» The order of the mortal knights
By Javier Delgado R.
Fan fiction, inspired by "Oh my goddess" by Kōsuke Fujishima.
Twilight of the Gods
CHAPTER LII
The young woman put on her hearing aids and spoke out loud:
-" Testing sound, 1,2 3, testing".
She smiled and exclaimed in a cheerful voice.
-" It's ready dad, recording in 3,2,1 ...".
The man in front of her smiled with paternal pride at the young woman's professionalism. Then, with the same professionalism, he changed his smile to confident face that could convey trust and looked at the camera:
- "I greet our spectators from the future, I am D'Angelo Vincenzo and we continue documenting what is undoubtedly the greatest adventure in the history of humanity. I am sure you remember Keiichi Morisato, who will tell us about the extraordinary meeting that took place some few weeks ago. Tell me Keiichi San, why the haste and urgency?"
Keiichi looked briefly at the camera. In the first recording sessions he had been overwhelmed by the camera but D'Angelo was a professional and in a short time he had earned his trust, now these periodic reports helped him put his thoughts in order.
-"In the last month there were a number of incidents that made us realize that a possible attack is imminent". Several gods and demons were attacked by an inbuilt directive that normally prevents them from seeing their past. It's a level 6 directive. Under normal circumstances it only should block them and prevent them from further investigating their past, but it was modified in such a way that when activated it seeks to destroy everything that is around them. Thanks to the work of Dr. Yoshida Takashi we were able to find the mechanism that triggers it and together with other researchers we were able to stop its effects. And now we can tell you that we now know the identity of the attackers and partly the reason for it."
-"Do you mean that the gods and demons were unaware of their past? Does that have anything to do with their mysterious attackers? Does it have to do with that blockade of their memories ?
-"The short answer is yes, but it's a complicated story. Millions of years ago there were several inhabited universes. Originally gods and demons were the same people who lived in the universe that we could call Asgard. There were also other universes that we will callSvartálfaheim,Vanaheimr, Muspelheim,Jötunheimr, Niflheim and Niðavellir, names from nordic mythology. When they discovered each other, there was a sense of wonder and soon they began to exchange culture, knowledge and arts. It was a golden age and so their technology acquired levels such that today we can call it magic. Representatives of these races were elected to resolve any conflict between them, and they were called judges. They were given clearance at the highest level of their systems. I must remind you that due to certain circumstances, I was given the honor of being appointed a judge. Unfortunately, their science discovered something tragic. If a universe is too small, it is unstable, so some time after its origin, which we call "big bang" , it will end into a "big crunch" that destroys everything and takes the universe to its original nothingness. And so, smaller universes will last less time. All the universes I have named were too small and were destined to disappear.
-"That sounds very tragic. You haven't mentioned our universe, have you? Will we have the same fate?
- "Originally they didn't know about our universe. The Asgardites were looking for a solution and found hope after discovering ours. They realized that our universe is potentially eternal because of its size. Unlike their universes, ours will continue infinitely expanding… and they decided to keep it a secret from the others universes. There was a big argument between them. Some wanted to share the discovery, others wanted to conquer our universe and appropriate it. It was then that they discovered that our universe was not uninhabited, they discovered Gaia, the being of which I had already told you. Gaia did not allow them to settle here, but allowed them to take energy from our universe in exchange for certain actions. However, such energy would not be sufficient to sustain the universes of all races.
A civil war broke out in Asgard and they split into two races, what we now call gods and demons. That happened so long ago that we don't know what each side fought for. In the end they realized that they were about to be exterminated and some of them, the demons, went into exile to another universe, a very small and hostile one, but with their share of energy they could take from Gaia they have managed to keep it stable. Between both sides they created a system of administration, Yggdrasil and Nieghodd, which would take the energy that Gaia gave them and split between them in order to continue their existence, still they were in an almost constant state of low intensity war, until they established the doublet system, which I already spoke to you on another occasion...
-"Then they hid the existence of our universe from others. What happened to the other universes? Why didn't they help them?
