Ding... Dong... Ding... Dong...
The heavy, oscillating toll reverberated throughout the fortress. It not only announced that it was the "Second Night" (typically, people retired during the Fourth Night and awoke during the First Day), but its deep resonance also slowly pulled at the consciousness of Lylith—who was napping after her shift.
"Lylith... Lylith..."
A woman's voice intruded into her thoughts.
Lylith frowned without opening her eyes, trying to banish the voice so she could snooze a little longer.
"Lylith... get up already."
This time, the voice was not merely calling her name.
Lylith started, eyes snapping open instantly. She vaulted from her bed and rushed toward the large, polished silver metal plate affixed to the wall—an object she had always used as a mirror. But this time, the image appearing on the silver surface was not her own reflection.
Instead, the surface displayed the image of a woman with long black hair, wearing a dress the color of Veronica, standing as if superimposed from another world.
"Angria! Angria! I'm here!" Lylith called out to the woman in the reflection hurriedly, trying to excuse herself for letting the other party call for so long.
"I didn't think you were such a sleepyhead."
"Eh!" Lylith's eyes widened immediately upon noticing the white bandages wrapped around the other woman's shoulder. "You... are you injured?!"
"Surviving and returning at all counts as luck being on my side," Angria replied, sweeping her hair back to reveal another severe wound on her forehead.
"What exactly happened?"
"Don't you know about the explosion at Sterkburin?"
"The work of Wolf King Stálma, I assume," Lylith replied with what she knew.
"Hah!" Angria scoffed in her throat with disdain. "That son of Samantha has no wit to do something like this."
"Then whose handiwork was it?" Lylith asked immediately.
"Our leader... the head of the nine Unicorn Witches, Sydra. Or as you call her, Sigyn."
Merely hearing the name Sigyn caused Lylith's breath to hitch. She tried to suppress her panic before asking, "It was the Untora explosion spell, wasn't it?"
"Not just Untora... but Ultra Untora."
At the mention of this name, Angria's hand unconsciously rose to clutch the wound on her shoulder. The image of the blinding light from an explosion beyond imagination still lingered in her eyes, creating a fear that had not faded.
"What? What spell?" Lylith thought she had misheard, so she asked again.
The Untora spell was something every primordial Valkyrie knew well, as it was significant enough to be used to distinguish the clans of Valkyries in the past.
"Tch!" Angria clicked her tongue in irritation before drawling provocatively, "Ultra... Untora..."
"Ultra... Untora..." Lylith repeated softly, her face still filled with confusion and lack of understanding.
For her, Untora was not just a common magic name, but a science known to all primordial Valkyries, used as a criterion to divide the families of holy warriors in the past. But the spell name she just heard... had never appeared in her era before.
"I don't know how it happened, but that spell was more violent than any explosion spell that has ever existed... If she hadn't held back and pulled it in, the entire Kingdom of Sterkburin might have been obliterated."
"She could pull the explosion spell back?" Lylith found it harder to comprehend the more she listened. Retracting a destructive force that had already been unleashed... how was that possible? Even though she herself could not use Level 9 magic, her understanding of Untora magic was surely second to none in this world.
"I don't know! I'm telling you what I saw with my own eyes," Angria snapped with frustration, befitting the title Witch of Wrath that she possessed.
"And... and what else happened?" Lylith forced herself to ask, though she began to have a bad premonition.
"And then she died," Angria answered bluntly, turning her face away in displeasure.
That answer caused Lylith to freeze instantly. Her body went numb as if cursed; it felt as though the world had gone dark for a moment.
Angria narrowed her eyes at the reaction of her conversation partner with surprise. All along, she viewed Lylith as the same type as herself... a woman driven by wrath and devoid of empathy for others. Yet, this panic to the point of losing composure annoyed her even more.
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"What is this... has everyone gone mad?" Angria muttered grumpily. "After that woman died, everyone seems to have changed. Even my master... lately seems to have called off the deal with the High Elves."
Lylith heard every word clearly, but her body was rigid as a statue, her consciousness drifting too far to utter a reply. For her, Sigyn was incredibly important—more than could be easily explained to others.
"Che!" Angria scoffed in annoyance when she saw the other party go silent. "I'm going. Come talk to me when you're back to normal."
With those words, the silhouette of the Witch of Wrath slowly faded from the metal plate.
The image in the mirror shifted back to the reflection of the room's owner... the image of Lylith, General of the Heavenly Army, who was now... shedding tears down both cheeks without realizing it.
Going back to the era before Ragnarok, Valkyries were clearly divided by bloodline and power. They were split into two great clans, adopting the names of Level 9 Great Magic as their surnames and family honors... Untora and Holy.
Lylith and Vina were born under the shadow of the Holy clan.
In their youth, the two sisters showed signs of genius and outstanding development, becoming the heart and highest hope of the clan—that they would bring renown to the Holy family, perhaps even surpassing the leader of the Untora clan, Sigyn herself.
However... as time passed, the story did not unfold as many predicted.
As the two sisters grew, their magical limits could not surpass Level 7, no matter how much effort they dedicated.
