"What's your plan?" Nicolas asked after a few seconds of contemplation.
It didn't hurt to hear the plan; if it was crazy, he would simply reject it.
"Damian is a truly terrifying opponent. Normally, as soon as you begin your attack, he would appear before you and make you disappear," said Odin.
"But... what if Damian can't do anything because he's busy? My army will attack his city, and other very powerful enemies will draw Damian's attention."
"At that moment, everything will be in chaos, and it will be the perfect time to move," Odin said.
"But it seems like I'm the only one taking the risk," Nicolas said, unimpressed by the plan.
"I'll give you an object that will allow you to escape from Earth and bring you to Asgard," Odin said.
"Then I'll be at your mercy once you return. Not a bad plan," Nicolas mocked.
"You'll have the girl; she is only valuable alive," Odin said.
Nicolas remained silent.
"I'll think about it," Nicolas said.
Odin nodded slightly before disappearing from the dream.
Back to the present.
Odin shook his head, thinking about how easy humans were to manipulate and read.
As expected, Nicolas called him again and accepted the deal.
He justified it by saying he didn't want his family and himself to be under that kind of control.
But Odin saw it, his greed for Damian's position and power.
Not that he could blame him, he felt tempted by the power Damian had.
Odin nodded slightly, removing his gaze from Midgard, with the rune stone in Nicolas' hands, one of the steps was ready.
This rune stone had been something he had dedicated a lot of effort to and he believed it could definitely make him escape even with spatial restrictions.
His army was already ready and just waiting for the Celestials to make the first move.
….
Damian, who really didn't know about the conspiracy rising against him, was just enjoying life, although not so peacefully anymore. With Ophelia's words, he had been passively scanning his family just in case.
That afternoon, he was lying on the couch with a book in his hand.
Suddenly, Jen appeared from the entrance of the living room and approached him.
"What are you reading?" Jen asked, sitting on the couch in front of him.
"A book about Celestials. Cortana found it in one of the civilizations that have been swallowed by the system," Damian said, looking away from the book.
"Do you still think they will come to attack you?" Jen asked.
"Of course, reading this book makes me believe it even more," Damian said.
"It turns out the Celestials have a predator," Damian said, laughing slightly at the word.
"A giant world-devouring being, a force of nature that devours planets with Celestial seeds."
"It's believed to be a way to regulate the number of Celestials, as immortal beings, even if few are born, over time there would be too many," Damian said, smiling and sitting up before putting the book aside.
"It's really interesting," Jen said, nodding before getting up from her seat and sitting next to Damian now that there was space.
"What's wrong? Wasn't the other couch comfortable?" Damian teased.
"Do you want me to hit you?" Jen said, looking at him mordantly.
"By the way, how has it been going with the traitorous disciple?" Damian asked, looking at her.
''Don't tell him that, I have a much closer relationship with him, he trusts me with his problems, I suggested he go for a walk around the world, I'm sure it will do him good,'' Jen said, smiling obviously happy.
"I just hope he doesn't disappoint you," Damian said, shaking his head while smiling.
"Do you care about how I feel?" Jen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, I do care," Damian said, unsure how to act with Jen.
"Then you should do something about it," Jen said as her hand reached out and rested on Damian's leg.
Suddenly, Damian frowned deeply at the same time Cortana appeared beside him, looking at him seriously.
"It seems the time has come," Damian said, standing up.
"I'm sorry, something really happened," Damian said, looking at Jen with an apologetic look.
"Let's go," Cortana said, nodding with a slightly worried look.
Jen stood there completely stunned, it took her a few seconds to react before she went to find out what had happened.
She would definitely make them pay.
The embarrassment she just went through was perhaps the greatest in her entire life.
Damian and Cortana appeared in space quite far from Earth.
There, 10 Celestials could be seen approaching with the naked eye.
"Ten? How ruthless," Damian said, joking despite the situation.
"Shall we take five each until Carol arrives?" Cortana said, looking at Damian. She was the only one who could really help them.
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"Can you handle five? I was thinking of taking nine and leaving you one," Damian said, looking at her and joking.
"You underestimate me," Cortana said, looking at him with a smile.
….
