In Asgard.

The atmosphere was completely different than usual, the sounds of swords clashing and armor clinking could be heard throughout the city as the reserve soldiers trained.

Odin remained on his throne, keeping a watchful eye on the situation to be able to react at any moment.

Even though he had informed a Celestial about the situation, he didn't know when they would start moving.

Nevertheless, he knew it wouldn't take too long; something like the death of a Celestial was very important to them.

"How is Thor?" Odin asked his wife, who had approached him silently.

"He's still confused; going against Midgard means going against his lover and friends," Frigga said.

"He is the only prince of Asgard; he must prioritize his responsibilities," Odin said brusquely.

"That might be true, but it doesn't make it any easier," Frigga sighed.

"I can see you're not even sure we'll win," Frigga said, looking at her husband.

Odin remained silent at her words.

"We have no choice but to fight," Odin finally said.

"I suppose not," Frigga sighed, knowing her husband preferred to die fighting than surrender and not dare to face his grandfather and father when he died.

"I'll go prepare my armor," Frigga said softly before leaving.

Odin watched his wife leave with his one good eye, a trace of hesitation flashing before quickly regaining his resolve.

He knew Asgard might be destroyed in this campaign, but he would still go.

His one eye gave a final glance in the direction of Frigga before thinking of something that had never occurred to him: maybe not everyone needed to die.

....

Damian returned home almost at night; Hela could really be a seductress when she wanted to, wrapping him in her arms and almost not letting him leave.

He definitely needed to start convincing her to live with him.

"Daddy, where were you?" Alice asked when she saw him, jumping to hug his neck.

Damian smiled and quickly helped her hold on while giving her a kiss on the head.

"Well, honey, I was talking with Hela," Damian said, smiling.

"Hm," Alice hummed.

"Daddy, today they had a combat competition at school, and I beat everyone, even the older kids," Alice said excitedly, her hair glowing slightly from the excitement.

"I see, it seems my little girl is very strong, just like her father," Damian said, smiling as he rubbed the tip of his nose against Alice's.

Alice giggled adorably, placing her hands on Damian's cheeks.

"Daddy, can we fight together?" Alice asked, looking at him.

"Sweetheart, don't do that to your father; it would break my heart to hit you, so it wouldn't make sense," Damian said, smiling wryly.

Alice giggled, remembering her mother's tales about her fights with her father.

"By the way, where are your sisters?" Damian asked, looking at her.

"We fought," Alice said, looking away and pouting.

"Oh? And why is that?" Damian asked, his lips curving slightly.

"I beat them in the combat competition," Alice said with a bit of guilt.

"If it was a competition, I don't think that was the reason for their anger. Maybe they're just frustrated because you always beat them in fights," Damian said, stroking Alice's back.

"So should I lose on purpose?" Alice asked innocently.

"Of course not. They might get angry with you; you should always give it your all. Besides, don't underestimate your sisters. You're just a bit ahead of them; they might catch up to you later," Damian said, smiling at Alice.

"Hm," Alice said, nodding in better spirits at her father's words.

Damian smiled at seeing her more cheerful; it was completely normal for sisters to have disputes, and they might even increase as they grew older.

"Daddy, can we play together for a while?" Alice asked, looking at her father. This seemed like a good opportunity to be alone together.

"Of course, what do you want to play?" Damian asked with a smile.

"Let's play video games. I've played with Mom, and I'm pretty good," Alice said proudly.

"Sure," Damian said, smiling as he went to play with Alice.

Alice turned on the console with a smile before handing a controller to Damian.

Damian took it with a smile before Alice quickly sat on his lap as they both played.

Days passed with Damian living a very relaxed life as he had never done before.

With the system and himself, he was finally in a position where he could face any threat thrown at him.

Because of this, he decided to take the next few months off, not worrying about improving his magic; he had spent years concerned about that, so he felt he deserved a break.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

With this relaxed lifestyle, a week passed in an instant.

Damian was in his tower, sitting in his chair while Ophelia sat on the desk.

"You've been quite lazy lately; it makes me think I don't need to handle all the governmental affairs," Ophelia said, putting her foot on Damian's chest.

"If I offered for someone to take over, I'm sure there would be a line wrapping around the island," Damian said, teasing.

"Then that's what you should do," Ophelia said, pressing harder with her foot.

Damian just smiled as his hand grabbed her calf before pulling her towards him.

Ophelia didn't resist and straddled Damian.

Their eyes met before Damian kissed her lips.

Ophelia ended the kiss after a few moments, rubbing her face against Damian's.

"Hey, I have a bad feeling; I feel like something big is going to happen. I've felt a bit uncomfortable these days," Ophelia said, taking Damian's hand that was on her cheek.

"Are you Emma's mother, and did you swap without me noticing?" Damian asked, joking, but he took Ophelia's words very seriously.

He quickly scanned almost the entire galaxy with the system's help, and suddenly something caught his attention.

A purple giant was unexpectedly close to Earth.

Scanning the immense ship, he immediately sensed its army, but although it was certainly powerful, it wasn't something that would cause Ophelia to feel a sense of danger.

Maybe she could even eliminate the entire army given enough time.

So there must be another reason.

"Just one week, and you want to ruin my vacation?" Damian sighed, resting his forehead against Ophelia's chest.

"Maybe I'm overthinking; after all, Emma hasn't said anything," Ophelia said, hugging Damian's head and playing with his hair.

"I hope so," Damian said softly as his hands suddenly slipped under Ophelia's clothes.

Ophelia immediately giggled, knowing what was coming.

....

Thanos was on his ship, his fingers periodically tapping the armrest of his throne.

He had been monitoring the situation on Earth for a week, keeping his ship at a prudent distance—neither too close to be detected nor too far to be late to the action.

