Chapter 231

Damian arrived at his office with Cortana.

He clearly felt Hela leaving her room and heading to the courtyard, only smiling slightly at Sassy's antics.

"Master, the system has already crossed Knowhere," Cortana said, looking at Damian.

"Hm," Damian nodded, also contemplating his next move.

If the system's rumors spread, it was inevitable that this information would reach the ears of other Celestials. If many Celestials joined in, he might have to abandon everything and run with his family.

Apart from Celestials, Damian knew there were higher entities he wasn't keen on facing.

But if the system could take control of the majority of the universe or even just the galaxy, it could create a safe place for his family. However, he was still far from covering the entire galaxy.

"Let's not absorb anyone yet. When the system reaches a new civilization, we'll absorb them. After all, there are no more than 10,000 people in Knowhere; it won't make much difference," Damian said, shaking his head.

"Hm, that's more or less what I was thinking," Cortana nodded.

"We've been lucky so far; no Celestials have come snooping around," Damian said, resting his chin on his fist.

"Perhaps Arishem was a loner, and they haven't noticed yet?" Cortana suggested, considering Damian had fought him less than a year ago.

Damian just smiled slightly, not believing his luck could be that good. He was always prepared for Celestials to show up at his doorstep.

"By the way, remember to be tactful when teaching Wanda, be respectful to her," Cortana said, looking at Damian seriously.

Damian looked confused, not understanding what she meant.

"Since when have I been disrespectful to women?" Damian furrowed his brows, feeling falsely accused.

"You barged into a women's prison and drank their blood," Cortana shot back immediately.

Damian wanted to argue that he technically didn't harm them, but Cortana's next attack came right away.

"You took Ophelia out of her bed in the middle of the night and brought her into space; her body wasn't fully covered," Cortana continued.

Damian's mouth opened, but he couldn't say anything since he had indeed done that.

"In another universe, you sneaked into Shuri's room," Cortana listed another incident.

Damian had no energy left to defend himself.

"You also entered Hela's room while she was in her underwear," Cortana said, accusing him.

"I knocked, and she let me in," Damian defended himself, not accepting blame for something he didn't do.

"Besides, your eyes sometimes wander to the maids' legs," Cortana judged, looking at Damian sternly.

Damian could only rub his face and sigh; he gave up, admitting he couldn't win against someone who could see his memories.

"Don't worry, Master; I don't care about those things. I'm not jealous," Cortana said, floating toward Damian, hugging his neck and whispering in his ear.

"Who told you that phrase? Because in case you haven't noticed, you are jealous," Damian chuckled slightly, putting an arm around Cortana's waist.

Cortana's smile widened a bit as she felt Damian's embrace; there was progress.

"I mention Wanda because her mentor, Harry, tried to abuse her. Wanda accidentally killed him, and that left a mark on her. I'm just telling you to be careful," Cortana confided as if sharing a secret.

Damian's eyes widened in surprise; he didn't know about that.

"Would you have stopped him if she couldn't defend herself?" Damian asked, looking at her.

"No, I would inform you so you could decide what to do," Cortana replied.

"Even if it wasn't Wanda?" Damian inquired further.

"If it wasn't Wanda, I'd make it so she somehow managed to escape the situation," Cortana honestly admitted.

Cortana didn't want to dwell too much on the topic as it actually interfered more in the world than Damian might think.

It was difficult for her to witness injustices and do nothing but watch. Damian had told her to limit her interference since people should live their lives; solving people's problems wasn't the solution.

The Spartans already interfered enough with the world by getting rid of powerful people who exploited ordinary folks.

If she interfered with every little problem, who knows what kind of consequences could arise over time.

"I'll go see Hela; I'll take the opportunity to talk to her," Damian said, getting up. He vaguely sensed that Wanda was with Circe and Pietro in their room, so it was a good opportunity.

Without waiting for Cortana's response, Damian disappeared and reappeared near Hela.

Hela was looking bored at Amelia, who was crouched down looking at some flowers.

"What's going on?" Damian asked, arriving beside Hela.

"Amelia is curious about plants she's never seen before," Hela said casually.

"Hm, how have you been?" Damian smiled at Hela.

Hela glanced at Damian's smile before fixing her eyes on Amelia.

"Normal," Hela replied.

"What does that mean?" Damian chuckled, not really expecting an answer to his question.

Amelia, who was crouched down next to the plants, already had sore legs but didn't dare to stand up to not interrupt her teacher's moment with Damian.

"Do you want to have a light spar?" Damian asked, looking at her.

"Sure," Hela quickly turned to him with slightly more animated eyes.

Damian extended his hand towards Hela as he looked at her, and she understood it was to take her to the fighting spot.

Her hand reached out before stopping inches away from his hand, and then she fully extended it and took Damian's hand.

Damian immediately teleported them both to Mars, a place where they could fight without holding back too much.

Amelia left alone, finally sighed and fell onto her rear.

Looking back at Hela, she noticed that Hela was looking at her hands.

"Is something wrong?" Damian asked, looking at Hela while raising an eyebrow.

"Hm, it just feels strange to touch someone," Hela said, letting go of Damian's hand.

"I suppose so, after 12,000 years," Damian nodded.

"I wasn't talking about 12,000 years," Hela said, smiling slightly.

"I didn't have physical contact with anyone except during combat. The only company by my side was Fenrir. I never knew who my mother was, and my father is an idiot, so..." Hela shrugged.

Damian looked at Hela with a hint of bewilderment. She had really changed, he noticed that when he saw her arrive.

