The party left Baqiqi early morning, carrying not only supplies enough to travel to Lunaria but also full of trade items. Mostly looted from the dead attackers; metals salvaged from weapons and armours were molten or hammered into more portable ingots and loaded into animal pulled carts. Some of the organs and tusks of trolls and such were wrapped in their own hide, ready to be sold to the highest bidder.

At the end of the day, the attack was a boon to everyone but Isfet's army. It would be years before Baqiqi would be able to go through their supplies of newfound food alone. This was on Sheila's mind as she slowly chewed a roasted troll's finger. She was not too squeamish about eating sentient beings and was actually asking the chef what spices had been added to make the juicy morsel so tasty.

The rest of the champions had also participated in the feast cooked from the corpses but they chose to eat meats cut into less obvious human like pieces and mixed with plenty of vegetables to hide their source. It was an amusing sight by the citizens of Nugaia to know of such peculiar eating habits.

Besides the biting cold air and thick snow which slowed the passage to Lunaria, it was an uneventful journey. Zagan spent most of his time teaching Sheila on how to utilize her mana sight. He did not use mana himself, being a demon with a different source of power, but he was able to detect mana in his own way. He lectured Sheila that mana sight was really useful in detecting where a spell came from and in what direction. A skilled person could easily dodge a barrage from a group of mage from detecting the build up of mana alone. Zagan was unsure whether the undead used magic but he thought it would not hurt to try and teach her anyway.

Zagan had a practice tool loaned to her that consisted of a keyboard shaped plank inscribed with runes. Sheila would touch a rune at the center and it would absorb some of her mana. Sheila then had to touch a rune that was being activated in sequence. If she touched the wrong one or was too slow the wooden board would zap her with a spark of lightning.

It was a lot harder than Sheila had initially thought. Everything in Nugaia was infused with mana to a certain degree and it was constantly changing and moving. It made it really hard to see whether the movements or patterns formed by the smoke like substance was forming a spell or just jiggling around randomly. Her fingers were numb throughout the journey and she was still unable to figure out the formation of a spell.

Fortunately, Zagan was patient enough to constantly watch over and encourage her. Sheila herself was quite determined but it definitely helped to have support.

Ryu and Ana did age quite a bit during the fight but it wasn't enough to gain mana sight. Not to mention Jane who mostly stood back behind the walls during the battle. They were rather envious of Sheila and constantly questioned her about mana sight. It was worrying how much their body was changed after entering Nugaia but they were reassured by Zagan that souls had always grown stronger with time, even before Nugaia was formed.

Zagan reminded them that he too was once a citizen of earth before Nunu decided to form her own slice of universe for some reason, one he did not care much about. His life's purpose was to serve Luna and politics was a past he wished to forget. He then simply followed Luna who had serendipitously chosen to move to Nugaia with a host of other gods and their worshippers.

"Nunu. Isn't that like Glauc's boss or something? She created Nugaia? That's pretty awesome!" Ryu asked Zagan. The rickety carriage had hard seats that hurt his bum but it was definitely preferable to marching with the near naked werewolf mercenaries that suspiciously offered him of a secret way to get warm. Ryu definitely preferred to watch Sheila get zapped randomly by a wooden plank in the dark damp interior of the carriage.

Zagan hunched down and whispered "Glauc is definitely acquainted with her, although I myself am not sure why. My mistress Luna might know the reason but, not to mention myself, even gods seldom speak about Nunu, lest we incur her attention. She is powerful but more than that is that she is cunning. Whatever deal Glauc made with her, he might not come out of it in one piece."

"Is she that scary? Even gods fear her?" Ana interjected. She correctly guessed that Glauc's instant godhood was most likely due to Nunu. She wondered if she herself could get Nunu to help with such a shortcut. If only she knew about Jane's innocuous lettuce seed.

Zagan rubbed his chin in contemplation. "She is not really a god, and to my knowledge, she doesn't really fight. But generally to those who like order, like myself and your patron god Maat, we are vulnerable to whatever it is she does. It's hard to explain. For example, she might smile at you and that simple act of hers will cascade into a series of events that lead to the death and destruction of your entire clan and family. It will be too late to realize that you have offended her in some way or form. Of course, behaving rudely and cursing at her might gain you a blessing of riches beyond your wildest dream. Nunu is too unpredictable to those like me and thus we simply act like she doesn't exist. Thinking about it only gives you a headache."

Sheila got away from the training tool. It's only purpose seemed to be to zap her. She rubbed her fingers together as she asked Zagan. "So Glauc figured her out? Is that how he became a god?"

"I doubt that. Him being a god might be because it was useful to her plans. Or it might be she was bored. I do not understand her and I do not wish to. My life is only for Luna."

Ana and Sheila gave a conspiratorial look at one another and Ana was the first to ask. "So... You're in love with Luna? Is that why you hate Glauc?"

