Chapter 281: Du Wa Has Arrived
Cul frantically ravaged the Main Universe's Earth, unleashing the full force of his fury upon this world.
Did he have any idea what he had been through these past few years!
Especially when he heard the superheroes of the Main Universe shouting that he was a Xenomorph or something similar, Cul's entire face contorted.
Xenomorph? He really wasn't a Xenomorph, and that was perhaps the most awkward part.
"I have a better idea. Why don't you take your handful of men, leave Earth, and go back to Asgard to fight for your throne?"
Amidst the chaos, the Main Universe Spider-Man crouched on a tall building, shouting cautiously.
His spider-sense was blaring wildly; even at this distance, his safety wasn't guaranteed.
"Spider-Man? Du Wa was too merciful. He clearly interfered with the Spider Alliance, yet he spared vermin like you!" An enormous amount of divine power erupted from Cul, coalescing into tangible thunderbolts.
The divine power struck out, but Spider-Man nimbly dodged it.
"You're the same. As far as I know, you aren't a Xenomorph either, but you seem to have obtained a lot of information that ordinary people would have difficulty knowing. That's very strange... Is this the result of your 'advanced studies' with Du Wa?"
Spider-Man continuously shot out his webbing. Of course, it was useless; he was just creating an opportunity for the others.
Members of The Avengers and the X-Men sprang into action, employing all sorts of flashy techniques, including mental invasions and physical attacks, in an attempt to take down Cul in one go.
This was not easy. Facing a veteran Skyfather who was returning to his peak, they were a bit too hasty. However, they had no choice. With several of the Worthy scattered about creating fear, Cul was also in a temporary trough in his strength. The sooner they struck, the higher the probability of success.
"We don't have time to waste on you! And we have no interest in what you've learned. Cul, leave Earth immediately, or die on Earth!"
Tony flew in, piloting an armor that was over two meters tall.
Its overall structure resembled the Celestials, with no real head. The torso was silver, with two neat rows of small lights. Only the limbs were painted red and gold, proving this was another one of Tony Stark's meticulous creations.
Cul raised his hand and blasted it with divine power, but it caused no obvious damage to the armor. Instead, the armor's energy index rose by a level, and the energy wave it now emitted was clearly divine power!
"It seems you get it now. That's right, just as you thought, this is an armor that can absorb divine power, made specifically to deal with you mad World Tree deities!" Tony spread his hands and blasted out the divine power he had just absorbed from Cul.
The Main Universe is an extremely cruel place. When heroes clash due to ideological differences, there's no such thing as pulling punches. They seize every opportunity to deal a fatal blow, a fighting style completely different from the superheroes of Universe 199999.
The reason is simple. This is the center of the Multiverse, home to the strongest heroes, villains, and gods. Terrifying individuals capable of easily destroying the universe pop up at a moment's notice. Various ancient gods take turns appearing, and unbelievable artifacts and super-energies emerge one after another. This leads to a situation where the self-proclaimed righteous superheroes, despite having greater strength and potential, often have a frighteningly low tolerance for error.
So, once a fight starts, they have no choice but to try and kill their opponent as thoroughly as possible, even if that opponent was a comrade with whom they had fought life-and-death battles just a short time ago.
The Civil War turned into such a mess, and now there were plans to kill the rampaging Scarlet Witch. The siblings Colossus and Magik were fighting to the death over power. There were far too many similar examples.
This is why someone like Captain America, who has long maintained a consistent moral compass, can be called the conscience of Earth.
Everyone is more or less extreme. A few individual heroes like Captain America are relatively normal in comparison, which makes them stand out.
After Cul was captured by the Xenomorphs, Tony and the others had also searched for some information. They roughly figured out Cul's origins and also knew about the shitty things Asgard did after Cul escaped.
The fact that Odin wanted to kill all of humanity on Earth just to prevent Cul from recovering his strength was inexcusable. This respected God-King was even about to intervene personally but was stopped by an enraged Zeus. This was because the line of Olympus needed to absorb the faith of humanity to maintain its strength. If he let Odin slaughter all humans, was Zeus supposed to live on air?
