Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 894: A Trinket

The news of Bellona’s imprisonment had spun Helga’s world on its axis. She was the last god she’d expected to have survived, much less face as a possible threat in the current time. For even if the Elder Goddess ventured alone, she could kill the entire pantheon of today–perhaps even Nerva included. As the goddess of war, she was far more precise at taking lives; in contrast, Nerva’s domain was sowing chaos and conspiracy alongside rousing the spirits of the world.

If the world itself could be remolded at one’s whim, the other could force itself to submit to its hunger for change. Perceived through a lens of great discernment, of course, Nerva was far more powerful, but flame consumes mortals and divine alike, no matter their titles or size.

With a reluctant reach into her dimensional pocket, Helga fished out a small trinket from within her pocket dimension. Grunting in dismay, she opened her eyes with a sigh and looked at the small rectangular box of metal with a big red button on the side. Her thumb caressed its smooth surface while her mind urged her to put the relic back into her pocket. However, the tides of the times called for clarity, and there was no person better to offer her answers than the one trapped within the device.

"Moeria, if you annoy me again–" Helga’s eyes rolled to the back of her skull, and her body awkwardly twisted back. Shaking her head with her eyes closed as if fighting some visible demon in her head, she took a deep breath and sighed and sighed again. "Gods...I hate you."

Swallowing her angst, the valkyrie opened her eyes and brought her attention back to the trinket. Staring at it with her mind slowly coming to terms with what she has to do, her thumb hesitantly pressed the red button with increasing might. Hearing a click, Helga’s anxiety was quickly replaced by confusion.

"What the hell?" Bringing the device to her face, she gave it a smack on the side. "Don’t you dare tell me that you’re not there anymore. After all this time, and now is when you finally decide to strand me alone? You stupid, otherworlder woman–answer me!"

Smacking the device a few times, the valkyrie could hear some sort of rattling within the metal box. With a click of her tongue, she reached for the seams in the middle of the box; however, the thought of damaging the relic further made her withdraw her hand. Squinting hard enough to exert pressure on her eyelids, she threw the box on the side of her bed and leaned back.

Her gaze turned to the ceiling, both defeated and a bit relieved.

"The one otherworlder I was afforded in my army, and now she’s gone, same as her body." Tapping her fingers on the bedframe, the valkyrie’s eyes wandered aimlessly. Were it not for an important reason, she would’ve never tried to rouse another friend from their peaceful sleep. Alas, that decision already seemed to have been made for her. Looking at the trinket yet again, she let out a sigh of relief. "I wish you were here, but it’s better if you keep sleeping, Moeria."

Her hand reached for the device so that she could put it back in her pocket; however, the moment her fingers touched the thing, it jumped in the air. Landing back on the bed with its other side now flat on the bedsheet, it rattled from within. All the while, Helga was still at a loss for words.

"Is it... repairing itself?" Blinking a few times, the valkyrie finally realized what was happening. "Oh fuck!"

Lunging at the device, she tried to grab it, but yet again it jumped away from her hand. Bouncing off the wall, the metal box had her chasing after it away from the bed; however, once more, as soon as she was about to grab it, the damned box escaped her grasp by knocking itself in her face before bouncing away.

"Moeria! You bitch better not come alive again!" Pinching her nose, Helga’s barbaric rage exuded through her screams. "And stop predicting my moves, you filthy girl! I do not permit you to use your abilities!"

Back in the mind of her former self as a war general, the valkyrie shot out orders like second nature, and sure enough, the box adhered to her command. Falling on the ground again, it stayed in place as she tried to approach it this time. Hands outstretched and her back bent forward, Helga’s fingers were inches from the device when she finally heard.

"As you say~ General Valkaria!" The device jumped once more, but Helga no longer cared for the high-pitched female voice that made her cringe to her very soul. Feeling a shiver running up her spine, she quickly took a step back and stared with utter defeat as the box spoke again. "Moeria Starlight, reporting for duty! What are your orders, Ma’am? A quick prediction of enemy activity? A chart to manage your period cycles? Or perhaps the next person who will be the subject of your nightly conquest!"

Every word coming from the box was laced with a tone of sarcasm and innuendo. And to make matters worse, as Helga kept looking at it, the device erected itself straight on the ground, and a projection of a human girl wearing a pink frilly outfit–referred to as a magical girl uniform, at least according to the wearer herself long ago–presented itself.

Swinging her magical star wand in front of her holographic body, the star-eyed girl with big pink hair buns smiled at the valkyrie.

"Or would you rather have me again?" Chuckling with a cheeky smirk, the girl covered her mouth before adding further with a sensual gasp. "Anything for my cruel mistress! Ohhh~ Please step on me already!"

A look of pure disgust had taken over Helga. Reminded of her past with the annoying girl, which was far from romantic and purely transactional, at least on her part, the valkyrie could not help but cringe to the very core. But no longer did that matter, for Moeria was back in the world of the living, even if she was but a spirit inhabiting a radio.

"You disgust me, Moeria..."

To Helga’s words of disgust, the girl simply pressed her knees together and, with her lower lip bitten hard, whispered.

"Oh fuck~ I’m not ready yet, take it slow please~!"

’Someone, kill me.’ Unfortunately for the valkyrie, she and the spirit were both near-immortals.