Chapter 157: Beginning the Conceptual Ascension
Du Wa no longer paid any mind to the Shadow Gods.
The most precious things this group of Shadow Gods had accumulated over hundreds of millions of years—the divine power and Authority of the World Tree—had already been completely seized by Du Wa.
Normally, Du Wa wouldn't bother with whatever scheming these rats hiding in the shadows were up to.
He was never the type with an overwhelming desire for control, needing to grasp everything in his hands, unwilling to let go of any matter, no matter how trivial.
In truth, as long as this group of rats was willing to bow their heads, stay quiet, and not get in Du Wa's way, there would have been no problem.
But unfortunately, these guys couldn't hold back. Having dealt with Du Wa before, they thought they had figured out his temperament—his dislike for wasting too much energy on trivial matters.
Their judgment of Du Wa's personality wasn't actually wrong, but they were negligent in the most crucial aspect. They were too clever for their own good, thinking that while Du Wa's energy was focused on other things, he would care even less about trivialities. They wanted to act fast, aiming for a swift victory by triggering Ragnarok to destroy Asgard, hoping to quickly recover some of their strength.
This was simply too noisy. At a critical moment when Du Wa was spreading his Consciousness far and wide, using countless Xenomorphs to watch over the entire universe, a group of rats had gathered, chirping and squeaking chaotically.
It was hard for Du Wa not to hear them.
"I originally didn't intend to deal with them. In fact, in a little while, my attention might have shifted to other universes. At that point, no matter what kind of conflict erupted between these few rats and Asgard, I wouldn't have interfered. So why did they have to kick up a fuss right now?"
Du Wa gave Foster her command.
Foster's eyes lit up. It had been a while since she had received such a specific command.
"You should have let me do this long ago. Wiping out these guys and cleaning up the World Tree from top to bottom would have saved a lot of trouble."
Foster was as excited as if she had received a divine oracle—which, from her perspective, it truly was.
Immediately, she swung Mjolnir in her hand, turned, and charged toward the branches of the World Tree.
Everywhere she passed, all the shadows—whether cast by the branches of the World Tree or on the reverse side of one world after another—were subjected to Foster's relentless bombardment. It was an absolute, carpet-bombing style of cleansing.
A massive amount of divine power surged like a tsunami, wave after wave, continuously, as if washing away the filth of the mortal world, exposing all the impurities of the dark side.
Foster quickly found the terrified group of Shadow Gods.
"This is too much! Using our power against us... and now you won't even allow us to advance Ragnarok, which should be the destined fate of the World Tree!"
"Enough! Stop trying to justify your actions with such pathetic words. I have learned the whole truth from Du Wa and the World Tree! Fate? Is the so-called fate you speak of truly Fate?"
Foster cleared the path with Mjolnir, violently shattering all obstacles. Her small figure stood before several colossal black shadows, but the divine power surging from her body was expanding wildly, coalescing into a giant of divine power that dwarfed the dark figures.
The few Shadow Gods looked up in terror, as if seeing an immense Xenomorph with its gaping maw wide open, heartily chomping away at the World Tree.
This made everyone who knew the prophecy of Ragnarok wonder in a daze if this illusion was the true Ragnarok: Xenomorphs tearing at the World Tree, devouring everything until nothing was left.
But then they realized this must be a mistaken association, because if things developed in that direction, Du Wa would only use the World Tree to create more high-quality hosts and obtain a greater number of powerful Xenomorphs.
Or, would Du Wa attempt to turn the World Tree into a gigantic Xenomorph?
Foster shouted sternly, "This ridiculous Fate is nothing more than something you few created by secretly manipulating the World Tree! Without you, there would never have been a prophecy like Ragnarok!"
"Where there is rebirth, there must be destruction. This is the way to ensure the World Tree grows strong," one of the Shadow Gods tried to argue. Perhaps his words would have been more persuasive if he wasn't shouting them while fleeing.
