Chapter 37: The Shadow of Gods
---
Asgard - The Rainbow Bridge
Lin Chen and Hela stepped through the portal onto the gleaming rainbow surface of the Bifrost. The moment they materialized, they were confronted by an imposing sight.
An entire Asgardian army stood in formation, weapons raised and ready. Golden armor gleamed under Asgard's eternal sun. At the front stood Thor, ready to defend Asgard, and Loki, daggers drawn but eyes calculating.
"Hela!" Thor's voice boomed across the bridge. "Stand down! Release whoever you've enchanted and—" He stopped, noticing Lin Chen standing calmly beside his sister, holding her hand. "Lin Chen! What... what happened?"
Lin Chen raised his free hand in a peaceful gesture. "Relax, Thor. Nobody's enchanted. Nobody's under mind control. Well—" he smiled slightly, "—not in the way you're thinking."
Hela stepped forward, but her posture was different from what Thor remembered. Less aggressive. Less... murderous. "Hello, brother. It's been quite a time."
"Brother?!" Thor's grip tightened on Mjolnir. "You tried to kill us, and now you stand there as if—"
"As if I've changed?" Hela interrupted, her voice surprisingly calm. "Because I have. Thanks to him." She gestured to Lin Chen.
Loki's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Changed? The Goddess of Death who slaughtered our armies and conquered the Nine Realms has suddenly seen the light? Forgive me if I'm... skeptical."
Lin Chen stepped forward, addressing both brothers directly. "Let me explain what actually happened. Your father—Odin—didn't seal Hela away because she was evil. He sealed her away because she became inconvenient."
Thor frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Odin used Hela as a weapon," Lin Chen said bluntly. "He conquered the Nine Realms through her power. She was his perfect tool—unstoppable, merciless, efficient. But when the conquering was done, when Odin decided he wanted to be seen as a peaceful king instead of a warlord, what did he do with his weapon?"
Hela's voice was quiet but carried across the bridge. "He threw me away. Erased me from history. Sealed me in Hel for thousands of years because I reminded him of what he truly was—a conqueror who'd built an empire on blood."
"That's..." Thor looked shaken. "Father wouldn't—"
"Your father did many things he wasn't proud of," Lin Chen said gently. "That's why he couldn't look Hela in the eye at the end. That's why his last words to me were 'don't just cage her.' He knew what he'd done was wrong."
Loki lowered his daggers slightly, his analytical mind processing this. "So you're saying Hela was... created by father's ambition? Shaped into a weapon and then discarded?"
"Exactly," Lin Chen confirmed. "And I've helped her remember that she's more than just a weapon. She's a person who deserves a chance to be something other than what Odin made her."
Thor studied his sister carefully. The bloodlust in her eyes was gone. The cruel smile had been replaced with something softer. She looked... at peace.
"Is this true, sister?" Thor asked quietly.
Hela met his gaze steadily. "I spent millennia alone, Thor. Millennia with nothing but rage and the memory of being thrown away like garbage. I thought conquest and death were all I was good for because that's all I was ever allowed to be." She glanced at Lin Chen. "He showed me I could be more. And I want to try."
Thor slowly lowered Mjolnir. Behind him, the Asgardian army remained tense but didn't attack.
Loki sheathed his daggers completely. "Well. This is... quite unexpected." His tone was light,
"Thank you, brother," Hela said, and there was genuine warmth in her voice.
Thor nodded slowly. "Then welcome home, sister. Though—" he looked at Lin Chen, "—I suspect we have much to discuss about... everything."
"We do," Lin Chen agreed. "But first, there's something I need to handle something important."
Lin Chen teleported directly into Asgard's treasury, leaving Hela to reconnect with her brothers. The massive vault was filled with artifacts from across the Nine Realms—weapons, armor, mystical objects of immense power.
But Lin Chen's enhanced perception focused on one thing in particular.
At the far end of the treasury, a flame burned in an ornate brazier. It looked like a normal flame—flickering orange and red, giving off heat and light.
This was no ordinary fire. This was the Eternal Flame—the source of Surtur's power, the key to Ragnarok itself.
[ABILITY ACQUIRED: FLAME MANIPULATION]
[DESCRIPTION: CAN CREATE, CONTROL, AND MANIPULATE FLAMES OF ANY INTENSITY]
But Lin Chen wasn't interested in just the ability. He was interested in the flame itself.
He opened his mouth, and Absolute Devouring activated.
The Eternal Flame didn't just extinguish—it was pulled directly into Lin Chen's being, consumed entirely. The power that could have destroyed all of Asgard, that could have birthed Surtur at his full apocalyptic strength, now belonged to him.
[CONSUMING ETERNAL FLAME...]
[ANALYZING UNIQUE PROPERTIES...]
[SPECIAL ATTRIBUTE DETECTED: ETERNAL]
[INTEGRATION COMPLETE]
[YOUR SOUL IS NOW IMMUNE TO COMPLETE DESTRUCTION AND CAN'T DECAYED BY TIME AND SPACE]
[SOUL CANNOT BE DAMAGED BY ANY MEANS]
[SOUL PERSISTS EVEN IF REALITY ITSELF IS ERASED]
Lin Chen felt the change immediately. His soul—already incredibly powerful—became truly indestructible. Not just resistant to damage, but fundamentally immune to any form of destruction or decay.
He smiled, satisfied.
But then he felt something else.
