Chapter 44: This is Just a Prelude to a War of the Gods
Loki had envisioned many possibilities, but this human from Midgard had exceeded his expectations time and time again.
Take the current situation, for instance. Even though he was consumed by unprecedented rage due to Thor's miserable state, the God of Mischief was still the God of Mischief. Even on the verge of losing his mind, he retained his innate cunning.
When he moved against Du Wa, he instinctively considered what backing Du Wa had to commit such an insane act. He then factored in Du Wa's Xenomorph army to assess the strength he possessed.
The Xenomorphs that could truly fight were, at most, the Queen, the Abomination Xenomorph, and the Enhanced Xenomorphs. Dealing with these creatures, Loki would at most find it a bit troublesome, but it wouldn't change the final outcome of him killing Du Wa.
Du Wa himself had not displayed any extraordinary strength.
Moreover, he had sensed Thor's condition from a close distance. He confirmed that his brother was merely parasitized by that creature and had fallen into a temporary coma. The gaping hole in his chest was gruesome, and it seemed he had even lost some internal organs. But with the terrifying life force of an Asgardian, as long as Thor didn't die on the spot, he could still be saved.
One must not forget that among the Asgardian gods, even the lowest-ranking commoners possessed physical qualities three times that of a human on Earth. Practically every one of them was a mini Captain America, and these were just the common folk.
Let alone Thor, the son of the God-King.
Loki had been consistently furious and confident. But when he saw Du Wa raise his hand in a certain direction, he instantly became restless and anxious.
In a flash, Loki understood. But it was precisely because he had guessed what card Du Wa was about to play that he became even more shocked and incredulous. His reason told him this was nonsense, an absurd, whimsical act of suicide, but his intuition told him that Du Wa was no madman to have expended so much effort just to finally make a move on Mjolnir.
"Xenomorph, parasitism, gene..."
Loki instantly connected a series of keywords. With his powerful brainpower, in less than 0.01 seconds, he had meticulously filtered through the images of every Xenomorph he had seen in his mind.
They were of the same race, yet had different forms, varying levels of strength, and then there was that new Xenomorph in Loki's vision, which had just burst from the chest of an Enhanced Deviant...
Loki subconsciously glanced over. Hmm, in just this short while, the Xenomorph that had just burst from the chest had already grown five times in size. Such an exaggerated growth rate was simply outrageous.
"I see now. This guy actually harbored such a thought. This madman..." Amidst his shock and anger, Loki felt a sudden sense of enlightenment, the feeling of a mental blind spot being cleared.
So it could be done this way. The Xenomorph, this parasitic species, could actually be used like this!
"You can absolutely not lift Mjolnir! That is a divine weapon that even I am not qualified to touch! Don't be so conceited!" Loki's eyes were red, his killing intent overflowing. Streams of formidable divine power circulated over his body as a terrifying magic power began to brew.
If he was given just a little more time, he could erase this human from the face of Midgard.
Boom!
At that very moment, the wind stopped, the rain fell silent, and the roiling dark clouds seemed to have been frozen by an invisible force.
Zzt! Zzt!
A faint crackling of lightning sounded from Mjolnir. This weapon, which had been like a dead object in Magneto's hands with no divine power emerging from it, now began to reveal faint traces of lightning.
Voom!
Mjolnir suddenly erupted with a powerful electrical current. It abruptly changed direction, broke free from Magneto's control, and flew rapidly towards Du Wa!
It all happened so suddenly, and far too quickly. All of Du Wa's actions, from beginning to end, were as smooth as flowing water, without any form of hesitation, as if he had long known this was what he had to do.
Loki's eyes were bloodshot as he watched the coveted Mjolnir fly past him, finally being caught firmly in Du Wa's outstretched hand.
Feeling the weight of Mjolnir, Du Wa slowly raised his head. "Well then, now we can begin the second round. Loki, God of Mischief, you should now address me as... Thor."
Countless electrical currents came to a brief halt before frantically covering and spreading across Du Wa's body.
Dense, visibly more massive bolts of lightning emerged from the hammer, surging like living things, carrying an astonishingly powerful divine power that was now under Du Wa's control.
This divine power was so docile that Du Wa, who had been prepared to spend a few seconds adapting, was surprised to find that he could command this power as if it were an extension of his own limbs.
The divine power flooded his body, rapidly activating and energizing every single one of his cells. With the Xenomorph larva in his chest as a nexus, it quickly elevated Du Wa's level of life.
The massive dark clouds converged into a heart-pounding tornado, spinning with Mjolnir at its center. From a distance, it looked just like a newborn black hole.
"How is this... possible..."
