453 Record of Ragnarok: The Fall of the Strongest, The Loss of a Valkyrie, Brunhilde's Sin and The Forgotten Man in the Underworld.

The Ragnarok had begun, but the first battle ended with a victory for the thunder god.

The fight, which was evenly matched, foreshadowed its inevitable end when Mjolnir awakened, and Thor used his most powerful move, breaking Lubu's legs. Lubu's steed chose to replace his master's legs, and the battle continued. However, in the next strike, Lubu's arms were shattered, along with the weapon he wielded. This was devastating, for the weapon was one of the Valkyries.

This battle was decided...

'I'm sorry, Randgriz...' thought Brunhilde as she watched her fourth sister disappear.

The main reason humans can't win against the gods is the divine weapons; no human-made weapon could withstand a clash with Mjolnir.

To level the playing field, Brunhilde thought of using her sisters. Each of them can form a ritual with a fighter and become a weapon, enabling a human to face a god. This ritual is called "Volund."

But if the human fighter loses, they die (or disappear), and the weapon (Valkyrie) is destroyed. There is no reincarnation or life after death. Along with the humans, the Valkyrie who lent them her power disappears. In this case, it was Randgriz. During the first battle, she became the Sky Piercer, based on Lü Bu's iconic weapon.

Lubu Hosen, with broken arms and legs, rode toward Thor with a smile, which was met with a smile from the Nordic god. Lubu died smiling like a child, but this was one step closer to humanity's extinction.

To end the battle, Lubu's loyal army also rode toward Thor. All these brave warriors chose to follow their general into nothingness... yes, nothingness.

Zeus was pleased and excited, and the gods were surprised, as anticipated, the gods would win, and the fight made it clear that these fights would not be one-sided. Which, of course,, pleased the god,s, who were bored with their own eternal existence.

...

Brunhilde and Goll walked toward the "Akashic records," which allowed them to choose the next champion. These records contained every human born in the world, from Adam to the most recent birth in the current era.

"If they're already dead, what will happen to their souls..."

Goll didn't understand the meaning of defeat, but she froze when she heard her sister's words.

"Nothing..."

"What do you mean, Hild-nee?"

"If a soul is destroyed, it disappears into nothingness. There is no afterlife; nothing of them will remain..."

"Huh?" Goll's face went pale. "And what will happen to our fourth sister, Randgriz?!"

"She won't return either..."

Goll panicked and became angry. "How can you be so calm?! How could you allow this?!"

Brunhilde lowered her gaze for a moment and trembled. She vividly remembered the conversation with her sister. "Randgriz, lend me your body," said Brunhilde. "I will... I hope you can save that person," she replied with a smile. That smile was characteristic of their fourth sister.

"THAT MEANS WE WILL NEVER SEE HER BEAUTIFUL SMILE AGAIN!" Goll cried.

She was a demigoddess, so even now, death felt very distant to her, for even her own death would lead her somewhere else; either to the Underworld or to Valhalla. Essentially, death was a trivial matter for the gods. But Ragnarok was different. The loss meant absolute destruction, annihilation.

Upon hearing her younger sister's cries, Brunhilde wasn't moved. Instead, she grew angry as her aura distorted.

"Goll!"

"Ah!"

"This is the battle that will decide humanity's extinction, and thirteen of the strongest gods are participating. Do you think we can win against those monsters if we're not willing to sacrifice everything?!"

The Valkyries were born with a purpose like this, so Brunhild knew that none of her sisters would suffer for the defeat of her chosen champion and would accept her fate. However, Brunhilde hid the darkness in her heart. She knew what she was doing; she was sending her sisters to their deaths to save someone, but that someone was the most important person to her.

'I'm despicable…' Brunhilde made her way to the Akashic Records with a heavy heart. 'But still, I will save you...'

"Brunhilde..."

Brunhilde stopped as she saw Thor walking toward her. Her heart tightened with a shiver. Thor had won, but at the end of the fight, he had a defeated and irritable look. After all, he had never been on the verge of death. Lubu was worthy, but still, Thor remained undefeated, still the strongest Nordic god.

"Do you remember what I told you?..."

