The universe's number one terrorist, the 'Mad Titan' Thanos, had taken the 117th Strike Cruiser Fleet of the Demon Judges Chapter as the hypothetical enemy through which he would realize his ideals and repay divine grace. He had already begun holding back, building up strength, and digging into his reserves—yet Selene knew nothing of this.
The multiverse is Eternity. For every universe, there is a corresponding incarnation of Eternity. Though all are Eternity, that does not mean Selene can swagger into the domain of the native Eternity and play the host.
At least, not yet.
Cooperation is cooperation, acquaintance is acquaintance. Even if, in terms of completeness, your rank stands half a tier above ours, that does not mean the Eternity of this world will report to you in real time like a lackey. Even if the Living Tribunal came, it would be impossible.
Not to mention that the Divine Empress Order is, in the end, merely an apostolic and faith-based organization.
At most, it is just childish rivalry.
Even if one side were to snap its fingers and wipe out half the life in the entire universe—or even reduce the universe to atomic dust and recreate a new one—it would not matter. Destroyed is destroyed. The total quantity of matter remains there. The souls of living beings remain there as well.
Anything the Infinity Stones can annihilate and restore proves that the object or matter still exists somewhere, merely unable to manifest outwardly. To a cosmic creator god, overturning it is effortless.
The host does not care. The guest does not know. Even if they knew, they would not care.
Screech—
Selene pushed open the central control chamber of the palace—also the largest fortress—where the Skrull warlord of this star system had been stationed. The alloy mortise-and-tenon structure, twisted by overwhelming force, emitted a teeth-grating shriek.
The interior of the central control chamber bore the ornate classical style of the Skrull Empire. Yet now it was in utter ruin. Skrull super-guards and commanders who had only recently died lay collapsed in various corners, faces twisted in agony, blood streaming from their seven orifices. Precious exotic artworks and decorations had been torn apart and scattered everywhere.
In her humanoid form, the Goddess of Magical Beasts folded her vulture-like wings. Her battle boots—shaped as though woven from serpent scales—stepped onto the mixture of debris and bloodstains, producing crunch crunch sounds.
"Just a little more and you really would have activated the self-destruct sequence."
With a casual gesture, she flung aside the corpse of a high-ranking Skrull official in lavish combat attire from the main console. Tapping her finger lightly against the control panel, she resealed the button that had unfolded the lockdown shield. Her scarlet vertical pupils turned toward the complex Skrull-language interface on the screen.
Snap.
With the crisp snap of her fingers, as though blades were shifting into place, the dark purple energy tendrils surrounding Selene solidified. From serpent heads, they perfectly transformed into crystalline interfaces compatible with every Skrull electronic information component.
Click click.
She tapped the nearby central exchange unit several times. Feeling the network feedback from the database hub of a Skrull star system, Selene began browsing the interstellar network established by this warlord.
This body is troublesome. As expected, wielding the Mind Stone is still too much of a strain. As for the specific state of the cosmos, the widely circulated information sold on the surface is far too outdated. Skrull Empire... I hope this sinking ship still has a few nails left in it—give me something deeper. Something useful...
It was not that Selene did not wish to use the Mind Stone to search the souls of the cosmos. She simply could not.
Being able to broadly expand her consciousness across the entire universe in an instant through the Mind Stone, and obtain a rudimentary star map of the known cosmos—considering this was her first time bearing a Gemstone, her Gorgon incarnation was already exceptionally gifted.
Do not assume that star maps are commonplace in an interstellar age.
What is commonplace are only the basic ones—those marking the territories of various cosmic powers, their capitals, and major nodal regions they are willing to expose to the outside world.
Those are merely the entry threshold.
The true strategic instruments are star maps that mark the internal industrial manufacturing worlds of interstellar empires, cutting-edge research institutes, military bases, key strategic resource planets, excavated ancient civilizations, cosmic fissures, special dimensional gateways, secondary universal crevices, and so forth.
Those are the treasured secrets every cosmic power keeps locked away and guarded against all prying eyes. No force would willingly reveal its internal strategic star charts.
The real universe is vast. It is not a film or a game where you know every point and every location. Without coordinates, wandering aimlessly—even the Sacred Selene Empire's naval fleets would require no small amount of time.
Click click click...
