Chapter 38 A Tough Battle.

Cracks spread through the black veil starting from the giant eye which had been penetrated by the blast from Zero Five's Proton Canon. A moment later it shattered, pieces falling one after the other revealing the stars above.

[We won…]

Zero Three's quiet whisper reached the ears of the other two causing their lips to curve into smiles.

"WE WON!!!"

The young Valkyrie shouted, her excitement exuding as she threw her weapons into the air causing them to return to the form of a case.

"That was a tough battle." Nine said, placing a hand on her bosom and letting out a relieved sight.

"You two did well." Zero Five said.

With the Calamity destroyed there was no need for her to stay in the heavy armor. Unable to bear the heat anymore she released herself, put on her standard equipment then moved away from the canon allowing it to cool down.

"Any injuries?" The ponytailed Valkyrie asked.

"I'm fine." Nine answered, turning around and heading in Five's direction at a leisure pace.

"Those things weren't much." Zero Three puffed her chest proudly but then added "well, it would've been a problem if this went on any longer."

The giant eye was able to create clones of the Valkyries, and though it had to balance the quality and quantity the thought of those things becoming even more detailed scared the three weapons.

For example, if Zero Five's attack failed and the Calamity got a scan of her along with the Proton Canon, it would be their loss as nothing they do could bring them victory in the face of multiple opponents with that kind of fire power.

"Well, we won, that's all that matters."

[EEEEEEEHH!!!!]

Nine held a hand to her ear startled by Zero Three's response to her comment.

"W-what's wrong!?"

[The City!!!]

Looking around them the Valkyries noticed that the buildings began to fade, parts of them turning into purple squares and rectangles before blinking out of existence.

"It can't be…" Zero Five muttered, her eyes lowered in thought.

"The city… was it created by the Calamity?" Nine asked the question, carefully observing the surroundings.

Suddenly the horror they felt fighting the clones returned, only this time it was ten folds stronger. They watched was the city slowly disintegrating, some buildings disappearing entirely while others turned into ruins.

The giant eye had recreated the entire city to an almost perfect copy of what it used to look back in the day. The amount of consistency and details placed into the landscape was frightening. The Valkyries could only shake at the thought of all those resources being suddenly relocated to creating the clones they had to fight.

"Maybe it co-"

Just as she was about to tell the others something she had hypothesized, Zero Five's voice was suddenly cut as she felt a sharp pain causing her whole body to stiffen. Still in the air she forced her head to turn around and what she saw made her realize that they had let their guard down.

A short energy blade was stabbed into her back passing all the way through to the other side. The hand grasping its hilt was small attached to a thin arm extending from a similarly slim body. Another look showed that everything from below the chest area was missing.

Brown hair fluttered in the wind, parts of it turning into squares that blinked in and out of existence. Zero Five stared at the clone with wide open eyes. No longer was it the purple vague replication. Putting aside it's missing parts, that thing was a completely identical copy of the young Valkyrie down to the last strand of hair.

The clone slowly lifted its head and looked the Valkyrie in the eyes. Then, as if mocking everything they did to achieve their victory, the thing smiled before moving it's right arm stabbing the other sword into Zero Five's back.

[FIVE!!!]

The Valkyrie heard the calls of her comrades however she did not respond.

Though she heard the calls of her comrades the Valkyrie was unable to respond. As her systems went haywire from all the damage, Zero Five continued to stare at the smiling clone as it slowly disappeared.

The blades piercing her body soon followed and the moment the last particle faded away she came tumbling down to the ground, her body completely motionless.

~◇~

Flipping to the next page of the book in his left hand Sam reached for the cup on his dest. He brought it to his mouth intending to take a sip just to realize that its contents were already gone.

Heaving a tired sigh he closed the book and stood up from his chair. A glance at the clock on the wall told him it was already 20:00.

Having received the Valkyries' report he had prepared for the worst skipping dinner as he waited for their return. His gut told him nothing good would come from a monster that's good at hiding, and as if to confirm that the alarm rang from his phone informing him it was time for work.

Picking up his tablet the Doctor tapped a few things checking the initial scan performed at the landing zone. The results showed that none of the weapons were contaminated, however one of them was heavily injured.

"This doesn't look good…"

A few seconds later the doors slid open as the drones carrying the injured Zero Five entered the examination room.

"Doctor!"

"Calm down. I'm already at it."

More detailed results were showing up, however he didn't need to look at them to know how bad the situation is.

The damage was much worse than what Zero Three had sustained the last time. Zero Five was stabbed in two different locations, and though none of the core components were touched, a part of her spine was destroyed.

"Old man… I… I…"

Glancing beside him Sam saw the young Valkyrie looking up at him with eyes full of tears. He cursed Odin in his heart, asking why he had to go so far if he just wanted some sex dolls.

"Don't worry." Sam said, bringing his attention back to the tablet in his hand. "It's nothing we can't repair. She should be as good as new the next day."

From the looks of it nine hours wouldn't be enough though. After all this isn't just surface level damage.

"I… see…" the young Valkyrie said, her voice fading as her head went down.

"... was it that strong?" Sam asked, turning his sight to the blond one.

"... yes… it was…"

Except for the ponytailed Valkyrie the other two seemed relatively unharmed. Seeing that Sam couldn't help but wonder.

What the hell happened out there?

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