The moment Damian and Cortana disappeared from Earth, an alarm sounded throughout Madripoor, causing people to move quickly but orderly to the nearest shelter.
Nicolas had been living in Madripoor for a few days, only dedicating himself to enjoying life.
Since it was within his normal behavior, his arrival in Madripoor did not cause any suspicion.
He strategically chose his hotel, waiting for the shuttle at the place where the princesses would get off.
Nicolas wasn't stupid; he knew that was the only vulnerable moment for the princesses. Once they entered the palace, it was impossible to do anything to them.
If the time of the attack didn't coincide with that moment, Nicolas didn't plan to risk his life, he would simply pretend Odin never spoke to him.
As every day, Nicolas was waiting for the shuttle and saw the princesses get off as he approached to board.
This was also part of the plan to somehow desensitize others to his presence.
As if it were the work of fate, the princesses had just gotten off the shuttle when a loud alarm sounded throughout the city, making people freeze briefly.
Nicolas was surprised before quickly looking at the sky, enhancing his vision to its maximum capacity, he managed to see the 10 gigantic beings approaching Earth.
His expression turned a bit pale as he felt the power emanating from the 10 beings. Before, he still had doubts about what would happen if Damian survived the fight and came after him.
But now he didn't think Damian could survive, so he felt more convinced of the plan. Now his only concern was Odin.
He definitely didn't believe that old man would keep his promise, but now was not the time to doubt.
Nicolas rushed at full speed towards the princesses, since they were together he would make sure to capture all three.
His hand extended directly towards the face of the black-haired princess.
Suddenly, the world seemed to fragment as Emma stood still immediately after getting off the shuttle.
Her eyes trembled, not knowing what was happening, looking around she immediately knew it seemed she had had a vision, but they had never been so intense.
She quickly looked in the direction the man was coming from and saw him, looking at them out of the corner of his eye.
Her body suddenly tensed before she tightly squeezed Alice and Ivy's hands.
They immediately looked at Emma and saw that she had a very serious expression.
At that moment, the alarm suddenly sounded in Madripoor, making Emma tense up. As she expected, everything was happening the same way.
Alice and Ivy weren't fools either, and they assumed something was about to happen.
Emma pretended to look around, surprised by the alarm, but in reality, she was watching the man. She saw him glance at the sky with a scared expression before changing to a determined look and staring directly at her.
Nicolas didn't think twice and reinforced his body with magic, launching himself toward Emma.
Emma already knew what he was going to do, so instead of retreating with her sisters, she reinforced her body as much as she could.
They had never been formally taught this; the three sisters had really learned by observing. Not that they blamed their parents—they had never asked to learn, and it wasn't really necessary since they were already very strong physically.
Her body quickly advanced as she struck with all her strength toward where she thought the man's abdomen would appear.
As Emma expected, Nicolas couldn't react and was hit directly.
But to Emma's surprise, the man wasn't sent flying as she thought he would be. He managed to withstand her blow and only seemed pained.
"Damn girl," Nicolas said in a pained voice as his hand grabbed Emma's face, ready to teleport out of there.
Before he could crush the stone in his hand, he suddenly saw a golden flash before being sent flying into a building.
When he reacted, he only saw Princess Ivy before she swung her small fist at him.
But to his confusion, because of the distance, there was no way for this blow to reach him, suddenly, at the same time as Ivy struck, a portal formed behind Ivy, from which a gigantic claw emerged and smashed into Nicolas.
The giant claw had four toes and a skin full of scales that looked almost like stones because they were so huge and thick.
The surroundings trembled, and even the reinforced building was partially destroyed.
The claw suddenly seemed to return to the portal very quickly before disappearing as if it had been an illusion.
Everything had happened incredibly fast—less than 5 seconds since Nicolas had attacked.
At that moment, Ophelia and Ana appeared next to the girls and were surprised to see what was happening.
They didn't think anyone would attack their daughters. Teleportation was blocked in Madripoor, and everyone approaching the princesses was closely monitored.
"Mommy," Emma said, approaching Ana and quickly taking her hand.
"Are you okay, honey?" Ana asked, kneeling with concern as she cupped Emma's face.
"I'm fine," Emma nodded.
Ana nodded slightly as she pulled Alice into her embrace. Then her gaze turned to the destroyed building.