Loki was stunned, his mind blank, a look of bewilderment on his face.
Kaecilius was also dumbfounded. Magneto seized the opportunity, blasting him with an energy wave that sent him tumbling several times, but he still stared wide-eyed, his gaze fervent.
Magneto, on the other hand, was the calmest. After his initial surprise, he expressionlessly withdrew his gaze. So he picked up a hammer that he could also use. This fully proved Du Wa's excellence—or was it the excellence of the Xenomorphs? Other than that, everything else was meaningless.
As for strength, even if a full-powered Thor arrived, Magneto was confident he could win!
This utterly chaotic, massive battlefield where every faction was fighting each other caused a global shock. Even Black Bolt on the Moon sensed the commotion, unable to resist standing up to observe the changes on Earth.
Du Wa, steadily wielding Mjolnir and bathed in endless lightning and thunder, had transformed into a deity, becoming the focus of everyone's attention.
Beneath the lightning, the Darkness was torn asunder, stretching Du Wa's shadow long and far in the flickering light, as if it were about to cover the entire planet.
A deep satisfaction appeared in Du Wa's eyes. It was just as he had predicted. He had taken a gamble; if it failed, he would have just retreated with the Xenomorph horde. But fortunately, in the end, he succeeded.
"Thinking about it carefully, many people can lift Mjolnir: Thor, Hela, Vision, Captain America, Jane Foster, Black Widow, Deadpool, Magneto, Loki, Frog Thor, Beta Ray Bill, Bor, Hydra Captain, Wonder Woman, Superman..."
Regarding the standard for lifting Mjolnir, most people thought it was a "heart of justice," which was undoubtedly wrong. Hela was not the least bit righteous; on the contrary, her heart was filled with desire, bloodlust, and a love for killing.
Therefore, Du Wa was inclined to believe that only a person possessing a "pure" "divine" quality could lift Mjolnir.
Of course, this was for a normal lift. As for a slick move like actively modifying the spell Odin left on Mjolnir and then letting someone lift the hammer, that went without saying.
"So, was this hammer looking down on me for not being pure enough before, or for lacking sufficient magnanimity?" Du Wa examined the hammer in his hand, finding it very interesting.
The hammer's judgment of the same person would constantly change based on the situation and the evolution of their mind.
Clearly, in this current crisis, even Loki did not meet its approval.
But Du Wa, having seized Thor's gene and bloodline, had obtained the key to advance to "godhood" and could thus wield Mjolnir.
Du Wa even suspected that Mjolnir's intelligence level was too low and that it had been deceived by the Xenomorph larva in his chest, mistaking him for a "greatly enlightened" Thor with a changed mind.
But regardless, the fact remained that Du Wa, by swapping the Xenomorph larva, had advanced to become Thor.
Du Wa now truly grasped divine power. He raised Mjolnir high. At his side, numerous Xenomorphs bathed in lightning flocked around him. This was destined to become a famous scene etched into the world's timeline.
Even after countless years, as long as Earth still existed and as long as history was passed down, people would always know that there was a man who led a powerful species, who had once lifted Mjolnir and mastered the power of the Thunder God.
This scene did not only exist on Earth.
Asgard, the divine palace.
Odin, who was in slumber but was actually observing Earth with his formidable divine power, was stirred by this scene.
When the Eternals appeared, he was wary of Arishem and held back from making a move. When Thor was lured by Du Wa into accepting the face-hugger, he was confident he could separate the creature, as long as Thor wasn't killed outright, so he did not act. But when he sensed that Du Wa, after seizing the larva from Thor's body, could then lift Mjolnir, he was instantly stunned.
"Where on earth did this creature come from? To be able to bypass my spell, even if by cheating, is extraordinary. A species like this should not be unknown."
Odin's thoughts went to the Xenomorph that had parasitized Thor, leading him to investigate the origin of the entire Xenomorph race, and finally locking his gaze on Du Wa.
To be honest, the God-King had never taken Du Wa seriously. Having lived for millions of years, he had witnessed countless rises and falls and had slain so-called powerful individuals from all sorts of worlds.
But at this moment, on the verge of his own death, his interest was finally piqued. He developed a strong focus on a "mortal" in the Mortal Realm.
Odin contemplated whether to extend his perception and trace back the timeline. This was not difficult for him. A Skyfather-level being, if they truly went all out without considering the price, had enough power to interfere with the entire Milky Way Galaxy's operation, even completely destroying it.
Let alone just briefly observing past events, which was not the same as time reversal—that was the domain of the Time Stone.
But Odin gave up on the idea. His days were numbered. His aging body was not enough to bear the terrifying divine power he had accumulated throughout his life. Even using just a part of it would greatly accelerate his death.
