ALL NOVEL 48. Unfazed Guardian
Third Person PoV:
Location: Divine City of Arachnumec, Mexico
Cocytus stood calmly in front of the bodies of the Asgardians that lay scattered on the ground before him. They all had a rather clean death without any signs of torture. A death that was rather rare if dealt out by those from Nazarick.
While their once golden armours were now covered with splashes of blood, they were not very damaged. Cocytus was designed to be a warrior. He had allowed these soldiers a warrior's death with dignity because he had been created as such.
Truthfully, he felt they did not deserve such an easy death as he had heard whatever they had said about the spider goddess. There was also the fact that they had intruded on the lands governed by Nazarick, even if that was an intended part of a grander plan orchestrated by Lady White.
The defeat that the Cocytus under Lord Momonga's command suffered was the greatest dishonour he had suffered until now. Granted, it was not him who lost but the facts did not change.
This dishonour could scarcely be surpassed, except perhaps by Cocytus facing defeat once more, potentially resulting in Lady White's permanent departure from Nazarick or, even more tragically, her demise.
Cocytus reflected on the recent battle he had engaged in with the Einherjar. To some extent, he could empathize with the Asgardians, for they too possessed the heart of warriors, a sentiment he deeply understood.
However, the comparison ended there. Unlike the lizardmen of the Overlord series, these Asgardians had not garnered his respect. He saw no reason to appeal to the Supreme One for mercy on their behalf.
The fight itself was rather simple for a seasoned warrior like him. Cocytus was nowhere near doing his best in this squabble after all.
He was also trying to put on a decent show for the Spider Goddess who must have been casting her gaze down here. But his expectations had been let down by the Asgardian warriors…
***
*Flashback:*
Cocytus stood near the barrier that shielded the city of Arachnumec from the outside world. His carapace glistened in the dim light as the Einherjar, the elite warriors of Asgard, charged towards him with thunderous battle cries.
The battle was fierce, a symphony of clashing steel, the thud of heavy blows, and the crackle of arcane energy.
Cocytus fought with calculated precision, his four bladed limbs a deadly dance of death. Each strike he made was both a testament to his skill and a show of respect for his opponents. Each strike was meant to kill each warrior quickly and painlessly.
The Einherjar and the sorcerers, undeterred by the overwhelming might of their foe, fought with unwavering determination. They attacked in coordinated waves, attempting to pierce Cocytus's formidable defences. Blow after blow, spell after spell, they pressed on, displaying the warrior spirit that had earned them their place in Asgard's ranks.
Cocytus parried their attacks with ease, his admiration for their tenacity growing with every clash of steel and burst of magic. "Impressive," he murmured between strikes, his speech marked by deliberate pauses. "But. Ultimately. Pointless."
Bjorn and his warriors, along with the sorcerers, fought valiantly, their eyes burning with the fire of battle. They were unyielding, their determination unbroken even as they faced an opponent of incomparable strength.
As the battle raged on, the Einherjar began to show signs of fatigue. Their attacks slowed, and their defences weakened.
Bjorn, realizing their inevitable death, spoke again. "We fought with honor... for Asgard. Even if we die here, your goddess will have retribution wrought down by the ruler of the nine realms while we ascend to Valhalla."
With a final, decisive strike, Cocytus incapacitated Bjorn, the Einherjar's leader and the other warriors lay defeated around him.
He looked towards the last remaining sorcerer, drained of his magical energy, and remarked: "Lady. White. Will. Never. Fall. We. As. Guardians. Will. Make. Sure. Of. That."
The sorcerer spoke still denying his inevitable end: "Heimdall...hear my plea. Guide our way..." It seemed unlike his leader, Bjorn, this sorcerer had broken down after witnessing the vast gap in their abilities.
Cocytus regarded him with an almost sympathetic glint in his compound eyes. "Your. Plea. Falls. On. Deaf. Ears." With one final, decisive strike, Cocytus incapacitated the sorcerer, leaving him defeated and broken.
***
Cocytus thoughts were broken by a black swirl opening up behind him. This was obviously the magic [Gate] which was used for convenient and quick transportation over vast distances.
Demiurge, who was in charge of the city Arachnumec, made an appearance. Normally, he should have been the one dealing with these Asgardians but he had been working on some of the other assignments entrusted to him.
He also had to work on new defence plans with Albedo after the previous fiasco with the world tree.
There were multiple humanoid beings with thin claw-like hands with three fingers and faces resembling that of an egg with three holes in the place of their mouth and eyes following him. There were also a couple of maids.
