"Did you hear about the lord's condition?"

"Yeah, it seems he's getting better. I'll never understand why he's hiring adventurers like Fang, though. She's a criminal."

"He wants the best of the best. Besides, such criminals are expendable."

"Good point," the two guards walked by a cell. Inside, Vackerie was strung up by her wrists, in chains. She looked wounded from the previous battle, but at least her shoulder had been bandaged. She overheard them, wincing as she tried to speak.

"Wait," she muttered, too quiet to be heard. Her throat had become so dry that her voice was hoarse, and her body so dehydrated that she could shed no more tears. A bucket was placed on the floor she hung above, serving as an extra amount of cruelty. She wondered if doing the right thing was even worth it. Maybe she should have just stayed home, or at least in Virunia. If her father caught wind of this, he'd find her and drag her home, back to sea. Perhaps that wouldn't be so bad.

Suddenly, the guard shouted from down the hall, "How did you get in here?!" Followed by a body hitting the floor. The clanking of two swords was heard, and then a restrained cry for help. Shortly after, footsteps quickly approached Vackerie's cell. Agnes came into the dim moonlight, holding a set of keys. She unlocked the door and ran inside, looking up at Vack.

"Oh, you poor thing!" The elderly woman tried to undo her chains, but they were too high for her to reach. "Damn it all! Davon, you're taller than me! Get in here!"

Davon entered the room, his hands stained with blood. He grimaced at the sight of Vack, whispering to Agnes, "Keep your voice down, will you? This is supposed to be a discreet venture. You're just like your grandson."

"Don't you mean that he's just like me?"

"I am not humoring this conversation. Now make yourself useful and keep watch for any guards," Morelli swiped the keys from her and undid Vackerie's chains, catching her as she fell into his arms. He heaved, "You're heavier than..Well, you're heavy.."

She gripped his sleeve, trying to speak, "Thank..You.."

"Don't thank me, thank the old hag-"

"Hey!"

"Frankly, I'd rather be searching for my sister, since she went off with that friend of yours.."

Vackerie wanted to tell him that she had an idea of where they were, but she could only look up at him longingly. The sight of her vulnerability made his heart skip a beat. He carefully set her down, and she went over to the bucket, dunking her face into it with a small splash. She gulped down the cold water, coughing when she finally reeled her head back out, panting. The dry tentacles that made up her hair wiggled slightly as they became wet and hydrated.

"Hah! So refreshing!" She smiled in relief.

"Erm, Davon," Agnes started, "This really big guy just walked in. Oh, and there are two more guards behind him. We should go."

Morelli nodded, helping Vackerie up, "On your feet. I've already scouted an escape route. Let us be on our way."

"Mm," she followed, focusing less on her footwork and more on his hand as he guided her along.

* * *

A chipped golden foot stepped out onto the cracked concrete, unfazed by the metal file that landed next to it. Heimdall had cut and smoothed all the stray pieces that had malformed him, appearing more jagged as a result. He looked up at the giant snake that spiraled around Loki's building, his gray beard flowing in the wind. The clouds had become large and swirly like a hurricane, with the eye of the storm centered above the portal.

"Loki, you fool! Time and time again, I advised against building the portal on the rooftop of this building!"

The ground shook, and more cracks appeared. The land was becoming unstable.

"I need to get up there and put an end to all of this. If that portal falls into the Bifrost, serving my endless sentence will have been for nothing," Heimdall smacked his hands together, his fingers like golden claws. He leapt high into the air, slamming his extremities into the side of the building, digging them deep into the concrete. He jumped and did so again and again, scaling the skyscraper.

"Wow, so Ragnarok already happened then? I guess that lines up with what Magni said about his dad. But man, that Loki guy's a jerk even if he's doing all this for his 'beloved' sister," Victus was running beside Alyza, who had reverted to her Midgardian appearance. He made sure he didn't outrun her pace, "Anyway, so did you meet any other guys here?"

"What do you mean?" She thought of Emmet but said nothing of him, "I didn't find another lover if that's what you're implying. Why? Did you?"

"Er, no," he thought of Lilith but said nothing of her. "It's just that, there was this guy we saved and he made it sound like he knew you."

"What was his name?"

"He didn't say. But he had gray skin, orange hair, and was missing an arm. Did you know him?"

She stopped, "You saved Emmet?! Where is he?"

He stopped, "Yeah, was that his name? He told me you were on that ship. Speaking of, sorry, Magni got in my way."

"You and Magni fought again? Did you win this time?"

"Yeah, I mean," he gestured to the Mjollsverd strapped onto his back, over the bow. "Heh..Oh and I told Lily to make sure Emmet was okay, and, actually, have you seen a kid? He kinda saved me, I think, but I don't know if he got away."

