Chapter 958: I planned millennia for just this moment, Odin.
Scathach had been many things in her long life. A teacher, an advisor, a general, a leader of a small tribe of uncivilized Noble Vampires... The latter being the first profession she'd ever had, and the one that shaped her personality as it was now.
Before being a teacher and a Master, she was a warrior, a proud warrior who spent over two millennia in constant training to become stronger. And it was because of this mindset that she was so 'difficult' for Victor to conquer.
Even now, she was not 'officially' married to Victor because he had not officially defeated her yet. But she knew that her motivation had turned into a game for them, a game for her not to lose the motivation to become stronger.
After all, if she didn't love Victor, she would NEVER have let him touch her body. She demands a strong warrior as a mate, but this warrior must also be to her liking. If she didn't like him, no matter how strong he was, it wouldn't have mattered to her.
Before, she was stronger than Victor. Now, he was stronger than her, and she must chase after him to become as strong as he is. Victor had given her all the advantages; she was a True Dragon now, and her potential knew no bounds. All she had to do now was train, train, and train even more to catch up to him.
But why had this sudden thought appeared in Scathach's mind? It was because of the sight she was seeing right in front of her now.
A woman floating in the air, looking down upon all of Asgard. She wore a black dress that seemed specially made for war, easy to move in, and covered various essential parts of her body. Her long, curly black hair was flowing in the wind, and her sapphire green eyes were shining with pure Power.
But it wasn't this inspiring sight that caught Scathach's attention; it was the Space around her that had been 'ripped' and the claws of a creature that had appeared, followed by a giant blood-red eye with a black sclera.
"What the hell is that?" Violet grunted in shock. Even with her Draconic Eyes, she couldn't 'see' what it was.
"We assessed this war too briefly... If she's capable of commanding something like that, Asgard is at an even greater disadvantage than I thought," Velnorah said.
"Do you know what that is, Velnorah?" Aphrodite asked.
Scathach looked at Velnorah curiously, wondering the same thing. After all, in all her existence, she had never seen anything like this.
"... Creatures from The Abyss," Velnorah said. "In the deep Universe, outside the predetermined Sectors of the Primordials, there is a place called The 'Abyss.'" She showed a hologram in the shape of a planet to provide context.
In this hologram, a projection of the scale of the Universe was created. In the beginning, there were the developing galaxies, then the Lower-Level Sectors, the Middle-Level Sectors, and finally, the High-Level Sectors.
"These creatures live more or less here..." A black projection appeared below the newly born galaxies.
"You seem unsure," Aphrodite asked.
"That's because Creation is not something so simple. The Universe is in constant infinite expansion due to the Primordial of Infinity, but at the same time, the Universe is not immortal. It is dying while living due to the work of the Primordial Death and the Primordial The Universal Tree," Velnorah explained while continuing:
"It's a confusing Concept that not even I fully understand. So I recommend you don't try to understand it now. The point is that these creatures live in the 'dead' areas of the Universe, where stars no longer exist, only pure darkness and black holes. That's why they are called creatures from The Abyss."
"Great, just GREAT," Violet growled. "As if it weren't enough to have all the Beings in our Sector ranging from Demons, Vampires, Werewolves, Angels, and Gods. We have Gods from Higher Sectors along with Races we don't know, creatures from The End, and now we have creatures from The Abyss who apparently live in the dead region of the Universe or some nonsense explanation like that... Just how dangerous is this world?" She couldn't help but sigh at the end.
Sometimes, Violet missed when she was just a common Noble Vampire, and her only concern in the background would be chasing after her Husband and documenting EVERYTHING he did.
At this point, Eleonor couldn't help but agree with Violet. The more she learned about the Universe, the more she realized just how dangerous it was.
"Do these creatures belong to The System?"
"Of course they do."
"The System encompasses all of Creation. The Akashic Records record EVERYTHING in Creation, so Beings like Creatures from The Abyss are also registered there and probably have a specific sub-System created to deal with them, or the Primordials leave it to Death to handle them since they kind of fall under his jurisdiction."
"The last part I said is pure speculation because no one except the Primordials knows what their jurisdictions are," Velnorah concluded.
"...Right..." Nyx spoke after Velonorah finished the explanation. "And how strong are they?"
"I have no idea," Velnorah said. "Since this dead place houses both High-Level Galaxies and Low-Level Galaxies, there must be some variation in ridiculous Power."
"HELLLLLLA!" Odin roared, his voice echoing throughout the battlefield, also catching Nyx's attention.
"Are you INSANE!? Do you desire the destruction of Asgard so much that you've resorted to summoning these creatures!?"
"Yes." Hela's simple response left Odin speechless for a few seconds, and in the next moment, his anger increased even more.
The whole war was going well: Thor and Jormungand were already fighting, Baldur and Vadir were entering combat with Fenrir, and the undead minions were no problem for their Elites.
All that was left was that End Dragon, which was just hovering in place, and Hela herself. But SUDDENLY, this woman summoned this creature, a creature whose only purpose was destruction.
