Vergil completely ignored Hela’s smile, the way she remained far too close, and the fact that her fingers were still resting on his arm. There would be time to deal with the Queen of Helheim’s obvious lack of restraint later. At that moment, the voice that had called for Freya beneath the bridge and the growing number of missing Valkyries were far more important.
He removed Hela’s hand from his arm and walked to the center of the hall.
"I need an overview of the situation."
Hela kept smiling for a few more seconds, but immediately noticed the change in his tone. Her seductive posture gradually disappeared, replaced by the presence of a ruler who had been trying to sustain an entire realm with increasingly fewer resources.
She pointed toward a long table near the throne.
"Then come."
Vergil, Brynhildr, and Göll followed Hela. The table’s surface was made of polished black stone, marked by thousands of thin lines representing Helheim’s spiritual routes. Some glowed pale green. Others were dark. Many flickered irregularly, like arteries unable to maintain a constant flow.
Hela placed both hands on the stone.
"The first problems began several months ago. Souls appeared in the wrong sectors, some routes folded over themselves, and some Valkyries took longer than usual to complete simple patrols. At first, it seemed like a natural failure of Helheim. This realm is ancient, and not every passage remains stable forever."
Vergil observed the lines.
"When did you realize it was not natural?"
"When the routes began returning the souls."
Hela touched a line near the northern edge of the map. The passage lit up, showing hundreds of spiritual points moving toward a bridge. When they reached the middle, the points changed direction and returned along the same path.
"The dead believe they crossed," she explained. "Their memories record that they reached the other side, but their spiritual bodies remain at the point of origin. When the Valkyries tried to force the crossing, some disappeared."
"How many during the first incident?"
"Four."
"And afterward?"
"Seventeen the following week. Forty-two the next month. Then disappearances began happening in sectors with no direct connection to the first bridge."
Brynhildr leaned over the map.
"You reinforced the patrols."
"Yes."
"And that provided more targets."
Hela nodded, irritated with herself.
"I needed to keep the souls moving. If a route stopped, I sent more Valkyries to investigate. When two teams disappeared, I sent a third with more warriors. I only noticed the pattern after the signals began vanishing in several regions at once."
Vergil scanned the table.
"The main problem is not the accumulated souls."
"No."
"Nor the damaged routes."
"Not while I continue sustaining the main ones."
Vergil looked at her.
"The Valkyries who lost their signals."
Hela nodded.
"They are not dead. At least not in a way Helheim recognizes. If a Valkyrie were destroyed inside my domain, I would feel the rupture. But they simply stop responding. The connection remains, extremely faint, like a rope passing through a wall I cannot see."
Vergil pointed toward the table.
"Show me every disappearance point."
Hela raised one hand. Green energy flowed from her fingers and crossed the map. The normal lines dimmed while dozens of red points appeared over the surface.
Then dozens more.
Then hundreds.
The points were not distributed randomly. They formed four main groups. One around the northern bridge, another near the lower corridors, a third around a mountainous region, and the last dangerously close to the palace.
Vergil analyzed the arrangement for several seconds.
"Did these four points appear at the same time?"
"No. The northern bridge came first. The lower corridors came afterward. The mountains began showing failures three weeks ago. The palace region is recent."
"They are all connected."
Hela looked at him. "How do you know?"
Vergil drew an imaginary line between the groups.
"They are not spreading from a center. They are surrounding the main routes. If they continue advancing, they will isolate the palace, cut off the reception bridges, and prevent any Valkyrie from crossing the realm without passing near one of these regions."
Brynhildr understood.
"Someone is closing a network around the administration."
"Or building one," Vergil added.
Göll became more serious.
"To take the Valkyries?"
"Perhaps. Or to use the bond between them and Helheim as a foundation."
Vergil turned toward Brynhildr.
"Use Gjallarhorn."
She placed a hand over the horn.
"A general call?"
