Chapter 176: Who Gave You the Courage? Du Wa?
Without taking further action, Du Wa had reached a plateau in his rapid progression.
A single-universe-level Concept God, he was already a top-tier powerhouse just beneath the multiversal level.
Even if a special case like a "single-universe omnipotent" being emerged, such as the Sentry from the 616 Main Universe, they wouldn't necessarily be able to suppress the current Du Wa.
After all, the power in Du Wa's hands was expanding daily, and he commanded a host of skilled subordinates at every level.
Now, he even had a god from a branch of demons.
"Are there any missions for me? I feel like you just glanced at me."
Standing by Du Wa's side, his entire body glowing with brilliant golden light, Reynolds's powerful form tensed, his spirits instantly roused after sensing Du Wa's fleeting gaze. "Are we going to make a move against those Demons lingering in the distance? I can handle at least one of them..."
"No, it's nothing. For now, there's nothing for you to do." Du Wa shook his head. Although this Reynolds couldn't compare to the one from the Main Universe, he was still a reliable fellow, one he had nurtured himself.
The endless Xenomorphs began to retreat like a flood, leaving this Hell Dimension that had already been shattered far too much.
Perhaps it would take many years for this ruined Hell to give birth to a new batch of lower organisms like hell-worms, and many more years after that to produce enough low-level demons.
But this was no longer Du Wa's concern.
When he dispersed his power from Hell, the dark clouds that had enveloped countless Hell Dimensions still lingered, refusing to scatter.
"There are still many Xenomorphs left in Hell."
"This is a perfectly normal outcome. He used Mephisto to create a Celestial and a Skyfather. Leaving the Skyfather behind to guard this broken world and equipping that guy with a batch of soldiers is a logical move."
"But even a logical move becomes abnormal when Du Wa is the one making it. These seemingly ordinary Xenomorphs could turn into Du Wa himself at any moment... How can this put our minds at ease? In this state, is he considered to have left Hell, or not?"
The Great Demons, infamous across numerous universes, wore grim expressions filled with a deep sense of helplessness.
They were beginning to understand Mephisto's grievances and complaints about Du Wa. Taking it a step further, if they had the chance to act against Du Wa before his ascension to godhood, they would have done so without hesitation, just like Mephisto. The terrifying abilities Du Wa displayed after becoming a god were enough to make even deities feel tormented and envious.
"I've been saying it all along. We should have united just now, along with the Mephisto who hadn't yet been turned into a Xenomorph. With so many of us Demons attacking together, even if we couldn't kill a Concept God like Du Wa, we could have at least severed the tentacles he extended into Hell. All we needed to do was kill every single Xenomorph in Hell and block all Xenomorphs from the Multiverse from entering."
"Nightmare, are you not awake yet? Or has spending so much time with Mephisto these years given you the illusion that you're in the same faction?"
"What, am I wrong? As long as we stand united, Du Wa wouldn't dare do anything. Otherwise, after he finished off Mephisto and gained a usable Celestial-level vassal, why didn't he immediately turn to deal with us? He can clearly grow stronger the more he fights, can't he? It's because he's afraid of pushing us to the point of unity!"
"Well said, what brilliant insight. Nightmare, you're an absolute genius. But there's just one problem here."
The other Great Demons, each with a hideous and malevolent face, now showed expressions of sincere admiration. "When have we ever been united?"
If they were truly united, they wouldn't be Demons. To them, infighting is the highest honor.
Most importantly, what would be the point of fighting for the title of Satan? They might as well happily join together to prop up Cyttorak, handing over all the power of Hell's dimensions to him.
If that happened, Cyttorak, having unified all the power of Hell, would become the God of Hell in the truest sense. He might even be able to challenge the four Creator Gods and the four Chaos Gods for dominion over the Multiverse.
After a round of bickering that was doomed to be fruitless, the Great Demons dispersed. They began to manage their own worlds with ten, a hundred times more diligence, guarding them strictly to prevent a single Xenomorph from infiltrating.
In the end, these Demons were relegated to being supporting characters in this major event.
