First Mission

I went to the meeting room and sat down in my seat. Yuri looked at me then nodded and stood up and went to the large monitor on the wall. We all began to watch her and she began to explain the mission.

"There have been a lot of Shadows being reported in Reginul and a fellow Astra Valkyrie has been seen in the area. I will need two of you to go to Reginul and defeat these Shadows. Specifically Dante and one other Valkyrie. I need Dante to go so he can level up. With the amount of Shadows in the area, it will be enough to level up his Rank and Conditions." Yuri said.

"I'll go." Grace said.

I looked at Grace and noticed her filing her nails. She didn't seem to be paying much attention, but she fully grasped the situation.

"Alright. The rest of us will keep seeking around. Reports of Organization X have been made in Reginul as of recently." Yuri said.

"I have a question." I said.

"Yeah?" Yuri asked and looked at me.

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I feel like this situation could've been settled like a week ago if you all weren't focused on me." I said.

Yuri blushed and looked away. She crossed her arms and sighed. "I know, but that isn't important anymore. All that matters is we save Reginul from the Shadows and Organization X. With the old Gods and Goddesses not available to us anymore, we have to depend on our current abilities. I'm trusting you two to handle the situation ASAP and for you to bring the Valkyrie back to our capital, Sakanami."

I nodded and stood up. "When are we going?"

"Right now, we have no time to waste. This will also help with Team Synergy. I have high hopes for you. You managed to technically beat me, Grace, and Komine. That's not easily done even for Organization X so I will hope you don't fail us." Yuri said. "You can go there using was Teleportation Device."

"Right." I said and prepared to make my way out the room.

"Dante, one more thing." Yuri said.

I looked back at Yuri. "What's up?"

"If you and Grace get into too much danger, you can call us for assistance. Make sure your AVS's location is still on so we can track and teleport to you." Yuri said.

"Got it." I nodded and hurried over to the teleportation device.

Grace got up and stretched. "We'll make quick work of these Shadows and whoever is commanding them."

Yuri nodded and watched Grace walk out the meeting room.

——————

A woman panted softly as she hid in an alleyway from the shadows. "Valkyrie Vaja to HQ...These shadows aren't normal. They aren't even Imperial Shadow or even...I don't know what these are..! My Mjolnir is almost out of power as well.."

{Yuri: We are sending help on the way! Just hang tight, Vaja!}

Vaja noticed a few Shadows rushing toward her and readied her war hammer. Lightning began to crackle around her body then she heard gun shots and the Shadows disappearing into puffs of smoke one by one. She looked around then sensed more Shadows on her other side.

I appeared behind her and fired a wave of energy blades at the Shadows, defeating them in one go. I looked back at Vaja. "Are you okay?"

Vaja was a gorgeous woman with long, wavy, waist length blonde hair, bright teal eyes, and pale skin. She wore an armored tiara, yellow and blue ribbons around her arms and waist, a yellow ornate bikini styled outfit, bridal gauntlets, thigh high stockings, and silver and gold armored boots. She wielded a golden war hammer known as Mjolnir. It was clear she was granted the powers of Thor.

"An Organization X unit?! You think you can trick m—" Vaja started then noticed Folkvangr in my hands. "Wait what..? How do you have the power of a Valkyrie?!"

"I'm not a Valkyrie. I am an Einherjar! We don't have time to talk about this! We need to deal with these Shadows immediately!" I said then tossed her a Restoration Pill Cornelia gave us.

She caught it and grunted softly. She took the pill and swallowed it then her powers was restored back to full. "Fine, but I'm expecting answers soon!"

Vaja ran off and began to engage in battle with another horde of Shadows. She raised her hammer to the sky and divine thunderbolts began to crash down and strike down the Shadows.

Grace jumped down from a building and summoned her Gunblade. "Heimdall!" She called out then fired a massive bullet that split apart and struck multiple Shadows at once.

She landed on her feet and summoned her secondary weapon, Hofund. She summoned a pistol and ran forward.

I ran toward the Shadows and blocked an attack from one of them then sliced through them then vaulted over another then grabbed the back of their head then noticed a bullet go through their head.

"Grace!" I called out.

Grace nodded and threw her sword toward me. I caught it then my eyes shined. I sliced in a circle and released multiple cutting waves around me, killing most of the Shadows in my area. I tossed the sword upwards then Grace warped to her sword and somersaulted forward then slammed her sword against the ground, releasing a burst of light which killed another wave of Shadows.

I ran forward and grabbed Grace's pistol and began to fire bullets at the Shadows that surrounded us. Grace summoned a Gatling Gun and laughed as she began to mow down the Shadows

Vaja watched us and seemed impressed then noticed Aerial Shadows. She rushed into action and transform into her Valkyrie Form then flew toward the Aerial Shadows and used her war hammer to take them down one by one. She caused a shower of lightning bolts to strike down the Aerial Shadows.

The three of us defeated the hordes of Shadows and panted.

{Rank UP: F -> D}

I noticed the notification and smiled then sensed another combatant then looked around. Grace sensed another being as well then looked up and grabbed my arm and got out of the way of the Twilight Sword.

"Surtr's Sword..?" I asked.

"Solmund is nearby then.." Grace said.

"Solmund?" I asked. "Wait I thought men couldn't inherit—"

"That's not entirely true. We only say that because it's rare for men to harness the power of Gods and Goddesses. This is why Organization X is a thing, men who borrow power from the Gods and Goddesses, but...they are all Jotunns. They aren't necessarily Giants, but they are extremely powerful.." Grace said and held my arm in her hand.

