I don't own anything. All characters and all rights belong to Ichiei Ishibumi*
M for mature topics. No children allowed. *
The Broken Boosted Gear
By Try Another Time
Asia, her team, and Thor's team continued moving forward while evading the eyes of the Asgardian forces within the castle. Their advance had been relatively peaceful while taking into consideration everything that was happening around the capital.
After several tense moments, the group finally reached the gate that led to the outside of the castle. To the surprise of Thor and the others, nobody was currently keeping watch, which meant that they had a free path toward the capital.
"We're almost there. Now we just need to find our allies and reach the train. Do you have anything else before we cross the gate?" Yukime asked the group of Asgardians.
"I have one last thing to do. My daughter must be waiting for a signal to move. Can I do it now?" The god asked as he created a small electric sphere.
"Make sure that signal doesn't attract the attention of others," Tannin said.
"Don't worry. This sphere will only lead Thrud to us." Thor says as the sphere flies off at an impressive speed in search of Thrud.
"Very well. Let's go forward. Stay close to me." Yukime said as she activated her ability once more.
Yet before they could move an inch, a large explosion to the west alerted them to a fight not too far from their location. The group watched as an army of green paranormal soldiers arose like a wave that tried to swallow its target whole but was quickly pushed back as blue flames pierced through it.
"Hel is here?" Thor asked as he recognized the tormented souls under Hel's jurisdiction.
"Loki might have something to do with it. We must keep moving and leave the rest to Tiamat and her team." Tannin said as he pushed everyone to continue.
"Hey, aren't any of you worried about them? Loki and Hel are not your average deities. Loki has been fighting for centuries on many battlefields, while Hel is feared for her powers and merciless attitude. My cousin is also with them." Liv said as she got pushed forward alongside the rest.
"Trusting your allies is the first thing you should remember, child. Those of us who came to Asgard got chosen because we could achieve the alliance's goals. Tiamat won't fail nor die in this place." Tannin said with complete confidence in the true dragon king.
Meanwhile, Tiamat's group. General POV.
"This has to be the hardest escape sequence I have ever been part of," Kuroka said as she fired several projectiles against the army of dead that Hel was leading. The former nekomata could see the eyes of the goddess amongst the multitude of supernatural soldiers. Her body felt a sense of dread comparable to those moments back when she was forced to fight to the death against other peerage members of her former king.
She had been the closest to death's door while under her previous king but under the leadership of Welsh Dragon, she never felt that sensation until today.
One wrong move could end all for her, as Hel could easily rip her soul from her body without even killing her first.
Her instincts were in full motion as she continued to run while staying close to her teammates, as separating could mean serious problems for all of them.
"Eyes on the target, we're going to blow a hole in that wall and use it to escape," Tiamat said to them as they continued to create distance between them and Hel.
"You won't get away!" Hel screamed as she created several large hands by using the ghostly bodies as materials. Their screams increased the dread factor as the group witnessed what being under Hel's grasp meant.
The hands reached out and tried to enclose them by cutting their path, but Enkidu multiplied his limbs and reached all directions to help Tiamat and the others. The blue hands fought back with the large greenish hands as they offered a path for the group to escape. While alive, the strength of Enkidu's limbs was impressive and likely expected as he and Gilgamesh were the ones that killed Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, with just their bare hands. That strength increased after becoming Ereshkigal's eternal knight as she boosted his inhuman strength.
"Enkidu!" Hel rushed forward and engaged the supernatural knight's "main" body.
"Is daddy's daughter mad that she's not doing her job in front of daddy? Seriously, why do you care about that bastard? We all know the reality; you're just a -" Enkidu doesn't finish his sentence as his head gets destroyed by one of the godly beam blasts from the goddess.
What could have been a deadly attack for any other opponent, for Enkidu, was just part of the usual as his head regenerated in seconds.
"Hey, let me finish talking, fake goddess," Enkidu says before he kicks Hel in the stomach, which pushes her back. "Keep moving forward, girls. I'll take care of this faker." Enkidu said as he stepped away from the main group and went on the offensive against Hel.