-"Almost all the records of that time are lost or destroyed. We are still rebuilding what is left, much remains lost, there is interest among some gods and demons to dig up that past. We can only say that there was a great conflict and when it was over, the other universes already had been destroyed. The tragedy was so overwhelming that gods and demons agreed to erase that from their memories and destroy their records.
-"How terrible!. I can't imagine what it's like to know that complete civilizations disappeared because of their inaction. Forgive me for saying so, but wasn't it an act of cowardice? "
- "Some of them felt the same way, so they tried to leave hidden directives and records so that when their people were wise enough, they were able to recover the past. Unfortunately much of this was damaged."
-"I have met some gods and demons, they seemed wise enough to accept it. Why haven't they done it?"
-"I'm afraid the sample you've met is not representative. The gods and demons that have come into our universe have something exceptional. Still, I agree that as a civilization they should be able to recognize what happened. Now they're in danger and they did not knew the cause..
-"So that tragedy is related to the present danger?
-"That's right, if you remember, the Fafnir mission, which used gravitational wave detectors, was able to obtain records of our nearby island universes. We were able to observe the destroyed universes and that one of them somehow managed to survive . They discovered there are remains of Jötunheimr, the world of the Jötnar.
-"From what you tell me I can imagine , it seems these jötnar seek some kind of revenge."
"Exactly." Not only did they survive, but at some point in the past they managed to break into Yggdrasil and Nieghood and set up for a long-term vendetta. They created the phenomenon we call "madness", they have also intervened in a hidden way generating constant conflicts between gods and demons. I think they were looking to cause a collapse of their societies and then invade them to submit them and take revenge.
-"Considering the time scales you have mentioned , that is a revenge that has taken them millions of years to prepare. I shudder to think of all the hatred that must be behind it. Now, excuse me for putting it this way, but I'm sure there will be some people asking this question.
Wouldn't it be a deserved revenge? Should we get involved in it?
Keiichi got thoughtful for a moment. Although it was one of the questions they had agreed on in advance, it was complicated. Making a moral judgment on which the lives of millions of beings depend is was not an easy thing.
- "I will not try to impose my moral values on others, but I think that's a guilt that gods and demons must face themselves. But I also find unacceptable revenge that seeks to harm and destroy them. I don't think it's something that is justified, especially when many of today's gods and demons are not directly responsible for what their ancestors did. ".
"I understand. And with those reasons you were able to convince the leaders of the world. They unanimously agreed to participate in an alliance with gods and demons. But then comes another question. In the face of such great powers, will we be able to do something?
Keiichi smiled at the question.
-"Maybe it's a little late to think about that, but we're already involved. We helped the demons identify the cause of the madness. We were able to provide gods and demons with the lunar bracelets that have protected them from new infections, and we have given them the key to removing the trigger and causes of directive 6. In return, in recent years we have learned a lot from them and some of the current prosperity of our planet is due to what we have learned. Unfortunately I cannot give details, because this must be kept secret, but we have plans that will give us a way to help them in this conflict. "
-"Thank you very much, I know it's extremely confidential information, but I hope you can share it soon. In the meantime, we'll have patience. "That's all for now. Soon I will offer you another interview with the goddess Belldandy and that as you know is the wife of our interviewee. Here D'Angelo Vincenzo, I bid you farewell. "
D'Angelo kept still until he heard a voice:
-" 3,2,1 and… cut. All right, Dad, it's perfect. But please do not move from your place yet, I will make a few shots and close ups to use as material for cuts."
Keiichi smiled at the young woman's enthusiasm. He was already used to the routine, as the young woman began to take several video sequences and she moved around them, he took the opportunity to continue talking.
I thank you very much for all this. Sometimes I feel that we are abusing you by not allowing you to publish all this material. "
-"No way, I would never forgive myself for missing this opportunity you gave me. And making public the first fruits of all that technology that has been developed in recent years and your own engineering feats are enough for my agency to do well. Also for Antonia, it is also a wonderful opportunity. Young people grow faceing of challenges and this is something that will never happen again. Before 10 years Antonia will be in charge of my agency... if it does not seem too small for her. Then I will devote myself to keeping this valuable records and giving interviews.
