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He rapped her head. "Try thinking for yourself instead of asking me so much! I feel like I'm babysitting kids in Cornwall."

"But...you're smarter than me," she muttered, rubbing her head.

Shirou: "..."

Admitting it so readily and without hesitation, how very Saber-like! Shirou sincerely admired that quality in her. Though thanks to his mellow temperament and patience, not to mention experience handling endless strange antics, he hadn't flipped out already. Gilgamesh likely would have erupted long ago.

Shirou turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" asked Salter, catching up.

"Catching someone. Don't you remember I let Sigurd get away earlier?" He raised his palm, on which a morphing glob of black mud visibly tracked something.

"What'd you do?"

"Nothing much." He smiled. "Just left some mud on his shoe."

She froze. So this whole time, he hadn't bothered killing or catching Sigurd, even deliberately letting him flee in the end. It wasn't because he refused to handle it but to use Sigurd as bait to hook bigger prey!

Salter would never have thought of that.

Using Sigurd as bait didn't even cross her mind. She hadn't noticed Shirou's arrangements!

Walking with him, she eyed his profile.

Beneath the joking, this man set plans in motion. His purpose and methods were crafty!

A thought struck - Eternal King was scary.

This guy was a smiling tiger!

...

Sigurd left Valhalla and came to a hidden tunnel. Another Servant was there waiting for him.

As soon as Sigurd returned, he frowned with annoyance, "I was close to taking over Valhalla. Why'd you call me back?"

"There is no other way. This is Master's order," the Servant said with a helpless smile.

Sigurd snorted in irritation. He threw himself down on a rock, arms crossed, glaring at the Servant. "So what does she want this time?"

"I don't know. Her order is just to stand by here. Looks like she's planning something big."

Hearing this, Sigurd raised his eyebrows but said nothing more. He didn't have a good relationship with the other Servants, except for being summoned by the Goddess of Death, Hel, at the same time. Naturally, they had little to discuss.

The Servant looked around and yawned lazily. "That Faceless Man is really something. He actually sneaked us into Asgard and caused such chaos."

Sigurd knew clearly that the Faceless Man was none other than the Council member assisting Hel.

"It'd be strange if he couldn't sneak us in," said Sigurd.

Hearing this, the Servant turned to face Sigurd, gaze curious. "Do you know who he is, Saber?"

"That's not our concern."

The Servant simply nodded. Then he stared at Sigurd's right foot. "Saber, lift your foot."

Sigurd frowned. "Why?"

"I feel something stuck under there," the Servant said after a moment.

Sigurd frowned and lifted his foot to take a look. He startled.

Underneath his futuristic boots was a lump of viscous, pitch-black mud.

Sigurd instinctively noticed something strange - it ignored the mana on his body and stuck fast to his boots.

Moreover, the squirming, sticky black lump was clearly alive.

Looking at it, his warrior instincts, honed over years of experience, sensed danger.

This was bad - he had been set up!

Sigurd was a mighty warrior who had gone through countless battlefields, warring against evil dragons, gods, and giants. He was a legendary hero of Norse myth for good reason. That was why he immediately knew someone had made him a target.

Damn it! Sigurd drew his demonic sword, ready to wipe out the black mud.

But just as he drew his sword, a loud "boom" blasted their hiding tunnel wide open.

Dim sunlight with whirling wind and snow poured into the dark passage.

The man wearing silver armor smiled slightly in the sunlight, looking at Sigurd and the Servant. "Oh good, I finally found you two."

Sigurd frowned while the Servant startled. But then he showed a sunny smile, "Ah...so it's Eternal King."

...

In the Great Temple, Ortlinde panicked at the sight of the unconscious Type-A Valkyries sprawled on the ground.

"No, how...? This can't be... The Valkyrie Network - it's actually collapsed? Why?"

She spiraled into disbelief. "How did this happen? How?"

"And the invasion - how did they get through? How did they breach the Gate and slip into Asgard unseen?"

Ortlinde's mind raced as she bombarded herself with unanswered questions, overwhelmed with shock and confusion.

For two thousand years since the gods disappeared, the Valkyries had upheld the world order. When they launched major campaigns, they were invincible - even Hel's abominations and Surtr's giant hordes stood no chance against them.

So when invaders appeared in Asgard, Ortlinde felt confident with countless Valkyries stationed there.

Yet now, disbelief gripped her.

All of the Valkyries lay collapsed without even fighting!

Even the Valkyrie Network, which the Valkyries relied on for survival, had collapsed.

What was happening? Why would Hel launch an invasion of Asgard now of all times? Nothing like this had ever happened in millennia of war!

Lacking any historical precedent - not to mention the collapsed Valkyries themselves - Ortlinde spiraled into panic, bombarded by unanswered questions.

"Sister!" Thrud shouted anxiously, jolting her from her stupor. There was no more time for shock. If the Network was down and the Valkyries out of commission, then only she, Ortlinde, and Hildr remained to defend Asgard.

Thrud's shout snapped Ortlinde back to her senses.

But coming to her senses was useless now. The Great Temple was already surrounded by horrifying creatures. If not for the barriers left by the Norse gods, it would have fallen already.

No...the temple would collapse sooner or later if these monsters could sneak in like this. Maybe even Hel herself, or Surtr, was lurking somewhere in Asgard!

How had things turned out like this?

Ortlinde was in shock, freaking out like a ship tossed about on rough seas without an anchor. She glanced at Skadi passed out on her throne and gritted her teeth, then whipped her head back around.

No, get it together! Calm down! Think hard - what happened and how do we get out of this situation?

"Sister, what should we do?" Thrud asked anxiously.

"F-first, activate Asgard's defense systems!" Ortlinde stammered out through gritted teeth.

With things having come to this, their only option was to temporarily activate the defenses to buy some time.

Ortlinde turned to Thrud, "And go get Sister Brynhildr for help. Tell her to hurry back from the Muspelheim Gate!"

"But...Lady Skadi ordered that Brynhildr has to stay put," Thrud replied uncertainly. "Whether it's Surtr or Chaldea, she wants Brynhildr there to guard against them..."

"There's no time! Defending Asgard is our priority!" Ortlinde yelled.

"Yes!" Thrud gritted her teeth and rushed off.

...

Standing in the sunlight, Shirou turned his head slightly and glanced at Sigurd before settling his gaze on the Servant behind him. He couldn't help but crack a knowing smile. "Oh, there you two are. I've finally found you."

After a brief stunned pause, the Servant flashed a smile as bright as the sun. "Ah, so it's the Eternal King."

"He...he's..." Even Salter seemed a bit surprised as she looked at the Servant.

Because that Servant was none other than Adam!

Sigurd's brows furrowed deeply as he asked, "Who are you?"

"Can't you sense that we're fellow Alter Servants, Saber?" Shirou said with a smile. "I'm Eternal King, summoned as an Alter Berserker by our Master. And I suppose that makes me your ally now."

Ah, this guy is at it again! Salter mentally complained.

Shirou gestured toward Salter and said, "Like you, she is an Alter version of King Arthur, summoned as a Saber class Servant. I guess you could say she's also your ally."

...

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