Despite a week passing, he had to admit he was a bit impatient, which was unusual for him.

But remaining idle without working towards his dream was not something he enjoyed; still, he could only be patient with the future in mind.

His spies told him that Asgard remained in a state of war, but the soldiers were only training and had not yet initiated the war.

If there had been any doubt that the war was not with Midgard, it was now completely clear that it was.

Where else would Odin have to wait to attack? This also confirmed that Odin had a plan; he supposed that Odin provoked something else to attack Damian.

And only one race came to Thanos's mind that could pose a threat to Damian: the Celestials.

Everything seemed to fit in Thanos's mind, giving him more reason to remain in place.

Damian's main force would surely face the Celestials.

The reserve forces or non-combatants would surely be forced to fight against Odin and his army.

Then Thanos could infiltrate and try to steal the stones.

With the Space Stone, it would be easy to escape from there with his army.

Thanos quickly calculated the combatants Damian had.

Of course, there was Damian himself, who was the most powerful, then his five wives, all of whom were very powerful, particularly Carol, the cosmic battery woman.

According to his information, they were the main threats besides Damian.

Since Damian had children, and he knew he valued them greatly, surely one or two of them would stay to protect them, which greatly reduced the difficulty.

As long as Odin kept them occupied, he could launch a lightning attack with his entire army, no matter the cost; if he could obtain the stones, the price would be worth it.

From his throne, only space was visible, yet his gaze was fixed in the direction of Earth.

....

A week later.

Odin was in a situation similar to Thanos.

Normally he could be very patient, but considering what was at stake, impatience had begun to grow in him.

He had sent his raven to check on the Celestial a few times and knew he was still finishing creating the sun in his hands.

He immediately knew the Celestial would do nothing until he was done.

He knew the concept of time for the Celestials was even more absurd than his own.

For the Celestial, probably no time had passed; it might take a thousand years to respond, and he would still consider he acted quickly.

At that moment, Odin, who was on his throne, suddenly saw his raven coming directly towards him.

The bird hopped several times on the throne until it reached Odin's shoulder and cawed a few times.

Odin's single eye widened in surprise upon hearing the raven; the Celestial had disappeared from the place, leaving only a dazzling sun.

"You know what to do," said Odin, making a stone with runes carved into it appear in his hand.

The raven cawed before taking the rune with its claws and flying away.

Odin, even with his thousands of years of life, could not help but feel a bit nervous at that moment.

He quickly tried to calm himself, thinking that everything would go as planned.

His nervousness, of course, was natural; after all, he was about to initiate a plan that did not entirely depend on him.

It all started a week ago when he constantly watched Midgard to see if there was any response to his actions.

It would not be strange if they had some kind of foresight ability.

It was then that he suddenly saw a noble vampire.

Odin was already quite informed about vampires and their ranks, partly from what Jane told Thor and his own observations.

He also knew that an incredibly fast way for vampires to strengthen themselves was to drink the blood of a higher-ranking vampire.

With this in mind, a plan began to form in his head.

First, he observed the man's personality and habits; although he seemed to try to restrain himself, he realized that the man lived quite a libertine life, sleeping with different women every day.

A man like that was quite easy to use.

When he saw him fall asleep, he prepared to give one of his best performances—a benevolent god asking for help in the name of a universe in crisis.

Although that wouldn't convince the man at all, it would give him a morally elevated position for any ambitions he had.

"Nicolas," said Odin, enchanting his voice to increase his charisma.

Nicolas suddenly opened his eyes and found himself in a completely white and misty space.

Suddenly, the mist slowly parted, revealing a tall middle-aged man in golden armor.

"Who...who are you?" said Nicolas suspiciously.

When he became a vampire, he received certain inherited memories in his lineage, giving him some common sense about the universe.

One of those memories was to be wary of gods and demons; both were equally deceptive, only the gods disguised themselves as good people.

"I am Odin, the god-king of Asgard," said Odin, with a friendly voice that seemed to immediately calm Nicolas.

"I came to seek you out because I believe we can help each other," said Odin.

"I am sure you know about the system; I am also sure you know how invasive it is and that if that man wanted to, he could easily alter the thoughts of everyone within it."

Odin paused briefly, observing Nicolas's expression.

"This system has expanded throughout the galaxy and will soon reach my realm. I cannot tolerate this situation, and I am sure you don't like being under its yoke either," said Odin, looking at him.

"Even so, I don't dare face that man, so forget it," said Nicolas, shaking his head while mocking himself in his mind; he wouldn't be anyone's cannon fodder.

"You don't have to face him; you just need to kidnap one of his daughters, and Damian will do whatever you want. He would even give you the system if it meant his daughters would be safe," said Odin, sighing.

"It's a method without honor, but in the face of the life of the entire universe, we cannot worry about our principles," said Odin quickly, seeing that the vampire was about to mock him.

Nicolas sneered inwardly, yet he couldn't help but be interested.

He came from a multimillionaire family and was always used to being arrogant and treated with respect, sought after for business deals.

Thanks to this, he could also obtain mutant animal meat and stand out in the event despite having no superpowers.

When given the chance to become a vampire, he took it without hesitation; youth and eternal life were the most delicate topics for wealthy people.

After all, not even the greatest fortune could buy a second.

But after becoming a vampire, he knew there were more around the world; they were all invited to Madripoor, where they met the famous Damian.

When Nicolas saw him, he felt only terror; those crimson eyes he had seen many times in his mirror were entirely different.

For the first time in his life, he felt his insignificance.

When he returned home, he nearly demolished the place in anger; he had never felt that way towards anyone and disliked it.

How he wishes he could take his position.

----

Guys, I'm sorry I haven't been able to upload a chapter, where I live there was a big storm and the power just came back on yesterday.