Chapter 295 - Ancient One: Oh? So Such a Thing Exists
The return of the entity from the Fifth Multiverse meant that the scope of this great battle had completely exceeded the expectations of numerous gods.
Many gods on the side of magic frantically made inquiries, trying to figure out why all the magic within the multiverse was experiencing a completely incomprehensible agitation.
"Great Vishanti, your ignorant seeker prays to you, asking for the reason behind this anomalous magical particle mutation, hoping to glimpse more unknown knowledge on the path of magic..."
"Supreme and generous God of Dark Magic, your follower tremblingly begs for your forgiveness! Do not strip me of my control over black magic while I'm being hunted by a Xenomorph... Fuck, the Xenomorph is here!"
"Magic is completely out of control! Many extremely difficult magical rituals have become almost ineffective!"
"It's as if an incomparably massive core of magic has suddenly appeared in the multiverse, pulling at all magic with immeasurable power!"
Even Black Strange, Demon Strange, and the others wore solemn expressions. However, compared to other sorcerers, they were relatively calm, as the power they relied on had never been just magic alone.
"Du Wa has responded to me. He said this is the entity of the Fifth Multiverse returning from the far shore of the void. Hmph, this is truly unbelievable. Does this mean magic was born from the Fifth Multiverse?"
Black Strange immediately grew excited. "There are actually several multiverses? Perhaps every multiverse has an entity?"
Demon Strange's expression was somewhat savage. "So that's how it is. I knew that several multiverses were destroyed before our current one came to be. What I'm curious about is, how much of our multiverse comes from those destroyed ones? Perhaps one day, some other former multiverse entity will pop up and have a huge impact on phenomena we've taken for granted."
The return of the magic entity violently shook the worldview of every individual within the multiverse. The stronger they were, the more they would subconsciously re-examine this world.
The true origin of magic had appeared. It wasn't the Vishanti or Chthon. Even demonic magic didn't originate from Cyttorak. It was a multiverse that should have been dead, but was in fact still alive, an entity in and of itself!
If this was the case for magic, then what about the others?
Space-time? Emotion? Superpowers? Science?
Was every naturally existing thing actually a gift of power from an extremely ancient and mysterious multiverse entity?
"Then, what is the entity of our multiverse? Du Wa didn't answer my question." An unnatural flush appeared on Black Strange's haggard face; he was extremely agitated.
"Not answering means there's a possibility of change. Regardless of what it was originally supposed to be, Du Wa might be trying to turn the current multiverse's entity into himself... Of course, this is just my guess. If Du Wa isn't doing that, it either means the conditions are too harsh and it's impossible, or it's simply not worth doing." The Ancient One from the Alien Universe stood up, lost in thought.
At this, the many Ancient Ones in the Sanctum of Magic could no longer sit still. They stopped drinking their tea and stood up one after another.
"Calm down, you need to calm down!"
"I roughly understand your situation. Didn't Sorcerer Tony Stark just scan your body and soul? The analysis report isn't out yet!"
"Ancient One, things aren't clear yet, there's no need to be so anxious. If you go and contact the magic entity, who knows what the result will be? If you're facing any difficulties, just say so. With so many of us Sorcerer Supremes here, we can help you."
"It's obvious that many powerful gods have broken out into a great battle. The space-time deities, Eternity and Infinity, must be involved. Du Wa might have already joined the fray. But we don't even know who the enemies are, only guessing that it might be related to the universe itself. This is a time to be patient!"
"Don't do this, Ancient One, don't!" A group of sorcerers went from worried to horrified, forcing the Alien Universe's Ancient One back into her seat.
Even before the magic entity appeared, this Ancient One was already in a desperate state. Now that the magic entity had shown up, it would be abnormal if this Ancient One *didn't* do something.
The Alien Universe's Ancient One pursed her lips and pondered for a long while. "But, this is a really good opportunity. Instead of borrowing power from entities like the Vishanti, Chthon, and Cyttorak, who only control a portion of magic, why not go directly to the source and do the same thing? There's no middleman taking a cut."
As soon as she said this, all the sorcerers fell silent. Many sorcerers who followed the Vishanti even secretly tried to report her, but they also received no response from the Vishanti.