"Thor-sama!" Brunhilde knelt again.

"..."

However, Thor knew the truth. Brunhilde wasn't doing it from the heart. Every gesture of respect toward him or anyone else was nothing but a farce to conceal her intense hatred. And yet, she was willing to kneel as many times as necessary to fulfill her greatest wish.

Thor's silence made Brunhilde sweat. She didn't fear death, but, 'not yet,' she still had much to do... however, the gods were capricious.. of course, they were gods.

'I can't die without seeing you again, Sigurd… no, Allen... No matter if a punishment worse than death awaits me for my grave sin, if you can be saved, I will offer my soul to the fire of eternal suffering...'

...

[Brunhilde was the eldest of the Valkyries and also the most beautiful... although she is a bit crazy 🍷🗿]

...

It was a dark place, with walls, ceiling, and floor made of rock, resembling an underground cave. Yet there was an air of death floating around. This place was in the Underworld.

A drop of water fell from the ceiling. It hit the hand of a corpse—or so it seemed. His breath was faint, and his heart beat so slowly it could hardly be called alive, yet he was. There, in that cell, seemingly forgotten by all, was a condemned man.

The man, trapped like a martyr, had long white hair as if it hadn't been cut in hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. He wore no upper clothing, revealing his body, which despite some injuries, remained intact. He was locked in a special cell, tied to a cross to suppress his power and restrict his movements. In this deplorable state, the most dangerous prisoner that ever existed—or so they said; was found.

The euphoria, joy, and bliss that surrounded most of the gods, demons, and mythological beings contrasted with the despair, sadness, and fear of humanity, which could even be felt in this place.

The man's eyebrows trembled as signs of life began to show. At the same time, his beautiful light hair started to turn black, and his sky-blue eyes turned the color of wine.

...

Allen remained silent for a moment as he assessed his situation.

One detail that cannot be ignored is that entering a world as part of it means accepting that there is a life in this world that you have already lived. For an ordinary person, this would be torture, but for Allen, it was like a Monday morning. However, his head ached, and he was confused, unable to remember anything about the life that led him to this situation. Who was he supposed to be in this world, and what had he done to end up in this situation? These were questions he needed to answer.

"It doesn't matter... the only thing that matters is who did this to me... they really have guts."

His muscles and body began to revitalize, and at the same time, the power that had been dormant within Allen began to awaken. However, before fully awakening, he wanted to see if anyone would come to visit him in this state.

...

Gwen and MJ stared at the screen from the living room of the apartment, waiting for the live stream to start. Allen had left them behind for more than two weeks. For many people, the last image they had of Allen was him massacring Morlun. This definitely had an impact on the public; it was impossible for it not to.

It appeared in the corner of every screen and device where people from all over were watching the notification for the stream to begin...

"Huh?" MJ immediately froze in shock.

"Allen?!" Gwen stood up from her chair.

Both girls, along with everyone else, were not expecting to see Allen in the situation he was in. Who captured him? No, the most important thing was, who was capable of doing this?!

...

Thor – Brother, what happened to you?

Hulk – WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! HULK WILL SMASH THEM!

Tony – Oh god, tell me that whoever did this to you isn't from Earth, or from our universe!

Akeno – Allen-kun?! Is this even possible?!

Kimiko – Are you alright?!

The Emperor – You did "that" again, didn't you?

Allen knew that people would be alarmed to see him in this place and in this condition without context, so he was already prepared to respond.

"Don't worry, as the Emperor said, I'm in this due to the circumstances under which I arrived in this world..."

Carol – So, you're no longer in our world? Why didn't you say anything?

"I would've if you had a phone..."

Among the women who knew Allen, Carol was the hardest to reach because she never checked messages and always had her phone on "do not disturb."

Carol – Yeah, sorry...

...

Allen shifted his attention from the chat when he felt his dolls starting to awaken. Due to the connection they shared with him, they also had to go through the same fate as Allen when entering a world in this way.

Artoria was particularly irritated with this situation, as it meant she wouldn't be able to protect Allen if he needed it. Of course, the system ensures that Allen doesn't die, but its intervention during this process is minimal.

Allen tensed his arms as the chains tightened.