"It might surprise you but I did not initially hate him. In fact, I adored him. Mistress Luna was never married. I might be a devil, a being who does not require a partner to reproduce, but Luna is a godess that requires emission from a male to procreate. Alas, her previous love life was not to be." Zagan glanced at Magelan strutting off in the distance and pointed at him. "He loved another and rejected Luna immediately. The heartbreak must have caused her to isolate herself and not seek out another until Glauc serendipitously visited."

"Wait. Stop. Magelan? THAT MAGELAN!" Ana practically squealed as she pointed at Magelan. "Luna was in love with him?" Both she and Sheila cosied up to Zagan and begged him to tell them more about Luna's love life.

"So you're saying Luna lost to a man?" Ryu himself was rather interested in all the gossip.

Zagan raised an eyebrow. "He might act that way to try and fool my mistress but she knows the true reason she was rejected. And that reason is now on the moon, one of the few times she actually showed the world her true powers..."

***

On the moon, in a marble floored and silver, onion roofed palace Glauc was crying. He was hugging a wolf plushie and bawling his eyes out. "What do you mean i have no divine force? How the hell did that happen? Bwahhhhh....."

Divine force was something Glauc was addicted to. An energy that could create almost anything from your wildest dream as long as you have enough. All the riches he left behind on earth was nothing compared to such a power.

Patting his head while at the same time secretly putting on him a fur eared hairband, Luna calmly spoke in a soothing tone. "Now now~ you still have a little divine force. Else you'd be pretty dead right now. I've changed your soul to feed all but a small amount to that purple lightning. It's the only way to keep it under control. Of course, as thanks for saving your life i expect a reward. Sex will kill you though so you'd have to use that wonderful finger of yours...and tongue..."

Glauc looked at Luna giving him a lecherous leer and he cried even louder. First he effectively can't use any more divine force and now...

Blue balls.

***

Glauc was really annoyed now. Upon satisfying Luna she had simply left him on the moon to watch her magical television at her room. She regarded him simply as a dildo! She had said that Aphrodite would not intrude upon the moon unless Luna allowed it thus he was safe alone in the moon.

Well, he was not truly alone as he was surrounded by gigantic servant girls in skimpy outfits that served him food and wine. The smallest of them were at least two meters tall and their leader was a towering three meter tall blonde. Their over muscled body was actually to Glauc's preference. Problem was, any 'emission' by Glauc was effectively a death sentence due to his artificially limited divine force so he still considered himself alone on the moon.

Oh poor, tragic, lonely Glauc.

His divine force was so lacking that a wound would actually take him time to recover instead of being immediately regenerated. He was almost as weak as a mortal and couldn't even muster enough to telepathically call anyone. Damn that purple lightning!

He looked at two serving girls approach him and kneel. One of them timidly asked him. "Your grace. May I ask a question?"

Technically you already did. Glauc mused in his mind. However, he still nodded his assent as he did not have much to do anyway. He sneaked a peek at her bosom and hugged a wolf plushie to hide his pitched tent. The fact that they had silky smooth and slightly pale skin just according to Glauc's preference definitely did not help him control his lust.

The servant girl shyly looked at the one to her left and after receiving a nod in return, braced herself by clenching her fists and asked Glauc. "What you did to Luna. Was that your domain? We beseech you to teach us that knowledge and spread it to help you grow."

Which only elicited a confused "Heh?" from Glauc. He scratched his head and looked at the more silent of the two to ask for more clarification.

He got back a firm and determined gaze from her. She bowed while still in her kneeled position. "Mel and I have promised our hearts and souls to one another. However, we had always thought that entailed simply living and speaking to one another for the rest of our lives. Now we know that we may also pleasure one another even without the use of the male... orifice. Will you teach us how?"

Glauc slapped his own face with his right hand. "Foreplay. I have to watch lesbians eat one another and I can't even participate. This harem is a nightmare..."

The more timid of the servants tilted her head and softly asked "Eat one another? We do not cannibalize. The worship and methods of Gorn is generally frowned upon amongst the clan..."

Glauc sighed. It was as if the whole universe of Nugaia wanted him to be a god of foreplay. But his current state reminded him of what a bad idea it was.

"Call Luna over" He demanded in an annoyed tone. "I'll discuss it with her first..."

Then he hid in his blanket to try and sleep all his thoughts away. All soft, luscious, well toned thoughts away...

***

Lunaria was quite a sight. The village itself was mundane, with tents pitched amongst a small clearing and surrounded by a scattering of cut rocks to signify their borders. What made it a sight was that it was located beside the west entrance to a temple that probably rivaled any of the villages the champions had visited in size. The stones it was built of was painted white with shades of pink and additionally embroidered with gold. The skies itself parted to bathe the temple in its light. Jewels studded the doorways at the entrance and they were manned by priests and priestess, who welcomed all with speeches of love and glory.

Lines of various races could be seen, queuing on foot to try and enter the temple. Some of the lines were at least a few hundred meters long and the poor and rich shared their space.

