Chapter 276: Stacking Blocks, Even the Phoenix Goes Mad
Du Wa was not unfamiliar with this scene.
Once, in order to take revenge on Mephisto and permanently eliminate the threat of that demon, he had launched a massive invasion of Hell. As a precaution, he had held the Crimson Gem and had negotiated in advance with the stone's master—the multiverse's number one Great Demon, Cyttorak—thereby removing any future worries.
Cyttorak had a peculiar habit of selecting a Juggernaut in every universe to act as his spokesperson, bestowing the Crimson Gem upon them and granting them an indestructible body.
Therefore, Juggernaut, this "mutant," was essentially Cyttorak's spokesperson, wielding the power bestowed by Cyttorak.
However, the Juggernaut of the Alien Universe had met a rather miserable end. He followed Magneto into a war against the Deviants and was devoured completely by the Deviant Leader, all of his power absorbed by that Deviant.
Subsequently, Du Wa and Magneto jointly dismembered the Deviant and captured its leader. As a result, Du Wa obtained the Crimson Gem and the opportunity to converse with Cyttorak.
"Your kind always chooses the same person in every universe to be the vessel for your power, yet you don't cherish these vessels at all," Du Wa said.
"Cherish? Why should I cherish them? There are so many universes in the multiverse, with countless ones being born and dying at every moment. Even if I only choose one spokesperson in each universe, the total number of spokespeople is still infinite! If I truly had to look after every human who uses my power, wouldn't that mean I'd have to intervene time and again to save those universes on the brink of death? I'm no savior. Even the Vishanti, who love to brandish the word 'justice,' have never done such a thing."
Chthon sneered repeatedly. "That's why I say the Vishanti are the epitome of hypocrisy. They are exceedingly cruel, giving hope to the weak, only to sit back and watch the White Magicians suffer misfortune. I'm different. I make the Black Magicians and Chaos Magic users suffer from the very beginning."
He prided himself on his sincerity. On this point, Chthon believed he was second to none. Which multiversal god could possibly compare to him?
Oh, Du Wa might be one. He treated all Xenomorphs equally. When they weren't needed, the Xenomorphs could live in peace, and if they occasionally wanted to do things that suited their own desires, Du Wa never interfered.
But when the time came, they had to step up, no matter what—and that would only be because Du Wa had already done more than enough, and it was time for his followers to contribute their strength.
Therefore, Chthon felt that he and Du Wa had something in common. Moreover, Du Wa had also originated as an Earthling. Even though his journey had led him to become the current God of Xenomorphs, he could, at a stretch, be considered a multiversal god born within the World Tree system, yet one with no connection to the World Tree pantheon.
"Is this your way of winning me over? By letting the Scarlet Witch run rampant in my territory?" Du Wa pointed a finger casually.
The chaotic scene on Earth clearly entered the view of the two multiversal gods. They saw that this Earth had practically transformed into a pale red star of calamity. At the same time, various points of light appeared—those were many Xenomorphs joining forces to besiege the Scarlet Witch.
But Thanoseid did not join the battle. Instead, he watched with a cold gaze, holding the Infinity Gems and the Infinity Sword, awaiting Du Wa's command.
This brutal fellow knew very well that the Scarlet Witch's abnormal power surge was definitely related to the god at its source. The fact that Du Wa hadn't taken any action already indicated he had a plan.
"This is just my way of saying hello. If I wish it, I can have many Scarlet Witches go mad in every universe you rule at any time, constantly altering the reality of each one. I've already thought of a very interesting alteration: what do you think about erasing every Xenomorph in the entire universe?"
"Very interesting. It reminds me of a certain Scarlet Witch who erased all the mutants in the universe."
"Oh, that was merely the result of her gaining a tiny bit more of my power. I can make many Scarlet Witches even more powerful and insane whenever I please."
Chthon had this confidence. He admitted that Du Wa was a tough opponent, but still no match for him. Did he not know the power of the Ancient Gods?
Aside from a few creator gods, he was the most ancient of them all. He had witnessed far, far too many major events, far more than Du Wa could compare to.
However, Du Wa would never play his hand as these old-timers expected.
