Chapter 249: Oh No, There's a Dog!
How did the gods view this? They stood by and watched, of course.
Upon entering the Dark Multiverse, one had to bow their head before him, Barbatos.
"Interesting. I don't know how you know of such matters. With your power, you are not yet qualified to read the information that I personally concealed..."
Barbatos spread his hands, and an unprecedented blue wave erupted, scattering the darkness.
This viscous tide of darkness battered the Dark Multiverse, destroying a great number of universes on the spot. Cosmic Celestials constantly tried to escape, and many others used artifacts or high-tech starships to flee for their lives. The few who were lucky enough to escape were soon annihilated in the continuous onslaught.
In the Dark Multiverse, tragedy is the norm in every universe. The fragmented universes and distorted rules naturally guide all life forms within them toward decay and a bleak future. Even the Supermen and Batmen of the various universes cannot change this trend. This is the destiny of the Dark Multiverse.
A destiny controlled and propelled by Barbatos.
Therefore, Barbatos never cared how many people died. In any case, these beings were destined to engage in cruel slaughter and ultimately die in despair. The only difference now was whether they died sooner or later.
The problem was, Barbatos could not tolerate too many universes within his multiverse being destroyed.
The World Forge at the very bottom of existence, which supported the Dark Multiverse, was basically extinguished. It could no longer produce new universes. For every existing dark universe that exploded, one was lost, and Barbatos was unwilling to expend too much power to recreate them.
"Your ability is not as strong as you think, nor are you as powerful as you imagine, Barbatos. In my eyes, you are merely an item that still has some use. When your value is exhausted, that will be the day you die," Du Wa replied.
"Hmph, what a joke! I don't believe anyone within the multiverse can kill me! Even the Ghost wouldn't oppose me." Barbatos snorted coldly, glaring viciously at Du Wa before turning his gloomy gaze to the Quantum Batman, who was calmly repairing itself. The heartache was so great he could barely breathe.
He was just one step away. This should have been his subordinate, a god he could command.
If he had the Quantum Batman, he would have definitely strangled that treacherous bastard, The Batman Who Laughs, and begun destroying the multiverse directly.
But with the battle having reached this state, Barbatos was actually well aware that although he currently had the clear upper hand, given enough opportunities, killing the newborn Quantum Batman shouldn't be a problem. This was on the premise that the Quantum Batman's potential was limited, and not as difficult and terrifying to deal with as Doctor Manhattan.
However, behind the Quantum Batman stood that troublesome fellow, Du Wa. And over in the multiverse, Doctor Manhattan had already turned his gaze this way.
In the Sphere of Gods, many Deities also looked toward the Dark Multiverse, their astonishment mixed with bewilderment.
What was going on? The fierce battle in the multiverse had just ended, with Du Wa and Doctor Manhattan choosing to stop. Everything seemed to be improving. Over in the Sphere of Gods, the Ghost's judgment against Du Wa had failed, stunning countless onlookers, before it departed in frustration.
Du Wa seemed to have won everything, using two great battles to establish his position in the multiversal standing.
Newborn deities always need a series of means to confirm their position on the food chain. The simplest method is battle and slaughter. This, the gods could understand.
But now, they couldn't understand why another Xenomorph had appeared in the Dark Multiverse and was even fighting Barbatos. No, to be precise, it was a blue man who looked just like Doctor Manhattan, also using quantum power, fighting for Du Wa and doing his utmost to resist Barbatos.
"What's the situation? What happened? Why has another quantum Deity appeared!"
"Mmm, I roughly understand. This being seems to have just been born. They're fighting too intensely, so I can't observe any earlier in time."
"This... this isn't right, is it? Du Wa was just fighting Doctor Manhattan to the death, and in the blink of an eye, these two have quietly joined forces to create a quantum Deity? I don't believe this is a coincidence! Have the Deities in the multiverse always acted so decisively?"
It wasn't that they couldn't accept reconciliation and cooperation, but this was too fast. The battle had just ended, and in an instant, the fruits of their collaboration were already revealed? And it was a multiversal-level god, one capable of trading blows with Barbatos right after its birth?
