Chapter 5: The Start of a New Era
Fhae and I made it to HQ and I heard Atalia's cries. I looked up and noticed Grace holding Atalia by her dress. She looked down and me then smirked. Fhae looked surprised and tried to hurry over to HQ, but a digital wall blocked her.
"You've helped him quite enough, Fhaertala. I thank you for bringing him here. Now it's just me and you, Dante." Yuri said as she walked toward us.
I looked back and noticed Fhae with her hands on the digital wall. I looked back at Yuri and glared. "Let Atalia go!"
"Daddy!" Atalia cried out and looked at me scared.
Yuri stood in front of me and placed her hand on the handle of her broadsword and the sword shined. Lightning crackled around her body then she unsheathed her lightning broadsword then pointed it at me. She summoned a second weapon, a mace and the mace was also surrounded in lightning.
"I sent you to that forest to die and I was hoping you would. To me, all men deserve to die...but fortunately for men we need them to reproduce, but they aren't useful to us in any other manner. They never will be. You may have gotten past Grace and Komine, but you won't make it by me." Yuri said.
I stared at Yuri then summoned my sword. I noticed it was starting to rain and got into my battle stance. "I will...and I will save my daughter. I will show you that I am more than what you make me out to be.."
"Ha! Then show me, scum! Show me your conviction!" Yuri bellowed.
I ran toward her and slashed at her, but she dodged and struck my side with a spin kick then used the same leg to kick me three more times on my stomach then swung her mace at me. I blocked it then groaned as she broke through my defenses, staggering me. She swung her mace upwards, striking me and knocking me upwards. She quickly slammed the mace against my stomach, blowing me away into the digital wall.
I groaned as I hit the wall and fell to my knees. I grunted as my body jolted from the electricity. I slowly stood up then ran toward her. I yelled and slashed at her quickly, but she dodged each of my attempts to hit her then she used her sword to parry my next attack then used her mace to attack me. I blocked it with my sword but noticed the blade shatter upon contact with her mace.
Yuri smirked then kicked my stomach then slammed her mace against my head, knocking me down. I groaned as she stabbed her sword through my back. She began to shove it down deeper, causing me to cough blood.
"I'm not letting you get the chance to grow. Now you're finished!" Yuri bellowed and slammed her mace against my head.
My vision became blurry and my ears began to ring then I passed out. She took her sword from my body and stared down at me.
"Dante!" Fhae yelled.
"Daddy!!" Atalia screamed as she witnessed Yuri's decisive blow.
"It's over." Yuri said and stepped on my head. "Now your powers are mine.."
——————
I woke up in a beautiful and golden field and looked around. "Damn...I'm dead aren't I? Where am I..?"
"Well I can say, you are dead...but not completely." A woman said.
I looked back and noticed the woman behind me.
The woman was so beautiful it was impossible to avert my eyes away from her. She had perfect skin, a voluptuous body, large breasts and was completely nude aside from wearing a cloak made from falcon feathers. She had long crimson hair, beautiful blue eyes, luscious lips, and a beauty mole under her right eye. She had two cats on her shoulders, a boar at her side, and a mare on her other side.
The woman smiled at me and held her arms. "You'll get me all flustered if you keep staring at me~"
I finally composed myself and shook my head. "Where exactly am I now?"
"You are in my home, a paradise known as Folkvangr. I am the ruler of this Legendary Domain. I am Freyja." She answered.
"Freyja...Wait, I am dead?!" I asked in shock.
"Not entirely. You still have a bit of life inside of you. I can sense Tyr's power within you, and it will take a while for Yuri to take your powers so walk with me for a bit." Freyja said and began to walk off.
I walked after her then noticed the sparkles of the golden field and looked up to see the golden sky. "This place reminds me of—"
"Asgard? Heaven? Olympus? Yes, I've heard it all before. This is where half of the slain warriors come to rest until the events of Ragnarok arise, but that's olden times now. Most of the warriors have been transported to a higher plane called the Realm of Deities. I walk this plane alone now." Freyja said.
"I've read things about you. You're the Strongest Valkyrie of all time and a Goddess. You can also choose who you bring here so why'd you bring me here?" I said and looked at Freyja.
"You're taking care of a young girl named Atalia correct? Well she's one of my many children in the new ages. She has a special ability that I'll allow you to figure out, but let's say it involves you dating multiple women~ That's one reason. Another reason is that I've noticed you fight against the Valkyries and your skill despite being vastly weaker than them is rather impressive. Three is I want to see you succeed in this world." Freyja said and stopped walking to look at me.