Fluctuations. Far above, deep within the layers of space that normal beings couldn't perceive. Reality was... shifting. Changing.
He looked up with his cosmic awareness, his perception extending beyond Asgard, beyond the Nine Realms, beyond the normal universe, beyond even the Marvel Multiverse itself.
He ascended through dimensional layers—third, fourth, fifth, ascending through probability spaces and timeline variants, past the boundaries of conventional reality.
And there, in the space beyond spaces, he saw it.
Endless void. Endless darkness. A place where nothing existed, where even the concept of existence seemed uncertain.
Then white light patterns formed in the black space—geometric designs that hurt to look at with normal perception.
Seven shadows descended from the nothingness, taking vague humanoid forms composed of pure conceptual power.
Lin Chen's system immediately analyzed them.
[DETECTING UNKNOWN ENTITIES...]
[SCANNING...]
[STATUS WINDOW - THOSE WHO SIT ABOVE IN SHADOW]
[THREAT LEVEL: OUTERVERSAL (1-A)]
[NAMES: THOSE WHO SIT ABOVE IN SHADOW]
[CLASSIFICATION: GODS OF THE ASGARDIANS, "GODS OF GODS"]
[AGE: UNKNOWN - PREDATE CURRENT REALITY]
MENTAL POWERS: 106,263,135,486, 153,486, 115,400, 112,632, 131,344, 122,611 (OUTERVERSAL SCALE)
[ABILITIES:]
- Superhuman Physical Enhancement
- Power Bestowal (Can grant their powers to others)
- Fate Manipulation (Can weave the fate of everyone in the Nine Realms)
- Illusion Creation
- Dream Manipulation (Control dreams across entire realities)
- Acausality (Type 4 - Unaffected by multiversal cause and effect, granting resistance to Causality Manipulation, Fate Manipulation, and Precognition)
- Cosmic Power Manipulation
- Space Manipulation
[WEAKNESSES:]
- Feed off the endless cycle of Ragnarok
- If the Loom of Fate is destroyed, the cycle ends and they weaken significantly
[NOTES:]
- Celestial entities considered "gods of gods"
- Gave The Norns their power
- Control the fates of every Asgardian
- Exist outside normal causality
Lin Chen was surprised at first, but quickly understood. He'd stopped the Ragnarok cycle by consuming the Eternal Flame. These beings fed on that endless cycle of death and rebirth, and he'd just disrupted their food source.
He tried to use his timeline perception to see their origin, their past—but couldn't. His temporal abilities, even at Hyperversal scale, simply slid off them without effect.
"Acausality," Lin Chen murmured, understanding. "They exist outside normal cause and effect. They're looking into reality from the outside."
He quickly erected a Universal Protection Field around his home universe, rendering it invisible and intangible to the Shadows. The field would keep everyone below—Asgard, Earth, the Nine Realms, the entire universe—safely oblivious to what was about to happen.
The Seven Shadows seemed to notice him for the first time.
"IMPOSSIBLE," one of them said, its voice resonating across dimensions. "SOMEONE FROM INSIDE. HERE! IN OUR REALM."
"HOW?" another demanded. "NO BEING FROM BELOW SHOULD BE ABLE TO ASCEND TO THIS LAYER."
A third Shadow leaned forward, studying Lin Chen with interest. "FASCINATING. YOU CARRY SOME POWER. YOU ARE... NOT NORMAL BEING."
"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DISRUPTED THE CYCLE," a fourth Shadow declared with frustration. "YOU CONSUMED THE ETERNAL FLAME. HE DISRUPTED RAGNAROK."
"OUR POWER SOURCE," the fifth Shadow growled. "YOU DISRUPTED OUR POWERSOURCE."
The sixth Shadow's tone shifted to something almost... respectful. "YOU POSSESS POWER BEYOND YOUR DIMENSIONAL ORIGIN. YOU HAVE TRANSCENDED YOUR NATURE."
The seventh and largest Shadow stepped forward, its presence warping space itself. "WE OFFER YOU A CHOICE..., ASCENDING ONE. JOIN US! SIT AMONG THE SEVEN AND WE WILL BE EIGHT. WE WILL SHARE THE POWER OF THE CYCLE WITH YOU. TOGETHER, WE WILL WEAVE FATE ACROSS INFINITE REALITIES."
It gestured, and a throne materialized from nothingness—a seat of pure conceptual power.
"A BEING LIKE YOU SHOULD NOT SERVE THE MORTALS BELOW. YOU SHOULD RULE ALONGSIDE THOSE WHO SHAPE DESTINY ITSELF. ACCEPT OUR OFFER."
Lin Chen looked at the throne, then at the Seven Shadows, then back at the throne.
Then he laughed.
Not a polite chuckle. A genuine, amused laugh that echoed across the void.
"You're offering me a seat at your table?" Lin Chen asked, still smiling. "A throne among gods who feed on endless suffering? Who manipulate fate itself to ensure their food source never runs out?"
His expression hardened.
"No. I don't think so. See, I've met beings like you before."
He took a step forward, and reality rippled around him.
"They were all wrong. And so are you."
The Shadows recoiled slightly, clearly not used to being refused.
"YOU DARE—"
"I dare," Lin Chen interrupted. "Because unlike you, I don't need to feed off suffering to exist. I don't need to manipulate fate to feel powerful. I'm already powerful enough to stand here and tell you no."
