Chapter 903: Frey Wakes Up

Alvitr waited until Freya was calm enough before beginning.

The ritual she had prepared around Frey was not particularly large, but its complexity more than made up for any lack of spectacle.

Dozens of bluish runic lines ran across the floor in overlapping circles, all connected to the inscriptions she herself had drawn over the man’s back.

Small stone containers were placed at the cardinal points, each holding a different mixture of ink, spiritual blood, mineral powder, and water saturated with Valkyrie energy.

Alvitr knelt at the upper edge of the circle, joined her hands in front of her chest, and closed her eyes.

"When I begin, do not interrupt," she warned. "These runes were built to remain hidden. I don’t know what defensive mechanisms they have, so any reaction must be treated as potentially hostile."

Vergil nodded, remaining beside Freya.

She, in turn, did not take her eyes off her brother.

Frey remained lying face down, unconscious, breathing so softly that at times he seemed not to be breathing at all.

The revelation that his divinity had disappeared still weighed heavily on her mind, but at least now something concrete was being done.

Alvitr touched the first symbol.

The blue ink glowed.

Then the second.

The third responded on its own.

Within seconds, the entire enormous structure drawn across Frey’s back began to light up.

Lines that had appeared independent revealed hidden connections, forming runic words that did not exist when viewed separately.

Alvitr breathed slowly as she ran her fingers over each group, identifying its function before undoing it.

A rune near the left shoulder detached from the skin as tiny black particles and was immediately captured by the outer circle.

"Compulsory persistence," she murmured. "Removed."

Another glowed near the spine.

"Direction."

The rune was undone.

Lower down, a third appeared.

"Fatigue suppression."

Vergil frowned.

"So that was what kept him walking."

"Part of it."

Alvitr removed another.

Freya watched her brother’s body relax by the slightest degree.

"It’s working."

"It is."

The process continued for several minutes.

One after another, the hidden marks began emerging, being identified, neutralized, and pulled out of the body.

Some took forms resembling ancient letters.

Others looked like eyes, chains, or small circles crossed by lines.

Alvitr showed no hurry.

Every symbol was studied before being broken because she had already realized that the network had been created by someone who understood traditional Valkyrie methods perfectly.

Then she reached the center of his back.

Alvitr stopped.

An extremely small mark was hidden between two vertebrae.

"That wasn’t here before."

Vergil looked.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

She brought her fingers closer.

The rune opened.

It did not glow.

It opened.

Like an eye.

A strange sound escaped Frey’s body.

Not from his throat.

From inside.

Something between metal scraping over stone and a creature taking its first breath.

Vergil reacted immediately.

"Alvitr!"

He grabbed the Valkyrie around the waist with his left arm and Freya with his right, pulling both of them back as demonic energy exploded around the three.

A black barrier sealed itself around them in the same instant.

The rune on Frey’s body collapsed.

The explosion came immediately after.

The entire floor shook.

The platform Frey had been lying on shattered into pieces, the runic circle vanished beneath a violent expansion of golden and blue energy, and a thick cloud of dust tore across the room like a storm.

Pieces of stone struck the demonic barrier and simply disintegrated while Vergil kept Alvitr and Freya protected against his body.

"FREY!"

Freya tried to break free.

Vergil did not let her.

"Wait."

"MY BROTHER WAS THERE!"

"I know."

Before he could say anything else, the dust was cut apart.

A sword tore through the smoke.

Fast.

Violent.

Loaded with an absurd amount of divine energy.

Vergil turned his face, but he did not even need to move his hands.

Mjölnir leaped from his waist on her own.

The hammer struck the blade from the side.

BOOOOM!

The impact bent the sword in midair.

Literally.

The magical weapon was crushed by Mjölnir, bending in an almost comical way before being hurled aside, spinning uncontrollably through the smoke.

Vergil stared.

"...What the fuck is that?"

The sword immediately recovered its shape and returned.

Freya’s eyes widened.

"Ingrid?!"

She slipped free from Vergil before he could stop her and rushed directly toward the weapon.

The sword tried to circle around her body, but Freya reached out and grabbed the blade from the side, trapping it with demonic energy before it could escape.

The weapon began struggling.

"Ingrid, stop this shit."

The sword froze.

Vergil looked from Freya to the weapon.

"Ingrid?"

Freya breathed heavily, keeping the sword restrained.

"Freyr’s magical sword."

Vergil looked at the blade.

Then at the smoke.

"She’s conscious?"

"To a degree. Ingrid is fed by his divine energy and reacts instinctively when Frey is threatened. When she receives enough energy, she comes very close to developing a personality of her own."

Ingrid tried to escape again.

Freya tightened her grip.

"I said stop."

The sword became motionless.

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

"And when he loses consciousness?"

"She becomes unstable too."

"Great."

Then a male voice emerged from the mist.

"Come back, you shrew."

Freya froze.

Ingrid vibrated.

The sword simply slipped free from her hand and flew into the dust as though it had heard the only order that truly mattered.

Vergil sighed.

"You’re a troublesome guy."

The smoke moved.

A golden line crossed through everything.

The dust split in half.

Frey emerged from it.

Not dragging his feet.

Not skeletal.

Not aged.

Whole.

His body had been completely restored.

His muscles had returned, his skin was healthy, his hair had regained its color, and even the signs of centuries of artificial wear had disappeared.

More impressive still was the energy now emanating from him.

Divine.

Dense.

Alive.

What Alvitr had claimed did not exist only minutes earlier had returned like a flood.

Freya was speechless.

So was Alvitr.

Vergil, however, merely tilted his head slightly.

