Chapter 284: The Phoenix Force, a Convergence of All Beings' Emotions? I Have a Similar Power Too
An endless stream of powerful Xenomorphs landed in the Main Universe. In this core world of the Multiverse, they acted with abandon, fighting one native after another who prided themselves on being righteous.
The entire universe was engulfed in the flames of war. People died every moment, only to turn into Xenomorphs and attack their former comrades-in-arms.
In this instant, the line between friend and foe became unprecedentedly blurry. They cooperated while remaining wary of each other, fraught with apprehension.
It was no exaggeration to say that this wasn't the first or second time the Main Universe had encountered a terrible crisis, but none had ever been so absurd, leaving them with no way to even begin to fight back.
To truly resist being parasitized, one had to possess a multiversal standing. Without reaching that level, even a top-tier Cosmic Celestial could at best only delay the inevitable, still walking a path of slow suicide.
"There's still time to kill yourself now. Any later, and even in death, your soul and consciousness will belong to Du Wa!"
"Thinking about it from another angle, if we kill ourselves now, our souls will belong to Death. It seems that's not a choice we can make, either."
Many factions and top-tier deities in the Main Universe were engaged in a difficult resistance. They watched the raging war around them and the periodically resurrecting dead Xenomorphs with sullen gloom.
The enemy had infinite revivals. Although the stronger one was, the longer their resurrection took, they could indeed be brought back. The God of Xenomorphs was extremely generous to his subordinates, never stingy with his power. How were they, the natives, supposed to keep fighting?
Finally, Odin could no longer hold on. He stood alone in the center of the Grand Hall, looking around at the familiar faces.
The dilapidated Grand Hall crumbled around him, its ancient murals fracturing.
"Odin..."
"Give up. The Xenomorphs are your ultimate destiny."
"Look at us! After changing our race, we have gained a rebirth! Here, we have the most devout faith, the most loyal kindred, and the most courageous warriors. All of this is better than being a lonely Asgardian!"
Frigga, Valkyrie, Lorelei... these top figures of Asgard, people regarded as deities by some weaker races, were now, despite being covered in battle damage and stained with blood, adopting sincere expressions, earnestly trying to persuade him.
Odin suddenly found this damnably ironic. These creatures were detestable. Once a Xenomorph grew from within their bodies, they all deserved to die.
Yes, these were Odin's true thoughts. Handmaidens? Subordinates? Heh, once they became a threat, he should have erased them completely, without considering the possibility of saving them.
"Seeing you things whose brains don't even belong to you, I suddenly feel that surrendering to Death is a good choice."
Odin strained to open his eyes, vaguely seeing Death beckoning to him. But in the blink of an eye, everything was normal again. He knew this was definitely not an illusion; he was getting closer and closer to death.
His son had sided with Gaea, so it seemed a good choice for the father to side with Death—Odin had no intention of entering Valhalla. Facing the multiversal-level Du Wa, Asgard's Valhalla was like a leaf in the wind, able only to sway at the mercy of others. Its fate was entirely dependent on their whims.
Odin decisively struck himself. The fading of his life force caused his divine power to immediately return to the World Tree. This made the World Tree itself respond; countless streaks of illusory light flowed from its roots to its branches, as if performing a grand mourning ritual.
The sphere of influence of the Main Universe's World Tree was far beyond what the World Trees of other universes could match.
"Odin is dead. The World Tree has confirmed it."
Gaea stood with Thor, gazing at the distant Main Universe.
"Father!! Damn it, he clearly had a chance to live, he could have come with me..." Thor was filled with grief and indignation, punching the ground fiercely. If Gaea hadn't intentionally reinforced the ground, Thor's punch could have easily destroyed a star.
"If he had fled with you, he wouldn't be the proud Odin. Likewise, if he had joined the Alien Faction in the end, he wouldn't be himself—not in any sense of the word," Gaea said softly, watching the turbulent changes in the Main Universe.
This was definitely a major event worthy of being recorded in the history of this multiverse, one that would permanently change the course of the Seventh Multiverse.
The God of Xenomorphs... just to what degree would this guy twist this world?
