Chapter 124: Unbelievable! Du Wa, Who Never Fights Personally, Is Taking Action!
The Shadow Gods had no experience in this area. Faced with the impossibly unyielding Du Wa, they were momentarily at a loss for words.
These massive figures, which seemed to be composed entirely of shadow, stared at each other in silence. No one spoke.
Du Wa was very grating, that much was true. In the Shadow Gods' original understanding, the moment they, the Gods of the World Tree, appeared, Du Wa should have been desperately praying to them and offering up his soul to gain power and overcome his crisis, like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
The soul of the Xenomorph Lord was quite valuable. Even obtaining a part of it would be enough for them to get their hands on the control of some Xenomorphs and begin their analysis of Du Wa and the Xenomorphs' abilities.
This was to prepare for the future. The Shadow Gods were already contemplating what methods to use to push for the next Twilight of the Gods. The Xenomorphs were the best weapon they had chosen—at least, that had been the case since Cul was defeated and imprisoned by Du Wa.
It was a plan that would kill multiple birds with one stone.
But as it turned out, Du Wa's performance was beyond their expectations, making it seem as if they were the ones begging him.
However, thinking about it from another angle, as annoying as Du Wa was, Knull, who was murderously charging toward the solar system, would only be more hateful and repulsive to the Gods.
Dealing with Du Wa, there was at least room for negotiation. Dealing with Knull, there was no need to negotiate at all. That guy would violently cut down any Deity standing in his way and paint the entire World Tree in his own color—black.
Knull was born from the Darkness. The reason he awoke from his eternal slumber was that the Celestials were creating light and heat everywhere, gestating countless lives and making the once-quiet Universe noisy.
One of the reasons Knull waged war everywhere, madly slaughtering all kinds of Gods, was his attempt to drag the entire Universe back into that state of darkness and silence.
Of course, satisfying his own lust for slaughter was also an extremely important part.
If Black Hand from the universe next door heard of Knull's deeds, he would surely feel a deep sense of camaraderie.
The Shadow Gods looked at Du Wa, who held his head high with a blank expression. They couldn't perceive any trace of unease or anxiety from him. It seemed this human, who couldn't really be considered a human, had prepared for multiple contingencies from the very beginning and had no fear of being rejected by them.
It appeared Du Wa was truly prepared to abandon a batch of Xenomorphs, allowing his main body's soul to escape. There were already Xenomorphs stationed on several planets throughout the Universe; those Xenomorphs were all backup bodies Du Wa had prepared for himself.
"The priority is to stop Knull's invasion. We absolutely cannot let that madman discover us."
"Although Du Wa is disrespectful to us and unwilling to offer his soul and faith, he is at least the most useful weapon in our hands. If we don't choose Du Wa, what if he really abandons everything in Midgard and Jotunheim and escapes? He could completely ignore the changes to the World Tree, but we can't."
"If we join forces and send Du Wa to fight, everything on the World Tree will still be ours, and the divine power we give him will still be under our control. But if Knull comes, not even the World Tree will be ours anymore."
The demands of the Shadow Gods, in the final analysis, were to hide themselves while preserving the World Tree, so they could forever rely on it to harvest the doomsday energy of the Nine Realms and strengthen themselves.
They were the personification of the World Tree's shadow side and possessed great authority, but that didn't mean they would agree to Knull turning everything into a dead, silent Darkness.
If things really turned into that hellscape, how could they hide in the shadows, secretly triggering one Twilight of the Gods after another to obtain immense amounts of doomsday energy?
Du Wa watched these great Gods communicating in secret with a cold expression. His patience was limited, and he wouldn't waste too much time and energy on this bunch.
"You are insolent, arrogant, and even worse than the Cul from the parallel universe and the Mephisto from Hell."
"It was you who drew Knull here, plunging the entire World Tree into a huge crisis, yet you have no intention of repenting, thinking it's only natural to demand power from us to deal with Knull."
"As you wish. We will bestow upon you divine power beyond imagination. The World Tree will not permit an outside evil god to defile it."
As they said this, the Shadow Gods' attitude was cold and detached.