Keiichi glanced at the young woman, who had blushed at the parental compliments…
-"Dad... cof, cof ...please, you're distracting me... you shouldn't talk about this to strangers."-The young woman looked at her father with an exaggerated air of exasperation. Then satisfied at being able to silence her father, she exclaimed: -" Ready, tomorrow you will have a first cut for you to review. Should I go to prepare Ms. Belldandy?"
-"Go ahead, I'll meet you, remember that signora Belldandy prefers the Garden"
The young woman took a small package from her bag and handed it to Keiichi-
-"Use this to remove makeup, I gave you just a light touch just to avoid glares, so the makeup will come out easily.. With Ms. Belldandy the makeup is completely unnecessary, she is certainly a goddess...-" she let out a youthful laugh -" I can't help but feel some envy".
Keiichi smiled at the young woman's lively expression, who joyfully went out to the Garden. As soon as Keiichi left, he told D'Angelo.
-"You talked about ten years, I see that you are confident that everything will be okay. I hope I don't disappoint you. There are still things we have to try first.
-"I suppose you're talking about what you're working on with Commander Valois?"
-"You know about that?" Keiichi asked in amazement.
-" It's not very difficult, I have some idea of the movements that are being made. I know he's somewhere in the Middle East preparing people and testing certain equipment. Giorgio sent me some photos that seem to be taken from a blockbuster superhero movie..."
Keiichi opened his mouth in surprise... it seemed that the word "confidential" did not apply to the journalist.
-"But how did he know about this?"
-"Don't worry, no one else will know about this. Just remember that Giorgio Vaglia and the people who participated in the terrorist incident formed a very special bond and remain in touch. Old enemies are now fighting for the same end. These are wonderful times… so, will you explain to me what they are doing? Just to be prepared. There will be no records.
Keiichi sighed resignedly.
-" Okay, but I'll be brief. Your daughter is waiting for you. "
Inside Hild's personal quarters, the great lady of Hell was talking to two women.
-"Lind, I must thank you for everything you've done. Now that you know the truth and have understood what is happening it is time for you to return with the mortals, your people and Belldandy will need you."
Lind looked at her former enemy, and felt pain as she remembered the amount of hate poured between their two universes.
- "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you. Now I understand so many things that have separated us. Both of our people have made many mistakes. I am now in a position to help my people and I thank you for that. "
Hild took a crystal from one of her earrings and handed it to Lind, who looked at her in surprise.
-"I have seen this before. Urd has a similar crystal, she explained to me that it allows to open an emergency portal to Hell. "
-"It has enough energy to open a temporary portal here to my rooms, I just hope you never get to need it."
-"Your Rooms?" -Lind asked with surprise as she realized what it meant -"Thank you, I never expected you to be able to trust me that way. "
Hild smiled and looked at Marler.
.
-"You must accompany Lind. Fortunately with Urd's potions we have managed to increase the number of trusting demons, so I can send you to the mortals. They have sent a request for help, they did not say what it's the issue is, but they imply that it has to do with our problem. Find out what they need and use all the resources necessary to help them. You have the authority to do so."
Marler looked at Hild, bowed her head and said:
-"Yes my lady. I will do whatever it takes and with the utmost discretion. We will part immediately. "
Seconds later, Hild opened a portal directly to the temple of Tarikigonhan and the two women departed.
There was silence in her rooms, Hild went to her desk to review the progress of her plans, now there were about a hundred "awaked", all in key positions, so everything seemed to move well, and their number was growing slowly, but there were still millions of demons to be awakened. She was immersed in it when a high priority warning rang. Hild raised her eyebrows and opened the communication channel. The image of a frightened Walharen appeared.
- "Milady, forgive the inopportune call, but I have an important matter to report to you, I..I... I need your presence urgently!"
Hild gasped in surprise at the young demon's obvious nervousness.
-"Is there something wrong with our project?"
-"No!, not that. The project is already finished and I just need your orders to start phase II. It's something else, it has to do with... er... My assistant's boss. "
The young demon seemed to be almost on the verge of panic. And the reference made no sense to Hild : "My assistant's boss"? . She sighed in annoyance, then casted spell and was transported to the Nieghhodd operations center. Her presence caused an immediate panic among the operators. Many of them had never seen Hild in person, so those who did not faint, prostrated themselves in a sign of respect, except for Walharen and Chrono who was practically hidden behind him, also in panic.