I stopped walking as well and looked at Freyja. I felt her hold my chin and noticed her beautiful smile. I blushed a bit and gazed upon her.
"I'm interested in you...since the first day you showed up which wasn't on accident really. I caused that rift to open. Honestly if anyone was in your position I would treat them the same, but it was you who took her in. From that moment, I knew you were the one..." Freyja said. "I choose you.."
"You choose me..? But what about my powers of Tyr..?" I asked.
Freyja giggled softly and pulled me closer to her gently. "I will allow you to keep them...Besides they suit you greatly.."
"What powers will I receive from you..?" I asked.
"Taken you've made direct contact with me...you will receive most of them, but I will only grant you the ones I deem useful enough to you in battle. So you will become an Archmage, will have heightened combat, and I will grant you a weapon I've only been saving for those I deem worthy...Folkvangr." Freyja answered softly and held my cheeks.
"I will also grant you special access to my domain...you can only enter here via sleeping and will leave when your physical body wakes. That's to make sure you aren't trapped here.." Freyja continued.
I nodded and felt her press her forehead against mine. "I think I'm ready.."
"Good..." Freyja whispered then kissed my lips.
I let her kiss my lips then my body began to shine. My outfit began to change during the process. I began to wear body armor that was black with gold and silver accents, a tattered red cape that hung from my left shoulder and was fixed beneath a black and gold lion pauldron. At my waist were four golden dagger scabbards, two on the left and another two at the right.
Freyja pulled away and smiled at me. "There you go and next time, I would prefer if you kissed back..~ I'm not gonna bite you if you do unless it's sexual~"
I blushed and looked away. "I'll keep that in mind..."
Freyja giggled softly and summoned a golden sword with silver accents. It was inside of a pure gold scabbard and had symbols on it. She handed it to me and smiled. "Here..~ Now go out there and show them what for.."
I nodded and smiled at Freyja. "I will."
——————
Yuri nearly managed to extract my spirit then grunted when a burst of golden light shined from my body. She jumped backwards and began to scan me. "He's still alive?!"
Fhae watched in awe and watched me stand up. "Dante!"
"What?! He's still up?! Who is this guy?!" Grace said with shock.
"Daddy!" Atalia yelled.
The golden light disappeared and revealed my new appearance. Everyone looked at me in awe and felt a massive increase to my power. I looked at Yuri and my cape flowed with the wind. My eyes shined gold and my aura surrounded my body.
"What is this?! Just who are you?!" Yuri yelled.
I stared at Yuri with a serious face then smirked. "I am the Berserker that's gonna defeat you and save my daughter!"
Yuri grunted as my golden aura surged powerfully around my body. She covered her face from the high winds and slid back a bit. "This shouldn't be possible! Why is he still alive?! He should be dead!"
I stopped powering up then my aura disappeared. "This is it, after I defeat you... you'll have no choice but to accept me!"
Yuri grit her teeth then powerful lightning crackled around her body then she dashed toward me and yelled. "I won't let a man defeat me!"
I dodged her punch then kicked her away. "The real battle starts now!"
I dashed toward Yuri and struck her with a spinning kick, knocking her away. I ran after her and jumped up then kicked her down. I threw one of my daggers at her and warped to it and kicked her away. I caught the dagger and threw it at her again then warped toward it again then grabbed her face and slammed her to the ground.
Yuri roared and knocked me away with her lightning then dashed toward me again. I dashed toward her and we clashed. We knocked each other away then began to dodge and block each other's attacks then I parried her kick then struck her stomach. She groaned then tried to counter with a punch, but I swiped her hand to the left and struck her with a body hook then uppercut her, knocking her upwards.
I summoned multiple blades of energy and shot them at Yuri, but she used her sword to deflect them and summoned bolts of lightning to crash down at me, but I dodged each one and ran off, dodging more bolts of energy.
Yuri began to move at lightning speeds and appeared in front of me then swung her mace, striking my stomach. I groaned and slid backwards then chuckled. I held my hand out and a magic circle appeared in front of my hand then I fired multiple fireballs at Yuri.
She deflected each one and dashed toward me. She bellowed and moved at lightning speeds and went for another attack with her mace, but I dodged it and summoned Folkvangr and slashed at her. Yuri groaned as she was knocked backwards. She roared and her lightning aura surged. My aura surged powerfully around my body then we propelled ourselves toward each other and clashed then caused an explosion.
