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"A reptile I could crush with ease actually possesses a Unique Item..."
"Does he really think being Unique makes him invincible? Even Unique Beings can die, let alone a mere reptile who possesses a Unique Item."
"Perfect. I'll slaughter that reptile and take his Allspark!"
In the endless Dark Dimension, Dormammu's soul absorbed a mass of Dark Power, reforming into a body.
Meanwhile, the Ancient One and Shazam were still continuously destroying his avatars, but those that perished were but a small fraction of his soul, buying him a little time.
It was agonizing. The gradual loss of his soul transmitted the pain back to him, the constant loop of death and suffering creating a stinging sensation in his primary soul.
But it was worth it, as long as he could find an opportunity to slaughter Tony and seize the Allspark.
"No matter what secrets that kid is hiding, as long as I kill him and obtain the Allspark, a Unique Item..."
Dormammu hid in a dark corner, thinking quietly.
Uniqueness. No matter what form it takes, anything Unique is destined to be beyond the interference or destruction of time and the Multiverse.
In this world, anything even remotely related to being Unique is destined for a glorious future.
As for those that are not "Unique", they might flourish for a short time, but it's difficult for them to have any remarkable future. Although there are rare examples of Multiversal Beings—copied countless times—eventually becoming Unique, it is incredibly difficult. Not even one might be born across billions of universes.
Beings that exist in the Multiverse, constantly being replicated by it, do not possess uniqueness and can be called "Multiversal Beings."
Since the Big Bang, the number of Great Entities who have gone from being Multiversal to Unique can be counted on one hand.
And the Speedsters, the natural bane of Multiversal Beings, are a nightmarish existence for countless people.
Any random Speedster, as long as they have a good grasp of the Speed Force and have reached a basic level, can resonate with the Speed Force and the timeline to travel through time. That's right—when Speedsters are weak, they rely on the peculiarities of the Speed Force for time travel, not faster-than-light speed.
Some with astonishing talent can even travel through time and manipulate the timeline when they're only capable of moving at a few dozen times the speed of sound.
Every time a Speedster stirs up trouble, Multiversal Beings face a life-or-death crisis. No one knows how many Speedsters will be born in their universe, or how many times they will manipulate time.
Sometimes, the changes are so absurd and exaggerated that the entire universe undergoes an illogical distortion and simply self-destructs, annihilating billions of planets and lives in an instant.
These tragic universes have a common scientific name: "Flashpoint."
In fact, Tony knew of the great tragedy of one such Flashpoint Universe from the original comics.
The Flash, Barry Allen, wanted to return to the past to stop the Reverse-Flash from killing his mother. He succeeded, and his mother was saved.
When he returned to his own time, something terrible had happened.
Batman was accidentally killed as a child. The infant Superman, having just arrived on Earth in his spaceship, was discovered by the Human Government and imprisoned in a basement for decades of experiments. Having never seen sunlight in his entire life, this Superman was emaciated and frail.
All sorts of unimaginable and illogical changes nearly drove The Flash to a mental breakdown.
World-ending crises occurred one after another. The universe itself underwent terrifying distortions, and the fundamental principles that sustained it began to collapse, ultimately leading the universe toward final madness and death.
The young Flash had no choice but to reset time once again, even tearfully begging the Reverse Flash to kill his mother...
This is just one of the most insignificant examples among countless Flashpoint Universes. Heaven knows how many Speedsters there are in the Multiverse, and how many of them are manipulating time. What's even more terrifying is that none of the Speedsters are "Unique" Beings. God knows how many of them exist across how many universes...
Every subtle change to the timeline makes the beings living in the Multiverse tremble with fear. Even a Level Seven being is powerless to resist the Speedsters' time manipulation, unless they possess rare artifacts like the Time Stone.
But the Unique Beings directly ignore changes in the timeline and disregard the replication of the Multiverse. They are singular throughout all of history, the greatest and most incredible miracle of countless lives!
Unique is Unique!
Every Unique Being is so powerful that not even the Speed Force Wall can interfere with them, unless a massive number of Speedsters are gathered to crush them with brute force.
Dormammu certainly had reason to be greedy. Back when he was still a demigod, his perspective was narrow; after all, he had not even ventured beyond Earth at that time.
But once he occupied the Dark Dimension, encountered countless civilizations and individuals, and absorbed a vast amount of unheard-of knowledge, his understanding of this universe took a great leap forward.