A man walked forward and picked up his sword from the ground then looked at us. He was a tall and muscular man with short infernal red hair, red eyes, darkened scleras, and darkened skin. He wore black armor with magma red designs, a black cape, and had a core that was guarded in the center of his armor. His sword began to become engulfed in flames.

"A man has joined your ranks? Interesting. Very interesting. His energy...it doesn't feel native to any of the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil or this universe. I can also feel Tyr and Freyja's energy from within him. It would be a treat to rip that from his soul and turn him into one of us." The man said and smirked evilly at us.

"His sword is called Muspell. It is said that his flames can even eradicate a person's soul. All of his victims are said to never see the afterlife which is why they are turned into Shadows with the help of a traitorous Valkyrie named Valdana, the reincarnation of Hel." Vaja explained.

"His energy feels godlike...Are you sure he isn't also a reincarnation?" I asked.

"I don't know...but I do know one thing, we have to defeat him!" Vaja bellowed and propelled herself toward Solmund.

"Vaja, wait!" Grace called out.

Vaja bellowed and swung her hammer at Solmund and hit him, but noticed it did no damage to him. I dashed toward her and grabbed Vaja then swiftly got out of the way of Solmund's counter attack. Solmund targeted me and slashed at me, sending a powerful flaming cutting wave at me. I summoned a protective barrier around us and blocked the cutting wave. The cutting wave caused an explosion.

Solmund appeared behind us and smirked. I looked back then groaned as he punched my face, blowing me away. Vaja fell out of my arms and grunted as she hit the ground. I slammed into a wall and grunted. I landed on my feet and grunted softly. Solmund kicked Vaja aside and walked toward me.

"Interesting! I can feel your power constantly growing just like Tyr! Show me that power, mortal!" Solmund said and dashed toward me.

I noticed him and blocked his slash then dodged his next attack then clashed with him. We pushed each other back then rapidly clashed multiple times before he swiftly dodged my next attack then kicked me away. I slid backwards and grunted, coughing up a bit of blood.

"He's...so strong..." I said with a few grunts.

"Dante! Get out of there! We need to retreat! Grab Vaja and let's go!" Grace yelled.

I nodded and ran toward Grace then dodged a powerful apocalyptic fireball then groaned as the explosion blew me away. I crashed into another building and fell to the ground. Grace grunted then dashed toward Vaja and grabbed her.

"He's so focused on Dante...I could just leave." Grace said then watched me get up slowly. She grunted and summoned her pegasus and put Vaja on her back. The pegasus flew off then Grace hurried over to me.

Solmund appeared in front of Grace then kicked her away then fired an infernal sword beam at her. Grace landed on her feet and perfectly dodged the sword beam, surprisingly Solmund.

"I see, using Heimdall's Perfect Senses now aren't we..? You won't last long enough to escape!" Solmund laughed and his fiery aura surged powerfully, nearly melting the ground.

I looked at Solmund and held my stomach. "Hey!"

Solmund looked back and felt my overbursting power. "What..? How did he acquire so much power?"

Grace smirked and her eyes shined. "Each blow boosts his condition..the stronger the blow the stronger he gets. That's how Tyr operates which is why he's known as the True Hero!"

"You fucking idiot! Why did you tell him that?!" I yelled.

"Damn I can't boost your ego now?!" Grace yelled.

"You just handed him a free win! Now we have to do this the hard way!" I yelled and my aura surged powerfully. "Freyja!"

A powerful golden light shined and Solmund noticed it. Folkvangr shined brightly and a golden light appeared on the sword. I bellowed and a golden cloak of falcon feathers appeared on my body. I flew over toward Grace at high speeds and picked her up then used my cloak to take flight at high speeds.

"You aren't getting away!" Solmund bellowed and flew after us.

Solmund began to fire a barrage of fireballs at us. Grace summoned her pistol and fired beams of light to collide with the fireballs and caused multiple explosions in the sky.

"He's too strong to handle even with my Combat Empowerment! If we face him head on, we will lose!" I said.

"I'm aware of that, smartass! Just keep flying!" Grace yelled and kept firing beams of light at Solmund to get him off us.

Solmund dodged the beams of light then propelled himself toward us faster using his flames. He began to catch up with us and noticed golden beams of light crashing down at him. He dodged the beams and groaned when one struck him and sent him crashing to the ground. The golden sky went back to blue and we managed to get away fast enough.

Solmund grunted and looked up then growled then warped away.

——————

The three of us made it back to HQ and landed in front of the building. I set Grace down and reverted back to normal and fell to my knees, panting.

"Daddy!" Atalia hurried over to me and hugged me. She used her healing abilities to heal me and smiled at me.

I smiled at Atalia and rubbed her head then stood up. "Hey, princess. Thank you for that."

"Good job, you two. You saved Vaja and saved Reginul. I saw you even promoted to D Rank, Dante. Good job." Yuri said and smiled at us.

"Thanks, but I think it's time I know what truly is going on and what Organization X's true plans are because he was not a normal adversary. You all are fighting against actual GODS! We couldn't even fight him head on!" I said.

Yuri nodded and held her arms. "I'll explain everything. Just come inside and rest for a bit."

I nodded and made my way inside then felt Vaja grab my arm. I looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Thank you." Vaja said softly.

I stared at her and smiled. "No problem. I'm always happy to help the ones in need.."

Vaja nodded and let me go and watched me walk inside with Atalia. Yuri and Grace also watched me.

{Astra Valkyries' Respect Increased!}