Surtr goes Targaryen
For those who get confused by the end of chapter 17 Alex is 11 years and 9 months old.
Enjoy!
THE GAME OF DIVINITY
CHAPTER 17: Muspelheim
One month.
That was how long it took for the Aesir to get ready for their war against Surtr. Allies were called from all corners of the Nine Worlds. Light Elves, Vanir, Dwarves and even a battalion of Frost Giants joined in, which was surprising because they were known to kind of hate the Aesir but apparently they hated the Fire Giants even more, so they came.
The army that was assembled was an awe inspiring sight. It was almost two million strong and every time they practiced marching outside of the walls, the very Earth trembled at their feet. I personally didn't want to join the War but this sight made the Ares blood in me boil with excitement.
The training this last month escalated as well. When before we were trained as small units and single combatants, now we were put in huge rows and we were training as a phalanx, locking shields and creating walls of spears to skewer colliding armies.
The very thought of trying to hold back the armies of fire monsters and demons head on and locked in place was enough to make bile rise to my throat. Of course I couldn't show weakness. These people lived for this kind of thing and I would have been shamed if I showed that I didn't like war.
In a way, the whole experience was a lesson. No matter how good something looks, nobody is perfect. The Greeks maybe be paranoid and lazy but aside from a few individuals they usually try to prevent wars from happening. They work more in intrigue and backroom deals.
The norse for all their honorable disposition are extremely war like and detest anything and anyone who would talk against the glory of war. As a result I kept my opinions to myself and hoped I will get to survive the coming storm.
At the end of the month the Allied Armies as they were named assembled outside of the observatory of Heimdallr in order for us to invade Muspelheim.
Surtr was planning to attack a few days from now in Yule which is an important celebration and catch the Gods off guard. Odin through the prophecy (or in reality the information from his "old friend") knew about the whole thing and decided to try to catch them by surprise with their pants down.
Everyone was wearing the same colors. A dull red with twin crossed axes as a symbol in the middle of the chest plate. These armors were made from the dwarves and were enchanted to withstand and resist heat and flames. Mine had a Greek Omega around the axes to symbolize my heritage, which was kind of cool of Odin to be truthful.
Flaming Spirit Armor
+1000 MP
+50% to physical defenses
+30% to magical defenses
+70% to heat resistance
Special: Wings: This enchantment allows the Valkyrie wings to be summoned and extracted without destroying the armor or hurting the wings.
Info: A red armor made from Asgardian steel by Nidavelir Dwarven blacksmiths. It is capable of withstanding the most potent of fires to a point and regulates the temperature of the wearer's body, preventing him from overheating.
They were the same for everyone with some slight changes between male and female in order to inspire unity in the army.
A war horn sounded, making everyone stand straight and focus. A big blue Space Gate opened and every so slowly but with complete organization the army started stepping forward into the Bifrost and from there into the flaming realm of Surtr.
I was assigned on the back. I would be serving as a messenger between the command center and the Valkyrie battalion led by Freyja herself with Sigrun as her second in command, passing orders from the strategist and vital information into the front line.
I know not the most glorious of assignments but I was only 11 age wise and even the warrior race wouldn't let me fight in the vanguard or anywhere really. Not yet at least. Only the fact I was a chosen champion even qualified me to join the war at all.
Divine Quest: The War of Blood and Fire
Main Objective: Survive and emerge victorious in the war!
Bonus 1: ?
Bonus 2: ?
Bonus 3: ?
Bonus 4: ?
Rewards:
20m xp, 5k D, 5k Asgardian Gold, Title, Fire Magic Upgrade
?
?
?
?
Failure:
End of the Cosmos/ Death
YES/NO
The moment we stepped through the gate a great heat hit us all like a punch to the face. The whole ground was black and every step we took made the sound of boots stepping on broken glass. There were rivers of lava in the distance and the sky was a complete red with black clouds here and there raining volcanic ash. All in all, it was a sight that wouldn't be very different from the depictions of the Christian hell.
When everyone assembled, we were divided in 8 contingents numbering around 500.000 each. These were led by Odin, Thor, Tyr, Frey, Freyja, Njord, Loki and Baldur. I was in Freyja's part of the army together with half the Valkyrie order (The other half being with Odin) and a mix of Asgardian and Vanir soldiers.
The plan for what I was told was to circle around the main territory of Surtr and his army that he has assembled in order to do his ambush. This strategy would force him to split his army and as a result weaken his organization or not do so and risk some part of our army invading his seat of power and destroying it, weakening him in return. He apparently has a seat of power in his main stronghold like the Olympians that is the focal point of his energy.
Most of his armies consisted of beasts and fire demons with the most elite being actually intelligent. They were fierce and strong when attacking as a horde on an open battlefield, but they didn't have all that many true officers and strategists or any real organization really, so the splitting is going to be a slow and arduous task, giving us time to catch them flat footed and hopefully kill them during transition.
We marched for hours until we reached an area that was open in one side and was fortified by huge mountains from the other three, giving us protection from getting flanked or ambushed in the night.
I was ordered by Freyja to help with the construction of tents and the digging of latrine holes. Yep I was a full blown squire and I didn't like it for a moment, though I think it beat becoming paste by some fire giants foot so it had it's pros too.
Another fun thing about Muspelheim (I thought sarcastically) is that there was no night and day cycles. The red of the sky never changed and as a result it was hard to orient yourself and decide when it is time to go to sleep and when to wake up. Frankly it played some mean pranks on your internal clock.
I was on guard duty. I and the other younger Valkyries were assigned to patrol the mountain side of our camp by air in order to make sure that there won't be enemies trying to climb the mountains and try to waste us from above with rocks and arrows.
It was a boring duty but no less important, though the heat became even worse the higher you went. It was quite hard to breath after a while but thankfully one my fellow comrades knew a nifty rune scheme that filtered the air you breathed. I shared with them some pieces of fabric from my inventory and she taught us how to use runes to enchant the fabric. You had to use the mist to shape the rune into the correct shape and then stamp them into your item of your choice. Of course that was a very amateur method but we couldn't sew the runes into the fabric so we had to make do with what we had.
