Chapter 249

Chapter 249:

I tried to remember what exact abilities the Collector had access to, but I was finding it difficult to remember. I vaguely recalled something about MCU fans being upset about the Collector losing to Thanos so easily. Especially when he had access to the Reality Stone. This wasn't the MCU version of the Collector though. He was closer to the comics, and he had the Power Stone hanging around his neck. He didn't seem to mind violence at all either. That meant he was going to be pretty powerful, which made sense since his level was very high.

Jean and Nebula had been hit with some kind of prison spell powered by the Stone itself. I could sense why Jean couldn't escape from the purple force field surrounding her. Every time Jean struck the barrier from the inside, the Power Stone around the Collectors neck would glow faintly and supply the cage with more power to hold her.

“Let me out here, you creep!” Jean screamed at him while pounding on the barrier trapping her.

The Collector chuckled. “Now, why would I do that? I've never had a Phoenix Avatar for my collection. No, I think I'll be keeping you Jean Grey.” He laughed at her anger before turning to me. Greed was evident in my eyes as he gazed upon me. “And you… you're something completely new aren't you!?” He said in delight. “Something very unique! The only Biblical Angel to ever rise to Divinity. You are a rare treasure, and I will have you for myself!” He declared.

“You will try.” I replied while conjuring a Lightspear in my hand.

He laughed again. “I will succeed. After all, I have quite a bit of POWER on my side.” Suddenly, dozens of those purple orb prison spells manifested around his body. They all launched towards me at the same time!

“Almighty Push!” With my left hand, I temporarily sent them all hurtling away from me. With my right hand, I checked my Lightspear as hard as I could at the Collector’s head.

Before my Spear could reach him, he simply vanished in one spot and manifested on the other side of the street. “Now now, it can't be that easy, can it?” He asked tauntingly.

[That’s some flawless teleportation magic he just used.]

I agreed in annoyance. The question was, could he do that rapidly? A dozen Lightspears manifested in the air around me. I launched a couple of them towards his new location. I was already expecting him to teleport again before they reached him. When he vanished, I kept my senses peeled for where he could teleport to.

He manifested directly behind me!

My remaining Lightspears were already in the process of flipping around and launched themselves at him. Before they could reach him, he had already teleported himself back to his original position.

The Collector started slowly clapping. “Bravo, your reaction time is certainly impressive.”

[Not impressive enough though.]

Fighting an enemy that could teleport instantaneously was going to be incredibly annoying. On top of that, a single hit from him could trap me in one of those purple barriers. I figured I could escape due to my Orb of Anywhere, but I didn't want to risk it just in case I couldn't.

The Collector grinned at me cockily. “I've heard you were also quite adept in teleportation, but clearly you're not up to my level.” He vanished in a flash and appeared directly to my left. “Hulk Smash!” A giant green fist smashed into my temple.

{-5000 HP!}

I just found out the hard way that the Collector also has the ability to shapeshift…

My head whipped to the side as I was smashed by a blow that would have instantly killed most other beings. The Power Stone made that blow dramatically stronger. I don’t think anyone has ever punched me that hard before.

“Hulk Smash pretty bird girl!” He tried to hit me again, but I recovered from my daze much faster than anyone else would have been able to.

“Almighty Push!”

“Graaaaah!”

I finally landed a solid hit. The Collector/Hulk was blasted away from me and ended up smashing through multiple alien buildings. I hoped I didn't just kill any innocents nearby, but they should have honestly fled by now for their own safety…

“Hey! Watch it over there! You almost hit us!” Rocket complained from inside his cage. The flying Hulk had missed them by only a few meters. Groot was trying to open the lock to Rocket’s cage while I was distracted.

“Go away, Sister! I don't need your help. The Goddess Layla will defeat the Collector soon enough and free us.” Nebula proclaimed.

“No! I'm not going to leave you behind!” Nearby, Gamora was trying to free Nebula as well. She had finally discovered she had been trying to kill her own sister just now.