The more he understood, the more his ambitious heart was filled with fear and despair.
He was not a Unique Being, nor did he possess a Unique Item that could serve as a shortcut on his path to becoming "Unique". When the day comes that this universe dies—whether from old age or from destruction by an external force—he, the glorious Dark Lord, would undoubtedly perish.
"I must seize that thing called the Allspark! Only then can I break free from the Dark Dimension and have a high probability of becoming a Unique Being myself!"
Dormammu's eyes were wide open, his greedy gaze filled with deep malice.
"As long as I become Unique, I can use my newfound knowledge and power to augment my Dark Dimension, allowing it and myself to become one of the supreme worlds!"
This was Dormammu's true ambition!
Just like Darkseid's Apokolips. Darkseid is Unique, and the inhabitants born on his Apokolips, as long as they don't foolishly court death by entering the Multiverse enveloped by the Speed Force Wall, are all incomplete Unique Beings!
Apokolips is a colossal planet that transcends countless worlds and universes. The beings born on it might be slightly affected by time, but the Speed Force Wall can absolutely not interfere with them!
No matter how much those Speedsters jump around, they can't affect Apokolips!
"Hmph, the Ancient One is too naive. Does she really think some lucky kid can withstand my Dark Power?" Dormammu snorted coldly as the Energy Avatar he had meticulously prepared began to move stealthily.
He moved secretly along the flowing Dark Power, revealing not the slightest trace of Magic Power or aura. Merging completely with the Dark Power, he rapidly closed in on Tony's position.
Over where the Ancient One and the Masters of the Mystic Arts were, Dormammu's avatars appeared constantly to interfere with them.
Dormammu had already given up fighting the Ancient One and her group. This was partly for Tony's sake, and partly because he couldn't win.
His strongest avatar had been that Planet-level one, but it was destroyed under their combined assault. If he continued to fight, he would either wear down the Ancient One and the others until they died, or his own soul would suffer continuous damage, forcing him into slumber.
If he really were to fall into slumber and was then found by the Ancient One's group, he would be doomed.
"Allspark, I'm coming for you! Only the great Dormammu is worthy of wielding you!" Dormammu roared in a low voice.
(end of chapter)
"Does he really think being Unique makes him invincible? Even Unique Beings can die, let alone a mere reptile who possesses a Unique Item."
"Perfect. I'll slaughter that reptile and take his Allspark!"
In the endless Dark Dimension, Dormammu's soul absorbed a mass of Dark Power, reforming into a body.
Meanwhile, the Ancient One and Shazam were still continuously destroying his avatars, but those that perished were but a small fraction of his soul, buying him a little time.
It was agonizing. The gradual loss of his soul transmitted the pain back to him, the constant loop of death and suffering creating a stinging sensation in his primary soul.
But it was worth it, as long as he could find an opportunity to slaughter Tony and seize the Allspark.
"No matter what secrets that kid is hiding, as long as I kill him and obtain the Allspark, a Unique Item..."
Dormammu hid in a dark corner, thinking quietly.
Uniqueness. No matter what form it takes, anything Unique is destined to be beyond the interference or destruction of time and the Multiverse.
In this world, anything even remotely related to being Unique is destined for a glorious future.
As for those that are not "Unique", they might flourish for a short time, but it's difficult for them to have any remarkable future. Although there are rare examples of Multiversal Beings—copied countless times—eventually becoming Unique, it is incredibly difficult. Not even one might be born across billions of universes.
Beings that exist in the Multiverse, constantly being replicated by it, do not possess uniqueness and can be called "Multiversal Beings."
Since the Big Bang, the number of Great Entities who have gone from being Multiversal to Unique can be counted on one hand.
And the Speedsters, the natural bane of Multiversal Beings, are a nightmarish existence for countless people.
Any random Speedster, as long as they have a good grasp of the Speed Force and have reached a basic level, can resonate with the Speed Force and the timeline to travel through time. That's right—when Speedsters are weak, they rely on the peculiarities of the Speed Force for time travel, not faster-than-light speed.
Some with astonishing talent can even travel through time and manipulate the timeline when they're only capable of moving at a few dozen times the speed of sound.
Every time a Speedster stirs up trouble, Multiversal Beings face a life-or-death crisis. No one knows how many Speedsters will be born in their universe, or how many times they will manipulate time.