At this moment, the Vishanti themselves were in a state of astonishment. How could they have time to respond to a flood of inquiries from their followers?
Demon Strange bared his fangs. "You can't stop her. If persuasion worked, how could she have become what she is today? This is the path she has walked to protect the Earth of the Alien Universe. On top of that, with the frequent, immense upheavals in the multiverse, she has no choice but to find ways to obtain more power to increase her strength."
Before Du Wa's emergence, the Ancient One was already drowning in magical debt. But she never defaulted on it, merely robbing Peter to pay Paul.
After Du Wa had basically established his position on Earth, the Ancient One's physical body died, and her soul roamed the multiverse.
Afterward, events like the Spider Alliance's war against the Inheritors and the cosmic war between the Alien Universe and the Cancerverse occurred.
The Ancient One had little time to recuperate, and it seemed she had no intention of doing so.
Now, seeing an unimaginably wealthy tycoon—the origin of all her debts—it would be a miracle if the Ancient One could remain seated.
"But the problem now is, if she incurs a price from the magic entity, she will have to pay it back. This time, there's no one who can cover it for her." Tony Stark stood up, holding a bottle of wine. He had never seen a Sorcerer Supreme like this!
The Alien Universe's Ancient One mused, "This matter can be considered at length. I actually have a pretty good idea..."
...
Outside the Multiverse.
A group of powerful gods gathered. The many beings within the multiverse were also completely alarmed, their gazes fixed on this place.
"It hasn't been this lively in a long time. Infinity, you've given the omniverse a huge surprise." Du Wa watched in amazement, repeatedly sizing up the Fifth Magic.
*If I were to use parasitism on this guy, I wonder if it would succeed, and how much energy it would take...*
But then again, many more multiverse entities had gone to the depths of the void. If there was a real need, they would return to join the battle at any time.
If not for Du Wa's interference, when the Seventh Multiverse was beaten to a pulp in a great war instigated by the Beyonders, at the moment of the Eighth Multiverse's rebirth, the fully prepared First Firmament would have struck, launching a surprise attack on Eternity when it was at its weakest during the multiverse's rebirth.
At that time, Infinity would have summoned a bunch of multiversal entities back to join the battle, ganging up on the First Firmament.
"An entity from an old era of the multiverse shouldn't have thoughts it's not supposed to have, attempting to become the multiverse again... Is this an unbreakable, absolute law?" Du Wa pondered this question.
Violate it, and you get ganged up on. That seemed to be the case at present.
Du Wa immediately looked towards the Black Winter. "These guys are making such a commotion; we can't fall behind. Let's not get involved in the squabbles between these multiverses, what do you think?"
"I think what you're saying makes a lot of sense, but it would be even better if you weren't trying to corrode me while you're talking. You need to understand one thing: in my era, something like the Xenomorph didn't exist at all. In my presence, you are still nothing."
The Black Winter's long hair whipped about wildly. This god of destruction chose to go to war with Du Wa.
To be more precise, it was going to war with Shuma-Gorath. The Black Winter hadn't even seen Du Wa's true form, and if things went as expected, it wouldn't have the chance to see it for a long time to come.
A series of terrifying shockwaves erupted. A single, casual blow could pose an immense threat to a multiverse.
In this void, outside the multiverse where nothing exists, a group of multiverse-level powerhouses entered the fray, chose their opponents, and began an extremely rare great battle.
Generally speaking, a scene where multiple multiversal gods are fighting is a rare sight, something a multiverse might not even witness once from its birth to its demise.
The Black Winter was entangled by several tentacles. It extended its thick arms, grabbed a tentacle, and ripped it apart on the spot. Through a fleeting glimpse in the impenetrable chaos, it saw the First Firmament in a miserable state, already torn to pieces by Eternity and Magic.
This outcome for the First Firmament did not exceed the Black Winter's expectations. It still hadn't figured out what madness had possessed the First Firmament to jump out so impatiently when nothing was ready and its strength had barely recovered, to the point that it was discovered by Shuma-Gorath—or rather, Du Wa—and attracted Eternity.
