Chapter 212: Dark Walker, Everything Should End
The Anti-Monitor was shocked by the mysterious Deity's bizarre methods, but even more enraged by his own performance.
Why... why am I so weak?
After my resurrection, I stayed in the Anti-Matter Universe and finally obtained the Anti-Life Equation. Why, when it came to actual combat, was my combat power so pathetic?
"This is impossible!! Absolutely impossible! I am the Anti-Monitor! I am stronger than any Deity!!"
The Anti-Monitor was unusually furious and uneasy. Amid his roars, he frantically channeled the Anti-Life Equation. By shattering Apokolips and slaughtering a massive number of life forms, He had indeed managed to draw more power from the equation.
But still, it was not enough.
"Still refuse to accept reality? Having been away from your homeland for so long, you've grown weaker with each evolution of the multiverse."
While fighting the Anti-Monitor, Du Wa was actually surprised by his opponent's power. The Anti-Monitor of this era was, after all, at his weakest. He had abandoned his form as a sixth-dimensional lifeform, relinquished his identity as the master of the Anti-Matter Universe, and cast aside the Mobius Chair, which could instantly turn someone into the God of Knowledge. He had thrown his entire being into the Anti-Life Equation, deluded into believing this equation would make him stronger than ever before.
The result was the exact opposite.
But even with so many handicaps, the Anti-Monitor was still the most ancient Deity in the entire multiverse. Facing Du Wa, who had already reached the limit for a single entity, He still maintained formidable combat power.
"Having been away from your homeland... So from the very beginning, you weren't referring to my Anti-Matter Universe!"
A look of astonishment appeared on the Anti-Monitor's face. For a brief moment, the Anti-Life power radiating from his body failed to maintain its peak output. Du Wa seized the opportunity, blasting a path with an Omega Beam and driving Thanoseid's body to ram into him.
He completely disregarded the fact that such an action could cause immense trauma to the divinity within Thanoseid's body.
*BOOM!* With a single punch that shook the entirety of Universe 3, a heavy blow brewing with immense divine power, he sent the Anti-Monitor flying through the vacuum of space, shattering nearby celestial bodies.
"What else? The Anti-Matter Universe is your headquarters, but it's not your place of origin at all. I know. I know everything. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to kill you."
A majestic divine light erupted from Du Wa's body, violently scouring the layered space-time around him. The entire universe teetered under this power. His current mass had even surpassed this universe's capacity limit. Wherever Du Wa passed, time fractured, space shattered, and rules twisted, with terrifying cracks spreading everywhere.
*CRACKLE!*
A continuous stream of crimson energy poured into Universe 3 through these ever-widening fissures.
This was the higher-dimensional energy of The Bleed, capable of causing massive destruction to the three-dimensional space-time within a single universe.
Normally, if Du Wa stopped immediately, the universe itself would follow its creation rules and quickly repair the wounds, blocking the influx of The Bleed's energy. But Du Wa had no intention of stopping.
If he didn't finish off the Anti-Monitor now, in one go, the future would only become more and more troublesome. More Deities would intervene, attempting to acquire the Anti-Life Equation.
That was absolutely unacceptable. Du Wa was determined to obtain the Anti-Life Equation.
He had considered many plans to advance to a multiversal level. For example, he could go to the 31st century of the Main World to acquire the Miracle Machine and use its power to push forward his subsequent actions, ultimately ascending to the multiversal level smoothly.
However, since he had the opportunity to seize the Anti-Life Equation, Du Wa didn't need to scheme for the Miracle Machine, unless he obtained the Equation and confirmed it also couldn't help him advance further.
"Mobius, give me the Anti-Life Equation!!" Du Wa's voice transcended all of space-time, echoing repeatedly throughout the entire universe.
It was information of a higher order, a trans-temporal transmission, and what's more, the very words of a Deity.
"In your dreams! I don't know your origin or how long you've been lurking in the shadows gathering intelligence on me, but you simply don't have the ability to kill me quickly!"
The Anti-Monitor immediately flew back, like a black hole, and crashed into Du Wa once more. In an instant, countless bursts of might erupted. Endless ripples spread out across the entire universe with the two of them at the core, causing innumerable planets to tremble violently in the storm.
