Chapter 201: Operation Apokolips
But in the end, this group of demons saw no particular action from Lucifer.
Evidently, Lucifer remained noncommittal about the actions of The Endless, this group of foreign Gods who, having just joined the DC World, had not even completed their conceptual promotion before impatiently selecting Hell as their territory.
"I misjudged Lucifer. I thought he would step forward, lead us to challenge The Endless, and defend our territory."
"He's the Satan of Hell, the leader of Hell—nominally, at least. Why isn't he stepping up now?"
"Hell is big enough. Lucifer not giving a direct response might mean he has his own ideas."
"Shut up, Beelzebub, you ugly fly! And you, Azazel! All of Hell knows you two follow Lucifer!"
More and more demons and fallen ones appeared. Faced with what could almost be described as the most significant event to affect them since the birth of the Multiverse, these beings could no longer play dead.
Beelzebub flew up, shaking his fly-like head and glaring coldly at the one who had spoken. He did indeed have the appearance of a fly; after all, he was a Deity of gluttony and plague.
Azazel also looked indifferently at the God who had spoken.
Just like Hell in the Marvel Universe, the boss of DC's Hell also bore the title "Satan." Whoever was the leader of Hell was qualified to claim the name Satan.
And now, after Lucifer launched a rebellion in Heaven and fled to Hell after his defeat, he had taken down the First of the Fallen trinity in a single battle. He then united with Beelzebub and Azazel to form a new trinity, sharing the title of Satan and ruling Hell.
But everyone knew this was Lucifer proactively sharing his authority with Beelzebub and Azazel. In essence, the Satan of Hell was still Lucifer alone.
There were quite a few who were displeased with this trinity of Satans and had been scheming for countless years to launch a rebellion, just waiting for an opportunity.
Astaroth, Belial, Etrigan... all these figures were watching Lucifer.
Now, with the arrival of The Endless, who had headed straight for Hell, wasn't this the perfect opportunity to trigger chaos in Hell?
Gods and demons, one after another, grew restless, but none made the first move. They just watched coldly as The Endless brought the Vertigo Universe into Hell.
Countless gazes intertwined, and a massive amount of information had already begun a fierce confrontation and annihilation.
No one welcomed these newcomers to Hell.
"I thought we'd be popular, but Hell is an exception," Delirium said with a cold laugh, looking at the restless Native Gods.
"I prefer to think about problems from another angle. If we hadn't come to Hell, these guys would have remained restrained towards us. Even if we had entered Heaven, the Heavenly Host, or other worlds, our situation wouldn't be much better than it is now."
The Sphere of Gods was vast, enveloping the Multiverse. The Source Wall, in turn, enveloped the Sphere of Gods. The entire structure of the DC World was like a large circle containing a smaller one.
For The Endless, the high-level region of the Sphere of Gods itself was very satisfactory. It contained high-quality energy, advanced rules, and higher-level dimensions—around the level of four and a half dimensions, not quite reaching the Fifth Dimension.
The Fifth Dimension was home to a group of incredibly dangerous cartoonish people who were extremely difficult to deal with. Under specific objective conditions, they could exert the power of a multiversal entity. The Endless merely took a distant look and abandoned their plan for dimensional ascension, deciding to stay in the four-and-a-half-dimensional Sphere of Gods.
As for paying the price to forcibly skip the Fifth Dimension and enter the Sixth Dimension...
"The Fifth Dimension is hard to deal with, so why not go to the Sixth Dimension? We could be like that group of fifth-dimensional beings and rule over a complete dimensional world. We're concept gods anyway, as long as the world's level is high enough—"
Destruction, who rarely spoke, now opened his mouth, his voice grim as he stared at the inhabitants of Hell with ill intent.
"We can't. Let's not even talk about the price we'd have to pay to cross the Fifth Dimension. Even if we successfully entered the Sixth Dimension, our situation would only become more difficult."
Destiny said this with his head bowed, looking at the Book of Destiny without even looking up.
The other family members looked at him, knowing that Destiny must have seen something about the Sixth Dimension. This meant that after entering DC Comics, Destiny's strength was growing at a rate beyond anyone's imagination, rapidly integrating the fates of countless worlds and endless dimensions.
