[138] The Battle of Norse
<span style="font-weight:400">Chapter 138: The Battle of Norse
<span style="font-weight:400">—
<b>[Third Person Point of View]</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">The Norse Pantheon’s initial n was to simply send just Thor to Japan and deal with Aqua. They were confident that their God of Thunder alone would be enough for Aqua, or any ally he might have now that Quetzalcoatl was not there.
<span style="font-weight:400">Later they realized they were mistaken.
<span style="font-weight:400">The presence of a Divine Sun Goddess was blooming like a torch from the Hoshino Household, powerful enough to negate the upper hand they received after removing Quetzalcoatl from this war.
<span style="font-weight:400">That''s why there was a dy in sending Thor. Odin had to figure out a solution to this. Sitting on his throne in the Asgardian Castle while stroking his beard, Odin went over this decision of his.
<span style="font-weight:400">While he did so, a dark-skinned man stood under the staircase of his throne. It was Heimdal, the All-Seeing Eye of Norse, and the foggy hologram that floated in the air, a live stream of Midgard Japan presented on it, was only possible by his power.
<span style="font-weight:400">It was not very clear, not capturing everything, but it was good enough. “I don’t think this was a bad decision…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Odin muttered out loud, and Loki, who was sitting on a chair nearby, scoffed hearing it. “It’s fine. Aquamarine isn''t our only target, no, he’s rather a hassle—the main target of Yggdrasil was that actress. So if we sent Thor alone, he’d have to fetch her from the house after having dealt with Aqua. We can’t be sure how injured he’ll be by then so that Goddess hiding in the house might have defeated her.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mhm,” Odin agreed. That’s why he sent his other two sons, Thor''s two brothers, Baldur and Vidar, to join in this conquest.
<span style="font-weight:400">While there was a chance that Thor alone was enough to deal with both Aqua and this unknown Goddess, it didn''t hurt to be careful. Besides, it''s not as if the Norsecked numbers.
<span style="font-weight:400">While Thor will focus on the initial goal of subjugating Aqua, the other two would gang up on the Hoshino Household which the Divine Sun Goddess was protecting.
<span style="font-weight:400">Her sun divinity was so intense that initially when they sensed her presence, they thought it was Amaterasu, and almost canceled the entire n. But when they realized that it was an unaffiliated Goddess of unknown origin, who was camping inside the Hoshino Household for some reason, the decision was final and the three brothers were sent to Japan.
<span style="font-weight:400">“...Heimdall, rewind a little,” Odin ordered as the scene rewinded a bit. Just a minute ago, the scene he had been surprised by yed again.
<span style="font-weight:400">The gate of Bifrost opened, and the three sons of Odin were teleported by Heimdall. Rainbow beams rained on Tokyo, having been allowed ess thanks to the help from Fallen Angel Kokabiel, as the three brothers appeared in the sky one after the other.
<span style="font-weight:400">– <b><i>Boom-</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">!
<span style="font-weight:400">Thor swung Mjolnir the second he appeared above the boy and the sound of bones crunching filled the area. The air exploded on the spot with a boom and the impact sent Aqua into the river below.
<span style="font-weight:400">An <b>Instant Dungeon</b><span style="font-weight:400"> was automatically opened by the usage of Bifrost, so the surge of water that rained upon the city from the impact didn’t actually affect the real world.
<span style="font-weight:400">About ten secondster, the sky reverberated and shimmered with light when Aqua leaped out of the water and an Icon manifested overhead. Odin found himself caught off guard once again, the sight of a 15-year-old human using Icons going beyond him.
<span style="font-weight:400">‘...Is it because of his lineage? Truly incredible.’ Odin decided, till the scene sped up and shifted to the Hoshino Household. There, Baldur and Vidar floated overhead.
<span style="font-weight:400">* * *
<span style="font-weight:400">Around the same time,
<span style="font-weight:400">“Finally home…” Ichigo stretched his arms as he stepped out of the car, yawning.
<span style="font-weight:400">Despite all these new powers he now had, he was still working his job. ‘Truly there is no stop to corporate very,’ he shook his head.
<span style="font-weight:400">He walked to the door and found it locked. He had the key, but he wondered why it was locked. It was nighttime already, Miyako and Tsubasa should be home by now. To check if they had been notified about some sudden tour, he took out his phone and checked the notifications.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ah,” Indeed, there was an asion. There were messages from Ai, telling him to go to her house instead of his when he’ll return. Miyako and Tsubasa were there already.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I wonder what the asion is,” he rubbed the back of his head and began to walk to the Hoshino Household. It was right beside his house, just a few seconds of walking, but Ichigo had to pause for a moment when he <i><span style="font-weight:400">thundered </i><span style="font-weight:400">as if it was the call of the apocalypse.
