Chapter 164: Becoming a God from This Moment On
He had arrived, spouting words similar to those Dormammu had used when making his move, having come in great haste.
But Mephisto didn't think for a second that he would follow in Dormammu's footsteps.
He had waited patiently, finally biding his time until the very moment the two Doctor Stranges besieged Dormammu.
One of those Doctor Stranges even possessed a portion of his bloodline, a result he had intentionally guided.
"Mephisto!!!"
The moment Demon Strange felt the agitation in his bloodline, he immediately sensed the overwhelming demonic aura. He shifted his gaze at once, and his expression instantly changed. He let out a roar filled with endless hatred.
Instinctively, Demon Strange wanted to shake off Dormammu, grab the Time Stone on his chest, and charge recklessly toward Mephisto.
"Calm down! That guy is doing this on purpose! Are you truly confident you can deal with a great demon of Mephisto's caliber right now? Don't forget, Mephisto is not a native god of this universe. It's a complete unknown how effective your Time Stone will be against him! If he manages to snatch the Time Stone from you, that would be real trouble. It would only put all of us in a more perilous situation!"
Black Strange acted quickly. He reached out, gripping Demon Strange's shoulder tightly. Upon making contact, he used the physical touch to cast a binding spell on Demon Strange.
The binding itself wasn't the goal; it only needed to hinder Demon Strange for a single instant.
"Besides, how can you be sure that you attacking him isn't the exact outcome he's hoping for? Mephisto's cunning is renowned far and wide," Black Strange said in a low voice.
Dormammu had originally intended to take advantage of the two Doctor Stranges' distraction to brew a powerful magic and eliminate one of them in a single blow. Unfortunately, not even the relatively weaker Demon Strange would make such a low-level mistake. He had already used the Time Stone at the first opportunity to drag Dormammu into a time loop, rendering his attempt futile and forcing him to watch as the precious opportunity slipped away.
Demon Strange hesitated. "But if I don't attack Mephisto, that might be exactly what that demon wants. That way, he can focus all his power on dealing with Du Wa."
"Yes, that's certainly a possibility. But I don't believe Du Wa is truly out of options. Don't underestimate the plans conceived in the mind of someone on the verge of becoming a concept god. In comparison, the easiest breakthrough on this entire battlefield is on our side. As long as we join forces and defeat Dormammu quickly, we can free ourselves up to help the others and slowly turn the situation around."
A wicked smile spread across Black Strange's gaunt face. "I have read countless books and know countless things, but I have never personally witnessed the birth of a concept god. I won't miss this opportunity. Whoever gets in the way of my curiosity, I will eliminate them—even if they are a god!"
Was Dormammu strong? Well, yes, he was very strong. In terms of raw power alone, Dormammu was slightly stronger than Black Strange. While it was true that Black Strange had destroyed a universe, it was only because he had messed up a time node, causing the universe to collapse on its own. The gods of that universe had no chance to resist and were annihilated along with their universe in a state of confusion.
It wasn't as if Black Strange had achieved the feat of destroying a universe by killing every single god in the entire universe.
"Are you threatening me, human from some unknown universe?" Dormammu's mood was foul. To be honest, despite their brief confrontation, he felt an intense dread toward this Doctor Strange.
As archmages at the single-universe level, Dormammu controlled the Dark Dimension and could constantly draw upon the power of his dimension. Logically, he should have the upper hand no matter how they fought.
But for some reason, Dormammu always perceived an ultimate sense of chaos and sin from Black Strange. It was a negative amalgamation left behind from the countless lives that had perished tragically at the hands of this human sorcerer.
"Hmm, it seems he's been persuaded..."
Mephisto took a second to glance at the Demon Strange he had cultivated, his expression growing even more intriguing.
He had personally engineered the birth of this Doctor Strange, and it wasn't a random act. Planting a nail like this in the universe allowed him to sense its great upheaval, ensuring he could rush over at the first moment.