"This means that as long as I continue fighting you, constantly destroying more planets and killing more life in battle, I will become stronger and stronger! I will grow eternally stronger, eventually surpassing my strongest form!"
The Anti-Monitor and Du Wa traded blows. The more frenzied his attacks became and the more planets He shattered, the more clearly He could feel the slow increase of power within his body. He immediately roared in excitement, "Although I am now far inferior to any past version of myself, my current form definitely has the greatest potential! I will grow stronger bit by bit, eventually surpassing you completely, and then I will kill you! You are nothing but a pebble on my path, one I will soon step over!"
The Anti-Monitor was already contemplating how much power he would gain from the Anti-Life Equation if he killed a Deity as powerful as Du Wa.
At that point, He could hunt more Deities, destroy more universes and dimensions, surpassing his self from the Crisis on Infinite Earths as the master of the Anti-Matter Universe, and even surpassing his original self as a sixth-dimensional being at the dawn of creation!
"Not bad. As expected of the one who crafted the Mobius Chair. Speaking of which, you could be considered the previous generation's 'God of Knowledge'," Du Wa nodded earnestly.
If he continued down this path, yes, the Anti-Monitor would indeed surpass a greater number of powerful Deities, marching all the way to the end of the world.
But regrettably, that wasn't realistic.
"Following normal logic, you will destroy the 52 universes, achieving something you failed to do during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. You will also destroy a large number of unnumbered cosmic clusters, and billions of life forms will die at your hands, all becoming food for your empowerment through the Equation's computation."
Terrifying wounds split open on Du Wa's body, but he didn't care in the slightest. He relentlessly bombarded the Anti-Monitor's body, showing no reaction to the shattering of one planet after another, endlessly squeezing the value out of this body.
The power equivalent to three Darkseids and one Thanos was, in his hands, a completely insignificant consumable, to be discarded after a certain point.
"This body can still be used for a while longer." Du Wa looked at the ravaged body, feeling even his regeneration speed steadily declining. He nodded to himself, contemplating what means to use to push the Anti-Monitor a little harder.
Thanoseid watched this scene, utterly aggrieved. His body, his hard-fought battles, serving as Du Wa's dog, the power he had accumulated by killing two other Darkseids—all of it was being cheaply expended by Du Wa... Things shouldn't be like this.
"I don't understand why! If you want to kill the Anti-Monitor, just give me some time! I can kill my way through one universe after another, kill more Darkseids, and eventually kill the Darkseid of the Main Universe! I will become even more powerful, and killing the Anti-Monitor then will be a trivial matter. Why are you expending my power in this manner?!"
Thanoseid was utterly indignant. He had never felt such anger and grievance.
But Du Wa wouldn't listen to his rambling. All of his actions were carefully chosen at the right opportunity. Any lack of decisive action could very well lead to a missed chance.
If he waited any longer, until the Anti-Monitor came to his senses and realized he was being slowly controlled by the Anti-Life Equation, it would be a bit too late for Du Wa. Right now, the timing was perfect.
The battle between Du Wa and the Anti-Monitor officially entered a white-hot stage. Du Wa spoke, "If you can achieve the vision I described, that would be great. It would mean all the universes in the entire multiverse have entered your body. You would naturally be the antithesis of the multiverse, becoming unimaginably powerful."
"That's right! Not just the multiverse, but those beings in the Sphere of Gods will also line up to be killed by me. Only when they are dead can I become better!!"
The Anti-Monitor never cared about the fate of the World within the Wall. Not to mention the numerous universes; as the master of Anti-Matter, he had always seen the mission to kill the Positive-Matter Universe as his righteous duty. He wanted to prove he was stronger than his two elder brothers, that he was more qualified than them to possess more power, territory, and worth.
As for the Sphere of Gods?
Ha, those damn Deities should all just die. Anyway, once The Mother breaks free, all the Gods accumulated over three generations will become her food and be wielded as weapons to attack the omniverse. It would be better if they all just died from the start, becoming part of the Equation's computation to increase my power, the Anti-Monitor thought.
He was actually well aware that, despite the Source Wall appearing incomparably sturdy and showing no signs of instability for three generations—other than absorbing more Gods onto it and making it even stronger—considering the infinitely long generational cycles, it was only a matter of time before the Creator Goddess Perpetua broke free.