"Not merely a call. A direct order. Every Valkyrie still capable of recognizing your authority must abandon her patrol and return to the palace immediately."
Hela frowned.
"If we withdraw everyone, the bridges will stop."
"It is better to lose the flow of the dead than more warriors."
"Some are guiding thousands of souls."
"And if they disappear, you lose both the Valkyries and the souls."
Hela remained silent for a moment.
Then she nodded.
"Do it."
Brynhildr removed Gjallarhorn from her back and walked to the entrance of the hall. The Valkyries guarding the palace stepped aside when she raised the instrument. This time, there was no subtle note. Brynhildr filled her lungs and blew.
The sound crossed Helheim like a physical command.
The green flames bent in the same direction. The mist was pushed away from the bridges. The souls stopped walking and raised their faces. The call descended through the roads, crossed walls, reached the mountains, and entered the lower passages.
Within the sound, there was a clear message.
Immediate return.
Abandon patrols.
No further searches.
Everyone to the palace.
Brynhildr lowered Gjallarhorn.
"Now we wait."
They did not need to wait long.
The first unit arrived less than a minute later. Seven Valkyries crossed the mist in formation, carrying two wounded companions. Others appeared over the walls. Entire groups began emerging from the nearby bridges, some flying, others running, and some using spiritual routes that closed immediately after their passage.
Within five minutes, the courtyard before the palace was full.
One thousand two hundred and eleven Valkyries.
Exactly the number reported by Göll.
No other response came.
Brynhildr left the hall and walked to the top of the staircase. Vergil, Hela, and Göll remained behind her. The gathered Valkyries watched their commander with a mixture of surprise, relief, and confusion. Some stared at her horns and sacred-demonic wings. Others looked at Gjallarhorn, trying to understand how Heimdall’s artifact had reached Helheim.
Brynhildr did not prolong the silence.
"While you kept this realm functioning, the Valkyries of Asgard rebelled."
The murmuring began immediately.
She raised one hand.
"Odin refused our requests for aid, ignored the disappearance of our sisters, and tried to imprison those who came to investigate Helheim. We left Asgard."
One of the warriors at the front asked:
"All of you?"
"Almost all. Twelve thousand are now in Sparda."
The Valkyrie’s eyes widened.
Brynhildr pointed toward Vergil.
"The Demon King ensured our withdrawal. He removed the Bifröst from Asgard, took Gjallarhorn, faced Thor, survived Odin, and offered our sisters a territory where they may choose what to do with their own lives."
Göll whispered to one of the guards:
"He also stole Mjölnir."
The news spread within seconds. Several faces turned toward the hammer secured at Vergil’s waist.
Brynhildr continued:
"Some of you were left out of the plan because communications with Helheim were compromised. We had no way to consult everyone before the rebellion. Therefore, the choice remains yours."
She took a deep breath.
"Those who wish to return to Odin will be guided to a safe route as soon as possible."
The silence lasted less than two seconds.
Then one Valkyrie began laughing.
Another joined her.
Before long, most of the courtyard was laughing openly, some in disbelief, others with pure contempt for the idea.
A dark-haired warrior raised her voice:
"Return to Odin?"
Another answered:
"I would rather die."
"He let our sisters disappear here."
"He ordered us to keep Valhalla functioning while we did not have enough people for the bridges."
"If Brynhildr left, I am leaving too."
An older Valkyrie pointed toward Vergil.
"Did he truly face Odin for you?"
"For all of us," Brynhildr replied.
The woman did not hesitate.
"Then my oath goes to him."
The others began agreeing. Some raised their spears. Others struck their shields. The sound grew until it filled the entire courtyard.
Brynhildr waited for it to diminish.
"Then it is decided."
Vergil stepped forward.
"I will not transform any of you now. First, we will resolve the disappearances. Afterward, you may accept the same pact offered to your sisters in Sparda."
No one complained.
He looked across the formation.