Alyza shook her head.

"Eh, he's probably fine, even though he's young. Knew how to handle himself."

"Tell me about this Lily girl," she started running again, and he followed.

"I never said she was a girl, but yeah, she's a girl. A demon girl. There's not much to talk about other than her stealing my human essence and replacing it with demonic essence, or something like that."

"She took your human essence?! I'm guessing that's a bad thing."

"Eh, I mean, it made my body strong enough to handle the Yrylis, but that's a whole other thing. I'm hoping I could change back when all this is over."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

As they got closer to the building, the air became colder and the sky more ominous. Victus shivered, "Ugh, it's like I can never escape the cold. We should move to a tropical island whenever we retire."

Alyza giggled, "We're retiring?"

"Well, ya know, when we save the world and finally get married and all that.."

"Speaking of marriage, there's something I need to tell you, but I don't know how.."

Victus already had an idea of what she meant, but he didn't want to discourage any excitement she might be harboring, unaware of how she's much more anxious than excited about their situation. He tripped suddenly, falling over and rolling a few feet. Alyza stopped.

"Victus, are you okay?" She hurried over to him. When he looked up at her, she saw that part of his cheek had been scraped. He was bleeding profusely. "Oh my! We should stitch that-"

"Stitch what?" It was as if he built tolerance to much more subtle pains like this, or maybe he was just so nervous about the pregnancy that the pain hadn't set in yet. Either way, his face healed quickly, and he wiped away the blood to reveal that his cheek was perfectly okay. "Oh, yeah, I can heal really fast now. Part of that whole Yrylis thing I told you about earlier."

"Oh, that's neat," she helped him up. "I doubt you're immortal though, so be careful."

"I will," he rubbed his head, happy that someone was this concerned for him again. "We're almost there, so.."

"Right."

Heimdall landed on the rooftop, a bullet bouncing off of his jagged golden chest. He glared at the guard who shot him, scaring him off. Stepping towards the portal, he kicked the detached limb oozing purple blood onto the floor with an unapproving scowl.

"Disgusting vermin," he growled.

A young woman stepped out of the portal. Her skin appeared sickly green, and her hair an ominous turquoise that matched her eyes. She was wearing armor that looked to be decades old, its furry parts tattered and its metal parts rusted. There were chunks of ice at her elbows and shoulders, sharp enough to easily pierce most creatures.

"How rude," she said. "They only wished to be free from their prison."

"They are dead things, Valhera. They must return to Hel where they belong, along with you!"

He stormed towards her. With only a glare, she froze him in place, encasing his body in a sharp prison of ice. Tried as he could, he was unable to move despite all his godly strength.

"You humor me with your hypocrisy, brother. I thought you long dead, yet here you stand, alive. I presume father revived you in the Fountain of Midas? Surely he was coping for casting away his only daughter."

"I am your elder! Release me at once!" Heimdall shouted.

"Silence. I should cut your tongue for even speaking in my presence, but I suppose I'll let you answer my question. Tell me, who do I have to thank for freeing me from my prison? Don't tell me father had a change of heart?"

Heimdall chuckled, "The true Allfather is dead. All that remains is Loki and a few other insufferable relatives..'

"Father is finally dead? Wouldn't that mean that.."

"Ragnarok already happened. If you wish to live freely in the realms once again, then shut off that portal. If it falls into the Bifrost-"

She waved her hand and the portal was instantly frozen. The structure then immediately shattered when she clenched her fist, grinning. The giant serpent groaned, lowering his head onto the rooftop. She smiled when she saw him, "Jörmie! You live!" Valhera patted the snake.

"You have your freedom. The Allfather no longer controls your fate, and you can do as you please. Now will you please release me?"

"No," she turned. "You meant to imprison me again."

Valhera held her hand up, the palm of her hand glowing a bright white, "And to put it simply, I hate you. Consider your life forfeit."

A beam of frost continuously shot out from her hand, hitting him in the chest. Heimdall cried out in agony as the ice slowly spread around his chest, until suddenly, Mjollsverd landed in front of him, shielding him from the beam. Valhera stopped, "What's this?"

"You oughta leave the gold geezer alone," Vick landed on the sword, his feet perched upon the pommel. His coat heroically flapped in the wind, "He's got this condition where he's really annoying to talk to."

"And you're supposed to be?" She formed a sword of ice, preparing for battle. "Whatever he's paying you is not worth the pain I'm about to inflict upon your body."

"I wish I was getting paid to do this kinda crap," Victus stood, not showing any signs of struggle for balance. "But no, I do this thing for free. Gotta get our name out there first."