"I see... I can break this with this level of strength... in fact, it offends me that they think they can contain me with this..."

Allen's irritation returned...

[Don't forget that your power is limited until you manage to "awaken," also, your "self" in this world had quite a dignified life, don't worry, though I can barely consider it worthy...]

'Oh and... who am I?'

[You are...]

'...!'

Allen felt a strange sense of urgency, someone... somewhere... was suffering... longing for him in their heart. His head started to hurt, but he still couldn't remember anything. However, he needed to be by the side of someone who longed for him.

"Urgh... ?!"

There were no memories, but feelings returned to him. Feelings for a faceless woman.

Allen's heart filled with rage, a sensation similar to what he felt when Morlun hurt Gwen, but with less intensity due to the lack of memories.

Wednesday – Are you okay?!

Esdeath – Does your head hurt?!

Makima – A curse?! Is it the chains' fault?!

Albedo – I'll break them!

Albedo appeared with her huge axe, bloodlust radiating from her body. It wasn't just her; Makima, Esdeath, Artoria, Harley, Rebecca, 2B, and even Bocchi, and Nokotan were all angry at what had been done to Allen.

His wounds were superficial at most. His body was somewhat battered, but that was it. His clothes were ragged, but nothing more. And yet, his current state was unacceptable to the dolls, to his girlfriends, to his friends, to his viewers.

Albedo struck the chains, but they didn't even budge.

"What?!" Albedo took a step back, her face full of disbelief. She had used all her strength in that strike, but she didn't even manage to scratch the chains binding Allen.

Artoria, seeing this, drew Excalibur to try herself, but Allen interrupted them.

"There's no need, girls..."

Allen controlled the feelings in his heart. He didn't know He didn't know who that woman was... or what connection he had with her, but she was definitely no less important than any of his girlfriends. He had to free himself.

'Before that, system, can you make sure no one knows I escaped?'

He didn't forget to take precautions before leaving to learn more about his situation.

[Don't worry, I'll handle it...]

Allen looked up at the ceiling, 'How long? How long was I trapped in this place?'

The chains creaked as they tightened once more. There was something else, something non-physical, a sort of power that held him.

"Heh..." Allen smiled in disdain.

A crack appeared in one of the chains, and then it broke, creating a sound that vibrated through the air. The rage in his heart mixed with melancholy and regret. This came from abandoning the people who had believed in him for so long.

'This is unpleasant...'

Guilt hit him like a punch to the stomach. One by one, the chains broke. The system managed to isolate Allen's cell in time, or the entire underworld would have trembled as Allen tore the chains that held him.

Allen fell to the ground, creating a crack. As he stood up, his ragged clothes turned into new ones, and his long hair that had reached his feet disintegrated until it returned to his usual haircut. Allen cracked his joints, which hadn't moved in a long time, and then looked at the girls before smiling.

Behind Allen, the system created a copy of him chained to the cross. This copy looked like the previous Allen, with white hair and a battered body.

"..." Looking at his body, with his back to the dolls and the Chat, Allen spoke in a grave tone, "Now, maybe I should visit the one who locked me here, don't you think?"

Behind the screen, someone shuddered. They didn't know who did this to Allen, but that person would definitely regret it.

"Who are you?!"

Outside the cell, someone appeared furious to see Allen inside the prisoner's cell. No one was allowed in this place without permission.

'Hm?" Allen vanished and grabbed the face of the man who had yelled at him.

"You!—"

Without saying a word, with no warning, he disintegrated the man with his "Molecular Manipulation" ability, a weaker version of the "Molecule Man" power, which he also obtained in The Boys. It didn't matter if this was a god, a demon, a spirit, or a guardian. It didn't matter if they were the purest beings in the universe or the worst criminals. If they were someone who had locked Allen up, this place had definitely given him more than enough reasons to kill them.

"Someone is calling me..." said Allen as he held his head. Amidst the pain, he managed to remember a name that, even if he erased all his memories, he would still remember, because it was etched into his soul, the one that lived in this world. "Brunhilde..."

===

A/N: I'll just say let me cook, I have a good idea for this arc. 🍷🗿