Valkyrie Smash

For the first time in her life, Juni finally learned what it meant for silence to be deafening. She had just arrived at the slums of the old city, an entire district of abandoned buildings where no one lived, save for the few orphans she had played with earlier that day. Something seemed off right away, but she couldn't get her hands on it right away. Not until her friend arrived.

An instant later, a suffocating pressure fell on the entire area, startling everyone present.

"Ingrid?"

The Nephilim was expressionless, but they all could sense the rage radiating from her body.

"They're gone…"

There was no need to search the buildings. One look using their special eyes and it became clear that not a single person was inside, living or otherwise. No less than sixty children took residence in those buildings and now they were all gone.

"Is there a possibility that they moved elsewhere?" A Valkyrie, one whose name she never bothered to learn, asked with a grave expression. She was one of the three assigned to this mission along with Juni and her.

"No, the small ones wouldn't be able to move at night." Ingrid summoned her halo and floated up. "Someone took them."

The conclusion was an easy one to reach however all it did was fuel her anger. As she began to look around for clues, she happened to catch a glimpse of Juni's face and the terrified expression she had on. It was like a bucket of cold water was spilled on her head, cooling it down and helping her regain her composure, consequently killing the pressure she subconsciously emitted.

Having calmed down, Ingrid went back to looking for any clues for what happened. It didn't take long for her to find a few things. Doors left open, their locks clearly broken. Wooden boards snapped in half, planks with holes made by something heavy stepping on the wrong spot. But most importantly, some of the traps set all over were activated.

The orphans living in those buildings weren't slouches. They were well aware of the danger children like themselves were in and so they came up with clever ways to protect their home. They blocked most passages and left only a few. The only safe one was the secret passage only kids like them could take.

The others were seemingly normal-looking corridors, all of which contained different traps that could easily incapacitate an adult. Looking at the aftermath made it clear that they worked as intended, though it was unclear if those who fell into them were taken out.

"Hm?" Ingrid entered one of the living areas through a window and immediately noticed a strange stench. "Sleeping gas?"

It was a little faint but still lingered despite the open window, which told her it hadn't been that long since it was used. There were no obvious signs of struggle, which was a little difficult to ascertain considering the chaotic nature of a room where a bunch of unsupervised kids lived.

"Ingrid, did you find something?" Came Juni's voice from outside.

"Nothing." She said before stepping out. "This doesn't seem like the work of some sloppy gang."

It has been barely an hour since they went to deliver the boy named Rollo. The culprits couldn't have come up with their plan and executed it in that short time, meaning they were waiting for their opportunity the entire time.

"Call the lady with the glasses." Said the Nephilim. "Tell her we might be dealing with the same people responsible for today's attack."

Ingrid was prepared for a lecture to follow her return to the hotel, expecting her little trip to the human settlement to be the reason. The idea that someone might make an assassination attempt on her queen never even crossed her mind.

The assassin was a normal human who had some exceptional stealth equipment, one that allowed her to bypass the tight security of the hotel as well as the watchful eyes of several Valkyries. In the end, the assassin failed to achieve her goal, but the fact that she got close enough to shoot at one of them was an achievement on its own.

Ingrid had a good reason to believe that the assassination was related to the children's disappearance. When they visited the area to retrieve Juni's phone she happened to scan the entire area multiple times. Back then nothing seemed suspicious, but if there was someone capable of fooling a barrier expert like Sitta then she believed her own eyes wouldn't have been enough to uncover the perpetrator.

"Should we check with Simon and Sara?" Juni suggested. "Maybe they know something."

"Why would… no, you have a point." Ingrid gave the idea more thought then nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to ask. Maybe they noticed something suspicious as of late."

Instead of answers the only thing they received upon reaching their destination was more questions. After some search, they found themselves at a hospital full to the brim with injured humans. To Freyja's children such scenes felt a bit alien, but it wasn't like they were incapable of empathizing with the suffering that was in front of them.

"This… Who could've done this?" One of the Valkyries asked.

"We will know soon enough." Said Ingrid. She then turned to one of the rough-looking youths watching them from a distance. "You there, we're looking for Simon."