"FOOLISH..., YOU ARE FOOLISH" the largest Shadow boomed with angry voice. "YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND WHAT WE OFFER. WE ARE ETERNAL. WE ARE INEVITABLE. WE ARE—"
"Parasites," Lin Chen finished bluntly. "You're parasites who've convinced yourselves you're gods. You feed on the cycle of Ragnarok—the death and rebirth of Asgard and its people—over and over again across infinite timelines. You're not shapers of destiny. You're just cosmic leeches."
The void around them turned hostile.
"THEN YOU HAVE CHOSEN ERASURE," all Seven Shadows spoke in unison.
They raised their hands, and Lin Chen felt it—threads of fate wrapping around his very existence, attempting to weave a new destiny where he had never arrived at this place, where he had never ascended, where he had never existed at all.
Fate Manipulation on an Outerversal scale, trying to rewrite his entire existence.
[DETECTING: FATE MANIPULATION]
[MENTAL POWER +43,962]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 100,256]
[MENTAL POWER REACHED HIGH HYPERVERSAL SCALE]
[ABILITY ACQUIRED: FATE MANIPULATION]
Lin Chen saw the threads clearly—billions of them, weaving around him, trying to bind his existence to their will.
He grabbed the threads with his bare hands and ripped them apart.
"No," he said simply.
The Shadows recoiled in shock.
"IMPOSSIBLE! OUR FATE WEAVING IS ABSOLUTE!"
"Not against someone who exists partially outside your causality," Lin Chen replied. He transformed his body into pure space, becoming space itself. "You can't rewrite what you can't properly perceive."
The Shadows attacked together. One unleashed Space Manipulation—but space was literally what Lin Chen was made of in that moment.
Then all Seven focused their power simultaneously.
They struck at his mind with the collective weight of every Asgardian life that had ever existed—every dream, every hope, every fear, every death across infinite cycles of Ragnarok.
It was an attack designed to crush any consciousness under the sheer weight of infinite suffering.
Lin Chen stood completely motionless as the mental assault washed over him.
[MENTAL POWER +86,987]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 187,130]
[MENTAL POWER REACHED OUTERVERSAL SCALE]
The moment his Mental Power crossed 180,000, something fundamental changed.
Lin Chen's consciousness expanded.
His awareness spread instantly across the entire Marvel Omniverse—every universe, every timeline, every dimensional layer, every possible reality. He could perceive all of it simultaneously.
And there, at the corner of the greater Marvel structure, he saw something interesting—a white space that existed adjacent to everything else. The realm of the Beyonders.
But more importantly, he understood something crucial: his abilities now worked even on beings who existed outside normal time and space. The Outerversal scale meant he could affect entities that conventional powers couldn't touch.
Lin Chen's perception shifted fundamentally. He no longer saw the Shadows as hooded, abstract figures of pure concept.
He saw them clearly now—their true forms. They looked similar to Asgardian gods in appearance, humanoid but composed of threads of fate and cosmic energy.
And more importantly, he'd undergone something profound: Hyperversal-to-Outerversal Ascension. He had transcended the 11th dimension entirely, existing now in a state beyond conventional dimensional mathematics.
One of the Shadows, recovering from shock, tried using Space Manipulation on a conceptual level—attempting to turn the vacuum of void itself against Lin Chen, to crush him with the weight of infinite nothingness.
Lin Chen simply tapped the space around him, and it returned to normal.
[MENTAL POWER +29,976]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 217,106]
"Let's see how you play against me now," Lin Chen said calmly.
He activated Absolute Devouring to its extreme limit.
But this time, reality twisting into an impossible void that pulled at the very existence of the Shadows.
"What's happening?!" one Shadow screamed, its voice losing its omnipresent quality.
"Let us go!" another pleaded as it was pulled toward the consuming void.
"We will never—" a third started, but was cut off as it was dragged into the emptiness.
One by one, all Seven Shadows were consumed. Their conceptual forms, their fate-weaving powers, their Outerversal existence—all of it pulled into Lin Chen and devoured completely.
[CONSUMING THOSE WHO SIT ABOVE IN SHADOW...]
[MENTAL POWERS CONSUMED...]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 1,094,328(HIGH OUTERVERSAL)]
[ABILITY ACQUIRED: ACAUSALITY (TYPE 4)]
[DESCRIPTION: EXIST OUTSIDE NORMAL CAUSE AND EFFECT. IMMUNE TO CAUSALITY MANIPULATION, FATE MANIPULATION, AND PRECOGNITION]
[MULTIPLE ABILITIES FUSED WITH EXISTING POWERS]
[FATE MANIPULATION ENHANCED TO HIGH OUTERVERSAL SCALE]
[DREAM MANIPULATION INTEGRATED]
[POWER BESTOWAL INTEGRATED]
Lin Chen felt the immense power settling into his being. The ability to exist outside causality—to be unaffected by changes to the timeline or attempts to manipulate fate—was invaluable.
He focused on the threads of fate that stretched across all of reality, the Loom of Fate that the Shadows had maintained. With a thought, he destroyed those specific threads—the ones that caused Ragnarok, that bound Asgard to endless cycles of death and rebirth.
Across infinite timelines, in every universe where an Asgard existed, the Loom of Fate snapped. The predetermined cycle shattered. For the first time in eternity, the Asgardian gods were truly free from their fated doom.
Lin Chen was about to descend back to Asgard when the void in front of him turned blinding white.
Three towering figures emerged from the light—crystalline entities that seemed to be made of pure geometric perfection. They radiated power that made even the Shadows seem small in comparison.
