Chapter 294: The Return of the Fifth Multiverse!
Eternity left the Multiverse without hesitation, charging straight for the First Firmament.
Black Winter, Shuma-Gorath—aside from the First Firmament, no one else was worthy of a second glance from Eternity.
Only the First Firmament had to die!
"First Firmament, you are not dead. This is excellent. Now I have the opportunity to end you for good!" Eternity appeared outside the Multiverse, countless galaxies glittering within His vast, dark form.
He is Time, the transitional state of all things. He is Eternity.
The First Firmament instantly abandoned the somewhat battered Shuma-Gorath and frantically lunged at Eternity.
When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred. The battle between the first-generation Eternity and the second-generation Eternity erupted once more after a gap of six full multiverse generations.
"Excellent. In the First Multiverse, you weren't even worthy of looking me in the eye. Now, after the evolution of six Multiverses, you dare to appear before me alone!" The First Firmament used its massive body to viciously slam into the endless Time that Eternity carried.
This astonishing collision was like the concentrated bombardment of billions of universes, triggering a world-shaking explosion in the void outside the Multiverse.
An incalculable number of terrifying points of light bloomed. It was the clash and collapse of a massive amount of rules, and it was also the second battle waged between the two generations of Eternity using their own authority.
The result was also obvious. In a single exchange, the First Firmament was nearly blown apart. Under Eternity's attack, its patched-together, broken cosmic body instantly suffered extensive damage. Countless eons of time were stripped away and dissipated before Eternity.
The era had truly changed. Back then, among the many gods who besieged the First Firmament, Eternity was merely a slightly larger small fry. After strenuously killing the First Firmament, he seized the largest share of the fruits of victory, ascending to the multiversal level in one leap and becoming the most revered of the Creator Gods in the Multiverse.
As long as the Multiverse exists, Eternity can never truly die. As long as Eternity does not die, the Multiverse can exist. He is the very pillar of the Multiverse's existence.
This outcome made the First Firmament increasingly frenzied. It roared loudly, completely lacking the composure an ancient god should have, possessed only by an extreme Delirium and a desire for slaughter, venting its brutal nature.
The First Firmament, so hungry it was no longer picky, seized nearby fragmented remains to patch its cosmic body, but this was of course useless.
If this method had been effective, the First Firmament would have had no need to waste time in the Multiverse. It could have simply recovered its strength outside the Multiverse and then returned to kill Eternity.
"You are no longer a match for me," Eternity stated, standing in The Void like an unshakeable monument, firmly suppressing the First Firmament.
At this moment, Eternity was bathed in divine light, radiating across the past, present, and future of the Marvel World, appearing exceptionally majestic and invincible.
"That is mine! The power you use, the status and authority you possess—it all belongs to me! You dare use my power against me? And so weakly, at that! If I were in your position, I would be countless times stronger than you!" The First Firmament was almost mad with rage.
Endless timelines collided, and billions of realities folded, interwoven with a past and future that were impossible to distinguish. But no matter how desperately the First Firmament fought, its defeat was only a matter of time.
"How can an obsolete Eternity compare to me, the contemporary one?" Eternity said coldly, pressing one hand on the First Firmament's body.
"That's right, you're absolutely correct. I almost forgot, you're also the one who was almost replaced by Shenfu. Shenfu was originally supposed to become the new you... a third-generation Eternity, perhaps?"
At this moment, Shuma-Gorath stopped fighting, and a will that did not belong to the Cthulhu system emerged.
All the gods knew this was Du Wa.
"Shenfu... Hmph. It was born from my body. That is an objective law!"
"Oh? But a Shenfu would not be born from my body," Du Wa said.
Eternity fell silent, deciding to ignore Du Wa and focus all His power on attacking the First Firmament.
To put it bluntly, Du Wa didn't even count as Eternity's true enemy, but the First Firmament always was.
Just like that, under the gazes of numerous beings, the First Firmament grew increasingly passive, dismembered piece by piece by Eternity. It looked as if it was about to be finished off.
Just like when the First Multiverse ended.
However, any being with some understanding of that period of history knew that the First Firmament couldn't possibly be killed so easily. Its so-called death was merely a brief slumber.