Thankfully there was no disturbance so the hours passed silently and with no excitement.
Next day wasn't as peaceful though. It didn't take Surtr much time to sense the trespassers in his realm. The moment he did and figured out that his ambush had been found out you could practically feel the whole of Muspelheim tremble with his rage and it brought the weaker soldiers, me amongst them to our knees.
The scariest part? He was 300 miles away from our position and we still sensed his power like he was right beside us.
Thor's and Odin's contingents were the one who initiated the first fight as planned, from the northern side. The moment the battle started we and all other contingents started moving as well.
We met with Loki and we tried to gain as much territory of the eastern part of the realm and reach as close to Surtr's stronghold as possible, but it wasn't meant to be.
Twenty minutes into our march we encountered an army led by an armored giant about 700.000 strong and it was only thanks to our scouts that we managed to see them in time to prepare ourselves.
Immediately Loki started giving orders to raise the command and healing tents on an elevated area and together with Freyja they ordered the soldiers to get into formation.
My orders were to stand at the back of the army with the bowmen and rain arrows at the enemies until first contact. When the melee begins it would be too dangerous to fire arrows because of the distinct possibility of friendly fire so I was ordered to collect the wounded and carry them to the healing tents.
I got into position and pulled out my bow with Clairvoyance on full power. An officer then started giving commands.
"STAND!" we armed our bows with arrows.
"AIM!" we pulled back the strings and aimed at the charging horde of demons.
"FIRE!" and we let go.
There were so many arrows flying that for a moment the red of the sky was bloated. After a few moments though the arrows struck true and you could hear the many cries of pain from the monsters.
We managed to fire one more time before the enemy army collided with our shield walls, creating a chaotic image of fire, steel and blood.
The most awe inspiring of all though were Freyja and Loki. They fought with sword and spear respectively combining their magics in order to create terrifying attacks.
My personal favorite was when they combined my Mistress water spell with his wind one creating a beam of icy death that froze hundreds of the fiery demons on the spot, turning them into ice statues. So fucking badass.
After that I didn't have time to watch, I had wounded soldiers to find and carry to safety.
The fight lasted for hours upon hours. Every time we thought that we started to thin down the opposition, more would come to reinforce them and trying to make it a battle of attrition.
I was running around everywhere trying to find survivors amongst the fallen but sadly there were very few of them compared to the dead. There are no words to describe the feeling of being inside an active battlefield, especially a magical one.
The screams and roars of pain and fury were deafening. The black ashes because of the stomping of thousand feet were creating small clouds on the ground, reducing the visibility, making my job harder. The worst thing of all though was the smell.
Muspelheim on it's own had a near constant sulfuric smell that made you want to puke but combine it with the odor of charred flesh and boiling blood and it became unbearable and horrifying at the same time.
The only good relatively speaking about the whole thing was that the causalities on the other side were way greater than ours. Proper training and well made equipment does wonders for the survivability of your soldiers.
By the time the fight ended I was exhausted and I was sweating like a pig. The only thing I wanted to do was to lie somewhere and sleep but there were still many things to do.
First of all we had to collect our dead and give them proper funerals. It was vitally important because Surtr had the ability to raise Draugr from the dead and demons and fire giants were quite enough as enemies right now. None was in a mood to fight a zombie apocalypse against their fallen comrades. The pyres were burned using light magic instead of fire. The reason was that inside his dimension the King of Fire would be able to draw power from the souls if they were burned in actual flames, so we had to use the purifying light of the elves in order to be on the safe side.
After the funerals we had to create a new base in order to rest and this time there was no mountains to protect us, so the guard duties became longer and more active. The Gods and generals had an assembly all night trying to recalibrate their battle plans now that our element of surprise was dead and buried.
Heh, day one and shit had already hit the fan. The plan was for the contingents to circle the stronghold of Surtr after quickly slaughtering his armies outside to create a siege situation, preventing the flaming menace from increasing the numbers of his army and defeating him in a battle of attrition. The demons would have gone into frenzy because of hunger and whatever organization they had would have gone up to smoke. They would have tried to eat each other and we would have an easy time breaching the walls through the chaos.
Unfortunately for us, the fucker detected us somehow and now he has his guard up. He spread his forces too quickly for us to get close enough and as a result delayed us enough for him to raise more monsters.
Oh yes I forgot to mention it, Surt through his sword and as the de facto Lord of Muspelheim can by plunging his blade on the grounds of his home conjure more demons and fire wyrms to increase the numbers of his armies. The siege was a good strategy because he is incapable of doing that in his home because the spell destroys around 5 miles of the landscape around him and he wouldn't dare to destroy the seat of his power.
Now though. He has no such problems and you can already feel the trembling of the ground and the increase in the temperature. Yep. We are fucked.
For the next year we fought a war of attrition. After the failed attempt to cage the enemy in his own castle our only option was to fight our way through, which was easier said than done.
The monsters that were in the low millions before, now numbered in the tens of millions. There are few things scarier than watching a 5 million strong horde of claws and teeth charging at your barely a million one like a tidal wave of hunger.
Thankfully the Gods and the superior training helped but the casualties started mounting and the reinforcements from the realms couldn't be done in a few hours like the opposition.
Three months in, I was removed from my wounded carrying duties and was positioned in a legion in the middle of our contingents. Not in the Vanguard which was the most dangerous place to be but neither at the back.
Fighting in an actual battlefield is way different than when alone. It was difficult to use my most potent techniques in fear of harming allies and I had to focus exclusively in my axe and some light imbuement because normal fire was ineffectual with these scrubs.
The Flames Of War were as effective as ever of course but the one time I used it I almost died. They apparently are like a beacon for the fire demons and I would have been overrun by them if Sigrun hadn't caught me and carried me away on the air. From this day I was forbidden from using them except of the direst of circumstances.
The entirety of the second year was better than the first if you consider our progress but for the Valkyries as a whole it was the worst period of our lives. The Allied Armies managed to push deeply into enemy territory. For a while you could see the hope of everyone that finally we were making progress and we showed it in the ferocity we fought with.
Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. We were marching for the heart of Muspelheim. We were about 70 miles from our goal and I know that this was no small distance but you had to consider that when we first landed in the realm we were at the very edge of it, literally hundreds upon hundreds of miles away. To reach so close was a great boost to the morale of us all.
This was the point where Surtr decide to go NOPE, NO YOU DON'T SUCKERS.
He had been creating an array circling the whole territory around 40 miles radius around his castle and when he activated it a literal fucking wall started emerging from the ground, and if that wasn't enough there was literal lava pouring from the top of it all around. For the cherry on top because there is no such thing as overkill apparently, a literal army of wyrms started perching all around the top breathing fireballs on whatever poor bastard was stupid enough to get close.
It was in one of our tries to climb at the top that Sigrun was overwhelmed by a big number of Wyrms trying to safe some of her soldiers that have been cornered and was killed. Her death caused grief to every single of the Valkyrie order. She was our commander and our role model, someone who was fair to all and always pushed us to be better. To see her fall like that pulled the earth underneath our feet and after this day many more Valkyries died because of furiously diving into the monsters with recklessness.
As you can understand the morale after that little display of cheat code minecraft and the loss of a very respected general reached a new record of low. We were forced to get positioned on a safe distance away from the fireballs and try to fight from long range.
There was a brief moment that Thor decided to try to breach the wall by destroying a section of it with Mjolnir and a few Gods channeled their powers to him to give him an extra oomph.
The aura of power he exuded was frankly terrifying and we thought that he would manage to do it, but we were too optimistic.
The hammer flew with tremendous strength and created a huge crater on the wall but it wasn't deep enough to compromise any structural integrity. It was decided to wait for him to recharge his energy and next day to hit against in order to deepen the damage. We were hoping that with a few more tries he would do it.
Well the joke was on us because by the next day the fucking wall had regenerated. I kid you not, it fucking regenerated like fucking Wolverine. At this point we were ready to start shouting at the heavens "Too OP please nerf" and I think Odin was about to eat his own beard.
Six months into the third year after months of an ineffectual siege we finally had some powerful reinforcements come in.
It seems rumors spread throughout the other pantheons about the War and many decided to help. Surprisingly enough, they weren't very excited with Surtr about the whole burning Yggdrasil and ending existence thing and decided to pitch in after we found ourselves in a pickle.
Dozens of Gods came together with their personal armies.
Susano'o together with his vassals Ryoujinn and Suijinn from the Shinto in their samurai armors wielding katanas wreathed in their elements, Skanda in all his many handed glory with the Flames Of War engulfing him like a virtual aura and choking the area around him in his presence from the Hindu, Morrigan and Cernunnos from the Celts together with Scáthach which was one very scary lady by the way, wielding spears that were glowing in my magical sense from the many enchantments on them. Hell even Horus and Anubis of all people decided to join wielding their kopesh swords and the Egyptians have left the material world and locked themselves in their personal dimension, the duat for close to 2 millennia.
The ones I focused most though were the Olympians. The ones that came were Artemis without her Hunt with Apollo by her side, Athena, Enyo, Phobos and Deimos my immortal brothers and last and most important to me Ares my father, each on top of their chariots.
I was a little surprised to tell you the truth. I didn't expect Zeus to let them help but it seems his self preservation won over his paranoia and arrogance for once.
I didn't expect to have time to talk to my father. The Gods were busy in the command tent devising the next course of action and it looked that it would take some time before they were done but very unexpectedly I was summoned before the Gods for some reason.
To be honest, I was fucking terrified. There were near 50 Gods inside that tent, each capable of vaporizing me just by breathing in my general direction. What could they possibly want from me?
The moment I stepped in I had to use every grain of willpower I had not to fall on my knees. The full presence of so many Gods in one room was suffocating and that Skanda guys was the worst of all. What kind of freak of nature is he to be constantly wreathed in the Flames Of War? What kind of reserves of power does he have to accomplish something like this and so far away from his seat of power too? At this moment I made a mental note to never step foot anywhere near India. Not unless I manage to become the supreme lord of the multi-verse at least. Any other way was just not worth it.
Everyone inside the tent focused on me and I felt about 3 inches tall under their gaze. I immediately kneeled on one knee and addressed my patron.
"My Lord I have answered your summons." I said to Odin hoping to reach the reason of my presence here and run as soon as possible.
Before the All-Father could speak though, someone else addressed the room.
"A child Odin? You think a mortal child at that to be capable of helping us with the plan? She looks to be barely able to stand in our presence." an irritating accented voice said from the left side of the table causing murmuring amongst the Gods
It was quite suicidal really but I couldn't help but react a little. I have been fighting for 2 and a half years in this god forsaken realm and now comes some fucker and try to diss me like that. No way.
I raised my head from looking at the ground and looked at the position where the voice sounded from while igniting my eyes with the Flames Of War.
My helmet covered my whole face except for my eyes and the red fires sprouting from within the holes made for a pretty intimidating sight.
My showing off instantly silenced the room. Hah they didn't expect the little mortal child to be capable of wielding such rare ability after all. The one who spoke was apparently Cernunnos and I was ready to give him a piece of my mind for both his little comment as well that whole dungeon stupidity all those years back but someone else spoke first.
"Hooh, are those the Flames Of War that I am seeing? And wielded so expertly by a mortal as well. It seems that you got yourself a once in a lifetime prodigy All-Father. Come on child remove your helmet. Let us see the face of such a talented mortal" said Skanda leaning forward a bit in interest.
After looking at Odin for a moment and getting a a miniscule nod I did as I was asked.
The moment I removed my helmet the furore started anew. This time from the Olympian side of the table.
"Alexandra?" exclaimed Athena and Artemis.
"Super-brat, what the flying fuck are you doing here?" shouted Ares his eyes fully ignited, at the same time with his sisters making everyone else raise their eyebrows in interest at the drama occurring in the tent.