-"Can you explain to me what's going on?"
The young demon looked around, and said:
-"I cannot speak here, please accompany me to my cubicle."
At the stunned gaze of his subordinates, some of whom had commented that they did not believe their boss knew Hild, he took her to his cubicle. He generated a protective barrier to avoid being spied on. Taking Chrono's hand to control his nervousness told her
-"I received a call from heaven, through the unauthorized channel with which I contacted them the first time..."
-"And … is Chancellor Myr again?
-"No, it's not him, it's... Wait a minute, I'm going to reopen the call. "
Walharen put in his private encryption key and reactivated the call that was on hold.
Suddenly the image of Kamisama appeared in front of them. The great god of Heaven… The god looked at Hild with a grimace of worry and impatience… then spoke in a trembling voice
- "Hild. Many eons have passed since we last met. "
Hild took a moment to recover from the surprise. Her fiercest old enemy stood in front of her. Despite all the derogatory words she had said about him, she kept respecting him. Then she regained her old and proud bearing:
-"What a nice surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
-"I've taken Urd's potion and now I remember. Also the Chancellor has explained to me everything you've been doing with the mortals... "
Suddenly Kamisama put one knee on the floor and lowered his head and said:
- "I have been a fool and I have committed many mistakes. My pride has blinded me. It's time to start repairing the damage I've done. Hild, I humbly ask for your help in saving our peoples.
Ghazwan watched the sky around him, at which point all he could see was a sea of clouds beneath him. That was a show that never stopped moving him. It was like a world of dreams that helped him forget for a moment the horrors he had seen and made. The wonderful little flying machine flew with very little noise thanks to the optimized design, one of Keiichi's great designs. The ship had a cabin for two people and was the size of a compact car. Eight groups of propellers gave it surprising mobility, as well as a small jet thruster. The cabin was made of a transparent material that allowed him to see all around and that with a button he could remove or change shape to a simple windshield, something very useful during rescue operations. The AI that controlled it gave it great stability, and could respond to the pilot's wishes as if it were a living being. But he could still hear the slight buzzing of the engines, then without thinking he did something he had already done several times. He touched the dashboard and turned off the engine. The machine, used to that maneuver did not issue any alerts.
Silence was made and it began to fall… but the silence was interrupted by a feminine shriek that rose rapidly in tone.
-"Jiiiiiii! Aaaaah!"
Frightened, Ghazwan quickly started the engine and stabilized the flight, then turned to see the passenger he had forgotten about. The young woman was pale, her hands still stiff and clinging to the seat supports. Her rapid breathing showed she was trying to recover … Still, in her eyes there was a determination to control her fear that left him impressed... He had sworn to protect that young woman with his life and now he had frightened her. He couldn't help but panic.
-" Forgive me, sister Revna," I did it without thinking. Are you all right? Would you like me to give you something? Do you want me to land?"
The young woman began to breathe more calmly and loosened her hands. She began to open and close them slowly so she could relax. Then she realized the panic in the man's eyes. She put her hand on her chest, closed her eyes for a moment and with a voice still somewhat forced and trying to sound calm she told him:
-"It´s.. It´s.. Everything's fine, don't worry, but please let me know before you do that kind of maneuver. I'm here because I need to get used to this, but turning off the engines in mid-flight was not included in the tests I did on the simulator, I thought something bad had happened. "
-"Excuse me, I got lost in my thoughts..."
The young woman looked at him with some distrust...
-"What kind of thoughts can make you turn off the ship's engine?
The man swallowed, despite her youth, she emanated a dignity that made it difficult for him not to obey, but he was sure she would not understand. Maybe it would seem a little childish.
-"Being above the clouds makes me forget what I have experienced. When I turn off the engine and let myself fall, it's like dreaming and floating in a sea of clouds, it allows me to forget everything..."
-"Wait a minute!"- said the young woman with a certain alarm"- Isn't that risky? Why wasn't there a warning?
