chapter 317

    Chapter 317:

    – Layla –

    I turned off the shower with a satisfied sigh, the warm water having done wonders to wash away the day’s exhaustion—not that I had much to complain about. Today was a very good day. I’d spent quality time with my children, which was always the highlight of my week, and then Rias and Sona both decided to “attack” me in ways that still had me grinning like an idiot a few hours later.

    Honestly, Sona had surprised me. After dinner, she’d pulled me aside, all proper and composed... until she wasn’t. I always thought of her as the most reserved and buttoned-up of my girls, the one who would never do anything remotely improper. But then she’d kissed me—or, well, “pounced” is probably the better word—and dragged me into the bathroom where we didn’t leave for almost a half hour.

    A devil’s still a devil, I guess.

    Wrapping a towel around my hair, I stepped out of the bathroom without bothering to put anything else on. Why bother? It was my room, after all.

    Sona was sitting on the edge of my bed, her posture perfect as usual, with a book in her hands. She looked up when she heard me, and her cheeks immediately flushed pink when she saw me standing there in all my naked glory.

    I smirked, unable to resist. Sona was always so composed, so serious. Seeing her blush like that was beyond adorable. No wonder Serafall loved teasing her so much.

    “Something wrong, Sona?” I teased, sauntering over.

    “N-No,” she stammered, quickly burying her nose back in her book. But I caught the way her fingers trembled ever so slightly as she turned the page.

    I chuckled softly. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered, you know that? It makes me want to eat you up again.”

    Sona’s blush deepened, and she huffed, clearly trying to regain her composure. “I am not flustered,” she said, her voice a touch too defensive.

    “Sure you’re not,” I said, sitting down next to her on the bed. “I’m just saying, if you ever wanted to try being more relaxed like your sister, you’d have a lot of fun.”

    Sona rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “I’m fine the way I am, thank you very much.”

    I flopped backwards, glancing up at the ceiling. “You know, once Serafall and the other Maous finish getting the devils settled on Svartalfheim—or the ‘New Underworld,’ as they’ve decided to call it—we’re all going to have to spend some "quality time" together. ” I wiggled my brows.

    “That sounds... nice,” Sona admitted with a blush.

    Our topic then drifted to the Devil''s new home world in our Universe. They seemed to really like the new planet they were gifted.

    “I hear the devils love it there,” she said. “The constant bad weather, the lack of sunlight... They all consider it to be a paradise, apparently...”

    “Who would have thought? A shithole to everyone else, a paradise to them,” I said with a grin.

    Sona and I just sat there on the bed, teasing each other and enjoying the quiet moment. Then, like a slap to the senses, the air in the room shifted.

    Something was wrong. I sat up, all my senses on high alert as I glanced around.

    “What is it?” Sona asked, immediately catching on to my change in demeanor.

    [I sense it too]

    The System voiced in my head, and that just confirmed that this wasn’t a bad feeling.

    [Something weird is coming...]

    From the far corner of my bedroom, a distortion rippled through the space. A doorway—a literal square doorway—materialized.

    Before I could even process my disbelief, a group of men and women in strange, futuristic military gear stormed out. They were armed to the teeth with weapons that looked straight out of some sci-fi movie.

    “There she is!”

    “Why is she naked!?”

    “Who cares, let''s get her!”

    I bristled instantly. Not only had these idiots breached our private space, but they’d done it while I was fresh out of the shower and still naked!

    The audacity!

    Sona was on her feet in an instant. “Who are you, and what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, her voice was practically ice cold.

    The lead soldier stepped forward, although we couldn’t see his face under his weird looking helmet. “You are under arrest for violating the Sacred Timeline,” he announced, like he thought he had any authority here. “You will come with us immediately, and this entire timeline will be purged!”

    I stood up slowly. “Purged?” I repeated, stepping toward him with a raised eyebrow. “You broke into my bedroom, while I was naked, and now you’re threatening to erase my timeline...?”

    [It’s crazy that this might be the boldest your enemies have ever acted before.]

    “If you’re resisting then you will be purged!” The soldier pulled out some kind of stun baton. Except it wasn’t just any baton—I could feel the spatial fluctuations it was giving off.

    Interesting...

    It wasn’t every day I came across a toy that could manipulate space. Still, nothing short of the Space Stone itself could dare to challenge my control over the space around me. My Orb of Anywhere buzzed inside my soul in indignation, almost offended that these fools even tried.

    Before he could take another step towards me, every single one of their weapons sputtered out and disintegrated into nothing.

    The looks on their faces were absolutely priceless.

    “Impossible!” one of them sputtered, staring at the remnants of his weapon.

    “How?” another whispered, taking a cautious step back.

    The leader’s jaw tightened as he gaped at me. “What the hell is this creature?”

    “A time-traveling cult from another universe is attacking us and trying to blow up our entire timeline,” Layla said without preamble, her words coming out rapid-fire.

    The Ancient One raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Of course they are,” she said dryly. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

    Layla crossed her arms. “I’m serious. These assholes call themselves the TVA, and they think they can just waltz into our timeline and attack us! They’ve already attacked Asgard. My kids were in danger, Ancient One. My kids.” Her voice cracked slightly on the last words.

    The Ancient One’s expression softened. She had known Layla long enough to understand that beneath all her bravado, the woman’s love for her family was the cornerstone of her being.

    ...Threatening that was a mistake no one should have been foolish enough to make.

    “I see,” the Ancient One said, rising gracefully from her seated position.

    The Ancient One followed Layla through the portal, emerging in the middle of an empty courtyard in Asgard. What caught her attention immediately was a strange device sitting in the center of the courtyard. It looked completely out of place among the ornate Asgardian architecture, a strange piece of technology she’d never seen in any of her future visions. “Hmm, what is that?” the Ancient One asked, narrowing her eyes as she studied the foreign object.

    Layla grimaced, her wings twitching slightly. “It’s a bomb. Specifically designed to wipe out entire timelines.”

    The Ancient One gaped at Layla in disbelief, her usually calm demeanor cracking for a moment. “Such a thing shouldn’t be possible.”

    “Well, apparently it is,” Layla said. “And now it’s my problem.”

    The Ancient One approached the device with caution. Unsealing the Eye of Agamotto, she summoned the Time Stone as she started to scan the bomb, searching for the mechanisms that made it tick. Her expression grew darker with each passing moment, her mind racing as she pieced together the horrifying reality. “What an abominable weapon,” she muttered, her voice low and tinged with anger.

    Layla frowned. “What’s wrong?”

    The Ancient One straightened, her gaze somber as she turned back to Layla. “This bomb... it feels like it was made with its own Time Stone at its core! The explosive force is tied to temporal energy, and...” she hesitated, her voice dropping, “somehow, someone stole an Infinity Stone from another universe, got it to function outside its original reality, and weaponized it to destroy entire timelines.”

    Layla’s jaw tightened. “Are you saying someone turned a Time Stone into a bomb?”

    “Exactly that,” the Ancient One replied grimly. “The implications are... horrifying.”

    “So, what do we do about it?”

    The Ancient One let out a heavy sigh. “There’s only one way to fix this mess. I suppose this was bound to happen sooner or later.” Carefully, she fully unsealed the Eye of Agamotto, levitating the Time Stone until it hovered just above her palm. She turned to Layla.

    Without a word, she extended her hand, offering the stone to Layla.

    Layla caught it easily, her bare hand closing around it. Layla stared at the stone in her hand, then back at the Ancient One. “You’re giving me the Time Stone? Just like that?”

    The Ancient One sighed as she looked at Layla. “We both knew this was bound to happen sooner or later,” she said. “Just get on with absorbing the thing already so you can save our timeline.”

    Layla smiled warmly. She gave the Ancient One a deep bow. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

    The Ancient One nodded, offering her a small bow in return.

    Layla raised the glowing green stone to her chest. It sank into her, fusing seamlessly with her being.

    The Ancient One watched in quiet awe as a pair of Layla’s wings flickered with green energy, momentarily shifting colors. One pair of her wings glowed vibrant green, joining the array of purple, red, and gold already shimmering on her back. But within seconds, every single one of Layla’s wings turned pitch black again, their natural state restored.

    Layla grinned as her aura crackled with newfound power. “With the power of the Time Stone, I’m able to change my appearance back to how it was before. Having colorful wings was fun for a while, but I’ve always preferred their natural color.”

    The Ancient One raised an eyebrow. “I hope being able to change the color of your wings wasn’t the only perk you got from permanently absorbing one of our Infinity Stones.”

    Layla rolled her eyes playfully. “Of course not.” She turned her attention to the time bomb and waved her hand. “I can now do this too!” The entire device disintegrated into ash, leaving behind a small, glowing green stone.

    It floated toward Layla, and the Ancient One’s curiosity piqued as she wondered what Layla intended to do with a second Time Stone?

    Layla held the stone in her palm for a moment, studying it. Then, with deliberate focus, she wrapped her hand around it and channeled a massive amount of her power into the stone. The Ancient One could feel the intense energy radiating from Layla as she worked. When Layla opened her hand again, the stone gave off an identical presence to the one she had just absorbed!

    The Ancient One let out a startled yelp as Layla carelessly tossed the stone back toward her! Scrambling slightly, she caught it telekinetically before it could hit the ground! “Really, Layla!?” she said in exasperation.

    Layla ignored her look. “I’ve given that stone pretty much all the powers of the one you just gave me,” Layla explained with a smile. “I’m glad I don’t have to take away the most powerful weapon of the sorcerers who have been protecting Earth for thousands of years.”

    The Ancient One exhaled in relief, carefully placing the recreated Time Stone back into the Eye of Agamotto. It fit perfectly, its energy flowing as seamlessly as the original. “I’m glad too,” she said, her voice tinged with gratitude.

    The Ancient One then noticed Layla space out like she had the habit of doing occasionally. She decided to give her a couple moments.

    – Layla –

    “...”

    ‘Holy crap...’

    [Wow...]

    I was staring at her new insane stats in shock, before the Ancient One spoke up again and asked me what she was going to do now?

    “I''m going to go and pay the TVA a visit!” I told her.

    “Not without me or not!” Sona called out that she landed next to me, her bat wings folding away back inside her. “Hela and Rias agreed to stay here in case these bastards try to attack again, but we all agreed at least one of us needed to come with you and to get revenge!”

    Sona had the same crazy look in her eye that her sister would have whenever someone tried to threaten her preciously “So-tan!”

    A lot more TVA agents were about to meet some watery graves. And that was just the way I wanted it!

    We were off to go and destroy an entire multiversal spanning organization...And I guess rescue Loki and retrieve my Space Stone while we were at it...

    XXX