"Ehm, Hi my ladies, shitty old man." I said back drawing two small smiles from the two Goddesses and snickers from the rest. Well except of the aforementioned shitty old man that is.
"You stupid brat, you disappear for years AGAIN, and this is all you have to say?" he shouted back even louder and Phobos and Deimos actually winced at his tone.
"As for you All-Father. Why is my daughter your champion and why I wasn't informed of this?" he said in a seething voice, this time towards my patron who looked back at him with a lazy glare, his gauged eye glowing a very scary blue light.
"I send a message 2 weeks before making her my champion informing both you and your King of my intentions but I didn't get any reply back. I thought that you didn't care what I did. You Greeks are known for throwing your children away like garbage so I thought that you didn't give a damn. So what games are you playing now Greek, accusing me of such lies and insulting my honor?" shot back Odin and unleashing a bit of his power and filling the whole room with it.
"Peace people. We didn't come here to fight amongst each other. We have bigger problems to deal with than a case of miscommunication. Leave your petty squabbles after the World is not in danger of disappearing." said Horus this time pacifying them a bit and Freyja continuing.
"Quite right Lord Horus. We have bigger fish to fry right now. We will discuss about MY little Valkyrie and apprentice after Surtr is not a problem anymore with the relevant parties. The rest of our esteemed allies came here to fight not to watch us squabble." which prompted the rest of the Gods to start nodding and father to grit his teeth for a moment and letting it go.
For now at least. I didn't have any illusion that this was the last of this discussion and if Athena's look when Freyja put emphasis on My was any indication then it would be even more troublesome.
"Very well. Let's continue with our planning." said Odin and then Athena started talking.
"Alexandra Bellum, the reason you are here is because we want you to lend us your flames of war in order to destroy the wall preventing us from ending this war. Lord Skanda will act as the focal point for everyone capable of controlling these flames and when he is fully charged he will use his sword to completely obliterate our problem. You obviously don't have anywhere near the power of a God but frankly every little bit helps. Do you have any questions?"
"No my lady" I replied relieved to be finally getting to the point of my summons.
"Very well. I think that we are quite done here. Tomorrow morning we will initiate the plan. Has anyone anything else to say?"
"Actually I do. After the walls fall I want the brat to become my second on my chariot. I should think no one here will have a problem for me to keep my daughter close?" said Ares making my eye widen in surprise. I didn't expect him to do something like that.
After everyone agreed I was dismissed and frankly I couldn't run away from the tent fast enough. The whole drama was not good for my heart. Releasing a sigh of exhaustion I headed for the tent that I was sharing with 19 other Valkyries (expansion spells are very nifty) for some long awaited sleep.
The next day came way too fast in my opinion. We gathered in full force outside of the accursed walls and all the War Gods who had even a little bit of control over their flames as well as me circled around Skanda.
Morrigan, Tyr, Ares, Odin, Horus and me channeled our flames and focused on Skanda's drawn sword.
The moment it was done his whole form had become an avatar of crimson fire. The pressure of his power made the very ground tremble and Ares had to protect me with his aura in order for me to not pass out from the pressure, which was appreciated.
The Hindu God of War then flew to the air and with a mighty swing unleashed the flames onto the walls and for a moment the whole world went crimson.
The fires started burning their way through the stones and in a matter of minutes the entire wall was set on fire.
Imagine it a bit. A wall that could withstand the swing of an empowered Thor of all people, that circled miles upon miles of landscape was completely engulfed in the flames. The sheer absurdity of the feat was mindboggling.
After the flames weakened it sufficiently Thor once more swung mighty Mjolnir and this time there was no resistance. The stones exploded killing many demons that stood behind its protection and caused our whole army to start cheering in glee at finally being able to breach the most difficult hurdle we faced in this war yet.
We burst through the opening, slaughtering our way through and hoping that we were finally close to achieving victory.
I was placed inside the chariot of my father with him beside me holding the rains and we galloped through the air together with the rest of the Olympians that preferred to fly into battle.
I saw Morrigan and Anubis crack the ground open and a veritable army almost as numerous as our own came through. Dead skeletons and zombies equipped with weapons of every era imaginable and a deathly aura around them cut their way through the sea of demons like a hot knife through butter.
Talking of the seas, the Shinto Gods together with Njord summoned great tidal waves and created hurricanes that drowned the fire demons with abandon.
As for me? I was using my bow to rain hell from above. Throughout the war I had managed to figure out a new creative way to use both my archery as well as my gradation mist. At the beginning it was hard and I almost killed myself twice but the results speak for themselves. I had gained two levels as well, making me Level: 22 (0/6.526830) because of all the killing I did but that is something to get into later.
Gradation Mist(Lv29): You are capable to create actual items by solidifying the mist. Currently you can make items as big as a small car. Cost: 100MP
Special: Flames of War (Lv45) : You have the ability to use the Flames of War. This type of fire magic is incapable of anything but destruction .These flames are impossible to be used in forging cooking or even to give warmth in a cold night. The only thing they bring is death. 1050 dmg/sec cost: 5 mp/sec
Warfyre Imbuement (Lv30= MAX): Coat your weapons with the Flames of War and enhance their destructive capabilities. +50 dmg cost 1 mp/sec. Can be UPGRADED.
Warfyre Napalm(Lv30=MAX): Overcharge an item with the Flame Of War causing it to become unstable and turning it to a bomb. Blast radius: 4 meters Damage: 950, 50% chance of setting enemies on fire Cost :200 MP. Can be UPGRADED.
I charged my arrows as well as swords and spears I created through the mist with the Napalm skill and send them onto my enemies in a shower of crimson explosives. At the beginning it was hard to judge the exploding time and as I said before almost killed myself but right now I can control it more.
The new inventive use of the flames brought some really impressed compliments from father that admittedly made feel like a million bucks. It is nice to be appreciated.
Of course we couldn't catch a break because 1 hour into the fight Surtr himself made an appearance for the first time sending a tidal wave of flames at our direction.
