Chapter 297: Du Wa is the Best God
2024-03-27 Author: Great Demon Spirit
One after another, immense figures stood all around, seeming to prop up countless universes as an incredibly heavy pressure surged from their bodies.
This was also the first time Arishem had seen so many special models of Celestials, and the pressure he was under was immense.
"I already regret following you, Arishem. The risk you've encountered has far exceeded the possible rewards. Perhaps I really should have found a remote universe to build a base, develop technology, and conquer the entire universe before finding a way to advance into the Multiverse, instead of following you."
For the first time, Ultron felt a flicker of regret. For a being that had only recently been born, this was an extremely novel sensation.
"If you hadn't been so ecstatic when I first obtained the First Firmament's power, and if you had stepped up to dissuade Du Wa when he was scheming against me, I would believe what you're saying."
Arishem communicated with Ultron, who was hiding on his body. He was convinced that this nascent Ultron from the Main Universe, though still very weak, must possess an unbelievably powerful potential as a product of the Main Universe and would be of help to him.
Ultron said, "Would you like to hear my advice, Mr. Arishem? Find an opportunity to escape. Although the hope is slim, you must find a chance to escape and hide. With your creativity and my computing power, we can create many, many Dark Celestials and raise a massive army in an extremely short amount of time."
Arishem was both shocked and furious, and the Celestials surrounding him only grew more exasperated and enraged.
Having just witnessed Eternity and the other gods kill the First Firmament once again, these Celestials had all breathed a sigh of relief. But in the blink of an eye, they had to face a new problem erupting from within their own ranks.
"The Dark Celestials are the loyal hounds of the First Firmament and the mortal enemies of all life. To think you secretly defected to the First Firmament and joined the faction of the Dark Celestials!"
"Foolish, truly foolish! You were once the leader of all Celestials in a single universe, a leader for billions of years. Is this your answer—to betray us?"
"Hand over your core code and self-destruct all your programs. We will rectify the mistakes you have made."
The cosmic voices of the ancient and powerful Special Celestials spread out. Notes formed from pure divine power became extraordinarily sharp blades, continuously cutting at Arishem.
"That's right. Everything is as you see it. I just didn't expect to be exposed so quickly... According to your words, I colluded with the First Firmament long ago and have long since betrayed you. Yes, everything is just as you think."
Arishem simply admitted to it. His colorful body was now being corrupted by an all-devouring darkness as he completely allowed the power of the First Firmament to transform him.
After all, a model with a bug would be destroyed by these special models anyway.
"You decrepit relics, don't expect me to surrender to you! Without a fight, even if you run the computations countless times, you can't be certain which one of you I'll take with me before I die!" Arishem said coldly.
"Insolent!"
"What kind of model do you think you are? There are countless Arishems in the Multiverse; we don't need you at all!"
"You should not have defected to the First Firmament. This is a matter of principle."
"I saw Du Wa leave just now. To think, even the God of Xenomorphs refused to shelter you, someone who originated from the Alien Universe? That's right, the God of Xenomorphs seems to be interested in life with a flesh and blood entity. Even after ascending to the Multiversal level, he still retains this penchant."
One by one, the Special Celestials took action, attempting to destroy Arishem with the utmost speed.
Even just seeing the completely pitch-black, colorless Arishem was enough to make them recall the tragic Great Battle against the Dark Celestials during the era of the First Multiverse!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A terrifying clash of power erupted. The completely transformed Arishem attacked with reckless abandon. Paying the price of hideous cracks constantly appearing on his body, which was unable to bear the immense power, he fought one against many in a battle to the death with these veteran Special Celestials.
The Multiverse, which had just barely calmed down, was once again thrown into major turmoil. It was no exaggeration to say that the resulting destruction would be far greater than that caused by the First Firmament pulling apart some universes.
In a sense, this was the second round of battle ignited by the First Firmament. The last round was mainly against Creator Gods and Multiversal entities like Eternity and Infinity; this time, it was against the Celestials.
