The Valkyries are an elite force, and of course there cannot be only 9 members of the council. Each of them leads a group of elite female warriors.
Most of the heroic warriors are men. They were guided to Asgard by the Valkyrie and came under the direct jurisdiction of Odin.
The souls of those female warriors who died heroically in battle were captured by the Valkyrie Council, and only after undergoing rigorous training and assessment could they be awarded the official title of Valkyrie.
Except for Sigrun, who sits in the council and coordinates the overall situation, each member of the council has his own area of ​​responsibility, which corresponds to the eight countries except Asgard.
Odin's corruption of the Valkyries was from top to bottom. Sigrun noticed the strangeness of the council members early and personally sealed them and the Valkyries under their command.
According to Sigrun's speculation, those sealed ordinary Valkyries should not be affected by the leader's curse of corruption. As long as they are unsealed, they can immediately form combat effectiveness.
The Valkyries are fierce and rebellious warriors. They do not obey the orders of any outsiders. Even Odin cannot directly order them. Only their respective commanders and the original King of the Valkyries, Freya, have this authority.
In order to prevent the Valkyrie from joining the battle prematurely at Freya's call, Sigurn accepted Lu Xiao's suggestion and did not wake up these subordinates for the time being.
On the one hand, this is because they have not yet recovered the divinity of their new bodies, and on the other hand, they want to wait until Freya truly calms down before contacting her.
"Valkyrie..."
Youhemi hesitated: "Can they trust you?"
Mimir spoke out and guaranteed at this time: "Yohmi, believe me, the Valkyries hate Odin no less than you and me. Odin has tarnished their glory, which is unacceptable to the Valkyries.
"
The wise giant Mimir and most of the top leaders of the giant clan have been old friends for many years. His words carry a lot of weight among the giant clan. Most giants are willing to believe the words of the wisest man in the nine realms.
"All right."
Youhemi adopted Mimir's advice as always, and he solemnly said to Lu Xiao: "With Mimir as a guarantee, I am willing to believe you."
The cooperation has been initially finalized. Mimir will be responsible for connecting with Giant on the details. Lu Xiao will only be responsible for general decision-making and will continue to be a hands-off shopkeeper.
Before Ragnarok officially begins, the giants do not plan to take the initiative to attack Asgard.
Odin's small moves over the years have inevitably weakened the overall strength of the giants, and excellent military commanders like Starkad have long been removed by his design.
To put it simply, the Giants' foundation is still there, but they are somewhat lacking in high-end talents.
The new generation of giants such as Faria and Ushtaha are still growing, and it is difficult to fully take over the burden left to them by their ancestors. A hasty attack may play into Odin's hands and be self-defeating.
"We must unite all available forces in the nine realms. Odin's increasingly hysterical rule over the years has offended many races. What we need to do is to use ourselves as an example and banner to induce their resentment."
Lu Xiao solemnly suggested to Youhemi: "Considering the combat effectiveness of the Asaph Clan, what we need most is the help of their former mortal enemies, the Warner Clan."
Yohemi smiled bitterly and spread his hands: "Is it so easy? Although the Warner Protoss does not deal with the Asaph Protoss, their attitude towards us giants is not that good."
Mimir asked thoughtfully: "Brother, you don't plan to use Freya..."
"No."
Lu Xiao shook his head: "Leave aside the bad relationship between me and Freya, the Warner Protoss no longer regards Freya as one of their own."
Freya originally married Odin in order to bring peace to the Vanir, but her behavior was not understood by all the tribesmen. Many Vanirs still regard Freya as a traitor.
"It is not enough to blindly play the emotional card. To put it bluntly, common interests are the most suitable link to connect various forces."
There is no affection between countries at all, and even the marriage between the two parties is just out of political considerations.
Historically, the in-law exchanges in European countries were complicated, and the royal families of various countries seemed to be related by blood. However, when they had their own interests and needs, they would not hesitate to fight to the death.
"As long as we make a profit promise to the Warner Protoss that they cannot refuse, I believe that the top brass of the Warner Protoss will agree to the request for a secret alliance."
Mimir thought for a while and then said: "No one knows what the Warner Protoss wants in the Nine Realms of the East and West. They want to replace the Asaph Protoss and become the rulers of the Nine Realms."
Lu Xiao sneered and said: "Then agree to them, but you must make it clear to them in advance."
"If you want to wear its crown, you must bear its weight. If you want to be recognized by all the tribes in the nine realms, they must show their own momentum in the battle of Ragnarok."
Starting from Bergmir, the rulers of the giants have always lacked domineering power, and they do not have the same fanatical desire to control the nine realms as the two major gods.
The giants' senior leaders are very clear about their family's weakness - the population problem.
The high consumption of resources and low population growth make it difficult for them to fight a protracted war with the two major gods, and they will only become weaker and weaker.
From this perspective, Bergmire was indeed far-sighted, and he set a low-key development program for the giants in advance.
Blindly expanding without knowing your own position will only lead to the destruction of the entire giant family.
The Vanir Protoss has a good fighting ability, but the Asaph Protoss is also not a fuel-efficient lamp.
During the period when the peace agreement was reached with the Warner Protoss, Asgard accelerated its penetration into the Nine Realms, and gradually opened some gaps with the Warner Protoss in terms of overall strength.
This gap is not that big, but if the two sides completely break up and fight to the death, Asgard will definitely survive to the end.
Even if they defeat Asgard with the help of giants, the Warner Protoss will probably suffer heavy losses. After the war, they will not be able to be as arrogant and domineering as Asgard when they gain the control of the Nine Realms.
In addition to the Vanir, what the giants need most is the help of their distant relatives, the fire giants of Muspelheim.
Most of the giants who followed Bergmir to Jotunheim were called frost giants and were related by blood to the fire giants. However, due to the incompatible attributes of the two sides, the exchanges were not very close.
Muspelheim is ruled by Surtur, the first fire giant. His birth time is second only to the original giant Ymir. He is very senior and has lived to this day without death.
Surtur did not take his duties as king seriously, and he spent most of the year in the core of Muspelheim forging his own weapon, an artifact destined to appear in Ragnarok.
, the flaming sword.
Although the Flaming Sword is an artifact, it has one and only one purpose - to burn Asgard to ashes.
According to the prophecy, Surtur will die at the hands of Thor and Odin, but his fatal blow will also burn the glorious kingdom of the Asaph clan to the ground. This is Surtur's mission to survive to this day.
"It's not a big problem to convince Surtur. This is a fate that he can't escape. The rest..."
Lu Xiao narrowed his eyes: "It depends on how the elves of Alfheim and the dwarves of Swartheim choose sides."