MARVEL: GAMAER PATH - CHAPTER 288 (Patreon)

[Alex Walker POV]

I continued clashing with Knull, making sure to keep his undivided attention on me at all times. Thor was betting everything on this move of his; the best I could do was give him the best possible chance to see it through.

“I am growing tired of this!” Knull roared in utter rage as he swung All-Black down on me.

“Entertaining you was never my intent, moron,” I replied in kind, bearing a feral grin, meeting his blade with mine in an equal clash of power that shook the cosmos in dread and hope.

Knull growled under his breath, taking a few steps back in order to unleash another devastating attack upon me. However, I didn’t allow him to take the distance he so much desired; instead, I closed the small gap he had created between us in a mere instant, Serenity changing shapes as I brought my weapon down on him.

Knull cursed in hate, jumping back, parrying my attack, but once again, I followed, pressing the attack. No sooner he would parry an attack than the next was already upon him, overwhelming him, keeping his entire being focused on me as our weapons clashed, over and over again in a display of lights that in years would reach every corner of the universe.

From every direction, my attacks rained upon him, a brutal combination of melee, magical and spiritual attacks, an onslaught of seemingly endless attacks and combinations.

“No matter how much you struggle, no matter how much you defy me, I WILL BE YOUR END! I WILL CLAIM YOUR LIFE! AND THEN THE UNIVERSE!” Knull roared for the heavens themselves to hear as he slowly retreated under my assault.

“You will die trying,” I replied, teleporting behind him just as he had parried an attack, leaving him no room to properly react before blasting him away with a [Light Bolt].

Taking this moment of repose. I checked on Thor and his location; he was near. In two minutes or so, he would reach our location. 

I smiled, cracking my tired bones as Knull regenerated from my attack, baring the looks of someone consumed by rage.

“You will regret not taking my offer, for what awaits you in a life in perpetual suffering…” Knull hissed, his body trembling with uncontrollable wrath, which only made my smile even wider.

I was getting under his skin; his inability to swiftly deal with me was getting to him, making him sloppy, careless, even more than he already was.

“You’ve been saying that since I got here,” I replied, brimming with bravado that was there just for the show, for the metal part of this battle. “And yet, here I am. I must say, so far, you have been a disappointment…”

Growling, his body fully regenerated, Knull came at me roaring, The Necroblade whirling across the void of space, leaving a trail of red in its wake.

As he neared, blinded by his rage, I took a deep breath, looking at the stars around with a feeling of longing, of purpose, before meeting his advance head-on with a roar of my own, using my energy to enhance it, eclipsing his as mine made the very fabric of space quake worryingly.

Then, our attacks clashed right in the middle, creating a power struggle that showed no signs of who had the upper hand or who would win the struggle, locking us in place, face to face, weapon to weapon.

Knull had the upper hand in raw power alone; however, despite that, our attacks were clashing as two equally devastating forces. Because our struggle wasn’t one of powers, ours was one between superior skill and unrefined power.

I was aware my skill alone would not grant me the victory I was aiming for. As much as it pained me to admit it, the best I could do was keep this battle at a cosmic impasse.

I had no idea what was stopping me from accessing the power The Beyonder claimed I had; I truly didn’t have even the slightest clue as to what I was missing.

So instead of focusing on that, on what I was missing, instead of focusing on dealing with this on my own.

I would share this burden; as it was never mine alone, to begin with.

I was not alone in this; I had people I could trust on, so if my powers alone weren’t enough, I would scream to the heavens, rallying those who believe me to fight by my side.

I honestly have no idea when this realization hit me, only that I felt lifter. Perhaps it had been Thor’s advance against my wishes who brought upon me this revelation; who knows?

Knull would fall, and the universe would see it through.

This war would come to an end, no matter the cost. After all, it is not why I fight, but who I fight for and who fights by my side.

So, until Knull ceased to exist, I would remain unbroken, in spirit and body.

“You are barely keeping up…” Knull snarled with a delighted smile, rage unequivocally still coursing through his body as our clash finally broke, with no side having managed to overpower the other. “You are overstepping your mortal boundaries; I can see it… your stupidity and stubbornness as you push your body beyond the breaking point over and over again; remember who you are, child… you cannot compete with a true God…”

I laughed at him, infuriating him, but who could blame me. He had demoted me from God or Anomaly to a child, a mortal, and for me, that was funny, especially considering all the stuff he had said about me so far.

The thing is, he was right.

I was a man.

A human.

A mortal.

No matter what I was now, my existence had started as a man.

And seeing how these so-called true Gods were, for the most part, I was glad to be a human.

“I know who I am, and I will show you, God of the Abyss, what I can become!” I challenged with a grin I had only seen in Thor as Serenity changed shapes to form two battle axes. “So, come! I will meet your every attempt head-on! And carve the will of the mortals in your soul before ushering your pitiful existence into the nothingness!”