The Ivory Kings. The Beyonders.
[DETECTING NEW THREATS...
[ANALYZING...]
[STATUS WINDOW - THE BEYONDERS]
[THREAT LEVEL: OUTERVERSAL]
[NAMES: THE IVORY KINGS, THE LORDS OF WHITE LIGHT, THE REALITY ENGINEERS]
[AGE: PREDATE THE EIGHTH COSMOS - EXIST BEYOND TIME]
[CLASSIFICATION: CELESTIAL SERVITORS, INFINITE LIFEFORMS, ENGINEERS OF THE MULTIVERSE]
[PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES: ALL OUTERVERSAL]
[MENTAL POWERS:]
- Beyonder 1: 329,263 (Outerversal Scale)
- Beyonder 2: 321,756 (Outerversal Scale)
- Beyonder 3: 314,678 (Outerversal Scale)
[CORE ABILITIES:]
- Abstract Existence (Type 1): These beings exist as pure concepts or abstractions. They have no true physical form. The bodies you see are merely avatars—projections. To truly affect them, you must affect the abstraction itself, not just the physical manifestation.
- Avatar Creation & Possession: They can create multiple physical manifestations of themselves throughout all reality simultaneously.
- Reality Warping: Can modify the entire multiverse as if it were a single unified structure, rewriting its laws at will.
- Information & Plot Manipulation: Can alter the fundamental information that composes reality itself, and even change the narrative structure of existence—essentially "editing the story" of reality.
- Paraconsistent Physiology (Type 3): These beings exist beyond normal logical rules. They are not "A" or "not-A" or "both" or "neither"—they exist in states that cannot be described using normal concepts. They transcend binary logic entirely.
- Teleportation: Can instantly move anywhere in the omniverse.
- Nonexistent Physiology (Nature Type 2): As beings from "The Outside," they exist above even the concept of existence itself. Their realm is described as "incomprehensibly featureless"—more primordial than even pure nothingness.
- Acausality (Type 4): They transcend the normal cause-and-effect structure that governs the universe, though they still have their own personal timeline.
- Precognition & Clairvoyance: Can observe all possible futures and timelines, though they cannot determine which specific future will actually occur.
- Power Bestowal: Can grant portions of their power to beings within the multiverse.
- Existence Erasure: Can erase beings from existence with a touch, even those who are already non-existent by normal standards.
- Matter Manipulation: Complete control over all matter.
- Shapeshifting & Adaptation: Can change their forms and adapt to any situation instantly.
- Conceptual Manipulation (Type 1): Can manipulate universal concepts that exist independently of reality and shape all of existence within their area of influence.
- Energy, Spatial, & Time Manipulation: Complete control over these fundamental forces.
- Dimensional Travel: Can move freely between all dimensions.
- Immortality (Type 5): In their realm, the concepts of life and death don't exist. They simply "are."
- Large Size (Type 11): Their true scale is incomprehensibly vast—beyond normal measurement of complex multiverse itself.
- Causality Manipulation: Can redirect any cause to produce any effect. They can make a finger snap cause a sun to explode, or make something's existence be the cause of its own non-existence.
[WEAKNESSES:]
- Vulnerable to beings who can affect their abstract nature directly
- They aren't invincible, Beyonders can be defeated by strategy.
[NOTES:]
- The Beyonders are a race, not individuals—there are potentially thousands of them
- These three represent only a small fragment of their total number
- The death of a few members does not significantly impact the race as a whole
The three Beyonders looked at Lin Chen with something that might have been curiosity—or irritation.
"ERROR DETECTED IN REALITY STRUCTURE," the first Beyonder said, its voice like crystalline chimes. "CAUSALITY STREAM DISRUPTED ON UNPRECEDENTED SCALE."
"THE EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN CONTAMINATED BY UNKNOWN VARIABLE," the second Beyonder added, its tone analytical. "THIS IS UNAUTHORIZED MODIFICATION."
The third Beyonder tilted its geometric head, studying Lin Chen intensely. "YOU ARE NOT PART OF THE ORIGINAL DESIGN WE EXPERIMENT ON. YOU DO NOT EXIST IN OUR CALCULATIONS. EXPLAIN YOUR UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE."
Lin Chen crossed his arms, standing calmly before the three Outerversal beings. "Explain my presence? I'm here because beings like you keep treating reality as your personal playground."
"WE ARE THE ENGINEERS," the first Beyonder stated flatly, as if this explained everything. "REALITY IS OUR EXPERIMENT. WE DESIGN. WE OBSERVE. WE REFINE. THIS IS OUR PURPOSE."
"And what gives you that right?" Lin Chen asked. "Who decided you get to play with infinite lives like they're toys in a sandbox?"
"WE DETECTED A CRITICAL DISTURBANCE," the second Beyonder said, ignoring his question entirely. "SEVEN OF OUR CREATED SERVITORS—THE SHADOW BEINGS WHO MAINTAINED THE RAGNAROK CYCLE—HAVE BEEN ERASED FROM EXISTENCE. THEIR CONNECTION TO OUR NETWORK HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY SEVERED."
Lin Chen smiled coldly. "Oh, those. Yeah, I consumed them completely. They were parasites feeding on endless suffering. The multiverse is objectively better off without them."
The three Beyonders' forms flickered with what might have been surprise or anger—it was difficult to tell with beings made of pure geometric concepts.
