Light.
Incomparable golden radiance flooded everything, extending boundlessly in all directions.
It was as if a vibrant oil painting had been dyed into a single sheet of gold in an instant. The speed of that saturation surpassed the Big Bang, surpassed the explosive energy at the birth of an entire multiverse.
As though proclaiming that the world itself ought to be this way.
I am the world. I am the origin above all things. For God said, "Let there be light." And there was light.
Hundreds of millions upon millions of immeasurable beams of brilliance unfolded and bloomed like a resplendent river of stars. A face, vast as a supercluster of galaxies, occupied nearly half the heart of the newborn multiverse—at least, that was how it appeared to Selene.
Strands of golden light filtered through the yet-unformed leaves of [Time], [Space], and [Concept], illuminating a face that inspired, at a glance, thoughts of benevolence and wisdom.
High cheekbones. A full beard. White hair at the temples. A ruddy yet dignified complexion. Wrinkles carved deep like the rings of wisdom upon an ancient tree, clear and resolute. His head of splendid white hair flared outward as if aflame, dazzling beyond measure.
Within those deep furrows, in the elder's abyss-like pupil-less eyes, there was nothing—only gold. Profound and tranquil.
If viewed purely from the perspective of appearance, this was undoubtedly an accurate summary of the elderly face before Selene. But she knew this was merely one of countless forms shaped according to the expectations of others.
Man. Woman. Youth. Child. Infant...
For an existence of this level, biological distinction had no meaning. Form was determined entirely by inclination, authority, law, symbol, and the broadest and most universal cognition of all living things within the cosmos.
"Greetings, wise and ancient Elder. You may call me Selene."
Selene was neither servile nor arrogant. Her expression calm, she met the elderly face at eye level, perfectly polite and measured—without the slightest trace of a hostile intruder's swagger.
In short, reveal no malice.
This was camouflage.
As the saying went—tailor your dish to your guest.
Selene needed to locate the composite multiverse that might harbor the multiversal deity responsible for the disappearance of her Inquisition fleet. Whether the fleet lived or died, she had truly lost one.
Then, based on the specific circumstances of that composite multiverse, she would adjust her strategy accordingly. Crush it outright? Launch a direct assault? Slowly infiltrate? Strike from multiple angles? Engage in prolonged stalemate and erode it bit by bit? Grind it down...
And clearly, after somewhat bullying and kneading this infant multiverse, its "guardian" had emerged—one who exceeded the scope of Selene's previous, aggression-oriented strategies.
It seemed... she could not swallow this one whole.
To put the situation simply, it was like suspecting someone of possessing weapons of mass destruction—only to discover that they truly did.
There was no helping it. Selene's flexible bottom line adjusted instantly. Stabilize first.
She had few virtues, but when it was time to concede, she conceded. She could bend. She could endure temporary humiliation.
"Selene... Upon you, I perceive the potential likenesses of [Eternity], [Death], [Infinity], [Annihilation], and [Life]... Ah, forgive me. It has been long since a new sibling was born. A new variable. Solitude. An instinctive appraisal..."
The elderly face seemed genuinely pleased by Selene's appearance. He merely murmured to himself, without thunderous volume or oppressive might that shook heaven and earth.
Instead, his voice—belonging to that kindly, white-bearded elder—resembled a natural symphony. Deep. Resonant. Moistening all things without a sound. As he laughed, it was as though the heart of the newborn multiverse itself received more vigorous nourishment.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am OAA. You may also call me... the One Above All."
"Elder OAA."
Going along smoothly, Selene smiled sweetly. Inwardly, however, she cursed.
Never had she expected to encounter this supreme being here...
Damn it.
She could not win. In her current state, she was still insufficiently developed. She could not win.
OAA—the supreme existence of the complete Marvel multiverse, consisting of ten dimensions, each containing infinitely many universes. The creator of the Marvel Omniverse. Master of the Living Tribunal. The sole superior of all cosmic creator gods. The omnipotent creator and god of all things.
Within the Marvel universe, He stood above any rule and could alter them at will.
One moment, He could grant a drug addict, a madman, or a vagrant in Hell's Kitchen, New York, invincibility—power enough to annihilate the multiverse. The next moment, He could erase countless cosmic gods forever, reducing them to mortals.
Selene could achieve something similar within her own Honkai dimension... though that was not entirely accurate. Her [Honkai dimension] differed from Marvel's dimensions. It would be more precise to call it the [Honkai Omnidimensional Super-Multiversal Domain]. There, she too could attain a state akin to pseudo-omniscience and omnipotence.
