Chapter 266: Great Du Wa, I Beseech You for a Loan of Power
...
Among the Creation Gods, Oblivion was the strongest, at the Ultra-Universe level; after all, it was the antithesis to the sum total of all other Creation Gods.
Infinity came second. This supreme god of space could theoretically unleash strength to rival Oblivion, but only in theory.
For a Multiversal God to wield power at an Ultra-Universe level was no simple matter.
Aside from Oblivion and Infinity, Du Wa paid the other Creation Gods no mind, especially Death. That one's personality was utterly vile, a dangerous entity through and through.
Du Wa's gaze fell upon Death, yet Death had a strange feeling that Du Wa wasn't truly looking at it.
"You're confident you can deal with me? A Creation God?" A note of gravity crept into Death's voice. It didn't believe Du Wa was a fool, but to say he was bluffing seemed unlikely based on observations of his past actions. In that case... did Du Wa truly have such confidence?
But what was the source of this confidence? Was it Thanoseid? That one was clearly not up to par. Would Du Wa act personally? No matter how one looked at it, Du Wa did not possess the qualifications to contend with a Creation God.
"Do you possess a power that can threaten me? Did you also obtain this from Universe 9602? What secret does that place hold?" Death was genuinely puzzled. This probe had not only failed to resolve its confusion but had resulted in even more mysteries.
The standoff between two Multiversal Gods attracted a great deal of attention. Compared to Du Wa's composure and his underlying eagerness, Death was filled with suspicion and uncertainty, hesitating for a rare moment.
Make a move? How could it? Death had come to gauge his strength and see if it could obtain some key information from the Thanos it knew best—Thanoseid. It wasn't here to fight recklessly at all costs.
"I will be watching you. Even if you've become a multiversal god, you still exist within Death."
Under the watchful eyes of all, a being of Death's temperament would not possibly act personally. It departed without a sound.
The other Creation Gods in the Inner World observed the entire process but failed to discover much of value.
"Du Wa possesses extreme self-confidence. I do not believe he is arming himself with lies. At his level, every word and action can greatly influence the operational logic of the Multiverse. Unless he is the god of lies, choosing to use deceit to fool a Creation God is more dangerous than declaring war on us directly. The consequences would be far more dire."
Oblivion's colossal form seemed to envelop the Inner World, yet it could also extend beyond it, encompassing the entire Multiverse.
However, even a being as powerful as it couldn't figure out for the time being what means Du Wa had to deal with Death. Could it be that somewhere unknown to it, a Multiversal-level god of considerable strength had fallen prey to Du Wa?
"The Living Tribunal is still too rigid. It demands we not interfere with Universe 9602, yet it ignores Du Wa, a fellow who broke the restrictions to enter it? I have a feeling that if that one doesn't update its logic, it will suffer an even greater loss sooner or later," Death grumbled.
The Living Tribunal was powerful, yes, but no one wanted to deal with it. It was more fixated on rules and order than Master Order and more rigid than the Living Tribunal. It would only act when a major disaster occurred; otherwise, it would absolutely never show itself.
"Perhaps we could go take a look at Universe 833," Eternity suddenly suggested.
"Are you certain? Although that place is nominally within our domain, you and I both know it's in name only. There, we can only ever be the objective state of all things; we can't manifest and do anything."
"I'm not certain. Du Wa has deployed Xenomorphs in many universes, and each Xenomorph carries out different actions. Any one of them could be Du Wa's true form, which makes it very difficult for us to lock down his key movements. He also made perfect use of the Spider Alliance, smoothly entering a greater number of universes with the help of various Spider-Men. But in front of a group of Spider-Men, he did indeed emphasize Universe 833."
Oblivion and the other beings looked at each other and fell into silence.
Universe 833 was the headquarters of the Captain Britain Corps. Saturnyne, who could observe the Omniverse, ruled over the Captain Britains from various universes.
The Creation Gods naturally didn't care about Saturnyne, but they could not ignore the person behind her.
Merlin.
A sorcerer who could walk the Omniverse, his strength unknown, his whereabouts a mystery.
