Chapter 162: Three Cosmic Gods Enter the Fray
Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.
Du Wa's perspective, extending through countless Xenomorphs, covered most regions of the universe. He apathetically gazed down upon everything, listening to everything, like a high and mighty deity.
In fact, Du Wa was about to become one.
Power from the entire universe was continuously converging on Du Wa.
The universe itself, from its fundamental structure to its innumerable cosmic constants and parameters, was changing bit by bit for Du Wa's sake, like a delectable pastry being forcibly seasoned with his own spices.
A nascent Concept God was bound to use the concept they controlled to forcibly change the universe and distort the original rules.
Before he could completely change this universe, he still had to cross one final hurdle.
"Have they arrived? Those two... No, I should say, once these two things make any headway against me, even more of them will enter the fray, trying to carve up my flesh and blood."
The corner of Du Wa's mouth twitched into a derisive smile.
Even for ancient gods, their behavior wasn't much better than that of mortals when faced with sufficiently great benefits.
This was especially true when faced with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a Concept God.
Countless gods, across innumerable universes, could live their entire lives without encountering a newly ascended Concept God.
A Concept God isn't a god who "relies" on a certain concept; rather, it's one who incorporates the entirety of that concept and all its derivatives, making them a part of itself.
Taking zombies as an example, across the entire multiverse, zombies aren't exactly a high-end species. Their influence is limited to just a few universes, not yet qualifying to trigger a major event that could threaten the multiverse.
Among zombies, there are of course many powerful individuals, like Zombie Galactus. Taken alone, he is a universal-level god.
But this doesn't mean Zombie Galactus is the God of Zombies. He has merely fallen into the broad concept of "zombie" and possesses universal-level strength; he hasn't assimilated all zombies and their derivatives into a part of himself.
Zombie Galactus is a zombie, but not all zombies are Zombie Galactus.
Therefore, becoming a deity by relying on some newly emerged concept is not uncommon in the ever-evolving multiverse.
But what Du Wa was doing now—unifying an entire concept and, within his grasp, fusing all that the concept covered into a part of himself—this was rare.
At least in this universe, in the ten-billion-plus years since the Big Bang, no one had ever attempted to ascend to a Concept God and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Creation Gods as Du Wa was.
This was an unprecedented opportunity. Any ambitious being would naturally not let it pass, and so they swarmed in, drooling with greed.
First came Kronos, the God of Time. He was followed immediately by Thanos.
These two made no effort to conceal their actions.
"Thanos, this is our target. We've entered the range of the World Tree unimpeded, yet Du Wa has not responded at all."
Kronos pointed in a direction, toward the location of the solar system amidst the countless twinkling stars.
"The moment I succeed in killing them, everything here will be destroyed by me."
Thanos raised his right hand. On the golden gauntlet, the various Infinity Stones emanated their distinct glows.
But the power Thanos now possessed was not limited to just the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity Stones. He had found a brand new power, one in no way inferior to the other two.
Kronos dreaded Thanos. He knew very well that his grandson was a madman. His ultimate fascination with Death drove Thanos to approach Death by any means necessary.
In every sense of the word.
If one day Thanos were to have the sudden thought that killing a few gods might be an interesting attempt to please Death, Kronos had no doubt that he himself would be listed as a target for assassination.
As for tricks like familial affection, they were completely non-existent.
"Thanos, I believe that before we officially go to war with Du Wa, you should tell me about the new power you've acquired. Let me—your grandfather—analyze it and formulate tactics for you," Kronos stated coldly, as if discussing a matter of fact. "I am the God of Time. I have purview over all of time in the entire universe. No matter what kind of power it is, I will surely be more familiar with and understand it better than you."
"That's strange. Since you can control all of time, you should naturally know everything. Why wouldn't you know what power I've mastered?"
Thanos revealed a sinister smile, his mouth full of white teeth looking as if it were biting down on a black hole. He displayed his Infinity Gauntlet. "This is the power I have mastered. This is the power of Infinity."
