"I've only ever heard of Olympus in myths."
William shook his head and explained, "This small piece of adamantium was given to me by the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, so that my mother wouldn't be deceived by Mephisto and other high-ranking demons. Otherwise, as the bearer of the Space Stone, I might have fallen and joined the ranks of Hell myself.
And if that happened, I might just lead Hell's armies in a full-scale invasion of the material world."
Hearing that, Odin immediately understood William was saying it for his benefit.
The mere thought of William becoming a demonic overlord in Hell made Odin, much like the Ancient One, envision legions of hellspawn pouring through portals and spreading destruction across the cosmos, conquering galaxy after galaxy.
Although Odin had confidence in himself and in Asgard, the idea of thousands—no, tens of thousands—of demons swarming into Asgard's heartland gave him chills.
With Asgard's relatively small population, even ten thousand demons could cause severe casualties, let alone a million.
A few waves like that, and not even Odin could guarantee they'd survive it.
With that in mind, Odin, despite his inner resentment, dared not cut corners when it came to forging protective jewelry. He also abandoned any thought of tampering with them.
Firstly, he feared a small trick might give Mephisto the opening he needed to endanger Lina.
Secondly, remembering how William had cracked the enchantment on the angel-blessed necklace in mere moments, Odin knew that if William discovered any tampering in Asgardian-forged jewelry, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Rest assured. I'll have the dwarves and Asgardian mages craft the finest psychic protection gear for your mother."
Seeing that Odin understood his intentions, William smiled in satisfaction. "Thank you. Once it's done, just have Heimdall notify me. I've got a score to settle with Mephisto,
See you next month, Your Majesty."
"See you next month," Odin replied, knowing William was referring to accelerating the Blood Orchid's growth.
Thinking of the orchid's effects, Odin's sour mood quickly turned into a grin. "If you ever need anything, feel free to come find me."
William smiled and nodded. "Thank you. If I need anything, I won't hold back."
Odin patted William's arm gently and said with benevolent confidence, "You may not know this, but when it comes to dealing with demon lords, I won't make promises lightly.
But with Mephisto? I can say this—I'm confident I can beat him badly enough that he won't dare step out of his own domain again."
"Hmm?" William instantly understood—the old man had tangled with Mephisto before, perhaps more than once. Otherwise, he wouldn't speak so boldly.
"You've clashed with Mephisto before?"
"Heh," Odin rolled his eyes at the formal 'you' William used, "Not only me. Every god in myth and legend has battled Mephisto more than once.
Otherwise, how could he be the most notorious and active demon lord in Hell?"
Seeing William deep in thought, Odin continued, "To us god-kings, Mephisto is a test. If you can't beat him, you're not fit to rule the mortal world or your divine realm."
"So basically, he's the ultimate cockroach," William muttered to himself, then said aloud, "If he's been hunted by every god and still walks around unscathed, he truly lives up to the title of one of Hell's most powerful archdemons."
With Odin and the Ancient One backing him, William's mood lifted immensely. And if worse came to worst, he could always call back Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, to add another superpower to his side.
With those three on his team, even if Mephisto teamed up with other demon lords, William had nothing to fear.
In terms of raw power, only Cyttorak of the Crimson Hell and Dormammu of the Dark Dimension were true threats. The rest of the demon lords? William could handle them solo.
Cyttorak was practically a shut-in who never left his Crimson Hell.
Dormammu, like Mephisto, was very active—but his goals were entirely different.
While Mephisto and the others sought fear, hatred, jealousy, and souls, Dormammu wanted to assimilate Earth into his Dark Dimension.
If he succeeded, it would mean a complete monopoly—no scraps left for the other demons.
So there was no need to worry about the demon lords teaming up. Even cooperation between just two of them was nearly impossible.
Back in London, now assured that the archangel would personally guide John Wick to Heaven, William happily stayed home, waiting to watch Mephisto lose his mind—then he could focus on eliminating the demon god Set.
Unnoticed, time slipped into 8 p.m. New York time.
After dinner and giving Daisy a bath, the little pup darted out of the washroom, making John Wick chuckle.
He washed up and, in casual loungewear and barefoot, headed downstairs to call Daisy up to bed.
As for the encounter with Iosef earlier that day, John hadn't given it a second thought.
His impression of Iosef was still stuck on that little brat from seven years ago, the one he knocked out and carried off from Viggo Tarasov's turf.
Recalling Iosef sobbing in terror and soiling himself in the cage, John Wick let out a soft chuckle.
Lost in thought, he didn't notice the three masked adult men hiding inside his house, baseball bats in hand.
"Daisy, Daisy, where are you?"
As he stepped into the living room, still searching for his dog, he didn't see the man approaching behind him with a bat raised high.
With a dull "thud," the blow to the back of his head sent John Wick crumpling to the floor, caught completely off guard.
But the attacker wasn't finished. Gripping the bat tightly, he began raining down blows on John's body.
After over a dozen brutal strikes, John Wick—who had already passed out—was actually jolted awake by the excruciating pain. That alone said how vicious the beating was.
Instinctively, he knew the best chance for survival was to play dead. Once these home invaders got what they wanted, they might leave.
Otherwise, if he reacted, they might escalate further or even kill him outright.
Unfortunately, money was no longer the issue.
Also corrupted by demons, the other two men, eyes bloodshot, rushed in from the shadows and joined the assault, pounding away mercilessly.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Hearing John's cries, Daisy ran in from outside the villa.
Seeing her new owner lying in a pool of blood, Daisy immediately barked furiously.
The three thugs—already demon-possessed—would've been wary of a barking dog even when sober, for fear neighbors might call the cops. Now, enraged by the noise, one of them raised a bat and swung it at Daisy.
What they didn't realize was that the moment John Wick's blood touched the Archangel necklace on his chest, the sacred object began to flash repeatedly, activating the magic array hidden within it.
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