Chapter 74

## Chapter Chronology

**The Feelings Which Connect Us** is the 74th chapter of the "*Shuumatsu no Valkyrie: Record of Ragnarok*" manga series.

## Summary

The black sphere crackles and causes ripples in the clouds before bursting like a balloon. Debris flies everywhere as a large shockwave follows, startling Heimdall, Humanity's crowd and the Gods' crowd.

With Ares taken aback, Hermes notes that **Chaos** is indeed a horrible technique. As he swings his legs, Michel Nostradamus expresses how amazing this is and exclaims the whole arena was gouged out as he looks at the damaged hexagonal column with all its pillars and the **Gematria Zone** missing.

Heimdall questions what just happened before noticing a figure in the smoke. The scientists, Zeus and Adamantine are all shocked to see that Nikola Tesla is still standing, though the **Super Automaton β** has been severely damaged. As Tesla huffs with blood coming down his head and right arm, Heimdall declares that though the details are unclear, Beelzebub's horrendous attack has torn Tesla to shreds.

As it's shown that Göndul is suffering the damage too, Heimdall says the flame of Humanity's hope has been swallowed by the darkness of Helheim, on the verge of being snuffed out. Göll falls back and says Göndul's name as Brunhilde keeps her eyes shut, silent. Adamantine wonders what that technique was and asks Zeus if he knows something about this. Zeus clarifies he has only ever heard stories. Beelzebub's right hand is for offense and his left hand is for defense. By firmly clasping his two hands together and condensing the vibrations of both, Beelzebub can cause them to explode in a violent burst. In the past, Beelzebub has only used it once against a monster of Helheim and Hades, who saw the black sphere from his castle, was very shocked by it. Zeus states that the horrible power of that technique was so destructive, it became taboo.

As the smoke clears, Adamantine spots Beelzebub and observes how he was also torn to shreds as it's shown that the Lord of the Flies has suffered damage all over his body. Zeus says Beelzebub destroys his own body in exchange for that horrible destructive power, going on to call **Chaos** an absurdly terrible technique.

As Beelzebub's arms shake, Zeus brings up the fact that if Beelzebub failed to put down Tesla with that attack, he must've made a grave miscalculation. As he huffs as well, Beelzebub admits he's quite surprised to see that Tesla's light has yet to be snuffed out. The Super Tesla Coil hovering over Tesla's right fist suddenly breaks. Galileo Galilei can't believe Tesla sacrificed one of his Super Tesla Coils. Thomas Edison says he had no other choice. Tesla had to use up a Super Tesla Coil in order to achieve maximum instantaneous output, which he used to partially offset **Chaos**, though it still injured him a lot. Beelzebub acknowledges Tesla as truly amazing. As he lifts the skull with just his right hand, Beelzebub decides this is the end. Tesla repeats how he called it the end before starting to stand up, much to Brunhilde and Göll's surprise.

Wagging his finger and saying "No...Non...Nein.", Tesla rejects that by saying Humanity has no end and that they are forever. In the past, in the Austrian Empire (modern-day Western Croatia), in the village of Smiljan, a boy runs out of his house, telling his mother and sister that he'll be off. His mother asks where he's going but Milka Tesla assures her there's nothing to worry about as he's just going to his "secret base" again. Arriving at a house with a makeshift vault door lock, a five-year-old Nikola happily knocks on the door. A flap near the top of the door opens and a voice on the other side asks Nikola what God's most beloved numbers are. Nikola answers, "3, 6, 9."

The lock rotates and the sign near the doorknob changes to "Open." Opening the door, Dane Tesla, Nikola's twelve-year-old older brother, welcomes his little brother to his research lab: the "Gematria Zone." As they go inside, Nikola asks Dane what he's creating today and Dane reveals the village elder, Al, asked him to make a windmill. Dane, who was seven years older than Nikola, was considered to be the village's greatest prodigy. He was a boy genius whose abilities the entire village depended on. Nikola thinks a windmill is really ordinary but Dane reveals his design doubles its drive efficiency.

As he looks over his blueprints, Dane says this is how it spins theoretically but he worries over how it may not actually work or even move. Nikola doesn't get why Dane always accepts these requests when he doesn't even have any confidence in himself and Dane says that's obvious: because it makes everyone happy. As Nikola's eyes widen, Dane looks at a miniature model of the windmill he's planning and notes that if something he makes can make someone else happy, that gives him the greatest feeling.