What was amazing that none seemed to carry weapons or armour, having no fear of being robbed in such a crowded area. Ryu inquired if Lunarians acted as guards and learnt that it was only half true.

The temple was actually a birth spring: drinking the water from such a place was the only way for most of the intelligent species in Nugaia to be fertile, up till pregnancy. Then they had to drink again if they wanted additional children.

Any who was caught causing trouble in such a place would only incurr the wrath of the gods and forever be banned. They will be unable to have more offspring in the future: a lonely prospect for the eternally youthful citizens.

Thus, the Lunarians did not have to do much to enforce the rules. Their job was mostly to ensure that everyone, from slaves to nobility, came to the spring of their own volition and did not bring back any enchanted water out. The stern punishment ensured that their job was relatively easy.

Plus, they were not the only guardians. Worshippers of fertility gods often volunteer themselves as gratitude for having children. It was a relatively easy job and well appreciated by the gods and thus many took on the mantle.

Jack and Jill bid their farewells to the party as they joined the queues to the birth spring. The champions was going to miss their aid and thus reluctantly said their goodbyes.

Upon entering Lunaria, the werewolves, now in human forms, simply parked their carts in an open space and scattered away. Some entered tents but most went towards a large wood constructed hall, where sounds of music and cheering could be heard.

The champions were led by Magelan to his tent. It dawned on them that Magelan was truly important in Lunaria when they approached his tent. It was at least ten times bigger than the already spacious tents most lived in. Not only that, but the hide the tent was made of a black scaled material that had an iridescent shine. The interior itself was relatively simple and barebones in contrast, consisting of a dining table and bench that doubled as a war strategy table and a straw bed for two. Pots of herbs and spices were hung on twine near a fire pit with a mid sized cauldron. It seemed most meals cooked here was soup. A few weapons and armour were hung on the walls but from their torn and tattered state they were more trophies than usable equipment.

Zagan sat on the bench and the rest joined him. Magelan filled a pitcher with a red liquid from a barrel and served it to them. "I got this as payment from a previous job. The merchant told me it was blessed by Dionsysus himself and I believe it. Do have a sip." Magelan seemed to have changed his behaviour slightly after talking with Zagan. He did not 'flirt' much with Ryu and actually grew more silent.

Zagan took a sip of the wine and nodded. "It's indeed as good as the fountains."

Magelan sat across him and looked at the rest. He impatiently scratched his chin and rapped on the wooden table. "The training ground in Lunaria is always ready to be used. Ryu, look for the potions guy. You'll know when you see him. Just... Try not to drink too much at a time... Ana and Jane should follow him. But let Ryu try everything first. He's a lot more sturdy."

Ryu drank a few more glasses of wine to prepare. "I'm the guinea pig, huh?"

Magelan simply shrugged and waved him away.

"As for Sheila. Our oracles are quite proficient with mana. Perhaps you'll let them train her?" Magelan asked Zagan. He got a nod in response.

Once the rest left the room, Magelan took a gulp of his wine in one go and leaned towards Zagan. "Now that we're alone. Forgive me for being brash but I must know. Please tell me about this Glauc..."

***

It did not take Ryu long before he found a tent besides the training ground full of barrels and bottles. Actually he smelt it before he saw it and simply followed the scent. What he stumbled upon was filled with spilled liquid and slime and curiously, no one watching over the whole mess. Ryu cleared his throat and hollered "Hello? Anyone out there?"

The response he got was a two meter wooden barrel shaking furiously. The lid flew off and green smoke escaped from the barrel. When the smoke cleared a snake tail could be seen poking out of the barrel.

All things considered it was a rather long and thick snake tail, more than enough to wrap Ryu and the girls around in its vice…

***

Ryu was now hanging upside-down in the air, legs wrapped by a serpentine appendage. Once again he is reminded of the dangers of Nugaia. Even the memory of the previous battle against Isfet's cursed army paled in comparison to what he was experiencing now.

Jane and Ana looked helplessly from the side. There was nothing that they could do...

***

Not more than an hour ago.

Ryu, Jane and Ana stood still as the barrel stopped trembling and coughing sounds could be heard from inside.

Was the snake trying to break the bones of whoever was inside? Was the coughing his final struggle? How did he end up in the barrel anyway? Was he the potions guy who accidentally fell in while trying to secure the giant serpent? These questions filled the champions head as they tried to rescue the occupant.

The barrel was tall and sturdy but Ryu decided to push it down anyway. With his strength he managed it and as it fell sideways a green, viscous liquid splashed out, covering a large spot on the tent's earthen floor. It bubbled on the ground and it's smoke produced a strong pungent minty smell.

The snake's tail straightened in shock at the fall and then reached out and grabbed a random barrel. Whatever was in the barrel must have been really heavy as when the snake pulled, it dragged itself out instead of dragging the barrel towards it.

