Angel Monarch

The small group entered Asgard. Since Thor led them around, nobody dared stop or question them. Strangely, every resident acted friendlier when one of their strongest warriors personally held a tour for their group.

The stone road rumbled beneath their feet with each step Thor took. He was like a walking earthquake, yet none of the violent-looking citizens cared, as if they didn't even notice the constant shaking.

"Hey Thor," asked Cass while stepping up beside Melinda. "Why do all these weirdos stare at us with killing intent? Do they want a beating so badly?"

The surrounding people stopped dead in their tracks; some even stumbled and hit the stone ground. A few turned away while coughing from embarrassment, which caused a tiny smirk to appear on Cass's lips.

These little weasels believed nobody would see their hostile and outright battle-hungry glances. However, Cass had already sent hundreds of her illusions looking through the city, and she had at least a dozen following the group from all angles.

When Cass's question reached the group members' ears, they all halted and prepared to summon their weapons. A silent shiver went down the street as the smell of violence filled the air.

However, after a few seconds, a new sound echoed through the street... Thor's booming laughter...

"You're correct, Ms. Succubus! All these people, the Einherjer, all Evolved killers we collected and trained during primordial times. They're valuable soldiers when they obey, but the downside is, they love fighting, especially against the strongest people... I beat many into a pulp before they stopped bothering me!"

"Well, maybe we should teach them a lesson as well!" said Lucy as her dark green dress began oozing a similar colored fog.

She took a step forward, with a mad grin spreading across her cheeks. All the surrounding Einherjer backed away, fear glinting in their eyes. However, their reaction only empowered Lucy's passion.

Lucy prepared to summon her scythe when a large hand grabbed her shoulder. Slowly, with narrowed eyes full of hostility, she glanced up at Thor's gigantic form.

"Get your hand off me." Said Lucy, her voice low and irritated.

Thor grinned at the anger in her dark eyes. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear in an excited voice.

"Make me! I've never seen a Reaper fight before!"

Finally, her black scythe appeared in her right hand just as a dark green cloud appeared around her body. However, before either Lucy or Thor could've done anything stupid, a sudden force pulled away the Reaper's scythe and the fog around her body.

Both the giant and the Reaper glanced at the man standing nearby. He stared at his friend with covered eyes, while tossing a black sphere from hand-to-hand.

A small growl of anger reverberated through Thor's lips as he raised his hammer. Electricity danced along its surface, and the next moment lightning shot out towards Yannick.

He didn't look the least bit worried as he tossed the void sphere into the air, right in the lightning attack's path. All the powerful white energy, which held true destruction within its depths, touched the sphere's infinite darkness.

All the blinding energy went into the dark sphere and disappeared forever. A few tendrils of lightning hit the stone ground, creating a few meter wide craters, but even such power was stopped by a mere black hole.

The failure of his attack only made Thor angrier, but he controlled his temper and instead of trying again, he walked off in a random direction with Melinda keeping up with him. Lucy gave an annoyed glare to Yannick as well and followed after Thor.

However, while he pissed off those two, everyone else nodded their thanks to the tall, lanky man.

They all went after Thor, still hoping he would lead them to Odin. Their hopes were crushed soon though, as the giant entered an enormous golden hall, with Runes carved into its walls.

The sound of laughter echoed from inside, while the smell of freshly cooked boar and mead filled the air.

Melinda followed Thor while talking in hushed tones...

"Is Odin here? We wouldn't want to keep him waiting longer than necessary!"

Thor glanced down at the polite Plague, then with a lighthearted chuckle patted her whitish-gold hair. His annoyance and anger seemed to disappear after he entered this strange golden hall.

Rows upon rows of long tables and chairs filled the hall. Thousands of Einherjer and Valkyries dined with ecstatic expressions. Many had flushed faces, which meant whatever they drank affected even Transcended.

"I'll take you to Odin, but first we eat and drink! It's bad manners to talk business before treating guests!"

Melinda wanted to argue, but upon seeing the delicious fatty meats on everyone's plates, and feeling the strong rumbling of her stomach, she couldn't disagree anymore.

"Okay, fine! We'll eat and then leave to discuss Earth's future with Odin!"