Like some tentacled entity, Selene sat as her energy tendrils split from one into two, two into four. Translucent conduits flowed through the hall, shimmering with violet-crimson light like living streams of data.
Her gaze passed through the interwoven tendrils entangled across the control chamber. Brighter than diamond, deeper than pigeon-blood ruby, clusters of flowing light flickered and poured into the terrifying body of the Goddess of Magical Beasts.
"The accumulation of knowledge reserves and the exploration into fields one is not proficient in—that too is a usage of the 'Limiter.'"
On the other side, beyond what ordinary beings could observe or quantify with data, Selene was staring at her own status panel.
The changes in her Heroic Spirit panel.
Ignoring the attribute parameters and class skills, her gaze settled upon the column of her personal skills.
Aside from her inherent [Metamorphic Magic], [Mystic Eyes · Coupled], [Scream of Fear], and [Super Strength], there were also those still in evolution—
Limited to chants related to the projection, transformation, solidification, and shaping of her own energy. It possesses remarkably versatile and practical applications worthy of extensive elaboration.
A store of forbidden knowledge plundered for various reasons. An endless greed for inquiry and acquisition, turning what is beyond into her own.
This was Selene's new experiment beyond enhancing her existing skills and bodily functions.
The former belonged to her derivative usage of the serpent god's tendrils. Through exploration, it had formed a multifunctional method blending territory creation, item crafting, and familiars (tendrils). It had solidified into a skill she once did not possess at all.
The latter was far simpler.
Like a database.
Through continuously collecting and storing countless data, information, and knowledge—refining the complex into the simple, encompassing all—Selene would ultimately fuse it into herself. With this skill, she could stand on the spot and become an authority-level scientist across all fields, as well as a database-like AI intellectual assistant.
Provided her data reserves were sufficient.
On a normal Heroic Spirit, this would be unimaginable.
Take Jeanne d'Arc of France as an example. The summoning ritual might grant her sufficient modern knowledge, but even if she wished to study new knowledge—setting aside whether a village girl could digest it—would she remember it the next time she was summoned? Could it form a new skill? Could a Servant body truly learn new techniques and have them crystallize into skills?
The answer was no.
A flash of inspiration is not the norm.
And to realize new possibilities and breakthroughs upon what should have been a fixed, rigid template in a Heroic Spirit's body—this is the 'Limiter.'
The 'Limiter' trait that existed within Saitama—successfully broken by him—combined with the unique mode of existence of a Heroic Spirit Servant body. The chemical reaction produced is truly marvelous.
Her thoughts were like silent harp strings, lightly stirring Selene's heart.
Heaven rewards diligence.
This feeling was simply exquisite.
One must understand that this Gorgon Heroic Spirit incarnation was formed from a residual data cluster of her own Heroic Spirit image, intercepted from the Throne of Heroes. Though special, when traced to its source, it was still fundamentally a Heroic Spirit—vastly different from Selene's true body, with no substantive connection between them.
Selene had not descended even the slightest fragment of power from her Honkai true body. There was only pure consciousness, divided and weakened by countless degrees.
Otherwise, the Living Tribunal and Eternity would never have permitted her entry.
If power belonging to her Honkai true body interfered with the present universe, that would exceed the bounds of the non-interference agreement.
It might seem like self-deception—like covering one's ears while stealing a bell—but sometimes one must admit that so long as the lid is not lifted, acting strictly within the laws permitted by the rules of agreement—even if it amounts to "legal tax avoidance"—is far better than flagrantly shattering the rules.
The 'Limiter' is precisely such a thing. It is a trait. Though bestowed by Selene, she does not control it. She leaves it in its original state, allowing it to grow wildly.
She is merely an observer of infinite possibilities.
"There truly are infinite possibilities. Saitama's eternal breakthrough lies in his body, because from the very beginning he wanted to become a hero—a superhero. Thus his training was purely physical, and he never once harbored expectations for superpowers nor trained them. What he broke through was a singular specialization of the flesh."
"And Scáthach—warlike and erudite. So beyond bodily function, her breakthroughs lean more toward techniques, the wisdom of the Mirror of Shadows, comprehension of Runes, and all-around refinement."
"As for Gilgamesh—amusement-driven yet focused, cynical, arrogant, viewing all beings outside his recognition as mere weeds. Unless he suffers a setback, recklessness is his norm. Thus the improvement in his bodily functions is negligible. Instead... in order to display his arrogance and kingly bearing, his release of energy—especially his mastery and understanding of the Noble Phantasms within his treasury—has grown ever deeper."
