Chapter 166: First Turn Him Into My Vassal and Then Kill Him, Thus Evading Death
In this universe, there were several sword-type artifacts.
Du Wa himself possessed one: All-Black the Necrosword, which he had seized from Knull with the help of Gorr the God Butcher.
However, Du Wa had only used this artifact once, during his confrontation with Knull. This was mainly because the Necrosword was the first true Symbiote in the entire universe. Obtaining it meant that Knull lost a portion of the power he could wield, weakening his enemy while strengthening himself.
But now, Thanos had entered the fray wielding the Infinity Sword. By coordinating this artifact with the Infinity Stones, the power he unleashed far surpassed the might of the Necrosword.
With that last strike, if Du Wa hadn't intervened, Reynolds would have been gravely injured, if not killed on the spot by Thanos.
"What is that?" Reynolds gazed forward with uncertainty and shock, but he wasn't looking at Thanos.
This made Thanos pause. A flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.
"Don't you understand yet? That's Death. She has arrived. She almost intervened to claim you from me after your death."
Du Wa also saw the slowly materializing Creator God. A single glance was enough to perceive the omnipresent concept of finality, endings, and death.
She was both the final stage that all normal life forms could never escape, no matter how hard they tried, and a tangible deity in her own right.
Death had arrived, silent and yet present everywhere, watching without a word.
Looking through Reynolds's perspective, Du Wa saw that in Reynolds's eyes, Death was a skeleton in a black robe, holding a giant scythe.
Considering Reynolds's background as a vagrant, this was quite reasonable. His perception and imagination of death were shaped by the classic image of the scythe-wielding reaper.
As for what Du Wa himself saw, Death was a humanoid phantom, an amalgam of rules and meaning, not a person with a clear form and distinct features.
Everyone's perception of Death was different, so what they saw of her was also completely different.
But as far as Du Wa knew, few saw her as Thanos did.
The Death in Thanos's eyes was also changing. In his youth, Thanos had interacted with the girlish Death of his youth, who would speak to him and try every means to lure him down a depraved path of slaughter and bloodshed. After he grew up, Death became a mature woman who still possessed her charm.
This was completely understandable. An obsessed admirer often harbors unrealistic fantasies about the object of their affection, always believing that effort alone can win the other's favor, when in reality it means nothing.
But Thanos was always lost in his one-sided infatuation, treating his pursuit as his life's creed, racking his brains just to bring a smile to Death's face.
For instance, right now, Thanos considered eliminating Du Wa to be his top priority. Since Death was already paying attention, if he offered Du Wa to her, it would surely bring her pleasure.
"Since you're interested in Du Wa, I will give him to you," Thanos said in a deep voice.
Death still gave no response, like an indifferent operating program. But Thanos didn't mind; he was used to Death's cold and numb posture. Sometimes, he missed the girlish Death from his youth who would speak to him, trying every means to lure him into depravity and onto a path of slaughter and bloodshed.
Many gods had sensed Death's arrival, and they showed little surprise at Thanos's attitude.
Unless they were a god who rarely left their domain, anyone who had traveled the universe knew that Thanos, the infamous cosmic Butcher, was a well-known enforcer on the side of Death, enjoying her protection.
This was also thanks to the series of major events Du Wa had recently orchestrated, creating frequent uproars that made many gods start paying attention to the changes in the universe, and thus they learned of Thanos's existence.
"Still don't get it? Death is here for me. Whatever you do is just a futile effort. It won't change her opinion of you," Du Wa said bluntly.
Thanos remained expressionless. He took a deep look at Death, then turned, raised his Infinity Sword, and slashed toward Du Wa.
The power of the Infinite experienced an explosive surge, all of it converging on the blade's edge.
"A formidable power, but unfortunately, you only managed to obtain three Infinity Stones, not six. You cannot truly and perfectly wield the Infinite."
Du Wa's other hand opened, palm facing up, as streaks of light gathered from all over Earth.
The Time Stone flew from the neck of Demon Strange.