In this great fusion of universes, the one who underwent the most terrifying transformation was naturally Destiny.
Destiny didn't explain to his family members; there was nothing to explain. Was he supposed to say that hidden in the Sixth Dimension were the offspring of a Creator God, the master of the Lord of the Dark Multiverse, and the creator of the Sixth-Dimensional Multiverse?
They had joined the DC World to change themselves, not to destroy it. The Endless would not get involved in the civil war erupting among the factions of the Creator Gods in the DC World.
"We didn't plan on starting a full-scale war with the gods of Hell as soon as we arrived, did we? Since these guys are worried about us competing with them for control of Hell, then we'll just choose another world within the Sphere of Gods," said Dream.
"Which one can we choose? Heaven? It's clearly more dangerous than Hell. Or the Heavenly Host? According to the definitions of these natives, the Old Gods in the Heavenly Host—Zeus, Odin, Shiva, the Jade Emperor, Amaterasu—have only the Heavenly Host as their one headquarters. They'd never allow a group of concept gods like us to move in. We're a completely different class of god! Similarly, the territories of the New Gods, Apokolips and New Genesis, won't welcome us either."
Delirium said, "The scale of this Multiverse far exceeds our Vertigo Universe, and its complexity is inestimable. The conflict between the New Gods and the Old Gods, the war between Heaven and Hell, is also full of mysteries, not to mention the internal wars within each faction... This is just great."
The Endless had their own internal conflicts. For example, the second eldest, Death, and the third, Dream, were clearly aligned. Desire and Delirium were close and slightly at odds with Death and Dream, but not to the point of tearing each other apart at all costs. Even if they did fight, they could at most severely injure each other; one concept can hardly kill another.
"After I help the family establish a foothold in Hell, I will choose to leave and carve out my own world in the Sphere of Gods."
Dream suddenly spoke, "There is too much life, and the realm of dreams is too vast. I plan to create a world of dreams. With my strength, I am absolutely capable of maintaining the stability of The Dreaming."
The other members had no objections, as they clearly knew they had become incredibly strong, supplied with nutrients to expand their concepts by a Multiverse that had lasted for three generations.
Just like that, The Endless entered Hell.
Neither side dared to make a move. There wasn't even any verbal communication.
This continued until Lucifer appeared, putting all of The Endless on high alert. Even Destiny lifted his head, silently watching the fallen angel.
Oppressive.
They felt an endless sense of oppression from Lucifer.
A figure like this was completely different from the likes of Beelzebub and Azazel. The pressure he exerted on them far exceeded the sum total of all other gods in Hell.
Unfathomably powerful, inestimably terrifying.
"This guy is the lord of Hell... If he's this strong, why share the position of Satan with those other two?" Destruction grumbled. Upon seeing Lucifer, he actually felt as though he himself was about to be destroyed. It was utterly absurd.
Lucifer, dapper in a suit, placed a hand on his chest and spoke politely, "Welcome, foreign concept gods. But on my territory, you had best be quiet."
"Lucifer, everyone says you are the son of The Presence. It seems you are quite adept at dealing with outsiders like us," Death said coldly. He had not yet reached his peak and was unsure if he could handle Lucifer.
"Not at all. I have never cared about outsiders, including you. Whether it's a newborn thing, a projection, or something from another world, I don't care," Lucifer said with a broad smile. "It's purely that you lot are very good at making decisions, actually choosing to enter my territory."
The other gods and demons of Hell were watching, hoping Lucifer would fight The Endless, preferably to their mutual destruction.
But in the end, nothing happened. They only saw Lucifer's figure gradually dissipate, disappearing to who-knows-where, while The Endless proceeded deep into Hell.
Everything seemed to have settled down, appearing peaceful and uneventful.
"Lucifer is terrifying. He is not within my Fate. Do not provoke him," Destiny said. "In the future, he may become even more terrifying."
"When we reach our strongest forms, we won't necessarily lose to Lucifer," Dream said with a frown. But he quickly pushed the matter of Lucifer to the back of his mind. Regardless, the family had secured its own territory in Hell.
Now he could leave with a clear conscience to create The Dreaming in the Sphere of Gods.
The vast DC World held too many miracles for him to understand and explore, and there were many other foreign concept gods like him, writing their own destinies in this world.
