Rising up from a Nobleman to Intergalactic Warlord!!-Chapter 187

---Next Day---

Gathering around the dining room table, with cups of coffee in hand, I laid out my itinerary for the day. Starting with a brief stop in Whiterun to check in with Lydia, my plan was to get breakfast at the Bannered Mare, drop off Hesperax, Malys, and their subordinates at Castle Volkihar, and then head off to do some pirate hunting with my family and our guests. Inquiring if this was agreeable with everyone, Loki slammed her hand on the table and demanded to know when we would start seriously working towards getting Balder, Fandral, and her back to Asgard.

“As much as I enjoy interacting with you mortals, I would like to get moving on tracking down the bastard that kidnapped my daughter!”, Loki snapped, looking at me with annoyance.

“Hold on a second… Are you suggesting that someone actually spent a night with you?”, I replied, unsure if she was lying to me to garner sympathy. “I am having a hard time picturing the sort of man who would sleep with a goddess of mischief who has routinely sought to bring the nine realms to their knees. Please enlighten me so I can kill them before they damn the entire universe!”

Staring at me in disbelief, with her mouth agape, Loki was at a complete loss for words. Having never been spoken to so harshly in her life, she honestly had to repeat what I said in her head to make sure she heard me correctly. While she struggled to formulate a response, her brother Balder and Fandral nearly fell over with laughter. Understanding my doubts about her being a mother, as few would dare attempt to court the unstable goddess, both men confirmed that she indeed had children.

“My sister Loki sired three children with the Ice Giantess Angrboða; their names are Fenrir, Hela, and Jörmungandr.”, Balder said, recovering from his fit of uncontrolled laughter. “I am a bit foggy on the details, but they conceived them via some ice giant ritual. During her pregnancy, she was considered by most to be the most dangerous and temperamental woman in Asgard.”

“Is that what you all thought…”, Loki growled, driving her heel into his foot, “Maybe if you were not all a bunch of idiots, I would not have been in such a sour mood!”

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Jumping out of his seat, Balder began jumping on one foot as he cried out in pain. Turning back to me, Loki demanded an apology for making light of her missing daughter. Accepting that her claim was indeed true, I told her to take a seat as I had something to tell her.

“Do you perhaps know where that bastard is keeping her already?!”, Loki questioned, her face lighting up with excitement. “Tell me immediately; I want to go see my darling daughter now!”

“Loki, please sit down…”, I reiterated in a somber tone, “I am afraid you are not going to like what I have to say.”

Taking the hint from my tone, the two Asgardians rose from their seats to stand by Loki. Asking Stormbreaker to show them the vision it had given me on Tatooine, they hesitantly reached out and placed their palms on the axe head. Silently watching Beta-Ray Bill’s last few minutes among the living, their faces slowly began to lose their color as they realized what had befallen their family and friends. By the time they had finished watching, the three of them were bawling their eyes out.

Mourning the loss of Hela and the countless other deities that had also descended to the mortal realm, they were distraught that none of them would ever know the peace of the afterlife. Swearing to avenge them by violently murdering my uncle, I was very confused about what they were going on about. While their physical bodies were certainly dead, all their souls were still very much intact and recoverable. When I pointed this out to them, Loki composed herself enough to speak normally to me.

“It is not surprising that you are unaware, but all those who are slain by the All-Black sword are absorbed by it and serve to further empower its wielder. To date, I only know of one man who managed to somehow escape its grip, and that was your ancestor, Klordius Aremus.”, Loki sniffled, about to start crying once again.

“I am well aware of that myth, but I can assure you, the All-Black has no such power. The souls of those slain by it are taken captive by the Headless Celestial and are subjected to endless torture.”, I explained. “Hela’s and everyone else’s souls are still recoverable; only my ancestor’s is not.”

“Do not fuck with me, mortal!”, Loki hissed, leaping up and grabbing my beard. “Do not joke about the death of my daughter- “

Smacking her across the face, Loki stumbled backward and fell back into her seat in shock. Swearing to the three of them that I would never joke about such a thing, I explained how Knull crafted the All-Black sword and how it connected to the Headless Celestial. Reiterating that the souls of those slain by All-Black were recoverable, Balder wiped his tears away and asked what needed to be done to save his niece.