“What are you all still doing here?” I yelled at them all.

“I am Groot!”

“That’s right! The Collector screwed us over! If he gave us crappy weapons, then he's obviously not going to pay us! We want some payback! Let me out of here!” Rocket yelled while rattling his cage from the inside.

“Sorry, but I'm afraid you'll all just get in the way. If you want to make yourselves useful, go and rescue Peter Quill.” I waved my hand in their direction, four portals popped up underneath all the guardians–including the still unconscious Drax. I teleported them a few Kilometers away so they wouldn't interfere.

“Are you alright, Layla?” Jean asked, concerned. “That green giant hit you in the head pretty hard.”

“I’m fine. It takes a lot more than that to put me down. If the Collector wants to turn into the Hulk, that’s fine with me. I’ve killed a Zombie Hulk. The regular Hulk shouldn’t be any harder to fight.” I reassured her.

“Look out behind you!” Nebula warned me too late.

“Hulk Mad!” The Hulk’s voice roared directly behind me. Teleporting enemies are so annoying to fight! A teleporting Hulk is even more annoying!

{-10000HP}

The Collector/Hulk slammed into my back and knocked the wind out of me. I ended up tumbling very ungracefully across the destroyed landscape before I righted myself.

“This is pretty fun. I should transform into the Hulk more often. He is quite a popular collection piece amongst the other versions of myself across the multiverse. I haven't managed to snag him for myself yet, but I'll have him as well one day.” The Collector transformed back into his normal appearance to brag again. His narcissism was on a whole other level. He truly believed everything he said.

“I’m sure the real Hulk would bust out of any cage you try to put him in, before snapping your neck.” I said.

“You’d be right.” The Collector said, before gesturing to the Stone hanging around his neck. “Except I have this now. With it, I can make my cages indestructible. Nothing can escape before the power of Infinity.”

“And how long until someone tougher than you comes to take that Stone? How long until Thanos stops hiding and comes back?” I asked.

Wariness flickered across his face when I mentioned Thanos. A second later, the Collector shook his head and snapped out of it. “The Purple Titan might currently have the Mind Stone, but that’s nothing in the face of Power! Maybe I’ll become the first Collector in the multiverse to acquire the Mad Titan for my collection? Wouldn't that be a treat!?”

I deadpanned at him. “You’re insane.”

He grinned in response. “And you’re mine now.”

“Wha–”

Something slammed into my back. An instant later, a purple barrier sprang up around me. The same one that had captured Jean and Nebula! I placed my hand on it, I could feel the almost overwhelming power of this barrier keeping me trapped.

“Layla, no!” Jean cried out. “Dammit!”

The Collector laughed. “For the record, I could have done that at any time. I simply wanted to play around for a bit. What’s the use of having toys if you don’t play with them once in a while after all?” He asked himself out loud.

I felt like I could break it, but it would take a large chunk of my MP. That wasn’t my only option though. “This won’t hold me!” Instead of brute forcing my escape, I called on my Orb of Anywhere to get me out of the barrier. A portal started manifesting inside the barrier in front of me. It was almost big enough for me to fit my wings through when the Collector snarled nearby.

“I don’t think so!” The Collector snarled, the Power Stone around his neck glowed brighter. “You’re not getting out!”

My eyes widened in surprise when the portal I had been creating fizzled out. That had never happened before!

[That’s not good. You’re going to have to bust out with brute force.]

“You see now? You’re trapped in there forever! Your PATHETIC powers of teleportation are nothing before me!” He declared smugly. “I’m not known as one of the greatest teleporters in the galaxy or nothing.”

I felt something stir inside me at his words. My Sacred Gear was stirring awake, I could tell that it felt…offended by his declaration of it being “pathetic.” I heard a whisper in my mind. One I hadn't heard in over a year.