"He's...really keeping up with Yuri..?! How is this even possible?!" Grace asked as she watched.
Cornelia watched from her window and smirked. "So he's made contact with Freyja...Folkvangr...the ability to use all magic, his golden aura. Yeah, that's all definitely Freyja's power.."
Yuri slid backwards and panted then looked at me. "What the hell is this..?! How?! How do you have this much power?! This wasn't supposed to happen!"
I grunted as I stumbled backwards then chuckled. "If I told you, it wouldn't make much sense now would it..? Explaining my power would be the same as giving you a free win."
Yuri glared and gripped the handle of her mace tighter. "You think just because of this boost of power...you have any true chance against me?! You'll never defeat me because I won't allow it! For years I've ruled as the Top Valkyrie, Leader of my kind and I won't allow myself to be defeated by a man imitating a Valkyrie's Power!"
"Is it truly imitating when it was given to me? I never asked for this to begin with, and instead of asking questions that made sense...you all attacked and threw me into the wild. While I will admit, my growth was rather fast...my desire to reunite with Atalia fueled this power! My anger, my desperateness...it got me to this point. What you are seeing is the power of Willpower. The indomitable will of a human can do a lot for people like me.." I said and pointed my sword at Yuri.
Yuri growled and lightning crackled around her body. "No...I will not accept this! I will not accept this loss!"
I braced myself and noticed Yuri powering up even more and transform into her Valkyrie Form. Wings of lightning energy emerged from her back and a halo formed over her head.
{Warning! Warning! Rank X Valkyrie has appeared!}
I cloaked myself in my aura then golden lightning crackled around my body. "Let's end this!"
Atalia, Grace, Fhae, Komine, and Cornelia watched and felt our power rapidly increasing. They were on the edge as they watched us face off.
Yuri bellowed and propelled herself toward me. I blocked her attack then groaned as I was launched away into the digital wall. Yuri appeared in front of me and kicked me through the wall and roared. I groaned as I rolled backwards then dashed toward her. We clashed and knocked each other backwards then ran off.
"We need to follow them! This is getting too serious!" Grace yelled. "If they continue with this battle, the city will possibly be destroyed!"
"I can't believe I'm agreeing with you, but she's right! We have to stop them!" Fhae said and summoned her pegasus then hopped on her back and she flew off.
The others summoned their pegusi and mounted them and flew after us. Atalia rode with Grace and held on for dear life.
Yuri and I rapidly clashed and bellowed. I dodged Yuri's next attack and kneed her stomach, blowing her away then propelled myself after her. Yuri landed on the ground and her eyes shined brightly. She ran toward me and clashed with me once against then countered my next attack with a chop to my neck then kicked me into a building.
I groaned as I slammed into a building then grunted as a lightning beam struck me, blowing me through the building. The people inside the cafe screamed with fear as they noticed me fly across the room. I landed on a table and noticed Yuri appear on the side of me at lightning speeds. I dodged her kick then grabbed her leg and flung her through the window and flew after her.
We clashed in the street and the cars honked and stomped on their breaks upon noticing us. We kept clashing blow for blow then knocked each other away. Yuri avoided the cars by flying upwards. I looked up and propelled myself toward Yuri with my aura.
Yuri dodged my attacks then went for a spinning strike, but I blocked her attack with my knee then used my leg to push her away then struck her face and bellowed. She groaned as she was blown away then fired multiple bolts of lightning at me. I flew after her with my aura and dodged her lightning bolts then struck her with a crescent kick, knocking her to the ground.
{Grace: Where are they?!}
{Fhae: I see them! They are in District 3!}
Yuri and I dashed toward each other again then I dodged her slash with her sword then summoned my axe and struck her with my axe. Yuri groaned and coughed a bit of blood. I launched her away then threw my axe at her at a high velocity.
Yuri used her mace to destroy my axe and lightning crackled from her eyes. "This...has gone on for long enough!"
Yuri yelled and her lightning became Divine Lightning and rushed across the area. Her lightning caused a power outage in District 3.
{Cornelia: We've received a power outage at District 3! This battle is reaching levels that will endanger everyone!}
{Komine: I'm on it!}
Komine jumped off her pegasus and landed in between us and transformed into her Valkyrie Form then stopped out attacks. "That's enough you two! If you keep going, more than you two will get hurt!"
"Get out of the way!" Yuri yelled and knocked Komine away and ran toward me.