"What a ridiculous excuse. Verifying your claim is very simple. Once I've finished you all off, we'll just watch how the World Tree evolves over the next few million, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of years. Then we'll know if you were telling the truth."
Foster struck with her heavy hammer. The divine power gushing from her body like a geyser instantly condensed into terrifying shackles that spread rapidly, climbing higher and higher, ultimately forming a vast network. Like indestructible chains, it pierced and sealed the domain of shadow.
In the end, the Shadow Gods couldn't even escape. They had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight.
All their excuses were useless. They tried various rhetorical tricks, but they were all feeble. Even when they mustered their courage, using their final strength to fight for their lives, facing such a powerful Foster—especially watching her use the power they had once carefully guarded and possessed—brought on an even greater wave of Despair.
They were no match at all.
The shadow of the World Tree they relied on was now like paper-mâché, torn to shreds by Foster's own hands. Her practiced movements were like tearing apart a tattered cloth covered in patches.
The shadow, constructed from one world after another, suddenly began to accelerate its fall. In a silent collision, it was annihilated into nothingness.
At this moment, Foster shook the entire World Tree. With the deaths of the few Shadow Gods, she announced her existence to the Various Worlds.
"I saw the shadows moving, and each one is at least a Skyfather. I've never heard of such beings within the World Tree."
"It seems Hela's transformation originated from these guys. What are they, shadow gods, dark gods? Are they related to Knull and the Dark Elves?"
"They're definitely not related. Otherwise, they could never have escaped Du Wa's pursuit. They would have been cleaned up by Du Wa the moment Knull was defeated. I don't believe Du Wa didn't discover them; that would be underestimating a Cosmic Celestial."
The God of the World Tree wouldn't know that Skyfathers were hiding in the shadows of the World Tree? It's obviously impossible. So it seems Du Wa simply didn't want to act, or perhaps he felt it was unnecessary? Did he just ignore these few strange Skyfathers as if they were ants?
Even now, the one who took action to clean up the Shadow Gods wasn't Du Wa, but Foster, a human who had no great reputation before this.
Foster's dominant performance at this moment already possessed a fraction of Du Wa's former might. Some people could also tell that the power Foster was using was exactly the same as what Du Wa had used, only much weaker.
Du Wa gave his power to this human? What kind of insane act was this? Was Du Wa that confident, or arrogant, to the point of having no fear of a subordinate's rebellion?
What? Oh, she's a Xenomorph? Ah, then it's fine.
Under Foster's assault, with one hammer blow after another, she shattered one Shadow God after another.
Those immense, ancient Deities, the Skyfathers, were now like clouds of smoke, dissipating bit by bit under Foster's attacks.
When the last Shadow God vanished into nothing, it marked the end of what was almost the most ancient group within the World Tree. They had perished.
Even in death, the Shadow Gods cursed Du Wa, but they never managed to figure out why he had launched this fatal strike against them at such a time.
All the gloom and haze dispersed. Only Foster remained, holding Mjolnir, standing tall atop the World Tree, admired by all the Various Worlds.
But when everyone remembered that Foster was just one of Du Wa's subordinates, with no brilliant feats to her name in the past—at most getting a few extra glances for obtaining Mjolnir—and now, after such a short time, she had become absurdly strong.
This left those Skyfathers who had lived for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, utterly speechless.
In this battle, Du Wa didn't even show up personally, nor did he indirectly participate using Foster's body. He simply sent Foster to violently end everything. This was too terrifying.
The entire World Tree fell into a deathly silence. No one wanted to unwittingly offend Du Wa and then be killed by this woman, who they now didn't know whether to call the Female Thor or some other kind of god.
"It's over?"
Thor, carrying Stormbreaker, looked imposing yet had a bewildered expression as he surveyed the gradually calming World Tree.
The battle was over. He should have been happy, but instead, he felt an empty and uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
The world was changing too fast. It was one thing for Du Wa to advance at a breakneck pace, but now even a woman under his command was absurdly fierce.