In the long run, the likes of Shuma-Gorath, which symbolized distortion and malformation, were far from being comparable to Du Wa. Even Shuma-Gorath itself had become a part of Du Wa. Its current whereabouts were unknown, and no one knew if Du Wa had made a move against Shuma-Gorath, how far it had progressed, or if Shuma-Gorath would unexpectedly appear as one of Du Wa's loyalist forces.
"You're so powerful, why didn't you attack Du Wa? Aren't you Mother Earth? Aren't you a true ancient god comparable to the Vishanti? Asgard, and the World Tree, now they're all..." Thor was weeping, venting his anger while deeply hating his own powerlessness.
His father was gone, his compatriots were gone, and his mother—his adoptive mother Frigga—was also finished. His brother... oh, Loki had already died during the Siege two years ago, blasted to smithereens by the rampaging Void Sentry.
Thor had originally devised a detailed plan. He didn't believe that Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies, would die so mundanely. He was certain Loki would have left behind a means of resurrection, and he had.
He had planned to wait until the situation calmed down and peace returned to resurrect Loki—at that time, Loki would grow from childhood, making a clean break from the ugly, old Loki.
But now, Mephisto had come to the Main Universe and tricked Cul the Serpent into breaking free, which drew the attention of the God of Xenomorphs from the Otherworld, putting everyone in the Main Universe on edge.
Then came the inexplicable cosmic turmoil. Thor had already figured it out: that was the commotion Du Wa created when he went to war with Shuma-Gorath. As for the subsequent crisis of the massive demise of Black Magicians across the Multiverse, and the major event of the Scarlet Witch's rampage—needless to say, these were just small ripples from Du Wa's game with Chthon.
But even these insignificant aftershocks, trivial to Du Wa, were enough to give someone like Thor a massive headache. He didn't dare to look for a means to resurrect Loki, nor did he have the opportunity to test Hela, who was in charge of the Underworld—according to Thor's understanding of that treacherous fellow Loki, Loki would have definitely colluded with Hela in advance, for example, by having his name struck from the Underworld's death list ahead of time.
"If Loki were still by my side, at such a critical moment, he would surely stand firmly with me and fight the enemy to the very end..." Thor dug out the painful memories from his brain.
Now, he only had his birth mother left. Well, even now, he couldn't quite accept this fact, but he no longer had the luxury of choosing.
Gaea was silent for a moment before saying, "Because of Glass. Do you know what it means for Du Wa and Glass to join forces? It means their combined strength is greater than mine, and they possess such bizarre and troublesome abilities. I'm afraid only Lord Chaos can match them."
Gaea had always been a passive deity, rarely intervening in major events because there was no need. She was Mother Earth. As long as the Multiverse wasn't completely wiped out, she would be safe.
At least for now, Gaea didn't think Du Wa had the insane idea of destroying the Multiverse. That whole bunch of multiversal and even higher-level gods were the real deal.
"Damn it! In the end, I have to rely on myself. If I had known about Du Wa's evil nature sooner, I should have asked the World Tree for power..." Thor still missed his most powerful self, the Rune King form.
Gaea shook her head. "The shadows that provided you with divine power are long gone from your sight. It's impossible for them to give you power again. Even if they did, the power you'd receive would be extremely limited, making it very difficult to confront Du Wa head-on."
That was a few years ago. Thor hung himself on the World Tree, received power from the ancient shadow gods, and in turn, killed them, ending the tragic cycle of Ragnarok.
He still missed that invincible power, his divine power solidifying into tangible runes that coiled tightly around him, moving as an extension of his will.
Of course, even now, Main Universe Thor didn't know that in his Rune King form, he had only defeated the ancient shadow gods, not killed them.
The one who truly ended the Main Universe's ancient shadow gods and completely destroyed the cycle of Ragnarok was in the future: Loki, God of Stories, a man who elevated lies into stories. He was the man who controlled the "story" of everyone in the entire Asgardian system and could freely make changes and corrections.
This was the result of a massive free-for-all between a group of Lokis—Old Loki, Kid Loki, Young Loki, Future Loki, and more. After a complex web of grievances and affections, the one ultimately born was the Loki who elevated lies into stories.