After some discussion, the Creation Gods ultimately decided not to do anything for the time being. Whether it was going to war with Du Wa or traveling to Universe 833 to investigate the mystery of his ascension to the multiversal level, it was all too much for now.
But the result of Death confronting Du Wa, saying something unknown, and ultimately retreating, triggered a seismic shock across the Multiverse.
The vast majority of beings disliked Death, but they also revered it and understood just how astonishing its retreat was.
The Creation Gods themselves rarely appeared in person—their avatars in the single universes didn't count. Across the numerous universes, these avatars had served as background props and been killed countless times over.
But the main bodies of the Creation Gods resided in the Inner World year-round. In the many great events that affected the Multiverse, they wouldn't easily appear unless it was a critical moment when everything was on the verge of collapse.
And on a rare appearance, Death had actually retreated.
The title of God of Xenomorphs spread to the ears of countless deities through various channels. Many gods knew nothing about Du Wa, especially the single-universe deities who roamed the various universes. They began asking around everywhere, frantically gathering gossip.
But when this bunch figured out what kind of deity the God of Xenomorphs was and what kind of race the Xenomorphs were, their hearts pounded with fear, and they clearly began to feel regret.
"Damn! I said Du Wa's name. Does that count as praising him? What do I do if I become a Xenomorph?"
"Look on the bright side. From another perspective, you've joined a super-faction with a Multiversal God at its helm. You can roam the various universes without restraint. Maybe this is a good thing?"
"That's not how it works. Even if you become a Xenomorph, you shouldn't overestimate yourself. Aren't you currently also within time, space, death, and oblivion? Are all those Creation Gods your backers? How is that possible?"
The immense fervor grew more intense. In the eyes of many, Du Wa was clearly more terrifying and mysterious than most Multiversal Gods, possessing an indescribable strangeness. This filled them with a mixture of terror and apprehension. Some gave him a wide berth, while others prayed frantically, hoping to receive Du Wa's boon.
In fact, Du Wa did indeed respond to many of these praises, enthusiastically bestowing power upon his followers—even if they weren't followers, after becoming Xenomorphs, they would become Du Wa's "fervent" believers—granting them a rebirth.
The God of Xenomorphs projected his extremely generous persona across the entire Multiverse. More praise led to the reward of becoming a Xenomorph, a complete transformation, even a change of allegiance.
"The moment I became a Multiversal God, a huge chasm naturally formed between me and other life forms. Mortals are gradually beginning to see me as a kind of objective existence and a natural phenomenon."
Du Wa looked up, watching as the star points representing Xenomorphs continuously lit up across the countless universes.
Perhaps, one day, the entire Multiverse would become a world of Xenomorphs.
"Hm?"
Just as Du Wa was earnestly listening to the voices from the Multiverse, he suddenly heard a familiar prayer.
"Great Du Wa, omnipotent God of Xenomorphs, your most loyal follower prays to you, beseeching you for a loan of power to resolve this urgent crisis. I promise I will return it..."
"..."
Du Wa knew immediately who it was. All he could say was, that's her all right. She would never disappoint him, always stepping forward the very first moment Du Wa reached a new level, holding out her hand to ask for power.
As for returning it... impossible. She would absolutely never return it in its original form. At most, she would hand over the power of some other Multiversal God, but what use did Du Wa have for that?
And yet, Du Wa couldn't very well just subject this one to parasitism. Who knew what Vishanti, Eternity, Chthon, or other ancient gods would think.
*Swish!*
Du Wa reached out and waved his hand through the void before him. In doing so, he had already extended his hand into the Multiverse, precisely selecting Earth-1543681 and pulling a soul form before him.
"Long time no see, Ancient One. You're still the same, always managing to give me a not-so-small surprise with the same spiel at the first opportunity." Du Wa smiled, sizing up the current Ancient One.
Hm, her supposedly pure soul form was radiating a multicolored light, a murky mess, a complete dyeing vat mixed with every kind of fuel. Yet, she could somehow hold a death grip on every single color, able to sort through the seemingly chaotic mess at any time and precisely select the power she needed.
