Chapter 188 The Fate.
"She's here in this world, isn't she?"
B3 kept her silence, her body tensing up with each passing second. A storm of emotions raged in her chest as the uncanny sight in front of her threatened to collapse her thoughts.
The girl facing her had the exact same appearance as her friend Nino, so much so that the only difference is the outfits they were wearing. Something like this shouldn't be possible. As far as B3 was aware, each Valkyrie had a unique appearance and one rarely saw two who shared the same features. But then again the person standing in front of her wasn't a Valkyrie. She was an enemy from another dimension, and no matter how she looked the Valkyries had no choice but to treat her that way.
As she got her thoughts in order, B3 finally noticed the others standing behind Nino's look alike. The tiny one sitting on the giant's shoulders couldn't possibly be mistaken, same for the one holding the stave with the blue crystal.
"We meet again." Perseus said while bowing his head slightly.
"I see." B3 closed her eyes and sighed. "Now I understand why you reacted that way back then."
"Indeed. You can't begin to imagine my surprise when I saw someone with-"
"Perseus." Nino's clone interrupted.
"My apologies." The man bowed his head again and stepped forward. He cleared his throat and motioned toward the young girl beside him before speaking out. "Right now you are in the presence of Lady Atropos, The Fate. This world has been brought under her rule and you have no right to set foot on its soil. As you have done so without permission, we will exercise our authority and exterminate you and your allies."
"Huh?" Ichigo blinked twice and tilted her head a little. "Atropos? Where did I…"
"One of the Three Fates, the goddesses that control the fates of mortals." B3 said. "Though from the looks of it, her sisters no longer exist."
"Interesting." Atropos said, her lips curving up a little. "I've heard our stories have turned into myths in some worlds but this is the first time I meet someone who's familiar with them."
"Sadly there aren't many stories that involve you. Those that aren't very pleasant."
"I was responsible for bringing death, after all. It's only natural that I wouldn't be remembered fondly. Not that I care."
"You said you took over this world, right? What happened to the ones who uses to rule over it?"
B3's attempt to extract information about the Nephilim was met with a mute smile. In a way that gave an answer of its own. Someone who goes around conquering worlds would definitely take every chance to brag about the ones they defeat. The Olympians' silence could be taken as a sign that the Nephilim have yet to be taken down.
"I came here today to deliver your sentence." Atropos said. "Instead of submitting to your fate you decided to fight back, even going as far as destroying one of our ships."
She held a hand out as she spoke and the giant behind her took something out of the bag he carried on his back. A quick eye measurement made it clear that something of that size couldn't possibly fit inside, however the Valkyries were too focused on the item to pay mind to fact. It was clearly a long sword, all of it carved from the same deep red material. The blade was curved and it had only a single edge, and the hilt had a circular knuckle guard.
At first B3 was unable to understand why its shape looked so familiar, but the moment Nino's clone took it in her hand she realized that it was a single half of a giant scissor.
"I no longer have it in me to show you any sympathy." Once the weapon was in her hand, her three subordinates retreated. "Your death won't be a painless one."
B3's helmet unfolded and covered her head once more. Her halo expanded as her entire body tensed up, and the cylindrical shaped drones she used as her main weapon fell out of nowhere forming a triangle around the four enemies.
[Everyone, don't let that blade touch you.]
It went without saying but the twin-tailed Valkyrie felt the need to stress it out. Something about that crimson sword made her uneasy, more so than anything she had faced in the short years she lived as a Valkyrie.
Atropos moved her foot, about to take a step forward. the tops of B3's drones opened up at that moment and tendrils of lightning shot out of them forming a triangular shaped cage before lashing toward the four Olympians. The small man lifted his right hand. In it he held a fist sized glowing orb from which a barrier spawned covering his allies and blocking the lightning heading toward them.
[Sitta.]
[Got it.]
On B3's command the orange haired Valkyrie created a second barrier around the dome protecting the Olympians. It wasn't just any barrier though. The blue blow it emitted showed that it had the same properties as the Valkyries' force field when cranked up to the max, meaning it could disintegrate anything that comes into contact with it. Not only that but it also had anti-teleportation effects weaved into it. Something of this complexity could only be achieved by Sitta, which was quite impressive considering that it was born from her laziness.
Sitta's barrier began shrinking and it soon came into contact with the one the small man created, sparks flying from the friction the two barriers created. The three subordinates seemed to tense up a little as the future where they would get completely crashed was nearing fast, but their leader didn't seem bothered in the least.
Without a care she took a step forward, then another. Out of nowhere, two white discs appeared behind her. Each one split into four pieces of equal size with a blue thread of light connecting them forming two large rectangles.
The two devices floated forward. One of them latched on the inner side of the first barrier and the small space between the four pieces turned blue. It was easy to see where this was going, but when the second device passed through the blue spot without facing any resistance everyone knew what was going on.
The two devices created a door into the barriers. The second one seemed to start disintegrating as soon as it took its place, however it bought enough time for Atropos to pass through at her own pace. Once she was outside the barrier she looked up at B3 and her smile widened a little.
Without as much as a twitch her body suddenly blurred and before knew it B3 was looking at the crimson blade heading straight for her face.