Chapter 174: Understand a Demon, Become a Demon, or Better Yet, Make a Demon Become Me
"Look at his pathetic state. How ironic. Mephisto hid in his own hell for a lifetime, only to die here in the end."
Gaze after gaze, filled with fear and greed, watched the changes in the hell dimension.
Especially the other demons, who were extremely familiar with Mephisto's way of doing things and had suffered many losses at his hands. Now, seeing Mephisto's miserable plight, they couldn't help but recall his once incomparably arrogant demeanor. The memory was vivid, and the stark contrast made the demons sigh with a sense of bitter irony.
But that was all. As for whether these vicious and evil demons would feel a sense of shared sorrow or unite against a common enemy?
Don't be ridiculous. These guys were all selfish and self-serving, wishing for Mephisto to die sooner so they would have a chance to rush up and devour what he left behind.
As for whether Du Wa would occupy this hell dimension or attack other hells... To be honest, it wouldn't be a problem at all. Over the past eons, many outsider gods and natives of hell have done the same.
Within the broader concept of Hell, many of the so-called Great Demons were actually Dimensional Demon Gods from the Multiverse.
Once they entered Hell, they all had to abide by Hell's rules of the game.
Zom, Zatanna, Despero, Belasco...
A group of renowned demons sighed with genuine emotion while gloating, eagerly waiting for the first opportunity to rush in and carve up the spoils—such as the dissipating demonic power and the shattered dimensional world. Of course, they would have to wait for Du Wa to leave, or for him to be too busy absorbing the core of this hell dimension to bother with anything else.
The demons were not confident they could successfully expel Du Wa.
"With Mephisto dead, a spot has opened up for me."
A huge and hideous figure bared a mouthful of long, sharp fangs. "With Mephisto dead, I am the demon closest to Satan. This is universally acknowledged..."
"Bullshit! Who do you think you are, Zatanna? On the basis of your feats of being ganged up on by a bunch of Spirits of Vengeance? A failure who couldn't even conquer prehistoric Earth?"
"Belasco, you bastard who crawled out of a mud pit, how dare you speak to a pure-blooded demon like me, an orthodox deity born of Hell?"
"Cut the crap, you bunch of noisy fools and idiots. If Mephisto were here, he would arrogantly declare that your verbal sparring rivals that of Cyttorak... Fortunately, there will no longer be a guy named Mephisto to boss us around."
Figure after figure engaged in constant, subtle strife.
Different hells were also engaged in friction and collision. As soon as they found an opportunity, they would unhesitatingly squeeze in and take a bite out of another hell to strengthen their own power.
Now, everyone was waiting, hoping for Mephisto to die quickly, and also hoping for Du Wa to leave soon after he succeeded.
"Everyone is very concerned about whether you live or die. I can smell the stench wafting from the other hells; they're too close... You're very popular."
Du Wa slapped Mephisto on the head, simultaneously reaching out with his other hand to grab him by the nape of the neck. With a tremendous roar, he slammed him into the dimension's core.
In truth, Du Wa didn't look so good himself. This body was in tatters. On a hand tougher than adamantium, several fingers were long gone. Most of his body was in ruins, with large patches of bone and flesh missing.
No matter how one looked at it, Du Wa's condition seemed worse than Mephisto's.
But everyone knew this was just a facade. If Du Wa wanted to, he could produce a brand new, robust body in minutes.
Mephisto, however, could not. He was severely injured, and the crumbling hell dimension itself could no longer provide him with a stable supply of immense power.
The damage this demon had suffered had already reached the conceptual level. Du Wa's power was seizing every opportunity to wear down and corrode him.
Every bit of strength he lost was a permanent loss.
Du Wa began to dismember Mephisto. Each time he tore off a part of Mephisto, it meant that Du Wa had permanently killed a part of Mephisto on a conceptual level, and was also stripping away his connection to the hell dimension.
At a glance, it looked like a Xenomorph was devouring a demon.
No matter how you looked at it, the scene just felt wrong.
"This feeling is so strange. I've fantasized about this scene countless times, wondering what method I would use to absorb you. I even imagined, if I absorbed you, could I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Cyttorak?"
Mephisto spoke as he struggled violently, but his body and soul were diminishing, and his self-healing ability was plummeting. Du Wa's actions weren't just physical destruction; they were on the level of rules, inherently including the destruction of Mephisto's self-healing ability.
