Chapter 296: The Celestials, Who Can Understand Them?
Author: Great Demon Spirit
Through his multiple actions in the two great worlds of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, Du Wa had already confirmed one thing: for a being of his multiversal scale, parasitizing a Deity of the same level was undoubtedly an extremely difficult matter.
Unlike in his mortal days, where the process from parasitism to chest-bursting could be completed in a few hours, at the multiversal level, it could easily take tens of thousands or even hundreds of millions of years. Moreover, this flow of time was evaluated based on the endless confrontation between two multiversal powers; simple time acceleration was completely useless against a multiversal-level existence.
As the ultimate embodiment of time, Eternity was merely a multiversal god himself, and he lacked the ability to simply use the power of time to accelerate the life process of an existence at the same level.
Du Wa's voice entered Shuma-Gorath's mind: "Do not probe into a domain you are completely unqualified to enter. It's fine if you don't understand; it's enough that I do. What you need to do is obey my command and do what you must when the time comes. Otherwise, I wouldn't be against completely eliminating a hidden danger like you before I launch my next major operation."
Shuma-Gorath's thoughts were also filled with immense distortion and evil. "You have the strength. It should only be a matter of time before I completely become your vassal, rather than our current relationship which is primarily based on cooperation, where I am at most bound and constrained by you... However, if you are truly determined to completely enslave me, it will definitely disrupt your plans."
Although Shuma-Gorath's mind was full of corruption, this Cthulhu-esque supreme god was not incapable of basic thought.
He couldn't defeat Du Wa, but if pushed to desperation, he could at least slow Du Wa's tempo and create immense trouble for him.
"You know nothing of my power. The things you perceive are what I want you to see, not what you see through your own ability. You must recognize this," Du Wa said faintly.
From this brief message, Shuma-Gorath felt a bone-chilling cold.
Logic told him it was unreasonable, but his intuition told him that Du Wa was probably not resorting to such a clumsy lie to deceive him.
Du Wa observed Shuma-Gorath's every move, his mind perfectly serene.
When deterring an ancient and troublesome deity, the best method was to be genuinely able to deliver on one's words.
To this day, Du Wa had not summoned Quantum Batman to the Marvel World, which meant that everything he did in the Marvel World essentially had room to maneuver.
It wasn't that he couldn't do it; there was simply no need to use all his means so early.
Shuma-Gorath watched as the Black Winter fled into the depths of The Void. Given its nature, it would either try to return to the Multiverse after a very long time or simply go to other, inferior multiverses in the Void Zone, using crazed slaughter to increase its strength before coming back.
As it turned out, the Black Winter's actions were decisive, and it saved its own life as a result, for the First Firmament was already entering its final moments.
It had died once again.
Its already tattered and incomplete cosmic body was now torn to pieces. Along with it, the vast will of the First Firmament was shattered into fragments by Eternity's all-out assault, the consciousness it emitted growing ever weaker.
Normally, the First Firmament would be annihilated, but if it could be resurrected once, it could be resurrected a second time.
"You parasites living on my corpse, you should be well aware! As long as you are still alive, I can live forever!"
The First Firmament roared in fury, "Especially you, Eternity! I am a part of your very existence. The power you now possess is only possible because it relies on my corpse. As long as you live, I will never truly die and will sooner or later return!"
Eternity stated coldly, "Of course I know this isn't enough to kill you, nor did I intend to get rid of you so easily. I'm just trying to find a way to ensure you never wake up. That way, you'll still be in a state of 'being alive'."
The First Firmament's premature exposure and its second death at Eternity's hands were not meaningless for Eternity. Eternity confirmed that the First Firmament was very difficult to kill, and that was enough. For a long time to come, Eternity would focus his main efforts on monitoring the Multiverse, destroying any sign that could possibly aid in the First Firmament's resurrection.
Using its last remaining cosmic fragment, the First Firmament transmitted a thought filled with a strange emotion, and was then destroyed.
"That was mockery. The First Firmament did something extremely important in a place you didn't notice, and it achieved its goal," Fifth Magic said immediately.