The blue Space Stone flew from the Celestial Armor of Tony, who was maintaining Earth's stability and remained on standby.
From a distorted region of space-time, the red Reality Stone flew over.
Three beautiful stones floated above Du Wa's palm, shining in response to the three Infinity Stones on Thanos's gauntlet.
They even formed a subtle connection with the Infinity Sword.
But this shared connection of infinite power didn't affect Du Wa's manipulation of these three Infinity Stones in the slightest.
"That's a Time Stone on your neck too, isn't it? Why didn't it move? And I've never seen you use it. When two Time Stones exist in the same universe, which one controls its time?"
Demon Strange looked down at his empty Eye of Agamotto, his face devoid of expression. He then turned to Black Strange beside him, staring at the Eye of Agamotto on Black Strange's chest.
"You mean this? I haven't told you yet, but every Infinity Stone is only effective within a specific region. I haven't figured out the deeper principles, but those are the rules. My Time Stone, which I took from my universe, also works in adjacent universes. However, it's useless here."
Black Strange pointed at Dormammu in the far distance. "If my Time Stone still worked, I would let Dormammu know the meaning of cruelty."
Demon Strange understood. This meant that for him, the Time Stone was a transitional item. If he lived and died in this universe, then the Time Stone would undoubtedly be an indispensable artifact.
But if he were to leave this universe, even the most powerful Infinity Stone would be a useless piece of scrap. Demon Strange now understood that the Infinity Stones would be completely useless in dealing with Mephisto.
The two Doctor Stranges were very indifferent toward the Time Stone, but Tony could not be indifferent about his Cosmic Cube being taken by Du Wa.
"I finally found a stable energy source, and now, Du Wa just reaches out and takes it. He even crushed the Cosmic Cube right in front of me and took the Space Stone without so much as a word."
Tony sighed, but based on his understanding of Du Wa, unless it was truly necessary, Du Wa would just toss the Space Stone back to him like trash after the battle was over.
That was simply Du Wa's nature.
Tony was just habitually complaining; he wasn't really blaming him for anything. In fact, Tony once believed he was one of the key forces Du Wa intended to use.
If that fellow Moon Knight hadn't jumped out to block Mephisto, Tony had every reason to believe that the one to step up and fight Mephisto would have been him, piloting the Celestial Armor powered by the Space Stone.
Six Infinity Stones in a standoff, plus various other artifacts and the powerful beings who wielded them—this was destined to be an unprecedented great battle that would shake the entire universe.
Even the ancient gods felt a tremor of fear.
This was the first time a powerful conceptual god had descended upon this universe.
The gathering of all six Infinity Stones was also a first in history.
And Thanos was holding some inexplicable Infinity Sword.
The battle fully erupted, pushing the universe to its absolute limit.
But neither Du Wa nor Thanos intended to hold back. Even if they smashed the entire universe to pieces, they would only focus on finding a way to eliminate the other.
The most powerful battle since the birth of the universe had begun.
The six Infinity Stones resonated with each other, and the brilliant beams of light they unleashed seethed with a cold, murderous intent that could tear everything apart.
Du Wa raised a hand, and the Necrosword appeared in it. He reached out, grabbed the three Infinity Stones, and slapped them all onto the blade.
Two figures holding longswords continuously swung their weapons. Seemingly simple movements could easily detonate countless planets.
Ancient planets, completely unable to withstand this level of pressure, exploded on the spot, turning into endless, fleeting stars.
It wasn't just planets; even the most fundamental structures of the universe, like time and space, suffered immense pressure, causing traumas and cracks of various sizes to appear throughout the cosmos.
Unfortunate souls were constantly swept away by the shattered space-time, crying in despair, their bodies annihilated without a trace.
Some gods and Skyfathers also scrambled into action, trying their best to protect some galaxies, but everyone knew this was just a temporary measure. Everything depended on the outcome of the battle between the two of them.
A sharp crack echoed, blasting apart the endless stars nearby. The intense explosion bathed their region in brilliant daylight.
Endlessly compressed light and heat, the overburdened space-time, and constants and parameters distorted beyond recognition all surged wildly around the two of them.
But neither Du Wa nor Thanos paid any mind to this destruction.
"If you had obtained all the Infinity Stones, you would have been a very troublesome opponent. But alas, you only managed to get half of them."
Du Wa swung the Necrosword in a downward arc, smashing Thanos away.
Thanos expressionlessly shook the Infinity Sword in his hand. Taking the blow from the Necrosword head-on had also put him under immense pressure.
"Three Infinity Stones are enough for me to send you to meet Death. You will thank me. Returning to Death is an honor," Thanos said coldly.
"That's your honor, not mine. I went to great lengths to become a conceptual god, not to be the vassal for another."
"Is that so? Then you can be the first conceptual god to become a vassal."
Thanos suddenly raised his right hand. A tri-colored light instantly erupted from the Infinity Gauntlet, aimed directly at Du Wa.
Among these three Infinity Stones, the purple Power Stone unleashed the ultimate might on a physical level, while the Mind Stone and Soul Stone directly attacked Du Wa's soul and consciousness.
All this power was channeled through the Infinity Sword, crossing the incomparably chaotic region.
"You think you are extremely, extremely strong, but you've overlooked the most important thing. The power you have, I have as well. But the power I possess is something you can never hope to attain."
On Thanos's side, his weakest link was himself; he was merely a Sub-Skyfather.
Du Wa, however, was a conceptual god, naturally receiving the empowerment of an endless concept.
At this moment, every Alien in the entire universe, whether an Alien in the narrow sense or a parasitized "Alien" in the broader sense, now became a source of power that Du Wa could use.
The Soul Stone, the Mind Stone?
Very interesting, but those were the two Infinity Stones Du Wa cared about the least.
Endless beams of light surged out from within Du Wa's body.
At this moment, every Alien serving as an anchor point throughout the universe was, in essence, a composite of his concept. Everything they possessed, even across infinite distances, fell into Du Wa's hands in an instant, to be used by him.
This was the nature of a concept, an entity that stood above all other gods.
A continuous stream of might was mastered by Du Wa, whether from divine power-based Aliens like Foster, or other types like those based on Reynolds, Sunspot, and the Hyperion Xenomorphs.
All of their strength was being extracted and used by Du Wa.
In an instant, it was as if the entire universe had become an object in Du Wa's palm. After a sudden compression, it was then slammed toward Thanos.
It was another sword strike.
The Necrosword in Du Wa's hand seemed to be on the verge of breaking. Already burdened by three Infinity Stones, it let out a pained scream as Du Wa wielded it in an even more violent manner.
As the two weapons touched, everything within a range of countless light-years vanished.
An instant later, the Necrosword simply snapped in half, though the Symbiote itself wasn't completely dead.
But it had successfully completed the mission Du Wa had forced upon it: to defeat Thanos.
The Infinity Sword did not shatter. It was, after all, the most superior weapon that could be found within a single universe.
The weapon was fine, but the person wielding it was not.
Just as Du Wa had said, the weakest part of Thanos was himself. Compared to Du Wa, the difference was like that between clouds and mud; there was simply no basis for comparison.
"It's over, Thanos. Your glory was extremely brief. But I won't kill you directly."
Du Wa said, "I know Death is protecting you. Killing you won't solve the problem. In that case, I will first turn you into my vassal, and then I will kill you... I already have one Alien Thanos; I don't need trash like you as a second."
He had truly run out of patience with this universe's Thanos.
Faced with a loyal servant of Death, one who was also highly compatible with various artifacts and powerful forces, it was difficult for a normal deity to kill him. They had no way to stop Death from resurrecting Thanos again and again.
Du Wa couldn't do it before, but now he had a way. First, he would snatch Thanos from Death's grasp, force him into his own conceptual domain, and then kill him.
Even Death would be unable to change the outcome of Thanos's death.
(end of chapter)