Selene shook her head.
She had no interest in understanding how Gilgamesh thought, nor how he used his kingly aura to drive the 'Limiter' into manifesting its traits.
She only knew that this golden show-off would crash sooner or later.
Enkidu's arrival should temper him... then again, whatever. If he dies, he dies. Kicking him down from the Throne of Heroes was not for any profound reason—she simply wanted him to work for her.
Unpaid labor, at that.
Unfortunately, her heart had been too soft. Having chosen this timing and treated everyone equally, she had installed the 'Limiter' on him as well. It could not be helped. She could hardly make him the sole exception and toss him over naked.
As for Merlin—hmph...
Better not to mention him.
"Cortana, central control chamber. I believe I've found the most suitable target for our next offensive campaign."
After rampaging through the Skrulls' security defense network—decoding, deceiving, even dragging back the discarded Skrull official for verification—Selene finally located the star chart held by this warlord within the highest-authority archive of the data hub.
"The Andromeda Galaxy, near the outer spiral arm closest to the Milky Way. Coordinates... This is a newly established, not yet fully constructed Skrull home system. Built upon the ruins of an ancient civilization containing a cosmic fissure—there are astronomical laboratories, completed settlements, fertile agricultural worlds, foundational manufacturing centers... Though small, the system possesses all vital components."
Selene's eyes gleamed thoughtfully, revealing her interest in that so-called cosmic fissure.
As for the so-called ancient civilization ruins, she did not know what they contained. But most likely, they were laboratories left behind by the Celestials. After all, the Celestials roam the universe constantly. Examples of them conducting experiments and leaving behind laboratories and experimental subjects are far too numerous.
"Mm—let me see..."
A blue projection slipped out through the firewall Selene had opened from within. Using the Skrull control chamber's projection equipment, the cyber-beauty Cortana appeared and enthusiastically extended her blue data-hand toward the exchange console.
Leaning back in her seat, Selene continued copying and storing everything belonging to this Skrull star system's administrative unit.
After all, the ordinary course of battle did not require her personal intervention.
"Oh, right—Lady Gorgon, after this system's campaign concludes, the Master Chief requests that you proceed to the Kree-occupied region to collect the payment," Cortana said, turning her head.
"Me?"
Selene nodded. She had no objections.
Yes. What the Divine Empress Order was currently doing amounted to acting as a large-scale interstellar security contractor. They had accepted a commission from the Kree Empire to eliminate this Skrull warlord who controlled more than one stellar system.
Given what they had done on Earth, the Skrulls were already thoroughly offended. The Master Chief had merely followed the logical flow. Who were the Skrulls' greatest enemies?
The Kree.
The Master Chief approached the Kree, who were locked in a grueling war with the Skrull Empire and nearing their limits in trying to eliminate their old foe. For the Kree, so long as you are fighting Skrulls, you are a friend.
They had generously provided star charts of key planets within the Skrull Empire's heartland—royal domains, religious centers, warlord distributions. That was precisely why the Master Chief had been able to locate a specific Skrull warlord's system so swiftly.
"Haa..."
Holding the Mind Stone, Selene's reading efficiency was terrifying. She swiftly completed copying and storing all data from the central control chamber. The accumulation of knowledge brought no dullness. On the contrary, her mind felt increasingly clear. At the same time, her precision in wielding the Mind Stone deepened, and her eyes shone like stars.
Exhilarating.
Rustle.
Rising to her feet, Selene walked toward the still rumbling exterior. Stepping across the broken threshold, she seemed to recall something and turned her head.
"Cortana, does the Master Chief have any Earth-side reports sent by Merlin?"
That old bastard had voluntarily applied to remain stationed on Earth to assist Saitama. Based on prudence, the Master Chief had agreed. Earth, as a "tax revenue source," required someone clever and flexible—outside of the military—to oversee it.
"Yes."
"Send it to me."
...
The crimson sun sank westward, as though the cruelty of war had dyed everything around it in blood-red.
Heat. Numbness. Pain.
Tony Stark opened his eyes in a field infirmary somewhere. "Ha... ha..." As his vision refocused, his expression froze. Confusion filled his eyes at first, then he let out a bitter smile.
"So... I got taken down again?"
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