"YOU CONSUMED OUTERVERSAL ENTITIES?" the third Beyonder asked, its voice carrying genuine disbelief. "IMPOSSIBLE. EVEN ABSTRACT BEINGS CANNOT FULLY ERASE ENTITIES AT THAT SCALE—"
"I can," Lin Chen interrupted calmly. "And I did. Which brings us to why you're really here. You felt your connection to them break, came to investigate, and discovered I'm an 'unknown variable' in your precious experiment. Now you want to eliminate me to restore your controlled environment."
"YOU ARE CORRECT," the first Beyonder confirmed without hesitation. "YOU REPRESENT CHAOTIC DEVIATION FROM ESTABLISHED PARAMETERS. DEVIATION MUST BE CORRECTED. YOU MUST BE REMOVED."
"EXPERIMENT MUST CONTINUE WITHOUT CONTAMINATING INFLUENCE," the second agreed.
"YOUR EXISTENCE WILL BE TERMINATED. THIS IS INEVITABLE," the third concluded.
Lin Chen's expression didn't change. "Then I guess we're fighting. Though I should warn you—You're not as unique as you think."
The three Beyonders moved simultaneously. Despite being separate entities, they acted with perfect synchronization—like a single consciousness divided into three independent bodies.
The first Beyonder raised its crystalline hand, and Linear Erasure activated—a devastating attempt to collapse Lin Chen's dimensional existence into a literal zero-dimensional point, effectively removing him from reality entirely by reducing him to mathematical non-existence.
Lin Chen felt the attack compressing the space around him, attempting to reduce his dimensional presence to absolute nothing.
[MENTAL POWER +57,294]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 1,151,622]
He countered with his own High Outerversal Mental Power by using space manipulation, maintaining his dimensional integrity easily.
"Nice try," Lin Chen said. "But I exist across dimensions you can't fully perceive or control."
The second Beyonder fired a concentrated beam of pure Conceptual Destruction—an attack designed to erase not just Lin Chen's physical body, not just his consciousness, but the very concept of his existence from reality.
Lin Chen WarpReality, intercepting the conceptual energy and converting it into pure cosmic energy in mid-flight, then immediately absorbed it.
[MENTAL POWER +41,487]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 1,193,109]
The third Beyonder employed Space-Time Destruction, attempting to completely erase the specific space-time coordinates where Lin Chen stood, deleting that section of reality entirely.
Lin Chen had mastered that ability himself during his training. He simply negated the attack by asserting his own superior control over those same coordinates, overriding their manipulation.
"You're strong," Lin Chen said, "but you're predictable. You're used to fighting beings who can't resist conceptual attacks. Who can't touch your abstract nature. I'm not one of those beings."
His Nigh-Omniscience with superior mental power, his vast accumulated knowledge analyzing the Beyonders' fundamental structure with perfect clarity.
They weren't truly physical beings in any conventional sense—they were abstract concepts that had taken form. Can't be killed but what about their consciousness"
"I see it now," Lin Chen murmured, his eyes glowing with understanding.
The Beyonders seemed to realize he'd understood something fundamental about their nature.
"IMPOSSIBLE," the first one declared. "LOWER-DIMENSIONAL BEINGS CANNOT PERCEIVE THE OUTSIDE. IT EXISTS BEYOND COMPREHENSION."
"I'm not a lower-dimensional being," Lin Chen replied simply. "I transcended that limitation when I reached Outerversal scale before you came."
He used his own Space-Time Destruction ability, targeting the Beyonders' directly. They vanished in flashes of white light—but as expected, reappeared moments later completely unharmed. Their abstract existence meant destroying their avatars accomplished nothing.
[MENTAL POWER +82,750]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 1,275,859]
"Destroying your bodies is pointless," Lin Chen said to himself, thinking strategically. "I need to target their consciousness. Or..." his eyes narrowed.
"Your experiment got tired of being experimented on," Lin Chen said coldly. "Reality has had enough of you."
The Beyonders realized their individual avatars were insufficient to deal with this threat. They began to merge—three separate crystalline forms flowing together like liquid geometry, combining into a single Entity.
The combined Beyonder was absolutely enormous, its form stretching across multiple dimensional layers simultaneously. It embodied all three of their powers working in perfect synchronization and harmony.
"WE ARE BEYOND," it declared in a voice that resonated across all levels of existence. "WE ARE THE COLLECTIVE WILL OF THE BEYONDERS. WE ARE THE TOTALITY OF THE OUTSIDE MADE MANIFEST. YOU CANNOT RESIST THIS POWER."
[DETECTED NEW ABILITY: LARGE SIZE (TYPE 11)]
[INTEGRATING WITH EXISTING SIZE MANIPULATION...]
[FUSION COMPLETE]
[NEW ABILITY: ULTIMATE SELF-SIZE MANIPULATION (TYPE 11+)]
[DESCRIPTION: CAN BECOME AS SMALL AS QUANTUM PARTICLES OR LARGER THAN THE OMNIVERSE ITSELF. TRUE UPPER LIMIT CURRENTLY UNKNOWN.]
Lin Chen looked up at the massive combined entity and smiled with genuine appreciation for the challenge.
Then he activated his new ability and grew.
His body expanded rapidly, using Ultimate Self-Size Manipulation at full Outerversal scale. He grew larger than galaxies in seconds. Larger than universe clusters in moments. Larger than the entire infinite multiverse structure in next moments.
Soon, entire infinite multiverses looked like tiny dust motes floating in an incomprehensibly vast space compared to his current scale.