"Without the destruction of the Multiverse, the First Firmament will not die! Why don't I give the Multiverse a thorough cleansing and guarantee that every universe connected to the First Firmament is completely erased." Black Winter kept its distance from Shuma-Gorath and sneered, "Of course, that would also involve cleansing all of you Creator Gods."
Eternity ignored Black Winter. Even if the Multiverse were to face destruction again, he would still be the ultimate entity of time in the next multiversal generation. But if the First Firmament were allowed to return, then all would be lost.
Sssshhhla!
Just as Eternity was about to completely dismember the First Firmament, the First Firmament went berserk. It tried to draw sustenance from the even more distant Void, but Eternity immediately stopped it.
"Unless you flee to other multiverses! I will not give you the opportunity to recover your strength," Eternity said coldly.
Within The Void, there were too many multiverses. Many multiverses pieced together formed a Megaverse. This was no secret.
The problem was, the First Firmament was born from this Multiverse. The remnants of its body after its death had become important components of this Multiverse. How could it possibly flee to those other weak and incomplete multiverses with flawed rules?
Besides, if it truly did that, it would no longer be the proud and arrogant First Firmament.
"You brought this upon yourself! Do you really think I can do nothing about a shameful thief like you? Do you really think you've replaced me? You are nothing but my remnant, six generations removed!"
Enraged, the First Firmament finally began to mobilize the parts of its body that had already merged with the Multiverse.
Many universes suddenly began to stir, as if they had suddenly come to life. Various universal rules began to change abnormally.
"The rules are changing! The very expression of the universe is also undergoing an unprecedented transformation!"
"Has Shuma-Gorath returned and is now corrupting the universe? The rules have become distorted—this looks like the handiwork of Shuma-Gorath. But how could the God of Xenomorphs allow this to happen?"
The gods in many universes had no idea what was happening. They were completely at a loss, with no clue how to stop this change.
They sought help from the avatars of the Creator Gods in their universes, but the only response they received was absolute indifference and disregard.
Eternity, who could act, was fighting with his main body. The other Creator Gods had no intention of stopping the First Firmament.
One by one, the universes, as if they had suddenly gained their own life, were deeply attracted by something. They gradually broke away from their original positions and converged toward a point outside the Multiverse.
"Are you all really not going to intervene? Once these universes return to the First Firmament, it will truly return, and every single one of us will be affected! Or do you think the First Firmament is a better partner than Eternity?" Infinity could finally bear it no longer.
Oblivion watched from outside the Multiverse. No matter the outcome, it remained a Megaverse-level being. With a little effort, it could erase an entire Multiverse. The return of the First Firmament was meaningless to it.
As for Death... that one completely ignored Infinity's question, showing even less intention of getting involved.
This was how the Creator Gods interacted. Each was responsible for their own domain and had to solve their own problems. No matter how difficult or dangerous, they had to figure it out themselves and find their own helpers. If they couldn't handle it and died, they deserved it. They couldn't expect a Creator God from another domain to help.
This model had existed ever since the Second Multiverse.
Infinity was enraged. As the ultimate entity of space, the result of its fury was that all space, dimensions, and existence itself throughout the Multiverse began to fall into disarray. An endless rage filled every unit of space.
Every god capable of traversing space-time sensed the rage coming from space itself.
"What's going on? First, there was a problem with time, and now even space is throwing a tantrum? What major event is happening in the Multiverse? Has Du Wa formally declared war on the Creator Gods?"
In the Alien Universe, Dormammu shrank back, watching in terror as his Dark Dimension became a chaotic mess, with terrifying cracks and openings appearing everywhere, connecting to the reality dimension.
The Dark Dimension, which should have been under his perfect control, had now been taken over by a higher-level being and was being ravaged at will.
Dormammu suspected that Du Wa had finally gone mad and was going to kill the Creator Gods, then take their place, weave a Xenomorph fate-web, and completely transform the Multiverse into a Xenomorph Multiverse.
Infinity's rage did not subside. She decided to personally stop the First Firmament's actions, but... she could not go herself.
