Chapter 274: Chthon: There is More Future in Being a Demon God
As high-level life forms, gods—with very few exceptions—possess their own emotions. Naturally, they also form opinions and evaluations of other deities.
In the eyes of the Trinity Vishanti, the God of Chaos and God of Dark Magic, Chthon, was undoubtedly an inscrutable fellow. He was always enthusiastically repeating the same actions, only to be thwarted time and time again. Over eons of confrontation, the Vishanti had confirmed one thing: Chthon must have a brain that was ninety percent new.
And now, once again, Chthon had successfully broken the seal and escaped.
"He escaped?" The Ancient One wore a look of astonishment. "I mean no offense, but from what I understand, since you dedicate most of your energy to stopping Chthon, you shouldn't have failed so easily."
In an extremely ancient era, the World Tree system gave birth to four second-generation Chaos Gods: Oshtur, the God of White Magic; Chthon, the God of Dark Magic; Gaea, the God of Earth; and the Serpent God Set.
Oshtur herself could go head-to-head with Chthon, as they were the antitheses of each other in the realm of magic.
Later, the Serpent God Set was the first to discover something that shocked him to his core: devouring the other gods of the World Tree system could dramatically increase one's own strength. Thus, he began to secretly hunt the gods of the World Tree, enhancing his power.
Later, Chthon discovered what Set was doing and joined in. This led to the corruption of more gods, and also turned more gods into food for these fallen ones.
Thus, a civil war erupted within the World Tree system. Gods, including Oshtur and Gaea, besieged the fallen gods led by Chthon and Set.
When the battle turned against them, Gaea called upon the Demiurge—the original god of the World Tree system, the very being that had created the second-generation gods.
Gaea, in league with the Demiurge, created a powerful war weapon—Atum the Demogorge. With every fallen god Atum killed, he would absorb their divine power and grow stronger. He became more powerful with each battle, eventually routing Chthon and Set, forcing them to flee in defeat. After fulfilling his mission, Atum chose to dismember himself, and his countless divine powers bloomed throughout the multiverse.
The third generation of gods, led by Odin, was thus born.
This was the ancient history of the World Tree system.
In that era, Oshtur and Chthon were already absolute archenemies. Even though they were both second-generation beings created by the Demiurge, theoretically siblings, their relationship had long become one of mutual destruction, desperate to kill each other at any cost.
Chthon mastered Chaos Magic, becoming even more powerful. Meanwhile, Oshtur called upon Hoggoth and her own offspring, Agamotto, to form the Trinity Vishanti, likewise increasing their strength and bringing the conflict between white and black magic to its most brutal and intense level in history.
Therefore, whenever the opportunity arose, the Vishanti would surely make trouble for Chthon, and vice versa. To prevent the other from causing them trouble, they had to be even more proactive in making it from the very beginning.
"What on earth happened to make you commit such an error?" the Ancient One asked curiously.
"The battle between the God of Xenomorphs and Shuma-Gorath drew too much of our attention. We were also debating whether we should join the battlefield instead of just offering support from the magical realm," the great tiger Hoggoth grumbled.
In other words, they had been careless, let their guard down, and Chthon had launched a sneak attack.
A look of understanding dawned on the Ancient One's face. "So, if not for this battle between Du Wa and Shuma-Gorath, Chthon wouldn't have escaped?"
"In a way, that is indeed the case, however difficult a reality that is to accept," Oshtur said coldly.
The Ancient One lowered her head in thought.
Facing entities of white magic like the Vishanti, the Ancient One showed no form of timidity or fear, only absolute calm. Perhaps it was because she didn't solely rely on the Vishanti to get by; she was fully capable of turning to other gods.
Especially with a Xenomorph inside her body.
"You are aware there's a Xenomorph inside me, which means Du Wa is hearing our entire conversation... It's less that you're explaining to me, and more that you're explaining to Du Wa," the Ancient One said, shaking her head.
"What? You mean Du Wa didn't ask you to ask that last question?" Hoggoth's voice rose, his tiger head displaying a human-like expression of shock, which was quite a difficult feat.
"No. And you don't need to worry about whether my mind is being controlled by Du Wa to the point where I'm unaware it's been altered. That's meaningless, as it's impossible to distinguish at the conceptual level," the Ancient One said. "If I know, it means Du Wa knows."