Mephisto turned his gaze to Du Wa, feeling that he absolutely could not let this opportunity pass. If he missed it, he would be tempted to slap himself senseless.
"I underestimated you yet again. I originally thought you were, at most, a significant new concept that could bring me an unexpected boost. But I never imagined that you would one day be on the verge of a transformation into a concept god..."
Mephisto immediately rushed toward Du Wa, unable to wait any longer. A long tongue extended from his terrifying, grotesque maw, drooling over Du Wa.
The reward for devouring an ordinary concept and devouring a concept god were worlds apart.
Mephisto believed he was about to reap what would almost certainly be the greatest gain of his entire existence.
All he had to do was rush over, absorb Du Wa in one go, then take down all the Xenomorphs, and finally devour every last concept.
At that point, Mephisto's strength would experience an explosive increase. While he might still be no match for Marvel's number one great demon, Cyttorak—who was, after all, a multiverse-level demon and not a target Mephisto could easily catch up to—after acquiring everything from Du Wa, ruling over the other hell dimensions would surely be more than enough.
But when Du Wa's face was reflected in Mephisto's venomous eyes, and he saw that ultimate calm, Mephisto was slightly stunned.
"The long-awaited fruit has finally reached the moment of its great harvest. If I were you, I would be happy too... I am very happy right now," Du Wa said.
"Because you are about to be eaten by me. All the concepts you have accumulated will become part of a demon like me. You will not be dishonored."
"No, it's because from the moment you appeared, you no longer posed a threat to me. What I hate most is a blade that is never drawn. It makes it difficult for me to gauge its true depth." Du Wa shook his head gently. It was not yet time for him to act personally.
If it weren't for that guy, Du Wa really would have stepped in himself.
"Khonshu, I'm leaving this to you. In the prophecy you've seen, the culprit behind the destruction of your universe is right here," Du Wa said.
Khonshu???
A look of astonishment appeared on Mephisto's face. Immediately after, the demon saw a massive crack appear in the universe. From within it rose a bright, clear moon, emitting a holy, white light of incomparable brilliance.
Sensorially, it wasn't overwhelmingly dazzling, yet it easily overshadowed the light of the star, dyeing the dark vacuum a pure silver-white.
This universe was truly lively; another god from a parallel universe had broken in.
This was someone that even Mephisto had not expected. The moment he recognized who it was, Mephisto was stunned.
"To think it's you two. To have crossed countless universes and come all the way here..." Mephisto sneered.
"That's right, it's us. We thought it was strange when the many Mephistos that should have been continuously invading our universe suddenly withdrew all at once. There was a conspiracy afoot, sure enough. Was it to concentrate your forces to attack this universe? What do you take the universe for, something to invade and destroy whenever you please?!"
The moment Moon God Khonshu saw Mephisto, he became extremely agitated, his emotions also laced with a great deal of fear. "You want to destroy this place before you destroy my universe! I absolutely will not allow it. As long as I can finish you here, it means I've also saved my own universe."
This Moon God Khonshu, and the human who bore his power—Moon Knight Marc—were an extraordinary pair. This was because they were, in a sense, the children of fate who had emerged from the universe of the major event, the "Age of Khonshu."
This god-and-human duo had killed many of the Mephistos who invaded their universe.
But they suddenly realized that the endless stream of Mephistos had stopped their invasion and had all withdrawn.
Khonshu and Marc suspected that a more powerful enemy had appeared, forcing Mephisto to concentrate all his forces. Thus, the god and human came to an agreement: they could not afford to defend passively and wait for the demons to come knocking. Instead, they should follow the demons' trail and search through the vastness of the universe to find the one who could force Mephisto into such a frantic state.
Killing more Mephistos wouldn't save their universe, but finding someone who could kill Mephisto would allow them to save everything they held dear. Khonshu and Marc were convinced of this.
And the result did not disappoint them.
After many trials, they finally found the right direction and arrived at this universe. Just a glance from afar revealed that the universe was constantly emitting strange points of light, and its overall outline was in a state of violent flux, indistinct, as if it were gestating some mysterious and unknown power.