"I didn't notice it doing anything." Eternity thought it over and over, but came up with nothing.
Fifth Magic said, "I am just here to help, offering only my deduction. As for whether this is truly the case, that's for you Creator Gods to handle. You'd better find a way to completely resolve the First Firmament issue sooner rather than later. A dangerous fellow like that is not likely to head to the Far Shore of the Void like us."
"I have already found a method, and it is not difficult. I just need to completely become the entity of the Seventh Multiverse. That way, after this multiverse perishes and before the next one is born, I can permanently take away all of the First Firmament's remains," Eternity said coldly.
As he spoke, the Creator God looked towards Shuma-Gorath, or to be more precise, at Du Wa.
Infinity and Fifth Magic also looked over, sizing up this God of Xenomorphs born in the Seventh Multiverse.
"What, you wish to challenge me? I don't mind having a go with you Creator Gods and multiverse entities first." Du Wa chuckled lightly. Instead of leaving like the Black Winter, he spurred Shuma-Gorath to move a little closer.
Frankly, the only one who could pose a threat to him was Infinity. As for the likes of Eternity and Fifth Magic, they weren't enough to render Du Wa helpless.
Eternity shook his head indifferently.
Du Wa and Shuma-Gorath were two multiverse-level beings. Although they were far inferior to the Creator God faction, they couldn't compare to the Creator Gods in either quality or quantity.
The Creator Gods could also summon the Lord of Order and Lord Chaos. Their strength was immense, but they were not a monolithic bloc. Instead, they each fought for themselves, rarely caring about one another's survival.
Du Wa's voice rang out, "To become the entity of the Seventh Multiverse is no simple task, but it shouldn't be a problem for you. You should thank me. If I hadn't forced out the First Firmament and the Black Winter first, you wouldn't have been able to set your target so easily."
In fact, the entity that appeared after the destruction of the Seventh Multiverse was indeed Eternity.
However, Eternity did not go to the Far Shore of the Void like Magic (Entity) and Science (Entity), but instead remained in the Eighth Multiverse as the time entity.
But now, it was hard to say, because the Seventh Multiverse would certainly not meet its end as it originally would have. Everything would become vastly different.
Eternity stared fixedly at Shuma-Gorath. "I have a premonition that a dangerous fellow like you wouldn't be so kind-hearted. For you to do such a thing, you are clearly brewing an even greater conspiracy... The moment you do anything to destroy the Multiverse, I will take action, and many other powerful deities will as well."
"I don't care," Du Wa said with a smile. "Or are you planning to eliminate me before I can potentially do anything to harm the Multiverse? That might be a good idea."
This time, Eternity did not respond. A Creator God couldn't just erase a multiversal god for no reason. Not to mention whether a great battle involving multiple multiverse-level beings would collapse the Multiverse itself, the other Creator Gods would not necessarily heed Eternity's request.
Eternity returned to the Multiverse.
Infinity glanced at Shuma-Gorath. "Regardless, thank you for helping us discover the secret of the First Firmament's resurrection this time... I hope we will not stand on opposing sides. You have also seen that every multiverse has an entity, and these entities are a power we can draw upon. When you are about to do something reckless, you had best think it over."
"Is that a warning?"
"No, it is advice."
Infinity departed.
Fifth Magic had no intention of communicating with Du Wa at all. It stood in place for a moment, sensing a weak consciousness trying to converse with it in various ways, but it did not respond.
Fifth Magic avoided communicating with individuals within the contemporary multiverse as much as possible, to interfere less with the multiverse's progression. Moreover, the vast majority of life forms in this generation would not live to see the next multiverse.
Perhaps after hundreds of millions of years, when the Seventh Multiverse died, this God of Xenomorphs and the human desperately calling out to it might just perish along with it.
"The Far Shore of the Void... It might be a very interesting place, but I currently don't have the spare strength to meddle there."
Du Wa looked in the direction Fifth Magic had departed, lost in thought.
One had to be at least at the Megaverse level to be able to naturally sweep up all these multiversal entities in The Void in one go.