At that moment, the three gods of the Vishanti all felt that concept gods were truly interesting beings. And one like Du Wa was even more interesting, powerful, and difficult to deal with.
Just then, an extraordinary fluctuation of power erupted from the Ancient One's body, a power that reached the multiversal level, causing the expressions of the three gods to turn grave.
The man himself had arrived.
"This body is absolutely the worst I have ever used... All sorts of chaotic beings are running rampant inside me, chattering incomprehensible crap."
Du Wa came online. Sensing the state of this body, especially when he violently suppressed the powers from other gods, all hell broke loose.
"What are you doing? What is this? God of Xenomorphs, you've crossed the line!"
"If you keep this up, I'm messaging my main body! What? It won't send? Damn it, why are we in the Vishanti's magical realm?"
All sorts of powers began to stir restlessly. The remnant instinctual consciousness within them began to curse and swear, but they were all silenced before the domineering Du Wa.
"Any being with self-awareness can be a life form with unlimited potential. But from a deity's perspective, the higher you stand, the cheaper life becomes. You can create countless lives with a wave of your hand." Du Wa was somewhat satisfied only after seeing the instinctual consciousnesses of these powers quiet down.
With his current standing, there was no need to indulge the multiversal gods over trivial details. If they didn't comply, he would fight!
Not counting Thanoseid, in the eyes of the other multiversal gods, Du Wa was likely working around the clock to parasitize Shuma-Gorath. They suspected that the next time Shuma-Gorath appeared, it would have transformed from a big eyeball into the shape of a Xenomorph, tearing and biting at them like a mad dog under Du Wa's command.
"What did you do to Shuma-Gorath?" This was Agamotto's first question.
"He's doing great, better than you can imagine. He's currently in the ruins, searching for a completely non-existent origin story," Du Wa said with a slight smile. To Agamotto, however, this smile looked somewhat cruel.
What was Shuma-Gorath's origin? Where did it come from? Even ancient beings like the Vishanti didn't know, nor were they interested in finding out. But it most likely wasn't from within the conventional space-time of the multiverse.
Perhaps Du Wa had made a major discovery?
"Let's talk about something that interests me. While I was attacking Shuma-Gorath, you, as its rivals, did not immediately step forward. I did all the work. Therefore, you have no right to discuss Shuma-Gorath in front of me," Du Wa stated bluntly. "Of course, looking at the result, I should be glad you took no substantive action. It allowed me to enjoy such a massive trophy all to myself."
"A multiversal god is an unprecedented feast for you. I'm just afraid you might not be able to digest it. Don't go and screw it all up," Hoggoth sneered.
"Foolish. Whether I succeed or fail in parasitizing Shuma-Gorath is fundamentally unimportant. He serves a greater purpose, something your barren brain is incapable of imagining," Du Wa said, shaking his head.
Hoggoth just sneered but did nothing. He didn't dare make a move against Du Wa. He couldn't just get rid of one Shuma-Gorath only to immediately make an enemy even more troublesome than Shuma-Gorath.
"Tell me about Chthon, now! That guy wasn't supposed to become a problem for the multiverse, but your negligence allowed it to happen," Du Wa urged.
Because that fellow, Chthon, had already begun to contact him.
Alien Universe.
Amidst cheers and feasts, Xenomorphs would intermittently hear faint, obscure voices. When they consciously tried to listen, they found they couldn't hear anything at all, making them suspect it was just an illusion.
"Hmm? Something's wrong!"
In the Dark Dimension, Dormammu grew alert. The magic particles he controlled had begun to spontaneously migrate, indicating that a higher-ranking being had appeared in the hierarchy of black magic.
Dormammu was a single-universe god. What kind of individual could possibly be of a higher rank than him?
"Chthon?"
Damn it! How did this harbinger of disaster extend his reach into the Alien Universe? Wasn't he afraid of being beaten to death by Du Wa?
Dormammu was hiding in the Dark Dimension. During the previous great battle with the Cancerverse, he had hidden himself away, remaining completely motionless, afraid of being forcibly conscripted by Du Wa. It would be terrible if he became the next Kronos.
Having luckily survived the great battle, just when Dormammu thought he would be safe if he just laid low, Chthon showed up.