None of them dared to stop him as they trusted his abilities as the only one who could face Hel and come out "alive" as his soul was secure within the lamp.
The group nods as they run toward the closest wall. As they approached the border, Tiamat charged a fireball in her right hand. The fireball grew at an impressive rate until Tiamat determined it was ready. The dragon throws it toward the wall, and a decent size explosion occurs, creating a hole for them to escape through.
Kuroka was the first to do so while Tiamat was following after her, but she stopped in her tracks as she heard the screams of Rossweisse. As Tiamat turned around, she saw several ghostly hands grab her legs.
Other hands were reaching for the coffin that rested on her back.
Tiamat could also see Loki approaching them with the intent to kill. Her body moves on instinct to help Rossweisse.
In a matter of seconds, Tiamat and Loki meet within centimeters of Rossweisse. The god goes for the kill, summoning a black dagger and pointing it toward Rosseisse's neck. Tiamat moves and blocks the trajectory of the blade with her right hand while she summons her tail and uses it to drag Rossweisse away from danger. Rossweisse releases the coffin, which is still being held by the ghostly hands, as she sees no other opportunity to "accidentally" lose it.
Tiamat backs away with an injured hand and Rossweisse within her grasp.
Loki smiles as he sees the coffin in his hands. "You really thought that you would get away from Hel's army? Now I have the coffin and its contents, and you will die tonight. Attack them."
The forces of Hel rush forward, but Tiamat is not about to stay around and face them. The true dragon king spreads her wings and dashes away at full speed, ensuring not to lose Rossweisse while she escapes.
"You're hurt," Rossweisse says as she notices the dripping blood.
"Is just a scratch. You did a good job. We need to focus on getting away now. We're almost done with this mission." Tiamat says as she exits the castle through the same hole and looks for Kuroka on the streets below.
Once she sees her, she grabs her and continues to escape in the direction of her allies. The armies of Hel were still chasing them, but the sounds of fighting in the distance told her that her allies were close by. Having their aid would make facing Hel's forces much easier for them.
Loki's POV.
The god smiled as he touched the coffin. He felt a mysterious energy inside but couldn't figure out what it was. He tried to open the coffin briefly, but it was useless.
"Tough one. I have other tools in my base for things like this." The god turns his sight towards Hel and sees that she's not having the best of times against Enkidu.
The former Man of Clay was nothing less than impressive as he held his own against Hel and her forces.
Although Hel was created as a weapon with unique physical attributes and powers, she could not eliminate the target in front of her. Enkidu regenerated from all forms of damage and fought back with all his strength, thus causing more and more damage to the goddess.
"Hel, how much are you going to disappoint me?" Loki asks his creation.
His words reach her ears, and like a trigger, it sets her off as her body transforms. Bone tentacles sprout out from her body as large skulls from different beasts start to take shape. By the end, a giant chimera made of bone and rotten flesh with its own greenish halo remained before Enkidu. The souls of those under her jurisdiction screamed in anguish from within her as if they were being tortured.
The knight of Ereshkigal smiled at the sight of the beast. "A weapon will remain a weapon unless it grows out of its intended purpose. Before me, only a fake goddess that won't change unless she awakes to her true calling remains. For how long will you continue to be his puppet?"
Enkidu asks the beast, but Hel doesn't reply as she lifts her massive skeletal pat and crushes her opponent under its weight.
"Still just a weapon."
"Until the very end."
"Fake goddess."
Everyone hears the voice of Enkidu as his body vanishes once more, having accomplished his intended purpose.
Loki approaches his creation with a broad smile on his face. "Good. Now let us move. I want to visit a certain god before we leave."
Hel lowers one of her skulls to allow Loki to sit on top. Once Loki has settled down, Hel dematerializes once more as she becomes a shadow that disappears into the castle's depths in search of its next target.
Meanwhile, Thrud's POV.
The goddess remains hidden within the tower of one of the remaining buildings in the capital. She kept an eye on most of the fights but decided not to interfere to help either side as she awaited her father's orders.