The word tall is a big understatement when describing him. He was fucking titanic. The top of his head was probably touching the atmosphere of the realm and he was completely wreathed in orange flames, his flaming sword Haevatein also known as the Bane of Asgard was as tall as a skyscraper and black as night.
Behind him a hundred Fire Giants were following him wielding spears and maces made of the same black material. They were not as tall as him, not even close. They were varying in size with five of them being about 150 feet tall( 46meters) and the rest being shorter in varying sizes with the smallest being 30 feet tall (10 meters).
Surtr "the bane of CREATION"
RACE: FIRE GIANT/GOD
GENDER: MALE
Level: #! $%^&
STATUS:# !$%^#
INFO:# !$%#
Okay. Now I am terrified. What kind of power level does he have to confuse observe so thoroughly? Even Odin didn't give me such results.
I didn't take much time for him to show the measure of his power. Thor and Skanda had attacked him first, taking the initiative. The moment they got close he swung his sword and hit them both like they were baseballs flinging them miles away and they crushed on top of the wall. 'Homerun' I thought in shock.
After that, the rest of the Gods with Odin at the lead attacked as one and chaos of battle ensued.
We had been fighting for days at this point. Our armies had been reduced in half their numbers, Surtr swings and the rampage of his Giants were causing havoc amongst the mortal soldiers. Most of the Gods were fighting fiercely all together against the fucking flaming menace and the Olympian delegation together with Sunna, Ullr, and Skadi were assigned to kill the rest of the Giants.
We were having some progress with our task and we have felled many of them. My personal highlight being a full napalm barrage on one of the tallest Giants, hitting him in the eyes and exploding his brains. Ares was so impressed he said that he will make me a weapon just for this. Which was awesome by the way.
The rest of the Gods on the other hand were proving to be ineffectual against Surt. He was just too strong and they were using every grain of skill and strength to just stay alive.
Seeing that we were in danger of losing, Athena made a plan.
Scáthach and I we would take Ruin and we will sneak into Gatropnir, Surtr's fortress. Once there we will have to find the King's throne in order to destroy it and as a result weaken the fucker enough for the Gods to kill him once and for all.
The reason for choosing the two of us was because we weren't fully divine, with Scáthach being an immortalized human and me being just a demigod, we were the best to get in unnoticed by whatever detection spells and guards were patrolling the castle.
The moment we mounted Ruin, I used wind chaser to travel as fast as possible. I also used portal twice to teleport as far as my Clairvoyance allowed me, buying a long of time as well.
In 20 minutes we reached the fortress and what surprised me was that it wasn't as big as Surtr himself. How did he leave in such a place if he was taller than the damn thing? I must have said it out loud because my companion answered me.
"Like the Gods, Surtr can reduce his size to that of a mortal if he wishes it. But it is not time to contemplate the architecture girl. We have a job to do."
"Yes mam"
I used portal one last time and we found ourselves on top of an unguarded part of the walls. It seems the Fire King has left only a skeleton crew to man his castle and took the rest with him into the battle.
I dismissed Ruin and we sneaked into the city and from there into the palace itself.
It was bigger than the palace of Odin and very grim. There were statues of monsters and demons everywhere and it was completely black with veins that glowed red like it was flowing blood. The walls were adorned with depictions of slaughter and mayhem and also of Sutr plunging his sword into Asgard.
After we passed through the many corridors of the castle we finally found the throne room.
The throne of Surtr was giant sized and completely made out of gold and obsidian. It was decorated with fiery runes and rubies and had a very disproportioned backrest that admittedly looked like the Iron Throne a bit (the one from the books not the television show.)
Deciding to be cautious, Scáthach told me to shoot it with Napalm from a distance. The result was a big fat nothing. The damn thing was very tough, which was kind of obvious in hindsight. Who would make a throne and imbue it with a big part of his power and make it fragile.
My companion was ready to try to use Gáe Bulg, when a deep voice interrupted us.
"So you little ants thought that you could destroy my beloved's throne huh? This will be your last mistake. I Sinmara, consort of Surtr will put a stop to your cowardly acts." said a Giantess from behind us.
She was humongous, around 60 feet, she was armored from the waist up and held a black spear in her hands. Her hair was like strings of fire falling all the way down her back and her eyes were completely made of orange flames that were currently glaring at us with hate. The weirdest part about her though was her legs. They didn't look humanoid at all, but draconic. They were black and thick and with her every step created dents on the ground. 'Surt must have floor construction specialists on speed dial with a wife like that' I thought with a bit of humor.
Sinmara "Nightmare-Fury"
Race: Giantess
Gender: Female
Level: ?
Status: ?
Info: Sinmara was the wife of Mimir the wise and after he was beheaded she became the consort of Surtr. She is known for possessing Lævateinn. A spear made by Loki and the only weapon in existence capable of slaying Víðófnir, the cockerel responsible for guarding the gates of Helheim in Nifelheim and prevents the dead from escaping
"Great, as if we didn't have enough problems already" said the Queen of Dun Scaith before we jumped to the side to dodge her telephone pole sized spear.
"Cover me with your bow. You are not strong enough to take her head on." she ordered before charging her.
I pulled out my bow and started firing at the chinks of her armor and the uncovered parts of her face, distracting her enough for my ally to get close enough to strike with her spear.
The sound of metal hitting metal created goosebumps at my whole body and when Scáthach jumped back there was the tiniest of scratches in her armor. 'This is going to be a pain in the ass' I thought and if the look she sent me was anything to go by, we were of the same mind.
They exchanged blows for a few minutes and I tried to help with my bow but she was too damn tall. No matter how many times Scáthach tired to wound her legs in order to bring her down it was ineffectual. The durability of her legs was too much for even the divine Celtic spear to make any headway.
I couldn't stand the stalemate any longer and decided to try to bring her down another way.
I pulled out my axe and focused my flames on it. After that I run as fast as my legs could carry me and when I was close enough I used fissure and hit the ground near her legs.
A great opening was created that managed to shallow one of her legs and burn it to crisp making her fall on her back with a scream of pain, giving my companion the opening she needed to jump on her chest and ready the spell of her spear.