Sometimes, the changes are so absurd and exaggerated that the entire universe undergoes an illogical distortion and simply self-destructs, annihilating billions of planets and lives in an instant.
These tragic universes have a common scientific name: "Flashpoint."
In fact, Tony knew of the great tragedy of one such Flashpoint Universe from the original comics.
The Flash, Barry Allen, wanted to return to the past to stop the Reverse-Flash from killing his mother. He succeeded, and his mother was saved.
When he returned to his own time, something terrible had happened.
Batman was accidentally killed as a child. The infant Superman, having just arrived on Earth in his spaceship, was discovered by the Human Government and imprisoned in a basement for decades of experiments. Having never seen sunlight in his entire life, this Superman was emaciated and frail.
All sorts of unimaginable and illogical changes nearly drove The Flash to a mental breakdown.
World-ending crises occurred one after another. The universe itself underwent terrifying distortions, and the fundamental principles that sustained it began to collapse, ultimately leading the universe toward final madness and death.
The young Flash had no choice but to reset time once again, even tearfully begging the Reverse Flash to kill his mother...
This is just one of the most insignificant examples among countless Flashpoint Universes. Heaven knows how many Speedsters there are in the Multiverse, and how many of them are manipulating time. What's even more terrifying is that none of the Speedsters are "Unique" Beings. God knows how many of them exist across how many universes...
Every subtle change to the timeline makes the beings living in the Multiverse tremble with fear. Even a Level Seven being is powerless to resist the Speedsters' time manipulation, unless they possess rare artifacts like the Time Stone.
But the Unique Beings directly ignore changes in the timeline and disregard the replication of the Multiverse. They are singular throughout all of history, the greatest and most incredible miracle of countless lives!
Unique is Unique!
Every Unique Being is so powerful that not even the Speed Force Wall can interfere with them, unless a massive number of Speedsters are gathered to crush them with brute force.
Dormammu certainly had reason to be greedy. Back when he was still a demigod, his perspective was narrow; after all, he had not even ventured beyond Earth at that time.
But once he occupied the Dark Dimension, encountered countless civilizations and individuals, and absorbed a vast amount of unheard-of knowledge, his understanding of this universe took a great leap forward.
The more he understood, the more his ambitious heart was filled with fear and despair.
He was not a Unique Being, nor did he possess a Unique Item that could serve as a shortcut on his path to becoming "Unique". When the day comes that this universe dies—whether from old age or from destruction by an external force—he, the glorious Dark Lord, would undoubtedly perish.
"I must seize that thing called the Allspark! Only then can I break free from the Dark Dimension and have a high probability of becoming a Unique Being myself!"
Dormammu's eyes were wide open, his greedy gaze filled with deep malice.
"As long as I become Unique, I can use my newfound knowledge and power to augment my Dark Dimension, allowing it and myself to become one of the supreme worlds!"
This was Dormammu's true ambition!
Just like Darkseid's Apokolips. Darkseid is Unique, and the inhabitants born on his Apokolips, as long as they don't foolishly court death by entering the Multiverse enveloped by the Speed Force Wall, are all incomplete Unique Beings!
Apokolips is a colossal planet that transcends countless worlds and universes. The beings born on it might be slightly affected by time, but the Speed Force Wall can absolutely not interfere with them!
No matter how much those Speedsters jump around, they can't affect Apokolips!
"Hmph, the Ancient One is too naive. Does she really think some lucky kid can withstand my Dark Power?" Dormammu snorted coldly as the Energy Avatar he had meticulously prepared began to move stealthily.
He moved secretly along the flowing Dark Power, revealing not the slightest trace of Magic Power or aura. Merging completely with the Dark Power, he rapidly closed in on Tony's position.
Over where the Ancient One and the Masters of the Mystic Arts were, Dormammu's avatars appeared constantly to interfere with them.
Dormammu had already given up fighting the Ancient One and her group. This was partly for Tony's sake, and partly because he couldn't win.
His strongest avatar had been that Planet-level one, but it was destroyed under their combined assault. If he continued to fight, he would either wear down the Ancient One and the others until they died, or his own soul would suffer continuous damage, forcing him into slumber.
If he really were to fall into slumber and was then found by the Ancient One's group, he would be doomed.
"Allspark, I'm coming for you! Only the great Dormammu is worthy of wielding you!" Dormammu roared in a low voice.
(end of chapter)