Ragna looked at her friend, and grimaced.

The entire time, she had to watch the two fight like berserkers. Joining them would have been suicide. The crossfire would have taken her out in seconds, and neither would have noticed. What had gotten into the two? Had they lost their mind? Their battle had no purpose. It was a fight for the sake of killing the other. No honor, justice, or survival had driven them. Only madness and the desire to beat the other up. It didn't matter that she didn't qualify as a Valkyrie anymore, she had to stop Altera. Fighting like that wasn't human.

Not giving a moment of notice to Ragna's presence, Altera forced herself up with the Fehu rune. She coughed and exhaled. The friction had chaffed her face and scraped off the skin on her temple. Her sweat mixed with blood. It ran down her armor and turned the metal into a patchwork of silver and scarlet.

New wings started to grow. They expanded from her hips like the branches of a dead tree. Their angelic elegance was lost, and skeletal claws and blades remained. Altera widened them and hovered above the stone. She was about to take off when a wave of water blocked her way.

“Mind explainin’ yourself, Ragna?”

Altera turned her head. She had sharpened her gaze as her eyes pierced into Ragna. They were as cold as the ice she had unleashed.

“I could ask you the same thing. Do you have some death wish?” Ragna didn’t waver, and her face turned into an expressionless mask. “If you keep going, you’ll die. You lost your wings, and you can’t move without your runes.”

“I don’t see the problem. Once we win, the tower will heal my wounds and regenerate what I lost. Quin’s on Hel’s door. She can’t walk without her weapon. Even if it kills me, if I survive long enough to finish her off, I’ll be fine.”

“Do you hear yourself? Besides, you would kill her!”

“I see.” Altera covered her eyes with her hand and giggled. “That witch's ensnared you. She praised you a few times, showed some leg, and you’re already under her spell. I expected more from you.”

“W…What?”

“I knew you had loose morals, but that you would fall for her like that? I expected more from you. We could actually win this. But no. You just had to fall for my brother’s wife. How hard could it be to keep your sex drive in check? You had one job, and because of you, we’re going to lose.”

Ragna clenched her palm to a fist. “You’re clearly not in the right space, so I’m going to ignore that you just called me a slut.” She took a deep breath and exhaled, forcing her face to remain stoic. “You really think there’s nothing wrong with you? Since when are you okay with murdering people? Do you think a Valkyrie fights like that?”

“What do you know about being a Valkyrie?” Altera cracked her neck. “Look how you fight. You’re the last person to lecture me about being a Valkyrie.”

“You’re right.” Ragna’s gaze remained. She didn’t look away and didn’t change her expression. “But this isn’t about me. I’m a failure, and I’ve to live with that. But you aren’t. Being a Valkyrie is everything to you. You wanna abandon that, fine. I won’t stop you, but is this what you want?”

“If I want to become a Valkyrie, I’ve to defeat Quin. To defeat her, I’ve to stop being a Valkyrie.” Altera chuckled. “And now you tell me, I’ve to be a Valkyrie to win. And all I can think about is to punish Quin because…”

“Because what?"

“It doesn’t matter. There’s too much I hate her for. She’s a witch, a wolf, a whore, a warmonger. Just what should I do?”

Ragna shrugged. “Just do what you can do best.”

“And that is?”

“Being a Valkyrie, of course. I told ya just be you. There’s nothing wrong with that. And I fight as I see it best.”

Altera shook her head, and her speech’s speed increased. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. Why can’t we both fight like Valkyries, and all is good? I mean, is that such an unreasonable request? No, it’s not. I don’t see why that should be so hard. It’s not an unreasonable request. It’s simply not. I know this. I can win the fight. I can keep you off the wrong path. I can make us both Valkyries.”

“Altera.”

“What’s so bad about this?” Altera paced back and forth on the stone path. “We’re two future Valkyries. Together we should defeat her. Demolish, destroy, desire, deploy–”

“Altera!” Ragna raised her voice.

“What?”

“I can’t understand a word. You’re talking too fast.”

