Chapter 25

" I am glad that you're back with us, Rose," Sigrun said happily. She was relieved to know that her friend was safe and sound; she had spent two sleepless nights just worrying about her safety, seeing her sitting by the fireside with the other Valkyries lessening her worries.

As they left the healer's hut, they were sent back to guard the village from the attacks of the undead. While the number of the undead had decreased a bit, it was still a lot and every help was greatly appreciated. Even Artom and Igor joined the Valkyries to defend the village, as it was the only thing they could do to divert their worries and let off some steam.

The Valkyries, who have not yet been briefed about the two children were surprised at their fighting abilities especially when they were in their monster forms.

" It looks like they had a really rough day. " one of the Valkyrie sitting with them commented as she saw the Volkov brothers sleeping peacefully on Rossweisse's lap.

They sure did, Hlökk. Sigrun turned to her fellow Valkyrie who was munching on an apple. The two boys surprised them all as they exhibited their fighting abilities during the Undead attack.

" At this rate, they could even become as strong as Mr. Erik when they grow up." A bespectacled Valkyrie named Reginleif commented.

" They are way stronger than the children their age. " Hlökk continued, " Makes me wonder what their father feeds them daily. "

" Well, their diet consists of meat and potatoes, but mostly meat. Nikolai really loves them. " Rosswisse answered while stroking their hair.

" Can't really deny that. You should have seen how protective they were of him when he was injured. " Sigrun then proceeded to describe how she and her team had met the Volkov family and the fight that led them to that encounter.

" And don't forget to mention that their father was a badass warrior. " Hildr added who was one of the Valkyries who fought Nikolai in the forest. " Despite being outnumbered he managed to restrain all of us with no effort. He even took Sigrun's Destruction fist as if it were nothing and he even beat her in unarmed combat! Is he even human at this point? "

" I hope I'm not interrupting anything." A sudden voice came from behind them, surprising them as it was their supervisor who was approaching their spot.

They were about to stand and greet her, but Eir motioned for them to just sit down.

" No miss Eir, you are not interrupting anything. " Sigrun replied to Eir, as she gave a nod and sat beside Rossewisse.

The silver-haired Valkyrie was about to ask Eir a question regarding Nikolai, but Eir had already anticipated it.

" If you're going to ask about the Russian man, he is fine. He had so many bone fractures, especially on his face... but regardless, his wounds have healed but the Sigrun's punch gave him a very serious concussion. "

Rossweisse relieved a sigh of relief at that news, but the concussion part did was very concerning

Sigrun felt very guilty for her actions as she had caused such serious injuries to him and to make his sons to experience something very traumatic.

" But he will be alright, right? " Sigrun inquired and saw a nod from Eir, which relieved her a bit.

" Speaking of the Russian man, " Eir turned to Rossweisse, "Can you tell us something about this mysterious Russian man who saved your life and why is he doing here, outside his own country?"

Everyone's attention was all placed on Rossweisse who was feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the attention she was getting. Every Valkyrie in the area was gathered near their campfire ( ten Valkyries plus Eir ) as they wanted to know more about this mysterious tanned-skinned Russian man.

Rossweisse cleared her throat and began from the beginning, from the time he had rescued her. She omitted the part where he had stripped her to treat her injuries and the part where he promised to marry her.

Everyone was surprised to hear that Nikolai and his sons had been living in this Zombie-infested forest for seven freaking years!

" So you're saying that he had no memories other than his name and his country of origin? " Reginleif inquired, " And that he woke up in the basement with a lot of corpses that were probably some group of lunatic cultists? "

Rossewisse gave a nod and proceeded to narrate to them about his combat abilities which surprised all of them at his feat of strength that had already surpassed them by many folds.

" Oh my gosh! Doing push-ups with a boulder tied to his back? That sounds so strong and manly!" Hildr said in a sly voice, causing the other girls to giggle. "No wonder he has such an amazing physique," she added, which made Rossweisse's cheeks flush red.

She didn't know why, but hearing those sly comments about Nikolai made her feel uncomfortable for some reason.

And of course, her best friend saw that.

" Hey, don't talk about Rose's dashing savior like that; it's making her feel jealous. " Sigrun joked, which caused the silver-haired Valkyrie to blush and the other Valkyries to chuckle.

" Don't worry, Rossweisse; I won't steal your boyfriend from you. " Hildr gave a hearty laugh that made Rossweisse blush even harder.

" W-what nonsense are you spouting?! " Rosswisse sputtered out words out of embarrassment and annoyance that caused her comrades to laugh even more at her expense.

" What do you mean nonsense? Just think about it, a woman saved by a brave warrior and as he takes her to his abode in the middle of the forest and takes care of her, doing some spicy action... " Hildr was very theatrical with her words as her shifted and swung her body left and right which Rossweisse was very ashamed to listened as those things had happened with her and Nikolai back in the cabin.

But luckily for her, Eir had other plans. "Okay, you can stop with those indecent actions; we have important matters at hand."

" Oh! " She stopped what she was doing and her focus was once again on Rossweisse.

" So you're saying he had a Sacred Gear? "

Ah yes! His Sacred Gear!" Rossweiss stuttered over her words, but quickly regained composure. "What I learned about his Sacred Gear is that it can devour any weapons, which he can then summon and use, and then resummon them again if they break. If he were to devour the same weapon, it would improve its quality." Everyone was kind of impressed by the ability of his Sacred Gear.

With this ability, one will never have to worry about repairing or re-sharpening their weapons, and they can even upgrade them.

" Anything else? " Eir inquired.

" Yes. " Rossweisse face began to show a hint of unease and all of them were kinda confused at just why does she had that expression.

" It also has the ability to grant him the powers and abilities of any magical creature it has devoured."

So that's why." Eir muttered, "Looks like he has gained some strong regenerative abilities."

" Also, he can also give those said abilities to others. " Rossweisse continued, which caused a lot of discussion among her comrades.

" But there is a price for that. "

That silenced them all.

Something did not feel right with those words.

" W-what the price Rose? " Sigrun inquired.

" A soul. "

.

.

.

" A-a soul? " Sigrun was dumbfounded at such a high currency.

Yes, his Sacred Gear is very powerful," Rossweisse wanted to continue but she stopped mid-sentence and felt something was not right.

" Papa? " The Volkov brothers suddenly got as if they had a bad dream... They felt it too.

" R-rose? Artom? Igor? What's going on? " Sigrun asked on seeing that they were very spooked at something.

" It's Nikolai. "

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Author's note:

Hey guys, thank you all for reading the latest chapters of " Rise of the Baba Yaga ". I have really nothing much to say, so as usual please leave a comment, a review and power stones to support me and tell me if I'm doing a good job.

And see you all again in the next Chapter