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"Eat, feast. You'll need your strength for the dark days ahead."
- Abraham Van Helsing, (Bram Stoker's Dracula)
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<(Atem POV)>
''Are you considering invading hell with an army of vampires and monsters?" Hela curiously asked as she followed me to Miss Sinister's lab after Natasha left to fulfill my command of summoning Blade, Lilith, and Shiklah.
"If you think that I will try to attack an external dimension that has millions, if not billions, of demon soldiers guarding it with just a small army of vampires and monsters, most of whom don't even know how to fight, then you have got another thing going." I sneered, making her slightly blush as she realized how naive her question was. "No, I'll be attacking the place on my own without any army backing me up. I only intend to take on Mephisto, not the entirety of Hell. I only told Natalia to call those three people because I needed to have a deterrent in case Mephisto decides to send his army up here when we open the gates to Hell." I stated with a shrug, earning a blank look from the goddess.
"Then you are lucky you have me with you. At least, I can bring all the dead back to life in case a war does happen. Also, as long as I am here, Mephisto won't be able to use any undead or spirits against you. But I don't think it will come to that. A Hell Lord can't just declare war like that, especially if it's on Midgard. Everyone knows Midgard is neutral ground under the protection of Asgard. None of the Hell Lords has any domain in this realm. So, one of them attacking would mean earning the ire of all the other Hell Lords... including me. And believe me, Mephisto is too cunning to make that mistake. He wants souls for himself, not a war." Hela explained with a carefree snort.
"I see, that's good to know. I would like to avoid a war as well. Believe me or not, true absolute victory is when you don't even need to pick up a weapon to win, let alone sacrifice others' lives for your cause." I stated, making Hela audibly scoff at my words, although, for some reason, she didn't argue back, only shaking her head to clarify that she didn't share my opinion. "However, if a war ever does happen, I will always be the sole winner, no matter who the opponent is." I finished with sheer confidence in my voice as I led her into one of the most secure vaults in the world. "And this is going to be what ensures my victory... Man, I am glad they were able to finish this ahead of schedule," I muttered the last part to myself as I looked at the Asgardian "relic" in front of me.
The thing in front of me was the upgraded version of the Destroyer armor, reinforced with Mysterium that I sourced directly from Romulus' castle. It even contained some bits and pieces of the technology from the Sentinel project, especially the adapting mechanism part that Zoya wasn't able to mass-produce before this. Turns out all that was needed for that particular specification, besides Mystique's blood, of course, was Reed Richards' smart molecules, and voila, the technology was as effective as the one seen in Days of the Future Past movie.
However, the power level of these sentinels was roughly at the level of their MCU counterparts. Their being capable of achieving the same feat as in the movie and then winning against the metahumans of this particular Earth in battle, who possessed almost the same strengths as their counterparts from the comics, was more or less impossible. These sentinels could easily handle beta-level threats, but they would start struggling against alpha-level metahumans, much less be able to hold back the rare omega-level and the beyond-omega-level ones.
[{(Image from Discord)}]
"Doesn't it look a little too... plain? I am sorry, my love, but I don't think you have my impeccable sense of style." Hela looked up and down at the shadowy armor, which honestly looked like something a tyrant Demon King would wear in an anime world with a medieval setting.
"Well, seems like they didn't have enough time to give it a fresh paint job or perform any other superficial designs on it, but it doesn't change the fact that this armor is probably the strongest armor in the world right now," I answered with a powerless shrug before walking up to the thing and placing my hand on its chest plate. "I can feel it, the power surging through it. This is... impressive." I could not help but acknowledge the craftsmanship, the magic, and the tech involved in crafting such an armor, an armor that could now theoretically bolster my strength to that of a Celestial.
'Uru and Mysterium are truly on a completely different level compared to Earthly super metals like adamantium and vibranium,' I admitted in my mind as I felt my telekinesis connect with the entire armor.
Slowly, under the influence of my telekinesis, parts of the armor began to disassemble and fly towards me, assembling themselves around my body perfectly like the best-fitting set of Lego blocks. The armor was more than just comfortable; it felt perfect. The entire process took only a few seconds, but once completely assembled, I was finally able to see what the hype of the Destroyer armor was about. After donning the thing, it almost felt like my strength, powers, and abilities had instantly doubled in ferocity.
In a word, I felt invincible even though I knew I wasn't nearly so. After all, one OP reality warper or a handful of celestials could take me out if I am not careful enough.
"Could use a little touchup, but I do see the appeal of this armor. It's almost as powerful as Mjolnir. I pity Mephisto if he accepts your challenge of battle." Hela complimented before manifesting her own helmet as if trying to see how it compares to his armor.
"Honestly, I want to try it out now. I hope Hell won't disappoint me. I really need a good challenge to grasp the limits of this thing. I haven't even been able to test out the full potential of my weapon yet." I chuckled while looking at my entire body, which was covered with metal armor. "However, before that, I have to meet a couple of other people. They need to be briefed about something... And I think it's time I actually started forming my pantheon. I really don't want the Odin incident to repeat again." I declared before forming a hush tube and calmly stepping into it, Hela silently following after me with ample curiosity evident on her face.
"Master, Natalia has established contact with Blade and Lilith. They are already here, waiting for you in the lobby. She is currently trying to convince Shiklah that she works for you and that you have actually called for a group meeting with her, but I think the convincing might take some time if I don't intervene, especially since this is the first time you want to have a personal conversation with the succubus. So, should I... hurry up the process? Zoya asked as soon as I came back to my penthouse.
"Yeah, do it. I don't have time to waste since I am on a tight schedule. Also, while you are at it, I need you to contact someone else as well, someone we met a long time ago. We exchanged contacts the last time we fought a certain demon prince together. I never thought I would be the one calling, but since Mephisto is the one responsible for his current... plight, I think he deserves a fair chance to set the scores straight, doesn't he?" I spoke thoughtfully as I remembered a certain fiery skeleton biker.
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