The man looked at her embarrassed.
-" I have done this several times and asked Farah to cancel the warnings."
-" Farah ? Is that how you named the ship?"- Then with a smile she raised her voice a little - "Farah, are you a girl?"
A slightly impersonal, but definitely feminine voice replied:.
-"I don't have sex, but I can adjust my personality to the user. I found that Ghazwan is more comfortable with a female personality, I think it reminds him of his older sister. "
Revna imagined she could see a smile behind the machine's AI response. She knew that Ghazwan came from an extremely conservative culture with regard to women, but perhaps he would listen to his sister. Ghazwan, for his part, had gasped at the ship's statement. The AI continued speaking.
-"If I may, I have something to say. Ghazwan is used to not giving verbal cues, but with my sensors I can read the intentions he emits through his body. I'd like to make a suggestion. If Sister Revna hugs him in the back, she will also be able to feel his intentions and he will not forget that he has a passenger.
Hearing this, the man panicked.
- No!, never!, she can't touch me...!
Revna was upset about that rejection.
-" Ghazwan, I know your culture doesn't like women very much, but I don't think hugging you is going to contaminate you"
The man began to wave his arms in denial.
-"No, no, no!." It is not like that. I'm the one who's too impure to let you touch me. I am a murderer, a terrorist, I have caused much suffering that I wish I could forget... I've seen and caused terrible things. Someone like you, a disciple of the goddess Urd... You should not touch someone like me...!"
Revna was impressed by the man's feelings. Of course, she knew who he was and what he had done. She'd seen his file when she'd been assigned to work with him. He also knew how much he had changed and now he was trying to correct his past. In recent years he had saved countless lives by accepting missions where he always had put his life in second place.
-" I know what you have done, both before and after your conversion. I've also met killers, even more ruthless than you. At least you were convinced that you were correcting an evil, despite how twisted your actions were, but your actions were provoked by others, who were ruthless people who caused the death of your family and mine just because it was profitable. There's no way you're contaminating me. "
And without saying anything, she hugged him in the back with enough force for him to realize she wouldn't let go.
-"Now, show me that maneuver that gives you peace. Show me what that's like!"
Ghazwan felt the warmth of the young woman's body... And somehow he felt comfortable that she didn't feel disgusted to touch him… he sighed and said:
-"Farah, let's do it. Sister Revna, please hold on."
Again the ship's engines shut down and began to fall... Revna felt nausea in her stomach due the weightless feeling of the free fall. She softened the embrace and realized that if she let go of her harness she would float. Then she looked around, it looked like she was floating on a cloud mattress. They could only hear the wind´s whistle, then, after a moment the feeling of not having weight no longer seemed so unpleasant... on the contrary... Suddenly she started screaming... But this time... it was joyful...
She had suffered great tortures when she had been captured by the usurpers of the brotherhood, the feeling was really comforting. Suddenly she covered her mouth when she realized that she was screaming... and trying to calm down she asked...
-"How long will this last?"-
The ship replied:
-" At this point we have about 30 more seconds of free fall"
-"Could we repeat it?.
-"Control has asked us to return to the base... but we have time to perform the maneuver three more times"
She smiled and then she tightly hugged a stunned Ghazwan …
-"We'll do it four times!"
Commander Valois flew in his small ship around the base located in a chain of mountains in the Middle East. He was satisfied with the maneuvers and test flights of his battalion. He had ordered them to test their machines… and their passengers to the fullest. He hoped there wouldn't be any accidents that couldn't be cleaned up. He turned his head to see his passenger.
-"Miss Gyrid, what do you think of the show? . Those machines that Keiichi designed are wonderful. In the last year they helped us to save many people in some disasters where other types of devices would have had few opportunities. To be frank, I would have preferred to give the sisters more time to get used to it, but we don't seem to have it."
-" I told you before, please, just tell me Gyrid. - Valois waved his hand in disagreement, the young woman just sighed and continued.-" Don't worry. We've been through worse, even the most recently recruited. Most of them will bear it well. Of course, I understand that we had to make some selections and after the next exercise we will see if we need to make another.