An upheaval of this magnitude in Hell was impossible to conceal. This was not some ordinary single universe.
Soon, the news that Mephisto was captured, used as raw material to create a monster Celestial, and then died a miserable death, spread through many, many universes in an extremely short time, as if carried on the wings of Eternity.
If a major event occurred in some unknown parallel universe, the other universes, especially the important ones with designations, would likely not care or pay attention. The gods and heroes of these universes were already doing their utmost just to quell the chaos in their own realms, let alone sparing a hand to save another world. Besides, they had no channels to learn about it.
But when something like this happened in Hell, considering the special nature of its countless dimensions and that group of notoriously infamous Great Demons who periodically slipped into various universes to reap souls and increase their power, it made the many gods of the Multiverse utterly detest the demons of Hell.
And now, the one who died was Mephisto—the most infamous of them all, yet whose strength was top-tier, known as the second-hardest-to-kill Great Demon.
The moment Mephisto died, the countless enslaved beings who had signed a contract of servitude with him were instantly granted their freedom.
Beings like the Ghost Rider were the first to notice something was amiss. They inquired everywhere, even actively seeking out low-level demons from Hell to understand the situation. It was from the mouths of surviving demons that they learned the bombshell news: the God of Xenomorphs, Du Wa, had attacked Hell and forcefully killed Mephisto.
Even more astonishingly, that God of Xenomorphs, of unknown origin and strength, had fought across dimensions and used Mephisto to create a Celestial, whom he then recruited as a subordinate.
This process, more bizarre than any myth, was filled with mystery. As it spread wildly, it shook many universes from the very beginning.
An unknown number of people cheered, and an even greater number of gods were left stunned. They immediately began to inquire about any information related to the God of Xenomorphs.
After a thorough search, they were left completely bewildered.
"What kind of creature is a Xenomorph? I've never heard of it."
"According to the low-level demons who fled from Hell, the Xenomorph is a terrifying parasitic race with no weaknesses. They can parasitize anything from an animal to a Cosmic God. They select the most superior genes from the host and are born with potential that surpasses the host."
"I tried to contact some Great Demons, but I received no response. These Great Demons have all unanimously refused to discuss any news about that God of Xenomorphs."
"It seems the Demons were thoroughly frightened. What about Cyttorak? Forget it, let's not mention him. I guess he's as motionless as ever, as if he's dead..."
"Watch your words. Cyttorak is, at the very least, a deity of a higher tier than us. Perhaps a Concept God like Du Wa, who dared to launch a full-scale invasion of Hell and kill Mephisto in his own headquarters, can say such things, but we can't."
More and more Gods, Demon Gods, cosmic monsters, and other strange beings began to scour for intelligence about the Xenomorphs.
Logically speaking, for a species to be able to produce a Concept God, its upper limit must be extremely high. Even if its lower limit isn't spectacular, it meant that this species shouldn't be unknown. It was very likely that its avatars had already appeared in many universes.
Such a terrifying species, led by a mysterious and unknown Concept God, even if it wasn't rampaging through many universes like the Annihilation Wave, should at least have left some clues.
But after a thorough search, they found nothing. In the vast majority of universes, there was no information about Xenomorphs.
This was not normal.
At least in the numbered universes, it was difficult to find any information about the Xenomorphs.
In the minor multiverse of the MCU system, one might know about Du Wa and the Xenomorphs, but the main universe of the MCU system had long been riddled with holes by Du Wa's corrosion. Unless the native gods of this main universe banded together to clear the Xenomorph infestation, the future of this universe was already sealed. It would also reject the prying of any foreign god not part of the Xenomorph system.
Not to mention, this cluster of universes, with Universe 199999 at its core, was small in number, with weak gods and a low-level power system. It had never received much attention.
That was until a certain individual wandering the Multiverse made a discovery in the Khonshu Era Universe.
A large number of Xenomorphs were also returning to the Khonshu Era Universe.
"I see. The natives of this universe have, to a large extent, already defected to Du Wa. The legion that followed Du Wa to conquer Hell included a contingent from this universe..."
