BXBX NOVEL Chapter 160 A Strange Illness.
"Are you done?"
"Yes. Everything has been double-checked."
"Good. You can go rest now."
Mimir is her name, a fourth-generation Nephilim and the personal consultant of the queen, or so she would like to think.
It wouldn\'t be an understatement to say that she is the wisest Nephilim born so far, and most of her brethren are aware of that, however her opinion is rarely taken into account which makes her question why she was asked to be a consultant in the first place.
"It\'s finally here…" She couldn\'t help the sigh that escaped her.
Looking at the small floating window in front of her, Mimir went around performing one more final check making sure everything was in order before their departure.
To rescue her sister, Freyja the first queen, Queen Hela had taken her forces and invaded the earth on another dimension. Despite having already dealt a devastating blow to the enemy forces even before that the war has somehow ended with their loss leaving them with no choice but to go along with the demands of the other side.
Queen Hela\'s reckless actions resulted in another catastrophe putting the Nephilim in a very difficult position. Having experienced the first purge Mimir had advised her to not resort to violence without attempting negotiations first, however she refused to listen allowing herself to be manipulated dragging the rest of her kind along.
The Nephilim all shared her hatred for humans, but not everyone was on board with massacring those from another dimension.
Thankfully the other side seems to be more thoughtful, choosing peaceful negotiations even when they have the means and motives to eradicate them. Still, Mimir was well aware that such things can\'t possibly be solved so easily, which is why the past few days have been quite stressful for her.
With Queen Hela captured lady Thor had to take the throne. Though she is more reasonable than her sister, the new queen came with her own unique problems.
"And that concludes the report." She said.
"Hm? Yes, good work."
As the one responsible for overseeing the preparations for the upcoming conference, Mimir had the duty of reporting their progression as well, and each time she visits the throne room to do so she would notice that the scarlet haired queen looks gloomier than the previous one.
Having greater intellect than the other Nephilim and great observational abilities allowed Mimir to deduce the reason behind the queen\'s depressed state, however that\'s exactly what made keeping a straight face quite difficult. After doing some studies and research the queen\'s closest advisor had arrived at one conclusion: the queen is suffering from a strange illness called love!
\'She\'s getting worse by the day…\' Mimir thought, carefully observing the state of her liege.
Lady Thor, like most Nephilim, had taken the route of changing her appearance to that of an adult. Even by their standards, her beauty stood out with her long scarlet hair and sharp eyes of the same color. Anything she wears looks good on her but the military uniform she puts on every day gave her a distinct strong commanding air, even if it\'s nothing more than a costume.
"Mimir, do you think I should\'ve done more?"
The question came as no surprise to the consultant and the sigh that accompanied it set the tone of the conversation. But even though she was facing her, the queen had her eyes on something else. A small rectangular window floated in front of her as she leaned on one of the thorne\'s armrests with a hand on her left cheek, and Mimir somehow already knew what it displayed without having to see it for herself.
"I\'m not sure I understand, your majesty."
"Unlike Hela I didn\'t have such a close relationship with Freyja," Thor said. "I mean, I do wish to bring her back, however I can\'t help but wonder if we had to go to such lengths. Surely there was a better way…"
\'There she goes again…\'
Mimir had to be careful not to let her true emotions show, having already heard variations of this question ever since Mjölnir returned with a report on the war.
Losing the war was quite a shock and the Nephilim had to work overtime to decide on their next move. Still, during all that chaos the energetic lady Thor was strangely silent most of the time and would space out quite frequently paying no mind to important discussions that took place despite being the highest authority among them.
Since she is their leader everyone believed she was just concerned about her new responsibilities. Mimir was one of them as well, at least until she caught her rewatching the recordings Black Thorn left behind on multiple occasions, just like what she\'s doing right now.
Doctor Sam Sanderson is the name of the man leading the other side. At first, Mimir believed it was only natural for the queen to be interested in him considering their similar positions, however seeing her so focused on the instances he appears in the recording made it quite suspicious and after reading a few dozen romance novels she was finally sure of it.