Ana and Jane stared slack-jawed as the top half of the snake was connected to a humanoid half. He stood up and started dusting himself and grabbed at a patch of his hair that was slightly smoking. The clump of hair was easily separated from his head, leaving a bald patch. He studied the tuft of hair in his arms and shook his head as the hair slowly disintegrated into a grey ash. The rest of his hair and eyebrows also started smoking and turned to ash soon after.

The half snake, half man sniffed himself. "Hmm. Success! Small side effect of balding. No matter, the guys now have liquid soap to bathe with!"

He stopped as he noticed Ana and Jane. Then he looked to his back and saw Ryu, claws stretched out and prepared to leap before being stunned at the sight. The snake-man's face lit up and immediately used his tail to effortlessly grab Ryu and dunk him into the green liquid on the ground. "Try this! It'll make you smell real nice!"

It was their first meeting with the potioner of Lunaria, Cretrel.

And also how Ryu unwillingly became his guinea pig as Cretrel discovered Ryu's amazing feat of regeneration.

***

Cretrel dunked Ryu headfirst into barrels of different coloured liquids as he spoke aloud of the effects of each. "Ana! Don't forget to write down the numbers! Twenty three percent increase in arm strength! Leg strength Increased three percent. Hmm, If i mixed in more griffin's feathers it should have a bigger effect."

"What about the itching and skin irritation?"

"Irrelevant. It's a strength potion I'm concocting, not an itching dust..."

"But it's a pretty strong side effect..." Ana looked at Ryu who was now scratching every part of his body to no effect. "Can't fight if you're immobilized by the itch..."

"Irrelevant. The guys asked for a strength potion and that's what this potion will do! They never told me for a strength potion that doesn't itch! That's totally a different thing." Cretrel nonchalantly dismissed Ana's concern. She gave a silent prayer for the fool who requested this potion. And to Ryu.

Jane interrupted their 'research' to ask. "Man you guys noticed the ruckus going on outside? Looks like something big is going on..."

***

Moments earlier.

Chaos.

That was what greeted Sheila as she entered the oracles' tent. Piles of ashes were spilled on the ground, a consequence of pots of incense being knocked down in panic. Some of the white robed oracles were trying to hide under rugs, snot and tears leaking in copious amounts as they try to accept their fate. Hands clasped together as if begging for mercy.

Some pushed Sheila away as they frantically exited the tent. They dropped their scrolls and candles on the floor as they hurried out. Loud, incoherent mutterings could be heard as all the oracles seemed to be repeating a phrase over and over again.

Sheila got close to one of the oracle trying to stuff himself in a chest half his size, focusing her ears to make sense of what he was saying over and over again. She could barely make out a phrase.

As the village heard of the words being mentioned by the running oracles, the reactions were immediate. The phrase spread even further and faster.

Doors were bolted and many actually ran on foot to escape Lunaria, not even bothering to pack supplies in their desperate attempts to flee. All because of a phrase uttered.

Most have never seen the fearless werewolves reduced to such a worthless gibbering mess. Some were even crying hysterically, grabbing onto anyone to help them, asking to take them as far away from Lunaria as possible. It was as if they had realized that doomsday was coming, which might not be too far off if one understood what the oracles were muttering over and over again. Now also muttered by almost every werewolf. A phrase that most werewolves wished to never hear in a hundred years.

Some of the werewolves, upon hearing the phrase, simply knelt on the ground outside their tents. Waiting. Tears streaming down their faces. Magelan was one of them. He was smiling though, as if it was something he had always been preparing for. He whispered to himself a phrase. Over and over again. To himself more than to let others know. A phrase uttered under his breath.

Zagan looked at the leader of the werewolves in understanding. This was truly an event that would affect all werewolves. An event that might happen once every decades or even centuries. He looked at the sun setting in the horizon. Zagan himself shed a tear as he said aloud the phrase.

Night was approaching and this night brought with it an event. This event was the reason that the oracles of Lunaria were initially formed up. To prepare the tribe well before the event, a warning system of sorts. But they had found out a little too late. A few hours was not enough to prepare and thus they could only foolishly repeat the phrase to let others know, and perhaps they were simply muttering in disbelief. But it was true. It was happening. And soon.

The phrase?

‘There will be a full moon.’

As dusk approached, many around Lunaria turned their gaze up. To a pale round spot in the inky starry sky. As the final rays of the sun hid in the horizon, the pale spot suddenly grew brighter, like a mischievous child waking up from her pretend sleep as mom walked away from the bedroom door. There was a pause, almost as if the moon itself was yawning, then it shone bright silver, rays glowing bright and forming an ethereal path piercing through the clouds down and leading towards the entrance of Lunaria.

Where the moonlight was concentrated on the ground, roughly the size of a hut, a sparkling, silver curtain shimmered into being, billowing in the air despite it being a windless night.

A clawed hand pulled the curtain apart. Behind the curtain, a group confidently sashayed out, seemingly overeager, in their eyes a bestial hunger. As the last of them exited the silver portal, the largest of them sniffed the air.