When sky-high expectations collapsed into plummeting disappointment... love and admiration turned into coldness.
The Holy clan could not accept this blemish. The two sisters were not only cast out but denied the right to be even low-level Valkyries... The verdict emphasized that they were worthless and nonexistent.
Yet in their darkest moment... Sigyn, the supreme leader of the Untora clan, reached out. Ignoring the scandal, ignoring their origins, she opened her arms to receive the two defeated sisters as Valkyries under her Untora banner.
"That you cannot use high-level magic is of no consequence," Sigyn's voice from the past echoed in Lylith's memory. "As long as when Ragnarok comes, the weapon in your hand can slay the enemy standing before you, you are a true Valkyrie."
For Lylith, this was not just an opportunity, but a new life... This grace, pulling them up from the abyss of despair, was etched into her soul, never to be forgotten.
And that was the reason... why the tears of the strong General could not stop flowing at this moment.
Ding... Dong... Ding... Dong... Ding... Dong...
The bells tolled a new round, deep and solemn, rousing Lylith's consciousness. She raised the back of her hand to wipe her tears roughly, taking a deep breath to summon strength back to her mind. She told herself that right now, she was a Heavenly General, second in power only to God Vaali. Her rank and dignity now stood higher than Berlynda, the representative of the Holy clan—who was once merely the captain of the 23rd Unit in the ancient era.
The conversation with Angria left many puzzles, especially the background of the war between the Unicorn Witches and the Dwarves of Svartalfheim. It seemed there was a secret deal involving the High Elves... This major issue should be reported to God Vaali immediately.
However... Lylith's body did not follow her brain's command.
She stepped out of her room without the Valkyrie armor she was accustomed to wearing. Her footsteps, usually firm and steady, now seemed light and drifting, like a spirit without a destination.
Her feet carried her along the corridor until she stopped in front of the prison sector of Valh?llsv?r. Her right hand grabbed the key to Cell Number 3 and unlocked the padlock silently.
When the door opened, the prisoner inside glanced at the visitor and trembled. But this was not out of fear; rather, it was a multitude of emotions surging up, too overwhelming to handle in a single moment.
Lylith left the key in the lock and stepped inside. Her eyes fixed on the familiar figure, and she called out softly.
"Vina..."
The young woman in the cell looked up, her face bathed in tears, before speaking with a trembling voice. "Sister... finally you agreed to come see me... this traitor."
In that blink of an eye, the word 'traitor' held no meaning in Lylith's thoughts. She looked at her sister with pain before speaking the cruelest truth.
"Lady Sigyn... is dead."
As if lightning struck her heart, Vina's body jerked and then went completely still.
Lylith stood stiffly, letting the tears that had just dried flow again uncontrollably.
It was Vina who regained her composure first. She rose and rushed to embrace her sister tightly before guiding Lylith to sit together on the bench by the wall.
"How did Lady Sigyn die?" Vina asked while raising a hand to wipe the tears from her sister's face. "Even for a god, it is not easy to defeat our leader."
"She died at the Kingdom of Sterkburin..." Lylith replied with a trembling voice. "By the explosive force of the great magic... Ultra Untora."
"Ultra Untora..." Vina repeated, her eyes void of surprise, as if she had known of this spell's existence all along. "Lady Sigyn succeeded in her revenge then."
Lylith noticed the reaction immediately. "You knew of this magic too?"
"Ultra Untora has appeared... that must mean God Magni has fallen, is that not so?" Vina did not answer the question but seemed to deduce these events herself. "From now on, there will be no God Magni... and Modi will likely go mad until no one can stop him."
Lylith trembled at the truth she heard. She shook her head slowly. "No... God Magni is dead, it is true, but he was ambushed by the High Elves... He did not die by Ultra Untora."
Vina had been imprisoned here before the death of God Magni occurred. Therefore, she could not possibly know the stories that everyone else in the universe already knew.
At this point, Vina's expression changed to visible panic. "There is someone other than Lady Sigyn who could kill God Magni? How is that possible!"
"The one who slew God Magni... is named Dark Asanee."
"Dark Asanee..." Vina murmured the name in confusion. "Impossible... Then Lady Sigyn departed without exacting revenge with her own hands... Oh, Lady Sigyn..."
Vina broke down sobbing, unable to suppress it any longer. She hugged Lylith tightly, feeling the utmost pity for the fate of the benefactor of the two sisters.
Lylith sat still, letting her brain piece the story together. The information from her sister made certain clues clearer... Sigyn's plan... the explosion spell prepared to kill a god... but everything had gone awry.
Suddenly, Vina pulled away. She collapsed to the floor, hugging the knees of her sister, the Heavenly General, tightly. She looked up with pleading and determined eyes.
"Sister... I beg of you... please accept me back as a Valkyrie."
Lylith was stunned by the request. She looked deep into her sister's eyes before nodding slowly through her tears. One hand was placed gently on Vina's head.
"Yes... Of course, Vina, my sister."
Finally, the two sisters were reconciled once more.