These were Doppelgängers, masters of shapeshifting. When a Doppelgänger impersonates someone, people closer to the target will find it more difficult to see through their disguise.
This is because they use a form of telepathy during their shapeshifting to read the surface thoughts of the people they are speaking to and those around them in order to extract information related to the target they are impersonating and then apply it to their impersonation act.
They were not Greater Doppelgängers. These Asgardian soldiers were weak and only had standard Asgardian racial traits.
A test was conducted by Demiurge after they had captured Amora to see if the Asgardians of Marvel had any similarities to Asgardians from YGGDRASIL. He even used Doppelgängers and Greater Doppelgängers in this study.
The test resulted in him finding that a Greater Doppelgänger could sufficiently mimic Amora but not completely. But for weaker Asgardians around or below level 40, a normal Doppelgänger could completely copy the Asgardian under question.
This meant that weak Asgardians like Bjorn could be completely copied but not Loki, Thor, or Odin.
By allowing the Doppelgängers to take the place of these Asgardians, they could not only remove any suspicion that the city of Arachnumec might evoke but also reasonably place spies in Asgard which they had not been able to do before.
Based on the fact that weak warriors like these were sent to investigate Arachnumec, it seemed that Odin did not really have any major suspicions of this place.
It was likely that he was simply searching places with a 'low probability' of having to do anything with the perpetrator just for the sake of it.
As long as the 'Einherjar' returned and reported to them that everything was normal and all the humans were safe, it was likely that this city would be glossed over entirely and Nazarick would have spies within Asgard.
Of course, if this operation fails, 'Contingency Plan 3: Variation X' will be initiated. It had all been precalculated.
Demiurge ordered all the Doppelgängers to imitate the Asgardians as the maids cast [Clean] on the armours and had them repaired. Luckily they were not very damaged due to Cocytus taking care in battle.
"Good job, my friend. Well, I never doubted that you could not defeat these weak warriors." Demiurge spoke up after instructing everyone.
"Thank. You. Demiurge. What. Are. You. Going. To. Do. With. The. Dead. Bodies?" Cocytus asked
"I am currently conducting a study on undead created from different creatures with different racial or acquired abilities. We also have the samples from the witches that Lady White had brought back last time as well as the flame men and multitude of humans.
We will also possibly be getting bodies of mutants and aliens from other planets after enacting Lady White's plan of creating 'dead body factories.' It is necessary to understand the parameters of undead created for greater efficiency.
Of course, this will also tie in with the first task that Lady White entrusted to me regarding the horde. The S.M.I.L.E Laboratory has been set up successfully for that purpose after all." Demiurge replied, taking the time to introduce his ideas to Cocytus.
Despite being happy for Demiurge, Cocytus was jealous that his friend was being entrusted with all these tasks. It seemed that Amora's intrusion had not affected Lady White's trust in him at all. What more could a guardian ask for?
Seemingly noticing his emotions, Demiurge spoke, "I heard from Lady White that she might be taking you along with her and Sophia on her next expedition outside Nazarick."
Cocytus immediately felt invigorated after hearing this. After all, he had a chance to protect the Supreme One in person. This was a duty far more important than all the tasks that Demiurge had.
"By the way, I heard that the spider babies had somehow entered your floor?" Demiurge remarked as they waited.
"Ahh. Yes. That. Was. Wonderful…" Cocytus got lost in his thoughts as he turned around and reminisced about the 'spider babies' meeting him on his floor and calling him 'unkie' while forcing him to play with them.
While they were not the Supreme One's direct descendants, they were a close second fulfilling his fantasies of being called uncle by the Supreme Being's child.
"Uncle… Yes. I. Have. To. Meet. Them. Again…" Demiurge seemed to understand what was going on and ignored his friend as he commanded the Doppelgängers:
"Your mission has been explained in advance. For the Supreme Being, carry out the plans faithfully. Lady White will be awaiting positive results."
"For Lady White! For Nazarick!"
"For Lady White! For Nazarick!"
"…"
Loud chants spread out over the Divine City of Arachnumec. But there was one stark difference. 'Bjorn' and the other 'Asgardian Einherjar' were no longer rooting for Asgard and the All-Father.
The 'Asgardians' exited the barrier guarding the Divine City of Arachnumec and were carried away by the rainbow light that was soon visible a few moments later.
***
Hey everyone, I'm back! It's been a while now since I last uploaded a chapter. I am back at university, so chapter updates will be rather slow depending on how much work I have.