"Dormammu! Kill me if you can!"
Deathstroke returned once more, and unsurprisingly was blasted away by Dormammu with an energy beam. No one noticed that this time he flew off in yet another direction.
Faltin and Omar were somewhat numb to it; this was the third time. Deathstroke was like an immortal pest, repeatedly appearing before Dormammu to disgust him.
There was a significant power gap, but Deathstroke's fighting spirit made Omar admire him a bit. It turned out the Supreme Mage of the Main Dimension wasn't just about enjoyment and play. This spirit of struggle reminded her of her own never-surrender days on Earth.
So she steeled herself once again, clashing with Dormammu. She wasn't sure what Deathstroke was planning, but she needed to buy him time to complete his plan.
........
In a far-off alternate dimension, this appeared to be a majestic black mountain. At its peak sat a massive bird's nest-like structure, composed of the piled-up white bones of various creatures, some of which had been burned by alien flames, glinting like glass.
At this moment, within the nest, a gigantic black dragon, tens of thousands of meters long, curled up within the pile of bones, seemingly asleep.
Yet its wings, fluttering up and down with each breath, and its long tongue occasionally reaching out to lick its claws, indicated that it was not asleep.
Apart from this giant dragon, there were many other various beast-shaped creatures roaming around the mountain, incessantly fighting and preying on one another.
This was the dimension of the Cosmic Black Dragon King Fatallis, known simply as 'Black Dragon,' a dimension where 'survival of the fittest' was the rule.
Within this place, every moment was perilous for any creature other than Fatallis. A hunter one second could become prey the next.
Fatallis selected powerful followers as if nurturing gu for battling across the cosmos. At the same time, these scenes of flying blood and endless screams were one of his rare forms of entertainment.
He often squinted his eyes, occasionally opening a slit to peer down from the edge of the nest, a satisfied smile sometimes crossing his dragon face, as black sparks spewed from his nostrils.
This showed he was pleased. If a creature caught his eye, he'd let out a cold snort, indicating even a bit of approval was far from being comparable to him.
It highlighted a sense of invincible solitude.
Is he truly invincible? Not quite. Recently, 'Black Dragon' fought a major battle with the 'Dark Dimension,' king against king, general against general.
Unfortunately, his beast army, though mighty, could not match Dormammu's 'Heartless' faction.
These Dormammu worshipers came from various dimensions, voluntarily responding to the Demon God's call, traversing through layers of space to fight for Dormammu, all for benefits that seemed trivial to Fatallis.
Many of the Heartless were powerful warlocks, perfectly countering the brainless beast army.
Even if Fatallis faced Dormammu without faltering, his army's defeat came like a collapse, forcing him to retreat, with Dormammu seizing the opportunity to leave a wound on his paw, which displeased him greatly.
Despite Fatallis' imposing stature and his mindless beast entourage, as a member of the dragon species, he possessed exceptional intelligence.
While lying in his nest healing, he contemplated his development approach, thinking of those handy alternate dimension followers—an army of self-provisioning cannon fodder. Should he also develop some followers?
Unfortunately, he's not a warlock; the entire dragon is practically an insulator to magic. Though capable of using cosmic energy, he can't distribute it as other Demon Gods do through trade or lending.
Unable to trade, naturally he can't harvest belief. His path closely resembles that of the Ancient Dominators, breaking through physical limits with one's own body.
The concept he mastered was 'dragon,' representing dragon species across all dimensions of the monistic universe, embodying natural selection through survival of the fittest.
Interestingly, like him, a Demon God reaching multi-level just by physical prowess is a true strong entity, each bit of strength meticulously cultivated without any reliance on external forces.
Yet his underlings perform poorly, failing to contend with Dormammu's insidious ways, which truly irritates him.
The idea of developing followers lingered in his mind; he suddenly considered that although he couldn't gather followers, he could form an alliance with someone who could. In any case, he had to reclaim his dignity from Dormammu.
Despite his dimension resembling barren lands with nothing but bones and rocks, he held a significant bargaining chip: himself.
Likely many Demon Gods would trade with him for the chance of him aiding them in the future.
In this moment, the Black Dragon King conceived the idea of becoming a mercenary, and the more he thought about it, the more fitting it seemed. He decided firmly, already having a target for collaboration.
In terms of the Split Domain, who has the most minions, and excels at brawling? Undoubtedly it's Demon God Denak (Denak).
He is known as the 'King of Myriad Mirror Images,' creating a massive army by endlessly producing subordinate replicas of himself.
With a supply of energy, he can conjure any number of troops. Each mirror image, though significantly weakened, still retains the Demon God's abilities and can reflect energy attacks like a mirror, forming a formidable demon army.
Some top-tier warlocks on Earth favor evil magic yet disdain the weak summoning techniques of Lords of Hell. If they need ample cannon fodder, they can trade with Demon God Denak to borrow troops; the magic is called 'Demons of Denak,' enabling interdimensional group teleportation.
Casting this spell activates instantly, summoning hundreds of identical mirror demons.
They appear as humanoid mercury, with the only weapons effective against them being heavy-driven cold weaponry. Most magic or low-level energy methods are entirely ineffective on these demons, merely reflecting back to attack the energy user.
Of course, the cost of this dark magic is considerable. If humans use it, they need to sacrificially offer ten times the number of summoned demons in living humans as blood sacrifice afterwards, along with one of their internal organs as the price.
As Fatallis awaited the healing of his wound, his half-squinted eyes suddenly widened, his neck, covered in massive black scales, turned as the armor creaked. He gazed into the distant void.
In a nearby location, a purple star seemed to flash?
From his experience of over a billion battles, Fatallis instantly realized it wasn't a star; this seductive purple was only found in the cosmic energy Dormammu spewed, a sinister flame.
Seeing the purple comet adjust its angle slightly, charging straight towards him and growing larger in sight, Fatallis abruptly unfurled his wings that obscured the heavens, soaring upwards. The fierce wind pressure pulverized all beasts within thousands of meters of the mountain peak.
"Dormammu!"
He roared in dragon language, releasing a black energy beam that directly met Dormammu's surprise attack.
The two energies collided outside his dimension, erupting into a powerful explosion that shattered space like glass, and the void emitted a silent wail.
Something crashed into his dimension, producing a thunderous noise at the mountain's base, instantly killing a wide circle of diverse creatures.
Fatallis did not look at what had fallen into his dimension; his heart was full of boiling murderous intent. This must be Dormammu's provocation, an act he could not tolerate.
Therefore, he flapped his wings and let out an angry roar towards the sky, then, dragging his energy-flame-engulfed body, headed towards Denak's dimension.
He won once a few days ago and thought it was the end game? Now directly attacking his dimension?
He was heading to form an alliance now, then he would lead allies and troops to settle the score with Dormammu!