Alongside her and the hammers were two large goats. A blueish goat with twisted horns called Tanngrisnir and a golden-colored goat with curved horns named Tanngnjostr. Both were close to sacred beasts as they were far from normal goats due to the influence of Thor's powers on them.
The goats were peacefully resting near Thrud as they waited for her orders. Tiny sparks of electricity course through their bodies as if the powers of Thor itself powered them up.
As the young goddess kept tracking all the fights within the capital, she felt that something was approaching her position. As she looked around, her eyes quickly found a small sphere of pure electricity coming closer to her place.
"Father?" The goddess stretched her hands towards the sphere, which quickly settled down in her hands. "This power is definitely father's. He must be on the move and can't meet me here. Grisnir, Gnjostr, were getting out of here." Thrud releases the sphere and jumps on top of Grisnir.
"Chase after that sphere," Thrud says as the sphere starts to fly away.
The goats burst through the tower and jumped from one building to the next while chasing after their target. Each time their hooves touched a building, their power would leave a scorching mark behind as if lightning had struck the building.
Many of the Asgardians involved in the fights turned toward Thrud and the goats as they saw the large beasts jumping from one building to the next, but none had time to intercept her to ask questions as they were all busy with their opponents.
Thrud looked through all the streets for her family until she noticed the sphere descending into a narrow road. "After it."
Shemhazai's team POV. 5 minutes before.
Under the fallen angel's leadership, the team had advanced deeper into the capital than many others. Call it luck or Shemhazai's abilities as team leader but to the surprise of nobody; they became the first to make physical contact with one of the teams that had infiltrated the castle.
As they came out of one alleyway leading to the castle's main road, their eyes met those of Asia's team.
"Is that the infiltration team, or are we being played like fools by some kind of illusion?" One of his team members asked through to the close communicator network.
"I'll check it out right now. This is Shemhazai, the leader of team C-5. Confirm your identities." Shemhazai said as he tried to communicate with Asia's team.
"This is Asia Colombo, Gabriel's student, a member of the infiltration team."
"Tannin, the Blazing Meteor, former dragon king, and another member of the infiltration team."
"Yukime Tannin, a spy of the alliance and a member of the infiltration team under Tiamat, the True Dragon King. We have some of the targets with us. They include Thor, his family, and Valkyries connected to Rossweisse."
Shemhazai smiled as he recognized the voices and got confirmation of their identities. "Come closer. We should start making our way back to the train. Are there any injuries?"
Asia's team got closer before they replied.
"Nor Thor or any of them are capable of joining a fight. They need further treatment." Asia says.
"Understandable. Nice to meet you; my name is Shemhazai, Thor-san. I'll need all of you to follow our lead towards the train. We'll try our best to keep all of you safe." Shemhazai says as he offers his hand to the Asgardian god.
Thor shakes his hand. "The pleasure is ours. I entrust you with our safety. I promise to pay this aid back in any way I can."
"Alright. One last question, where are Tiamat and the others?" Shemhazai asks as he releases Thor's hand.
"Loki. The last time we saw them, they fought Loki and Hel." Tannin admits.
"That's bad. Do you think Tiamat's team might need help?" Shemhazai asks the group.
Tannin shakes his head. "I trust Tiamat. Tiamat and her team likely got away and are heading toward the train. We need to move and waste no more time within Asgard."
"Right." Shemhazai works with a small terminal on his wrist and sends a message. "Come, let us reach that train."
The group began to move as they left the main road and took the alleyways to make their way towards the breach on the south. As they moved through the alleyways and alternative streets, they heard the fights that were going on, which had only increased in severity, as Shemhazai informed the others.
"Thor, his family, and the Valkyries have been secure. Keep an eye open for Tiamat and go to the south." Shemhazai told the other teams through the close network.
Now the alliance members didn't need to play around and drive the attention of their opponents. They needed clean defeats, and they were getting them.