Du Wa raised his head, his face showing no surprise or shame. "I don't care how you came to be. Facing this situation at this point in time, having me resolve the crisis is your best choice. Unless you want to accumulate power for countless more years, become a Cosmic Celestial, and have the guts to challenge Knull head-on."
"We will."
"You, who only became a Deity with our power, have no qualification to interfere in our affairs."
The Shadow Gods let out an obscure whisper, and their forms vanished one by one. The all-encompassing shadow retreated, and light returned.
"Truly a bunch of clowns who hold power and act high and mighty... But even clowns have their way of living. The position they occupy now is something countless Gods dream of, but I look down on it."
Du Wa looked at the scene, which had returned to normal. Everything he had just experienced felt like an illusion, as if it had never happened.
To be fair, if the Shadow Gods could truly hide for a long time, periodically setting off the Twilight of the Gods and elevating themselves through the destruction of worlds and the death of countless lives, after a few hundred million years, they might actually be able to produce a universe-level Cosmic God...
This was power gained purely through time and the perishing of countless lives.
What this bunch was actually doing was far too ugly.
"What are you looking at? You haven't said a word for so long. Did you transfer your soul somewhere?"
Thor looked around suspiciously. At his current level, his instincts told him something was off, but no matter how he tried to sense it, he came up with nothing.
It felt like something had happened, yet it also felt like nothing had happened at all.
"I ran into a little something, but it's resolved now. I have obtained the power to deal with Knull," Du Wa's voice was very calm.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Take your people and go clean up the Symbiotes. The number of these damn things is increasing dramatically," Du Wa said casually. "Don't let the Symbiote Legion enter Earth comfortably."
"Do you really not need my help against Knull? Just like when you assisted the Ancient One against Dormammu," Thor was still a little eager to try.
Du Wa turned his head, looking this Thor who had mastered the power of Odin up and down. "Times have changed. Don't compare the me of then with the me of now."
As he spoke, a scene that utterly shook Thor appeared.
A colossal tree, visible to the naked eye, like a phantom of light and shadow formed from the convergence of endless stars, materialized in the vast region of the Universe with Midgard at its core.
Its dense branches not only covered the physical Star Domain but also pierced through countless Dimensions.
"The World Tree?! How did you do that?!" Thor was horrified beyond belief. As the king of Asgard, he knew the World Tree was real, but for it to appear before his eyes in its entirety at Du Wa's command was simply too terrifying.
What was even more shocking was that from this giant tree, countless divine lights surged forth in an instant. This was pure divine power, the essence of the World Tree. If an ordinary life form were to be touched by even a speck, it would be enough to complete the transformation from mortal to superhuman.
But at this moment, all the points of light condensed into a brilliant galaxy, surging forth in a dense mass and entering Du Wa's body.
Du Wa accepted this vast and pure divine power without any issue. This was both the power reserved within the World Tree itself and the result of that group of Shadow Gods using their authority to transmit it.
"So, this is what it means to be a God."
Du Wa looked down at his own hands. This was a completely different feeling from the past.
Previously, when he descended upon various Xenomorphs and Xenomorph heroes, he had become incredibly familiar with what the Skyfather level was like.
But only after truly taking a step beyond the Skyfather level could one discover the true extent of the gap between a Skyfather and a universe-level being.
Du Wa curled a finger. The point of light flickering at his fingertip brewed with the might to erase reality.
A single strand of divine power contained a mass so unimaginably heavy that it could directly exert immense pressure on the Universe itself.
The entire World Tree rose and fell with Du Wa's breath, responding to him naturally.
Countless strange Runes, each a tangible force, now surged into Du Wa's body, weaving themselves together in a specific pattern.
"This level of power should be enough to deal with Knull."
Du Wa ignored Thor's astonishment. His gaze extended far out, looking beyond the solar system.
Knull had arrived.
The moment this Cosmic God neared the solar system, he sensed an unusually bizarre change.
"Hm? How long has it been, and this guy has already become a Deity, standing on the same level as me?"
With a single glance, Knull saw the countless Runes surging around Du Wa, a materialization of various divine powers.
At this moment, the core of the entire World Tree was Du Wa himself. Endless divine power was at Du Wa's command, scrambling to pour into his body.