Unfortunately Sinmara was made from sterner stuff and tried to use her weapon to smack away the tiny mortal on her chest.
I immediately acted. I threw Forverði at her spear moving it off it's intended course and giving enough time to my ally to use the barbed strike effect.
The barbed strike effect was one of Gae Bolg's special abilities. When it entered an enemy's body with a single wound, like a javelin, then opened into thirty barbs. Only by cutting away the flesh could it be taken from the body.
Effective, but admittedly very sadistic and also messy. If you want to kill someone just stab his heart and be done with it. There was no reason to freaking fill him with metallic thorny roots and make him suffer unnecessarily.
After getting congratulated by Scáthach on my strategy she told me to try to break the throne while she tried to pull her spear from the Giantess body. I grumbled a little at that. That's what you get when you put such idiotic enchantments in your weapons.
I summoned my axe at my hands but what I saw shocked me. The whole blade part of the weapon was completely shattered. The fucking spear managed to break my axe. I repeat, it broke my URU STEEL AXE. What the fuck? I wanted to rage and cry at the destruction of my baby, but the Shadow Witch told me get on with the throne breaking or she would break her foot in my ass.
I really wanted to punch her in the face at this moment but I complied. The bitch was too strong and temperamental to get uppity with.
I headed for the fallen spear of my enemy and picked it up. It instantly started to shrink and became perfect for my size.
Lævateinn
+1.000.000 Damage
+100% damage to monsters
+120% damage to divines
+20% damage when imbued with fire magic
Special: Cocks Bane: When this spear strikes the guardian cockerel of Helheim Víðófnir, it can pretty sure death to the beast. It is the only weapon capable of doing so.
Info: A spear made by Loki and the only weapon in existence capable of slaying Víðófnir, the cockerel responsible for guarding the gates of Helheim in Nifelheim and prevents the dead from escaping.
I wanted to laugh so hard at the special skill of the spear. Cocks Bane is a very apt name, but without context, you would think it would be a weapon tailor made for Artemis.
Anyway, ignoring the funny name for later I used Warfyre imbuement and threw the spear at the throne and with an ear deafening boom they shattered in dozens of pieces.
The force of the destruction of two divine objects threw both me and Scáthach on the other side of the room and on a wall, giving us what is possibly the mother of all concussions.
After we got ahold of our selves I collected the shards of my axe and the spears as well as some parts of Surtr's throne and we high tailed it out of there.
Hey don't judge me, I risked my life for this mission, I am not leaving without some souvenirs.
The moment we got out of the castle I summoned Ruin and we rode to the sky. The whole ground was trembling and the earthquakes were swallowing the whole fortress in a combination of earth and lava. Not a fun place to be at the moment, I assure you.
When we returned on the battlefield about 1 hour later we expected to see the Gods victorious over the corpse of Surtr. What we didn't expect was for them to still be fighting.
The King of Muspelheim was about 200 feet tall, an ant compared to his previous cataclysmic size but no less intimidating. The fire that engulfed him before was but a small aura instead of the previous blinding intensity it had. The mind boggling part was that even in such a diminished state he was still managing to hold back so many Gods even if by the look of it he was losing ground little by little.
A few minutes after we found ourselves back on the battlefield I saw Odin make a signal towards Loki that was positioned with the Frost Giant part of the army a little bit away from the Godly beat down.
They brought chained fire demons and a couple of wyrms in front of them and slit their throats. After that they started chanting and channeling their energies as one.
A hailstorm was created around the Frost Giants and with a crescendo of chanting they sent a concentrated beam of ice directly on Surtr.
His scream of pain made the whole realm shake and every volcano started exploding in lava and ash.
When the icy mist receded we could see the Fire Giant on his knees. He was as big as a very tall man and part of his body looked frostbitten. The ice was super effective it seems.
This event brought to my mind the words of Freyja when she was teaching me about magic.
" Rituals are the most powerful form of magic in existence aside from the Elder Runes and their power can only be matched by their volatility and disastrous consequences at the hands of the inexperienced and the irresponsible"
It seems she was spot on but using this kind of living sacrifice like that gives me the chills. It is not something that I would ever do unless the circumstances are very dire (which in this case they were) and even then I will do it with a very heavy heart. Death magic is not something you mess with just for shit and giggles.
After that Odin stabbed Gugnir directly into the heart of Surtr, ending his life once and for all and making him turn into white dust. A sure sign of an immortal fading.
By this point everyone was so fucking tired that there was no cheering aside from grim smiles and there was an order for a general assembly in order to finally leave this hell hole.
One Bifrost beam later and we were once again outside of the Gates of Asgard.
By the Gods, how heavenly it felt to finally breathe pure clean air and smell the trees and the flowers around you instead of sulfur and burnt flesh. The night sky was twinkling with stars and the light from the moon felt cleansing when it touched me. I couldn't help it. After 2 years, 6 months and 3 weeks in Muspelheim the war was finally over and that realization made me cry a little bit in pure all encompassing relief.
Elaine who by this point had become a very good friend put a hand around my shoulders to comfort me.
After our allied armies were send back to their own realms to finally get some proper rest but not before being announced of the after war celebration that is going to be held in three days time, Odin led the Gods and the Asgardian army through his realms walls, ordered his people to return to their homes and his guests to follow him to his palace.
The first thing I did when I reached my room was to remove every bit of clothing and armor from myself and jump into the shower. The relaxing feeling of actual water on your skin was heavenly. All throughout the war water was too precious to waste in such comforts. We could only wipe ourselves with wet towels every other week or so. It was only the all encompassing stink of Muspelheim that prevented us from caring then.
When I thoroughly rinsed myself and felt that I was clean enough, I flled my bathtub with water and dived in. What you thought a little shower would be enough? No bitches, I am going to squeeze this free glorious water for everything that is worth.
It was as I was relaxing that the sound of the system sounded and gained my attention.
