Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Sitting with the gals currently living in the mansion, Raguel had taken the appearance of a man who looked the same as him but lacked the heavenly radiance. His smile was as bright as ever and helped ease the discomfort and doubts Tanya, Aura, and the others had about sharing tea and sweets with a literal angel.

To their surprise, he was far more approachable than they'd expected and accepted their kind gestures warmly as they poured him the tea or offered him the snacks. Having never truly had much of any mortal feast, the smile on Raguel grew warmer as time went on. As if watching a child, not an angel experiencing something pleasant for the first time, the sight of him enjoying himself in their company, invoked a protective instinct inside of them all.

"And that's why I need that weapon," Helga on the other hand, couldn't care less. Reciting all that he needed to know, she held her hand forward expecting him to rest the cup on the ground and finally give her the weapon.

Although convinced by her words, he had to make sure that he got everything right.

"Tariyaan, the devil with the third hand. You wish to kill him in exchange for something the witch had promised, and the reason you didn't steal the weapon this time is to not cause a scene like last time…" For a moment, Raguel's smile disappeared completely. "I suppose that makes sense, but since when did lord Murdok's Valkyrie care about causing unrest in the heavens?"

The question frustrated her, Helga was already holding herself back from punching the angel to her front. But shaking those emotions, she sighed before answering him further.

"Who are we kidding, Raguel? You and I both know that nobody lives forever," a cryptic answer to the rest of the attendees, but to the angel it made perfect sense.

The only thing Linkle could offer Helga were the life-giving necklaces in her possession, and since Raguel kept a close watch on all gods, he already knew that Athenia had granted it to the witch to help Raven and his party handle the demon, Tariyaan.

"You wish to save your daughter from the woes of battle?" He asked and was replied to only by a razor-sharp glance.

Smiling yet again, however, the angel didn't mind.

"Very well, it would be a misfortune for the world to lose such a bundle of joy and innocence to the horrors of war," with those words, he closed his eyes and stretched his hands forward. "I, Raguel–the angel of balance, a true son of the creator, the bane of discord and the arbiter of discourse, grant thee this relic belonging to the goddess of War and then your lord Murdok."
Find exclusive stories on empire

Opening his eyes, the angel saw fear in everyone's eyes but Helga's. Lightly bowing his head, he tried to soothe their nerves and it worked like a charm in just a second. Turning his attention back to the Valkyrie, his hands burning with a golden flame with the outline of a spear trapped within, Raguel pushed the weapon towards her and without wasting another second, Helga picked it up.

"I leave Gugnir to you," as Raguel's lips sealed shut, the flames on the golden spear died quickly.

Adorned with a jewel of fading white, the weapon was inscribed with depictions of many battles from the last holy war. In it, Helga could see flashes of memories, all feeling far too fresh for her to not feel at least a little sick. But holding her urge to vomit, she reached into her dimensional pocket–yet another gift from dead lord, and put it away for when the weapon's presence was necessary.

"What was that?" Growing far too curious about what had just happened, Amelia broke the silence.

But Helga was in no mood to answer their question, instead, she looked to Raguel and eyed him as if trying to tell him off. Ignoring her sharp glances, however, the man turned his attention to the women sitting before him.

"A weapon used in the holy wars, first stolen by the goddess of war by lord Murdok and then granted to this here Valkyrie, who then used it to fell lesser gods," like idols everyone froze, their bodies moved not an inch. Was it a joke? Gods? There was no way a mortal could kill gods? Or so they questioned in their minds before a nervous laugh echoed amidst their awkward ranks.

Joining them in their smiles, Raguel decided it was best to shift the topic and do something else with his limited time on Atlaria.

"Now then, would any of you ladies be willing to take me for a tour of this fine mansion?" Turning his eyes to the towering structure, he looked right through those walls at everyone working hard inside the mansion. "I would like to have a word with the witch, the sorceress, and if the Valkyrie would allow…"

Turning back to Helga for a moment, he slowly began getting up.

"I would like to bless her daughter."

"I taught them to bite the hands of angels, try it if you dare!" Helga protested, but Raguel knew that it was a lie.

"Their prayers defy your speech then, did you forget Valkyrie? I carry messages from one person to the other, and the prayers of your daughters are no different at all," Helga's eyes widened as he revealed that fact, she knew her daughters prayed every night in bed despite her numerous subtle attempts to nudge them away from gods. "I want to see mommy smile more, I want us to grow strong so mommy doesn't have to look after us anymore, oh goddess–I've heard you're so nice, can you please bring back daddy so we can play with him some more…"

As the light returned to Helga's eyes, she had no clue what Raguel was talking about, but then he added.

"These are their words, Valkyrie, your daughter, they want to see you smile, so why don't you?" Offering her a hand, an angel–one of the sources of her scorn was offering her mercy, not from some tyrant, but from herself–Helga the Valkyrie, as opposed to Helga, the mother of two dragon children.

Finally, realizing what he was getting to, she gave him her hand and accepted his help in getting up, even then her words remained as coarse as ever.

"Fuck you still…" Yet the angel smiled.

A moment later began the tour of the mansion, and the first ones to be surprised were none other than Helga's daughter. And surprisingly enough, the duo already knew the name of their visitor for it wasn't the first time they'd met and from the way they rushed towards him for a hug, Helga knew it couldn't be the last.

'It's like this bastard has no enemies or anyone that hates him…' She just couldn't figure out what made someone like him incapable of being hated by her or literally anyone. His affection was at times like a child to his mother but then it swiftly changed to that of a grandfather meeting his grandchildren.

While it was hard for her to imagine why, the answer was simple. He had no enemies, for he was simply put, kind for no fucking reason.