"You did it on purpose." The Black Winter sneered at Shuma-Gorath. "You deliberately let us be discovered, letting Eternity and the others stop us from destroying the multiverse... A dangerous guy like you, I don't believe for a second that you're full of love for the Seventh Multiverse and are protecting it in your own way."
"You're right. I indeed have no interest in being the multiverse's savior. In my view, all things in the world are destined to perish one day. This is true even for gods, let alone the multiverse."
Du Wa knew better than any of the multiversal gods present: the Seventh Multiverse was beyond saving. The Beyonders would absolutely not let the multiverse go easily. These guys, who came from a universe a level above the omniverse, would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
"It's a pity. The Seventh Multiverse is clearly a wonderful world, yet it faces a species that completely exceeds its own specifications... Since it must be destroyed, I might as well be the one to recycle the waste."
Du Wa mused. This was also the reason why he wanted to initiate the great collision event before the end of the Seventh Multiverse.
At the very beginning, he had actually hesitated, wondering whether he should wait until the era of the Eighth Multiverse to act. After all, the Eighth Multiverse was also an extremely wonderful world.
But on second thought, in the Eighth Multiverse generation, a damn thing called the One Below All (OBA) had emerged. If nothing unexpected happened, this OBA was supposed to be the final destroyer of the entire Eighth Multiverse, similar to how the Black Winter destroyed the Sixth Multiverse.
It was just that events never progressed to that point. Since it was all going to be destroyed anyway, there was no need to drag it out until the Eighth Multiverse. Moreover, to get from the Seventh to the Eighth Multiverse, one would inevitably have to face the hurdle of the Beyonders. Du Wa admitted he was no match for this super-species—a group he wasn't sure if he should call the Marvel Editorial Department, the power remnants of the Original Beyonder, or a creation of the Celestials.
Command the Xenomorph race to fight the Beyonders and wage another racial war? Don't be ridiculous. Du Wa knew he would die a miserable death—at least, for now.
Du Wa observed the battle between Shuma-Gorath and the Black Winter, occasionally intervening to corrode and assimilate the Black Winter with the concept of the Xenomorph, attempting to interfere with this destroyer to the greatest extent possible.
In other words, at every moment, the Black Winter was suffering a dual corrosion from Cthulhu and the Xenomorph, while also having to deal with Shuma-Gorath, another multiverse-level being.
If it really came down to a fight, the Black Winter, having destroyed the Sixth Multiverse, was confident it could solo Shuma-Gorath. But alas, Shuma-Gorath was no longer a single individual, but a collective represented by Du Wa.
The Black Winter began to have thoughts of retreat, especially as the First Firmament's curses grew fainter. It decisively erupted with a powerful black cold tide, its figure shot backward, and it rushed into the depths of the void without a second glance.
Shuma-Gorath wanted to give chase but was stopped by Du Wa. "Don't bother with it. That guy isn't so easily killed. Our energy is limited; there's no need to waste it on another multiverse-level fellow."
Shuma-Gorath's massive eyeball was filled with confusion. "This isn't like you at all. A guy like you would let a host within your grasp go? Then you should have let me go back then."
"If I had let you go, then the thing I promised you would never happen. Your inner desire was the driving force that made you choose to bow to me. Otherwise, I don't know how many billions of years it would have taken me to truly control you," Du Wa said.
Back then, the reason Shuma-Gorath had proactively driven the Cancerverse to attack the Alien Universe was that it suspected Du Wa, like itself, came from outside the multiverse, and thus wanted to seek its own origin.
In the end, it was defeated. It was captured by Du Wa and sent to the wreckage outside the multiverse, where it ultimately chose to submit.
"You'd better be sure that what you said is true—that in a world I cannot perceive at all, another me exists. Although I'm still not sure if what you're saying is true or false, do multiverses, like ordinary parallel universes, also have many Variants?"
But the original parallel universes had all evolved from fragments blasted from the corpse of the First Firmament. Only after many generations of change did this vast number of parallel universes with infinite possibilities come into being.
So, where did the multiple multiverses originally come from?
It, Shuma-Gorath, or 'the Unnamable' that Du Wa spoke of—from which world did they truly originate?
And in which multiverse did Du Wa find the other 'it'?
(end of chapter)