Lady Thor was a maiden in love and she doesn\'t even realize it. All Nephilim are born as females and having eradicated the humans of their world there were no males for them to interact with. Everything they know about them comes from books and various other media and some Nephilim have shown interest in some celebrities and fictional characters, however the new queen is the first one to fall for a man who\'s still alive.
"Your majesty, as I have stated before, there is no point in lamenting the past. Our only choice is to take accountability for our actions and try to be better in the future."
"Even if you say that…"
Contrary to her words and expression, Mimir knew for a fact that Thor couldn\'t care less about the humans that were massacred nor did she care about her captured sister and the Nephilim that followed her to the other world. Her only concern is the bad position the war has left her in, putting her against the man that caught her fancy with little chance for their romance to grow. Even though she doesn\'t understand her feelings the thought of being hated by him tormented her and the suffering only grew as the day of the conference approached.
At this rate there is a high likelihood of her messing up everything when she finally meets him. As her closest advisor and the one who would be standing by her side at the meeting, Mimir was looking forward to witnessing everything that will happen with my own eyes. She even considered pulling some strings to make things more interesting.
\'This will be quite the entertaining experience...\'
"I hope this alliance extends beyond the mission to retrieve Freyja," Thor said. "It would be pointless if we went back to being at each other\'s throats the moment we achieve our goal."
In much simpler terms Thor wanted to continue getting along with the other world\'s humans even after the first queen gets rescued. Mimir was struggling to keep herself from smiling. It couldn\'t be any more obvious, especially with how the scarlet queen has stopped the video to stare at the man, his image reflected in her eyes.
\'I can\'t take it anymore…\'
At first, Mimir had decided on watching how things will play out without interfering, however she couldn\'t help but feel like pulling some strings to make the situation more interesting. She understood that it would be for the best if Thor stayed oblivious to her feelings for the enemy leader, letting them develop slowly until she realizes what they are, but looking at her personality it\'s unclear whether she would do anything once that happens or choose to bury them and remain silent. Mimir had no intention of allowing the latter to happen.
"Your majority, may I make a proposition?"
"Hm?"
Just as the scarlet queen raised her head to look at her subordinate, a loud alarm resounded through the castle. Their eyes widened as they came to the same conclusion and the next moment they disappeared from the throne room.
It has been quite a while since the last time the alarm was heard. It was supposed to signal the arrival of enemy forces during the war, and with the humans of their world already eradicated no one expected to hear it anymore.
Thor and Mimir teleported above one of the surveillance towers near the outer wall. Nephilim were already gathering nearby and several drones were automatically deployed in anticipation of an attack. Everyone were on edge, however as they looked around the Dolby thing they saw was the barren wasteland filled with the remains of previous conflicts.
"Your majesty, down there…"
Mimir pointed at a spot far in the distance that appeared strange at a first glance. The Nephilim queen immediately recognized the spatial distortion as the same one caused by interdimensional portals, and the large light pillar that followed only confirmed her guess.
"EVERYONE! INTO COMBAT POSITIONS! NOW!!!"
No sooner had she shouted her command than several gigantic crafts appeared from the light followed by a number of small objects orbiting them.
There was no time to carefully observe the situation. Their world was being invaded and one look was enough to tell peace is not an option.
As she watched the fleet of aircrafts gradually fill their skies Mimir came to another realization. They have been at war with another world for the past ten years, sending their forces over there and wreaking havoc on their land. If they\'re able to do that, why did she never consider the likelihood of the same happening to them as well?
"Which one of you is the leader?"
The sudden appearance of the large ships had distracted the Nephilim from noticing that someone had teleported right above them. A small figure clad in a tightly fit black pilot suit. Mechanical parts floated around her slender limbs while incorporeal red wings cast their light on her back. Her onyx hair fluttered cluttered with the wind, but what drew the most attention was the complex intertwined shapes forming the glowing halo over her head.
"Is it you?"
Thor didn\'t reply, silently forming her own halo as she looked the stranger in the eyes. Questions were quickly piling up, however there was no time to look for answers.
They\'ve just come out of their second war but it seems a new one is upon them, and though they lost the last one the Nephilim had no intent on letting anyone else come out on top this time.