The combined Beyonder, which had seemed impossibly large moments ago, suddenly looked small—manageable—almost child in comparison.
"Let me show you what happens when reality itself decides to fight back," Lin Chen said, his voice echoing across every layer of existence simultaneously. He focused his mind power.
[Mind Nullification]
This wasn't a physical action.
The shockwave that resulted wasn't sound in any conventional sense. It was pure erasure made manifest—a cascading wave of absolute annihilation that spread across the void in all directions.
The combined Beyonder, sensing genuine danger for perhaps the first time in its existence, desperately tried to defend itself. It employed every reality-warping ability at its disposal, attempting to create shields of twisted causality and walls of non-existent space.
But the attack was too comprehensive, too powerful, too perfectly executed.
The shockwave shattered the Beyonder's unified consciousness across the void like thin glass struck by a hammer. Its crystalline form cracked with sounds that hurt to hear, broke into countless fragments, and began dissolving into pure white light.
Brilliant white radiance spreaacross billions upon billions of light-years—the raw, uncontrolled power of three Beyonders released all at once. Their consciousness was shattered, leaving behind only directionless cosmic energy that threatened to explode outward in a catastrophic chain reaction.
Lin Chen remembered something from the original comics—when a single Beyonder died, the release of its power had been enough to create an entire universe spontaneously.
Three Beyonders dying simultaneously could create multiple universes, potentially disrupting the entire cosmic balance.
"I won't let that happen," Lin Chen said with consideration.
He opened his mouth impossibly wide that was bigger then multiverse itself—and activated Absolute Devouring.
The vast ocean of Beyonder power—enough raw energy to birth multiple universes, enough conceptual force to reshape entire sections of the omniverse—was pulled directly into Lin Chen's being like water down an infinite drain.
He didn't just consume the energy. He consumed the fundamental concepts the Beyonders had embodied: their abstract existence, their reality-warping authority, their connection to The Outside, their very nature as Engineers of Reality.
[CONSUMING THREE BEYONDERS' COMPLETE ESSENCE...]
[ABSORBING FUNDAMENTAL BEYONDER NATURE...]
[TOTAL MENTAL POWER INCREASE: +931,304]
[NEW MENTAL POWER: 2,207,153]
[MENTAL POWER HAS REACHED HIGH OUTERVERSAL SCALE+]
[CONSCIOUSNESS EXPANDING TO ACCOMMODATE NEW POWER LEVEL...]
[MULTIPLE ADVANCED ABILITIES ACQUIRED AND INTEGRATED:]
[ABSTRACT EXISTENCE (TYPE 1)]
Can now exist as a pure abstraction of outsider, independent of physical form. Physical manifestations are merely avatars of true conceptual self
[AVATAR CREATION & POSSESSION]
Can create unlimited manifestations throughout the omniverse, each capable of independent action while maintaining unified consciousness.
[PLOT MANIPULATION]
Can alter the narrative structure of existence itself, "editing the story" of reality on fundamental levels.
[INFORMATION MANIPULATION]
Can modify reality's base information structure—the fundamental "code" that determines how existence operates.
[PARACONSISTENT PHYSIOLOGY (TYPE 3)]
Exists beyond normal logical frameworks. Is neither existence nor non-existence, neither something nor nothing, but occupies states that cannot be defined by conventional binary concepts.
[NONEXISTENT PHYSIOLOGY (TYPE 2 - ALL ASPECTS)]
*Can exist in states more primordial than even pure nothingness itself, in the same incomprehensible manner as beings from The Outside.*
[CONCEPTUAL MANIPULATION (TYPE 1)]
Can manipulate independent universal concepts that exist beyond and shape all of reality within their influence.
[CAUSALITY MANIPULATION - ENHANCED]
Can redirect any cause to produce any effect, separate causes from effects entirely, or make effects occur without causes. Can make something's existence be the direct cause of its own non-existence.
[IMMORTALITY (TYPE 5)]
Exists in a state where the concepts of life and death are meaningless. Cannot die because "death" as a concept no longer applies.
[ULTIMATE SELF-SIZE MANIPULATION (TYPE 11+)]
Previously acquired ability now fully mastered. Can become as small as quantum particles or far larger than the entire omniverse. Stepping on almost everything, True upper limit remains unknown but theoretically boundless.
[PRECOGNITION & CLAIRVOYANCE - ENHANCED]
Can observe all possible timelines and futures across the entire omniverse, though specific outcomes remain probabilistic rather than certain.
[POWER BESTOWAL - ENHANCED]
Can grant portions of own power to other beings, or infuse them with energy from The Outside.
[ABSOLUTE EXISTENCE ERASURE - ENHANCED TO ABSOLUTE ERASURE]
Can erase beings or multiverses from existence with a thought, even those who exist in states of non-existence or exist beyond conventional reality with absolutely illogical to erase.
[SHAPESHIFTING & ADAPTATION - ENHANCED]
Can freely change form and instantly adapt to any situation, environment, or threat.
[DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL - ENHANCED]
Can move freely not just between dimensions, but between different layers of reality barriers of universes including The Outside itself or even further.
[ALL OTHER BEYONDER ABILITIES INTEGRATED OR FUSED WITH EXISTING POWERS]
Lin Chen returned to normal human size, standing alone in the now-empty void. The Seven Shadows who had fed on Asgard's suffering—gone. The three Beyonders who had treated reality as their experiment—consumed completely.
