Chapter 140
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Valkyrie - 2
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If you had to pick the busiest person among the Twelve Apostles, every single one of them would point to the Fifth Apostle, Fleta.
She managed every aspect of the aerial city Asgard, developed holy knight armaments, and invented gadgets for each kingdom in the Holy Kingdom. Her overtime wasn't just routine anymore—it had become her way of life.
When sleep-deprived, she rested her left and right brain alternately like a dolphin. When her body ached, she forcibly revived it with the nymphs' miracles.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Holy Kingdom's current prosperity existed largely thanks to the Fifth Apostle's sacrifices.
And the current Fifth Apostle, Fleta, never showed a hint of strain no matter how grueling the work.
She believed without a doubt that her hard efforts helped others and that her sweat today would one day become someone's hope.
That is, until the massive explosion rocked the city.
Kwaaaaaang!
"Wh-what happened?"
"An explosion went off in the Tower of Wisdom!"
"The Tower of Wisdom?"
At the words pinpointing the explosion's location, Fleta's blood ran cold.
Before becoming the Fifth Apostle, Alley—the Tower of Wisdom's master and the Fourth Apostle—had been one of the apostles Fleta admired most.
With her vast knowledge, she'd contributed immensely to the Holy Kingdom. Her creative ideas and awe-inspiring magic had even lifted Asgard into the skies.
Her achievements filled academy textbooks, and as an academy graduate, Fleta aspired to become a great apostle like her mother—the previous Fifth—and Alley, contributing to the Holy Kingdom in kind.
But once she actually became the Fifth Apostle, Fleta's respect for Alley plummeted.
The biggest reason? Lifting Asgard into the sky when it had been fine on the ground.
The only upside was fewer infiltrations by vile forces compared to before, but in exchange, Fleta's workload had multiplied dozens of times over.
On top of that, the incidents Alley caused under the guise of "development" weren't in textbooks—though her contributions matched her nuisances in scale.
It was the same now.
Asgard's power output has dropped to 75%.
Power will be cut in some sectors.
Damaged equipment must be replaced.
Defense system <Valkyrie> is deploying.
"Alleeeeyyy!"
Fleta wailed Alley's name in a voice laced with resentment at the influx of new work, but sadly, her cry didn't reach her senior.
...
High in the sky, I dragged Alley out from the wreckage.
"You're okay, right?!"
"Haha, you think?"
I wanted to hurl her back into the sky at her scratched-face bewilderment, but I held back.
This damn woman had to take responsibility for this mess.
"The situation's bad, yeah?"
"Y-yeah."
To test the divinity I'd absorbed from Taranis, I'd asked Alley for a spot, and she'd confidently brought me here.
The result? A massive explosion!
The Tower of Wisdom barrier she'd bragged about melted away under the lightning divinity like it was nothing.
'Lucky we did it in the basement. In the city center, there'd definitely have been casualties.'
Swallowing a sigh, I asked the Alley in my arms.
"This isn't my fault, right?"
"Eek?! Half the blame's on you, Sian. Don't push it all on me!"
"You told me to go full power!"
"Th-that's true, but still..."
Alley, who'd screwed up plenty on my account, mumbled without retorting.
"First, let's get out of here..."
Unidentified individual with unconfirmed identity detected.
Classified as intruder.
Currently holding Fourth Apostle Alley hostage.
"What the hell are those?"
"Those are our Holy Kingdom's pride and joy, the Valkyries! They're a type of golem. Looks like the explosion triggered the defense system."
"Not what I—shit!"
Alley's rambling explanation left me unprepared as the Valkyrie golems attacked.
Crazy, lasers?!
Jjeeeeng!
Barely dodging the laser, I asked the Alley in my arms.
"Alley, how much is one of those worth?"
"At least a hundred platinum coins, easy."
"Why so pricey?"
"It's one of the weapons made with every Holy Kingdom tech we have. A single Valkyrie unit is stronger than a third-rank knight, a bit weaker than a second-rank."
"What the hell do you even make on the regular?"
"Hehe, not quite praiseworthy yet."
"Not praise!"
Jjeeng! Jjeeng!
No time to scold Alley as three Valkyries fired lasers to shoot me down.
'Three hundred platinum coins. Can't touch those.'
If they billed me for destruction, the loss wouldn't be small.
"Alley, stop them first! You got admin privileges or something!"
"Nope."
"What?"
"Only the Pope has admin access."
"One person controlling something this dangerous? That's bullshit."
Alley scratched her cheek and replied.
"The Pope rarely leaves Asgard, so it's better for someone who's always around. Plus, more admins risk vile forces hijacking access."
"Damn it, so no one's stopping those things now?"
"Right."
Alley nodded.
Everything she did pissed me off—I wanted to smack her—but the Valkyries made it impossible.
Whether to rescue Alley, they kept up light attacks.
"If I drop you and run, will they chill?"
"Nah, they'll chase to the end."
"Hoo... Fine then."
Had to resolve this with minimal damage.
"Stop."
Using the divinity of "He Who Walks the Lowest Depths," I tried freezing time on two of the three.
Zzzt!
"These things resist a bit?"
"Obviously. Built with high divinity resistance specifically against the 'Forgotten Ones.'"
"Don't explain. Pisses me off."
"Uh..."
Leaving the now-silent Alley behind, I leaped to the ground to avoid damaging Asgard.
Thus began the aerial battle.
Enveloping myself in lightning divinity, I raced through the skies.
...
"Shakes them off in seconds."
Alley sighed deeply at Sian's effortless sky-dashing with Taranis's divinity, finding it absurd.
Some slaved centuries for that strength, while others snapped their fingers for it.
Her stomach churned at the unfairness, but she also acknowledged Sian's abilities.
'To wield divinity at that level, his soul's rank must be high. What the hell did he do in his past life?'
If holy power was the vessel holding divinity, the soul was its durability.
Having strong divinity didn't mean you could wield it fully.
Yet Sian handled it freely from the start.
Even more than Taranis himself.
"Even for a Titan, it's talent beyond belief."
Target's potential assessed as approaching 1st rank.
Summoning additional Valkyries.
Deploying anti-divinity formation: Twelve Star Hosts.
"Huh?"
Judging it couldn't down Sian like this, Asgard dispatched more Valkyries.
The elite twelve.
While activating the Twelve Star Hosts, prepped against cardinal-level "Forgotten Ones."
'This is escalating bad.'
Breaking into a cold sweat, Alley hoped Sian would bolt straight to the capital where the Pope was.
But Sian showed no intent to flee further and countered.
"Quit bugging me and scram."
Sian formed a spear of black lightning in his hand and hurled it at a Valkyrie.
The Twelve Star Hosts formation boosted divinity resistance, so it wouldn't break—but Alley, knowing Sian's power, felt uneasy anyway.
'Oh?'
Luckily, the Valkyrie held up against Sian's attack.
But as if glitching, it suddenly plummeted from the sky.
Seeing the black divinity coiling around the Valkyrie— the authority of "He Who Walks the Lowest Depths"—Alley gulped.
"Did he merge divinities?"
Divinity was conceptual; fusing two into one technique was impossible without a god possessing multiple concepts.
"Thought that was just the Founder's specialty..."
Now Alley understood why the first emperor warily eyed Sian.
His limitless potential as a Titan with an abnormal soul rank.
"One down."
Sian recovered the fallen Valkyrie into <Inventory> and began effortlessly subduing the Holy Kingdom's ultimate weapons, the Valkyries.