‘Indignation…Hunger…’

The core of my Orb or Anywhere–the Eye–was trying to communicate with me. Following its will, I placed my hand on the purple barrier keeping me trapped. It was a barrier infused with the energy from the Power Stone itself. Inside me, my Sacred Gear started to PULL! The barrier became less vibrant as all of the Power infused into it was sucked away. A couple seconds later, it completely fell apart.

“Alright, Layla! Way to go!” Jean cheered from the side.

“How did you do that!?” The Collector asked in shock.

Some words stirred inside me. I felt the artificial Sacred Gear  fundamentally change once it had absorbed all of that power. It had become something new, something better. “Balance Breaker: Orb of Infinity!”

As I called out those words, space around us fundamentally shifted. It became denser, less malleable. I instinctively knew what I had just done and smirked. This fight suddenly became a lot easier. I held up my hand and conjured a single Lightspear. “Dodge this.” I threw it at him, fast enough to rip through the sound barrier a couple times over.

The Collector smirked at me, he was sure that he could easily avoid my attack. Except he couldn’t, not anymore, my Lightspear slammed directly into his center mass!

The force lifted him off of his feet and once again sent him careening through even more buildings. A swathe of destruction was left in the path.

“Universal Pull!” I held up my hand and yanked his body out of all the debris. He came rocketing back towards me.

The Collector was suddenly looking much less smug. He punched me in the face earlier, so I decided to return the favor. Strength might have been my second lowest stat, but it was still currently at 5000. Blood and spittle flew from his mouth as I smacked him across the face with everything I had!

How dare this asshole think he can keep me as a trophy!

He stumbled backwards and clutched his rapidly swelling cheek and his still bleeding stomach. He had a decent sized hole going all the way through his middle section from my Lightspear. Despite that, I could tell he still had some fight left in him. “How!? What did you do!? Why can't I teleport!?” He demanded to know.

“I locked down all the space on Knowhere. No one will be able to teleport or open portals until I allow it.” I told him with a smirk. “I hope you’re more than a two trick pony.”

“Graahh!” He turned into the Hulk again and charged at me wildly.

I guess he wasn’t…

I had faced the Hulk before and knew how to handle him. It seemed that when the Collector transformed into the green giant, he got all of its powers, but he also inherited its intelligence. A Lightspear appeared in each of my hands.

The Collector/Hulk lunged forwards and attempted to tackle me. I flew over the beast and thrust downwards with my spears. Its flesh boiled and burned as I raked my spears across its back. It let out another roar of fury and anguish. I didn’t give it time to recover. It was strong, probably still stronger than me, but I was far more nimble.

I continued to dance around the monster while delivering numerous cuts and stabs across its body. It wasn’t long until its body was riddle with cuts and burns everywhere. After a few minutes of our deadly chase, my enemy could no longer keep up. The Hulk's body faded away, and in its place was a very injured Collector. He slumped to his knees in defeat. Without his ability to teleport freely, it seemed he barely knew how to fight.

I reached down and yanked the Power Stone necklace off of him. I stashed it in my inventory for safe keeping.

{Quest Completed! You have leveled up x3!}

[Layla of the Fallen]

[Title: Fourteen Winged Angel, Goddess of Angels, Death’s Favored.]

[Level: 84]

[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Infinity]

[HP: 114,000]

[MP: 120,000]

[Faith Energy: 128,548,853]

[Vigor: 10,000]

[Strength: 5,000]

[Intelligence: 12,000]

[Luck: 2300]

[Available Free Stat Points: 400]

[Perks and Skills:]

-Goddess of Angels (10x Increase in all Stat Points. Access to all Angelic Abilities. Can turn other races into white or black winged Angels depending on the person's Karma.)

-Death’s Favored (Resurrect on Death after 24 hours. Can resurrect up to three people a day.)

-Daughter of Heaven's Will (Passive Skill: Ask and you shall receive! The universe bends to your whims and circumstances that you wish for are far more likely to occur!)

-Observe (Max: No one's level is hidden from your gaze. No one can detect you using Observe on them.)

-Light Manipulation (Max: All Light Abilities Cost 10x less MP to Cast.)