This made it impossible for the people of Earth to trust Asgard again, especially the brutal and mad Odin. Tony, in particular, had long been prepared to turn against Asgard, creating a divine power armor specifically to deal with the World Tree pantheon.
"What do you think of calling this armor the Anti-Cul Armor? You're really lucky. I originally prepared it for Odin—even Thor wasn't worthy. And now, I'll name it after you." Tony was firing wildly with both his mouth and his hands.
The more Cul attacked, the more power Tony could unleash. As the fight went on, Tony actually became the main source of damage for a time.
Even Magneto and the White Queen couldn't compare to him.
All sorts of energies mixed together, multicolored and vibrant. The violent collisions and bombardments frequently created regional earthquakes. The sudden bursts of light were like a sun rising from the Earth, with intense flashes that were brief but frequent.
Cul fought against many, looking fierce and malevolent, with no intention of retreating. He knew he had no way out. Du Wa hadn't thrown him back into the Main Universe just to let him play house!
Faced with a Celestial-level Du Wa, if Cul had returned to the Main Universe on his own, he would have been sharpening his knives, preparing for revenge. But faced with a Multiverse-level Du Wa, what hope of revenge did he have? His every move couldn't escape Du Wa's sight.
"A bunch of fools living in a utopia! The era has long since changed! The crises erupting in the outside world, in every respect, far exceed the upper limit of what you, who have stayed in the Main Universe from the very beginning, can possibly comprehend!"
Cul sneered at these guys. Did they have any idea of the prestige the God of Xenomorphs held in the Multiverse? It was a name praised by countless powerful mages and demon gods, a majesty established through iron-fisted means in one major event after another.
Judged on a macroscopic time scale, Du Wa's rise was actually very brief. In an extremely short period, he stunned a host of ancient existences, completing his transformation from a mortal to a being of multiversal standing. During this time, the superheroes of the Main Universe still had only a partial understanding of the changes in the outside world.
As for how strong Du Wa truly was? They could only rely on their imaginations. Even with the fragmented information provided by Doctor Strange, it was impossible for them to form a truly concrete impression of Du Wa.
They only knew he was very, very strong, completely incomparable to a god like Cul who had personally felt how terrifying Du Wa was. They were even less capable of understanding the extreme fear that had seeped into Cul's very marrow.
The God of Fear's heart was filled with fear. Cul felt a fear he had never experienced since his birth. Now that he had it, perhaps he could absorb his own fear and increase his power?
Tony immediately noticed that Cul seemed to be getting stronger as they fought. He complained, "We've wasted too much time on him! He's absorbing the fear of the humans on Earth and growing stronger!"
The total population on Earth had been declining after multiple crises, but it was still enough for Cul to have a feast.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate and the heroes had gained the upper hand, with Doctor Strange not hesitating to borrow even more immense magic to suppress Cul, the one person who should not have arrived, did. The Scarlet Witch sensed the commotion here and, following her mad instinct, quickly flew over.
Every hero felt a chill as if plunged into an ice cavern. They discovered that the Chaos Magic on the Scarlet Witch had been enhanced once again.
It was as if the Chaos Magic of the entire Multiverse was slowly converging on the Main Universe's Scarlet Witch.
Several of the Worthy also arrived one after another, engaging in a chaotic brawl with the superheroes present.
"Fuck! Why are these guys here too? What the hell are Dracula and his group doing? Weren't they supposed to hold back at least two of them?!"
"This is trouble. These lackeys of Cul will definitely stretch our already thin ranks, and we still have to face the Witch..."
Whether it was The Avengers or the X-Men, everyone's expression changed. The current situation had become truly terrible.
Cul's strength was soaring, and with his few emissaries, he would soon possess the power to destroy Earth and even the solar system. The crucial point was that the heroes couldn't figure out Cul's purpose for returning to the Main Universe, or rather, what Du Wa's purpose was.
The Scarlet Witch was even worse. Her reality-warping red magic was already visibly affecting the surrounding space-time and physical objects. Perhaps a single thought could erase them from reality?