"Our?"

"Introducing co-founder of the Mastria!" Victus did an aerial off of the sword, hurling his golden kukri at her. She caught it with ease, freezing it and crushing it in her hands. While distracted, an arrow flew into her back. She staggered as two more landed in her chest, and another in her leg. Alyza landed next to Victus, nocking another arrow and aiming at Valhera.

"You should introduce me after I shoot them next time," Alyza mentioned.

"Eh, it's more theatrical this way."

Valhera glared, tearing the arrows out of her body like they were but only thorns. She let out a battle cry, pounding her fists into the ground, unleashing a river of icy spikes at each of them. Thinking quickly, Victus pulled Mjollsverd out of the ground and bashed it into the ice encasing Heimdall, then backflipped over the ice. Alyza somersaulted out of the ice directed at her, slinging another arrow into Valhera's abdomen. She immediately gripped the arrow and pulled it out, turning it into a spear made of ice.

"Leave me alone!" She hurled the spear at Alyza, but Heimdall punched it into shards of ice before it could hit her.

"Thanks," Ally didn't avert her eyes from her target. "You should get out of here. Vick and I will handle this."

"Nonsense," Heimdall watched as Victus lunged at Valhera with the Mjollsverd. "It would appear that I underestimated the nobility of your friend. Together, we shall send Valhera back to Hel, before she and Loki reconvene. Together, they will be unstoppable."

Jormungandr roared at them, raising his head. His eyes glowed a golden light, then fired lasers at him and Alyza. They both managed to move out of the way in time, but the building began to rumble violently.

"That thing's seeming a little unstoppable already!" Alyza shouted.

"Hold on!" Heimdall pulled her into his arms as the building broke apart, leaping so far that they landed on a neighboring rooftop. He broke her fall, uninjured by the impact due to his golden body, "Are you alright?"

She got up and ran over to the edge of the rooftop, watching as the building tumbled over, "Victus!!"

Vick ran along the building's side, slashing at Valhera with the Mjollsverd. She deflected and parried every attack with her icy sword, running alongside him, neither of them aware of the giant cluster of debris about to fall onto them. It did not matter, however, since Magni drove his foot through the debris, breaking it apart. He landed in front of the two of them, creating a shockwave of sparks that knocked both of them away. While Victus flew back, Magni lunged out at him and gripped Mjollsverd.

"Murderer!" Magni's words confused Victus, allowing him to easily pry the sword out of his hands. Victus kicked himself off of Magni's chest before the raging god of power could slash him in two, diving backward.

He soared downward through the air, between various chunks of debris that crashed into each other. If only he could turn himself around, he thought. Snapping his fingers with an idea, she was summoned like a guardian angel that could read his mind. Forming from a swirl of pink and black, Lily appeared, holding his arm.

"Go get 'em, darling~!" She flapped her wings and spun him around, letting him go.

Vick landed on the concrete debris with a roll but quickly got on his feet, running along the side of the building as fast as his legs could carry him, almost stumbling. A chunk of the building got in his way, and unfortunately, the window was closed. Without hesitation, Victus took out his revolver and fired several times, weakening the glass.

Victus jumped and tucked his knees into his chest, breaking through the glass and landing in a room that was spinning out of control. He tumbled, dropping the gun. It bounced off of the floor and out a different, broken window. Victus immediately dove after it, catching it in the air. There was another cracked window above him that he shot at, shattering it entirely.

Lily flew out of the unglazed window and tucked her wings in, diving after him. He reached out for her, grasping her hand. She spread her wings and the two glided downwards at high velocity, chased by falling debris that created explosions upon hitting vehicles in the street.

"Vick, I don't think we'll make i-"

He dismissed her as Magni abruptly tackled him out of the air, dragging him along the street. The wave of debris behind them came to an end, but the violence did not stop. Magni held him down, pounding his fists into Vick's face over and over, until his forearms became drenched in blood and Vick's face unrecognizable.

"Filthy! Fucking! Brother killer!" He raised both fists at the same time and brought them down together, creating an electric shockwave that launched a splatter of crimson onto Magni's scarred face. Panting heavily, the god slowly rose to his feet, holding out his hand. Mjollsverd twirled through the air at high speed, perfectly landing in Magni's grasp.

A surge of blue electricity began sparking around Magni's body, causing his eyes to glow a bluish-white, "Let's see if you can recover from being completely obliterated!"

He held the large sword high into the air, several bolts of lightning striking down upon its blade. Gripping it with both hands, he slashed downward, unleashing a giant bolt of electricity toward Victus's fatally wounded body.