Given Hela's abilities, there was a good chance she could have inflicted devastating losses on the Heavenly Court.
Of course, being Odin's daughter didn't necessarily mean she felt any affection toward him.
Considering Asgard's rather unfortunate family tradition of settling disagreements with violence, the most likely outcome would've been Hela appearing just to beat her father senseless before dealing with anyone else.
Meanwhile, Drex Valen had discovered something unusual.
Earth.
Specifically, the Earth of the God Universe.
A powerful presence lurked there.
The moment Drex's awareness brushed against it, the presence reacted.
A golden figure erupted from the planet and rose into space.
Cosmic energy poured from its body.
Not like a star exploding.
Like millions of stars detonating simultaneously.
Even the energy radiating from its existence disrupted magnetic fields and shook space itself.
The golden flames surrounding it were not fire.
They were torrents of hyper-energized particles.
A brilliant column of light speared through the atmosphere and vanished into the void.
And still its power continued to climb.
Higher.
Higher.
Seemingly without limit.
"The Sentry?"
Drex regarded the figure with interest.
The man possessed the power of a million exploding suns.
But this wasn't truly the Sentry.
Or rather, it was.
Just not the part most people wanted to meet.
"The Void."
The discovery surprised him.
The Earth of the God Universe was ruled by religious powers rather than nation-states.
Yet somehow the Sentry still existed here.
Then again...
The All-Fathers probably couldn't stop the Void.
Not this version.
The Void was the darkness hidden within the Sentry.
Far more dangerous than something like the Dark Phoenix.
At least the Dark Phoenix could be reasoned with.
The Void wanted only one thing.
Destruction.
The figure opened eyes as black as oblivion itself.
Waves of annihilation spread outward.
There was no compassion within those eyes.
No mercy.
No hatred.
Nothing.
Only emptiness.
The final void that remained after all matter, all energy, and all life had ceased to exist.
The gods hadn't ignored Earth.
They had tried to intervene.
They had simply failed.
The Void was too powerful.
While the Sentry existed at the level of an All-Father, the Void had crossed into true single-universe territory.
Several All-Fathers working together still couldn't defeat him.
A few had nearly died trying.
Eventually, the gods retreated.
The Void responded by slaughtering every superhero who resisted him and establishing himself as Earth's absolute ruler.
Unlike the Sentry, the Void indulged every dark impulse imaginable.
After conquering the world, he drowned himself in excess.
Pleasure.
Power.
Possession.
He exterminated hundreds of millions of men.
Most young and attractive women were gathered into designated territories under his control.
The remaining male population was exiled to isolated islands.
Every day became an endless cycle of indulgence.
His limitless stamina and complete immunity to disease left him free to pursue every desire without consequence.
When he grew bored of a woman, he paired her with carefully selected men in an effort to improve future generations.
Children were raised separately according to gender.
Those he deemed ugly or undesirable were initially marked for extermination.
Eventually he found a use for them.
Labor.
Industry.
Maintenance.
The people he considered completely worthless became food for the exotic predators he enjoyed collecting.
Lions.
Tigers.
Sharks.
Giant octopi.
The Void's Earth had become a nightmare kingdom.
Then he arrived.
Directly inside the Heavenly Court.
For a single-universe entity, locating the Heavenly Court Dimension wasn't difficult.
Especially since Drex had made no effort to close the door.
In fact, he had been hoping the Void would come to him.
"Was it you who was watching me?"
The Void's voice echoed across Heaven.
"The so-called god?"
The gods of the Heavenly Court stepped forward immediately.
"How dare you speak so arrogantly before the Heavenly Emperor!"
The Void glanced at them.
Surprise flickered across his face.
At first glance, they looked insignificant.
Yet every one of them possessed power comparable to the rulers of other pantheons.
Interesting.
This Heavenly Court was stronger than it appeared.
"Stand down."
Drex waved a hand.
"He's not an opponent you can handle."
Once someone entered the Black Hole Dimension, they became prey.
And this version of the Void clearly hadn't experienced enough defeats.
Drex found himself mildly entertained.
He'd been bored lately.
Perhaps this would be fun.
"Interesting."
The Void smiled.
"You seem very confident."
He was bored as well.
The gods of this universe had spent years hiding from him.
Now someone was finally willing to stand and fight.
BOOM!
The atmosphere exploded outward.
Air compressed so violently that it ignited into crimson light.
Storm clouds vanished.
The heavens lit up.
Within one ten-thousandth of a second, the Void's fist arrived in front of Drex's face.
Crack.
The Void raised an eyebrow.
For perhaps the first time in a very long while, he felt genuine surprise.
He had fought countless opponents.
Very few survived a direct punch.
Even fewer stopped it.
Drex had done both.
Within a microsecond, he reacted.
His hand rose calmly.
His fingers closed around the incoming fist.
The impact vanished.
Drex remained seated.
His chair remained intact.
His table remained intact.
Every ounce of force had been dispersed through matter and energy at the atomic level.
The Void's attack achieved absolutely nothing.
"That's an interesting technique."
His eyes lit up.
The Void's learning ability bordered on absurd.
During his battle with Molecule Man, he had learned molecular restructuring simply by observing it.
Mastering Drex's microscopic control wouldn't be difficult.
Then Drex punched him.
Just once.
The blow struck like a blade forged from pure force.
The Void's chest collapsed inward.
His bones shattered.
His body folded into an impossible arc.
Blood erupted from his mouth.
A being capable of surviving planetary destruction looked like a broken rag doll.
Yet somehow he endured.
BOOM!
The atmosphere detonated.
THUNDER CRACKED.
The resulting shockwave exploded outward like the simultaneous detonation of tens of thousands of tons of explosives.
Invisible force wrapped around both combatants and hurled them away.
They became twin meteors streaking through the sky.
Flames erupted around their bodies as they tore through the atmosphere.
Neither stopped fighting.
Not for a moment.
During their ascent, Drex and the Void exchanged thousands of collisions.
The Void's anger grew with every impact.
His body cracked apart repeatedly under Drex's attacks.
Fractures spread across his flesh like cracks through shattered porcelain.
"Too weak."
Drex spoke calmly.
"You're the weakest single-universe entity I've ever met."
One hand remained clasped behind his back.
He was fighting entirely with his right hand.
The humiliation was unbearable.
The Void had never been treated this way.
Never.
"Motherfucker!"
Rage exploded from him.
Madness filled those pitch-black eyes.
The golden figure became a streak of light.
He hurled himself at Drex with all his strength.
BOOM!
The collision echoed across space.
The two figures slammed into each other like colliding celestial bodies.
Violent radiation burst outward.
High-energy particles flooded the battlefield.
The darkness of space became their backdrop.
The stars themselves seemed to flicker like distant spotlights illuminating the clash.
And the battle had only just begun.