MTS: Marvel and Beyond

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Rematch

After upgrading his Energy Absorption skill to Lv6, Alex was able to directly convert matter into energy. This meant he no longer needed infinite energy sources—he was infinite energy himself.

Even if the dimensional universe's Infinity Stones, Eternal Flame, and other divine artifacts were no longer present, the dimensional universe could still expand by breaking down matter, completely unimpeded.

Around Alex, matter continuously broke down and reassembled. During this process, vast amounts of energy dissipated and then reformed with virtually no loss.

Moments later, Alex realized the efficiency with which he could convert matter into energy far exceeded that of a nuclear explosion.

Matter would first decompose into fine molecules, then atoms, protons, neutrons, quarks, and ultimately "strings."

Even an ordinary piece of material, when broken down, could unleash power rivaling that of the Infinity Stones in a short span of time.

Alex immediately modified the runes within his dimensional universe, allowing Energy Absorption to contribute to energy fusion. This upgrade increased the final energy's tier and further accelerated the dimensional universe's expansion.

In addition to Energy Absorption, other skills like Six Eyes were also nearing Lv6. Over the coming days, Alex's strength would undergo another massive transformation.

But before he could continue refining his skills, the Celestials sensed his presence and descended to Earth from the void of space.

---

While Alex was training in his pocket universe, Earth underwent significant changes.

The sudden appearance of countless mutants and superpowered individuals threw society into chaos. However, under government intervention, order was gradually restored. Some countries, through unified effort, had even introduced preliminary laws to regulate superpowered beings.

When Alex returned to Earth from his pocket universe, he could clearly sense that the energy particles in the atmosphere had grown denser and easier to absorb.

As the divine tree continued to grow, the energy concentration would further intensify until it reached its limit.

Because of Alex's overwhelming power, the United States no longer dared to show hostility toward him. Even online discourse had shifted, as Alex had taken the time to resurrect innocent bystanders caught in earlier battles and planted the divine tree.

It was no exaggeration to say that if Alex expressed even the slightest interest in becoming president, people would clamor to elect him.

But Alex had no interest in such trivial notions of power.

Upon returning to Earth, his first stop was to find Tony Stark. He casually took a few Iron Man suits as collectibles for his dimensional universe. Tony filled him in on the events of the past two years while he was away.

Tony had married Pepper Potts several years earlier than in the original timeline. Using Alex's intelligence and his own strength, Tony had defeated Captain America and Bucky Barnes, imprisoning Bucky. Now, fully lucid, Bucky was repaying his crimes in a mirrored dimension.

Alex agreed with Tony's approach. Bucky, after all, had been a victim of Hydra's brainwashing and didn't deserve to die, despite killing Tony's parents. Neither of them was truly at fault. Tony's decision was undoubtedly the best resolution.

Later, Alex met the current members of the Avengers. To his surprise, the team included Spider-Woman, Polaris, and even Peter Parker, who had turned into the Lizard.

Alex didn't have much connection with Peter, but seeing the Peter Parker in this universe—retaining his humanity despite his beastly instincts—was heartening.

As a gesture of encouragement, Alex strengthened Peter's body, enabling him to freely switch between his Lizard and human forms. He also gifted Peter a symbiote that replicated Spider-Man's abilities, making him this universe's Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Polaris and Spider-Gwen looked at Alex expectantly, clearly hoping for gifts of their own.

For Polaris, Alex had only met her once, but she had already passed Rocket Raccoon and the others' interviews to migrate to the dimensional universe.

Alex treated his employees well. He unlocked Polaris's latent powers, making her an even stronger mutant than her father. He also enhanced her physical strength, allowing her to go toe-to-toe with Peter Parker based solely on raw physicality.

As for Spider-Gwen, Alex took her upgrade more seriously. When he first arrived in this world, Spider-Gwen had helped him greatly. Now, it was time to repay the favor.

First, Alex used technology from various worlds to design a custom symbiote suit for her. Just by wearing it, she could achieve Sky-father combat strength.

