VALKYRIE SMASH

The sixth day after the events in the Nephilim world. Following the council meeting, the list of things that needed taking care of kept growing and with the time constraint no one could afford to waste a second. That said, there were a few situations where slowing down was a necessity.

"You want us to lend you some Cleansers?" Thor lowered the steaming cup in her hand as she asked.

"Indeed." Sam nodded. "We are starting to receive reports about children showing the symptoms. It might be those who have strong telepathic perception but…"

"You can't take chances, huh…"

Silence took over as the two sipped their tea. The meeting was scheduled by Sam to discuss a few things and request the Nephilim's assistance, in addition to closing the gap between him and the scarlet queen. That is why despite how busy they were he made sure to prepare the best tea available in the post-apocalyptic world and ordered high quality sweets hoping to leave an impression. He put some thought into the meeting place as well. The small garden Nine created behind the residence was destroyed during the battle with Torso, however with some diligent effort she managed to grow it back. After the other Valkyries moved in some began helping take care of it and before long it expanded significantly becoming the perfect place for a romantic date.

Of course the topics of their discussion were more aligned toward politics so it wouldn't be easy for him to earn enough points, however he had enough experience to know that the path to a maiden's heart was long and each step toward it counts.

"I take it you inquired your fiance about the future."

Out of nowhere an insurmountable hurdle fell from the sky blocking his way. Sam glanced at Mimir who was standing at the back and she quickly averted her gaze causing his smile to twitch.

"Indeed." Sam replied, pretending to not have noticed the coldness in the queen's voice. Nothing he says could help him overcome the hurdle so he had no choice but to go on and hope he wouldn't make things worse. "As you might have already guessed, things are going to be quite chaotic for a while."

Using her Needle, Nino checked the Tapestry of Fate to determine when the Primordial would show up. Unlike what happened in the other world there weren't as many Paths that led to dead ends, at least not in the following weeks. Still, being careless wouldn't do them any good so they were trying to place themselves on the Path with the least amount of casualties by making the best preparations they could.

"The first Fallen will appear two days from now at the earliest." Sam recounted what the Japanese doll told him. "Fortunately it seems the human survivors won't be directly targeted this time."

Their only experience with Primordials showed that the otherworldly abominations try to eliminate every last sentient being on the planet before devouring the accumulated Aether. Atropos confirmed that fact so they anticipated a long battle, but turns out the Key drew all of the ancient being's attention making the forty sixth base the only target.

'Not that it would leave them be if we failed...' he thought.

The world already met the conditions for the Ritual making it a potential meal for the Primordial. If they fail and the Key is consumed, the likelihood of the abomination turning its eyes to the survivors is very high.

After a moment of thought Thor glanced in Mimir's direction and the green haired Nephilim gave her a court nod.

"General Sanderson." She said. "May I ask what the future holds for the humans of your world?"

Sam's smile grew stiffer.

"Are you concerned about what they might do?"

"The way things play out will without a doubt affect our own future." She replied. "I imagine you want to keep us around as you need our assistance. But won't that change once you obtain enough Awakened?"

Humanity's relationship with the Nephilim wasn't exactly stable, considering all the massacres the latter committed on both worlds. It would be quite naive to think everyone would be on board with living and working alongside them, and though humans didn't have much of a say in the matter right now, the same can't be said for when they gain enough power to confront them.

Even if they managed to bury the history Sam doubted the animosity would disappear. Humans discriminate against each other on the most insignificant bases which make mixing them with beings like Freyja's Children a recipe for disaster.

If one were to count both Valkyries and the Nephilim the number of Freyja's Children wouldn't even reach five thousand. Meanwhile there are about half a billion Calamity war survivors, a third of which are under fifteen. If even half of them Awakened and reached the same level as the Olympians, the first generation alone would be more than enough to overwhelm the girls.

Sam pondered his answers for a while. The truth was that the future didn't look too well. A single Path has countless Divergences so the farther into the future one looks the more difficult it becomes to determine how things would turn out, and that's without considering the unseen outcomes Fate likes to conjure at the last moment.

Though Nino's Needle might seem omniscient at first the truth is that it has too many limitations to influence events far into the future.

Sam's actions in the last council meeting have placed them on the most optimal Path toward the goals he was trying to achieve. Most of the Divergences that involve the humans from their world can be dealt with simply by Sam not faltering in his decisions, but Nino didn't seem to like it that much, saying that she didn't need to look into the future to know what his dictatorial actions would lead to.

"Seeing that we blamed the entire war on Odin it won't be too difficult to manipulate public opinion into accepting you among us." Sam eyed the crimson queen. "In my opinion it would be for the best if we attempt to merge our societies, but that's not a decision for me to make on my own."