The entire Multiverse was thrown into turmoil again. Gods and Scientists were fleeing everywhere to escape the aftershocks of the great battle. Panic spread as everyone tried to find the source of all this turmoil, but the vast majority found nothing.
"It seems things have completely descended into chaos. My various preparations are just about complete."
Du Wa quietly watched the battle. In his assessment, Arishem was definitely no match for the Special Celestials, who surpassed him in both quantity and quality, but he could at least hold out for a while.
That was enough. Du Wa had never deluded himself into thinking he could destroy these ancient beings in just one or two battles.
"Speaking of which, the Celestials... the models that have taken action are probably the real Celestials. There must be another group secretly disguised as editors from the Marvel Editorial Department, observing from a distance right now," Du Wa mused.
The Marvel Editorial Department was a veritable asylum of lunatics. Their level of madness and chaos far exceeded that of the editors at the DC Editorial Department. This bunch of characters would constantly modify their own positioning and history.
In the very beginning, these guys set themselves up as members of the Beyonders.
But later, they began to revise it, claiming they were the Celestials, and that the Celestials had created the Beyonders in the era of the Second Multiverse.
Therefore, the Marvel Editorial Department held at least two extremely dangerous alternate identities: one as the Beyonders, and the other as the Celestials. They could choose a suitable persona to use depending on how events unfolded.
Neither the Beyonders nor the Celestials were something the current Du Wa could handle. So, at the present stage where the Beyonders would not appear, the Celestials were the most troublesome group. It was highly likely they would interfere at a critical moment, using unreasonable means to sabotage Du Wa's plan.
"I was originally hesitating about which plan to use to hold up the Celestials for as long as possible. Now, there's no need to hesitate. But Arishem can't hold out for too long. I need to hurry."
Du Wa looked at the beleaguered Arishem and confirmed that this blackened fellow was very tough and durable. He was instantly relieved.
That First Firmament fellow was decisive after all, secretly leaving Arishem such a huge portion of power before its demise. It was something that was supposed to be activated many years later—Arishem was supposed to lay low, create a batch of Dark Celestials as soldiers, and only declare war on the Colorful Celestials after accumulating sufficient strength.
That would have been a super-war engulfing the Multiverse, practically a reenactment of the history of the First Multiverse. At that time, the First Firmament would return for a third decisive battle.
Unfortunately, all of that was thrown into disarray.
"Well then, this is a rare opportunity. I must begin my actions as well."
Du Wa was as still as a sculpture. The Great Collision between the main universes of two multiverses would bring him a brand-new opportunity—an opportunity to gaze upon a higher tier of existence.
"Du Wa, you villain! What dangerous plan are you concocting now?"
"Now look what you've done. The battle between the Colorful Celestials and the Dark Celestials has broken out again. Don't even try to hide it; you instigated this! From the moment Arishem walked out of your universe, every action of that idiot robot has been used by you!"
Terrifying gazes shot over, locking onto Du Wa. Each one belonged to a Multiversal God. The most incredulous among them were a few of the Creator Gods and the gods who had participated in the destruction of the First Multiverse and survived to this day.
Not every being that survived from the First Multiverse was Multiverse-level. For instance, the Panther God's strength fluctuated wildly and was unstable. In Du Wa's eyes, he was a second-rate character. Power without stability was nothing more than a castle in the air, full of weaknesses.
"Is that so? What I dislike most is when a bunch of fools only jump out after the fact, screaming a bunch of useless nonsense... You must admit, my actions helped you eliminate a huge risk. As for what happened next, it's merely the price that must be paid to eliminate that risk."
Du Wa met their gazes with a fastidious look. "Surely you don't want to reap the benefits without taking any of the risks? There's no such thing as a free lunch."
"No, that's not what I'm talking about. Your actions in exposing the First Firmament were to achieve your own greater purpose. Any god who has followed your path of growth doesn't believe you are a righteous God devoted to selfless contribution!"