He then strengthened Gwen's natural abilities and bestowed upon her a new Devil Fruit rune. After careful consideration, Alex chose the Sube Sube no mi, which not only had vast developmental potential but also offered cosmetic benefits—what girl wouldn't love that?

With this, Spider-Gwen became Alex's second Sky father level subordinate.

After completing these enhancements, Alex opened a long-term portal that allowed his employees to freely travel between the dimensional universe and Earth.

This gave his staff the chance to witness the breathtaking beauty of the dimensional universe, while inhabitants of the dimensional universe, like Luffy and Catwoman, came to visit Earth.

When Nami discovered Earth's variety of food and fashionable clothing, she was ecstatic, declaring that joining Alex's team was the best decision of her life.

---

One day, Alex was relaxing on a beach, basking in the sun, when he suddenly sensed something and looked toward the sky.

At the same time, everyone on Earth seemed to feel a shift, turning their eyes toward the heavens.

The events from two years ago were unfolding again—the mighty Celestials had descended upon Earth once more!

Within minutes, the internet was abuzz, with everyone discussing the Celestials' arrival:

"The Celestials are back, and they must be here for the Godslayer Alex. Will he win this time, or will it be worse than two years ago? Will he fall in battle or even die at their hands?"

"Oh my god, I hope Alex wins. He's brought magical revival to Earth. With him, we can grow stronger and even become a powerful magical civilization!"

"Go, Godslayer! You're the man destined to slay gods. Don't fall here!"

Alex had anticipated the Celestials' arrival. After his battle with Thanos, his energy signature was exposed. If the Celestials were still searching for him, they were bound to show up.

Their delay of a month was what surprised him the most.

Alex's energy surged as he instantly entered peak combat form. The Third Tree: Abyss and Root powers stacked together, continuously amplifying his combat strength.

With a single step, Alex appeared before the Celestial Arishem the Judge. Behind him, Earth had already been relocated to the dimensional universe. Thanks to its constant growth, the dimensional universe could now easily accommodate an entire planet.

Arishem's colossal form, larger than a planet, loomed over Alex. However, to Alex, Arishem no longer exuded an overwhelming sense of power. Instead, Alex found him almost... underwhelming. The energy radiating from Arishem's body wasn't as imposing as Alex had anticipated.

Arishem regarded the human before him, the faint ripples of energy emanating from his surface betraying his otherwise calm facade. He had clearly sensed the terrifying energy within Alex, an energy equal to, if not greater than, his own.

Feeling an ominous foreboding, Arishem secretly sent a signal to his fellow Celestials. He planned to fall back on their traditional method: overwhelming their enemy with sheer numbers.

Yet, despite his inner turmoil, Arishem maintained an air of indifference. To him, a Celestial's dignity was unassailable. Even if this mortal was far stronger than expected, he was still, in Arishem's eyes, just a more formidable ant.

Looking down at Alex, Arishem spoke coldly: "White Devil, you dare to return to this universe? I see the sins intertwined with your existence. I, Arishem, shall judge you. You are hereby sentenced to death, and your soul shall be cast into hell for eternal torment."

Alex was unfazed by Arishem's proclamation. He had already determined that the Celestial wasn't concealing any hidden reserves of power. *This really is all he has,* Alex thought.

Before Arishem's signal could reach the other Celestials, Alex twisted the vectors and scalars around him, forming a massive arm of energy, far larger than a planet. Without hesitation, he swung it and slapped Arishem across the face.

"And you dare act tough?!" Alex sneered.

The blow deformed Arishem's head, scattering components harder than any known metal across the cosmos. Against Alex's vector-twisting attack, Arishem's defenses were meaningless.

For the first time since his creation, this mighty Celestial, revered for eons, was left dazed by a single strike.

Before Arishem could even process what had happened, another colossal slap landed on the other side of his head, nearly obliterating it.

Thanks to the Third Tree: Abyss, Alex's mastery over vector manipulation carried an added ability to sever immortality itself. The energy arm he had created possessed this same attribute, leaving Arishem's injuries agonizingly slow to heal.