The Anti-Monitor had already keenly noticed a being named "Superman," who had an unprecedentedly huge influence on the multiverse. It was beyond imagination; Superman had already effectively become the absolute core of the World within the Wall.
Although the current Anti-Monitor didn't yet know that the entire DC World could only exist and remain stable because of Superman as its core, it didn't stop him from feeling anxious, realizing that the third generation was drastically different from the first two.
Since there was a core, could the Source Wall remain indestructible?
If the core of the core, the Superman of the Main World, were to attack the Source Wall, what would be the result? It would be equivalent to the World within the Wall itself sending out an absolute aggregate being to attack the mysterious totality that the Source Wall represented. What would happen then?
Even if nothing happened, this was still the third generation. What about the fourth, fifth, and sixth generations? Who knew what kind of monstrosities would emerge through the cycles.
The Anti-Monitor's inner anxiety grew daily. To deal with his terrifying Mother, relying on his status as a sixth-dimensional lifeform was not enough, because as a sixth-dimensional lifeform, He was a higher lifeform created by Perpetua herself. The Anti-Matter Universe? That was even more laughable. And the Mobius Chair he created was not even worth mentioning.
There was only the Anti-Life Equation.
"That's right! The Mother created this world precisely to manufacture countless bio-weapons to fight against the omniverse! If even She has to rely on the world She created, then if I turn all life into my energy and use it against The Mother, I will surely be able to defeat Her!"
The Anti-Monitor arrived at a set of impeccable logical deductions. The more he thought, the more excited he became, sinking deeper into the computation of the Anti-Life Equation, unable to extricate himself.
He was also being eroded more deeply by the Anti-Life Equation, finding it increasingly difficult to control his actions. The power within his body spontaneously began to seek out all living beings for large-scale extermination.
At this moment, Du Wa spoke: "Perhaps you're not aware, but I know a similar being. He can almost be said to be the antithesis of the entire multiverse, a more powerful Deity who stands above the multiverse. He is a God named 'Oblivion'."
"Oblivion? Never heard of him."
The Anti-Monitor scoffed, thinking this was either a clumsy lie or a God born from an insignificant cluster of universes in this mysterious Deity's native world.
"However, you can never become the next Oblivion. Your power is all based on the Anti-Life Equation. The amount of life you kill determines the proportion of power you gain. This Equation is too rigid. So what if you kill all humans and Gods? The upper limit of the Equation is your upper limit. The total amount of life determines the Equation's upper limit."
This doomed the Anti-Monitor. Even if he pushed himself to the limit, he could never surpass Oblivion!
Oblivion was the strongest of Marvel's creator deities, the antithesis to the sum of the four creator gods: Eternity, Infinity, Death, and Galactus, standing above a host of other multiversal gods.
"Foolish words. I don't know where you get your confidence from, but you know nothing of the truth of this world, much less how important what I am doing now is! If I don't do it, another God will, and they will be far more cruel than I!" the Anti-Monitor roared. "Dying at my hands is your good fortune!"
Du Wa remained silent, pondering. He felt the time should be about right. If he dragged this on any longer, it might provoke action from those beings in the Sphere of Gods.
Just then.
*Sssssla!*
The space-time, already covered in cracks, was suddenly ripped open by a force, creating an even larger gash.
A black figure, carrying an intense aura of death, crossed the universe at an incredible speed to launch an assassination.
"You're finally here. This is right. Darkseid shouldn't be this quiet. Whether it's Darkseid's main body or New 52 Darkseid, they had to do something. My wait has not been in vain."
Du Wa looked at the terrifying Deity before him, known as the "God of Death," who was also the strongest weapon secretly enslaved by New 52 Darkseid—the Dark Walker!
"In that case, this charade can end. Everything ends here. I suppose I should get a little more serious..."
The moment Du Wa's words fell.
A figure exuding a powerful aura swiftly joined the fray.
The ever-hidden Mephisto Xenomorph, a demon whose power was at the limit of a single universe, joined the battlefield under Du Wa's command.
The Hyperion Xenomorph was also poised and ready to strike.
(end of chapter)