Chapter 29: Dormammu: There's a Corrupting Presence!
Originally, Du Wa had taken action personally just to test the limits of the Xenomorphs born from parasitizing the Deviants.
At least for now, it seemed there was no problem mobilizing their bodily energy.
"A normal Xenomorph can completely self-heal from superficial wounds within dozens of seconds, while a normal Deviant, when injured, can mobilize the energy throughout its body to rapidly repair the wound."
Du Wa saw the Deviant Xenomorph that had been split in two by Kaecilius. A visible shimmer of energy appeared at the wound, pulling the two halves of its body back toward each other.
Normally, as long as its internal energy wasn't depleted, it could slowly repair itself given a little time. This was a more powerful self-healing ability than that of ordinary Deviants.
"The ability to seize bodily energy, or rather, life force—that stems from the power of genes, so I'm not surprised. But what about magic?"
Du Wa looked toward the Black Mage who was surrounded by Xenomorphs, the one who had been parasitized by a face-hugging creature.
Magic in Marvel is all borrowed, yet the Xenomorph can seize the superior genes within its host. By becoming part of the host, it cripples the host's self-healing ability and completes a process of transcendence and, in a narrow sense, replacement.
Could such a Xenomorph replace the host and take on the magic debts it possessed?
Du Wa was extremely interested.
"While I don't necessarily have to walk the path of learning magic, if it's possible, having another option is a good choice," Du Wa said, stroking his chin.
"Parasitism... You want to walk the same path as me? There's no need for such trouble. With your strength, you could easily join us." Kaecilius saw through Du Wa's intentions at a glance. He wasn't angered; instead, a trace of enthusiasm appeared.
For a cold-blooded idealist, having someone occasionally agree with his philosophy could bring him a small amount of comfort.
"It's not the same. I know my joining would please Dormammu greatly, but before that, let my little darlings have a try first," Du Wa replied casually.
At this moment, Kaecilius was like a hopelessly devoted fanatic. Talking to him about anything else was useless, but bring up Dormammu, and he would get fired up.
The two of them were in a tense standoff, ready to act at any moment, yet they delayed any further action. The Xenomorphs and the other Black Magicians, however, were fighting with furious intensity.
A world where only vampires get hurt had been achieved. These pitiful creatures resisted with all their might, but whether it was Dark Magic, the Xenomorphs, or Blade, none were beings they could withstand.
Even when they deployed the new type of vampire—the Reaper—this pale-skinned thing was a bio-weapon painstakingly developed by the Vampire Clan. The Reaper was not a picky eater, preying on both humans and vampires alike.
But unfortunately, a mere creature like this, facing enemies that possessed both quality and quantity, had no chance of escape and was ultimately hacked to pieces by Blade.
"This thing was tough to kill. Looks like I have a new target." Blade prodded the Reaper's mouth with the tip of his sword and said to Du Wa, "This thing's mouth looks a bit like your 'spider'."
"Allow me to correct you. The 'spider' you're talking about is properly called a face-hugging creature. Furthermore, to compare my face-hugging creature to a defective specimen like the Reaper is truly insulting."
As Du Wa spoke, he took a moment to glance at the Reaper's corpse, which feared neither silver nor garlic, only sunlight.
Blade didn't have to fight so hard. He could have easily worked with the Xenomorphs to kill the creature, but he rushed in impatiently. Most likely, he didn't want to give Du Wa the opportunity to capture the Reaper alive for parasitism.
"Sloppy behavior. What a waste," Du Wa commented bluntly.
Blade pretended not to hear, ignoring the surrounding Xenomorphs and fixing his gaze on the ever-composed Kaecilius. "Now it's just you left, Magician. Just a reminder, the fighting techniques of you people are an absolute eyesore. You have neither sufficient strength nor refined skill."
"Of course we can't compare to you, Vampire," Kaecilius said. "You are, after all, just little trinkets created by my Master using Dark Magic. We, on the other hand, are pilgrims following our Master in search of the truth."
Kaecilius admitted that it was unrealistic for a Black Mage to compete with a uniquely talented vampire like Blade in terms of close-quarters combat ability.
But that didn't stop him from despising Blade.
"I hate it when people call me a vampire. I'm going to carve my name on your corpse. By the way, what was your name again?" Blade twirled his sword with a flourish and charged forward.
"Go cool off on the Antarctic Continent."
Kaecilius flicked his hand, creating a teleportation portal that moved forward, instantly swallowing Blade and making him disappear.
"I was going to warn him, but he's not one to take advice. With his mind preoccupied with being wary of me, he probably didn't realize there was a reason I hadn't made a move against you yet," said Du Wa.
This is the downside of dealing with agents. Their minds are always preoccupied with things unrelated to the battle, which affects their judgment at critical moments.
"Perhaps he was well aware, but felt he had no choice but to act before you did." A strange smile appeared on Kaecilius's face.
This world-renowned archmage clearly had a good impression of Du Wa.
Du Wa glanced around. Besides Kaecilius, the only ones left alive were the Black Mage that had been parasitized by a Xenomorph and one other Black Mage.
"Kaecilius, save me!!" The other Black Mage, pinned down by a Deviant Xenomorph, looked hopefully toward the only person who could save him.
"There is no harm in returning to Dormammu a little sooner. On the path to finding eternal life and truth, you have taken a step ahead of me," Kaecilius said, unmoved.
The Black Mage fell into complete Despair, watching helplessly as the Deviant Xenomorph extended fleshy tendrils and plunged them into his neck.
Halos of light appeared as the Black Mage's form rapidly shrank, until he was finally and completely absorbed by the Deviant Xenomorph.
"...The increase isn't that significant. Magic, this kind of energy that has a master, is truly completely different from other energies." Du Wa hadn't held out much hope either.
He waited for the change in the parasitized Black Mage.
Finally, the Xenomorph successfully completed its chestburst. In that instant, the strange magical fluctuation reached an extreme peak, only to rapidly weaken again.
"A failure? Was it seen through by Dormammu or Chthon?" Du Wa stroked his chin.
One of those two was at a single-universe level, the other at a multiverse level. He truly wouldn't be surprised if they could see through the Xenomorph's substitution tactic.
It was just as Du Wa had anticipated.
Dormammu had indeed noticed something was wrong at the first moment.
"Something is stealing my power without being willing to pay the price... Another one who learned from the Ancient One!!"
(end of chapter)