Arishem's head was now utterly mangled, exposing the radiant, kaleidoscopic energy core within.

However, the Celestials were no ordinary beings. Lacking vital points in the conventional sense, they transcended such vulnerabilities. Despite the severe damage to his head, Arishem retained most of his combat capabilities.

Instinctively, Arishem summoned a crimson portal, attempting to retreat from Alex and buy time to piece together his shattered consciousness.

Arishem's portal spanned countless dimensions, instantly transporting him to the far side of the universe. However, just as he emerged, another portal materialized before him.

Alex appeared through it, his fist already in motion. He struck Arishem squarely in the chest.

Black and crimson lightning exploded across the cosmos as Arishem was sent hurtling through space, smashing through several planets before being engulfed by a black hole hundreds of times larger than the sun.

While the black hole, capable of annihilating most matter in the universe, posed no threat to a Celestial, it couldn't stop Alex's relentless onslaught. Arishem shattered the black hole, triggering an energy explosion that obliterated nearby galaxies.

His chest armor fractured, revealing cracks spreading across its surface—evidence of the damage Alex had inflicted with a single punch.

Finally shaken from his stupor after sustaining consecutive devastating blows, Arishem gathered energy and matter to construct a shield, temporarily holding Alex at bay.

The situation was entirely against him. Arishem's emotions churned violently, his energies flickering in turmoil. For the first time, he—an ancient and exalted Celestial—found himself utterly suppressed by a mere "ant."

In disbelief, he demanded,

"Where have you been these past two years? What have you done to grow so powerful in such a short time?"

Alex didn't bother to stop his assault. Each punch and kick, amplified by overwhelming vector manipulation, carried the force to obliterate entire star systems. Even the residual energy of his strikes could extinguish stars.

"I went where I needed to go. I did what I needed to do," Alex replied tersely, unwilling to reveal anything.

Suppressing Arishem had become almost effortless for Alex. At the same time, he extended his awareness, scanning for signs of other Celestials. He hadn't stopped Arishem from sending out his signal earlier because his plan was to draw all the Celestials into one place and eliminate them in one fell swoop.

Though Arishem possessed extraordinary regenerative capabilities, effectively immortal, Alex had multiple ways to counter them. His vector manipulation severed immortality, his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception targeted life's end, and his imagined mass could corrode even the toughest defenses.

As the battle progressed, Alex fully grasped Arishem's power level. Though a formidable presence within a single-universe scale, Arishem had no experience dealing with multiversal threats. Having touched the multiversal level, Alex could easily dominate him.

Alex's domain unfolded across several star systems, ensuring his attacks would always land. After severing one of Arishem's arms with a spatial slash targeting his death lines, Alex noticed strange spatial fluctuations in the surrounding void.

Massive entities were attempting to open portals into the area.

Alex grinned. "Looks like the fish have taken the bait."

With the Celestials closing in, Alex disrupted the surrounding space, preventing them from arriving directly. Then, he unleashed his full power.

A barrage of abilities activated simultaneously, filling the region with countless supernovae and black holes, spanning hundreds of light-years. These cosmic phenomena consumed and repelled everything in their path.

Gathering the twisted vectors across this vast expanse, Alex compressed their force tenfold and infused them into his imagined longsword, overlaying it with fundamental rules of existence.

This would be his ultimate strike.

With a single step, Alex vanished from his position and reappeared beside Arishem, light-years away. He swung his sword along Arishem's death line, cleaving through his form.

In that instant, the ancient Celestial—older than the universe itself—was bisected. His energy dimmed, fading into complete stillness as he sank into eternal slumber.

The first Celestial had fallen.

Moments later, the other Celestials finally arrived, crossing the vast cosmic expanse. They witnessed Arishem's severed form, their leader defeated. Several Celestials attempted to heal and revive him, but the overwhelming higher-dimensional forces Alex had unleashed prevented even their collective efforts from succeeding.

Before long, Arishem succumbed to eternal darkness.

°°°

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