The Loki that the current Thor perceived as dead was Old Loki. Later, the main essence of Old Loki was reborn as Kid Loki. A soul fragment attempted to possess Kid Loki, but ultimately fused with him to become Young Loki. As an agent of Asgard, Young Loki would earn great merit and then engage in various struggles with a future Loki.
In this chaotic process, Young Loki would, step by step, elevate his lies into stories, becoming a conceptual god who controlled them. This process was somewhat similar to Du Wa's; or rather, all acquired conceptual gods had to walk this path of understanding themselves.
Not all conceptual gods were like The Endless from the Vertigo Universe—born as divine concepts. The upper limit of their strength was mainly determined by the level of the world they inhabited.
The most outrageous thing about Loki, God of Stories, was that he managed to transcend the narrow confines of the Marvel World, standing in the Void at a higher plane. Perhaps it was just Outside the Multiverse, but it's also possible he had entered one of the extremely special universes Outside the Omniverse, such as the Beyond Realm.
Of course, this didn't mean that the overall strength of Loki, God of Stories, had surpassed the omnipotent tier. Entering a special domain did not mean one's strength reached a level equal to that domain.
Otherwise, Jean Grey, who was currently in the White Hot Room and had just tossed a fragment of the Phoenix Force to the Main Universe only for it to be intercepted by Du Wa, would already possess strength beyond the omnipotent tier. She could have launched a dimensionality reduction strike from the White Hot Room and erased Du Wa directly.
The most brilliant moment for Loki, God of Stories, was when he used a marker to casually draw a door. This allowed him to step through the Secret Wars, moving directly from the Seventh Multiverse—which was destined for destruction by the Beyonders—into the Eighth Multiverse, which had been reshaped by Mister Fantastic, Reed, and the others.
But at this point in time, Loki, God of Stories, had not yet truly been born. Ostensibly, he had already died in the Main Universe. In the shadows, he was likely still in a difficult climbing phase.
But Thor didn't know this. He only knew that this time, he had lost everything, and his heart was filled with nothing but the mad flames of vengeance.
He asked Gaea for power.
Gaea hesitated for a long time before saying softly, "I have never chosen a spokesperson. Since you insist, I will give you what you want. To obtain the power of the earth, you must endure the most painful trials. Power beyond the norm is not easily obtained."
"No matter how painful, it's not as painful as losing everything! I will obtain greater power, defeat Du Wa, take back everyone I've lost, and resurrect Loki!" Thor made a vow.
In Gaea's eyes, a vow of this level was useless. Even if she forcibly increased Thor's strength, he wouldn't be able to fight Du Wa. Most likely, Thor would confidently seek revenge on Du Wa, only to end up becoming one of Du Wa's own.
"Dealing with Du Wa requires long-term planning. Rushing in will only lead to failure. Shuma-Gorath is a cautionary tale. No matter how much power you get from me, your upper limit will still be me. You still won't be able to defeat Du Wa," Gaea said.
Thor looked up. "Then I'll go find someone who is willing to deal with Du Wa! Chthon is one!"
Gaea fell silent. Teaming up with Chthon? A truly insane idea. The last time she dealt with Chthon was during the World Tree's civil war, when she and the Demiurge gave birth to Atum, the killing machine, relying on his power to defeat the faction of Chthon and Set.
However, everything was within a controllable range. Thor, using her power, could not escape her control. Gaea pondered for a moment and gave her tacit approval.
Du Wa's appearance had brought her a trace of unease, and it was this unease that made Gaea willing to step forward and protect her offspring, Thor.
Main Universe.
Du Wa took in all the changes. He just watched quietly, casually releasing his power, letting the situation develop with its natural momentum.
"With this, the initial arranstoneents in the Main Universe are complete. Having Xenomorphs all over the universe to serve as coordinates will save a lot of effort in future operations."
Du Wa stroked his chin, seriously considering all possible variables and casually formulating corresponding plans.
In the palm of his hand, the Phoenix Force had not given up its struggle; it was exceptionally vigorous.
"A convergence of the emotions of all living beings? Interesting. Little bird, what if I told you I also have a power that converges the emotions of all things? Would you believe me?" Du Wa said slowly.
(end of chapter)