Damn it!
Some gods couldn't hold back anymore. Not long ago, they were racking their brains, trying to pull Du Wa into their worlds. And now, look at this! How long had it been, and Du Wa had already turned around and created a new multiversal Deity?
And it was a quantum Deity that astounded even the ancient gods!
Just think about Doctor Manhattan's terrifying ability to create clones—who wouldn't be flustered by that? And who would dare say they could guarantee a win against Doctor Manhattan? They guessed that even if you killed a bunch of Doctor Manhattans, as long as one remained alive, hundreds of new ones might appear instantly.
Because no one could figure out where Doctor Manhattan's limit was. One only had to observe him: after creating hundreds of clones, the power signature of any single Doctor Manhattan showed no signs of weakening in the slightest. This was already terrifying.
Even though Du Wa had also created a large number of clones and killed several Doctor Manhattans, it hadn't affected the other Doctor Manhattans.
So, how strong would the Quantum Batman be? It might not reach Doctor Manhattan's level now, but what about in the future?
"What a terrifying fellow. I'm talking about the God of Xenomorphs... His means are too numerous, and always unexpected. It's completely impossible to predict him!"
"Not long after his promotion to a multiversal standing, before he has even formally entered the Sphere of Gods, he has already manually created a subordinate of multiversal standing?! And such a powerful and terrifying quantum god at that! How on earth did he do it?! And what role did Doctor Manhattan play in this? How much help did he provide?"
Completely baffled, incomprehensible, utterly unbelievable!
Was the current Du Wa still the weakest multiversal god with the worst potential in their perception? How could he be? The Quantum Batman alone had already elevated Du Wa to a frightening level.
What frightened the Deities even more was that Du Wa now had a multiversal-level subordinate, proving he had mastered the ability to parasitize beings of multiversal standing. In the future, would more Deities, voluntarily or involuntarily, fall and join Du Wa's faction?
"Without the strength to fight Du Wa and the Quantum Batman, one's situation would be dire. Those lone wanderers or pantheons with only a single multiversal Deity presiding over them were now in immediate danger."
A group of them immediately changed their attitude towards Du Wa. Their enthusiasm was now tinged with a bit of dread and awe.
Faced with this type of deity—hard to kill, bizarre, and having already made a crucial, game-changing move by gaining an enforcer like the Quantum Batman whose upper limits were difficult to assess—even the gods would panic.
"Don't worry, everyone. I'm a peace-loving person, and my favorite thing to do is make friends... What's that? You're asking how I did it? It all comes down to talent."
Du Wa dealt with another surge of divine thoughts. When The Endless arrived, Du Wa frowned and took the initiative to leave, doing his best to avoid close contact with them.
"I stand by my decision. For now, I have no intention of joining The Endless. I myself am the supreme god of a faction. I have my own place," Du Wa said.
The Endless finally quieted down, but it wasn't so simple to make Dream, Delirium, and the other opposing concept gods, who had finally reached a rare consensus, give up just like that.
Everyone coveted Du Wa, and everyone feared him.
Du Wa's rate of evolution was too fast. It was a speed of progress that made the hearts of countless extremely ancient deities—old-timers so ancient they had lost interest in the multiverse and focused solely on studying the Source Wall—pound with fear.
The Dark Multiverse.
Divine powers constantly encroached, trying to infiltrate the Dark Multiverse to spy for more secret information, especially to learn more about Barbatos and the Quantum Batman.
Of course, Barbatos couldn't allow these guys to do as they pleased. Just as in the past, he tried to block all lines of sight, but the moment his concentration wavered, the Quantum Batman seized the opportunity. A single finger pointed out, and his massive body was struck heavily, sent flying backward through several dark universes.
"Let's stop here. Unless you truly intend to abandon your meticulous plan and fight me to the death, you should stand down," Du Wa said slowly.
In a very short period, Du Wa had successively fought Doctor Manhattan, the Ghost, and Barbatos. That was enough. It was time to lie low for a while.
Most importantly, Du Wa couldn't defeat Doctor Manhattan. He couldn't kill the Ghost. And Barbatos... Du Wa couldn't kill him.