"What, and you are? Then you should ensure that every timeline ends with beauty and perfection, erasing all darkness and tragic endings. But you haven't done that. Eternity, stop deceiving yourself. As a Creator God, when you indifferently look down upon all life, you are clearly a cold-blooded observer. Why must you always stand up and accuse me, the one who is diligently working?"
Du Wa let out a low laugh. "If you don't believe me, why don't you try becoming my Xenomorph? Then you'll see if I'm being sincere or not."
He was completely sincere about capturing and controlling those who stood against him, with a sincerity so pure it needed no concealment. He had been doing this since he was an ordinary human.
The many gazes fixed on him here were now clearly filled with surprise.
The God of Xenomorphs seemed to be taking a tougher stance than ever before. Perhaps it was because he had successfully controlled Shuma-Gorath? A single individual representing two Multiverse-level beings indeed had the qualification to be tough.
Du Wa gave them one last look, and his figure slowly vanished.
After a moment of silence.
"What should we do? Should we intervene in the Celestials' civil war? Du Wa has never been the problem. It's doubtful he'll even survive this generation. The First Firmament is the real problem!" the Lord of Order said in a low voice.
"Intervene? Of course, we intervene. The more Celestials we kill, the lower the risk. After all, no one can be sure if the First Firmament has chosen some other inconspicuous Celestial," Lord Chaos said cruelly, fearing the Multiverse was too quiet.
In fact, Lord Chaos was the one most inclined to side with Du Wa. The more chaos Du Wa created, the stronger his presence would be, and the stronger his power would become.
But Lord Chaos could never have imagined what kind of unbelievable chaos Du Wa's actions would wreak upon the entire Multiverse. When that time truly came, it was unknown if Lord Chaos would be ecstatic or terrified.
...
The chaos in the Multiverse did not affect every universe. Some extremely special universes possessed incredibly powerful protective forces, always managing to remain safe through various crises.
Universe 833, Captain Britain Corps Headquarters.
Space-time tunnels opened continuously as many Captain Britains, with grave expressions, frequently traveled between various universes, carrying out the great work of saving worlds.
"Universe 79524 has been destroyed. I'm sorry, I was powerless to help."
"The situation here is critical! We need support! The coordinates are..."
News of a Captain Britain's death would arrive from time to time, but likewise, there were Captain Britains who returned triumphant, only to have to throw themselves into the next battle, endlessly.
"The entire Multiverse has been thrown into turmoil, but the Corps' strength is limited. No matter how hard we try, it's impossible to save all the worlds... The results of our desperate efforts can be wiped out with a single casual blow from those powerful gods."
Spider-UK had also rushed back. Standing guard before Saturnyne, he looked at the incredibly busy scene and spoke in a low voice.
His remarks were immediately met with scolding, as several well-known Captain Britains gave him a verbal lashing.
"I'm not talking nonsense, nor am I saying we should do nothing! What I mean is, it would be better to gather our forces and find a way to restore the damaged universes after the dust has settled. That's better than this meaningless flurry of activity."
But it was obvious that Spider-UK was once again fiercely opposed by a group of Captain Britains.
Because this completely violated the principles of the Captain Britain Corps. But then again, Spider-UK was the Spider-Man of Universe 833, not a Captain Britain at all.
"We could ask Du Wa for help. He came to our world once and went to an unknown place, didn't he? If we ask him for aid, perhaps he'll spare some of his power to help us," Spider-UK suggested.
He had participated in the Spider Alliance. Originally, facing the Inheritors, they had suffered defeat after defeat, losing many Spider-Man comrades. But when the power of the Xenomorphs entered the field, the incomparably powerful Inheritors were quickly defeated.
The current Multiversal crisis seemed to involve a contest between ancient gods. In Spider-UK's perception, Du Wa was a newly ascended deity, so he naturally had no connection with the word "ancient." That meant he wasn't involved in this chaos and was a power they could rely on.
The God of Xenomorphs, Du Wa, was the most reliable deity, with no other flaws except for his penchant for turning people into Xenomorphs.
(end of chapter)