Still the same familiar flavor.
"I didn't quite believe it at first and was planning to find a Xenomorph to confirm. Then I quickly realized that would be too slow. It's much faster to just say your name. It seems this is your favorite new body? Capable of unleashing Multiverse-level power?"
Upon seeing Du Wa, the Ancient One was shocked by his current level of power. Her first reaction was also to think that Du Wa had seized the corpse of some unknown Multiversal God or obtained a divine artifact. But after careful observation, she became uncertain.
It was true she wasn't a Multiversal God, but she carried all sorts of messy multiversal-level divine powers, magic, energy, rules, and dimensional forces. Her insight and probing ability far surpassed that of an ordinary single-universe god.
"You... you advanced as a Conceptual God? That's rather terrifying. No wonder those guys are so afraid of you. Knowing that I come from the Native Universe you rule, they kept pressing me for information but didn't dare say your name too much, afraid they'd inexplicably become your subjects and be forced to change their faction and race."
The Ancient One had, after all, seen the world. Who knows how many Multiversal Gods she had dealt with and survived. She quickly calmed down. Furthermore, because she had a sufficient understanding of Du Wa's temperament, she naturally wasn't worried that he would feel offended and get angry over this normal, ordinary conversation.
Some gods you could speak with normally. Some demanded you kneel to ensure their majesty. And some would take the opportunity to smack you across the face while you were talking.
The Multiverse was so large, and beyond the Multiverse lay an endless expanse. There were also the remains, fragments, and dead domain rules from previous multiverses drifting around this Multiverse like desperate and silent undead.
"I've understood the specific situation. During the period I've remained quiet, things haven't been going too well on your end. You've lost many of your people?"
"Yes, the casualties have been extremely heavy. At least several hundred Sorcerer Supremes have died without even a chance to return to Death. Complete annihilation is considered a good outcome. Some were even captured by Universe 10011 and became twisted and deformed monsters," the Ancient One said with a complex expression.
The war with the Cancerverse had been going on for a very long time. Before Du Wa's rise in Earth-1543681, the Ancient Ones and Stranges of various universes were already engaged in a brutal war with the Old Ones System led by Shuma-Gorath. The proof was the avatars of Shuma-Gorath—the Big Eyeballs—that occasionally appeared in various universes.
However, with Du Wa's emergence and his frantic troublemaking in some universes, it might have triggered a chain reaction on the multiversal level, causing Universe 10011, the Cancerverse that devoured normal universes everywhere, to become even more frenzied and continuously advance toward Earth-1543681.
Now, the distance between the two universes was incredibly close, and the final hyperspace current was about to be crossed.
The followers of Vishanti were also getting anxious, seeking information everywhere. And the Ancient One before Du Wa, who could potentially bring in an Alien Legion—an Alien Legion that would very likely have powerful Xenomorph commanders—was undoubtedly a matter of great concern for many Ancient Ones and Stranges. They desperately needed fresh troops like these—a force that was highly capable in a fight, numerous, and backed by top-tier combat power—to deal with the endless eyeballs, tentacles, brains, and other ghastly things from the Cancerverse.
"I haven't seen any particular action from Vishanti. They just sent me a message to establish contact, and then there was no follow-up."
Although Du Wa had previously sent his main body to the DC World, it didn't mean his self in the Marvel World was a sitting duck, let alone that he would become blind and deaf.
"Vishanti is very powerful, but they have many formidable opponents to deal with. Shuma-Gorath is just one of them." A hint of hidden anxiety, more than she had shown in the past, became apparent in the Ancient One's demeanor. "Earth-1543681 is about to collide with Universe 10011, which has specifically chased it here. You don't want your Native Universe to become a part of the Cancerverse, do you?"
"No, I do not. So this time, I will lend you power. You should know, this is the first time I've provided my power to a follower who has attracted the attention of other Multiversal Gods."
Du Wa reached out his hand. In his palm, a Xenomorph materialized.
(end of chapter)