"Beast!" Salter exclaimed, glaring warily at Kiara. She had been happily eating the blueberries at first, but quickly recognized Kiara's voice and jumped up, gripping her sword tightly.
"Don't worry, Saber. She can't do anything now," he pointed at the shackles on her.
Seeing them, Salter felt slightly relieved and nodded.
"Speaking of which, I'm also curious - how did you get in here?" He asked. This prison had trapped both him and Kiara, so he was quite interested in how Salter had managed to smash her way through. After all, Kiara would have thoroughly explored every inch of this place for flaws after being imprisoned. There was no way she hadn't.
"I'm not sure...the Valkyries chased me all over Midgard. Then it seemed some spell teleported me to Asgard," Salter explained. "But the Valkyries were everywhere and kept hunting me down, so I just ran around aimlessly and ended up crawling here from below." She paused. "Then I heard your voice and released my Noble Phantasm."
She tilted her head blankly. "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Shirou: "..." Of course there was a BIG problem! However, now wasn't the time to address that.
He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "No problem. Let's get out of here quickly."
"Oh, okay," she nodded, then gathered up all the fallen blueberries from the ground.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Picking fruit. I'm starving - almost out of strength," she replied. "These can't be wasted."
Shirou shook his head. "Those aren't good, put them down. I'll get you delicious food later. Let's leave quickly. You don't want to stay with that pervert, right?"
He gestured at the lewd Kiara.
"You're right..." Salter glanced at her and nodded, then quickly gathered up all the berries from the floor and tucked them into her bosom, clenching one between her teeth. "Letsh go," she mumbled through a full mouth.
Shirou: "..."
Somehow, he now missed his more reliable Saber even more.
He led Salter towards the passageway she had opened.
"Wai-wait! Mr. Assassin!" Kiara cried in panic. "Take me with you, take me too!"
He sneered coldly. "You staying here would be the best gift for this planet."
"Don't be like that!" she pleaded desperately, eyes shining with faux innocence. "I'll help you, I promise not to touch you inappropriately..."
He ignored her pleas and continued steadily for the exit.
"Take me, take me, don't leave me alone...!"
Seeing his determined back moving further away, she gnashed her teeth furiously. "You won't get away alone!"
Golden light burst from her body as countless pale hands cascaded towards them like waterfalls.
Heh, I knew she'd reveal her wicked intentions eventually, Shirou sneered. In one swift movement, he spun around, grabbed Salter by the collar and yanked her to his side. The Spear of Endless Light then shot forth like a meteor.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The moment the Spear collided with [Ten Thousand Colored Leisure Stagnation], a violent explosion sliced off the hands.
Naturally, the condensed energy of the Spear of Endless Light could easily slice through the Beast's hands. Even a casual swing packed the force of the Tower's cannon—an A+ ranked Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm blast.
As he fended off the hands, he retreated towards the tunnel with Salter.
Now he understood why Kiara hadn't found any flaws here. Chained twelve feet away on the opposite wall, she couldn't possibly reach this spot.
"Bye bye, Kiara!" He retracted his spear and pulled Salter along, entering the tunnel.
"Leaving me behind is too much...!" Kiara gnashed her teeth and shouted, "Hey! Someone broke out! Mr. Assassin escaped!"
...
"Wooo~~~"
A long horn echoed across the snow-white plains of Asgard.
One squad of Valkyrie battle maidens after another, dressed in flowing white robes, hurried across the realm.
"Inspection time!"
"An intruder has entered Asgard!!"
The Valkyries gathered in groups, hurriedly walking about, either inspecting the relics of the gods or searching the gardens, as if hunting for something.
Word had gone out over the Valkyrie Network that an intruder summoned by the death goddess Hel had broken into Asgard. So the maidens grabbed their weapons and marched out of Valhalla to carry out orderly searches under the Network's command.
However, the Valkyries' search efforts were being closely watched by a lump of black mud which blended into the soil beneath the garden bushes.
This mud was Shirou's eye, keeping lookout while his true self stayed hidden underground with Salter.
Having escaped the dungeons, he had been using the black mud to carefully observe their surroundings. Seeing the Valkyries now spreading across the surface, he pulled his vision back and turned to Salter, who sat opposite him, nibbling a blueberry.
"The Valkyries have started searching all over the surface. If we go out now, we'll probably be discovered."
"But they don't seem to be that strong," Salter commented, still eating.
He nodded. "While they may not be that strong, fighting them could alert Skadi to us."
"Is Skadi very strong then?" asked Salter, unable to suppress her apprehension.
"If she wasn't, do you think that pervert would still be locked in her dungeon?"
Shirou no longer referred to Kiara by name - she was simply the "pervert" now.
"That's true..." she nodded, all too aware of the Devil's Bodhisattva's capabilities after their encounter in Romania.
"Couldn't we try talking to Skadi first?" she suggested. "You did say we should communicate to understand each other. I even wrote it down in my notebook, see?" She flipped through her notes to show him.
Shirou was at a loss for words, but he was getting used to it by now.
He held up his hands helplessly, "I'd like to talk with her as well. But from the start, she was convinced I'm a fraud and refused to listen to me."
He felt just as helpless about this. Skadi had some of Scathach's memories, so she also remembered things about him.
And what had Scathach thought of him?
Though he'd never asked, he could guess well enough. After all, he'd tricked Scathach to come out from the Shadow Land. She'd served him after he tricked her. She'd waited thousands of years because he tricked her...
So it went without saying what impressions Skadi had of Shirou, having some of Scathach's memories.
In the end, those who stir up trouble have to face the consequences!
In short - "We should avoid fighting Skadi on her home turf," he said plainly.
"Then what should we do?" asked Salter.
"There's no talking to Skadi anymore. Knowing her, if we run into each other again, she probably won't kill us right off but she'll lock us up for good. Let's get out of Asgard first."
She nodded, "How do we escape? Just charge out head on?"
He replied with a helpless tone, "Even if you're an Alter with an urge to go berserk, you should still think realistically."
Shirou snapped his fingers and black mud surged from his body. Magical energy fluctuated as the mud formed a shimmering screen displaying the outside world it had observed.
On it, they saw both the watchful Valkyries and Asgard's high walls.
He extended his hand, pointing at the walls. "Do you know the story behind them?"
She nodded.
When Asgard was founded, an unnamed giant built the mighty walls. The gods had promised him Freya's hand in marriage as soon as he finished the walls. But they set strict conditions: he had six months to finish it, and except for a horse, no helpers were allowed.
But the giant had a divine horse named Svadilfari that hauled stones with immense speed, and the giant's craftsmanship was also extremely skilled. By midsummer, with the project nearly done on schedule, the panicked gods told Loki to interfere. Loki turned into a white mare to seduce Svadilfari, and without his helper, the giant couldn't finish on time. He angrily accused the gods of trickery. In response, Thor raised his hammer and killed him.
As far as Salter knew, the unnamed giant's wall around Asgard remained unbroken until Ragnarok in Norse mythology. So she understood what Shirou meant. His meaning was simple: the two of them might not be able to smash through this wall by force.
"Then what should we do?" she asked.
"It depends on you. However you came in, take us out the same way."
She was dumbfounded. "But I don't know how I came in either."
"Don't doubt yourself. I always believe in you. Give it your best shot - my life's in your hands now, King Arthur!" Shirou put his hand on her petite shoulder, looking absolutely sincere.
Meeting his honest eyes, she was moved. So Eternal King trusted her this much!
"I understand. I'll do my best!" she said seriously.