PING*
Divine Quest: The War of Blood and Fire
Main Objective: Survive and emerge victorious in the war! (CLEAR)
Bonus 1: Kill Surtr (FAIL)
Bonus 2: Kill on the Fire Giant Generals (CLEAR)
Bonus 3: Destroy the throne of Muspelheim (CLEAR)
Bonus 4: Kill Sinmara (Partial Clear)
Rewards:
20m xp, 5k D, 5k Asgardian Gold, Title, Fire Magic Upgrade (Y)
200m xp, 2m D, 2m AG, Hævateinn (N)
1m xp
5m xp , Fragments of Throne
20m xp (halved), Circlet, Spear(Broken)
(QUEST COMPLETE)
Veteran: You have participated in a war and had bathed in the blood of your enemies. Everyone with a military background will show you increased respect. When in battle you will be more likely to be granted a leading position.
Circlet of the Fire Queen
+20 CHA
+ 20 LUC
-50% to fire damage received
+50% to fire damage dealt
Special: Authority of the Queen: Through the use of this circlet the wearer is capable of commanding fire natured beings. Though the more powerful and intelligent they are, the harder they will resist. It doesn't work on Gods.
Info: A circlet commissioned by Surtr for his beloved Sinmara made by a mixture of Uru steel and Muspelheim Obsidian and smelted from the fire of the Fire King himself. All interactions with fire natured beings will give you increased reputation. WARNING: Try to stay away from winter and ice beings, they will not appreciate your presence.
Level Up x3
Status
Name: Alexandra Bellum
Race: Demigod
Gender: Female
Title: Sorceress
Level: 25 (5.496.962/22.028.435)
HP: 29.100 (+8000) HPReg= 13 % /h
MP: 23.425(+5000) MPReg= 152 mp/min
FF: 5000 FFReg= 1000/min (when outside battle)
STR: 249
VIT: 150 +28 HP PER 5 VIT x lv
DEX: 180(195)
INT:130(140) +24 MP PER 5 INT x lv
WIS: 125(150) +5 MPREG PER 5 WIS
CHA: 86(106)
LUC: 20(45)
Status Points: 32
CURRENCY: $= 9600, D=6941, AG= 5000
Spear Paragon(Lv2): Your ability to use a spear in battle without poking your eye out. +50% dmg with and +23% attack speed when wielding spears.
Bow Paragon(Lv2): Your ability to use bows. +85% dmg when using bows.
Greater Pyromancy(Lv1): Your ability to raise and control fire (-31MP to all fire spells- Doesn't affect FOW). Cost: 12 MP/sec
Great Fireball(Lv1): You can conjure great balls of fire that can incinerate your enemies with. +630 DMG, Cost: 70(39) MP. This skill can be UPGRADED.
Great Fire Imbuement(Lv1): Imbue your weapons with magical fire for extra damage. +85 DMG, Cost: 19(1= MIN) MP/sec
Level 25 just like that, though I didn't know if I should laugh or cry at the failed objective. The very idea that I would be capable of going anywhere near Surtr without turning to ashes in a second is absurd. On the other hand 200 hundred million exp and the sword capable of destroying even Asgard was something that made my barely pubescent body tingle in very weird places that I am going to ignore for now for the sake of my sanity.
I put 1 point into STR and 14 on CHA to round them up and the rest to LUC because why not. I got two new perks out of this.
For reaching 100 CHA you gain a new Perk.
Perfect Body Language: You are instinctively able to change your body language depending on the message you want to convey. Threatening, authoritative, sedactive or many others, you can do them all. It also makes you a very good actor.
For reaching 250 STR you gain a new Perk.
Expanded Force - Concussive Force: Everytime you wish it, your hits either hand-to-hand or with a weapon you can expand the force of your hits up to a 5 meter radius around your striking point without your hits losing power. The user can deliver impacts of concussive force which can knock the target back and cause internal and external damage. (meele weapons and hand to hand only)
Yep, it is decided I am going to change my name to Tsunade. Ha let the fuckers try to defend against me with armours now. I am going to be super effective baby. My cackles probably scared the maids that were passing outside my room but I didn't care.
Three days later I find myself in the Halls of Odin for the celebration of the victory over Muspelheim.
Everyone from every corner of the Nine Realms came to celebrate the joyous event even guests from other pantheons that didn't participate in the fight.
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi together with their Yoki attendants were the first who arrived. After them came Indra the King of the Devas with his wife Shachi and if what I heard from Feyja when she saw him is true, a terrible womanizer and a raging cunt as well. Osiris came next with Isis by his side and were followed by Lugh of the Celts. Last, came Zeus and Hera together with Aphrodite(she came for Ares and also because she really love parties).
When I saw the fucker for the first time I was surprised. He looked around 40 with a neatly trimmed beard and salt and pepper hair that gave him a dignified look and electric blue eyes that exuded arrogance. The surprising part though was his left hand. It was metalic. He had a Jaime Lanister look alike fake hand, though when I lokked closer I noticed it must have been a Hephaestus Original(tm) because it moved like it was an actual hand and I made a mental note to call him Luke Skywalker from now on when he can't hear me and also to ask someone who knows for the story behind the injury as well. I really wanted to congratulate whoever managed to maim the bastard.
When everyone assembled after a speech from Odin about the power of unity and his gratefulness of the assistance of everyone the feast begun.
It was as boring and troublesome as the previous one but it had it's highlights. Snubbing Zeus when I sat with the Vanir at the Royal table was amusing and the goldening (because ichor duh!) of his face was very satisfying indeed, something that Freyja seemed to enjoy as well considering the amused look she send him.
In this feast as well I was asked to stand up and speak about one of my stories from the War. It seems that they really enjoyed my previous one and they were hoping for an even more exciting one.
I of course obliged. I spoke about mine and Scáthach's mission of destroying the throne of Surtr and gave special compliments to Athena for her plan, which from the small smile she send me she seemed to appreciate my compliments and our fight with Sinmara and her defeat.
The information that the Giantess was dead, something that apparently wasn't made known outside of Odin was enough to cause the Norse members of the audience to cheer in happiness for getting rid of the final lose end of Muspelheim and my scowl at the shattering of my Axe brought some laughs and light teasing and surprisingly enough sympathizing looks as well. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was attached to their weapons.