“We need to find the Headless Celestial and convince it to free all the souls it has captured. Unfortunately, I have no way of tracking it, but I do know that it unconsciously follows the wielder of All-Black. Our best bet is to seek Heimdall’s help and hope he can point us in the right direction.”, I explained, before repeating the steps necessary to make that happen. “Due to the desperate actions of the Human Galactic Empire, we cannot travel to where The Doctor most likely is right now due to powerful spatial distortions caused by the failure of several Folding Drives. It will take several months to a year for things to normalize again, so please, just sit back and patiently wait. As soon as I am able to, we will head down there immediately.”

“Fine… I will hold you to that, Victor.”, Loki said, rubbing her cheek. “In the meantime, I will sift through my magical tomes to find a way to restore Hela’s body. I have pilfered eons of ancient knowledge from across the universe; surely one of them has what I am looking for.”

With a plan of action in mind, we finished our cups of coffee and prepared to head out for the day.

---Nirn, An Hour Later---

Placing the Endless Horizons in geosynchronous orbit over Whiterun, the situation on the ground was not what I had expected to see. Partially engulfed in flames, Jarl Balgruuf and his people were hemmed in on all sides by legions of Stormcloaks. Having barricaded the main gate and reinforced weak points along the city wall, things were not looking good for them, as reinforcements were several days out. Seeing the carnage that Ulfric’s followers had wrought upon her city, Aela was more than ready to head down there and kick some ass.

“I thought we left Lydia with a means to contact us if something happened on Nirn?”, Olivia pointed out. “Did she report something, and we overlooked it?”

<Lady Olivia, I show that Lydia’s communication device is offline and has been for several weeks now. She either damaged it, forgot to charge it, or misplaced it somehow.> (Cleare)

“My mother did not report anything either… Go figure.”, Serana sighed, shaking her head in disappointment, “We should get down there before things get more out of hand.”

“Remember, everyone, stick to conventional armor and weapons while we are here. No guns or technology are permitted in view of the locals.”, I remarked, heading towards the teleportation pad. “Got it?”

Giving me a thumbs up, everyone promised to adhere to the restrictions I put in place. Asking Lucoa and Mylene to keep us updated on any new developments they saw from up here, once the situation on the ground was dealt with, they could teleport down and join us for breakfast. Wishing us the best of luck, just as we were about to leave, Bloodtide barged onto the bridge and asked me to wait a moment.

<Can I tag along with you this time, please?! I want to see this fascinating place up close and personal!> (Bloodtide)

“Promise to refrain from dispersing your nanites?”, I pressed her.

<I will adhere to the same restrictions you have placed on everyone else.> (Bloodtide)

“Very well then, you can come along then.”, I agreed.

Jumping up onto my shoulder, the AI began to enthusiastically rub her palms together as the teleportation process began. Disappearing in a flash of light, we reappeared a safe distance from any prying eyes. Immediately ordering Hesperax and Malys to deploy their subordinates accordingly, I made it very clear that they were to inflict swift deaths upon the Stormcloaks.

“In public, always seek to eliminate your targets as swiftly as possible. Most people on Nirn do not enjoy the sadistic displays the citizens of Commorragh were accustomed to seeing. You will have an opportunity to interact with the people who do in the very near future.”, I told the two women.

“Humans that enjoy pain and torture as much as we do, huh? Sounds like we are going to have a blast here!”, Hesperax snickered.

“One more thing, do not take offense if the locals mistake you for Dark Elves/Dunmer. There is a race of people on Nirn that look strikingly like you that live in the territory to the east.”, Aela warned them.

“Hehe, is that so? I am liking this assignment more and more with every word.”, Malys commented, “Give us a few minutes to position ourselves. We will wait for a clear signal from you before we begin our attack.”

Watching the Drukhari effortlessly slip into the surrounding area, the rest of us silently approached the Stormcloak’s rearguard and made our way into their camp.