<span style="font-weight:400">At the same time, his innate instincts sensed a change in the energy around them—his eyes caught the spread of an aura around the world that separated this space from the normal world. The presence of normal humans that he felt a moment earlier vanished, leaving only him and those inside the Hoshino household in this space.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Whoa, what is this now?” he shuddered a little as a few more explosions came from the distant sky, shaking his head and quickly walking over to the gate of Ai’s house.
<span style="font-weight:400">There, he was surprised once again, “Whoa,” there was a doubleyer of barrier just outside the house, one green and the other blue, wrapped over one another.
<span style="font-weight:400">He ced a hand at the barrier, and surprisingly it phased through, which meant he was allowed ess.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ichigo-!” there was a calling from the yard behind the gate, and his head snapped to look at the horrifying expression of Miyako. She was walking out of the house’s door with Ai and the others beside her, all looking at him. “Behind you!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Ichigo snapped his head backward, and a hand pped the side of his face. He was sent flying backward, away from the barrier, while the women yelled from inside.
<span style="font-weight:400">He mmed against a house, and it crumbled to dust.
<span style="font-weight:400">* * *
<span style="font-weight:400">Earlier,
<span style="font-weight:400">When the girls returned home and told Ai about Aqua''s instructions, she knew there was something wrong. He knew she wasn''t used to these types of situations, nor did she ever use formations before. Yet he put this responsibility on her shoulders meant it was potentially an emergency.
<span style="font-weight:400">She invited Ichigo and Miyako into her house, but while Miyako was already there, Ichigo waste due to some work. While waiting for him, Ai began to work on the formation and array. The girls were told to do their daily routine, and in the meantime, Ai finished taking care of the orders.
<span style="font-weight:400">Then, she changed her outfit into that of the Light Goddess and sat down to sip tea. She had to be prepared for anything, even if she didn''t know what to expect.
<span style="font-weight:400">Hours passed, and she caught the aura of Aqua on the edge of her senses.
<span style="font-weight:400">She activated her X-ray vision to look at him kilometers away from her, and a thin smile formed on her lips.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, everything was alright.
<span style="font-weight:400">He was just there, almost-
<span style="font-weight:400">– <b><i>Boom</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">-!
<span style="font-weight:400">A Warhammer swung into his face that he barely blocked with his arms. Even from this distance, due to her focus, Ai did not miss the sound of his bones crunching. The air exploded on the spot with a boom and the impact sent Aqua into the river below.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ai shot up from her seat. “No…!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Her shout caught the attention of all who were in the area. They looked at her with confused and startled eyes, and she ran out of the door instead of exining.
<span style="font-weight:400">“...” Ruby caught the morbid expression in Ai’s and immediately realized this was rted to Aqua. She ran behind Ai and the girls exchanged nces before following along.
<span style="font-weight:400">Miyako followed them too, her eyes already changing shape into their new tech-like form.
<span style="font-weight:400">When they stepped into the front yard of the house, everyone shivered in fear.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ichigo-!” Miyako yelled for Ichigo, who was about to step into the barrier when arge figure loomed behind him. “Behind you!”
<span style="font-weight:400">A skinny hobo man, no, a Viking Deity, mmed Ichigo on the face with the back of his hand, as he was sent mming into a building nearby. The building crumbled, and Tsubasa began to run out.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Father!” she yelled and shot out, but Ai grabbed her.
<span style="font-weight:400">“No! There are two of them!” Ai shouted, pointing to the other Viking in the sky.
<span style="font-weight:400">A Viking Deity, bulky in opposition to the skinny one, as well as wielding a sword unlike the unwarmed one that attacked Ichigo, floated outside the doubleyer barrier with an easy-going yet arrogant look on his face.
<span style="font-weight:400">He stood in the air silently, not attacking the barrier mindlessly unlike what a few of the girls expected, yet still, the sheer pressure from his floating presence caused some of the girls to faint.
<span style="font-weight:400">Kana fell first, followed by Shoko, and atst Miyako. They slumped to the ground and the others gasped in worry.
<span style="font-weight:400">The situation was looking bad.
<span style="font-weight:400">Just then, a brilliant purple light shot from where Ichigo was sent flying, and hit the skinny God on his back. He mmed into the barrier and failed to phase in. Indeed, the barrier was working as intended.