Strictly speaking, even multiverses had hierarchies.
A multiverse composed of two single universes was certainly not the same as one composed of three. Of course, even single universes differed in scale and magnitude. Everything depended on specific circumstances.
There was no one-size-fits-all rule.
And as the supreme existence of an omnipotent multiverse, OAA's achieved tier far surpassed Selene's current standing.
One step—yet that step was an insurmountable chasm.
If it were merely the five cosmic creator gods of the universe, even together they would not intimidate Selene.
They represented the concrete manifestations of certain aggregated laws and concepts within the Marvel multiverse. Abstract entities born with the prime multiverse itself, yes—but Selene's rank was equivalent to the combined total of multiple generations of them.
The five creator gods symbolized only portions of their respective laws. Selene, by contrast, symbolized and ruled over all mass, laws, and concepts within the infinite single universes, innumerable multiverses, boundless void dimensions, special spaces, and imaginary quantum domains under her dominion.
All phenomena. All existence.
Her total scale was greater, and her expansion—her ascent—multiplied at a faster rate upon infinity itself.
You developed naturally; Selene developed naturally as well—meaning the natural expansion of a multiverse. You farmed lazily, working three days and resting two; Selene drove countless beings to farm efficiently—meaning the difference between those who truly managed affairs and those who did not. You had no backdoor; Selene did—meaning someone plundering across the infinite worlds to strengthen her rapidly.
Though the Sacred Selene Empire appeared perpetually ablaze with war, rebels everywhere, uprisings rampant—if Selene truly wished for lasting peace across her dominion, it would be simple. A single thought.
The constraints of the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta had long since been broken and transcended by her.
As for why she retained them—aside from someone's malicious amusement of "I still prefer to see you defiant,"—there were other factors. Using people as mirrors to discern gains and losses was one. Providing benefits to her martial officers and soldiers, conducting periodic purges, granting more opportunities for meritorious service, and ensuring the healthy operation of the imperial system was another.
Even with the entire universe already usurped and dominated by Selene at its root, what the beings living within it thought or did hardly mattered in truth.
As for the Living Tribunal—
Though It existed simultaneously across the multiverse, and Its judgments could even affect the laws of the multiverse itself, standing half a tier above the five cosmic creator gods in both jurisdiction and rank of power, in a certain sense the Living Tribunal resembled more a divine office.
It was OAA who authorized the Living Tribunal to oversee and maintain the balance of all realities, including every multiverse. Each manifestation of the Living Tribunal was effectively a direct recipient of OAA's grant of authority.
Selene's current tier stood roughly half a step above the Living Tribunal. As for the precise difference in power? That would have to be tested in battle.
Translated into the framework of the complete Marvel multiverse, she—Selene—would count among the very top echelon of transcendent beings across the infinite worlds.
Unfortunately, without becoming the singular absolute pinnacle, one remained ultimately constrained.
If the Living Tribunal was the biggest and strongest child on the playground, then OAA was the headmaster of the school.
Beneath OAA, all were dust.
Perhaps that was not entirely accurate. Selene was not so insignificant. OAA could not handle her with the same effortless ease as he could all things within the omnipotent universe under his dominion. But the analogy still illustrated the gap between them.
In this instant, many thoughts passed through her mind.
"Since you have chosen to appear before me, Elder, does that mean you are willing to return my reckless subjects?"
Calling OAA "Elder" was entirely fitting.
Selene casually reached out and intercepted a cluster of condensed origin-essence containing all spacetime, matter, energy, celestial bodies, and nascent life within this newborn multiverse—the very source nurturing the future material world and its inner realm. She analyzed it as if absentmindedly, then blew it apart.
I have shown no malice. The arrival of my imperial forces was an accident. We have not even begun a campaign of conquest. Yes... steady. This can still be stabilized.
Though outwardly calm, Selene had already begun preparing for strategic withdrawal. If the other side suddenly attacked and she failed to escape in time, should she annihilate herself and detonate this avatar?
Tch.
Fortunately, she had been cautious. This was only a secondary incarnation sent to probe the path. If she could not afford to provoke him, could she not at least retreat? Let him wait. When she stacked enough power and underwent another sublimation, she would return.
"I regret to inform you, young creator god from beyond the domain—they have been contaminated by the primordial origin-essence of the multiverse at its birth."
OAA gazed at Selene. He seemed either unaware of her inner thoughts—or unconcerned. His expression and tone remained unchanged.
Being called "young" by OAA did not provoke any reaction from Selene. She was indeed younger than he was. She met the pupil-less golden gaze of the radiant elder, listening attentively.