"According to the results of my discussion with the Ancient One, the future was pitch-black. I had originally guessed the problem lay with the Eternals and the Celestials, that they would make a move on Thor. But I didn't expect this outcome. Arishem didn't appear, and Thor only suffered a bit..."
Honestly, if it was just this, it was already the best possible outcome.
Thor was still alive. Even without Mjolnir, he was still alive. Yet the anxiety the Ancient One conveyed when she spoke with him was not fake... What kind of future had the Ancient One seen with the Time Stone?
Because of Du Wa? This young man was indeed impressive, commanding a unique species with astonishing potential, though its origins were unknown.
Now, he had even used a wondrous maneuver to lift Mjolnir and grasp a portion of the power of the Thunder God.
But at just this level, it was far from enough to make the Ancient One so worried.
Odin had no clue and decided to continue observing. His body could still hold on for a few more years, and he had the ability to act at least once more. He needed to wait for the enemy that made even the Ancient One anxious to appear.
At that time, if Thor was still alive, he could pass the Odinforce to him with peace of mind and let Thor ascend to the throne.
If Thor died... facing a powerful enemy that even the Ancient One couldn't describe, dying in battle would be normal. Even if he survived this ordeal, the inevitable Ragnarok would still come.
Hopefully, he would stay alive. On Earth, under the Ancient One's protection and now entangled with that Du Wa who could lift Mjolnir, this was already the outcome that most increased his chances of survival, even if it was a huge blow to Thor's pride.
...
Du Wa officially engaged Loki, beginning the second round of battle, just as he had said.
He guessed that Odin and others would be watching the developments on Earth, and he also guessed that Thor's condition was a major factor, but he wasn't worried yet.
Even in Universe 199999, when Thor was beaten by Loki to within an inch of his life, Odin merely lay in slumber in Asgard and did not intervene, not until Thor himself had an epiphany, suddenly lifted Mjolnir again, and was restored to full health.
As long as Thor wasn't killed instantly, with no room left for recovery, Odin would not make a move, even if Thor was on the verge of death.
The Father of the Gods, who had fought in countless wars, possessed a heart far more ruthless than most could imagine.
Not to mention now, when Thor was still some time away from true death.
Du Wa, like a true Thor, flew through the sky and tunneled through the earth, brandishing Mjolnir, recklessly venting divine power and controlling the weather at will. Looking down from space, one could see terrifying lightning from all over the globe converging on the New Mexico desert, gathering more and more.
The Queen had also gone all out. Under Du Wa's command, she led the Xenomorph horde to charge towards...
The Eternals!
In this situation, killing Loki or Kaecilius was simply unrealistic. If these two archmages, who were top-ranked in the Nine Realms, were determined to escape, Du Wa couldn't stop them.
Instead, taking this opportunity to capture a batch of Eternals was the most profitable move, preparing for the inevitable great battle between Jotunheim and Asgard in the near future.
That would be a great battle where even a Skyfather would personally participate. Du Wa was someone who leaned towards taking risks. He figured that if he didn't have a few more powerful subordinates, he wouldn't be able to gain any benefits at all.
Boom!
The Abomination Xenomorph leaped, crossing a distance of several hundred meters and crashing down like a cannon shell, attempting to stomp on Makkari. Among all the Eternals, the most troublesome one was not Ikaris or Gilgamesh, but Makkari, the one with super speed.
But unfortunately, Makkari always prioritized Ajak's safety and did not focus on the battle itself. Instead, she spent more energy monitoring her own condition. The moment she sensed the Abomination Xenomorph's sudden attack, she abandoned Magneto and quickly retreated, trying to return to Ajak's side.
"You! What are you doing! To send your men against us at a time like this?" Ajak couldn't help but shout.
Du Wa ignored Ajak. Bathed in the sky-filling lightning, his divine power surged as he clashed with Loki. At the same time, using the perspective of his many Xenomorphs, he was rapidly performing computations. Then, with a single command, more than a dozen Xenomorphs moved in unison, blocking all of Makkari's possible escape routes.
At any other time, this would have been useless. But in this area where space itself was chaotic and rampant energy was wildly dissipating, it was the perfect place to restrict Makkari.
Smack!
A Xenomorph abruptly shot out its claws. After countless computations from Du Wa, it received his command to act. It seemed like a casual extension of its arm, but it blocked the only remaining path in front of Makkari.
With a loud bang, Makkari, like an out-of-control vehicle, tumbled forward, torn and covered in wounds by several waves of chaotic energy.
Ajak and Gilgamesh were aghast and turned to protect Makkari.
But it was already too late.
(end of chapter)