In Thor's view, if it were someone like Reynolds who was this powerful, he could completely accept it. But it was Foster, the one who had picked up Mjolnir, who had now surpassed him.
"Hela is my sister, an offspring of Odin. I think..."
"What you think is useless, Thor. My mission is to crush her and then bring this idiot back," Foster interrupted Thor, speaking in a deadpan manner.
"But she was supposed to be my opponent..."
"What you say doesn't count. What I say doesn't count either. Only what Du Wa says counts. Most importantly, the victor holds all power over the vanquished. You should know this better than I do. I could have killed Hela directly, but I didn't. As a price, she must do something more elsewhere to compensate for this life she's been spared."
Foster grabbed Hela and flew directly back to Earth.
Thor stood silently in the dark night sky, feeling how cold it was.
"Mother, I..." Thor started to speak, but trailed off.
"Don't be disheartened by this. Think back carefully. From the moment you arrived on Midgard until now, when have you ever surpassed Du Wa? When have you not been completely outmatched by him in every way?" Frigga's calm demeanor left Thor with no room to even be angry.
"So we just watch as Hela is taken away by Du Wa's subordinate?"
"Does it make a difference? You should be thankful she was taken away by Du Wa's people. Otherwise, either you would have died at Hela's hands, or she would have died at yours. It was impossible for you both to survive. But now, that possibility exists. Even if the price is that Hela might become a Xenomorph, or find herself in an even worse situation. But Thor, weren't you also once on the verge of becoming a Xenomorph?"
Thor fell silent once more, his face showing intense unwillingness, but even more so, a deep helplessness.
Facing a being like Du Wa, no matter how proud or arrogant a person was, willing or not, it seemed they had no choice but to bow their heads.
Insisting on holding one's head high wasn't really a problem, as long as one was prepared to pay the price of becoming a Xenomorph and having their entire species slaughtered.
Earth.
Foster completed her mission, brought Hela back, and tossed her in front of Du Wa. She then looked at Du Wa curiously.
"I still can't figure out what you're doing. My intuition tells me you're up to something big. Are you going to become a Cosmic Celestial again? After giving us the power of the World Tree, did you choose a method more suitable for yourself?" Jane Foster asked curiously.
"A very good guess. It doesn't matter that you can't see it now; you'll understand soon enough... As for this woman, send her directly to the Queen. She is worthy of an excellent face-hugger. Perhaps I'll have a use for her in the future. At worst, she's still a decent Skyfather, and can be sent out on missions when necessary."
Du Wa casually glanced at Hela. In his eyes, Hela was destined to be a consumable, perhaps one he would casually throw into some major event.
In any case, Du Wa never cared about the loyalty of subordinates like Hela who were brought back by force.
"No one in the World Tree will be foolish enough to jump out and court death now. So, it's about time for me to enter the next stage... becoming a God."
Du Wa's perspective now extended to all corners of the universe.
Originally, it required Kruger and the rest of the Marauders to carry out deployment everywhere. Later, other sorcerers from Kamar-Taj also spent their days repeatedly opening teleportation gates to send Xenomorphs to various planets.
It didn't matter if the planet was habitable or not; they just had to teleport the Xenomorphs.
Once the number of Xenomorphs grew, they would spontaneously begin to migrate to other planets, either by finding a way onto a starship or by searching for a space wormhole.
Although there were still many planets where Du Wa hadn't planted his "nails," what he had now was enough. These scattered points were sufficient to expand Du Wa's scope to an astonishing degree.
At this point, Du Wa had completed the first step and was beginning to enter the next stage.
"The crucial moment has arrived: to ascend my concept, to deeply embed what I represent into the very fabric of the universe. During this period, as long as the universe isn't destroyed in a multiversal-level war, there won't be any major problems... The only minor trouble is that some of this universe's native Gods might become alarmed by my actions and do something rash in response."
Du Wa got right to it.
The moment he acted, on countless planets throughout the universe, the innumerable "nails" that had been scattered, each representing the concept of the Xenomorph, drew immense attention.
(end of chapter)