"This is bad. I still haven't paid back the price I owe Chthon. Damn you, Ancient One!!" Dormammu was terrified, feeling his future was utterly bleak.
He'd had an unpleasant run-in with Du Wa, and now Chthon had appeared. Either of these two powerhouses could crush him with a single finger. Who could possibly understand this feeling?
Du Wa, of course, had no time to bother with trash like Dormammu. Even the Main Universe Dormammu wasn't worth a second glance from him, let alone the Dormammu of the 1543681 Alien Universe.
As for the minor interlude years ago when Du Wa joined forces with the Ancient One to deal with Dormammu's invasion of Earth, Du Wa would no longer intentionally recall such things.
A being of his level was capable of instantly confirming that Chthon was speaking ancient divine words, each character hiding vast amounts of information.
"Interesting. I'm talking to the Vishanti on one hand, and I still have to spare some energy to communicate with you." A common Xenomorph erupted with a powerful will, engaging in communication with Chthon.
"Heheheh, God of Xenomorphs, tsk tsk. To think that in the short time I wasn't paying attention to the changes in the multiverse, a peculiar deity like you would be born. In all my ancient memory, this is the first time I've seen your type of fellow." Chthon's words were naturally filled with an aura of evil, as if countless gods were wailing in agony.
Perhaps it was the residual information from the second-generation gods he had devoured back then, which Chthon intentionally preserved as his mark and symbol.
But this couldn't scare Du Wa. If it came down to a contest of evil, if Du Wa wished it, he could become an evil god that intimidated the entire multiverse in a matter of minutes. And if he brought out the Quantum Batman, very few beings with multiversal divine authority would dare speak loudly in his presence.
"I have read the history of the multiverse and know of your deeds. You defeated Shuma-Gorath and destroyed those monstrosities it created. You should completely replace the vacant position it left behind. No, you should be even more radical than it was. You should be one of us, not someone who would approach the Vishanti!"
Chthon cajoled him, "The Vishanti are hypocritical fools. Every one of those three is a senseless idiot! What's wrong with devouring gods to become stronger? You are the God of Xenomorphs. You have parasitized countless individuals to strengthen yourself. You should know very well that there is nothing wrong with this."
Having finally escaped, Chthon was looking for an ally.
The Serpent God Set was unreliable, greedy, and extreme. The civil war in the World Tree system had been started by Set in the first place. Moreover, if Set were to make a move, the long-dormant Gaea would likely not remain idle.
Chthon could only start with Du Wa, hoping to win over this newly ascended being who was even better than a Demon God, or at the very least, ensure that Du Wa wouldn't be won over by the Vishanti.
"I've noticed you seem to have a special fondness for vampires. Even though you're already so powerful, you still imprison Dracula to produce Xenomorphs for you—if you just nod, I can hand over all the vampires in the multiverse to you at any time," Chthon said with a deep laugh.
As everyone knows, the first vampire originated from the Book of Darkness, which belongs to Chthon.
Dracula?
Du Wa pondered. Speaking of which, that fellow had rendered him distinguished service, producing an unknown number of Xenomorphs. Having overcome death, Dracula would continue to work endlessly in the future, until this multiverse reached the end of its natural lifespan—and with good luck, in the next multiverse, Dracula would still have the honor of serving him.
"Leave my territory. I don't want to waste time on you, nor am I interested in intervening in the conflicts of the World Tree," Du Wa said.
"Oh? But you have already intervened. When you defeated those ancient shadow gods, you briefly became the Rune King. Some even called you the God of the World Tree," Chthon said with malicious intent. "By using the power of the World Tree, you have entered the Demiurge's domain, even if only temporarily."
Du Wa pondered. The Demiurge? He truly knew nothing about this one, who was far too mysterious.
However... so what if it was the Demiurge? At the absolute limit, it was still just a multiversal god. Not enough to make Du Wa's hands feel tied.
"I have more important things to do. Either get lost, or I will interpret your actions as a declaration of war. I don't mind fighting another multiversal war." Du Wa took direct action, beginning to expel Chthon from his territory.
But Du Wa soon discovered that this was unrealistic. Even if he completely wiped out all the Black Magicians, there was still something else he needed to be more concerned about—Chaos Magic.
And the Scarlet Witch of every universe.
(end of chapter)