-Senjutsu (Max: Passively regenerate 1000 MP/Min.)

-Rinnegan (Max: All Rinnegan abilities cost 5x less MP.)

-Faith Pool (Can draw upon Faith Energy when MP runs out.)

[Good work, Host!]

“Way to go, Layla!” Jean cheered as she ran over with Nebuka. The barrier around them had vanished after I took the Power Stone for myself.

‘Congratulations…Daughter…’

I temporarily froze up when I heard that last voice in my head. Something had just spoken to me, through my new Sacred Gear. It felt like it came from the ‘Eye,’ but also from much farther away at the same time…

I shook my head and focused on the Collector. I had to decide what to do with him. I pointed my Lightspear at my beaten foe.

Instead of being intimidated, he simply let out a pained chuckle. “G-Go ahead and kill me, it won't make much of a difference. I am an Elder, Death's realm has no hold over me.” He spat out a mouthful of blood at my feet.

“What does that mean?” Jean asked.

“Even if I die here, I'll be back someday…To finish what I started” He said while glaring at me. “Maybe one of your three children will be a member of my collection in the future…” He chuckled to himself darkly.

Jean gasped.

I snarled at him. “You dare threaten my daughters!?” It had been a long time since I felt this furious! “You're going to wish you could die when I'm finished with you!”

He laughed at me again. “Do your worst, I'm over a million years old there and have experienced every form of torture imaginable.”

‘Daughter, give him to me…’

A shudder went through me. Once again, that voice echoed out from my Orb of Infinity. I had a feeling that I knew who, or what, was suddenly speaking to me. The being whose Eye is powering my Orb of Infinity. I always felt that the Eye itself had a will of its own, apparently it's able to act as a bridge to commune with its original full body as well.

[That's not good...]

‘Give his soul to me!’

[Is that the Eldritch Monster that almost one-shot Azazel?]

‘I think it is.’

[It can talk to you now!? Be careful, Host! This is a being that exists outside the sphere of your Gamer multiverse. You really should not be communicating with it…]

At this point, I was too angry to care. I grabbed the collector and held him up by his throat. “Let this be a warning to any other beings watching us right now! My daughters are off limits!” I declared before willing my Orb of Infinity to open a portal to a place it should not have been able to reach.

Outside the multiverse itself!

A being awaited on the other side of the portal. One that radiated never ending hunger. My Rinnegan eyes ached in pain after only gazing upon it for a few seconds.

‘Yes! You have done well, Daughter…’

The Collector let out a genuine scream of terror upon seeing the Eldritch Creature. “What have you done, you fool!? Why would you be in contact with a being like this!?” He bellowed at me. “You’ll destroy us all!”

“Not us, only you. You shouldn't have threatened my daughters!” I flung the Collector through the portal and slammed it closed behind him. The last thing I saw was his look of absolute terror as thousands of eyeball covered tentacles surrounded him. I had a feeling the Collector wouldn't be coming back ever again…

“What the fuck was that, Layla…” Jean muttered in shock next to me while clutching her head in pain. Nebula was lying on the ground frothing at the mouth. The beautiful blue alien was completely out of it. They had both tried to gaze at the being on the other side of the portal. Nebula, as a mortal, obviously couldn’t handle it. I reached down and started healing her head with my Purger of Darkness.

“Let's just say, there are some fates worse than Death in existence.” I said to Jean before telling her to never mention what she saw again. If there were any other Cosmic Beings watching me face down the collector, then I’m sure they would do the same as well. That being on the other side of my portal was frankly terrifying. I don’t think Lady Death and the Phoenix Force combined would be able to beat it…

[It called you its daughter…a bunch of times.]

It sure did…

I didn’t know how to feel about that, or what it meant for the future. For now, we still had another Quest to complete. We’d acquired the Power Stone and Peter Quill was also somewhere nearby. It was time to track down Ego and put him down next. After that, I’d be able to take a break and access everything that had occurred today.

XXX