"Looks like meat's back on the menu, girls!"

And all could hear the howling in the air.

***

The next few hours in Lunaria was an eye opener to Sheila as she slowly come to the realization once again of how barbaric Nugaia truly was. "Or maybe it was just Lunaria? Nah. Definitely Nugaia. Bloody savages, the whole lot!"

For one, female werewolves happily beat and tied up males they were 'interested' in. It was a truly weird ritual and the part that weirded her out the most was that although most of the males were extremely unwilling, being beaten actually made a specific part of their body visibly erect.

On one hand, she was against marital abuse and... rape? Sexual assault? On the other hand, what do you say if it was actually part of your biological mating process if it involved violence?

She shivered as she noticed Magelan amongst others being tied up by a gigantic werewolf upside-down just outside their tent. The weird part was that he was still in his 'human' form as his partner began whipping him with a lash, landing her blows scarily close to his crotch area. He was actually shouting in ecstasy and the acts continued wildly in the public.

What made the whole thing more awkward was that there was a half snake, half man standing close to the side, sketching the whole scene as he studied them.

Sheila tried to leave Lunaria as inconspicuously as she could, surrounded by moaning, tied up males being assaulted by their furry female counterparts. She tried to scrub the image from her mind as much as possible but alas to no avail. She was going to have nightmares about this forever. At least none of them had their eyes on her as she stared at the ground, trying hard to remember the way out of the village through memory of the previous steps she had taken to get where she was.

The lack of attention was unfortunately not true for Ryu. He was now surrounded by very tall, very muscular and very, very scary ladies. They began caressing his body without his consent and some even were pulling ropes in preparation for their new... meal.

Why did every werewolf want to rape him? Males and females. What's wrong with them? Bunch of fluffy lunatic rapists. This time he did not feel guilty of being a homophobe.

Ryu thought back to the choices he made in his youth that landed him in his current state and... Wait... None of it was his fault. Fuck. Should he blame the gods? What if they read his mind and punished him further?

Damn. He wanted a harem, but a masochist he was not. Being tied up and whipped was definitely NOT his fetish... probably...

***

The full moon, an event promised by Luna as the time she would release her hostages, finally happened. As the goddess of the moon, she could obviously control when a full moon happened so it was believed by many as an event that would never happen.

The real trigger and reason of the 'release of the werebitches' was currently digging his nose without a shred of guilt. Glauc had complained to Luna about her servants being too 'distracting' and subsequently found out that Luna had initially made the female werewolves her servants in the moon because one of them was a previous love rival.

Consumed by jealousy and mostly insecurity, he had Luna free the werewolves to prove that Glauc was her only lover. A rather hypocritical move, considering his previous indiscretions but Luna was surprisingly agreeable. For a price.

And as Glauc continued digging his nose he wondered if the price was actually a little steep. "Oh well. That's a problem for another day..."

***

Ana was handing tissues to Zagan. She never expected the refined gentleman to be reduced to a slobbering mess just from looking at a bunch of wolves... Mating? Torturing one another? Whatever that disgusting ritual was. "Granted, it's never good to keep your feelings bottled up but honestly you're showing the wrong reaction. I'd understand if you were puking out your guts but crying?" She handed him another tissue as he blew his nose.

"It's not the mating habits of werewolves." Zagan sobbed out in between breaths. "It's my mistress Luna. She released ALL her prisoners. This probably means she is finally over her obsession with them. She has finally moved on. She finally has a lover!"

Ana silently thought to herself. "But she moved on to Glauc. Not much of an improvement there..."

Jane stood together with a group of curious onlookers. Most of them acting affronted by the sight but secretly savouring the weird kinks, a lesson for more private times. Most had actually broke off from the long queues of the birth springs to spectate on the rare sight. Another few days of waiting was definitely worth it for... At the very least it was new gossip material...

***

The whole spectacle was interrupted by a loud bang. Panic spread as one of the crowds near the birth springs was hit by the collateral damage. When the dust settled, moaning and screams of pain focused attention on a crater formed the impact. A few brave souls peeked at the contents of the crater as priests rushed to help the injured.

There they found a corpse of a five meter giant. An ice giant. Then it moved. And all hell broke loose.

The ice giant had landed right on an unfortunate line of caravans waiting for their turn to enter the nearby temple. From the force of the impact, the wooden vehicles were smashed into splinters and their occupants squeezed inside out. Some were fortunate to only break a few bones and were moaning or screaming in pain.

Most onlookers were stunned by the sudden appearance of the impact and only stood and stared. Their minds tried to process what had happened and those with quicker wit soon prepared to help or distance themselves from the event.

Those who tried to retreat closer to the temple realized that their way was barred by a greenish forcefield that had activated since the first sight of the falling object. They looked at one another and increased their pace by half a step away from the crater.

