Chapter 189: Become My Loyal Dog
Du Wa had no intention of hitting and running.
It wasn't as if he would never return after going to the DC Multiverse—even though he really could choose not to, and just mess around in the DC Multiverse from then on.
However, if he could secure a stable portal between the two multiverses, Du Wa could leverage the unique characteristics and rules of two different worlds to rapidly expand his own concept and charge toward a higher standing. Now that he had found Universe 9602, there was no need to force himself into an either-or situation.
If he destroyed a perfect springboard like Universe 9602, where would Du Wa find another one in the future? Or would he have to wait for the great collision between the Marvel 616 Main Universe and DC New Earth, waiting until the Amalgam Universe was born before he could return?
Who the hell knew if the Amalgam Universe would even be born smoothly, or when it would be born, or how many incredibly perilous major events would occur in the process.
Not only would Du Wa not truly destroy Universe 9602, but he would also do everything in his power to stop others from destroying this wonderful world.
For example, right now, Du Wa decided to give Thanoseid, Lord of Apokolips, a memory he would never forget.
This thoroughly enraged Thanoseid.
He wanted a battle with Du Wa, not with Du Wa's underling.
Although Thanoseid, who had experienced countless battles and had defeated and killed gods, had to admit that the strange monster before him was extremely powerful, an opponent on the level of a deity.
But this wasn't how things were supposed to be.
"Outsider, you're very good at enraging me. Perhaps you've dealt with a parallel universe version of me before. Just like that thing over there, its ability is very similar to the Super-Soldier's. Although I don't know how that thing came to be, I'm guessing there exists a universe full of such creatures."
Thanoseid let out a terrifying laugh. He couldn't even remember the last time someone had humiliated him like this.
The Mephisto Xenomorph moved in an instant. With cold thought and powerful execution, it resolutely carried out Du Wa's will, digging into its own potential at all costs.
As a Demon Xenomorph gestated from Mephisto, there was no need to elaborate on how high its potential was, but to truly unleash it, a little more effort was still needed.
"Your universe is too closed off. You've basically had no normal communication with the outside world. You probably don't know much about the situation in Hell. At most, due to the information projection carried by the universe itself, you know of Hell's existence and can name a few demons."
Du Wa spoke in a slow, measured tone, appearing utterly serene in the face of the wildly raging battle. "This is my boon to you. You will have the opportunity to engage in a spectacular duel with an individual that surpasses a demon. The one who survives will be appointed by me as my number one general."
With a tremendous boom, the Mephisto Xenomorph grabbed Thanoseid's shoulder with one hand. Just as it was about to tear Thanoseid apart, it was struck by an energy beam from Thanoseid's eyes. Its entire body turned blood-red, as if it were about to melt on the spot.
"Then I will kill you and all of your subordinates and make you all stay in this world forever," Thanoseid snarled, his eyes filled with red light. With another glare, two more red rays shot out, bypassing the Mephisto Xenomorph and heading straight for Du Wa.
"That will be a difficult task. One you'll have a hard time completing."
Du Wa raised his hand, making direct contact with the strange ray attack. By the time he had completely exhausted the ray's power, Du Wa felt a part of himself dissipate.
"Omega Beams? You, you really are more like Darkseid."
No surprise showed on Du Wa's face.
Just as Thanos needed to rely on various cosmic artifacts like the Infinity Stones to fight Cosmic Celestials, the Darkseid from the other side was not always invincible. He largely relied on the "Omega Effect" to reach the top. The Omega Beams, which would inevitably hit their target once fired, struck fear into countless people and gods on the DC Comics side, which was how he became the Lord of Darkness, whose name made countless planets tremble.
Seeing Thanoseid display another part of the DC Multiverse's power system, Du Wa chuckled and flicked his hand, appearing even more delighted.
The more DC Comics elements there were, the closer Du Wa was to his goal. He was one step closer to his objective of expanding his concept and ascending to a higher standing, and this made him even more pleased.
But it was this casual attitude, this posture of having crossed the universe from afar just to scrutinize Thanoseid, that sent Thanoseid into a burning rage.
