Chapter 172: Smuggling into DC is a Matter of Finesse, Not Brute Force
Cyttorak was unwilling to bother with the messy affairs of the Multiverse, giving off the impression of being Zen-like and unmotivated—at least, that's how it appeared from his actual actions.
But this did not mean Cyttorak was good-tempered.
On the contrary, in the eyes of the other demons of Hell, Cyttorak was an extremely dangerous and irascible fellow. Yet, due to his personality of avoiding action whenever possible, he always preferred to sit high upon his throne, chattering endlessly about the few things he cared about, which made the other demons look down on him somewhat.
"'Nothing can stop the steps of one seeking vengeance.' Cyttorak often says this. I guess when it comes to fighting with words, He is invincible."
This was Mephisto's evaluation of Cyttorak.
At least in Mephisto's opinion, Cyttorak was a guy who preferred fighting with words over fighting personally—irritable, impatient, and yet extremely lazy, a walking contradiction.
But this very same guy was ridiculously strong. Very few gods or demons were willing to clash with someone like him, let alone take a huge risk and charge into Cyttorak's headquarters, the Crimson Cosmos.
The movements of the Juggernaut were one of the few things Cyttorak cared about.
This great demon had deployed the Crimson Gems he personally created in many universes. In these universes, the Juggernaut almost always became the bearer of the Crimson Gem, acting as His spokesperson.
This meant that if a Juggernaut from a certain universe performed exceptionally well and earned Cyttorak's favor, they could obtain more demonic power from Cyttorak through the Crimson Gem, instantly gaining terrifying strength and creating a global or even universal-level crisis in minutes.
And now, in some unknown universe, the Juggernaut chosen by Cyttorak was dead. Not only that, but the Crimson Gem had also changed hands twice, as if this treasure He had created was some cheap, mass-produced product that could be used by anyone without His permission.
If this had been an important universe with a designation, it might have prompted Cyttorak to do something, such as reclaiming the Crimson Gem at the very least.
But when Cyttorak deigned to glance at it, he found it to be an utterly mediocre universe, and his patience immediately dwindled.
However, He soon discovered that a Concept God had actually been born in this universe, and his interest was piqued slightly.
"Such a mediocre world, with no powerful artifacts, no rich universal rules, only a small and fragmented group of gods—how could it possibly give birth to a Concept God?"
When Cyttorak further sensed that it was this Concept God who had obtained His Crimson Gem, his interest grew even more.
He remembered Du Wa's name.
When a being of multiversal standing commits something to memory, it meant a weight equivalent to the Multiverse itself had etched Du Wa's name with the truest imprint.
In the unseen depths of reality, the entire Multiverse seemed to undergo a brand-new change. Something that only multiversal-level gods could truly understand and acknowledge began to show a faint sign. But it was only a sign, as Cyttorak ultimately did not truly take this universe to heart, merely glancing at it out of boredom.
Different gods had different names for this sort of thing, and their methods of evaluation varied, but without exception, any world that was noticed by a being of multiversal standing—garnering even a few extra glances and being remembered—would become a universe watched by the gods.
These universes shared a common feature—a designation.
What truly made Cyttorak pay attention, however, was that this unfamiliar Concept God was using His stone to invade a Hell dimension, and was even teaching a lesson to Mephisto, whom He greatly disliked.
Yes, Cyttorak also disliked Mephisto. No demon held any goodwill towards Mephisto.
"This Crimson Gem has been in your hands for several seconds, yet there's still no reaction."
Professor X and Magneto were also watching, but expressions of confusion gradually appeared on their faces, unsure of what Du Wa was observing with such concentration.
Du Wa studied the beautiful stone, showing no sign of frustration on his face.
"The deity didn't respond to you?" Professor X asked probingly.