In seconds the initial explosions within the capital increased as the alliance let go of many of its restraints. From Shiva to Sirzechs and Michael, amongst others, each one started to push back and beat their opponents down while they kept an eye open for Tiamat.
Thor and his allies watch as one of his former allies' unconscious bodies falls before them. The attack of an alliance member had utterly destroyed the Asgardian warrior's armor. The group could see that it had been an utterly side conflict as the Asgardian had been seriously injured.
"They are not playing around, aren't they?" Liv asked Asia.
"They know that everyone needs to get to that train so they won't waste time defeating their opponents," Asia said.
Suddenly, the group was surprised by an unexpected arrival. Someone landed right behind them. Shemhazai and his group were ready to defend Thor and the others but stopped immediately as one word reached their ears.
"Father!" A feminine voice called out.
"Thrud!" Thor replied as he turned around to meet the eyes of her daughter.
"Sis." Her brothers smiled as they saw her.
"Sweetheart, good job on getting here." Sif, The Golden, said as he saw her daughter riding the goats.
"What's the plan?" Thrud asked as she hoped to waste no time with small talk.
"Shemhazai?" Thor turns to the fallen angel.
"Follow us and ignore the rest. The others will take care of the fights. We're looking to reach a train and get out of here as soon as possible. As soon as you get to the train, we'll figure out arrangements for the goats." Shemhazai explains before he sends a new message through his terminal. "Let's move."
Thus one part of the infiltration team came closer to the end of their mission.
Meanwhile, Tiamat's POV.
Tiamat and her crew weren't having the easiest of times when compared to the other infiltration team. Tiamat was flying through the streets while keeping a low altitude so as not to become a target for the Asgardian forces. However, a large group of paranormal warriors was already chasing her.
Hel's forces seemed restless and tireless as they tracked her team down, no matter what path they took. It didn't help that they seemed to have an endless supply of projectiles as they kept trying to shoot Tiamat down with their arrows.
"Shit, they really have it out for us!" Kuroka said as she tried to take some of them down with her attacks.
Although her projectiles connected and caused visible damage, the forces of Hel continued to fight back even if they were in pain.
"Keep moving forward, and don't stop attacking," Enkidu told them as he manifested in a much smaller form.
"How can you be sure about that?" Rossweisse asked the knight.
"Us paranormal warriors can manifest without being close to our summoners, but too much damage will drain our reserves. No reserves mean no manifestation, which means no soldiers. Just keep moving forward." Enkidu said. "Thank your luck for not having to face them while that faker was around."
"Was it that hard?" Tiamat asked Enkidu as she continued to evade the projectiles.
"That beast is no goddess. Hel is genuinely a weapon created by Loki for his plans. I doubt she can continue to exist if we eliminate Loki, but it won't be easy. She will protect him until the very end." Enkidu explained.
"Nobody said that it was going to be easy. We'll figure something out in the end." Mini-Gaia said.
"We'll discuss this with the rest once we're back," Tiamat said as she turned toward the left.
As she entered a new alleyway, her senses detected several presences. As her eyes looked around, she found several allied forces standing on the buildings' ceiling. The dragoness smiled as she recognized several of their faces.
Her allies noticed her after a few seconds and quickly saw the army of the dead chasing after her crew.
"Open fire against them," Raphael ordered the troops as he saw Hel's forces.
A rain of projectiles made quick work of the forces of Hel. One by one, each soldier vanishes as their reserves run drier than a river in the desert during the dry season.
Tiamat exits the alleyway and descends into a barren plaza where only unconscious Asgardian bodies remain.
"Tiamat, thank Father. Are all of you ok? Any serious injuries." Raphael asked the group as he approached them with his forces.
His team members took out first aid items to treat any injuries they might have.
"We're fine. We accomplish our goals." Tiamat assures the team as she releases Kuroka and Rossweisse. "We need to get out of this realm. There's nothing else holding us here."
"I support that idea. The other infiltration team has made contact with Shemhazai and his team. They are on the move as we speak. We're ready to go when you are." Raphael says. "But before that, do you wanna make the call? He has been fighting Odin for quite a long time. It is time to end this play."