From Du Wa's words, he deduced a great deal of valuable information about parallel universes. For instance, Thanos and Darkseid were apparently his variants in other parallel universes, and this outsider before him had even dealt with his variants, likely as an enemy.
This Lord of Apokolips went berserk. His terrifying might resounded throughout the universe, causing innumerable stars to flicker.
Also feeling panicked were the few Cosmic Celestials of Universe 9602.
It was the first time they had ever seen Thanoseid so excited and furious, almost to the point of madness.
"None of us have ever seen a Thanoseid like this, have we?"
"Because we have no reason to provoke him... Anyway, I don't really understand why this outsider is doing this. It's too deliberate."
Universe 9602 was not small, but the number of its gods was pitifully low. Only a few figures were watching this battle from afar, with no intention of personally intervening.
They didn't know much about matters outside the universe either. Most of their knowledge came from interpreting the information carried by the universe itself. Knowing that many things referred to by this information were not objects from within this universe, they were certain of the existence of parallel universes.
They didn't recognize Du Wa at all, but since Du Wa could bring two extremely powerful monsters with him, they had every reason to suspect that more similar monsters existed outside their universe.
The battlefield was like a gargantuan black hole, capable of distorting even the rules of the universe under its power, effortlessly devouring all things tangible and intangible.
All matter was pulled in and utterly torn to shreds. The resulting storm of chaotic energy was of a terrifying magnitude that even a god would have to resist with all their might.
Thanoseid was indeed very strong. Lashing out in a furious rage, he forced the Mephisto Xenomorph to defend with all its might.
Boom!
The Mephisto Xenomorph blocked Thanoseid's heavy punch with both hands, causing cracks to appear on its outermost arm. The fine, cracking sounds were like the whispers of unspeakable things, rapidly spreading to many planets and eventually becoming imprinted on the universe itself, a cosmic-level phenomenon.
If a single-universe-level being was considered a universe, this kind of physical wound was equivalent to a part of the universe collapsing, requiring a great deal of time to repair.
"Looks like the outsider's underling is going to lose. He's too arrogant. He clearly has the advantage in numbers, yet he insists on a one-on-one fight with Thanoseid."
On Earth, they were also on high alert. All the heroes were using various means to maintain Earth's stability, ensuring the planet wouldn't be blasted into oblivion by a stray shockwave from this great battle.
"But should we be thanking that outsider? At least he knew to drag Thanoseid into outer space to avoid starting a war on Earth."
Dark Claw muttered self-deprecatingly. Things had changed so fast that he could only watch as a local god clashed with a foreign god.
Of course, if it were possible, he really wanted to rescue the Super-Soldier from the Hyperion Xenomorph's clutches.
But the Hyperion Xenomorph was in the cosmic vacuum, and the few superheroes capable of fighting off-world had been taken out of commission by the Mephisto Xenomorph right at the start. They were either unconscious or severely injured. Only Doctor Strangefate, using magic borrowed from who-knows-where, had repaired his own wounds and seemed to be in good condition.
But no one knew what kind of pain he was currently enduring—borrowed magic must be repaid.
"I advise you not to do anything. Instead of spending time scheming against these gods, we should prioritize treating our own people."
Doctor Strangefate adjusted his Helmet of Destiny with both hands. "We just need to wait and see who wins."
"You saw Destiny? I didn't know you could see through the destiny of a god."
"No, my ability hasn't reached that level yet. Perhaps it will in the future, but not now. But I know at least one thing: don't provoke a god who doesn't intend to wipe us out when you know you're at a disadvantage."
Doctor Strangefate did not give up on observing Destiny, trying to catch a clue about the future.
As he spoke, he even took the risk of observing Du Wa himself, wanting to perceive Du Wa's trajectory of Destiny.
But looking through the Helmet of Destiny, Doctor Strangefate was horrified to see countless Xenomorphs, densely packed and silent, forming planet after planet, and these endless planets seemed to converge into a pitch-black universe.
