her to walk.
The old woman smiled, then looked around as if looking for something, for an instant she froze as she closed her eyes and suddenly she seemed to remember something, some distant memory and then she pointed at one point in the park. The young couple did not need words, they simply understood. They help her to move in that direction. There was many people on the walk, but at her sight they felt the need to leave free passage as a sign of respect.
As they approached the place she wished to go, they saw, lying on the grass, a young man with oriental features. He was looking at the sky with an expression of total relaxation, as someone who have just passed an agonizing moment and then everything had been resolved.
For Keiichi it was effectively a whole new world. Galileo finally had managed to break the firewall of the mysterious place, so he was able to communicate with Ghadril. The Valkyrie had briefly had explained everything that happened. She was fine, the doctor had disappeared along Urd to do something … but Valkyrie was not very eager to elaborate about it. The gist of all that was, if he had understood, was that the world somehow was heading right to be a better place.
Also it was clear that it would take several hours before he could return to Japan, so he could take a little time to rest and relax
Slowly he sat. He was thinking about what to do next, after all he had never been out of Japan... it would be a shame not to take a look around...
At that moment he discovered an old woman standing in front of him. She was supported by two young people, who looked at her with great respect. Keiichi was startled when realized the old woman was looking at him with curiosity... as if she knew him, still her mind seemed to be too far away, as if lost in some memory about him.
The old woman opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. The old woman froze, her expression showed surprise, as is she had discover she had forgotten how to speak. Keiichi looked at her, there was something very special about the old woman, she should be a very important person so she probably had nothing to do with him. With curiosity he examined her, he looked at her thin hands, her wrinkled face and finally stopped at her beautiful blue eyes... and recognized her!.
Keiichi suddenly jumped up, and to the astonishment of all around him, he embraced and kiss her, the he stooped to look at her face and said with his eyes full of tears:
- "Belldandy, you have returned!"
End Chapter XXXIX