The cheers became even greater when I regaled them of the way I destroyed the throne (though Loki looked kind of bummed at the breaking of his spear) and at the complete annihilation of Gastropnir.
Thor was so delighted with our feat that when I mentioned that I had the pieces of Lævatein he shouted that he would commission two new weapons from their pieces as a reward for our accomplishment.
Of course Ares wouldn't take this lying down. He stood up as well and demanded that he will be the one who would reward his daughter (me) with a new weapon and Thor was forced in this case to relent because the gifting of a weapon by a parent was apparently very important, though he would still make a gift for Scáthach he added which no one had any problem with.
With these declarations I removed the pieces from the inventory and gave half to each God to the awe of the audience at the appearance of such a legendary weapon, even if it was broken.
Of course Loki wouldn't be Loki if he didn't make things difficult for me because at some point he spoke about my little dragon charming incident and had everyone start hitting their tables with their feast and start shouting "SONG,SONG".
The snake faced bastard was lucky that I wasn't Kryptonian because my glare would have turned him into ashes. I also made a mental note to send him a stallion as a gift at the first chance I get (after the whole Sleipnir incident Loki never went near any male horses for some reason.*giggle*).
I went to the stage with a red face and the giggling of Freyja behind me and started singing.
Valhalla Calling - Gavin Dunne 2020
Ships on vigor of the waves are skimming
Barren summits to the verdant plains
Each horizon is a new beginning
Rise and reign
Far from the fjords and the ice cold currents
Ravens soar over new frontiers
Songs and sagas of a fate determined
Shields and spears
Vows of favor or the thrill of plunder
Pull together for the clan and kin
Clank of hammers and the crash of thunder Pound within
Oh-ho-oh The echoes of eternity
Oh-ho-oh Valhalla calling me
Oh-ho-oh To pluck the strings of destiny
Oh-ho-oh Valhalla calling me
Valhalla calling me
Sails a' swaying on the crimson rivers
Blood and glory in the fighting fields
Shields a' shatter into splintered timbers
Iron and steel
Fires are rising and the bells are ringing
Glory take us into Odin's halls
Golden glimmer and the sound of singing Asgard's call
Oh-ho-oh The echoes of eternity
Oh-ho-oh Valhalla calling me
Oh-ho-oh To pluck the strings of destiny
Oh-ho-oh Valhalla calling me Valhalla calling me
Wind and the waves will carry me
Wind and the waves will set me free
Oh-ho-oh The echoes of eternity O
h-ho-oh Valhalla calling me
Oh-ho-oh To pluck the strings of destiny
Oh-ho-oh Valhalla calling me Valhalla calling me
When I was done everyone was looking at me with open mouths. It seems they didn't expect me to be that good at singing considering I am a daughter of Ares. Of course my nifty perk made my voice perfect but they didn't know that nor will they ever do if I have anything to say about it.
When they got over their shock the residents of Valhalla and the more war like of the rest of the guests with Thor(no surprise there) in the lead started cheering about the awesomeness of my song and demanded that I write the lyrics down so they can sing in future celebrations. Though the suggestion about making it the official song of Valhalla was a bit too much in my opinion.
After that the hours passed slowly and around 3 in the night I begged off and retired from the party with a nod from Odin.
I was heading towards my room eager to get some blessed sleep and silence when I heard some moans from one of the side corridors. Of course usually I am not a cockblocker and in any other case I would have carried on and left the people to their business but I had drunk a bit more Asgardian ale than it would be advised for my age and I was feeling playful.
So I turned left and found myself outside a darkened corner of the side corridor which I used the flashlight spell on.
The joke apparently was as much on them as it was on me because I caught Loki and Freyja in a very heavy make out session.
I was horrified. Who would have thought that perfect Freyja would hook up with an asshole like Loki. At this moment I remembered an old saying of my past life about the biggest assholes getting the best girls and I made a mental note to stay away from assholes but then discarded it because I am a bitch anyway so it didn't apply to me.
I looked at them with widened shocked eyes and they looked back just as shocked and then both Freyja and I screamed. One furious spell dodging later and some more screaming I was back in my room and hoping to find some brain bleach to remove that memory from my mind forever.
Releasing an exhausted sigh I lied down on my bed and went to sleep.
Next day I woke up around ten in the morning. We didn't have training because Odin gave us a day off and I had a chance to sleep in a little.
I went to the bathroom like a zombie to do my business and after washing my hand and face I looked myself in the mirror. And I froze.
The reason? My hair had changed. Before they were a coal black reminiscent of my father and many others of my paternal family and I was very happy with it. Now though, they were blond. To be more precise, it was a platinum fucking blond that made me look like a freaking Veela or even worse, a Malfoy. I even got a notification.
PING*
You have been inflicted with a minor curse by a Divine Being:
Color Changing Curse: This particular curse changes the color of the victim's hair throughout their whole body into one particular color of the casters choice. Normally it would fade after a few hours but this particular one has been cast and altered by the God Of Magic Loki causing it to become permanent. WARNING: No mortal or divine methods exist to hide or alter your hair color.
The more I read the more enraged I became. By the time I read the whole description I was seething mad and had a sudden desire for a new snakeskin purse. My eyes were completely red and were spitting actual sparks.
(The same time with Odin All-Father)
Odin All-Father, the King of the Aesir Gods was having an excellent morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there were no immediate threats to Asgard increasing his paperwork (*shudder*) and he had the best sleep in his life dreaming of the moment he drove his trusty spear in that assholes Surtr's heart. All in all a very amazing morning.
He was ready to go spend some quality time with Frigga when a shrill scream sounded all throughout Asgard.
LLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I AM GOING TO KILLLLLL YOUUUUU !
He sighed, there goes the peaceful morning and by the sound of it, Loki did something annoying again. He was a sworn brother to him and he loved him but sometimes he really wanted to strangle him for the headaches he caused him.
~ChildeOfWar