Chapter 255 Apology.



Among the survivors from the Sanctuary, only four thousand were still alive, about two hundred of them had succumbed to the Whispers and fallen into Madness.

The losses were much greater than Sam had anticipated, but with his emotions sealed he found it difficult to empathize with with those left behind.

He could tell Kamala wasn't all too happy about how unaffected he seemed, and it didn't help that the Valkyries didn't seem to care at all.

With the Nephilim army around the decision became clear. For the time being, the humans followed orders and didn't start any problems, but no one knows when that might change.

"So there is no known method to return the Fallen to their previous selves..." Sam said.

"Unfortunately, no." Nino replied with a somber expression. "As far as I can remember, the effects of the Madness are irreversible."

"I see..." Kamala said, her head hanging down.

An eerie silence enveloped the room. The case of the Fallen wasn't one that was simple to handle. If it was just a mental issue, Sam would've spared no effort to help them. But their problem wasn't that they lost their mind, it's that they had enough power to be a danger to themselves and everyone around them.

Maybe a quick death would be the merciful thing, but Sam knew he couldn't just take the easy way out.

"There is an infinite number of universes out there." He said. "Surely one of them has the solution to our problem."

The others turned to look at him, and he let out a sigh.

"There are humans in our world too." He said. "Lost more than eighty percent of the world population in a very short time. If that's enough to draw the attention of one of those Primordials, we would have to deal with the Madness as well."

"Doctor Sanderson." Mimir stood up and bowed her head deeply. "Our peace treaties have yet to be officially signed, and you have yet to meet with our leader, but please allow me to apologize on behalf of all Nephilim."

"Stop it. This isn't the time." Sam let out a sigh. "I already know that most of you were against the war. Mjölnir has already informed me."

Contrary to how things appeared at first, the truth was that those who supported Hela's campaign to retrieve her sister were quite few, most of whom were the first generations who were born before Alice went to sleep, those who witnessed the humans' relentless war against Wolf and their greed for the secret of immortality.

Unlike the Valkyries who lived in Asgard, the Virtual world where time could be accelerated, the Nephilim had to live at a normal pace which meant that most of them were kids back when Hela started her crusade.

Sam doubted that those who participated did it out of malice. The hatred of the few might've seeped into the others, and it wasn't hard to imagine a bunch of kids lashing out at the world because of a lack of understanding.

The crusade must've left a lot of them with deep scars and because of that Hela didn't get much of a support when she decided to do the same in Sam's world, which forced her to rely on the drones –Calamities– instead.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that we let such atrocities happen without even trying to stop them. We now understand the gravity of our actions, and we will strive to stone for our sins to the best of our abilities."

Raising her head, Mimir then turned her eyes to Kamala.

"Allow me to apologize to you as well. Despite being innocent, your people were forced to live in fear because of us. I hope we can work together to ensure that such a tragedy doesn't happen again."

Sam saw the conflicted look on Kamala and understood that she felt uneasy at being in this situation.

Even if they were being sincere, what does an apology even accomplish? The Nephilim were powerful beings, much more powerful than what any human could wish to be. Saying they're sorry after all the harm they caused was more akin to a slap on the face.

"Please raise your head, Ms. Mimir." Kamala said eventually, a determined look painted on her dark features. "Apologizing won't achieve anything."

"I... I'm not sure I understand..." Mimir replied.

"You had your reasons for what you did, and an apology won't turn time back. Admitting that you were wrong will only embolden those who wish to see your downfall. You should always hold your head high and show the world that they must tread carefully when dealing with you."

From the beginning of time humans committed crimes against other humans for one reason or another. What the Nephilim did might dwarf anything any human ever did, but technically speaking, all of it was just them retaliating against those who attacked them first. Choosing a less drastic solution wouldn't have worked. Humans would've turned on them at some point. Though he didn't like to admit it, Sam believed that what Hela did was the right choice.

"... I see..." Mimir nodded. "That's indeed an interesting way to look at it."

"Anyways, as I was saying..." Sam paused for a moment and tried to recall what they were talking about before. "Since we can't do anything about the Primordials visiting our world the only thing we can do is prepare some ways to deal with the Fallen." He turned to Nino, hoping her memories as Lachesis would help. "Ichigo's Force Field seems effective against them, but I wonder if it could prevent the whispers from taking effect..."

Unfortunately, unlike a normal Force Field, those with cleansing properties get that effect from the mind of a Valkyrie. It was the same thing as the halo for manipulating the Nameless Element requiring conscious intent, which is something that couldn't be replicated using machines.

If he asks for the Nephilim's help they would have enough Cleansers for each city. The problem that remains would be the number of drones required to expand the Transcendent Purge. Each of them had to have a heart that could resonate with the Valkyrie or Nephilim that would be using them, and hearts weren't cheap or easy to produce.