What's more, this entire hell dimension was under attack by Du Wa, and the power Mephisto could use to repair his injuries was dwindling.
"Combining two single-universe level beings can't possibly reach the multiversal level. You should know this better than I do. Besides, as a dimensional lord, how confident are you in controlling my Xenomorph concept?" Du Wa's attacks grew faster, more precise, and more ruthless. "Are these your last words?"
"When it comes to efficiently utilizing things, we're the same kind of person... If I succeed, I'll not only be a demon of Hell, but also the supreme god of the xenomorphs! You have the Crimson Gem, which means you've dealt with Cyttorak and have some understanding of him... That guy isn't as strong as you think, but of course, he's not weak either—as long as I become Satan, nothing will be a problem!"
"But you will never be able to touch that position. It's a position Cyttorak doesn't want."
"Wrong. Cyttorak can tolerate not being Satan himself, but he cannot tolerate other demons ignoring him to become Satan... Whoever takes the position of Satan will be besieged by all the demons of Hell. I originally had a detailed plan on how to become Satan, but it went wrong right from the start."
Du Wa immediately understood what Mephisto was talking about.
"The God of Fear, Cul the Serpent? That was one of your proudest weapons." Du Wa certainly knew what Mephisto was saying. This Great Demon wanted to detonate part of the dimension to escape, but was pinned down by Du Wa again. "The Main Universe is a good place. It connects to the entire Multiverse. If you could have obtained the extra power you wanted from the Main Universe, it really would have given you an unimaginably high status in an instant. Everything you wanted to possess will belong to me in the future."
Mephisto gave up struggling. Full of resentment, he rolled his eyes and stared fixedly in one direction.
Nightmare, who was observing from outside this hell dimension, suspected he had been hit by a curse from Mephisto, and a look of suspicion and confusion appeared on his face.
What was with this deathbed stare? Nightmare couldn't recall having any sort of grudge with Mephisto.
Then again, in recent years, Mephisto had indeed been quite close to him and had offered him advice many times, but this didn't mean the two demons had a good relationship.
In fact, Nightmare was already prepared to rush into the dimension before him and devour Mephisto's residual power.
With a violent roar, an incomparably evil energy dissipated completely. Everyone knew that Mephisto was finished for good.
With no time for sorrow or elation, a group of demons gathered together, eager and greedy as they watched.
"Your expressions are terrible. I don't like them. Anyone who steps out of line without my permission can test the consequences." Du Wa sized up these bizarrely shaped demons.
"Du Wa, you are an outsider, and it seems you don't intend to become the lord of Hell. Why not leave this place to us? We will clean up the aftermath for you."
"Not all demons are full of lies like Mephisto. There are those among us who keep their promises."
A group of demons grew restless.
Du Wa remained expressionless. At the same time, several figures arrived and stood by his side. A large number of Xenomorphs were still pouring into this world, causing the demons to frown slightly.
This was where the trouble lay. Du Wa was not the kind of deity they were familiar with from the past. He possessed the ability to manually create countless clones and could, at any time, turn any Xenomorph into his primary body.
Who the hell knew when an ordinary, unremarkable Xenomorph might pop out of a corner, only to be chosen by Du Wa the next second and have its power massively enhanced.
"Is this Hell? Wow, why does it look so messy? Look over there, it feels like the sky has been shattered into several pieces..."
Spider-Man from Universe 199999 had also arrived. At first glance, he felt the dead silence and suffering of Hell. He was a bit stunned, especially looking at this shattered otherworld.
Is the fight over?
No, in the extremely distant sky, there seemed to be a few black dots, like slowly falling planets, bringing with them an immense sense of oppression.
"Stand behind me, Peter."
"Mr. Stark! I remember you got hit by a satellite five years ago. Compared to that time..."
"There's no comparison at all. Every single one of those guys standing over there is more terrifying than countless satellites." Tony cut Spider-Man off and looked at his other teammates beside him.
It was also Thor's first time here. When he saw Foster standing behind Du Wa, bathed in immense lightning, his eyes immediately went wide. With a face full of disbelief, he shouted "Jane," oblivious to everything else.