-"And I thought it was hard on my men." -Valois replied with a cheerful laugh-" Well, let's go down and wait for our guests to arrive"
He descended on a terrace at the base camp and just at the agreed time he could see with satisfaction how almost all his team arrived on time...his smile was lost when he noticed an exception. A few minutes later he saw how a ship descended almost in free fall until it reached the ground, after a sudden maneuver it went toward the base, arriving late to it´s appointment.
He approached the landing spot for the small ship. As soon as it was immobile, the two occupants jumped out... and stared at him with a guilty attitude.
Both were slightly disheveled and even on the man's brown skin a slight blush was seen… and it was much more noticeable on the young woman's pale skin…
For a moment he did not knew what to say... then shouted:
-"Mr. Ghazwan , what does this mean? You are late. You swore to protect Revna with your life and to do so you must obey my orders. You have arrived three minutes late from the agreed time..."
Suddenly Revna stepped forward and resolutely stood between the furious Valois and Ghazwan.
-"Mr. Ghazwan is not to blame for this, I ordered him to repeat the last maneuver once more, that is why we were late.
The challenging attitude of the young woman reassured him. If there was something personal between those two it was none of his business as long as she agreed to it… But lack of discipline was something he could not forgive.
-"An order is an order. Miss Revna, you are a civilian, but you are entering a military operation, I ask you not to forget that."
Before Revna could say anything in protest, Gyrid appeared behind Valois and in a soft but firm voice said:.
-"Revna. Do you remember what we talked about?"
Revna shuddered and stood stiff in front of Valios,then looking at him she told him decisively.
-" Yes sir, I understand sir, it won't happen again!."
Valois smiled satisfiedly and, accompanied by Gyrid, went to a small podium. Behind them Revna and Ghazwan looked at each other with a smile of complicity…
Already on the podium Valios looked at the strange combination of characters of his team. Rough veterans, some of them with old scars, and women of a wide variety of ages, from barely teenagers to some with gray hair. The women showed a determined air, they were obviously civilians and did not seem suitable material for military training... at least superficially. He remembered his first impression a few days ago. At first he had expected to hear the constant rumor and chatter of any group of women but instead saw that it was a taciturn group, yet very disciplined. It was when he remembered that most of the women in the brotherhood had suffered kiddnapings and torture, and it had taken a lot of effort, work and magic to get them to recover. He knew that even the new recruits came from complicated situations, enough to wish to get away from everything and seek to dedicate their lives to a mission greater than themselves. The fact that many of his men had gone through terrible circumstances seemed to have catalyzed an unexpected camaraderie between the two groups.
Gyrid had told him before. Among members of the brotherhood and the primates there was also a great camaraderie, and it seemed that the same thing happened here. If some of his men could finally find peace, it would be an extra gain of their work.
-"Attention everyone. We've already talked about what our purpose is. "I'm going to request something that has never been done here" I know that everyone is determined to participate, but in the next few days I need to test your abilities. I do not doubt your will, but you will need to develop new capacities to face the superhuman. Scientists and engineers have developed equipment and technologies that should serve us, but they have not been tested. Also we need to test the powers of the brotherhood, they will help us to create a protection against magic, thanks to the new medallions that have been developed. "
He lifted one of the new medallions used by the sisters for everyone to see. The old carved wooden medallions of centuries before had been replaced by the new "version 2.0". Now they were made of composite material, with shapes and patterns created by 3D printing, creating a matrix of the most advanced of human technology and celestial magic. Urd and Skuld had worked with Galileo and the scientists at the computer center to create them. They were now more efficient and powerful, but they still required people who were compatible with them, and those people were the members of Urd´s sisterhood.
Valois looked around to see their reactions. He only saw determination in everyone's faces.
-"And besides, so far you have been testing the special weapons the scientists have developed, but not against real magic. That is why we need to test them under real conditions, so I have requested special help. Our visitors are about to arrive."
Valois felt something already familiar. A portal was opening. But for most of his people it was something new. He smiled as he saw their astonished faces.