Those that tried to help the injured near the crater soon discovered that the center of the impact was a towering individual. He stood and stared with his blue eyes at them as some tried to bandage the wounds or pull others from the wreckage. As the dust settled and his visage became clearer, the nearby citizens noticed that he was missing more than half his face. It had rotted away to the point that bits and pieces of his brain could be seen.

He looked around until his gaze fell on a dead merchant. The merchant had been totally crushed by his mount and if not for his costume, most would have mistaken him for a pile of meat and guts the butcher threw away.

The giant pointed at the body and the pile of flesh started quivering. Snaps and pops could be heard as his bones realigned themselves while flesh and blood flew back and reattached themselves.

The merchant was whole again but his skin was still torn and parts of the flesh that had reattached were in the wrong places. His eyes, which was crushed in his death, reformed into a white paste stuck to his cheeks and so his face had hollow eye sockets.

He was still bleeding in various places and even drooling like a fool.

The giant continuously pointed at corpses that he could find and reviving them.

He had raised up six undead before a spear impaled him in the torso. The spear was six meters, longer than the giant was tall and it diagonally nailed him to the ground. The giant looked up and saw the one who had thrown the spear.

She had three pairs of wings on her back and had a buckler in one arm. She floated in the air more than flying, her wings moving more from the wind than from any exertion from her.

A valkyrie.

She grabbed a ceramic bottle from her waist, struck the cap on her buckler whereby it started to ignite and tossed it at the giant. Oil and fire.

The giant, instead of pulling away the spear, simply tore away at its own stomach where the spear was stuck. It grabbed the spear and pushed itself away from it. Pieces of flesh stuck to the spear separated itself and flew back to the torn flesh and reattached itself. It dodged the bottle of burning oil as it shattered and spread flame on the ground.

He grinned at her, mocking her act. "Getting desperate are we? You've resorted to burning now? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You know the curse will spread to the living if i die..."

The valkyrie frowned. She had fucked up. Not only had she failed to prevent the undead ice giant from escaping Valhalla, he had arrived in a crowded location. Not to mention that she was vastly unequipped to capture him back 'alive'.

She had underestimated the importance of her guard duty and spent it drunk and thus forgot to equip herself to chase after the undead. It's all Dionysus' fault! If only he had not introduced this beer drink to the valkyries!

A certain old god sneezed. He wondered if he was sick, then remembered that he was a god. Then remembered that he was drunk. And fell asleep.

The ice giant laughed haughtily, his cracked voice echoing to the surroundings. "Finally! I have finally..."

His words were interrupted as a body smashed into his face, creating an audible splat as fat and sweat met undead skull. The body bounced and fell on the ground, face side down. A fat man in nothing but thongs and fur slippers lied face down, arms and leg spreading like a fat starfish.

The ice giant shuddered. As an undead he had lost his sense of touch but he swore he could have felt the oily sweat and blubbery skin graze against his face. A part of him wanted to vomit but he held himself back from such an act. He did not want to appear weak, after all.

He looked down at the person that had randomly appeared and flew into his face. The person was actually grumbling to himself as he spit dirt and snow out of his mouth.

"Damn it! Just cause of a bunch of stinking horny lesbians. Can't believe i have to pay for removing them so soon..." Glauc paused as raised his head and noticed something. "My... What big stinky toes you have..."

He then tried to push himself up and still had to strain his neck to look at the ice giant's face. "Wow. Bro. You need makeup. Actually you need a new face...hahahah! Ah... Undead. Yep. I didn't realize they're... big. Fuck me."

The ice giant fumed at this... this... Wait a minute. Was this...

"A god." The valkyrie frowned even deeper, this was bad. The undead were actually dangerous for gods, hence why they had been contained in Valhalla. The einherjar and valkyries had managed against them but a god was actually susceptible to their curse. Something about divine force...

She unsheathed her sword and tried to fly as fast as she could to stop the giant but she was too slow. She was forced to stop midair as the giant sucked in a large amount of air and blew out hard. His breath was cold as ice and as it reached Glauc it froze over everything, covering Glauc and the ground he was on with a layer of ice.

The action seemed tiring to the giant as it fell to its knees. Flesh from his bones started to fall off. The undead he resurrected slumped into the ground; whatever the giant had infused them with he had taken back to fuel his breath attack. It was a decisive move that used up most of his powers and he could feel his consciousness fading away. However, he felt satisfaction with what he had done.

The giant stared at the valkyrie and crackled. "HAHAHAHA! You're too late! I've done it! I'd like to see you try to stop a corrupted god! HAHAHA... Huh?"

The giant looked in shock as the layer of ice covering Glauc was shook off and he pinched his nose. He waved the air in front of his face away and gagged at the smell. "Ack. Oh that smelled like death itself. Rude!"

The valkyrie also stared at Glauc, knuckles white from gripping her sword handle. The god was... fine? But the giant, a high ranked undead, had used up most of his corrupted energy to curse the god.