Knull's expression turned grim in an instant. He stared intently at Du Wa, unable to comprehend why every time he saw this human, the man would pull out some power that could catch even a God off guard.
This could no longer be explained by luck.
Upon stepping into the level of a Cosmic God, luck itself could be said to have become part of a Cosmic God's authority.
"You've surprised me yet again. But don't think you'll beat me every time. I've killed more Gods than you've even heard of in your entire life!"
Knull took a step forward, about to formally break into the World Tree's domain. His broad, black cape fluttered gently in the vacuum of space, his long, pale hair whipping about like a frenzy of snakes.
Behind this evil god, an endless horde of Symbiotes surged forward. Knull had flung the entire planet of Klyntar into the solar system.
If one were to observe from the depths of space, they would see a massive, black planet squirming, extending countless tentacles that clawed toward Earth.
Everyone with combat power had already braced for the worst.
Although most people were filled with fear, because the scale of the attack this time was simply too exaggerated, a hundred, even a thousand times larger than the last Symbiote invasion.
Even Black Bolt had brought the Inhumans to join the battle. In the face of an enemy of this magnitude, no one could be spared.
When people saw the figure soaring into the sky, their spirits were universally lifted.
"Look, that's Du Wa, right? He's personally charging out! He's left Earth!"
"This... am I seeing things? The one charging out isn't one of Du Wa's subordinates or a Xenomorph, but Du Wa himself?!"
"Unbelievable, truly unbelievable! In my memory, Du Wa has never fought personally. He's actually going himself this time? He didn't even bring a single guard, not even Reynolds and the others are with him!"
"Xenomorph Duwa... his strength is actually this great? Just leaving Earth and entering the vacuum of space, his speed is already so exaggerated... By Du Wa, he's still accelerating!"
Countless pairs of eyes were watching, and because of this, countless eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets in shock.
A large number of people were studying Du Wa's rise to power. Much of the information was public, and because of this, it was natural for some uninformed people to imagine: if a large group of Superheroes were dispatched to ignore the Xenomorphs and specifically assassinate Du Wa himself, couldn't they just kill him?
As for whether the Xenomorphs would go completely out of control after Du Wa's death, causing the situation on Earth to completely collapse, that was another matter entirely.
But a very small number of people, like Hill, knew that killing Du Wa was completely useless. Du Wa could abandon his human body and possess other Xenomorph heroes or Xenomorphs to complete his "transmigration."
Assassinating Du Wa was a completely meaningless act. On the contrary, it would directly cause the existing behavioral logic of the Alien Species to completely collapse.
But even those who hated Du Wa the most were seeing him take action personally for the first time. They were utterly astonished, suspecting that something was wrong with their eyes.
Is the world about to end? Du Wa, who never lifts a finger himself, is leading the charge!
An immense, soul-shaking pressure erupted from his body, seemingly causing the normal operation of the entire cosmos to falter and stagnate.
When Du Wa appeared before Knull.
The confrontation between these two Gods caused the nearby rules of the Universe to flicker in and out of existence.
Knull's mood was already extremely foul.
When he saw Du Wa open his hand, and All-Black the Necrosword appear in it, his mood became even fouler.
"The Necrosword is in your hands? You knew it was my weapon, so you took it first!" Knull roared with rage.
"Surprised? This Symbiote was supposed to be in a distant galaxy, one you could vaguely sense, but now it has crossed half the Universe in an instant to appear in my hand," Du Wa weighed the cosmic artifact, which ranked among the top in the Universe.
"A Xenomorph? You turned the one who seized the Necrosword into one of your Xenomorphs?"
"Very smart. Billions of years of slaughter haven't addled your brain. Anything my subordinates possess has belonged to me from the moment they acquired it."
Du Wa held All-Black the Necrosword, its tip aimed at Knull, the God of the Symbiotes.
He had completed the transfer of the Necrosword in an instant, from Gorr's hands to his own. He would use this against Knull.
Of course, the means Du Wa had prepared were not limited to just this one weapon. There was more. After all, he needed to use Knull to achieve a crucial objective.
(end of chapter)