The group cheered loudly behind Melinda as they all ran into the giant hall. A minute later, everyone was seated with a plate of boar meat and a tall wooden tankard full of some golden liquid, which smelled of honeyed mead.

Thor had an especially large plate and mug, but something Melinda realized was that nobody received any utensils, which upon glancing around the hall, she understood why...

The God of Thunder grinned at Melinda with excitement, then grabbed the boiling hot meat with his giant hands and gulped it down in a single bite. He then raised the tankard and downed all the alcohol inside.

A second later, a random Einherjer appeared carrying another plate and mug. They didn't last long either, as Thor continued devouring everything placed before him.

After about a minute and a few dozen plates later, he finally slowed down, which prompted everyone to start eating as well. Most of the group raised the meat and devoured it with light moans of enjoyment.

However, a few of the guests looked at the meat skeptically, including Melinda. She touched it with one finger, then raised it to her nose. It smelled amazing, yet she felt something wrong with it.

Her eyes moved across the faces of her friends. Nobody else noticed anything strange, it seemed... Nobody except Kathy...

The Shapeshifter's face scrunched up in disgust as her fingers touched the greasy piece of boar. Melinda had never seen anyone so uncomfortable as Kathy in that moment.

"What's wrong?" She asked Kathy in a low whisper, so even Thor couldn't hear her words.

Kathy always kept her eyes a different color each day, but her friends already noticed that whenever she felt any strong emotion, her eye color changed accordingly. It turned red when angry or yellow when jealous. Right now it was dark brown, which meant she felt confused.

She glanced at Melinda, her dark skin glinting in the hall's bright light. She leaned forward and answered her question.

"I'm not sure... This meat simply feels wrong... When I touched it, I got an image of a giant boar being cooked atop a large fire. People moved and cut off pieces of meat, which regenerated fairly quickly... As if it were still alive..."

A sudden epiphany hit Melinda as her eyes landed on the piece of boar meat. In that moment, she understood the discomfort she felt... The piece of meat felt alive...

Without another word, Melinda jumped to her feet and walked away from the table. Kathy also followed closely, while someone else called out for them, but through the loud laughing and shouting all voices got lost.

They both marched through the enormous crowd. Many people bumped into them, then shouted rudely, but neither Melinda nor Kathy even glanced at them. However, that didn't mean they were left unpunished...

About five minutes after bumping into Melinda, all these people's bowels began rumbling, and they soon rushed away to the toilets... The luckier ones made it, while most simply shat and pissed themselves...

Waltzing through the crowd and following their noses, Melinda and Kathy soon found a despicable sight...

A giant, skinned boar skewered atop a wide open flame. An Einherjer constantly turned the boar, so its meat cooked evenly, which in itself wouldn't be horrible, yet both women came close to vomiting upon witnessing the poor beast.

Its body constantly regenerated. Whenever someone cut off a piece, it quickly regrew and began cooking again.

When the poor beast's eyes reappeared, they looked pitiful, consumed in agony, but the next second, a random Valkyrie came along. She plucked out the eyes and popped them into her mouth. Her teeth bit down with a sickening crunch.

Kathy bent down and vomited, which made everyone around her cheer. They believed she threw up because of drinking too much... Their cheering only made her sicker...

"Don't worry," whispered Melinda while brushing her hand along Kathy's back. "I'll end its suffering... I don't care what happens afterward... However, before I do anything, promise me to hide and message Vicky if things get out of hand!"

The Shapeshifter wiped her mouth and glanced up at Melinda with a thankful smile.

Her ability gave Kathy an unnaturally strong connection to every creature. She felt their emotions to some extant, so she could understand them better. But this also meant she felt all their suffering, including this boar's.

"Thank you, Melinda... I promise to stay hidden until Vicky receives the message!"

With that, Kathy changed forms, turning into a snake and slithering away into the crowd. Her silvery watch stayed on her neck even in snake form, which looked quite ridiculous.

Melinda watched her leave, then took a deep breath and stepped closer to the boar. The Beast's eyes regenerated again and focused on Melinda's face in a mix of fear and hope.

The Plague's trembling hand reached out and touched the boar's face. A sudden tranquility washed over its pained expression. A loud, exhausted sigh escaped its wide nostrils as the poor creature's eyes closed for the last time.