It was something a god should not have been able to resist but this god was talking to himself as if he did not feel a thing...

***

Sheila looked at the whole thing from the people trying to save others from the impact of the crater, to the flying angel girl spearing an undead and Glauc randomly interrupting the giant evil undead villain's monologue.

Someone tapped her shoulder but she shrugged it off.

The person continued tapping her shoulder until she got too irritated and she turned and hissed out "What?"

Sheila paused as she realized who was actually trying to talk to her.

Luna gave an impish grin and pointed at the giant. "Burn it to ashes." Then she blinked out of existence. No one seemed to have noticed Luna as they were too focused on the fight between the valkyrie, undead and random fat man.

Sheila gulped. That was close. She almost offended a goddess known to be rather vindictive. She hesitated whether it truly had been Luna but decided that she'd rather not further aggravate the goddess and sprinted towards the crater.

Fortunately for her, the giant undead was too tired and distracted to notice her getting close and she snapped her finger and willed the bus sized flame to engulf the giant. The giant did not even register getting burned to a crisp as he stuttered at Glauc. "This... This...how.. What... Why... I..."

Even as he charred black the giant still looked confused.

Glauc scratched his neck as the flames finally turned the giant to ash. Was that an allergic reaction to the ash? He could not finish his thoughts before a moonbeam shone on him and he started floating into the sky.

Sheila looked at Glauc and remembered a show she once watched about cows being abducted by UFOs.

The valkyrie floated down besides Sheila. Sheila noticed that the winged lady was rather big, at least twice her height and she had a serene face, as if she had no worries in her life. She smiled at Sheila.

Then, the valkyrie's face turned red and her head almost popped a vein as she shouted.

"WHAT. THE. FUCK. WAS. THAT?!?"

***

In a misty snow covered plains, a war of attrition was being fought. Several walls of paper thin forcefields cut through the middle, separating both sides from one another. If looked at from above, the battlefield was like a multi layered cake.

Undeads banged and scratched on the forcefield whilst the valkyries on the other side tried to slow them down by flinging spears and nets.

Fortunately, the spears and nets of the valkyries has been specially enchanted to pass through said forcefield, enabling the valkyries to slow the opposing force, if only for a while.

The undead were winning. They had already broken through over twenty of such forcewalls and charged through. Each and every time, the casualties on the defending side would increase and the undead numbers reinforced.

The valkyries would be forced to retreat through the additional barriers but the undead had initially covered barely a third of the battlefield. Now, they already had half.

Once they got through to the end, they would be able to escape Valhalla and spread into the mortal world. Who knows what chaos will ensue then.

***

"Sister! Stop drinking and do your job properly. The champions are coming soon. We just have to hold on till then!" A young valkyrie was scolding her partner.

Even though both were valkyries, six winged shieldmaidens of the north, the two could not be more different from one another.

One was a petite, black haired lady and wore polished silver armour from head to neck, eagerness shining through her eyes as she clenched her short spear and kite shield, ready for battle at any moment.

The other was slouching, grumbling to herself as she sipped on her flagon, tugging at her tangled blonde hair which seemed unwashed for ages. She wore a tattered leather armour and skirt. A wooden buckler was fastened to her back and she leaned on her oversized spear which she had impaled on the ground. The flagon was held by a string which looped around her index finger. She flicked her finger, causing the flagon to playfully swirl around her hands.

She sighed and muttered out. "It's all a lie."

"What? What's a lie, Alruna?" the black haired valkyrie hesitantly asked. Her sister might be unmotivated but she was smart and whatever she was going to say, it did not seem to sound pleasant.

A sad look filled Alruna's face. She hesitated for a while but felt it better to let her sister know sooner about her fears. "My dear Skuld, don't you feel it? The gods are lying. If the undead could infect the gods, what makes you think the champions would be immune? This is truly how ragnarok will happen, with all of us turning into mad, decaying fools..."

"No! They're not lying! They gave us Valhalla! And war! And didn't that god from the south recently gave us that lovely beer you're drinking right now? Sis, I know you're a skeptic. You've always been one. But, you have to admit that the gods make miracles happen. They will find a way. They've always had!"

Alruna was surprised by the sudden outburst of Skuld. She could only sigh in relief at her sister's optimism and shook her head at the naivety. She raised her hands in mock surrender. "Alright. Alright, you're right. The gods can do everything. I'll go defend the highpass tunnel now. So stop bothering me. Off you go. Shoo~"

Pleased at encouraging her sister, Skuld smiled to herself and marched off to reinforce the front line. Their forces were spread thin and more on the battlefield would lessen the chance of an enemy breakthrough.

Alruna slowly slogged off to the highpass tunnel. It was at the edge of the battlefield and mostly undefended. The valkyries knew the undead's target was the giant gateway to the mortal realm and thus concentrated their defence in the middle. The tunnel was simply an isolated spot so Alruna could drink this beer thing in peace.