"I need details about the patrols. How did you divide the units before the disappearances? How many guarded each route? And how are you guiding the souls with less than half your forces?"
A Valkyrie wearing armor marked with administrative runes stepped out of the formation.
"I commanded the eastern sector."
"Speak."
"Each main route received between twenty and fifty Valkyries, depending on the volume of dead. The smaller ones operated with five or six. We maintained mobile patrols between sectors and two reserve units at the palace."
"That was before."
"Yes. After the disappearances, we reduced the smaller routes to two Valkyries. Some were left with none and were checked only once per day. On the main bridges, we gather the souls into larger groups and conduct crossings at intervals."
"How many souls per group?"
"Between two thousand and ten thousand."
Vergil frowned.
"With how many Valkyries?"
"Sometimes four."
Brynhildr became visibly irritated.
"Four warriors guiding ten thousand dead along an unstable route?"
"There was no other option."
The Valkyrie continued:
"We also stopped evaluating memories individually. We perform only a superficial separation. Violent dead are sent into containment, calm souls proceed to the common sectors, and uncertain cases remain on the bridges."
Hela added:
"Almost three hundred thousand souls are waiting for classification."
Vergil looked toward the magical map inside the hall.
"So you are keeping every gate open to prevent accumulation."
"Yes," Hela replied. "If we close the entrances, the dead will continue arriving at the edges of the realm. Spiritual pressure will increase and could rupture natural routes."
Vergil turned back toward the Valkyries.
"How many disappeared while guiding souls?"
The eastern commander replied:
"More than six hundred."
"And during search patrols?"
"Almost one thousand."
The decision became simple.
"Close Helheim’s gates."
Hela looked at him.
"We cannot."
"You can."
"The souls will accumulate."
Vergil shrugged.
"Let them."
"You do not understand. The dead from several worlds arrive here continuously. If the gates are closed, the pressure may reach Midgard, Svartalfheim, and other lower routes."
Vergil remained calm.
"Then open only one controlled passage."
Hela frowned.
"A single route cannot handle the flow."
"It does not need to."
She stared at him.
Vergil pointed toward himself.
"I can devour the souls that arrive."
The courtyard became silent.
Göll tilted her head.
Hela blinked slowly.
"All of them?"
"As many as necessary."
"The souls never stop arriving."
"Neither do I stop absorbing."
Brynhildr studied his expression.
"Will that not overload your soul?"
"In sufficient quantity, yes. But I can separate energy, memory, and identity. Those that are not dangerous can remain stored. The condemned or corrupted can serve as energy."
Hela crossed her arms.
"You intend to turn Helheim’s entrance into a direct corridor to your stomach."
"Do you have a better solution?"
She opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
Vergil continued:
"The real problem is the missing Valkyries. The accumulated souls are merely logistical pressure. We close the gates, stop the patrols, remove every target from the routes, and force whatever is hiding to act without new victims."
Brynhildr understood immediately.
"If the disappearances stop, we confirm the Valkyries were the objective."
"And if they continue," Vergil said, "the target does not depend on the patrols."
Hela looked toward the map, then at the one thousand two hundred and eleven warriors gathered before her.
Reluctantly, she nodded.
"We will close every gate except the eastern entrance."
Vergil placed a hand over Mjölnir.
"Good."
Hela narrowed her eyes.
"And you are truly going to devour everything that arrives?"
"Yes."
A slow smile appeared on her face.
"Then my one hundred and fifty thousand souls were not such an absurd idea."
Vergil released a sigh.
"Do not start."
"I only wanted to help."
"Close the gates."
Hela laughed, but raised her hand.
The palace runes lit up in sequence. In the distance, a thunderous sound crossed Helheim as the first great gate began to close.
Then another.
And another.
For the first time in ages, the realm of the dead interrupted the flow of its own souls.
And somewhere beyond the known routes, something realized its prey had stopped walking.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter