Chapter 258

It was already night when Damian appeared on the deepest floor of the Madripoor laboratory, the place where the Infinity Stones were kept.

"Did you get it?" Damian said upon appearing.

"Yes, It fought hard but eventually fell," Cortana said, making a yellow gem with an almost orange hue float in front of Damian.

"Wow, finally they are all here, who would have thought?" Damian said, looking at the bright gem in his hands.

"Yes, originally we made the six slots just for fun, we really didn't plan to gather them all," Cortana said, laughing. In the end, the situation had pressured them a bit to do it.

"By the way, why haven't you made a body yet?" Damian asked, honestly missing his little AI.

"I want it to be better than the previous one," Cortana said. She hadn't yet told Damian about her plans for the Celestial's body.

"Oh? Didn't I hear you say that it was the perfect body?" Damian teased.

"Maybe the conclusion was a bit rushed, but in fact, it was perfect for the conditions back then," Cortana justified herself.

Damian just smiled, shaking his head before turning his attention back to the Soul Stone.

His tenth familiar seemed eager to take a bite, he could feel it asking for permission to come out.

Damian agreed, and his familiar, which looked like a snake with goat horns, slithered around his arm before opening its mouth and swallowing the Soul Stone.

Immediately, a wave of energy coursed through his familiar's body as changes began to occur.

Previously, this same familiar had absorbed the energy of the Mind Stone, causing some changes in it.

Making its body constantly shift between ethereal and material.

But now that it had absorbed the Soul Stone, it was as if its entire body had become ethereal.

"If I weren't seeing it, I'd have trouble detecting it if I didn't know what I was looking for," Cortana said, a bit impressed.

"Not bad," Damian said, nodding as he put his hand in front of his familiar.

The familiar spat the gem back into Damian's hand before reentering his body.

"So, let's see what happens," Damian said, approaching the pillar with the slots.

Five gems glowed softly, leaving only one slot.

Damian placed the stone in the slot and gently pushed it with his finger.

As the stone entered, nothing seemed to happen for an instant, then suddenly multicolored lines climbed up the entire pillar.

"Cortana?" Damian said.

"Hm, it feels a bit strange," Cortana said when suddenly a somewhat illusory silhouette emerged from the pillar.

"A projection? No, what is this?" Damian asked, looking at Cortana, confused.

"It's hard to explain," Cortana said, giving Damian a smile as she approached him.

"I missed seeing your face," Damian said, extending his hand as if to caress her but found he couldn't touch her.

"You don't appreciate what you have until you lose it," Cortana teased for not taking advantage of her when he could.

With a smile, Damian pulled back the hand that was trying to touch Cortana before looking at the central pillar that held the stones.

"Now that we have the six gems, there's really no one who can oppose us in this universe," Damian said, feeling a peace he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Hm, even if someone comes from outside this universe, they won't be able to oppose me," Cortana nodded.

Damian just smiled slightly. Now the entire universe would be a safe place for his children, allowing them the freedom to do whatever they wanted.

"Now, let's not keep our prisoner waiting any longer," Damian said, looking at Cortana.

Cortana immediately understood who Damian was referring to, so she made them both appear in a room with not a hint of light.

Despite the lack of light, Damian and Cortana could easily see Odin, who was kneeling with his arms extended to each side.

Special shackles chained his wrists to the wall.

"How were three days of solitary darkness?" Damian said, greeting Odin.

"It wasn't a bad nap," Odin said, opening his eye, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

"I suppose so, if I'm careless I might sleep for entire weeks," Damian nodded.

"You know, if you hadn't attacked me, I really wouldn't have messed with you. You just had to stay in Asgard, living your life peacefully until you die."

"Thor is even in a relationship with Jane, who is like a daughter to me, even less reason for me to lay hands on Asgard, not to mention you have nothing that interests me," Damian said, looking at Odin.

"Hela even showed signs of losing interest in revenge, so... what you did was useless and only affected you," Damian said slowly.

Odin just showed some annoyance on his face before looking away, disinterested.

"You know, while you were here, I got the last of the stones," Damian said, manifesting an almost exact replica of the Soul Stone.

Odin's expression finally changed upon feeling and seeing the stone in Damian's hand.

He had no idea how he could have obtained it; he himself had tried in the past.

Knowledge has always been one of his priorities, and what more interesting subject than the soul?

Unfortunately, he couldn't acquire the stone without passing its test; his mind quickly began to think if Damian really sacrificed someone he loved.

"I was waiting to get it because I wanted to give you a punishment equivalent to what you did, but killing you would mean ruining things for my little Jane."

"That's why I thought of another way," Damian said, smiling at Odin. At that moment, his hand reached towards Odin's head before his tenth familiar appeared and entered his head.

Odin growled constantly as his head shook and his arms pulled on the chains, trying to free himself.

The growls turned into screams until his familiar came out of Odin's head.

Odin breathed heavily as his one eye looked fearfully at the creature dancing around Damian.

"Hm, good job," Damian said, patting his familiar's head.

"Now," Damian said, looking at Cortana, who nodded back at him.

The space seemed to swirl as a humanoid figure began to form, creating a nervous system, muscles, and finally skin.

The figure took shape until an exact replica of Odin appeared.

Odin, who was still recovering from the terrible headache, suddenly saw someone identical to him, leaving him stunned.

"Do it," Damian said, looking at his familiar.

His familiar made a faint sound before launching towards the head of Odin's clone, transferring all the memories it had copied from the original, essentially making it identical to Odin.

"He won't even know he's a clone; he'll think he's the real one," Damian said, smiling at Odin, who finally showed a look of horror.

"But this wouldn't be as interesting if it were just like that," Damian said before casually conjuring a sword and stabbing it into Odin's chest.

Odin, whose emotions seemed to be on a rollercoaster, looked dumbfounded at his chest.

After this, Damian's hand filled with orange energy before it pierced Odin's chest.

Out of sight, Damian made a grasping gesture before pulling his arm out, having to exert some force before extracting a somewhat ethereal figure that looked like Odin.

"Help me with this part," Damian said, looking at Cortana.

She nodded before using all the Infinity Stones to bind Odin's soul to his clone.

"You will live bound to this clone of yours, wishing but unable to communicate with anyone, experiencing the solitude Hela endured for thousands of years. I'm sure you'll handle it better than she did," Damian said, smiling at Odin's soul before turning and leaving.

Leaving Odin, who opened his mouth trying to speak but no sound came out. Trying to move away from the clone, he realized he felt a tearing pain that pulled him back.

Odin finally began to lose his composure as he tried to pronounce some sound, but the only sound was the slow breathing of the chained 'Odin.'

Back at Cortana's place.

"Hm, master, I'll give you 8 points for your villain performance," Cortana said, showing a sign with an 8.

"Only an 8? I think I did well," Damian said, looking at her.

"You don't exude the madness and conviction that a real villain has," Cortana said, crossing her arms.

"Whatever," Damian said, pursing his lips, dissatisfied.

"When will your body be ready?" Damian asked, looking at her.

"I don't know, it will take some time," Cortana said honestly.

Damian frowned slightly, guessing that Cortana was planning something.

"Try not to take too long," Damian said, curving his lips as he shook his head before disappearing.

"It seems the destruction of my body wasn't all bad," Cortana said, chuckling as she watched her master leave.

....

Damian reappeared at home and headed to the dining room; it was dinner time, and he was running a bit late.

When he arrived, everyone was already seated and eating.

"Sorry I'm late, I had a small matter to attend to," Damian said as he took his seat.

"Oh? What was it about?" Carol asked since it was unusual for Damian to be late.

"Actually, we now have all six Infinity Stones," Damian said, smiling.

"What?!" Carol exclaimed, along with the rest of the family, who showed varying degrees of surprise.

"Can I borrow them?" Carol asked, suddenly excited and looking at Damian.

"No," Damian replied, looking at her speechlessly.

"I'll get them another way if you don't lend them to me," Carol said, glaring at him as if threatening.

Damian raised an eyebrow at her.

"Fine, if you can get them, I'll let you use them," Damian said, chuckling, amused at the thought of how she might achieve that.

"Daddy, can we play with the stones too?" Alice asked, looking at her father.

"When you're older, sweetie," Damian said, smiling at his daughter.

Alice just pouted as that was the response to many of the things she asked for.

Damian could only smile at his daughter's adorable expression, almost wanting to change his mind.

"And now that we have the stones? What's next?" Sophia asked, looking at Damian.

"Well, nothing much. Just that at my young age, I've already conquered a universe," Damian joked.

"You still consider yourself young? Remember you have more than-"

"Remember you're a year older than me," Damian said, immediately silencing Carol and eliciting giggles around the table.

"So the Celestials are no longer a threat?" Ana asked, looking at him.

"They're no longer a threat. The power of the six stones together is almost absolute," Damian said, nodding.

"Anyway, moving on to other matters, tomorrow we'll be releasing Odin," Damian said without looking at anyone in particular, but the news was mainly for two people.

"Oh? Really? Just like that?" Carol asked, confused, clearly not reading the mood.

"I think Odin wouldn't agree with you," Damian said, chuckling softly.

"Sounds like you have something interesting to tell me," Carol said, her eyes sparkling, only stopping when she felt a pinch at her side.

Carol turned and glared fiercely at Ana, but seeing her look, she understood she shouldn't ask at the table, so she just pouted very similarly to Alice before focusing on eating.

Damian laughed at their interaction and how similar Carol's pout was to Alice's.

The rest of the dinner continued in a cheerful mood, with the girls' smiles and laughter echoing around the table.

Everyone finished eating before getting up to do their own things. Before Damian could get up, he was attacked by three little girls who clung to his body.

"Daddy, play with us for a bit," Alice said, smiling at Damian.

"Of course, what do my little ones want to play?" Damian asked, gathering the three in his arms as he stood up with a smile.

"How about we play hide and seek? It's been a while since we played," Emma said, smiling at her father.

"Of course," Damian said, smiling at his daughters.

"But with a small change," Emma quickly added.

"What change?" Damian asked, looking at Emma with a smile.

"Instead of choosing a place to tag, it should count as caught if you find the person and shoot them," Emma said.

"Fine by me," Damian said, chuckling.

"I don't mind," Ivy said, shrugging.

"Sure," Alice said, smiling.

"Okay, then we'll use these," Damian said, making four guns appear.

Ivy took one and immediately tested it by shooting at Alice. A small sphere shot out incredibly fast before gently exploding on impact.

A small stain immediately appeared on Alice's shoulder.

"Hey!" Alice said, surprised, before immediately aiming at Ivy and firing several times.

Ivy just laughed as she skillfully dodged the small spheres before returning fire.

If Damian hadn't stopped them, they would have started a war throughout the house.

"Alright, who's counting first?" Damian asked, smiling at them.

"I will," Emma said, not minding going first.

"Okay, then let's start," Damian said, looking at Alice and Ivy, who had stopped and were looking at Emma, waiting for her to start counting.

Emma turned around and covered her eyes before starting to count out loud.

In an instant, Damian, Alice, and Ivy disappeared from the spot to go hide.

Emma continued counting calmly until she reached 100. She then turned around, picked up her gun, and smiled.

Her eyes shone with a light similar to that of the universe.

Stars moved in her eyes as if guiding her.

Suddenly, Emma giggled, seeing where her sisters were hiding. Their hiding places were unusual.

She quickly disappeared and started searching through the palace. In no time, she silently arrived at the kitchen.

She advanced slowly until she reached one of the pantries. Opening it quickly, she saw Alice with a cookie in her mouth, looking at her in surprise.

Emma quickly pointed her gun at Alice, causing her whole body to light up before breaking the top of the pantry and trying to fly out of the room.

Before Alice could escape, her back suddenly filled with paint splashes, causing her to stop.

Alice turned around, confused, before seeing Emma's eyes. She immediately pouted, guessing how she had been caught.

Emma just smiled at her before walking towards her next target.

Alice could only follow her helplessly, thinking that Emma's abilities had improved a lot. Before, she couldn't choose what she wanted to see.

Now, she literally saw her because she wanted to.

Alice, who was walking behind Emma, was suddenly stopped by her just as she was about to turn a corner.

Alice looked at Emma in confusion until she saw a small bird flying down the hallway. Emma then took Alice's hand before continuing forward.

"Ivy has several birds watching the hallways. If they see us, they'll alert her," Emma said as they moved.

Alice's mouth opened in surprise, realizing she had always played with cheaters. No wonder she lost at everything except races, strength competitions, or direct combat.

Emma guided Alice through several hallways and constantly hid until she reached the living room, where she saw Ivy lying on the sofa with the rest of the family.

Emma has no mercy and shoots before Ivy can realize, painting her clothes in the process.

Ivy quickly stood up in surprise before looking at Emma, who was pointing at her with a smile.

Ivy immediately gave a reproachful look to the bird standing next to the sofa.

The bird just seemed to make a helpless gesture; its companions hadn't sent any signal.

"You got too confident, honey," Ophelia said, laughing softly.

The rest of the family also watched the situation with amusement. Every day was different.

"Now, only Daddy is left," Emma said as the stars quickly moved in her eyes, trying to detect his location.

A slight frown formed as time passed, and she still couldn't find him.

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