At that moment, a pair of eyes suddenly appeared in his field of vision of Destiny, looking right back at him.
Doctor Strangefate felt as if he had been hit by the psychic attack of a billion monsters. He screamed in agony, his soul severely wounded and on the verge of shattering into countless pieces. He nearly fell into the endless Destiny, to be annihilated.
"Doctor Strangefate... an interesting fellow."
Du Wa quickly retracted his gaze. He hadn't intentionally punished him; it was purely because his conceptual entity was on a scale that someone of Doctor Strangefate's level simply couldn't observe clearly. Even a single glance at Du Wa's Destiny was tantamount to looking directly at all the concepts Du Wa himself represented.
Du Wa quickly put this small interlude out of his mind. He saw that the Mephisto Xenomorph's strength was gradually increasing.
The Demon Xenomorph, possessing Mephisto's strongest genes, was theoretically even higher in physical potential than Mephisto himself.
"Is this all? The opponent you so boastfully arranged for me is only at this level?"
Thanoseid gripped the Mephisto Xenomorph's two wrists with his thick arms, slowly prying them apart. If nothing unexpected happened, he would eventually snap the Xenomorph's arms completely.
He could feel the Mephisto Xenomorph getting stronger, but it was still not as strong as him!
In just a little while longer, he was confident he could tear this strange creature to pieces.
"Is this the fellow you said came from Hell? This is a legendary demon?! It's completely different from the information I've interpreted. Could it be some special branch of demon?"
Thanoseid sneered, "As the master who commands such a creature, you show no trace of a demon yourself. But it doesn't matter. Whatever your secret is, wherever you come from, whatever your purpose is, after I kill your subordinate, I will continue on to kill you. I will take all of your information."
"You think this is its full strength? This one was gestated from Mephisto's corpse."
"Mephisto? I know that name. So you killed Mephisto and used his corpse to create this thing? I think I have a rough idea of what type of god you are."
Thanoseid had realized something. If he were to be defeated by Du Wa, his fate would very likely be to become a monster like this.
He had been wondering from the very beginning why the one who defeated the Super-Soldier was so similar to him in all aspects of its abilities. Now it all made sense. Du Wa had probably killed a Super-Soldier from some parallel universe and then used unknown means to turn him into this peculiar monster.
Du Wa let out a soft laugh. "Mephisto is a Hell Lord. Part of his power comes from the empowerment of the Hell Dimension. However, this Xenomorph has not yet obtained the power of the Hell Dimension. Theoretically, it's quite a bit weaker than Mephisto in his strongest form."
But that was in theory.
Because Du Wa had always been carrying a dimension world with him—the Abyss.
The next second, as Du Wa manipulated the Abyss within him, he casually gave Knull another beating, forcefully holding down the screaming Knull and channeling the dimensional power of the Abyss toward the Mephisto Xenomorph.
In an instant, the Mephisto Xenomorph, which was being completely suppressed by Thanoseid and was on the path to defeat, suddenly had a powerful force surge from within its body by virtue of being within Du Wa's concept. With the empowerment of this force, its strength completely surpassed that of Mephisto at his peak.
To Thanoseid's astonishment, the Mephisto Xenomorph began to suppress him in return, using an even more sinister and dark power, carrying countless consciousnesses with it, to assail his domain.
Its long, thin tail transformed into a sharp blade more powerful than any divine artifact. In an instant, it pierced through Thanoseid's energy field. Wielding a destructive force far exceeding a black hole, it pierced through Thanoseid's chest, and a powerful energy beam rapidly washed over his body, inflicting as much destruction as possible.
A deity of this level would not die so easily, of course, but suffering a wound of this degree was already a sign that he was on a downward slope.
"How can this be? A dimension lord?" Thanoseid's expression grew more ferocious. He saw that Du Wa, whom he had just been thinking about, had finally made a move.
But this was not a good omen.
Because Du Wa was coming to end it all.
"You've lost. I won't kill you, but don't think you can be like you were before... Become my loyal dog, Thanoseid, regardless of whether you have any hidden connection to Darkseid."
(end of chapter)