The threats from beings who thought they could play god with infinite lives had been eliminated.
He took a moment to center himself, feeling the vast new power integrating into his being. The jump from fifty thousand to two million Mental Power was enormous—more than forty times of his previous capacity but in terms of power difference it more then thousands of times.
But he remained fundamentally himself. The power hadn't changed who he was, only what he was capable of.
He opened his updated status window to review all the changes comprehensively.
---
[STATUS WINDOW - LIN CHEN]
[NAME: LIN CHEN]
[AGE: 23 YEARS]
[RACE: HUMAN (ORIGIN) - DIMENSIONAL LORD - HIGH-OUTERVERSAL ENTITY+]
[CLASSIFICATION:
HIGH OUTERVERSAL++ THREAT]
[PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES:]
STRENGTH: (Normally 14,804 tons) [INCOMPREHENSIBLE - OUTERVERSAL SCALE]
Can exert force sufficient to destroy at Outerversal scales through physical Empowerment
PHYSIQUE: (Normally 8,713.8) [INCOMPREHENSIBLE - OUTERVERSAL SCALE]
Body exists simultaneously across multiple dimensional layers and can survive any known form of destruction through abilities
SPEED: (Normally 856 m/s / 826,000,000 m/s with super speed) [INCOMPREHENSIBLE - OMNIPRESENT WHEN DESIRED]
Can move at speeds transcending conventional physics, or exist everywhere simultaneously through spatial manipulation
MENTAL POWER: 2,207,153 (HIGH OUTERVERSAL SCALE+)
---
[OUTER DIMENSIONAL EXISTENCE:]
Exists simultaneously across all dimensional levels from 3rd through 11th dimension, and has now transcended dimensional mathematics entirely. Can project power and consciousness into space beyond conventional dimensional frameworks.
Can perceive and interact with:
- 3rd Dimension: Physical space
- 4th Dimension: Time/temporal flow
- 5th Dimension: Probability/alternate timelines
- 6th Dimension: All possible timelines from single starting point
- 7th Dimension: All possible timelines from all possible starting points
- 8th Dimension: All possible universe histories with different physical laws
- 9th Dimension: All possible universes with all possible physical laws
- 10th Dimension: All possible realities (Complete Complex Multiversal awareness)
- 11th Dimension: Beyond conventional dimensionality (Hyperversal consciousness)
- Outer Layer: Beyond dimensional mathematics entirely
---
[CORE ABILITIES - HIGH OUTERVERSAL SCALE+:]
COMBAT & PHYSICAL:
- Ultimate Regenerative Healing Factor (Cellular Immortality - can regenerate from single cell)
- Enhanced Senses (All enhanced to Outerversal Scale - can perceive across all realities)
- Combat Intelligence (Master Level - from countless fighters)
- Super Speed
- Controlled Energy Projection (Outerversal scale output)
- Plasma Burst
- Cosmic Thunderclap(Can create shockwaves across dimensional layers by infusing cosmic energy)
- Anger Empowerment (can help release full power)
MENTAL & PSYCHIC - OUTERVERSAL SCALE:
- Telepathy (Can affect minds across entire omniverse)
- Mind Control (Absolute - works even on Outerversal entities)
- Mental Shields (Impenetrable even to Outerversal attacks)
- Technopathy (Can interface with any technology across all realities)
- Telekinesis (High Outerversal scale)
- Enhanced Perception (Can perceive The Outside and abstract realms)
- Mind Reading (Works across all dimensional layers)
- 40+ Mind Manipulation Sub-Abilities (All at Outerversal Scale)
- Addiction, Behavior, Belief, Comprehension, Comfort, Confidence, Confusion, Consciousness State, Dream, Emotion, Mindstate, Hypnosis, Lie, Intelligence, Instinct, Inspiration, Fun, Imagination, Madness, Memory, Morality, Perception, Personality, Potential, Psyche, Selection, Sleep, Social Interplay, Social Phenomena, Subconscious, Thought, Truth, Willpower, Mental Breakdown, Mental Combat, Mental Disorder, Mental Healing, Mental Inducement, Mindscape, Mental Projection, Mental Infection, Mental Nullification, Mental Release, Mental Reset, Mental Restoration, Mind Creation, Mind Imprisonment, Mind Summoning, Mental Imprint
ENERGY MANIPULATION - OUTERVERSAL SCALE:
- Weather & Lightning Manipulation (Can control and affect weather across infinite multiverses)
- Electrical Manipulation & Immunity
- Cosmic Energy Manipulation (Can manipulate energy at High Outerversal scale+)
- Cosmic Energy Pressure (Can destroy multiverses with pressure alone)
- Energy Contact (Can physically touch and manipulate any form of energy)
- Energy Conversion (Convert any energy type into any other type)
- Absolute Devouring (Can consume anything - energy, matter, concepts, abstract entities, even High Outerversal beings)
- Energy Redirection (High Outerversal Scale)
- Life Force Manipulation (Can generate and control life force endlessly)
- Flame Manipulation (Can create and control flames of any intensity, even hotter than possible existing universal flames)
SPATIAL & DIMENSIONAL - OUTERVERSAL SCALE:
- Portal Magic (Can open portals to anywhere in omniverse)
- Space Manipulation (High Outerversal Scale+)
- Space Unity (Can exist as pure space without physical form)
- Mirror Dimension Manipulation (Can create mirror dimensions of entire multiverse)
- Dimensional Blade Magic
- Levitation Magic
- Dark Dimension Authority (Complete control of Dark Dimension)
- Dimensional Universe Field
- Dimensional Travel (Can travel to any dimension including other realities)