Smiling, Nikola says that is so like him. Dane sighs about how he really has no confidence in this one, from the durability of the materials and the overall compatibility of the design. Dane isn't sure what to do if it fails, guessing Al would be disappointed. However, Nikola states it's okay if it fails, confusing Dane.

Nikola says even if it fails, Dane can discover something new. For example, when their mother taught Milka how to make a stew. The first time, it tasted terrible but after making it over and over, it's now their favorite thing to eat. Nikola declares that it's exactly because of failure that Humanity is able to evolve. After being reminded that Nikola is only five years old, Dane pats his head and says he might really become something amazing one day. This compliment makes Nikola happy. Dane decides to induct Nikola as a fellow researcher in the Gematria Zone.

Nikola thinks that name sounds uncool but Dane thinks it's cool since it means "Prison of the Gods."

Nikola proposes a cooler name like "Hyper God House" and upon seeing how excited Nikola is about the name, Dane claims he'll consider it. Nikola loved his meek but kind-hearted brother and the inventions he made more than anything else in the world. But on the day of a great storm, their parents had been gone since the morning, leaving the children home. Dane took a horse and decided to go out in the rain to check on the windmill. After a while, Nikola was worried about Dane, who'd yet to return, and took off into the storm. As he ran, Nikola tripped before noticing lightning strike the ground from afar. As he huffed, Nikola continued running and arrived at the windmill that was under construction. It was there that Nikola found the body of Dane lying on the ground, along with his horse as they were both struck by the lightning. With his windmill still unfinished, Nikola's beloved older brother was called back by the Gods far too soon.

At Dane's funeral, Al apologizes to his parents as this wouldn't have happened if he didn't ask Dane to build the windmill. However, Nikola touches Al's shoulder and tells him not to cry. Nikola says it's okay because his brother is still alive. As he tears up, Nikola expresses how he's convinced that Dane will live on forever through science. As the rest of his family looked on, Al hugged Nikola and thanked him. While everyone else mourned Dane's death, the young boy kindly attempted to cheer up a mourner. That is what everyone thought, except for the boy. Shortly after, Dane's windmill was finished according to his designs. But the windmill wouldn't move and a builder chalked it up to a flaw in the design. From then on, the boy genius of the village slowly but surely faded from everyone's memory. From that day on, Nikola shut himself away in his brother's Gematria Zone, day after day, without rest, until six years later.

The builder recounts how nobody's touched the windmill since the day they realized it couldn't move.

He wanted to tear it down but Nikola asked him for one more chance and gave a new set of designs. Al is in awe and exclaims that Dane's windmill is alive as he watches it move. Nikola clarifies that they weren't new designs but rather, he improved on the original ones, though it took six years. At the age of eleven, Nikola completed the windmill he had inherited from his brother. Nikola says that his brother is still alive through himself. As he wears Dane's goggles, Nikola feels the breeze and imagines the sensation of Dane patting his head.

As he smiles and starts to cry, Nikola says he's alive through them and declares that as long as they pass on the science they learn, Dane will always be alive. Nikola dedicated the rest of his life to his research, even after he was called up to Heaven. In the present, as Tesla struggles to fully stand up, Edison and the other scientists worry for him. As he looks on, Dane cries out for his brother. Tesla remarks on how Dane was always a worrier but he assures him that it's okay. As he puts his fists up, Tesla says that as long as science continues to grow and flourish, Humanity will never die, which relates to an excerpt from Nikola Tesla's *Secret Confessions*: "Science and humanity, for the sake of connecting them to the future, must be one."

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Heimdall
* Hermes
* Ares
* Michel Nostradamus
* Thomas Edison
* Galileo Galilei
* Marie Curie (No lines)
* Isaac Newton (No lines)
* Alfred Nobel (No lines)
* Albert Einstein (No lines)
* Zeus
* Adamantine
* Nikola Tesla
* Beelzebub
* Göndul (No lines)
* Göll
* Brunhilde (No lines)
* Hades (Flashback, No lines)
* Milka Tesla
* Dane Tesla