But his anger disappeared in the face of the horror that followed.
Hela's sapphire-green eyes shone even brighter as a dark Power with shades of green covered her body, and in the next moment, warriors started rising from the ground. Unlike before, these warriors had Human skin, wore sandals, capes, a kind of loincloth, and had helmets, but what stood out most about these warriors were their distinctive helmets, shields, and spears.
"I've prepared for Ragnarok since forever, Odin. This war isn't a war; it's an execution." She gestured upward as if summoning something from the ground.
A tall man emerged from the ground, standing at 2 meters tall with a muscular body.
"...So this is where you've been... Ares searched for you for so long but never found you... And to think that Hela kidnapped you in your death, she's quite cunning, isn't she?" Aphrodite spoke with visible shock on her face.
These words left the girls puzzled, but their confusion was quenched due to Hela's next words.
"The greatest forces of warriors have been assembled... Warriors, tell them who you are."
"WE ARE SPARTA." The man's voice echoed around.
"AOO, AOO, AOO!"
The men, resembling the first one, raised their spears and stomped their feet.
The man took a deep breath. "Ahhh~, this smell, the smell of war, the smell of home."
"We were only 300, and it was in death that I felt most alive, but thanks to death, I can step into another war, a Divine War."
"We were 300..." The man's smile grew maniacal. "Now we are 30,000." The man spun his spear and then pointed it at the enemies.
"And with 30,000 SPARTANS, we will make history again!"
And it didn't stop there as, with another hand gesture, another army began to rise from the earth, horses made of bones, over 20,000 men in full armor, and in front of them stood a man with black hair and a beard.
"Hmm~... It seems it's time to fulfill the agreement." The man's eyes turned to the army. "I wonder what it will be like to impale a Divine Army... This is quite exciting."
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Scathach stood up, banging on the table, her face in pure shock.
"Do you know this army, Scathach?"
"...Walachia, the Royal Army personally commanded by Vlad Tepes."
"But that's not the reason for my shock. It's that man! That's Vlad Tepes. How does this woman have his Soul!? Didn't Vlad merge with him?"
"... Wait, wait, you're confusing me here," Violet grumbled. "You're talking about Vlad, but isn't Vlad the King of Vampires?"
"Violet, how can our King be Vlad himself if he's over 5000 years old?"
"Just like Victor did with Adonis, Vlad did these things in the past, too. He assumed various identities throughout his life, but unlike Victor, in honor of his friend, Vlad the Vampire King took on his friend's identity."
"Just like Victor did with my father... Are you saying Vlad merged with that man?" Violet asked.
"Exactly, that's why I'm surprised to see him here. His Soul should be with Vlad."
But the surprise didn't stop there as more than 700,000 men rose from the ground. Unlike before, an entire structure was created, with a short-haired man sitting on a Throne.
The man looked at Hela, and then he looked at Asgard. "I understand... The time of Ragnarok has come... As promised, I will fulfill the agreement, Goddess of Death."
"Feel grateful for the benevolence of this Emperor." The Emperor stood up from the Throne.
"... Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus," Aphrodite muttered in shock. "Better known as Julius Caesar, the First Roman Emperor... This woman... She... Just how many armies has she stolen from other Pantheons?"
"... We need to accelerate our plan... We completely underestimated the hatred of this woman," Eleonor spoke.
The girls nodded in agreement.
A man walked in front of the army, that same tall man who looked like the commander of the Spartans.
"My name is Leonidas of Sparta." A distortion in Space occurred, and a bipedal creature with several eyes and tentacles came out near Leonidas and he climbed onto the creature.
"SPARTANS, will you fight with me once more?"
"AOO, AOO, AOO." The response was only an even louder war cry.
With a wave of her hand, a Divine Power shot out of Hela's hands and fell on all the armies.
In the next moment, black full plate armor with shades of green covered all the Spartans, the Romans, and the Wallachians. Hela opened her arms wide, and several cracks in Space opened in the air. In the next moment, several bipedal creatures of various sizes, similar to what Leonidas climbed on, came out.
This sight filled Odin's eyes with pure despair. 'I should have killed that child when I had the chance.' He looked at Loki angrily.
Loki, whose face was solemn, just looked at Odin and sighed. 'Do you hate us that much, Hela?'
"Lords, Emperors, Kings, and formidable warriors." She pointed her staff at Asgard.
"Destroy everything."
"OOOOOOHH!"
Leonidas was the first to charge. While riding The Beast of The Abyss, his body was covered in green flames, and like a green comet, he leapt among the Gods.
Clearly, these men who came back from the dead were no longer mere Humans.
"SPARTANS! We fight together, and we will die together!" The moment after these words were uttered, all the Spartans who were in the distance vanished and appeared around Leonidas.
"Form up!"
A turtle-shaped formation was created, and in the next moment, the spears grew abnormally and skewered everyone within a radius of 50 meters, killing hundreds of Odin's soldiers.
"Freya, take command."
...