Shuma-Gorath resumed its aimless wandering outside the Multiverse, occasionally finding some fragmented remains and piecing them together as a temporary shelter, awaiting Du Wa's next summoning.
Du Wa's vision swept rapidly across the Multiverse.
"The First Firmament wouldn't give up so easily. It must have taken the opportunity while prying loose the fragments of its own body in the Multiverse to do something. The key must be... Arishem."
Du Wa quickly found the breakthrough point.
He was all too familiar with Arishem. This mutated Celestial, who hailed from the Alien Universe, had even personally caused Galactus's transformation into the rare Lifebringer.
Du Wa guessed it was highly likely that Arishem's breakthrough of the Celestials' original limitations had allowed the First Firmament to awaken in an era when it was least supposed to. And not only did it wake up, it was even preparing to take action, which led to its discovery by the similarly reclusive Black Winter.
Swish!
Du Wa's will descended upon Arishem.
Within Arishem, special cosmic fragments converged and were implanted into his energy core, ready to erupt with immense power at any moment.
This was the First Firmament's handiwork. It had chosen Arishem as its spokesperson and generously gifted him its own limited power.
"Du Wa?"
Arishem raised his head, every light bulb on his body erupting with intense light. He possessed power far greater than at any time in the past. "I have received a command from the First Firmament. Worse, my programming has been modified, forcing me to act according to its command."
"This is normal. The Celestials were originally the creations of the First Firmament. It knows the operational logic of every program within your bodies. Modifying the core code of a Celestial like you is all too easy. You have no other choice," Du Wa said.
"Are you here to destroy me?"
"I was hesitating, but now there's no need. You should be able to bring me many surprises." Du Wa shook his head.
Among the Celestials are many incomparably powerful beings, including many at the multiverse level. They are also one of the potential forces that protect the Multiverse, staunchly upholding the multiversal system, which might have caused some problems for Du Wa.
But now, with Arishem's appearance, he could serve as an aid to Du Wa.
"Well then, seeing as you're so confused, I'll give you a push. Your mission is to fight against the Celestials who betrayed the First Firmament, buying it an opportunity to be resurrected—on the premise that you aren't eliminated before it is."
Du Wa looked down on him. "You walked out alive from the universe I rule, not because I looked down on you, but purely because you weren't on my radar. But now you are. Speaking of which, you did threaten me once."
Even though Arishem, unlike an ordinary life-form, did not possess extremely rich emotions, he still felt intense anger at this moment.
The rage made this mechanical Celestial even more clear-headed.
BOOM!
Faced with Du Wa's sudden attack, Arishem, in order not to be erased, had no choice but to immediately use the First Firmament's gift. And upon using it, the one who first sensed the problem was not Eternity, but...
Special models of the Celestials!
"Arishem, what have you done!!"
"Your operating program is wrong! And what is this power? Why is it completely different from the Celestials' energy system?!"
"Am I mistaken? This disturbance is clearly from the Dark Celestials... Did the First Firmament modify Arishem before it died?"
The already highly tense Celestials collectively went berserk. They were already poised and ready to act, intending to completely finish off the First Firmament, but they never got the chance. Then, from within the entire Celestial system, they detected one who had developed a special program and was even using the power of the Dark Celestials.
"The Dark Celestials are the First Firmament's most loyal lapdogs! I never expected you to accept the First Firmament's gift and defect to it!"
"You, who hail from the Alien Universe, have already betrayed us? Good. Very good. You are the first Celestial in history to launch a rebellion against us from within our ranks!"
One ancient Celestial after another rushed over at high speed from various parts of the Multiverse, descending upon him.
One Above All, the Collector, the Analyzer, the Destroyer...
One after another, incomparably tall beings radiating endless divine light stood, completely surrounding Arishem.
By the time the shocked and enraged Arishem went to look for Du Wa's whereabouts, he discovered that Du Wa had long since vanished.
"Du Wa... what exactly does he want to do?! What good does it do him to set me up!!"
(end of chapter )