"You know, mere tricks like this are nothing in my eyes," Du Wa said.
"Correct, they are nothing to you, but they will hinder your efforts to spread Xenomorphs across the universes. Why not join forces with me? I can fill the entire multiverse with your Xenomorphs and even lend all of my power for your Xenomorphs to use. What do you think of Dark Magic Xenomorph mages? Or, you could choose a Xenomorph in each universe to be a spokesperson for chaos power. We can kill all the White Magicians."
Chthon's voice carried an unadulterated malice. "I know you also lent your power to the followers of the Vishanti. During the battle against Shuma-Gorath, Sorcerer Supremes from various universes came to you to form a Mage Legion. But those guys have no value. They're cheap and redundant."
Upon reaching the multiversal level, one's view of everything below the multiverse changes. Having personally witnessed the vastness of the multiverse and being able to easily reverse life and death, one almost becomes fate itself. As a result, the slaughter and change beneath the multiversal level become utterly uninteresting.
"Your words are amusing. Placing yourself half a step above me... who gave you the courage? Demiurge, or the Serpent God Set, who has been hiding for hundreds of millions of years?"
Du Wa revealed a smile. "You think that just because you've mastered chaos power, you can control the Scarlet Witch who uses it and do whatever you please?"
"You intend to personally intervene?" Chthon's voice was filled with astonishment. "That strange Thanoseid can only exert his great power in specific universes. You can't possibly merge the entire multiverse into a single universe."
Was the God of Xenomorphs so willing to disregard his dignity and station? To stoop to personally intervening, to kill his spokesperson, the Scarlet Witch, with his own hands in every universe? Without acting personally, and relying only on the strength of the other Xenomorphs, they would be unable to truly kill the Scarlet Witch.
But Du Wa did not do that.
"No. Although I am the God of Xenomorphs, and every Xenomorph is equivalent to my clone, dealing with the Scarlet Witch is not yet worthy of me personally manipulating the Xenomorphs. There are still many methods available. For example, how do you plan to deal with this?" Du Wa tilted his head slightly.
It was a very casual gesture, yet when it pressed down upon a single universe below the multiverse, it swept over everything. When all these tidal waves converged on a single individual, it became an unbearable weight for that life form.
Then, Jean Grey, who had been stable for several years, suddenly found her long-dormant dark persona being forcefully dragged to the surface by a powerful force at this sudden and critical juncture, replacing her main personality as she desperately tried to stop the Scarlet Witch.
*Swish!*
Jean Grey's eyes instantly turned pitch-black, and the terrifying Phoenix Force erupted at this very moment!
The Phoenix Force also possessed functions like reality warping and creation.
By the time Professor X reacted and tried to stop Jean Grey, it was far too late. He could only watch, on the verge of madness, as another one went insane, making the already chaotic situation even worse.
"Another one?! Something's wrong with you mutants!!"
Reynolds was already in a bitter fight, wracking his brains against a ball of Chaos Magic thrown by Wanda, when a golden surge of the Phoenix Force suddenly struck him from behind. It blasted him out of the atmosphere, and he nearly crashed into Mars.
The tiny Krakoa was truly full of talented people. Reynolds felt like his eyes had been opened. The impact he was suffering now was greater than anything he'd experienced when clashing with the Cancerverse.
Reynolds wasn't the only one who was dumbfounded. Every single person, upon sensing a rapidly escalating power, felt a fleeting sense of deja vu.
When the Phoenix Force swelled to a certain level, it naturally squared off against the chaos force.
The entire Earth-1543681, which had been barely holding on, gradually began to collapse. No one knew whether they should be dealing with the Scarlet Witch or Phoenix Jean Grey.
At this, a portion of the former and current Sorcerer Supremes from parallel universes who had not yet left also sprang into action.
Iron Man took the lead. His formidable magic armor was covered in intricate runic patterns, and the red levitating cloak behind him spread out on its own, amplifying the vibration of magical particles. He effortlessly unleashed power at the Skyfather level, demonstrating a masterful use of White Magic, but the expression under his mask was incredibly ugly.
"Chaos Magic and the Phoenix Force... these are both extremely ancient powers in the multiverse. It's not like they haven't run rampant in other universes before, but why have they both gone berserk in this universe, one after the other? If there's nothing fishy going on here, I'll eat my own magic armor!"