Raphael offers the terminal to Tiamat.
The True Dragon King holds it in her hand as she thinks about what to tell her mate for a few seconds. She pushes the dial button, and a private line takes just a moment to form.
"Dear, the mission was a success. We're making our way to the train. End that fight, and let's go home. Please, come back alive."
Silence takes several seconds until a roar gets heard all through Asgard. A low voice calls out a single word before the night sky is illuminated by crimson flames as the Enforcer of the Alliance goes all out to finish his mission. The symbol of the Ouroboros dragon makes an appearance shortly after.
"I'll be there. I promise. I'll be back." The call is cut short.
Tiamat's eyes widen as she notices a second presence in voice on the other side. "Issei?"
At that point, Tosca's POV.
The Aegis dragon turned her attention toward where her father was fighting. As she saw the crimson flames, she smiled and held her chest.
"You can do it, old man. I trust you, so don't lose."
At that same time, on the battlefield. General POV.
Gabriel, Serafall, and the other team members stood frozen as their eyes turned toward the ice dome that had melted into nothing but steam. The temperature had risen to new heights as the Welsh Dragon had activated Infinity.
"He has done it. He's using everything to win this fight." Grayfia said.
"Damn it. I guess there was no other way." Serafall followed as she clenched her fists. The dreaded power had been activated, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. She could only hope for the best as she stayed away from danger alongside the rest.
"Ddraig, Issei… be careful." Gabriel held hope that this wouldn't have lasting consequences.
The other two girls were left speechless as they witnessed the true might of the Welsh Dragon. Bahamut only smirked under his breath as he saw what was happening.
Few of their opponents remained awake after the one-sided fight they fought against the combined forces of the group. Still, even those that remained conscious could not move as their eyes witnessed the opponent their leader was facing.
Odin's halo shone brightly as he levitated in the sky. His spear was still pointing its tip at his adversary, but the god felt an undeniable sensation.
Fear.
Fear of facing the impossible.
Fear of facing an opponent that was too strong.
Fear of the opponent he was facing.
"This is not that dragon I was facing before. Those eyes, he is a different monster now." Odin told himself as he tightened the grip around his spear.
*Survivor- Man with a mission*
Standing tall was a male with his flowing, long green hair. His armor got damaged, but that didn't matter. He was injured, but none of that was going to stop him. Not the significant cuts he had received, not the broken ribs he gained after some of the blows he had endured, thanks to Odin. He was determined to win, and nothing was going to stop him.
The enforcer held his spear, engulfed in flames like his crystalized horns. As he pointed such a destructive weapon against Odin, he grinned with visible confidence in his skills. His eyes were sharp and filled with the determination to win and survive another day.
The large beads of a bright crimson Buddhist rosary stretched out from his right arm as they floated without a care in the world—each one weighed tons, or maybe even more, as their weight was ever-changing like the weight of an endless number of souls.
The two souls that made this new Welsh Dragon had a small conversation inside his mind. Ddraig had activated Infinity intending to fight on his own, but for some unexpected reason, it had forcefully dragged Issei back for some unforeseen reason.
"I'm sorry for this. I had no other way out. I didn't expect that this would force you to wake up." Ddraig told his partner.
"You did what was needed. Gautama will understand. Never be afraid of using this power. We're together until the end. It is good to be back, even if it is just for a short time." Issei reply. His voice seemed tired and much more mature as if he had been fighting an endless series of fights for ages.
"Very well. Are you ready, partner?" Ddraig asks.
"Always ready for any fight, partner. Let's finish this play and get everyone home." Issei replies.
With both working together, their body felt lighter, and the power that once was hard to control became easier to manage.
"Is time to finish this charade, Odin. Time for you to go to sleep!" The Welsh Dragon shouts as he dashes to engage his opponent once more.
Two broken souls joined forces once more to defeat the Asgardian leader. The end of this mission was ever closer as the Asgardian arc came to its last stretch.