I blocked Yuri's attack then grunted as I felt myself grow extremely tired. I could sense Yuri's stamina was also getting low. I dodged Yuri's next attack then palmed her stomach. She grunted and coughed. I kicked her away and fired multiple shards of ice at her then noticed a plant barrier block the shards of ice.
"That's enough! You two will destroy Sakanami! You have to stop!" Fhae yelled.
"I said...get the fuck out of my way!" Yuri bellowed and her lightning aura broke the barrier and pushed Fhae away.
Grace transformed into her Valkyrie Form and dashed toward us. She tried to stop my attack but groaned when I knocked her away. Cornelia caught her and slid backwards.
"STOP IT!!" Atalia screamed.
Yuri and I stopped our attack upon hearing Atalia. We looked at her and heard her sniffling.
"All I wanted was for Daddy to find love and people to help take care of me...I don't want to watch Daddy get hurt anymore!" Atalia cried out.
I looked at Atalia and looked down. I had completely forgotten the reason of why I was even transported to this world when I was fighting Yuri. It went from wanting to save Atalia to wanting to defeat Yuri no matter the cost.
Yuri looked around and noticed the destruction we had caused then reverted to her normal form. She grunted and fell to her knees, exhausted. "Damnit all.."
I looked at Yuri then walked toward her. She looked up at me and noticed me hold my hand out toward her. She seemed surprised.
"After all I've done to you...you still offer you hand to me..?" Yuri asked.
"I am not a man who holds grudges...even though I should be dishonorable like you've been with me, it goes against my moral code. I was sent on this world...to find love and women to help take care of Atalia with me. I don't understand her completely, but I don't want to fight you anymore...so let's start over..." I said.
Yuri looked down and closed her eyes. She reached up and took my hand, allowing me to help her stand up. "I guess...we were wrong about you, but don't think this makes us anything more than acquaintances because I still don't like you men...but I guess I can make one exception.."
I smiled a bit and nodded. "Let's start over then...My name is Dante Knight from Earth in another dimension."
Yuri looked at me then nodded. "My name is Yuri Diamond...Leader of the Astra Valkyries. It's nice to properly meet you...I guess..."
The others watched us and smiled. Our battle came to a stalemate and to a definitely closure. We decided to make up and fix the damage we had caused to the city. Atalia seemed pleased with the fact that we had all made up and worked together to fix Sakanami.
——————
A week went by since the events of my battles against the Astra Valkyries and I was accepted as one of them as an Einherjar, the first Einherjar in their organization and they all agreed to help take turns with helping me take care of Atalia.
I sat in Atalia's room, braiding her hair. I didn't want to tell her that I knew who her real mother was until she was older. "French braids?"
"Yes!~" Atalia giggled and stayed still as I braided her hair.
A knock was heard on the door and I looked back and noticed it was Yuri. I smiled at her and went back to focusing on braiding Atalia's hair. She sat beside my on the bed and sighed.
"What can I do for you?" I asked.
"I know I've apologized a thousand times already, but I just wanna say that I'm sorry for treating you the way I did a week ago. For the way Grace, Komine, and I treated you. Now that you're one of us and I'm actually ready to get back into the groove of things, I feel like it's time for you to understand what we do around here." Yuri said.
I nodded and continued to braid Atalia's head. "I've forgiven you a thousand times, but I can forgive you a thousand and one times." I chuckled.
Yuri rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "When you finish with Atalia, I want you to meet me in the meeting room, alright?"
"Aye aye Captain." I said.
Yuri smiled and stood up then walked off.
"Daddy?" Atalia called to me.
"Yes, princess?" I answered and smiled at her.
"Is she really gonna be one of my mommies?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"I guess if she really wants to be, but she's already accepted you and will help take care of you~ You have nothing to worry about." I smiled and finished braiding her hair.
Atalia giggled and looked up at me. "I can't wait to spend time with you and my other mommies!~"
I chuckled softly and gently squished her cheeks. "We can spend time together after I get back from this meeting, maybe go out and get you some new clothes and toys or go out for ice cream~"
"Yay!~ I can't wait!" Atalia said with a bright smile.
I chuckled softly and stood up. "Alright, princess, go play and I'll come get you when I'm done."
"Okay!~" Atalia said and hurried off.
I watched her and smiled then walked out of her room.
Everything was now calm between me and the Astra Valkyries. Because of our peace, Atalia was more happy and didn't feel like she was in a prison. With everything going in the right direction, I wanted to do all I could to grow closer to each Valkyrie and keep Atalia happy. It is my purpose after all and it is a purpose I will fulfill.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone