Everyone in the basement felt the power Sinthea was radiating. Ophelia was looking at Nakara as if she had found a treasure box while Mother Night looked conflicted.
The soldiers(cannon fodders) were showing two different reactions while most were indifferent and wary, a small portion of spies from other factions were in panic and wanted to report this to their respective organizations or groups.
Sensing the tension Ophelia ordered, "No one will leave or contact outside the base if you did then.." she didn't complete the sentence but her eyes narrowed like a snake (I don't know if it happens but in my novel, it will) no doubt result of the experiments done on her by Red Skull and Kraken.
Everyone knew Ophelia was very cruel in her methods second only to Sinthea.
(Ophelia Sarkissian)
Ophelia Sarkissian is an orphaned girl whose parents were killed by Hydra which she got to know very late but now on her quest for vengeance due to all that had been done to her all years of her life.
But that was not all Ophelia tasted power when she had the Serpent Crown in her possession which she lost to Hugh Jones a businessman who used some ritual to summon it for himself much to laters chagrin.
Fortunately, her quest for the throne of Madripoor was already in its final stages a secret no one knew except Sinthea whom she saved in the hope of getting the *[1]Tablet of Nakara an artifact Red Skull had found on his search for the power of gods along with *[2]Heart of Herobrine. (Gaia replaced Tesseract/ Space Gem with Over Space Pearl and Tablet of Nakara is in replacement for The Hammer of Skadi)
But to her dismay, later in Shield's possession, the former could only be used by Red Skull or his descendants, while she knew that making a deal with a Devil even a good one would be dangerous she couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Her disappointment turned into anger when the devil asked for her from Sinthea like she was some disposable servant with no value fortunately Sinthea knew it would be an idiotic move. Mother Night aka Susan Scarbo being Sinthea's mother was another shocking revelation that was made by the Devil, although she thought he was messing with them there was no need for him to do that except for seeing a family drama which she knew (nah) that the Devil will not like to watch. (Only if she knew 🥲)
The power Nakara radiated made her afraid that he would take her with force and kill the rest of the people but thankfully the devil was reasonable as legends stated.
When Sinthea decided to become the Devil's slave in exchange for the power she had to resist her urge to hit Sinthea.
'What is the reason for all power if you can't even use it freely and be a slave for your whole life.' she snorted.
But the moment Sinthea burst into flames she was about to take action but the Devil stopped them and all of them felt the power Sinthea was gaining. Ophelia also felt the power Sinthea had gained and was stunned previously Sinthea was weaker than her but now Ophelia felt she wouldn't stand a chance against her.
(Sinthea)
Sinthea knelt in front of Nakara and said: "Thanks for the power you have granted my lord from now on I will dedicate myself to your service completely." The revenge part was omitted as the deal was all about it.
While Sinthea isn't completely loyal to him(Nakara/ Herobrine) she will follow him for her life unless she wants to lose all the powers she had gained or find a way to retain powers even after leaving him.
(Before swearing the oath)
She had thought about betraying Herobrine or now Nakara but when gained powers she immediately thought of attacking him so she wouldn't have to serve him, like Ophelia she also had the same thought 'Why bother serving someone else when you can rule the world?'. Why attack your benefactor? Didn't she think that whoever could grant power could take it back too? She would have thought but she was Red Skull's daughter the man who was a genius but due to thirst for power he took an incomplete serum resulting in the name Red Skull, a rather common trait among among geniuses of Marvel. (Tony Stark is the exception to that too because he focuses on his armors)
(There were other reasons for his name too but, meh)
But when she felt the power Nakara was radiating she stopped all her thoughts that would antagonize him, and her arrogance (that was in her blood) was reduced greatly.
So she swore the oath and didn't mention the revenge.
"Hm, it is good that you know your place after completing whatever business you have, use this," he said as he took out a token from nowhere gave it to Sinthea, and leaned forward touching Sinthea's chin making her look into his eyes that were currently looking like a raging inferno causing her to shiver unconsciously as her transformation was undone by him showing his complete control over her powers her face now regenerated due to the powers, Nakara continued "you will be summoned to my domain. I am looking forward to your service." Whispering the last part in her ear.
After that he returned to his previous position levitating above the ground he said "It was good business with you, I am looking forward to you guys working under me, and I hope you will follow your leader. Let's see how useful are you, people." After that, he vanished leaving only red flames that soon died after he went away but not before looking toward Ophelia long enough for her to notice.
'I will look forward to our future meeting. Little snake.' would be heard if anyone peeked into Ophelia's mind.
After Nakara went away, Sinthea activated her Red Shaman form and ordered in a loud voice "Gather everyone we are going to take what was ours. Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra." Cane the collective response and everyone dispersed leaving only Madam Viper who also came out of her trance and Mother Night who was conflicted due to what happened in the past hour.
Sinthea aka Sin now Red Shaman looked at Susan aka Mother Night and said: "Call back Sisters of Sin in whatever mission they are in." Her voice was colder than usual lacking any respect she had for her before.
Susan nodded and went away to call everyone in the group.
Then Sinthea looked at Ophelia her blazing form returned to normal leaving only a red dress hugging her body showing her tantalizing figure and protecting it simultaneously.
She asked Ophelia "What do you think about all this?"
Ophelia scoffed and said, "It doesn't matter to me what are you doing here but you better keep your promise." Not afraid of
Sinthea narrowed her eyes mischievously and said "You are quite bold Ophelia you know I can crush you like an ant."
Ophelia snorted "As if you have guts, you can't do anything to me, you need me as I need you, Sinthea, and do you think you have won? Nah you just sold yourself for power Sinthea, the daughter of Red Skull sold herself for a little power. Like father like daughter-" Before she could complete her sentence she was slammed into the wall Sinthea holding her by the neck her eyes flaring up in anger Ophelia looked a bit surprised not being able to see her movements.
*Cough "Ah! Daddy issues Sinthea you still behave like a little girl" She said her eyes turning into slits glaring at Sinthea who tightened her grip trying to choke her while holding back her strength to not snap the Viper's neck.
Ophelia was too valuable to be killed and both of them knew it.
Though Ophelia was still somewhat underestimating Sinthea when Ophelia's face turned pale Sinthea relented and said in a taunting tone "If it was not for Nakara saying he had taken interest in you I would have already turned you into ashes, Ophelia." Obviously, it was a lie but Sinthea wanted to show that Ophelia was also not free either.
"As for selling myself? While it was not what I wanted the power I got was more than enough for it and the deal wasn't bad either. " She continued.
"Only someone like you will think like this." Viper spat.
"Oh! My naive Ophelia you see when I got these powers a new world opened for me. There are various powerful people out there that can kill you with a thought and no I am not talking about Nakara well he can too but there are others like him too."
Although Ophelia knew what Sinthea was talking about as she had Serpent Crown that was rumored to be related to some demon named Set so she knew what Sinthea was talking about she also thought Nakara and Set were at the same level and could grant powers through different means but she thought there were not many beings out there like them otherwise the world will be in chaos, not like it wasn't currently but the general population remains unaware of it.
Well, it is not like she hadn't considered the possibility but her mind subconsciously denies this to not break her.
The saying "Ignorance is bliss" isn't wrong in the future when the existence of gods is revealed people will not het peaceful sleep if they keep thinking about them.
But the defense mechanism of humans will help them by keeping that information from constantly surfacing.
(I just made it up)
The same was true in Ophelia's case who will be able to sleep peacefully if they know there is someone who can kill them without doing anything, it will not take long for you to become Nick Fury or Batman, while not at their degree you will not be normal either.
Seeing Ophelia's look Sinthea sighed and shared her memories with Ophelia which was possible due to her (Ophelia's) increased mental capabilities due to the use of Serpent Crown, and Sinthea's newly learned Nether magic.
*While she is still not at a high level she does have basic control over her powers.
After seeing the memories of the beings that can destroy Earth in a day Ophelia sighed in exhaustion and looked into Sinthea's eyes which had a strange glint "Why are you showing this to me? It is not like I can do anything to help you." With the memories that were shared, she also got to know what Sinthea was capable of and would be if she mastered her power causing her to be envious and wary of her at the same time.
It would not be wrong to say that even Ophelia was tempted to become Nakara's servant.
Sinthea's lips curved upward, her smile was beautiful but to Ophelia it was a wicked smile Sinthea pulled her closer and started whispering something causing Ophelia's eyes to widen in disbelief thinking that Sinthea had gotten mad due to the effects of powers.
Listening to her plan Ophelia could only ask "You want me to seduce him? Are you an idiot or power has gotten into your head?"
Sinthea shook her head and said "I didn't mean that way. You don't know but I am his only servant currently and also his first. Do you think he would not have gotten any deals where people wouldn't have offered themselves as his slave?"
It was impossible for many people would sell their souls to become servants in exchange for such powers was a small price to pay even though they would never admit it.
But Ophelia still didn't understand Sinthea's plan and inquired "What does it have to do with me seducing him?"
"You don't understand he made me his servant because he had seen my value, I command a whole organization that has spread across the whole world. Do you think he would not have known that?" Ophelia shook her head listening attentively and thinking where this was getting at.
Seeing her listening Sinthea continued "He didn't want me but the organization."
While she was confident in her beauty after being cured she didn't think she was the most beautiful in the whole world and in the past, there must have been some beauty who would have offered herself to him but Nakara didn't have anyone a wife, or any servant. This was not true as Nakara was just a disguise he used to have fun with humans playing Devil but did Sinthea know? The answer is no.
While the information may not be completely a woman can dream right?
So Sinthea's newly developed intellect had a wild theory about why she was his only servant whose other victim was Ophelia going to become.
Ophelia got the point while She also controlled some parts of Hydra she didn't have absolute control and the only thing worth mentioning was her plan about Madripoor and whether she would succeed depended on Sinthea, suddenly her eyes widened in realization as she looked at the daughter of Red Skull who looked proud.
To confirm whether her suspicions were true or not "So you will help me become Queen of Madripoor?"
"Yes, I will I don't want anything in return too, just think that I am returning the favor for saving my life."
Madam Viper didn't thank her or feel grateful as if it was just repaying a favor but "So when are you going to seduce your own private country?" Was it just Sinthea's wild theory or did she genuinely want someone to suffer the same fate as her?
*[1] Tablet of Nakara - A way to communicate and make a deal with the Devil Nakara (Herobrine) who is also the Overlord of the Netherworld. It is made from *Dark Amethyst (Found in the Overworld used to make communication devices is virtually indestructible and can be used to communicate across dimensions too)
Has a bloodline seal (low) so that only people of a specific bloodline can use it.* added by Red Skull.
*[2] Heart of Herobrine - An artifact that constantly draws energy from Overworld it is made on the same principle as Tesseract or Space Gem but instead of the Universe (marvel) it works with Overworld.
It can also be used to draw energy or use it for oneself if they are adept in magic or sorcery (technology can used too.)
*Myth - People believe Herobrine gave this to his wife on the day of their marriage saying "My heart belongs to you, Gaia." Hence it was named Heart of Herobrine.
*Note Myth is a myth it is not necessary for it to be true but in this case, it is true on the day of their marriage Herobrine gave Gaia lots of gifts but people mistook this for the Heart of Herobrine while Herobrine had given something else when said "My heart belongs to you, Gaia." Not some space pearl.
If you want to know what it was wait for the future chapters.
Let's reach 1000 Power Stones by the end of the week. (I know I am asking too much but Man can dream too or atleast expect cause instead of dreams I get nightmares)