Nax knew that continuing to fight Robert with his current strength would be futile. Robert's overwhelming attacks were far more destructive than Nax had anticipated, drastically shortening the time he could hold out against him. Even with his strong vitality, Nax couldn't endure Robert's relentless onslaught much longer.
Robert's power was astonishing, and each of his strikes drove Nax closer to his limits. To make matters worse, Nax had no idea how the Spider-Men and Peter Parker were progressing outside or when they could help him boost his strength.
As Nax barely managed to recover some of his wounds, Robert showed no intention of slowing down. This battle was anything but normal for Robert; he aimed to eliminate Nax as quickly as possible.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
Robert unleashed a barrage of energy waves. Instead of aiming directly, he let them hover in mid-air, surrounding Nax. Each wave hung like a star, shining brightly, ready to strike. Nax felt a chill creep into his heart as he instinctively braced himself for the impending assault.
The energy waves radiated intense light. Suddenly, one wave shone brighter than the others, catching Nax's attention. He prepared to counter it with his own energy.
"Poof!" But the danger didn't come from the energy wave he focused on. Another wave struck him, piercing his body. The remaining energy waves surged unpredictably, causing chaos in Nax's senses.
"Poof!"
"Poof!"
One after another, the energy waves pierced Nax, each strike tearing through his once-large body. The constant bombardment left his form riddled with holes, reducing his flesh to mere remnants. His once formidable body was now just a mass of barely held-together blood and tissue.
Nax's strength struggled to keep his form from disintegrating completely. Without his rapid regeneration, he would have been reduced to mere cells.
"So many beings in this world have incredible vitality and regeneration," Robert mused as he watched Nax's flesh writhing to reassemble itself, reminiscent of Majin Buu's iconic scenes. As he pondered this, Robert's palm gathered a new surge of formidable energy.
Goku had demonstrated how to deal with near-immortal foes like this. One needed to obliterate them down to the last cell. The Spirit Bomb or the power of destruction was the ideal method. But with sufficient energy, creating an attack with comparable destructive force was possible...
"No! If this continues, I'll die here!" Nax felt a deep sense of impending doom. Though this wasn't his true form, his split consciousness didn't want to experience death. Losing this consciousness would mean losing the coordinate of this promising universe, making it challenging to return.
"I must connect with my true self and channel more power! The greater the risk, the greater the reward!" Nax, like a gambler at a high-stakes table, became fixated on how to turn the tables. The potential gain after a comeback enthralled him, even though he underestimated the difficulty of achieving it.
Or perhaps Nax understood the difficulty but was still captivated by the promise of triumph. He believed that with enough power from his true form, he could surely defeat Robert!
Robert's strength made him a formidable opponent on Earth and even in a single universe. But on a dimensional scale, Robert's power was still insufficient.
Some dimensions were symbiotic with their host universes, much like how sub-space coexisted with Earth's space.
Nax, however, represented a different kind of dimension, one that roamed freely between universes without being tied to any single one. Such dimensions could drift near any single universe, provided they had the coordinates.
Typically, these free-floating dimensions were stronger than those dependent on a single universe. At their peak, they could project their power across the multiverse without relying on any host universe. However, Nax's dimension was far from this level.
Even so, Nax was confident that his dimension's power could crush anyone on Earth or even in this universe!
Quickly, Nax established a connection with his true self. His true form readily agreed to send a surge of power to support him.
"Buzz!" An invisible force appeared within the Mirror Dimension. The space couldn't completely block such dimensional energy, and the Ancient One didn't attempt to stop it. Instead, she smiled faintly at the blood fragments of Nax being fortified by this newfound power.
The Ancient One understood that Nax's current strength wasn't enough to threaten Robert. Moreover, she had seen such gambler's psychology too many times. She welcomed Nax's true form to continue wasting its energy on Earth.
As long as Nax's true form kept sending power, it would deplete its resources. Even if Nax later found this universe's coordinates, he wouldn't have the strength to seek revenge, having exhausted so much energy on Earth.