Now they knew. The one who had caused the upheaval throughout the entire universe, and the one who had forced Mephisto to consolidate his power, thus indirectly saving their universe, was actually the same person.
Most importantly, this person was now at some critical stage and had extended a clear invitation to the two of them, who had already arrived but had been circling outside the universe's barrier for some time.
They were happy to do anything that could cause trouble for Mephisto.
However, the combined strength of Moon Knight and Moon God Khonshu was not enough to face Mephisto's main body head-on.
For Mephisto to appear in person was an extremely rare event, which also meant he was determined to succeed.
But Du Wa didn't require these two to defeat Mephisto. He just needed them to buy him one final, small opportunity, saving him the trouble of acting personally.
Mephisto's face was ferocious as he prepared to eliminate the Moon Knight and Moon God blocking his path.
As a demon lord, his power naturally contained the power of the hell dimension he ruled. In this respect, he was essentially the same as beings like Dormammu or Knull.
However, the world of Hell contained countless dimensions within it and was independent of the multiverse.
It was impossible for Mephisto to move the entire hell dimension he ruled into the multiverse.
As long as his main body entered the multiverse, it meant that his peak strength could only be maintained for the single instant his main body left the hell dimension and entered the multiverse.
From that moment on, with every passing instant, Mephisto's power would weaken. The longer he was separated from his hell dimension, the weaker the power Mephisto could wield, unless his main body returned to Hell, where his power would slowly recover.
This was also the reason why Mephisto never took risks in person.
This time, he had taken a personal risk for Du Wa, which, to some extent, had also placed himself in peril.
Boom!
With a single glare from Mephisto, endless flames surged forth madly, as if the entire world had been torn open, dragging Marc and Khonshu into despair with its ultimate ugliness.
But having already killed many Mephistos, including a Skyfather-level Mephisto, Marc and Khonshu were all too familiar with Mephisto's power. They were psychologically prepared and ready for a frenzied resistance.
"Mephisto, I am extremely familiar with everything about you! Even my dreams are of killing you, even if you are far more powerful than any Mephisto I have ever encountered!!"
Khonshu was terrified. He knew he was no match for Mephisto at all, but right now, Moon Knight Marc was using his power to control this body. He immediately charged forward to meet Mephisto without hesitation.
Even though he was completely suppressed in a single exchange, on the brink of collapse, with great cracks appearing on his body that were difficult to fully repair, and his soul was also slowly being worn down.
Marc could almost see this universe's Death beckoning to him. Khonshu was trembling with fear, his instinct screaming at him to flee.
Make no mistake, this was what the Moon God Khonshu from the Age of Khonshu universe was like. He was utterly terrified of Mephisto, yet he was willing to risk everything to ensure his universe would not be destroyed by him, even making an enemy of the whole world to frantically extract primordial power from various heroes and villains to enhance his own strength.
In fact, Marc and Khonshu knew themselves that they did not need to defeat Mephisto. That was an impossible mission.
After the two figures clashed for several rounds, the outcome was almost decided in the blink of an eye.
"Enough. That's enough."
Suddenly, Du Wa spoke in a soft whisper.
As his words spread, a gentle breeze swept through the entire universe out of thin air, like an invisible giant hand stroking from one end of the universe to the other.
This act alone was enough to quell all the tremors within this universe.
Countless gazes, filled with shock, confusion, and fear, fell upon Du Wa.
Du Wa slowly stood up and, under the watch of innumerable eyes, spread his arms wide.
The entire universe shuddered violently. Billions of points of light connected into endless lines, ultimately forming a network that covered every corner of the universe. It pierced through countless rules, connected with the universe's constants and parameters, and, furthermore, inscribed Du Wa's mark upon every piece of information within the universe.
Mephisto stared at Du Wa with a grim expression. "You have..."
"Yes, I have succeeded. I have become a Deity, just like you," Du Wa replied.
(end of chapter)