Chapter 293: Even the Creator Gods are Terrified
Shuma-Gorath was faintly taking on the shape of a Xenomorph. Within its massive eyeball, in a shadow revealed for a fleeting moment, a Xenomorph could be clearly seen flashing out of existence.
As soon as this being charged over, it made no attempt at concealment, brazenly displaying its multiversal power and blasting the Ruined Land to pieces.
An immeasurable amount of negative matter and emotional impurities surged forth, pushed by the terrifying impact into the dreaded Void Zone.
The Void is a place of nothingness. Not even the most basic time and space exist, so naturally, no form of energy can exist either.
Generally, the Void outside the Multiverse is not a place where multiversal gods are willing to linger. At most, it's a middle ground to pass through.
"Dammit! If you destroy and expel all these corpses from other multiverses, what are we supposed to do?!" Black Winter roared in fury.
A gaze larger than an ordinary universe pierced through from First Firmament. "Is this Du Wa's will? You'll expose both of us. I don't recall us ever having a conflict with the God of Xenomorphs."
In fact, under normal circumstances, Du Wa, who was born in the Seventh Multiverse, should have had no opportunity to know about the previous six multiverses, let alone the existence of First Firmament and Black Winter.
This was an absolute secret known only to ancient gods who also hailed from the previous multiverses, and it was impossible for them to have leaked it.
Yet, Du Wa somehow seemed to know. The moment he saw the two of them, he had Shuma-Gorath go berserk.
"I don't know either of you, and don't try to contact Du Wa through me. He's very busy and doesn't have time to waste on you," Shuma-Gorath said, whipping its immense tentacles and smashing them down fiercely within the Void.
An attack of this magnitude would have long since stirred up raging waves within the Multiverse. A casual strike from a multiversal-level being would be enough to trigger the distortion and explosion of numerous ordinary universes.
But here in the Void outside the Multiverse, the effect was more like an ordinary person flailing their arms in a vacuum, seeming somewhat... silent.
Only the continuous eruption of vast, endless divine power falling into the Void could prove how ferocious Shuma-Gorath's attack was. It wasn't a probing strike; it was clearly postured for a decisive battle.
"You're insane! Shuma-Gorath, how long has it been since Du Wa captured you, and you've already become His loyal servant? I've never seen such a useless god!"
"It seems a remarkable fellow was born in the Seventh Multiverse during my slumber... The God of Xenomorphs? That must be the person who brought Shuma-Gorath outside the Multiverse before."
First Firmament was extremely agitated, while Black Winter's expression was grim.
"Insult me all you want. For revered deities to resort to verbal attacks already proves your incompetence and inner panic." Shuma-Gorath stared with its eyeball, which periodically erupted with terrifying divine light.
The surrounding wreckage and ruins completely collapsed.
Likewise, the commotion from a confrontation of this level was extraordinarily shocking. Even if the battle was outside the Multiverse, it would be impossible to conceal if it wasn't quelled quickly. This was the true worry for First Firmament and Black Winter—the fact that they were both still alive was an absolute secret, and it was about to be exposed.
This was bad, very bad. It completely disrupted their plans.
"Your strength is so great, why don't you stand with us? The two of us can join forces to help you expel Du Wa's power!" Black Winter slammed a fist into Shuma-Gorath, sending the giant eyeball flying.
First Firmament charged forward at the same time, its enormous body opening a gap, intending to devour Shuma-Gorath.
Swallowing Shuma-Gorath into its body, using its immense form to contain the aftershocks of a battle between multiversal gods, was a good idea. Unfortunately, the body that First Firmament had pieced together was too fragmented.
The most important fragments of its body had already integrated into the Multiverse, transforming into many ordinary universes and special dimensional space-times. It didn't dare use them now, not before confirming it had been exposed to the vision of deities like Eternity.
Even though Black Winter also rushed into First Firmament's body to try and quickly suppress Shuma-Gorath, it was no use. Shuma-Gorath didn't mindlessly fight the two of them. Instead, it did everything it could to break through First Firmament's body and escape back into the Void.
"You two, did you sleep for so long that your brains went bad? Haven't you figured it out yet? I was indeed defeated by Du Wa, and under your covert gazes, I was brought by him to these ruins outside the Multiverse. But that doesn't mean I've truly become Du Wa's most loyal warrior..."