It didn't take a lot of convincing before they were guided to where the gang boss was and what they saw at the destination was further proof of the severity of the situation.

"Antony…"

On an old hospital bed was the tall bartender. His body, wrapped in white bandages, was strapped to several medical devices. Juni was frozen still when she saw him, her mind not registering the presence of other people in the room. Simon was there and so was Sara along with several others.

"What are you doing here?" Simon asked, his question directed at the Nephilim.

"The big guy sent us to check on the orphans," Ingrid answered. "What in the world happened?"

The young gang leader seemed reluctant to answer so he turned to the reporter silently asking her to do the talking. Sara recounted everything that happened so far while the others listened with grim expressions. She told them about the gunmen that raided the old city and all the kidnappings.

While the Black Panthers were able to stop some of them, they soon found out that the same was happening in several other locations.

"He was shot while trying to get back his daughter." Simon gazed at his bedridden friend and gritted his feet. "We couldn't make it in time..."

Silence permeated for a couple of minutes as everyone took in the information.

"This is much bigger than we thought…"

Ingrid found herself struggling to understand the situation despite its clarity. Children under the age of fifteen had the highest chance of Awakening safely so it wasn't so strange that someone would try to kidnap a few.

Obviously one had to be truly foolish to believe that they could get away with it, which is why she was starting to suspect that the purpose wasn't the kids themselves but something else.

'Am I overthinking it?'

"Ngh…"

A weak groan drew their attention to the hospital bed where the bartender slept. His injury was quite severe so no one expected him to wake up so soon. After some struggle, he finally opened his eyes and began looking around.

Simon was the first to catch his attention, having been right beside him the entire time, but then he noticed the two alien girls on the other side of his bed and the machines he was plugged into went haywire.

"Good morning, princess. Did you sleep well?" Ingrid asked with a grin.

Antony stared at her for a moment then smiled under his oxygen mask.

"Can't… can't say I did…"

"Antony, are you okay?" Juni asked with genuine worry. "You aren't in pain, are you?"

"I… I'm good." His body shook as he tried to push himself up. Simon rushed to his aid, adjusting his pillow to allow him to sit.

"Simon... they… they took Callie…"

The young gang leader hung his head.

"You should rest for now," Sara spoke in an even tone. "Everything will be fine. We will definitely find her."

"That's right, old man." Ingrid added. "You sit tight while we get your little brat back. I will be expecting some free drinks afterward, ."

Everyone including the bartender were seemed surprised by her declaration, their eyes widening as her words gradually set in. It hasn't been that long since they learned of her being a Nephilim and they didn't know how to feel about it. They still couldn't get over the fact that she wasn't human, and if not for her stunning beauty they would've mistaken her for a normal girl.

"Antony." Juni took the bartender's right hand in both of hers and looked up at him with a serious expression. "We will definitely find the bad guys and get Callie back!"

~[ ]~

"We have received a response from command." When they went back outside, the supporting Valkyrie was there waiting to inform them of the news. "The order to start the operation has been given."

"... What?" Juni was stunned. "I thought we still had one more day!?"

"Clearly not." Ingrid sighed.

She had a feeling things would proceed in this direction when they discovered what happened in the old city. Many have died and many more were injured, and to top it off, a bunch of children were kidnapped. The conditions were perfect for the influence of Madness to spread.

'Good thing the big guy foresaw this…'

Among the Valkyries sent to support her and Juni, two of them were Cleansers. They were told to bring with them all the necessary equipment to perform their job, and as soon as they noticed the aftermath of the raid they set up their drones and cast a wide-scale purge.

"May I ask what this operation entails?"

Sara's question took them off guard. She and Simon had followed them outside intending to join the search for the children.

"That is none of your concern."

As she wasn't familiar with the reporter, the supporting Valkyrie came out a bit hostile while responding to the question. Ingrid quickly jumped in to cover for her.

"They're starting the evacuations, that's all." She said. "It's not a big deal.

Simon turned to her with a frown.

"Sounds like a big deal to me."

"Let's just focus on finding the children, okay?"

"I will call Nana and ask her for more help," Juni said and took out her phone.

"Yeah, you do that." Said Ingrid before turning her eyes to the gang leader. "Alright, let's go check on the guys you captured."