"Alright, looks like you're more reliable after all, Doctor... When it comes to matters of dimensional worlds, you're the expert." Tony and the others looked hopefully at their own Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange's expression was grim. "Those two are more professional than me... I can't even comprehend what they did to master such immense magic power. Even the Ancient One from our universe can't compare to them!"
But one only needed to look at the two Doctor Stranges from the parallel universes, whose forms were somewhat off, to know what kind of price those two had paid to obtain such magic power.
To gain power, one must pay an equal price. This was the fairness of the magical domain. Moreover, the magic these two used didn't just come from the Vishanti, but also from many dangerous, multiversal-rank gods.
This group of cannon fodder from Universe 199999, who had been forcefully transported here by Thanos, had already vaguely realized that the war seemed to have come to a temporary end, but that an even greater danger was brewing.
One only had to look at this incomparably chaotic and vast world—so immense its size was incalculable, its rules so complex—which had been beaten into its current ghostly state, floating piece by piece in the void, its edges constantly being annihilated.
"You're very lucky."
Covered in scars, with half of his body in a state of rapid self-healing, Flash Thompson crawled over and sized up the group. "From Universe 199999? I've heard of you. You really are lucky."
"Lucky? I only feel like a more terrifying disaster could erupt at any moment! We have to risk our lives to participate in a war we shouldn't have been involved in. Besides, buddy, your life force is really tenacious. Are all xenomorphs like this? You're all slimy, and many of the strange xenomorphs are just like you."
"That's what I'm talking about. All xenomorphs, even if they die, will achieve eternal life with Du Wa in the form of a soul. They've only temporarily lost their bodies. This means Du Wa only needs to spend a little time to resurrect the dead xenomorphs. Do you understand what this means? It means that for you who haven't become xenomorphs, once you die, you're really dead. The kind of death that can't be undone, not even by altering the timeline."
No kidding. If you were really slapped to death by Mephisto, the time of a single universe would have no effect in Hell.
The faces of most of the heroes from Universe 199999 turned grim. The ones whose expressions didn't change were either not afraid of death, or they were people like Tony and Banner, who had already become xenomorphs and stood with Du Wa.
"You look a bit like me..." Spider-Man looked at the person before him with surprise and uncertainty, thinking he was a version of himself from a parallel universe. But when Venom poked its head out from Flash Thompson's body, Spider-Man knew he was mistaken. It was a living battle suit that resembled a spider, but it was not the same thing as him.
Spider-Man...
Flash Thompson vaguely recalled that a few years ago, he had been fortunate enough to be chosen by Du Wa, standing out from all the people on Earth. He had successfully defected to Du Wa, and after the battle where the Symbiote Army invaded Earth, he had been given Venom by Du Wa.
"The Spider is an interesting concept. That power can be found throughout the Multiverse. Since our universe no longer has a Spider-Man, having an Agent Venom like you isn't bad." Flash Thompson remembered Du Wa vaguely saying something like this.
But, was Spider-Man special? Flash Thompson couldn't understand it for the time being. Perhaps he could keep a close eye on this Spider-Man from Universe 199999. Maybe he could provide some insignificant help to Du Wa...
The prerequisite was that he could make it back from Hell alive and "intact."
Flash Thompson looked into the distance. His eyes couldn't even comprehend the extreme chaos.
"Du Wa, this is Hell, and we are the Demon Lords!" Zom, who looked very much like a gentleman, had a violent emotion surging in his eyes. "Or are you, a concept god, going to join our ranks? If that's the case, we would welcome you very much."
This was a very malicious suggestion: for a concept god to defect to Hell and become a demon... In the Multiverse, this would be a major event. Would such a concept god still be a concept god in the true sense of the word?
"Strange."
Du Wa ignored the group of demons. Even facing a host of single-universe level beings, he now had enough power to confront them head-on. He called Demon Strange over.
"From now on, you will become a demon lord, just as Mephisto once was."
Du Wa casually pointed at Mephisto. "After I've stripped away some of this guy's value, you will use the Faltine's Maw to absorb the rest. You will have the opportunity to fulfill your desire for revenge."
Become a demon? Don't be ridiculous. Du Wa, on the other hand, was interested in incorporating demons into his own concept.
Just as Death once wanted to recruit Du Wa as a vassal, he needed to resolve the matters in Hell as quickly as possible, and then begin preparations to cross over.
(end of chapter)