Frey held Ingrid in one hand.

His eyes were finally conscious, attentive, and filled with the familiar arrogance Freya knew all too well.

He looked at Vergil.

"We haven’t been introduced yet."

Vergil smiled.

"Pleasure."

Freya immediately sensed that something stupid was coming.

Vergil continued:

"Owner of your sister."

Freya’s face went red all the way to her ears.

"VERGIL!"

Frey did not answer verbally.

Ingrid disappeared.

The blade passed through Vergil’s neck.

His head went flying.

Alvitr’s eyes widened.

Freya went completely white.

Frey kept the sword extended, still trying to understand why the sensation of the strike felt so wrong.

Vergil’s head spun once in the air.

Twice.

Then his body reached up, grabbed it by the hair, and placed it back onto his neck.

The flesh reconnected instantly.

Vergil moved his jaw.

Then looked at Frey.

"How cute."

Frey blinked.

"Sibling love."

Mjölnir left his waist.

This time no one ordered her.

The hammer exploded with demonic energy.

Black lightning spread across the walls, ceiling, and floor.

The pressure created by the weapon was so intense that the air itself began crackling, and Alvitr instinctively took several steps back.

Mjölnir crossed the distance between them like a projectile meant to erase Frey from existence.

Frey’s eyes widened.

"Ah."

The hammer was centimeters from his face.

"Calm down, little girl."

Mjölnir stopped.

The energy around her continued roaring.

Black lightning jumped from the hammer to the floor, blasting small craters while the weapon remained suspended in front of Frey’s nose.

Vergil extended a hand.

"Come back."

Mjölnir took a second.

Vergil raised an eyebrow.

The hammer finally retreated.

Slowly.

Almost offended.

She returned to Vergil like a child who had just been scolded after trying to hit another kid on the playground.

He grabbed the handle and placed Mjölnir back on his waist.

The weapon went completely silent.

Yamato vibrated.

Mjölnir did not answer.

Vergil discreetly stroked the hammer’s handle.

"Later."

Mjölnir trembled once.

Frey kept staring at him.

Then at Mjölnir.

Then at Ingrid.

Then back at Vergil.

His legs gave out.

He dropped to the floor.

"Fuck..."

Freya widened her eyes.

Frey ran a hand over his face.

"I really need to stop attacking people before knowing the enemy."

Vergil crossed his arms.

"That’s probably the smartest thing you’ve said since I found you."

Frey pointed at him.

"In my defense, you said you owned my sister."

"I was joking."

"It didn’t sound like it."

"It worked."

Freya was trembling.

Frey noticed too late.

He slowly turned his head.

A blonde woman stood in front of him.

Smiling.

It was not a gentle smile.

It was the kind of smile that came right before family violence.

"Freya?"

She raised her hand.

THWACK!

The smack landed so hard that Frey’s head nearly hit the floor.

"OW!"

Freya grabbed him by the hair.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"Wait—"

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK THE PERSON WHO SAVED YOU?!"

Another smack.

"OW! FREYA!"

"YOU STUPID BROTHER!"

Another.

"STOP!"

"IDIOT!"

THWACK!

"IDIOT!"

THWACK!

"IDIOT!"

Frey tried to shield his head with his arms.

"I WOKE UP THIRTY SECONDS AGO!"

"AND YOU ALREADY TRIED TO KILL SOMEONE!"

"HE SAID HE OWNED YOU!"

"HE WAS JOKING!"

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!"

Freya grabbed both of his ears.

"THIS IS WHY WE NEVER GET ALONG! YOU’RE TOO STUPID!"

Frey tried to push her hands away.

"YOU USED TO ATTACK ME TOO WHEN WE WERE KIDS!"

"BECAUSE YOU WERE STUPID!"

"THAT’S NOT AN ARGUMENT!"

"YES, IT IS!"

Alvitr watched the scene completely motionless.

Vergil stood beside her.

The two watched Freya continue scolding her newly recovered brother as though the months of disappearance had been temporarily forgotten in favor of years of accumulated irritation.

Alvitr discreetly looked at Vergil.

"Should we stop them?"

Vergil thought.

Frey took another smack.

"No."

Alvitr nodded.

"It is probably therapeutic."

Vergil almost smiled.

"For her, definitely."

Frey finally managed to grab his sister’s wrists.

"FREYA, I WAS TRAPPED IN A PRIMORDIAL PRISON!"

"And that gave you permission to cut off the head of the person who rescued you?!"

"HE PUT IT BACK!"

"THAT’S NOT THE POINT!"

Vergil looked at the head perfectly connected to his own body.

"She’s right."

Frey stared at him.

"YOU’RE NOT HELPING!"

Vergil shrugged.

Freya released his wrists.

For a few seconds, it seemed like she was finally done.

Then she simply dropped to her knees in front of him.

Frey stopped.

The anger disappeared from her face.

The hands that had been beating him only seconds earlier grabbed the clothing over his chest.

Freya hugged him.

Tightly.

Very tightly.

Frey went completely still.

Her breathing trembled against his shoulder.

"You idiot..."

There was no anger in her voice anymore.

"Don’t disappear again."

Frey took a few seconds.

Then his arms wrapped around his sister.

The arrogance disappeared.

So did the joking.

"Sorry."

Freya tightened the hug even more.

Vergil looked away slightly, letting the two have that moment.

Alvitr smiled softly.

Even after everything, after the runes, the Inverted World, the loss of divinity, and the explosion that should have destroyed what little remained of Frey, the man was there.

Alive.

Whole.

And apparently still perfectly capable of irritating his sister in less than a minute.

Some things truly never changed.