"These things didn't used to matter to you; what's going on?" Damian asked, looking at her.

"We came to fight, not to talk," Hela said, avoiding discussing her personal matters.

"It's a light sparring match, so don't use your dirty martial arts," Damian said, changing the subject.

"Don't you want to learn it? What better than seeing it up close?" Hela smiled, not one to settle.

Hela's dress suddenly changed, transforming into her usual battle attire.

"It would have been more interesting if you fought in a dress," Damian chuckled to himself as he quickly moved back, preparing to fight.

Hela raised an eyebrow at Damian's comment. It wasn't the first time Damian had made such remarks; she couldn't help but wonder if he was attracted to her body.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. She tested the ground with her foot before her leg muscles contorted forcefully, propelling her towards Damian at full speed.

Behind her, the ground exploded, sending earth and dust in all directions.

Damian saw Hela coming at him at full speed. His body immediately reinforced itself to the maximum, creating a halo of energy around him.

Since his previous fight with Hela, he had practiced magical reinforcement a bit. The only thing he could think of was to abuse his advantages, so he overloaded his body with magic more than it could bear.

But thanks to his absurd regeneration, his body maintained a slight balance.

Feeling the dramatic increase in strength in his body and the great aura of magic around him, Damian felt like he had never been physically stronger than he was now. He quickly focused his eyes on Hela.

He only saw a blurry silhouette flying towards him, so feeling the power in his body, he collided directly with her.

Since she didn't draw any weapons, Damian didn't either and prepared to meet her with his own hands.

The impact was devastating, the earth shattering around them as a great shock wave swept around them.

Upon impact, Damian was immediately pushed back several meters, though he didn't win the direct confrontation, at least it wasn't as bad as last time.

Hela didn't give him many chances to recover and lunged at him again.

Damian constantly collided with Hela as he was forced back by her brutal attacks. He knew she wasn't having an easy time either.

Repeatedly using her martial arts placed a strain on her body. While her legs could still bear it, Damian noticed that when she used it with her arms to strike him, her face twitched slightly, presumably from pain.

In an instant, they had traveled tens of kilometers as they collided at absurd speeds.

From a safe telescope, one would only see a path of destruction advancing at high speeds.

Damian really considered himself a stubborn person; that's why he couldn't help but keep colliding head-on with Hela.

His arms broke and regenerated with each blow, slightly unbalancing the magic in his body, but he refused to yield.

Hela furrowed her brow more deeply as they collided with each other.

Finally, it was as if she couldn't take it anymore, and multiple shadows appeared around Damian, wrapping around his limbs before bringing him down to the ground.

Hela then jumped on top of Damian and conjured a sword before plunging it inches from Damian's neck.

She was straddling him, and her other hand pressed against his chest to restrain him.

"Never in my life has anyone let me win, and I hope it never happens," Hela said, her gaze angry.

Clearly, Damian wasn't taking it seriously and was fighting recklessly. If he avoided her attacks, things would have been different.

Although her martial art was really powerful, it had its flaws, and she didn't doubt that Damian knew how to exploit them.

"I'm not letting you win; it's just that I'm very stubborn and refuse to accept that you beat me in a direct confrontation," Damian said, shaking his head with a smile despite the situation.

While Hela just looked at him with her skeptical green eyes, Damian took the time to look at her.

Hela was a goddess; her face and body were almost perfect, and he had to admit that he was physically attracted to her.

She immediately noticed Damian's gaze, which was different from usual. Her previous thoughts immediately stopped, and she just looked into Damian's crimson eyes.

The atmosphere immediately became somewhat ambiguous. Seeing his eyes, Hela had to admit that she had always enjoyed looking at them even through images—tempting eyes full of power.

Hela's hand on his chest couldn't help but reach for Damian's face, and her own face also leaned closer as if she were hypnotized and wanted to see those eyes up close.

Damian looked at Hela, who was so close to him and didn't hesitate too much before freeing himself from the bindings and leaning in to kiss her.

Hela's eyes widened as she felt Damian's lips on hers.

Looking at Damian's close face and feeling the warmth of the embrace, Hela decided to simply hold onto that warmth she was feeling.

Time seemed to stand still as both lost themselves in the moment. When they finally separated, their eyes met with intensity.

Hela touched her lips with her fingers, remembering the sensation. So, that's what a kiss felt like.

Seeing Hela lost in thought, Damian had his suspicions about what she was thinking. Kissing Hela, he noticed that she was quite clumsy, showing that she really didn't have much experience.

This really puzzled him because Hela had probably lived around 20,000 years. However, he wasn't so stupid as to ask.

"Why did you kiss me?" Hela asked, looking directly into Damian's eyes.

Damian didn't give her an answer and just kissed her again. Their lips quickly met again, and Hela's hands roamed up Damian's body.

"It's really strange," Hela said, ending the kiss. Her hands took Damian's face as she looked at him.

The man in front of her really attracted her, and he was strong; for her, that was enough.

In the past, she hadn't been very interested in other men. Even without her father's manipulations, she probably wouldn't have had a partner.

There were some men she found physically attractive, but they failed in the most crucial aspect—they were weak.

She couldn't see herself treating someone weaker than her as an equal.

Damian looked at Hela, who was straddling him, before extending his hand and tucking a strand of her hair that had fallen onto her face behind her ear.

Hela briefly looked at Damian's hand before continuing to maintain eye contact with him.

She was feeling things she had never felt before; such warm and soft physical contact was something she had never experienced.

Neither of them spoke; they just shared an intimate moment amidst the destroyed terrain of the arid red planet.

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