A Watcher, piloting his starship, traversed the Multiverse with great purpose. He had been doing this since before Du Wa even attacked Hell. After crossing one hyperspace current after another, he had arrived here.
"Outsider, leave. This is not a world you can touch."
A bright moon rose. A deity holding a scythe, wearing a raven mask, and clad in a classical robe issued a warning in a cold and confident voice: "This is the universe I—Moon God Khonshu—protect. It is also a world favored by the God of Xenomorphs, Du Wa. If you wish to do something, you had best consider the consequences... think about Mephisto's fate."
Moon God Khonshu?
Uatu, of course, knew of this deity, but across the infinite Multiverse, in the sequence of all single universes, Moon God Khonshu was just an insignificant god.
He was not only incomparable to the Creator Gods and the Celestials, but he couldn't even be compared to the Celestial race, or even the Skyfathers of the World Tree (Yggdrasil).
"So this numbered, fringe universe has already become Du Wa's territory? That's even stranger. I managed to find a place like this, but why can't I find his place of birth? I've already been wrong several times."
Right in front of the Moon God, the Watcher Uatu flew out of his high-tech vessel. With his massive head held high, he began recording on the spot.
"So you're a Watcher. Our universe has no major event for you to observe."
"That's not important. I can see you are very confident. You are the most confident Moon God I have ever met. Who gave you such courage? Du Wa?"
"That is correct. It seems you have had dealings with Du Wa," Moon God Khonshu replied cautiously. He was rather unwilling to deal with the Watchers; this species was too mysterious, and their methods were somewhat bizarre.
"You don't appear to be a Xenomorph? This proves that Du Wa has made even more astonishing progress. Mephisto is dead, yet he now guards Du Wa in another form. Yet, Du Wa allows a deity like you to act freely... It seems you have become an independent vassal under his command. There's nothing wrong with that."
As the Watcher spoke, he bypassed the Moon God and entered the universe directly. He needed to find a Xenomorph to lock onto Du Wa's headquarters.
"I thought that after completing the handover with my kin and completely detaching from Universe 199999, it wouldn't take much effort to find Du Wa. I never expected it to take this much energy... I've roughly guessed the reason, which makes it all the more incredible to me. Du Wa actually came from a Mediocre Universe without even a designation? Incomplete rules, a scarcity of heroes, and fragmented gods... How did he manage it?"
The Watcher Uatu's eyes were practically glowing—a sign that his hobby was being satisfied and his interest was piqued to the extreme.
Moon God Khonshu followed closely behind, making no deliberate attempt to stop him.
"You seem to know Du Wa, and have had dealings with him."
"Yes, we were comrades... perhaps. We once fought side-by-side. He helped me deal with a troublesome robot. But I have only ever seen him spiritually project into a Xenomorph; I have never seen his true form... Perhaps he no longer has a true form now. It's a pity I couldn't record the scene of him becoming a Concept God. That was supposed to be my job to record. I was clearly the first Watcher to discover him."
Uatu originally had his hands clasped behind his back, with countless rays of light forming text that flashed rapidly before his large head as he recorded. But at this moment, he raised a hand and slapped his own head, so annoyed he wanted to throttle himself.
Uatu had already made up his mind: this time, after seeing Du Wa, he would latch on and not let go. He would take up long-term residence in whatever universe Du Wa was in, to facilitate his observation work.
At the same time, as a Watcher, he felt it was necessary to first do something even more important than the observation itself.
He had to give a designation to the universe that had spawned Du Wa, a universe destined to no longer be ordinary. Otherwise, it would be impossible to record this universe, completely impossible to refer to it.
"However, for something like assigning a universe number, my own power is not enough, and I don't want to find other Watchers... If I hadn't returned to my people to hand over matters concerning Universe 199999, how could I have missed so much? In the end, after the handover was complete, I couldn't even casually return to Universe 199999, which caused me to waste so much time."
Uatu grumbled. He pondered whether it was necessary to use the artifact around his neck...
The Watcher's Emblem.
(end of chapter)