Shuma-Gorath watched the two of them cruelly.
Outside the Multiverse, in the endless, deep, and vast expanse, it was of course impossible for there to be only one place with ruins. Before these two showed themselves, Shuma-Gorath's main attention was focused on matters related to Du Wa, so it really hadn't noticed their existence.
Then again, even a Creator God like Eternity hadn't discovered these two lurkers. A Cthulhu-like god like Shuma-Gorath, without prior knowledge, really had no way of finding them.
Who would have thought that two multiversal gods left over from an old era would be squatting in this empty and barren place outside the Multiverse? It was simply outrageous!
If Shuma-Gorath didn't have a higher pursuit—of course, this was also because Du Wa had coerced it, leaving it with no choice—it wouldn't have shifted its attention to characters like First Firmament and Black Winter.
It only needed to complete Du Wa's command. There was no need to consider anything more.
Recalling the promise Du Wa had made, that specific matter, a feverish heat rose within Shuma-Gorath's eyeball, which had been defeated and was constantly being eroded by Du Wa.
"This is baffling. Then why don't you stand with us to fight Du Wa?"
"You don't understand..."
BOOM!
Once again, Shuma-Gorath went on a rampage, recklessly raising its power index. The impact reached all the way to the Multiverse, causing clear ripples across this vast world.
A disturbance of this magnitude finally alerted the many deities within the Multiverse.
"This inherently twisted power... it comes from Shuma-Gorath? That thing disappeared without a trace after being captured by Du Wa. Is it finally willing to show itself now?"
"But something isn't right. This power seems to be transmitted from outside the Multiverse. So Du Wa really did take Shuma-Gorath out. That makes sense. In that stretch of the Void, Shuma-Gorath can't get enough replenishment, and its power will gradually be consumed. But Du Wa can replenish himself through countless Xenomorphs. Even Shuma-Gorath, after hundreds of millions of years in the Void, would probably have its power exhausted by Du Wa and be reduced to one of his Xenomorphs."
While many deities were astonished, their dread of Du Wa rose by another order of magnitude. At the same time, they heaved a sigh of relief. The unknown is always more terrifying than the known. After discovering Shuma-Gorath's location, many beings naturally assumed that Shuma-Gorath was mustering its final strength to desperately resist Du Wa's parasitism.
This was also very logical.
But the Creator Gods noticed something was wrong at a glance.
"It's First Firmament. I see that being has come back to life and is fighting Shuma-Gorath." Eternity's nerves were taut. He didn't even need to think to know that if First Firmament truly returned, it would absolutely come after him first!
"First Firmament is really alive... We had only speculated in the past. After all, many parts of the Multiverse are the leftover remains of First Firmament. It's entirely possible for it to be resurrected from a universe or a dimension," Infinity said in a low voice.
This was also one of the important duties of the Creator Gods: to monitor all illogical phenomena. First Firmament was of the highest priority.
In comparison, while the emergence of Du Wa, the God of Xenomorphs, required the attention of the Creator Gods, it wasn't enough to make them intervene at all costs. This was because Du Wa's growth trajectory—aside from the parts related to Universe 9602, which remained a great mystery as it was a universe concealed by the Living Tribunal that they could not clearly perceive—had almost entirely occurred right under their noses.
With a mostly visible growth path, these few Creator Gods could still maintain restraint. No matter how powerful Du Wa became, no matter how great a threat he posed to other deities, it was still an internal matter of the Multiverse.
But the involvement of First Firmament was something even the Creator Gods could not tolerate.
"This is an opportunity for us. Shuma-Gorath, or Du Wa, is fighting First Firmament. This has made us realize that First Firmament has actually resurrected in the ruins outside the Multiverse. We absolutely cannot allow First Firmament to come back to life completely!"
"That's right. Otherwise, this Multiverse will reach its end prematurely, and we Creator Gods will be forced to enter the Eighth Multiverse..."
Eternity continuously urged the other Creator Gods.
Only Infinity showed a slight inclination, but it wasn't strong. Oblivion and Death, on the other hand, appeared extremely indifferent, not particularly concerned about the matter of First Firmament's revival.
This was normal. Don't think that the Creator Gods were a monolithic bloc. Coldness and indifference were a true reflection of their daily interactions.
When one Creator God faced a life-or-death crisis, unless it truly involved something like the great destruction of the Multiverse, the other Creator Gods would basically watch coldly from the sidelines, indifferently observing the natural progression of events.