Of course, theoretically speaking, they would all inevitably meet their respective deaths—no one can evade Destiny and Death, not even a god.
Since The Endless arrived in this Multiverse, no one has been able to escape the scope of The Endless. In the future, not even Lucifer will be an exception, Dream thought.
As The Endless established their foothold, rapidly extending their concepts across the entire Multiverse and incorporating more and more gods within their domain...
Du Wa looked at the gradually stabilizing space-time and knew that the dust had settled.
"Is it over? It seems no large-scale conflict broke out... But then again, if those guys had a confrontation in the Sphere of Gods, I probably wouldn't be able to perceive it."
Du Wa had no Xenomorphs that had run off to the Sphere of Gods.
"What? What on earth happened? What does this have to do with my time travel?" No matter how slow Flash was, he knew something big had happened.
So many universes had shifted, not to mention that giant universe that had flashed by...
"Is it related to that big guy that flashed past, the one that looked like it was about to devour all the other universes?" Flash asked. He felt like he was running with a mountain on his back, and this had caused a series of cosmic instabilities. Was he the cause?
"Big guy? That universe was just decent, at best. A true behemoth of a universe... Forget it. Perhaps you'll have the chance to witness it for yourself soon enough."
As the protective barrier of the DC World, resisting all external threats and standing in opposition to all normal and dark universes, the Anti-Matter Universe was the true giant universe, with a diameter of thirty-two trillion light-years.
An ordinary universe's diameter is merely tens of billions of light-years, as insignificant as a grain of sand before the Anti-Matter Universe.
Of course, after the master of the Anti-Matter Universe, Perpetua's youngest son, the Anti-Monitor, sealed Perpetua with his two older brothers, the Anti-Matter Universe's existence had effectively lost its value. Because no matter how awesome the Anti-Matter Universe was, it couldn't compare to the Source Wall that sealed off the entire DC World.
In terms of the strength of "protection" for the Multiverse and the ability to resist threats from the even larger Omniverse beyond the concepts of DC Comics, the role of the Source Wall was far greater than that of the Anti-Matter Universe.
"Go back. Your mission is over. Next, you will shoulder a new mission, which is to exist as my follower," Du Wa said.
Du Wa was very patient with Flash. Who would be impatient with such a valuable minion under their command?
This thing, the Speed Force, permeated the entire DC World. Having a Flash on hand would make many things much easier.
"Impossible! I have to save the world! Batman entrusted his hope to me... I already know how to avoid your parasitism, and I know why Batman chose me!"
Flash gritted his teeth. "As long as I run faster than your parasitism, I'm sure I can do it!"
"...A novel idea."
Then Du Wa saw Flash run like a madman.
Under the influence of the miraculous power of the Speed Force, he saw Flash run out a brand-new timeline, a world where history had been significantly altered.
Superman never reached Earth, instead being captured by Zod en route. The one who finally arrived on Earth was Supergirl. Gotham City was the city with the lowest crime rate in the world, and Batman had retired...
And Zod still arrived on Earth once again.
"Earthling, hand over the Kryptonian you have hidden..."
General Zod was delivering an important speech to Earth from his starship when he suddenly saw a figure in a red battle suit run out of a time vortex.
"Are you that Zod?" Flash's heart sank.
"You—"
Before General Zod could react, he was tragically subjected to parasitism.
No matter how strong Zod was, he was no match for a Deity like Du Wa, even if Du Wa had only split off a portion of his concept onto Flash.
The other Kryptonians also fell prey one after another.
"Very good, Barry Allen. You have gained me many subordinates in this timeline. This timeline will also be conquered by me. The more worlds you run to, the more of me will appear."
"No, it can't be like this..."
Flash despaired. He stopped running, his entire being falling completely under Du Wa's manipulation.
With this, the main heroes of the DCEU Universe were all imprisoned by Du Wa.
But it was only the heroes who belonged to Du Wa. The vicious villains did not. Not only that, but certain Deities who had noticed that the Flash from the DCEU Universe had been the first to trigger the Flashpoint event had already begun to take action.
"In this universe, something has happened that perplexes even me in the Sphere of Gods..."
On Apokolips, the Lord of Darkness cast his gaze toward Earth.
(end of chapter)