Meanwhile, Robert sensed Nax's growing power but didn't realize it was because Nax was drawing strength from his true form. Robert thought Nax had succeeded in some scheme to gain more power, which made him worry about what was happening outside the Mirror Dimension.
However, Robert recalled the Ancient One's words: Clark was already dealing with the situation outside. Even if Nax somehow left the Mirror Dimension, he wouldn't be a match for Clark.
"Swish!" With this reassurance, Robert intensified his energy wave and launched it at Nax's broken form.
"Buzz!" Just as the energy wave neared Nax, a surge of energy erupted from Nax's remains, forming a protective shield around him.
As the shield deflected the energy wave, Nax's body began to transform. Before, his form was a half-spider, with a spider-like lower body and Richard Parker's torso atop it.
Now, Nax's new body emerged, shedding all traces of Richard Parker. The monstrous spider rose, but its head bore a human face, vastly different from Parker's.
This, it seemed, was Nax's true form. This body represented Nax's true manifestation on Earth, entirely devoid of Richard Parker's essence, signaling that Parker was effectively dead.
However, in the heat of battle, neither Robert nor Nax cared about such details. Even the Ancient One, observing from above, paid little attention to Richard Parker, regardless of his significance as Spider-Man's father.
"He blocked it? His power has increased significantly. His energy level didn't rise much, but its purity did?" Robert observed as his energy wave dissipated against Nax's shield. He raised his arm above his head, gathering swirling energy in his palm.
**Kienzan!**
In this scenario, Robert's specialized energy blade wasn't ideal. Given the distance and Nax's unpredictable new abilities, the Kienzan, known for its sharpness and precision, was a more fitting choice.
"Swish!" The Kienzan flew towards Nax. The protective shield reappeared, ready to intercept the attack.
"Crack!" However, the shield failed to stop the Kienzan. Though not invincible, very few defenses could withstand its slicing power.
"Swish!" The Kienzan continued, aiming for Nax's newly formed body.
But to Robert's surprise, the Kienzan didn't connect. It passed through Nax as if his body was non-corporeal.
"Hmm?!" Robert's eyes narrowed as a claw suddenly struck from the side. Robert dodged and countered with a punch, meeting the claw head-on.
"Bang!" This time, the clash didn't shatter the claw. With his new body, Nax's claws were faster, stronger, sharper, and sturdier. Robert noticed a faint red mark on his fist, despite the protective energy surrounding it.
"Spatial manipulation?" Robert realized why his Kienzan missed and how Nax had managed to ambush him. Nax's body remained in place, but he seemed to use spatial portals to evade and attack, unaffected by the Mirror Dimension's constraints.
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
"Swish!"
As Robert understood Nax's abilities, Nax began his real assault. His claws vanished and reappeared, constantly attacking from different angles. Robert, with his extensive combat experience and keen senses, managed to fend off the attacks. Yet, even he found it challenging to keep up with the relentless barrage, lacking a clear way to break the stalemate.
Nax's power wasn't just in his spatial abilities. His newfound strength matched Robert's, allowing him to use his spatial tactics effectively to pressure Robert. For the first time in their fight, Nax seemed to gain the upper hand, achieving his initial goal.
Outside the Mirror Dimension, Clark had been monitoring the situation since Robert appeared on Earth. Seeing the Spider-Men army mobilize, he knew new threats and schemes were afoot.
Reacting swiftly, Clark organized the defenses. He had Lana guard the farm and teamed up with Kara to hunt down the Spider-Men threatening civilians.
In no time, Clark and Kara captured several Spider-Men. What was a formidable challenge for the Avengers posed little trouble for Clark and Kara, who could easily incapacitate the Spider-Men.
Thus, when the Ancient One transported the Avengers to assist, the impact of the Spider-Men army began to diminish. This was why, despite the lengthy battle inside the Mirror Dimension, Nax's strength hadn't grown significantly.
Nax's army was limited in number, and many of its members were being subdued. The reinforcement he expected from outside wasn't coming, leaving him to rely solely on his gamble with his true form's power.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!] [www.p@treon.com/INNIT]