Back then, a Shenfu that would destroy everything was conceived within Eternity's body. The Shenfu symbolized the destruction of the Multiverse, which was similar to Black Winter, the destroyer of the Sixth Multiverse.
The Shenfu once went on a killing spree throughout the Multiverse. It even attacked Watcher Uatu when it had just escaped and was relatively weak, snatching away Uatu's divine artifact, the Watcher's Emblem. Yet, none of the other Creator Gods made a move to kill or seal the Shenfu.
From the results, the main force that dealt with the Shenfu turned out to be beings like Eternity's Emissary and Galactus.
Galactus existed as a key to seal the Shenfu. Scattered throughout the Multiverse, every Galactus was a key to lock the Shenfu. The more instances of Galactus that died, the more power the Shenfu could unseal.
In the end, the super-artifact, the Ultimate Nullifier, was taken from Galactus's heart and used to eliminate the Shenfu in a single strike, allowing the Multiverse to return to normal.
And now, with the return of First Firmament, such a crisis, only Eternity was anxious. The others didn't even feel much of anything.
Death was not interested in First Firmament. Even if First Firmament returned, reached its peak, or even surpassed it, and destroyed this Multiverse, the death of billions of lives was not an unacceptable outcome for Death.
Infinity possessed the strongest combat power at the multiverse level, perhaps comparable to a megaverse-level entity. At this moment, she hesitated to speak, which already indicated that she had no strong motive to act. If a war really broke out, it was hard to say whether she would make a move.
Not to mention Oblivion, a bona fide Super-Large Universe-level strong individual. Every time the Multiverse was destroyed, his strength would violently increase. He had no feelings whatsoever about First Firmament.
As soon as Eternity saw their attitudes, he knew that this time, he would likely have to go it alone again.
"You..."
In the end, Eternity left the Inner World, filled with frustration, and charged straight for First Firmament.
"Eternity's decision is correct. The Seventh Multiverse is far from over. And as the embodiment of Time for the Multiverse, he has also shattered the Shenfu within his body. One could say he is at his strongest in this lifetime. If he doesn't act decisively now, there will be no other opportunity," Death said slowly.
"Are you truly not going to intervene? First Firmament's return isn't necessarily a good thing," Infinity said in a grave voice.
"But it's not necessarily a bad thing either. In any case, First Firmament is the first-generation Eternity. Regardless of the outcome of their battle or who devours whom, there will still be an Eternity among us, won't there?"
Death chuckled. "Are you planning to help Eternity kill First Firmament? That won't be easy. Don't forget, as the space of the Multiverse, a part of you is literally composed of First Firmament's body. How much strength can you bring to bear against First Firmament? If you force a move, are you sure you'll stand with Eternity and not suddenly go over to First Firmament's side?"
First Firmament is absolutely unique. It is Eternity, and it is also the final entity of the first-generation Time. Yet, it is not entirely Eternity. It is a Multiverse unto itself!
Even though the First Multiverse is abnormally silent, empty, and void—things like magic and science were actually born successively in each era of the Multiverse only after the Second Multiverse appeared, and possess their own multiversal entities.
But this doesn't mean First Firmament is truly just time. It also possesses the most fundamental space within its body.
This left even Infinity uncertain. If she were to act, and First Firmament truly went berserk, prying loose and absorbing the body fragments belonging to it within the Multiverse, what sort of major changes would that cause within Infinity herself?
Therefore, although Infinity wanted to act and eliminate First Firmament, she hesitated and did not dare to move rashly.
"Perhaps, I can deal with Black Winter, to prevent it from interfering in the battle between Eternity and First Firmament," Infinity said in a low voice.
"It seems it was Shuma-Gorath who discovered First Firmament and that Black Winter which destroyed the Sixth Multiverse. So, what role did Du Wa play in all this?" Oblivion suddenly asked.
Even Oblivion was finding it hard to understand Du Wa. He knew Du Wa had to be trying to achieve some kind of objective.
He thought about it, but couldn't figure it out. Perhaps the key lay in Universe 9602, which he could not enter? But it didn't matter. Since he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it. He would let the Multiverse evolve naturally. Even if it led to its destruction and an early entry into the era of the Eighth Multiverse, he could accept it.
(end of chapter)