"Buddy, your armor might not taste so good. I can let you have a few bites of mine. How about after the battle, you let me study your armor for a couple of days? Which Mark is that?" The local Iron Man's eyes burned with envy, but he received no response from this Sorcerer Supreme Iron Man.
All conversation was instantly cut off by the clash between the chaos force and the Phoenix Force. The two ancient powers began a full-scale competition.
Whenever one side attempted to warp reality, the other would do everything in its power to change it back, determined not to let the other have its way.
Watching this scene, Du Wa said, "So, Chthon, how do you plan to counter this move? By instigating a full-scale confrontation between the Chaos Force and the Phoenix Force in every universe?"
Chthon was silent for a moment. "Hmph, the Phoenix Force... even if you really stimulate the Phoenix Force in every universe, it's impossible for me to lose. The chaos power I have mastered is stronger than the Phoenix Force."
"Oh? How confident. Although both are primordial forces, is that what you really think?" Du Wa sneered.
Chthon, in turn, became suspicious and uncertain, realizing that Du Wa knew a deeper secret.
But... a secret of that level should have been buried in the previous multiverses. How could someone with Du Wa's origins possibly know? It made no sense at all. Even if Du Wa had miraculously ascended to godhood from an ordinary human—a feat that was the stuff of legends across all seven multiverses—he still shouldn't have been privy to information on the level of the Phoenix Force.
"It seems there's a reason Shuma-Gorath has his eye on you..." Chthon said in a low voice.
Du Wa scoffed.
The three great primal powers of the multiverse: the Phoenix Force, the Chaos Force, and the Faerie Force.
Generally speaking, these three powers could be considered to be on the same level—at least within the scope of the current seventh multiverse. Mastering these three powers was more than enough to gain a firm foothold at the multiverse level.
But that was generally speaking, and it was still limited by the upper limit within a single multiverse.
In reality, the fundamental nature of the Phoenix Force far exceeded that of the Chaos Force and the Faerie Force. At least in terms of origin, it was leagues ahead.
This brought up the structure of the Marvel Universe.
The DC side was like a series of nested spheres, while the Marvel side was like a stack of building blocks, one layer pressing down on the next, with extremely strict boundaries.
The multiverse was the lowest level, which included the current multiverse and the six that had already perished.
Many multiverses together constructed a floor, which supported the concept of the megaverse above it.
Similarly, countless megaverses came together to support the omniverse.
But the omniverse was by no means the top layer, not by a long shot!
The layer above the omniverse was comprised of various universes represented by the Beyond Realm, ruled by the Beyonders. Every universe here was distinct from the omniverse and extremely special.
And it didn't end there. The layer above these special universes was the renowned White Hot Room.
And the Phoenix Force was the supreme power born from the White Hot Room!
Of course, the White Hot Room was not the top layer either. Beyond the White Hot Room lay the Abyss, the place of all non-existence and the unreachable land.
Above the White Hot Room and the Abyss, there was the House of Ideas, acclaimed as the highest point of all, yet the House of Ideas was merely a front door to enter the top layer.
That was a realm Du Wa could not yet decipher or analyze through his own power. Even if he used various means to surpass the White Hot Room and find the House of Ideas, he likely wouldn't be able to fully comprehend what he saw. A process with no result was never something Du Wa pursued. He would rather make the most complete preparations before taking action.
"Although the Phoenix Force can only ever appear in various universes as a fragment, which means its power will always have a visible upper limit, it doesn't mean the chaos power you have mastered can suppress it. Chthon, don't show off your power in front of me. In my eyes, you are like a peacock desperately fanning its tail. Besides making me laugh, it has no other meaning," Du Wa said with a smile.
"So, the talks have broken down? You still refuse to stand with me, but I hope you won't stand with the Vishanti either."
"Neither you nor the Vishanti are qualified to order me around. On this point, the Vishanti are much smarter than you. The three of them are also arrogant, but they know better than you when to advance and when to retreat."
Du Wa suddenly struck, slamming his palm down towards the endless void before him!
(end of chapter)