"No, the fact that the Crimson Gem shows no change is the greatest response. It means He has at least watched us... I am a god of this universe. I can sense that some indescribable, subtle changes have occurred in this universe, as if something that shouldn't have been in the story has undergone a crucial shift due to the casual act of a powerful being."
"What's the meaning of that?" Magneto didn't quite understand. "Is this unknown deity stronger than you?"
"Much stronger, at least for now. Our universe will have the opportunity to anchor itself through this being. In a multiversal sense, there is nothing more reliable than using a multiversal being as a frame of reference."
The probability of the Multiverse being destroyed was greater than the probability of Cyttorak being finished. Cyttorak was not one to act rashly; his mind was single-mindedly focused on the Juggernaut and the Crimson Gem.
If someone messed with the Juggernaut and the Crimson Gem, Cyttorak would become easily angered, and would then stay angry.
Because these were His only schemes for interfering with the inner workings of the Multiverse.
In any case, Du Wa hadn't figured out why Cyttorak was so obsessed with the Crimson Gems he created. Perhaps he was still following the ritualistic charades of the Octessence?
But other gods, like Raggadorr—the origin deity of the golden magic circles that Kamar-Taj sorcerers brandished—had long since stopped engaging in such complex rituals in this multiversal generation.
Du Wa even suspected that perhaps during some secret period unknown to him, Cyttorak had been slapped hard by Nemesis, which was why he was so obsessed with creating his stones.
Everyone in the high-end circles of the Omniverse knew that Thanos was skilled at using the Infinity Stones, but far fewer gods knew that the Juggernaut was the one skilled at using the Crimson Gem.
However, this was not something the current Du Wa could uncover the truth about.
Du Wa's gaze was profound, clearly brewing a vortex far more terrifying than countless black holes. As a Concept God, he carefully perceived the subtle changes in this universe. It was so difficult to interpret even from the conceptual level that other ordinary gods would find it even harder to detect.
But a change was indeed happening. This meant Du Wa's actions had achieved a small goal.
To assign a universe designation to the universe he would one day completely rule, making this world one of the important universes within the Multiverse.
Nothing in this world comes for free, especially for Du Wa. Scheming to obtain a universe designation wasn't for the boring goal of entering the perspective of multiversal beings, but... Du Wa needed this universe to have a designation!
Only with a designation would Du Wa have a higher chance of using the method he envisioned to reasonably... smuggle himself into DC!
After all, Du Wa was certain that there was no complex trick like a system in his head that would allow him to accomplish the feat of forcefully transmigrating between different multiverses.
Even within the Marvel multiversal system, moving from one multiverse to another completely intact was a task of hellish difficulty, let alone reasonably smuggling oneself to another massive multiversal system.
There were many ways to get a designation.
One way was for Du Wa himself to become a multiversal god. This was very difficult. If he could advance so quickly, he would have to be insane to consider running off to DC. Wasn't fleeing to DC precisely to find better and faster opportunities to advance to the multiversal level?
After all, for a Concept God, the Concept is everything. What could be more cost-effective and reliable than going to another massive multiverse to expand one's Concepts?
The other way was to find a relatively reliable being of multiversal standing to provide an endorsement, giving Du Wa's universe a designation.
For a multiversal-level being, comparable to the sum total of countless universes, making an ordinary universe less than ordinary was all too simple.
That's why Du Wa chose Cyttorak. This great demon was relatively reliable and didn't like to move. Du Wa also had a way to contact him, making him the perfect candidate—at least far more reliable than the likes of Death and Chthon.
If he had chosen the wrong target, Du Wa was absolutely certain that he, along with the universe itself, would be swallowed whole. There was no doubt that if vicious multiversal gods like the God of Dark Magic Chthon, the Serpent God Set, Lord Chaos, or Shuma-Gorath had shown up, they would have done just that.
"This will do. With this one's endorsement, I can go and take out Mephisto without worry," Du Wa said.
Professor X frowned slightly and pondered for a moment. "This deity you mentioned is a demon? Did you make a bargain with a demon?"