A large number of universes were being pulled over by the First Firmament. This naturally meant that a part of Infinity was returning to the First Firmament. If she personally attacked the First Firmament, it would most likely tear Infinity apart, with one part entering the First Firmament and the other remaining as the rest of Infinity.
"The First Firmament is the entity of the First Multiverse, that's correct. However, that does not mean that the First Firmament is the only multiversal entity across all generations of the Multiverse!"
Infinity made up her mind. She had to stop the First Firmament, so she would summon the multiversal entities from other generations!
This was an ability only the Creator Gods possessed, a trump card they would only use when facing an absolute dead end, a time when even the Multiverse itself was about to perish forever.
"The Creator Gods of this generation alone should be enough to deal with the First Firmament, and yet they just had to..." Infinity's heart was filled with frustration. She sent a signal out into the endless Void.
Perhaps a long time passed, or perhaps it was just an instant, but in the unseen depths, an extremely ancient being responded to Infinity's call.
"The First Firmament... should not return... The entity of an old era should remain in its proper place."
In that instant, an utterly immeasurable amount of magic particles suddenly surged forth from the surroundings, naturally startling every being within the Multiverse that used the power of magic.
From ordinary magicians to the likes of Vishanti, the God of White Magic, and Chthon, the God of Dark Magic, all were utterly horrified at this moment!
"Magic?!"
"That's right, there's no mistaking it. This is magic... coming from outside the Multiverse, yet it can naturally affect all magic-wielding gods within the Multiverse..."
As the endless magic particles converged, one strange symbol after another appeared, as if a grand, supreme magic ritual was being performed, its complexity reaching an unimaginable level.
Every type of magic itself was singing praises, and every individual who used magic was celebrating.
A brand-new being, one that many other beings did not recognize at all, appeared just like that. It didn't necessarily possess immense strength, but it was born with the innate support and reverence of all types of magic.
This was the... Magic (Entity) from the Fifth Multiverse!
The Fifth Magic Entity!
"Tsk tsk, not bad. To think this one was the first to come out. However, it seems to be the only one for now. The other entities are nowhere to be seen. Is it because the current First Firmament is too incomplete and not worth their attention?"
Du Wa laughed. Excellent. He hadn't originally included these types of beings in his plans. In any case, he had no real intention of permanently destroying the Multiverse, so whether these beings appeared or remained hidden didn't affect anything.
However, being able to force some of them out without deliberately doing much was a pleasant surprise. It was equivalent to exposing a portion of the power the Creator Gods relied on ahead of time.
Every universe gave birth to momentous things that could influence the entire history of the Marvel World, and because they were so critical, they would eventually become necessary pillars for subsequent multiverses.
The First Firmament, the First Multiverse's entity and also the First Multiverse itself, provided the concept of the multiverse for the entire main Marvel Multiverse. Its death and the countless body fragments that exploded from it evolved into innumerable universes, officially shifting the Multiverse from a single entity to an infinite number of universes.
When it came to the Fifth Multiverse, Magic (Entity) was born. After the Fifth Multiverse ended, Magic (Entity) traveled to the Far Shore of The Void.
This time, it had returned because of Infinity's call.
"Only you? Where are the other entities?" Infinity couldn't help but ask.
"The First Firmament is far from recovering its strength. Due to some irresistible factors, it chose to awaken in the wrong era. Its strength is too weak; it hasn't even entered the Multiverse. I am more than enough."
Magic (Entity) said, "Originally, Science (Entity) was planning to come as well, but after seeing the First Firmament's state, it decided not to."
Science (Entity) was born from the Sixth Multiverse and was naturally the entity of the Sixth Multiverse. After the Sixth Multiverse was destroyed at the hands of Black Winter, it chose to go to the depths of The Void.
"Heh, what a shame. I was looking forward to another reunion with an old friend."
Black Winter let out a cold laugh. It had personally ended Science (Entity) and wouldn't mind ending it again—but since Science (Entity) had not come, it was also genuinely relieved. It stared with dread at Shuma-Gorath, or rather, at Du Wa who commanded the beast.
The existence of the God of Xenomorphs had truly exceeded its expectations. Since Science (Entity) was not returning, it meant one less formidable opponent, which was a great stroke of luck.
(end of chapter)