The amphitheater was in a frenzy after the conclusion of the first match of the Ragnarok tournament.
Lü Bu had lost to Thor.
A logical and expected outcome in the eyes of all the gods present, but the victory was not one-sided.
The gods and other celestial beings despised humanity. From their perspective, the Ragnarok tournament was merely a formality before unleashing the end of the world upon Earth.
Seeing Lü Bu hold his own against a god like Thor was a genuine shock to the divine beings.
"Soon, the gods will take humanity more seriously," the demon mused as he walked across the ancient stone floor of the palace.
Thanks to knowledge "borrowed" without permission from the guards, Doma now had a solid understanding of the layout of the place.
It didn't take him long to arrive before an imposing door, one that even he found somewhat intimidating.
"I never thought I'd feel small again since the end of Muzan's punishment," he muttered under his breath before knocking on the door to the valkyrie's quarters.
Doma stood at 1.92 meters tall, slightly taller than Kokushibo, and had always been perceived as an imposing figure by those around him.
Yet, the massive door and the identity of his target made him feel a tad uneasy.
"Coming!" a loud voice boomed from the other side of the door before a towering, muscular woman appeared.
She was tall… really tall, with a height Doma estimated to be around 2.20 meters.
"Huh?! Hey… are you a new guard or something?" Thrud tilted her head down toward Doma, who barely reached the height of her chest.
The woman looked confused, her expression hiding nothing from her interlocutor.
Doma froze for a moment, struck by the valkyrie's unique appearance, but quickly coughed to regain his composure.
His gesture, however, was misinterpreted.
"Are you okay? You look pale." Despite her imposing stature and booming voice, the valkyrie showed surprising concern for the struggling stranger before her.
Was it out of kindness? Or did she simply believe she could handle any aggression with her superhuman strength?
The ice demon leaned toward the first option. Why such confidence on Doma's part?
Because it was confirmed by the information he had extracted from Jay's memories: this woman was potentially the kindest of the valkyries.
Thrud.
(Image)
She was the third younger sister of Brunhilde, and her power granted "complete" bodily control to her host.
A useless power for a demon from *KNY*? Not quite, since Doma already possessed biological control and regeneration.
Divine weapons and valkyries didn't just attack the physical body—they targeted the soul.
Death caused by such weapons equated to erasure, as the soul itself was destroyed.
A fate far worse than death in KNY.
To Doma, this woman represented a ticket to a qualitative and drastic increase in his power.
His biological control would no longer be merely physical but also spiritual.
'The powers used by demons in the KNY universe originate from their flesh and blood,'a thought rooted in several observations Doma had made as a demon, as well as knowledge from his past life.
For example: Kokushibo's katana.
That weapon was created from his own body and was essential for executing his Blood Demon Art.
The same applied to Nakime's biwa and the drum of the demon named Kyogai.
Anyone could use their powers by appropriating a part of their body—namely, their weapon.
This was also why their weapons vanished upon their death, just as the demons under Muzan's control disappeared when their master died in the manga.
Indeed, there was no reason for their flesh to persist after the body's death.
Now, imagine if Doma could perceive a part of his being—his soul—that was previously unknown to him and use his powers on it?
Spiritual regeneration would become possible, and perhaps even more…
Especially since Thrud had managed the spiritual body of a soul like Raiden's (an Einherjar), so why couldn't she manage Doma's and apply his demonic traits to it?
After all, Raiden's biological characteristics had been expressed beyond his mortal life on Earth.
This was still just a theory, but Doma could sense the feasibility of his plan.
He even found the idea strangely reminiscent of Kenjaku's conclusions about the soul and the physical body.
Thrud was the key to allowing him to effectively wield his powers against spiritual and divine beings.
'Beyond this practical aspect, she's the easiest to deal with among her sisters,' he thought objectively.
Based on the knowledge Doma had gained from his past life, she was an altruistic and very kind woman.
The only real flaw one could attribute to her was her lack of confidence regarding her appearance.
Yes, she suffered from a severe complex about her looks.
'Personally, I don't find her unattractive, and as any man of culture would say: if there's a hole, there's a goal,'the demon thought, almost amused by his own joke.
The choice of Thrud wasn't motivated solely by her power and her easy-to-… *manipulate*… *cough*… convince personality.
The list came down to Thrud and Hlökk: one because of her personality and appearance-related complex, the other because of her reluctance to cooperate with Brunhilde.
In the end, logic pushed him to try with Thrud, as the loli tsundere would be too difficult to manage in the long term.
While he was lost in thought, Doma continued coughing in front of Thrud as if he were ill.
It wasn't part of his original plan, but the woman's comment and concern gave him the idea to play the sick card.
"Uh… I-I'll get you settled inside first while I find a doctor." Thrud grabbed Doma and carried him as if he weighed nothing, before setting him down on her bed.
During this little "free ride," the demon didn't forget to subtly snag a lock of her hair under the guise of his coughing.
A simple precaution for the future, one Doma wanted to secure.
"N-no, don't go… *cough*!" Doma grabbed Thrud's forearm after being placed on the bed.
If the staff reported his presence in this part of the palace, he'd quickly be considered an intruder. He had no desire to face Zeus again in such a situation.
"But you're clearly sick!" Thrud retorted in a stern tone, though she didn't pull her hand away.
'His body temperature is very low…' The thought worried her further. She didn't know Doma, but she didn't want a dead man in her room.
Of course, Doma picked up on the woman's surface-level thoughts and decided to double down on his act.
"Don't worry, this coughing fit is temporary whenever my power acts up," he explained, trying to sit up, but Thrud forced him to stay lying down.
"Okay, I'll take your word for it, but why would a man in your condition come to see me? Is it so urgent that you'd risk your health, and what power are you talking about?" she said, her tone confused but laced with a subtle wariness.
'Indeed, kind doesn't mean stupid,' he thought, meeting her gaze.
"My name is Doma, but you can also call me by my other titles: The Defiant Demon , The Elder, The Weaver, Demon of Fate," he lied without batting an eye, after giving his one true title.
"The Elder? Weaver? Demon of Fate? Why do you have such titles? No, that doesn't answer my question…" Thrud's tone grew more suspicious.
Fate.
If there was one thing the gods feared, it was the concept of fate.
As a valkyrie, Thrud was a Norse demi-goddess. She thus had some understanding of fate, thanks to the existence of the Norns.
"I saw it in my vision… *cough*… Adam's defeat at the hands of Zeus and the fall of the human race."
…
Author's note: I may have gone a bit overboard with this cliff… Nah. Anyway, since no one's made it to the 400th stone yet, I can do whatever I want.