It truly was a wonderful invention, this beer. She was getting bored of the taste of wine and as if he had listened to her prayer, Dionysus had invented a new kind of drink that was slightly more refreshing. The god had mentioned working with another to create this brew but Alruna didn't care. As long as she could drink to her heart's content in isolation, she would be pleased.

If only.

Before even swallowing a mouthful, she heard loud bangs and even worse, the sounds of cracking. Chugging the rest of her flagon in a hurry, she rushed outside to the source of the noise and to her horror, saw an ice giant breaking apart a section of the forcefield.

"Why would an ice giant be here? They've always commanded from the back until they're confident of a victory..." Alruna thought to herself as she readied her stance to throw her spear.

...

"My spear!" She shouted out loud. She had impaled it on the ground and forgotten to bring it with her. She hesitated for a second before flying off to collect it.

***

By the time Alruna collected her spear and came back to the scene, all she saw was a broken section of the forcewall. The ice giant was missing. She blew her horn to let the others know about the breach and followed the footsteps of the ice giant into the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel she found a broken section of the earth wall. She found wood splinters and broken bricks on the floor and found out the hole led to a room. The interior of the room was covered with runes and the middle was a raised circular section the size of a table. The footsteps of the ice giant ended in the middle.

"By Odin's beard. A gateway!"

Alruna rushed to the middle section and as she stepped on it the runes in the room glowed a multitude of colours before a bright flash appeared.

Alruna was no longer in the room.

***

"What do you mean we can't help her? It's an ice giant! There's no way she can contain one that easily!" Skuld was held back by two others as she tried to rush into the middle section of the room.

A grey haired valkyrie looked at her in pity and then hardened her gaze. "Skuld. It's too late. They have breached the forcewall. We'll have to retreat to the next one and destroy this gateway. We can't risk more going through..."

The wailing of one of their most beloved and eager fighter would haunt the valkyries that night.

***

Alruna was glad to be proven wrong. After interrogating Sheila she soon found out that they were summoned by Min. And these champions had somehow been able to slay an undead without the curse spreading and contaminating a large area.

Slaying an undead usually made them release a dark purple energy that would infect nearby living creatures, turning them into mad ravenous beings that had a constant hunger for flesh. Even gods were not immune to this curse.

Hence the reason the valkyries had not been able to eliminate them. Killing an undead would do more damage to their own army and reinforce the enemy instead.

The force walls in Valhalla had been able to block off the undead energy but did not neutralize it. A miasma was getting thicker in the battlefield and thus every day was getting more and more grim.

But one of the champions had managed to sponge off that energy without any side effect. Then Luna had pulled him up to who knows where.

But this meant that the gods had not been lying to the valkyries. The undead were truly beatable by the champions. The whole fight was not for naught. Alruna felt shame for ever doubting them. She would have to apologize to Skuld later. And buy her ten whole kegs of beer. And maybe even spar with her... "Nope. No sparring. Last person to fight her had twenty three broken bones... She gets too excited sometimes..."

Either way, this was the first time in a long while that Alruna felt truly relieved.

She noticed someone she recognized while enjoying the wind blowing in her face. "Zagan! How are you? What are you doing here?"

Zagan gave a light nod to acknowledge her and flew up into the clouds. Alruna understood that he wanted a more private place to speak and followed after him.

On the surface of the clouds, where it's a lot harder for mortals to eavesdrop, Zagan bowed to Alruna. "Forgive my sudden flight, but I've been led to believe that the whole undead business is to be kept secret. So, the valkyrie's are involved?"

Alruna tilted her head. "Wait. You don't know about us fighting the undeads? But if you're with the champions..."

Zagan bowed again and interrupted. "I have to apologize once again. My involvement with the champions and the undead is a recent affair and my mistress has not briefed me yet. She's a rather carefree goddess."

"Luna? Carefree? Still sugarcoating your words I see. Everyone knows about the werewolves..."

"She has freed them."

"What?"

"Mistress Luna has released the werewolves back from the moon. Anyway before we get too off-topic I'd hope you would be the one to brief me on the undead."

Alruna shook her head. "Sorry. Not here. There are other uninvolved gods that also wish to know and they can hear us here. I'll tell you everything when you and the champions get to Valhalla."

Zagan looked down from the sky and at Sheila. "Do you think she's ready to fight the undead?"

Alruna followed his gaze and shook her head. "Not her. The fat one. The god champion. That's the only one who can fight the undead."

Zagan looked at her face in shock. "Glauc? But Sheila was the one who burned that undead giant! What did he?"

Alruna placed her hands in her mouth and looked like she made a mistake. "Ah! I've said too much. I better leave before everyone knows about this."

She waved goodbye to Zagan and started flying off, presumably to Valhalla. "Argh why'd the portal send me off so far. This is gonna be tiring."

Zagan flew back down and joined Sheila on the ground. He raised his eyebrow and scratched his chin and curiously looked at her, then at the moon. "Glauc huh?"