The portal opened and two beautiful women appeared. One with a white complexion and wearing something that looked like a uniform, she had a martial air. The other with a slightly more dark skin, and a savage look, in hier smile they could see some small fangs also she wore a clothes that left quite a lot of skin exposed .
-"These are Lind, who has been the most powerful of the valkyries in heaven, and Marler, Druhting of Hell ''.
Several of the men have their mouths open at the sigh of the new arrivals... More than one received an exasperated elbow poke from their teammate to shut their mouth.
Marler stepped forward and looked with calculated contempt at the group of mortals and told them.
"I know some of you have a certain code of honor of not attacking women…"-Her words provoked some forced smiles… -" That's why only some of you will have the honor of facing us, first you will have to confront the most select members of Hild's guard."
At that moment the portal was filled with activity as a dozen powerful demons with hypertrophied muscles and large fangs came out to form a disciplined line alongside Marler.
Valois was surprised at that unscheduled appearance… but he recovered quickly. He had been told to expect a surprise, and it really had been one. He looked at the men and women under his command and saw a healthy expression of fear. With a voice he hope it had a sadistic tone, he said to them:
"Well, I think we can start with the real training."
At Yggdrasil´s control room everyone was in panic. The system was slowly starting to shut down vital maintenance functions. The power distribution systems that provided magic to the gods had been suspended. The eternity circuits that kept buildings and constructions unchanged for millions of years had also been deactivated, and some buildings began to crack as their materials could not withstand the stress. The spells for transport, communication, everything that made the heavenly city work had been deactivated.
Despite all the frantic efforts of the operators, the system refused to obey.
In the city the few gods who still had refused to wear the mortal´s bracelets began to fall into drowsiness, as they ran out of energy, attempting to use their magic to restore services. Slowly the fear of the unknown spreaded among the gods.
Some gods tried to maintain order recalling ancient emergency instructions, from the time of the open war against demons . They began to shout instructions, trying to bring other gods to the quarters of the Valkyries, some looking for help, others more courageous looking for weapons to join the squadrons, because they had no doubt this was an attack from the hated demons.
Suddenly they were all frozen. They collapsed to the ground while holding their heads… they had received a new directive from Yggdrasil. Ancient and terrible memories began to invade them. The world turned into a cacophony of screams and moans...
Long minutes passed as the first impact passed... Some gods were writhing on the floor full of suffering, others were putting themselves in a fetal position as if trying to get away from everything, some had been petrified... A few were trying to get up in a wobbly way… No one seemed safe, ancient gods, young, high level and low level… The new directive not only brought them forbidden memories, but also implanted fears and robbed them of their will to fight.
Then everyone felt an impact of evil energy. Throughout the world of the gods began to appear dark areas that emitted a feeling of hatred.. And soon those areas became portals that opened destructively, shattering the buildings that were in their vicinity.
Then, as if a malignant tumor were bursting, thousands of hideous beings spread out and began to emerge from it. They passed by trampling the gods that were in their path, and throwing them aside as if they were just garbage... The gods who could still move began to flee before this new horror.
For the gods the demons were a familiar vision, that was an enemy they hated but did not fear. But these beings were horrifying and their vision filled them with a horror that seemed to have ancestral roots. The screams of terror were heard everywhere, at realizing that there was no place to run.
Finally from one of the portals two figures emerged, they rose to the sky on a flying platform. One of them was a horrible being, the other was a demon… but few gods were in a position to notice, as they were pushed, beaten and imprisoned as if they were cattle… and none of them seemed to have the will to defend themselves.
-"Can you see this, Shaik Anang-Reng?. Isn't this what you dreamed? Having your enemies subdued and writhing in fear? We will make them suffer horrors that we have designed for millions of years until they pay for everything they did to us, then we will exterminate them... But don't worry, we'll let you pick some so you can do whatever you want with them. And then, after we finish here we have another universe to subdue and destroy. Then in the end, in its ruins you will live an eternity with a few survivors, we will visit you regularly so that you will forever remember and suffer in your punishment. Don't you think it's magnificent? Now we just have to take absolute control of Yggdrasil, and soon there will not be a single god left with will. Soon they will be nothing but fearful animals capable of anything except to keep suffering."
End of chapter LII