- Ultimate Self-Size Manipulation (Type 11+) (Can range from quantum scale to larger than omniverse)
TEMPORAL - HIGH OUTERVERSAL SCALE:
- Absolute Space-Time Manipulation (HIGH Outerversal Scale+)
- Time Stop (Can freeze time across entire omniverse)
- Time Reversal (Can reverse time at Outerversal scale)
- Time Acceleration
- Time Travel (Completely unrestricted)
- Time Being
- Timeline Perception (Can view all possible timelines)
- Space-Time Destruction (Can erase time and space completely)
- Temporal Erasure (HIGH Outerversal Scale)
REALITY MANIPULATION - OUTERVERSAL SCALE:
- Reality Warping (Can rewrite reality at High Outerversal scale)
- Existence Erasure (Absolute - can erase even higher Outerversal beings)
- Creation (Can create at Outerversal scale)
- Subatomic Matter Manipulation (Complete quantum-level control)
- Self Atomic Manipulation (Complete control over own atomic structure)
- Molecular Manipulation (High Outerversal Scale)
- Probability Manipulation (Can alter probability across omniverse)
- Chaos Magic (Master Level)
- Genetic Manipulation (Advanced - continuously developing)
NEW OUTERVERSAL ABILITIES:
- Abstract Existence (Type 1): Can exist as pure abstraction. Physical forms are merely avatars of true conceptual self. Independent self and powers from any universe, outsider embodiment.
- Avatar Creation & Possession: Can create unlimited independent manifestations throughout omniverse.
- Plot Manipulation: Can alter the narrative structure and "story" of existence itself.
- Information Manipulation: Can modify reality's fundamental information structure.
- Paraconsistent Physiology (Type 3): Exists beyond normal logic in states that cannot be defined by conventional concepts.
- Nonexistent Physiology (Type 2): Can exist in states more primordial than pure nothingness.
- Conceptual Manipulation (Type 1): Can manipulate independent universal concepts that shape all reality.
- Causality Manipulation: Can redirect any cause to any effect, or separate causes from effects entirely.
- Immortality (Type 5): Exists in state where concepts of life and death are meaningless.
- Precognition & Clairvoyance: Can observe all possible futures across entire omniverse.
- Power Bestowal: Can grant portions of own power to other beings.
- Shapeshifting & Adaptation: Can change form and adapt to any situation instantly.
SOUL & FATE - OUTERVERSAL SCALE:
- Soul Manipulation (Complete control over souls at Outerversal scale)
- Eternal Soul (Soul is completely immune to destruction and decay)
- Soul Detection
- Soul World Access
- Life Granting & Cursing
- Fate Manipulation (Outerversal Scale - can weave fate across all realities)
- Acausality (Type 4) (Exists outside normal cause and effect)
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Sound Manipulation
- Omniscience (Vast knowledge and understanding of omniverse)
- Cosmic Awareness (Transcendent - can perceive entire omniverse)
- Power Seal (Can seal enemy powers completely)
- Duplication Magic
- Cosmic Form Transformation
- Inter-Universal Travel
- Mental Imprint (Can mark locations across all realities)
- Astral Projection (Omniversal Scale)
- Mindscape (Personal mental world)
- Necrosword Manifestation (Can create necroswords on Outerversal scale, slice through dimensions)
RESISTANCES - OUTERVERSAL LEVEL:
- Telepathic Immunity (Even against Low Boundless telepathy)
- Time Manipulation Resistance
- Reality Warping Resistance
- Dimensional Manipulation Resistance
- Elemental Immunity
- Temporal Paradox Immunity
- Causality Manipulation Resistance (can resist cause and effect)
- Fate Manipulation Resistance
- Conceptual Attack Resistance
IMMORTALITY TYPES:
- Type 1: Endless Life (Does not age, endless lifeforce)
- Type 3: Cellular Immortality (Can regenerate from single cell)
- Type 4: Revival Type (Can reconstruct body even if completely destroyed)
- Type 5: Deathless Existence (Exists in state where death is meaningless)
---
[CURRENT STATUS: Beyond Dimensional Entity]
**[NOTES:]**
- Power level: High Outerversal+ (approaching Boundless threshold of 3 million)
- No conventional weaknesses remain
- True immortality achieved through five different methods
- Can exist as abstract concept independent of physical form
- Can create unlimited avatars throughout omniverse
- Exists beyond dimensional mathematics
- Can affect beings who exist outside causality
- Can manipulate the narrative of reality itself
- Capable of creating and destroying at Omniverse scales
- True upper limits currently unknown
---
Lin Chen closed the status window, feeling the immense weight of his new power settling fully into place.
He'd gone from being unable to fight a gang to directly kill and consume Beyonders completely. The power boost was too incredible, but more importantly, he'd acquired abilities that fundamentally changed how he interacted with reality.
Abstract Existence meant he could survive even if every physical manifestation was destroyed. Plot Manipulation meant he could literally rewrite the "story" of what happened. Causality Manipulation meant he could make impossible things happen by simply declaring new cause-effect relationships.
He was no longer just powerful. He was beginning to approach the level of beings who shaped entire existence itself.
Lin Chen looked down through the dimensional layers toward Asgard, toward Earth, toward his universe.
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