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"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.
- Helen Keller
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<(Atem POV)>
"What happened, sir? Did you get another quest from the system? Is it something bad?" Zoya asked curiously from the mother box floating beside him.
Although the mother box was a reward that Atem got from the system and thus she was aware of its existence, it, however, could not perceive the system directly and only Atem himself had full access to it. So, she would not know the mission contents of the system unless he himself told her about it.
"Yep. A very bad mission. It seems that we will have to survive a... planet-ending disaster called Galactus, or, maybe I should call him a planet-digesting disaster. But the actual unfortunate thing is that even if we do succeed in that regard, the rewards for it aren't even that great. All I will get from successfully completing this mission by saving both myself and the Earth is just a measly tier upgrade of two of my abilities. Can you believe it? Not even new powers. Just upgrades in two of them. What a load of bull crap." I grumbled annoyed at the system's unfairness while I accepted the mission.
"... Oh, I am sorry for your bad luck master. But don't worry, I am sure we can turn this around somehow. Now, do you plan on fighting this Galactus? Because, if you do, then I think I have already found his current location by analyzing the pattern at which the cosmic storm is changing. It seems that some extremely powerful energy field is affecting the cosmic storm, forcing it to change its predetermined path and intensity. Finding its exact spatial coordinates from those readings isn't that difficult. It seems that this Galactus isn't exactly trying to be subtle." Zoya quickly informed, sounding like she wanted to be praised.
"That was fast. Thanks, Zoya, you are really helpful. Tell me, is the cosmic storm still en route for the ship or has it already changed its direction? Also, if the ship and the storm are going to collide, how long will it take to make contact?" I enquired.
"No, the ship's general direction still hasn't changed much. Only its speed and intensity changed due to the effect of Galactus' unique energy field. So, the space shuttle will enter the storm in about 7 hours and 43 minutes." Zoya answered diligently.
"It seems we still have time... Inform the rest of the team that I will be away for a few hours. Tell them to proceed with the tests as planned. Also, make sure that you keep the thrusters of the shuttle ready to be used at full power. Even if I am late and cannot provide protection as I originally planned, that should still be fast enough to help them escape the space storm." I commanded as I willed open a Boom tube to the coordinates that Zoya provided me concerning the location of Galactus.
"Let me come with you too master. I can do everything you just ordered even without physically being present in the ship. As for collecting data about the cosmic storm, Reed's advanced instruments as well as the extra devices that Forge fitted in the shuttle would be enough to know everything we need to know about it. I don't need to be here for that purpose. However, if I come with you, I can help you in many other ways. Besides opening a Boom Tube and teleporting you away to safety if things become too dire, I can also try to find more data about Galactus, as well as how he operates." Zoya pleaded as she blocked my way.
"... *Sigh* Fine, you can come with me. But you have to stay back at a safe distance. Even I am not sure if the current me can defeat the monster that is Galactus." I said with a sigh as I walked in through the Boom Tube followed by the happily beeping Zoya.
Galactus was one of Marvel's most powerful beings and probably much stronger than even Uatu, the watcher. The World Devourer was strong enough to take on multiple celestials all at once and still give them a tough fight. In a particular DC-Marvel amalgam comic, it was said that he manhandled Darkseid like it was nothing.
In fact, Galactus was a multiversal constant in Marvel which meant he not only represented a particular concept in all the universes he was present in but he would also always exist no matter what. Even if he is defeated or somehow killed, he will always come back.
But despite all that, the reason, why I was still brave enough to even go near the being who liked to munch on stars and planets for breakfast was because he was a character who had been defeated multiple times throughout the history of Marvel comics by a wide array of characters.
From Odin who had successfully thwarted a hungry Galactus from devouring Asgard to Reed Richards who had outsmarted him multiple times. Even a few of the X-men had toyed with him from time to time. He has basically become the measuring standard of truly powerful Marvel characters and that was what gave me some hope of completing this quest. Truthfully I have no idea just how powerful I am right now, compared to someone like Galactus but who knows, maybe I am one of those OP characters that can beat him up.
***
<(Omniscient POV)>
No, he wasn't powerful enough to defeat Galactus. In fact, he doubted he was even powerful enough to successfully chase the planet destroyer away as he was right now.
After Atem had arrived at the coordinates provided by Zoya, he had finally found out how Galactus truly looked. To him, he initially looked just like a normal human wearing a weirdly sci-fi-looking violet costume and a funny hat. But once he used his rinnegan's ocular abilities, he understood that Galactus didn't have a true form. Through the true sight of his Rinnega, he saw that the World Devourer looked like a rapidly shape-changing chunk of infinite energy that sometimes looked humanoid while other times looked like a blob of cloud.
For the last ten minutes, Atem had tried almost a dozen of his magic spells as well as multiple of his abilities including his Nirvana fire and his Rinnegan's abilities like the meteor summon to try to somehow hurt the huge being and force him into leaving without revealing his own exact position but Galactus seemed more interested in snacking on the last planet belonging to a star system neighboring the Solar system than even reacting to his attacks.
Of course, Atem still hadn't used his strongest attacks or his ace like his divinity but he wasn't sure if he should at this stage. He had been lucky till now since Galactus was too busy to eat than try to counter his assaults but if he were to use his divinity, the Planet eater would most definitely give him his undivided attention which wouldn't be great for Atem since that would mean Galactus would do his best to get rid of him or in the worst case... try to eat him.
"He is surrounded by an extraordinarily unique energy matrix master. That particular energy is what has been interacting with the cosmic storm. It seems that the frequencies of both the storm and his energy have matched at a deep level and that is probably what is attracting him towards the Solar system. If something isn't done, then the planets of the Solar system will be his next meal after he is done with this one." Zoya informed her master through his armor as she remained at a safe distance and continued to observe Galactus to get more information on him.
'So, I have no other choice but to take a chance and go all out against him since he would be going after Earth the moment he is done here. So much for playing it safe.' Atem thought with a bitter smile as he canceled the invisibility and the other half a dozen stealth spells that he had cast on himself.
The Witcher magic might not be the most versatile magic system or even the strongest but it was useful when you needed to cast spells on yourself.
"Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost,...." Atem used his Divine boost power rapidly to boost his power to the maximum limit to quickly match that of Galactus. He really wished he also had the power of Divine Dividing which he could to half the powers of his enemy while adding it to himself but unfortunately, he didn't and had to make do with what he had.
After using Boost multiple times until Atem felt like his body couldn't contain any more power, he finally deemed that he was ready and used his Divine presence: Aura of Domination ability in an effort to weaken Galactus by 'dominating' him.
As his aura spread throughout the space, and enveloped the entire area around Galactus, the massive Judge of Civilizations finally stopped chewing the remains of the planet as he slowly turned back his head to look at the source of this disturbance with annoyed eyes while giving a raging shout that seemed to shake space itself.
"I HUNGER!"
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