"Wow, what happened here?" Ophelia asked, hugging her daughter.
"A bad guy attacked Emma," Ivy said, looking at the rubble.
"Well, let's see if this guy is okay," Ophelia said as her eyes glowed. It would be a pity if he died.
The debris began to levitate slowly until Ophelia saw a man she actually recognized—a Noble Vampire.
He seemed on the brink of death; his limbs were completely crushed, and he had a large hole in his chest, nearly dismembered.
Ophelia smiled at this sight. She quickly turned and walked towards Ana, kissed Ivy on the head, and handed her over to Ana.
Then she approached Nicolas, knelt beside him, and dropped a few drops of her own blood into his mouth.
His body quickly began to recover, and the first thing Nicolas saw upon waking up was terrifying red eyes that immediately paralyzed his body.
"Hmm? Wow, that's an interesting thing you have in your hand," Ophelia said, suddenly noticing the contraction in his hand.
She quickly took it from him and examined it. She noticed it was an intricate teleportation rune system, though she wasn't sure if it would be useful given the spatial sealing on the island.
Without caring too much, she extended her hand towards Nicolas's neck and dragged him towards Ana.
"Let's go back to the palace. I think this isn't going to end so easily," Ophelia said. Although she didn't know how powerful the rune stone was, she recognized it as something from Asgard.
And considering the perfect timing for the attack, she assumed they should expect an attack while Damian was busy.
Ophelia quickly accessed the system and set the city to the highest level of alarm, mobilizing all Spartans.
"Let's go back," Ophelia said, looking at Ana.
Ana nodded before taking Emma and Alice in her arms while Ophelia took Ivy with her free arm.
They quickly disappeared from the place and reappeared in the underground laboratory, the most fortified place in Madripoor.
There were already Carol, Sophia, Jane, Jen, and Natasha with her baby.
"Why did you take so long? And who is that?" Carol asked, looking at the guy Ophelia was holding by the neck.
"This guy tried to kidnap our daughters," Ophelia said, throwing him aside. She had suppressed his body with her superior lineage, so he couldn't move.
"What!?" Carol exclaimed, her eyes almost shooting flames as she looked at the guy. Judging by his skin, she immediately guessed he was a vampire, which meant he was a traitor.
"It's okay; we'll deal with him later," Ana said, taking Carol's hand to prevent her from beating him up.
"But I'm very proud of you all. You managed to defeat him," Ophelia said, smiling at the girls.
"What!?" Carol said again, feeling like surprises were coming one after another.
"I didn't do much. My punch barely affected him," Emma said, disheartened.
"Are you kidding? You warned us about him," Alice said, taking her sister's hand.
"Yes, he was incredibly fast. If you hadn't hit him to stop him, we wouldn't have been able to catch him," Ivy said, nodding.
"But what was that thing you did? I've never seen it before; it was amazing," Alice said, looking at Ivy.
"I don't know, just seeing him grab Emma's face made me so angry that I did it instinctively," Ivy said, hugging Emma with a frown as she remembered the man's hand on Emma's face.
The others just watched them with smiles. The three looked really adorable, hugging each other.
Suddenly, Ophelia frowned before accessing the system. An image of all of Madripoor was displayed.
Above Madripoor, the Bifrost collided with an invisible barrier. The barrier quickly showed signs of weakening, and Ophelia immediately knew why.
Cortana was using most of the system's energy. Seeing the situation, she quickly did what she could to divert the Bifrost outside the city.
"Damn, these idiots really want to go to war," Ophelia muttered as she sighed.
"Carol, I think you won't be able to go help Damian for now," Ophelia said, looking at Carol, who was already prepared.
"What!? Why?" Carol asked, looking at her.
"Asgard is attacking us," Ophelia said without looking at Jane, whose expression turned pale upon hearing this.
Everyone's expressions immediately turned serious. The battle against the Celestials was already a very worrying situation, even if they were prepared.
But Asgard's sudden attack left them a bit short-handed.
"I'll help," Jen said, slamming shut the book she was reading. Asgard was more within her limits compared to the Celestials. Besides, she still felt annoyed at being interrupted.
"Thank you," Ophelia said, nodding.
''Thanks are not necessary''