“Huh?” Altera stopped, and her shoulders dropped. She looked through the nature reservoir like a person who had woken up from sleep but was still not fully awake. “Oh. I think I should be quiet. We’re on borrowed time. Ragna, just tell me what I should do. I promise I won’t resist or complain.”

What was going on in Altera’s head? She seemed to have a thousand thoughts at the same time and only communicated a quarter of them. But she was right. While they were arguing, Quin’s fan was filling up its gauge. And according to her, once that happened, they would be dead. They had to defeat her now. Everything else could wait until after they had finished the level.

“Just fight her like you normally do, and I fight her as I do. Together, we'll win.”

Altera nodded and took flight. Five ice spears as big as the trunk of an adult elephant appeared in the air. They formed a bow and launched towards Quin.

Quin blew her fan, and winds razed through the reservoir. The water from the ponds rose like waves and deflected the spears back to Altera.

Under Quin's feet, a thorn stake shot from the pole. The winds pushed her away into the air, and the attack missed her. In mid-fall, Quin skimmed the reservoir with her eyes.

“What?” Her face became pale.

All the poles in range were gone. She couldn't land on any of them.

Quin waved her fan against the stone path. Winds appeared under her body and caught Quin like a pair of hands. Quin's fall slowed down. She was levitating to the ground. The winds straightened her posture, and when she landed, Quin’s feet tapped the stone.

Her Ysbryd pushed Quin's body to the side, and Ragna’s saber pierced the air.

"That was your idea." A smile hushed across Quin’s face. "You destroyed the poles while Altera distracted me."

Ragna didn't answer. She attacked with her seax, Quin blocked with her fan, and Ragna pulsated her saber anew.

Quin dodged the sword’s thrust. But then, she lost her foot and slipped on the stone.

Ragna didn’t let that moment go to waste. As Quin was falling, her fan stopped blocking her seax. Ragna swung her blade and slashed Quin across the torso.

Blood was gushing out of her. A cross formed at the intersection of the wounds Ragna and Altera had inflected on Quin.

Altera rushed from the sky and thrust her partisan. Ragna swung her saber. The winds lifted Quin and bent her arm.

Her bones cracked, and Quin winced. Both weapons hit her fan. The metals clinked. On Quin's Ysbryd's surface, the creature’s illumination had filled up most of the gauge. Only the tip of its snot was missing.

“Nice…try…but–“

Ragna rammed her knee into Quin’s stomach.

Quin rasped. The words drowned under the noise, and blood fell from her mouth. Her eyes moved down. Ice started to grow from the wound and cover her body. Ragna drew back her knee. An iced spike grew out of it.

The fan dropped out of Quin’s hand. Altera swung her partisan. She hit Quin’s weapon like a baseball and shot it into the air.

With that, Quin couldn't attack anymore. When the user had lost direct contact with the Ysbryd, it turned into a mundane weapon.

“Congratulations…” Quin stumbled forward. Only a few steps she could make before her body fell over Ragna’s shoulders.

Ragna widened her eyes and tried to lift her.

Quin pressed her arms against Ragna’s shoulder blades and hugged her. “You…pass…You were…beautiful. I’m…so…proud of…you…”

“Don’t talk. We have to get you out.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to die here. “Quin lowered her eyelids. With every bit of strength she could muster up, she raised her head and kissed Ragna on the cheek.

“So, that’s what’s happening.” Altera’s body trembled. She glared at them, and the door to the sixth floor materialized. Before Ragna could retort back, Altera had stormed out of the nature reservoir as a door.

Quin let out a chuckle and coughed at the same time.

Ragna shook her head. “Do you have to tease her like that? Seriously, you’re dying.”

Not that she had much room for protest. She had never considered how her behavior could affect Altera. No. She could think about that, once Quin had left the simulation and could recover.

Quin coughed again. “How…did you make…me slip? It didn’t…feel like…ice.”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Let's go. I’m bringing you out.”

“Something…tripped me…a leg…or maybe a tail…or –“

Quin closed her eyes. She dropped on the floor, her body collapsing like a sack of potatoes. And with this, Ragna and Altera had cleared the sixth level.