The Record of Unusual Creatures

When a bat bomb exploded under the armor, even the mightiest valkyrie would not be able to withstand the blast. The mad warrior was now wholly disabled, lying on the ground, the armor was even more broken than before and burn marks and wounds were all over her body.

But she was not dead.

Vivian had deliberately kept the explosion of the little bat under control. She designed the attack plan according to what she knew of Valkyrie in her memory. Disabling the mad woman through a powerful electric shock, she could then take her sweet time figuring out what had happened to the Valkyrie.

“Is she dead?” Lily came up to Vivian, knelt down, and cautiously poked the valkyrie’s face with her claw. “I think she is cooked.”

“Not really. Valkyrie has strong vitality and tenacity. The electric shock was just powerful enough to overload her and knock her out,” Vivian said while skillfully disassembling the armor on the valkyrie’s abdomen. “She must be of a very high-ranking valkyrie. The Thunder Sword she uses requires a massive amount of magic energy. It is entirely possible for this kind of Valkyrie to survive the Twilight of the Gods.”

Nangong Sanba patted on his chest, still in shock. “I didn’t expect the legendary Valkyrie to be so powerful and have such high combat strength.”

“So you thought a Valkyrie was a weakling in the world of the gods of Asgard?” Vivian glanced up at him. “Legends are not always true. In fact, valkyries are powerful warriors in the world of the Norse gods. Though they are called Odin’s maids, it is just a title. They are typical combat masters. Valkyries are the commanding-class officers of the einherjar army, the top combat force in Asgard. Each Valkyrie has the combat strength comparable to any Norse god. And the one here, in fact, she should be even more powerful. Valkyrie can cast spells during the battle, but this is one has gone mad and could only use brute force to fight.”

While saying, Vivian had taken the largest piece of armor off the valkyrie’s abdomen, exposing the white clothes underneath. Hao Ren was embarrassed. “What are you doing? Should I excuse myself?”

If Vivian were to continue what she was doing, this chapter would not see the day of light without being heavily censored.

“Stop your filthy thought!” Vivian shot Hao Ren a glance. She then took the last piece of rag off the valkyrie’s belly.

Under the clothes was not skin but a layer of translucent gold shell.

The shell seemed to be made of amber, emitting a constant faint glow. It covered two-thirds of the valkyrie’s belly. There were a few silver-white wires on the edges of the shell connecting to the surrounding skin tissue. Underneath the shell was a mixed bunch of cables and metal strips wrapping around a blue-white light, which pulsated as if the beating of the heart.

“Ahh?” Hao Ren was stunned. He mumbled spontaneously, “Is this a robot or a magic doll?”

“It is a hybrid. You can call her a cyborg, and they are all female. Only the spirit of female Asgardian can be perfectly synchronized with the Core of the Valkyrie,” Vivian said while tapping the amber shell lightly with her finger. As she tapped, various intricate lines and symbols appeared on the shell. It transpired the shell was a control panel. “As I said, the gods of Asgard, or the Asgardians, are experts in radiation and electromagnetic technology and have strong mental power. Many of their warriors were produced on this basis. Valkyries were carefully-selected female warriors, who had received unusually harsh training when they were still alive. They were sent to the college almost immediately when they learned to walk, and they underwent combat training around the clock. They eventually became combat masters and were deployed to the front line of Jotunheim, where wars raged on. They went without any extra supplies or backup. The only purpose of the battle was to send them to their deaths. The senior valkyries would walk with these candidates. Whenever a candidate died, she would be immediately be brought back to Asgard, where Frigg personally implanted a thing called the Core of Valkyrie into their hearts. This core transformed the newly-dead candidates and turned their bodies into combat tools while it pulled their souls back from the kingdom of death. Then, a new Valkyrie was born.”

This cruel warrior training method had everyone astounded as they looked at each other. Even Y’zaks could not help himself. “That’s brutal!”

“Every race has its own way of living. To the Valkyries, they don’t feel that their experience is anything unusual. It’s just a distinct profession with its special training and induction program. The Asgardian is good at spiritual power, and they regard the dead as an important resource as the spiritual power of the newly-dead is the most powerful and easiest to harness. By now, you should know that the manufacturing process of einherjar is actually a simplified version of that of the Valkyries. Naturally, the simplified version would not be as good as the full version. Einherjar can’t retain their previous personality and have relatively low combat strength. And more importantly…”

Vivian glanced at the Gungnir in Hao Ren’s hand. “They are just puppets. But Valkyries are capable of thinking. That was why you could control the Einherjar with this spear, but you could not do the same with the Valkyries.”

Hao Ren listened. He then curiously looked at Vivian. “What are you doing?”

“I am giving the Core of Valkyrie a stimulation and restoring her. This would work under normal circumstances,” Vivian said without looking up. “Warriors who become valkyries could no longer be called humans. They are half-human, half machine, so calling them cyborg is appropriate and all mechanical repair techniques would work for them.”

Nangong Sanba became curious. “How come you look so skillful at it?”

Vivian let out a bright smile and then shot an electric arc into the Core of Valkyrie. “Because I was close to Frigg.”

Bweee!

An electric power tone was heard. The Valkyrie, in a deep coma, began to tremble. The Core of Valkyrie in her belly dimmed before brightened up. The metal tubes and cables around the core were also changing color. At the end of the self-diagnostic process, the valkyrie’s eye suddenly opened.

Her face remained expressionless for a few seconds, then her eyes turned, stared dead at Hao Ren, and let out a weird cry. Just when Hao Ren was about to raise his hand to say hello, the Valkyrie suddenly flipped over and bounced up and out a few meters away, like a beast crawling on the ground, arching her body, and growling threateningly.

Her irrational behavior was utterly wild like a beast.

“Looks like she hasn’t recovered yet,” Lily said. “Battie, did you press the wrong button?”

“I don’t think so. The Core of Valkyrie has been reset. It should have automatically recovered. She could either lie still or recovered.” Vivian scratched her hair. “No Valkyrie could ever defy the forced restoration process.”

“She seems to be a little different than before.” Hao Ren looked the Valkyrie, whose hair was unkempt and was roaring in a low voice. “She doesn’t attack us this time.”

“And she is terrified,” Lily said suddenly. “She looks aggressive, but she is actually bluffing. Because she is afraid of being attacked.”

Galazur glanced at Lily curiously. “How do you know?”

“She knows because this is what she is good at; howling at people with her tail between her legs,” Vivian said casually. “She and all creatures on all fours have a common language.”

Though it sounded like Vivian was mocking her, Vivian did have a point, Lily thought to herself.

The Valkyrie right here might look mad, but she had lost her aggressiveness.

Hesitatingly, Nangong Sanba suggested, “I think we should go up to talk to her.”

Nangong Wuyue looked at Nangong Sanba and said, “Why not you try?”

Nangong Sanba shook his head. “No, no. We should send someone tougher. At least when negotiation fails, he could still make it back alive.”

Y’zaks said bluntly, “Then I should…”

Everyone said in unison, “You should shut up, and stand back!”

Y’zaks was dumbfounded.

“Looks like there is only me.” Hao Ren looked around and accepted the fact that he was always the one doing the dirty and dangerous job. “Known to be tough, who else could take my place?”

After chanting these words, he propped up the Steel Membrane Shield and moved slowly towards the Valkyrie under their watchful eyes.