<span style="font-weight:400">That surprised the bulky god in the sky, while the skinny one turned around right after the beam ended. When he did, a stone-like humanoid was already in front of him. He grabbed the God by the throat, tossing him into the air and mming his chin with a superheated, glowing fist. He didn’t end it there, when the God stopped in the air, he raised a hand toward him and fired another purple, rainbow-colored beam.
<span style="font-weight:400">– <b><i>Zzzhinggg</i></b><span style="font-weight:400">~!
<span style="font-weight:400">The entire area hummed with the sound of superheated energy burning through the air, while the God blocked it with his arms crossed and groaned. The other god leaped down from the air to attack the crystalsapien, Ichigo, who quickly dodged by jumping into the barrier.
<span style="font-weight:400">The god attacked the barrier with his sword, but it didn’t have any effect. So he just grumbled and looked back at his brother in the air, “Are you alright, brother Baldur?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ah, shit, this one’s strong,” Baldur chuckled as he uncrossed his arm, revealing a huge grin. He appeared slightly injured, but not bothered.
<span style="font-weight:400">In the meantime, Ichigo crouched down to check on his wife on the ground who had lost consciousness earlier. “Hey, get a hold of yourself!” He tried to wake her but to no avail.
<span style="font-weight:400">In the end, Tsubasa made a quick decision to pick up her mother, as well as Kana and Shoko, and carried the three of them into the house. She returned soon, alone, and transformed into her yokai cat form.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ai exchanged nces with Ichigo and then quickly formted orders, “Yuzuru and Asia, go inside the house. Protect the unconscious.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“We''re here, what’s going on?!” Just then, Irina and Xenovia rushed into the front yard from the backyard, where they were training in the gym.
<span style="font-weight:400">Asia and Yuzuru exchanged nces and ran inside. They wished they could help, but right now they knew they''d just be a big target and liability in this battle.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Gghr, how dare enemies target the Lord’s house?!” Four cubs joined behind Ai next, their small builds growing in size with each step, and Blue joined them to stand as five house-sized white tigers.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone looked up at the Asgardian Gods with careful frowns. Ai Hoshino, as the Goddess of Light, stood at the front beside Ichiho, with Ruby, Tsubasa, and the tigers behind her.
<span style="font-weight:400">None of them attacked first, remaining inside the barrier was the better choice. The two Gods looked down at them with surprised yet amused looks etched upon their faces.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This is interesting,” The skinnier of the two Gods, Baldur, said, with his burn injury already healed. “I wasn''t expecting so many of them, especially the two at the front. They’re particrly strong. Who do you want to take on, Vidar?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Vidar fiddled with his sword and looked at Ai, and then at Ichigo who had taken the form of a Crystalsapien. “Brother, as a God of Light yourself, the area will get too bright and shy if you sh with that woman. Besides, my sword might not be a good weapon against that stone-like guy, your fists will be much better.” The Nordic God of Vengeance finished as his eyes locked back with Ai.
<span style="font-weight:400">Baldur shrugged, “Sure, I’ll take care of the stone guy, he annoyed me anyway. You focus on the Goddess.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...This is not looking good,” Ai scowled deeply, her heightened hearing picking up on their conversation, as well as their names.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Gleaming God of Aesir, Baldur.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Fenrir Eater of Aseir, Vidar.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, then,” Baldur smirked and shrugged his shoulders, dusting off his palms. “First, let’s take down the barrier. It looks strong.”
<span style="font-weight:400">He kicked the air, leaving an exploding trail of wind behind him, and drew a curled fist backward. His fist gleamed with the light of a star and he mmed it against the doubleyer barrier wrapping around the house.
<span style="font-weight:400">The air reverberated like the sound of a city-sized drum, the sound traveling for miles around. A small crack formed in the giant dome, but it didn’t break right away. But who knew how many more it could endure?
<span style="font-weight:400">Ai and Ichigo exchanged nces and then nodded. She looked back at her daughter, Tsubasa, and at the tiger cubs. “Stay back, inside the barrier.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Then, she and Ichigo leaped toward the Gods. Ichigo’s fists crackled with electricity now, since heat and light-rted attacks might not be the best choice against a God of Light, while Ai shone like the light of midday sun and drove head-first toward Vidar.
<span style="font-weight:400">Baldur crackled and collided fists with Ichigo, sending <i><span style="font-weight:400">booms</i><span style="font-weight:400"> through the air, while Ai parried Vidar’s sword with a sword of light of her own.
<span style="font-weight:400">The situation grew intense, the neighborhood turning to dust aside from the Hoshino Household, while in the distance Aqua and Thor collided against one another.
<span style="font-weight:400">**
<span style="font-weight:400">**
<span style="font-weight:400">**
<b>.</b>
<b>Link: /Master4thWall</b>