Infinity? *Infinity, one of the Creator Gods who represents all of cosmic space, billions of dimensions, and the state of existence of all things, certainly doesn't know you've mastered His power,* Kronos thought.
On the verge of the great battle, Kronos couldn't help but feel a trace of anxiety. He inevitably entertained some terrible conjectures, running calculations on them. He neither knew how strong Du Wa was now, nor how much power he could gain from this victory even if he stopped Du Wa's ascension. Could he possibly escape his status as a vassal of Eternity, abandon his identity as the God of Time, and become a new Concept God instead?
At the same time, Kronos's understanding of the power of his ally and grandson—Thanos—was partial at best.
He was now in the pre-battle preparations for a conflict that could decide the fate of the universe, yet he knew nothing. Even the God of Time couldn't see things outside of time.
"From the looks of it, once Du Wa is defeated, I'll have to ensure Thanos is expelled at the first opportunity, lest he interfere with me or even obtain power beyond my control... The outcome of letting Thanos become stronger might be even worse than allowing Du Wa to become a god."
Kronos folded his arms, appearing as if everything was light and breezy, but in reality, a thick gloom washed over his heart.
If Du Wa became a god, as long as everyone was willing to bow their heads, there was still a way to live. At worst, they would have to submit and obey. At the absolute most, they would be parasitized and become Du Wa's subordinate gods.
Just as no matter how powerful the God of Time was, he would always be beneath Eternity, the supreme god of the temporal side.
But if Thanos got his hands on everything... that madman might really go on a great slaughter of gods to see if he could move Death. If that didn't work, Thanos would just come up with more schemes.
"Let's start with a greeting."
As Kronos said this, he extended a finger and abruptly pointed toward the distant solar system.
In just an instant, before the power of time he wielded could truly take effect, the entire World Tree immediately trembled.
Streams of divine power surged wildly from its various branches, condensing into chains of divine power that sealed all time and space, forcibly piercing through all fluctuations and shackling them firmly in place.
"Such a harsh method, meant to destroy all external changes," Kronos said in a low voice. "I can already see that while Du Wa hasn't made a move, his subordinate has already rushed out..."
A figure, brewing with all sorts of divine power, slowly materialized from nothing, appearing before Kronos and Thanos.
Foster's golden hair drifted about. Every ounce of divine power emanating from her body, if closely examined, maintained the most intimate connection with the World Tree.
Ever since the Shadow Gods were slaughtered to the last by Foster, she could freely wield the power of the World Tree.
Especially at this moment, Foster had also reclaimed the dispersed divine power of the World Tree from the Laufey Xenomorph, Skurge, and the other divine-powered Xenomorphs, concentrating it all upon herself to face the powerful enemies that had come attacking.
"The God of the World Tree... There's no mistake. For now, this woman of humble origins is the true God of the World Tree."
"Hmph, what a mad move. Is this the price, or perhaps the risk, one must pay to become a Concept God? Before even succeeding, Du Wa has already relinquished his own divine position."
"Impossible. Du Wa could decisively abandon the power of the World Tree because he can control the subordinate who now wields it. In other words, if one of us had the same confidence, we could also use this method to charge toward becoming a Concept God. We would only need to wait for Du Wa to die and seize the concept he controls. For us, this first step is extremely difficult."
"But a single God of the World Tree—and a subordinate god at that, unable to perfectly wield its full power—is no match for both the God of Time and Thanos."
The constantly rising whispers echoed through the various dimensions of the universe. Pairs of eyes simmering with complex emotions roved about. They probably wouldn't know themselves until the very last moment whether they would, based on the changing situation, take some risky action that they hadn't taken in perhaps billions of years.
Is this universe about to erupt into a super-melee between the gods? The moment Du Wa dies, this scene is bound to happen. Not every god is as radical as Kronos, but every god wouldn't mind taking the opportunity to reach out and grab a share.
But that Jane Foster was no match for this duo of Eternals was a certainty among the gods.