"We should have cultivated a few reliable Omega-level mutants years ago and then had someone with a real brain make a plan, like Reed and his son," the White Queen complained, looking battered.
Unfortunately, Reed and his group had left the Main Universe long ago, and no one knew where they went. There had been no news of them for years.
Some of the less righteous folks were as regretful now as they had been happy to see it happen back then.
Using an Omega-level to fight an Omega-level... Iceman Bobby remarked that if they kept this up, the universe would be destroyed before the battle's outcome was decided. But right now, aside from fighting fire with fire, there seemed to be no other way.
Volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and terrifying meteors falling continuously from outside the atmosphere spread across the globe, causing incalculable casualties.
The last time a massacre of this level erupted was when the Dark Phoenix went on a rampage, resulting in over a billion deaths worldwide.
But now, there would be no Omega-level Phoenix Jean Grey, because she was already long dead—and not many people missed her. Cyclops Scott was getting hot and heavy with the White Queen Emma.
More than one person felt despair, thinking they were most likely doomed this time. They might have to retreat from Earth once again, or even flee this universe to find a way to fix everything.
But just as everything seemed to have fallen into an irreversible situation, and the natives of Earth were still trying to struggle, intentionally trying to guide the Scarlet Witch to attack Cul the Serpent...
A great golden bird of flame flew from an unknown place all the way to Earth.
The scorching flames nurtured an inconceivable power of life and emotion. It was as if it were life and emotion itself, more dazzling than any star in the universe, and it was brewing an unbelievable level of power.
Every living being could feel the arrival of this great flame bird. They subconsciously looked up, and at first glance, everyone naturally knew what it was.
"The Phoenix Force???"
"Why is the Phoenix Force flying to Earth at a time like this? Does it have something to do with the Scarlet Witch?"
Tony stepped forward, piloting his already battered armor and struggling to maintain his offensive output. He shouted, "Guys, remember that time in K'un-Lun, the research I shared? I theorized that the Phoenix Force and Chaos Magic are entangled forces in the universe. I'm updating that theory now! These two damned powers might have been entangled since the multiversal level!"
Doctor Strange's face was deathly pale, a sign of overexertion. He had used the power of all sorts of gods except for Chthon, but he still couldn't quell this escalating, terrible situation.
He mainly thought Iron Man's theory was too ridiculous. By that logic, he could just as well say that the Vishanti and Chthon were entangled gods.
However, with the Phoenix Force, Chaos Magic, and the Serpent of Fear all gathered on Earth, and all in a state of war, Earth was already overwhelmed. It trembled violently, as if it would explode in the next second.
Cul panted heavily. Looking at Tony, Magneto, and the others chasing him relentlessly like mad dogs, he suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Odin must be watching this."
"What, you still want your brother to come help you? We thought of that already. Thor hasn't shown up, which means Asgard is watching Earth!" Tony shot Cul with his left hand and immediately followed up with a punch from his right, knocking Cul back two steps.
But Cul's cold laughter grew even more crazed. He had already sensed that the one who could truly dominate everything here had arrived.
It wasn't the Scarlet Witch, nor the mysterious Phoenix Force, and certainly not him, Cul, or anyone else. It was...
The Xenomorph.
"No, I should say, the Xenomorph has been here all along. On this very Earth, from the very beginning!" Cul abruptly turned his head, willing to take a few heavy blows just to stare fixedly in one direction.
There, a seemingly ordinary Xenomorph stood quietly. Its slender form was 2.2 meters tall, quiet and unremarkable.
Cul recognized this Xenomorph.
Back then, when he escaped from the Alien Universe back to the Main Universe, a large group of Xenomorphs had pursued him. One of them had half its body severed by the closing space portal, with one half left behind in the Main Universe.
This Xenomorph had regenerated from that same severed half.
This proved that Du Wa had been in the Main Universe all along.
When the entire Main Universe began to experience a distortion for unknown reasons, and its physical constants started to fall into subtle disarray, a horrifying feeling crept into everyone's heart, as if they were being watched by a terrifying natural predator.
Du Wa had arrived, truly extending his reach into the Main Universe.
(end of chapter)