At this stage, Barbatos shouldered the great responsibility of opening the gate to the Main Universe and destroying the multiverse. If he succeeded, he could drag everything from the faction of light into the darkness, and darkness would achieve a major victory.
This was the result The Great Darkness wanted to see.
Every powerful villain who shook the multiverse—the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Black Hand during the Blackest Night, Barbatos during Metal, as well as The Great Evil Beast, The Empty Hand, and others—had, at specific stages, unknowingly received the power of The Great Darkness, or were simply its incarnations or even clones, becoming a major driving force in the destruction of the light.
These villains' moments of glory were precisely when the struggle between The Great Darkness and The Presence was at its most intense. Every thought and action, from the moment of their inception, was the content of the story born from the confrontation between the two supreme beings.
The DC World, in a narrow sense—that is, the World Within the Wall—is essentially a complex and bizarre 'story.' The core of the story is Superman.
The Monitors discovered this when they found the existence of DC Comics and entered the DC World, only to be tragically assimilated and unable to ever leave. Thought Robot Superman also discovered this after defeating Mandrakk and saving the DC World, becoming able to flip through the DC World like a comic book.
For now, Du Wa had no intention of turning against The Great Darkness, let alone running to The Presence. He still had a great future and potential to tap into over in the Marvel World. It wasn't like he had no other options, so why would he enter the game so early?
Although, Du Wa didn't really think that The Presence and The Great Darkness had the ability to erase him. At most, those two could eliminate the Du Wa in the DC Omniverse. Could they also erase the Du Wa over in the Marvel World?
Would the One Above All, CAAT, The Fulcrum, the Original Beyonder, the Living Tribunal... agree to The Presence, The Great Darkness, the Over-Monitor, The Great Evil Beast, Lucifer, and other such beings doing so?
If they can erase one Du Wa today, does that mean they'll erase the entire Marvel Omniverse tomorrow?
"Barbatos..."
Du Wa looked at the still-clueless Barbatos and secretly shook his head. He then glanced down at the long-extinguished World Forge. This was the cradle that had created countless universes, something that should have been wielded by the World Forger.
"Let's go," Du Wa said.
The Quantum Batman raised its head slightly. Du Wa was very glad it hadn't picked up Doctor Manhattan's habit of tilting his head when thinking. "This is highly unusual," it said. "You're not taking the opportunity to kill them all? The two of us have a perfect opportunity to kill Barbatos and save the Dark Multiverse."
Yes, save. The Quantum Batman had its own body and likewise hadn't completely lost the part of its emotion that came from being the human Batman; it was merely weakened.
The reason the Dark Multiverse existed, the reason it endlessly produced boundless tragedies, was all because of Barbatos. The Quantum Batman had already perceived this.
"It's not time yet. You don't understand now, and I can't tell you, but you will understand in the future. Forcibly getting rid of Barbatos isn't impossible, but if we do it, we'll have to face even more troublesome problems," Du Wa said.
The Quantum Batman became pensive. In truth, it had no choice. It could only obey Du Wa's command, from its very thoughts to its physical body.
When Barbatos scrambled back to his feet, he found the place empty.
Only a pile of battered, broken universes floated haphazardly around him.
They just left?
Fine, fine, fine! So that's how you want to play it!
Barbatos had never been so aggrieved!
No, wait, he had. Back when he was the World Forger's pet, he had no status. The World Forger would often hold him up and show him off to the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor, boasting about his beautiful toy.
That was why Barbatos backstabbed and killed the World Forger, seized the World Forge, and spent three generations piling up all the fragmented universes to create the Dark Multiverse!
"Very good, very good! You run fast, but no matter where you flee, you can't escape my hunt! The Main Universe is the world I must attack, and it is my gate to destroying the multiverse!"
However, once he launched a major offensive against the Main Universe, he wouldn't be able to pay attention to the World Forge. What if Du Wa sent another group of Xenomorphs to trick and sneak attack him...
Barbatos felt that he should find a guard dog, one specifically to watch over the World Forge, that could be let out to tear the Xenomorphs to shreds when necessary.
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