Needless to say, the God of Time, Kronos, despite being only a subordinate god of Eternity, was definitely a top-tier deity in the universe.
As for Thanos... at most, he was at the peak of the sub-skyfather level, but being able to wield multiple Infinity Stones, his strength must be immense.
Before this, no one had ever fought with multiple Infinity Stones, so no one could confirm just how strong the current Thanos could be.
"You deal with this woman. I'm going to kill Du Wa. He must die—and all the Xenomorphs must die as well, unless after Du Wa dies, the souls of the Xenomorphs will return to Death."
Thanos only cared about this point. If the Xenomorphs' souls weren't reclaimed by Du Wa, he definitely wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to challenge Du Wa.
Kronos shot Thanos a cold glance, remained silent for a moment, then pushed the power of time toward Foster.
This was the first-ever collision between the God of Time and the God of the World Tree in the history of the universe, and it was very likely to be the last. If not for the precious opportunity to vie for the position of a Concept God, these two types of deities, in fact, would most likely never have had a reason to fight, even until the end of the universe.
But now, they were fighting desperately for different purposes. The moment these two universal-level beings clashed, the collision of their powers easily obliterated countless stars.
The shackles of time and the chains of divine power intertwined, their drastic fluctuations brewing a world-rending crisis.
"If you think you've seized an opportunity, you are gravely mistaken. Du Wa wouldn't make such a mistake. Even if you are a god who has mastered time, it's useless in the face of a higher wisdom."
Foster shouted coldly, vigorously swinging Mjolnir.
But on a universal-level battlefield, a weapon of this tier was completely insufficient.
Kronos locked his eyes on the hammer. He split the endless lightning with his bare hands, then suddenly exerted his power. The terrifying might instantly destroyed the fundamental structure of Mjolnir, annihilating it down to its microscopic particles and constituent rules.
Mjolnir was thus reduced to dust.
But Foster's expression didn't change at all. She simply opened her hand and grabbed at the space in front of her.
Space abruptly split open, and a higher-tier weapon flew in: Stormbreaker.
Foster tilted her head again. A branch on the massive World Tree immediately snapped off. This branch, which should have been able to support countless planets, now landed rather unremarkably in Foster's hand. She pressed it directly onto Stormbreaker.
Stormbreaker, made entirely of Uru, was forcibly fitted with a handle made from a branch of the World Tree in the blink of an eye. The power surging from the axe experienced an explosive increase. In an instant, it was comparable to the sum total energy of countless stars, and the light that erupted from it was more brilliant than a supernova.
Everyone was shaken by this move, marveling at Foster's audacity in breaking a branch of the World Tree to craft a weapon, and also at the instantaneously rejuvenated Stormbreaker.
Only Thor, who had inexplicably lost his axe, stood on the continent of Asgard, silently looking up at the sky, staring at the storm of divine power appearing at the far edge of the World Tree.
Good news: the deity invading the World Tree had been blocked once again.
Bad news: his axe had flown away on its own, summoned away by his direct superior god with a single call.
Thor felt that his weapons were truly ill-fated, always being taken away by others for no reason. He wondered if Stormbreaker would even fly back on its own after the battle was over.
"Boring tricks."
Thanos glanced at Kronos's battle, then turned back to look ahead, intending to challenge Du Wa directly. He wanted to see if the death of this Concept God—or half-Concept God, if he killed him during his ascension—could make Death smile.
He hated how Death was like a block of wood, unmoving, ignoring him, and never speaking.
Just as Thanos was about to venture deeper into the World Tree.
"Reynolds, he's yours. Don't underestimate the enemy. Thanos is more dangerous than you imagine. Just do your best. If you really can't stop him, then let him in."
Du Wa merely glanced over, giving the order casually.
The ones he had to deal with weren't just these two. Other gods were also stirring restlessly. Dormammu, who held a grudge against Du Wa but had been laying low for some time studying Xenomorphs in the Dark Dimension, was now full of confidence and striking with full force.
(end of chapter)