"It's not a bargain, not even a tacit understanding. But when I made indirect contact with Him through the Crimson Gem and wasn't met with an attack or a curse, it meant the greatest uncertainty was eliminated... I like to take one step while seeing many steps ahead."
Du Wa put away the Crimson Gem. Having confirmed the attitude of Hell's strongest demon, Du Wa was completely at ease. Originally, if Cyttorak had rejected him outright, he would have resorted to his backup plan, such as dismantling the Crimson Gem to create a pile of alien stones... At the very least, he needed to first eliminate the trouble that was Mephisto, while maximally circumventing the natural suppression the Hell dimension places on all outsiders.
Now, it was possible.
This was the second multiversal-level being he had made contact with.
The first was Death, whom he had rejected.
And this time, dealing with Cyttorak had already yielded the best result Du Wa could have hoped for.
"How are things? Over at the Krakoa Kingdom, have any mutants volunteered to join me in Hell to fight?" Du Wa asked casually. "There are many powerful individuals among the mutants, like Dr. Jean Grey. Her condition seems rather unstable recently."
"Haven't you accepted enough mutants? Before, they had to call out your name. Now, even mutants who merely think of your name or recall information related to you receive your invitation. The number of mutants who have defected to you in recent years far exceeds the total number who have joined our Krakoa Kingdom."
Professor X sounded helpless. "As for Jean Grey, her mental state isn't suitable for the battlefield. We are currently trying to guide her to control herself, to avoid being manipulated by the Phoenix Force."
"The Phoenix Force on Earth is, after all, just a fragment. She will one day control it."
Du Wa swept his gaze over the entire island, taking everything in. He also paid special attention to the recently matured Wanda.
Jean Grey's situation was relatively good. The Phoenix Force in the Multiverse was not whole; it was all in fragmented states.
But Chaos Magic was not. The being who wields Chaos Magic and grants it to every Scarlet Witch in every universe is none other than the God of Dark Magic Chthon, who is also the source of Dormammu's magic. That guy is a notorious villain.
"From the looks of it, among the mutants of this universe, perhaps only Moira is the most powerful and special. The other mutants don't really have anything impressive to show..." Du Wa thought to himself.
It was a common situation for a superhero or villain who was dominant and influential in a few universes to be mediocre and die unremarkably in many other universes.
"Pay more attention to Wanda. Her situation is a little more troublesome than you imagine, far more dangerous than Jean Grey, who seems to be struggling to wield the Phoenix Force."
Du Wa left Krakoa and launched a general assault on Mephisto's Hell.
It was time for this annoying great demon to die for good, lest he come looking for Du Wa's trouble again.
The entire Hell dimension was being overrun by an even greater number of Xenomorphs, almost completely submerged.
The throng of demons putting up a desperate resistance suffered heavy casualties. The remaining demons, realizing they couldn't stop these numerous and powerful Xenomorphs, finally broke and turned to flee.
The moment the rout began, the demons ironically wished for Mephisto to die here more than Du Wa did.
If Mephisto won, they, the fleeing demons, would be doomed.
But on the other hand, if Du Wa won, it seemed they wouldn't have a good end either... Perhaps they should take advantage of the war, before it ended, and quickly flee to other Hell dimensions to defect to a new Hell Lord?
Mephisto's expression was extremely ugly as he watched his world collapsing on all fronts.
Not only had more Xenomorphs poured in, but many super-powered individuals had also entered the fray. A typical example was a group of Superman Xenomorphs and mutant Xenomorphs, rampaging through Hell, slaughtering wantonly, and unleashing their power without restraint.
Suddenly, one of the Xenomorphs began to radiate concepts of incomparable immensity. These were not mere ideas, but power made manifest, bearing down on the Hell dimension with the mass of an entire universe.
"It's time to welcome your doom, Mephisto. Your twilight has come."
(end of chapter)