"A newborn universe is always fragile. They have already become an indispensable part of it."
The implication was clear—what was once yours is now mine.
Even if in OAA's domain destroying a multiverse were as commonplace as a child tearing apart a house, that was still a domestic matter. Family scandals were not aired publicly. However indifferent OAA might be, He would not declare before an external creator god that his own multiverse was expendable.
Moreover, that was not his nature. OAA placed extreme importance on rules and seldom interfered excessively with reality. He rarely imposed destruction upon what lay under his dominion, no matter how wicked that "thing" might be.
Selene understood.
"Then it seems this will be John's Chapter's opportunity," she nodded.
Marvel universes—whether at their birth or their end, whether multiverse, dimension, or special space—always tended to show particular tolerance toward the first or last lifeform within them.
In her long-sealed memories, many of Marvel's cosmic oddities and superheroes had been born in precisely this way.
"If Elder bestows it, I dare not decline."
Bringing her hands together in salute, Selene expressed her thanks to OAA. "Since this is John's opportunity, I will trouble you to watch over it. As our discussion is concluded, I shall take my leave."
Whoosh.
She did not exactly bolt—that would have been too deliberate.
Selene simply turned and walked toward the outer boundary at a normal pace. At their level, space held no meaning. In barely two steps she crossed the void, traveling from the heart of this newborn multiverse to the edge of its world-bubble.
It was also the expanding frontier of the entire Marvel multiverse. One step beyond would lead into the boundless void beyond—the extracosmic sea.
Almost at the instant Selene's palm pierced through the world-bubble—
"Young god, please wait."
Hum—
Supreme divine authority manifested, casting this golden realm into the tone of a sealed domain of death.
The feeble concepts of spacetime within the vast flowing multiverse vanished once more, erased entirely, as though a blank sheet of paper had enclosed Selene. Within this silent world, OAA's white-bearded face drifted slowly closer.
"Elder, what guidance do you offer?"
Selene was not surprised. She was inferior to him. That was fact.
"Remarkable control and dominion," she remarked, even as she analyzed OAA's transcendent power. She turned unhurriedly, her crimson abyss-like eyes as calm as a still lake without the faintest ripple.
Her head could be severed. Blood could flow. If this divided avatar exploded, so be it. But her bearing could not falter.
"Would you be willing to become the first generation of [Eternity]?"
The resonant voice remained gentle and benevolent. The golden elder spoke, wrinkles trembling subtly with each syllable.
"Hah?"
Selene froze. What kind of play was this?
A recruitment?
"Just as you suspect, my young friend—my young 'sibling.'"
He answered.
As Selene had feared, from the very beginning OAA had been observing and appraising her.
Beyond the factors of an extracosmic visitor, a new variable, and the specialization of a new multiverse, the fundamental reason OAA chose to truly manifest was Selene's own extraordinarily high tier.
Her development was excessive. Her growth, overnourished. She stood in a period of rapid ascension and transformation. Even his foremost subordinate—the Living Tribunal—might not be able to suppress this unknown extracosmic supreme creator god.
A powerful multiversal tier was the minimum threshold for Him to appear in person. Selene exceeded it comfortably.
Her rationality. Her recognition of order and rules rather than destruction. Her entirely new system of power. Her more diversified ideology, spaces, laws, dimensions. The omnipotent domain encompassing all known and unknown things she represented...
Everything about Selene stirred desire and interest within him.
If she were not hostile—
Gazing upon this embryonic composite multiverse that had generated new possibility, OAA formed an idea.
"If you agree, my friend, from this day forward it shall be your duty to safeguard and strengthen this secondary omnipotent multiverse."
Trying to get free labor?
Secondary omnipotent universe? I do not even see its shadow. What a grand promise... You want me to merge into Marvel? To let the universes under my rule merge as well? Heh. Quite the scheme—
Selene's thoughts cut off, but her courage grew.
No fighting? Then we negotiate.
"Interesting, Elder. Do you think I lack ambition? Are you not afraid of a guest devouring the host? My desire cannot be satisfied by a mere newborn multiverse—even one of extraordinary potential."
"If you possess the ability," OAA replied with a soft laugh, attitude unchanged. "An omnipotent universe? Greedy young one. But ambition and desire are good things. Of all things within a universe, who, given the chance, would not wish to ascend higher?"
"Not enough." This was one of Selene's conditions. "The Living Tribunal has no right to stand above me."
"Agreed. Provided you act within bounds."
"Good."
"I require greater authority to intervene."
"Agreed."
"And my subjects..."
...
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