"Sorry, but you're all better off as shadows," Susan said calmly, raising a hand.
"Kevin, we need you to handle the stronger reality warpers still roaming the Earth." With a flick of her wrist, they floated into the sky, each one encased in its own impenetrable force bubble.
They struggled, desperately trying to use their powers—but it was useless. Susan's control, amplified by the very energy of the Celestials, left them completely powerless.
(To those who are confused, let me copy and paste something from the wiki.
The Invisible Woman received her powers when cosmic rays bombarded her body. Mr. Fantastic theorizes that Sue Storm's powers are vibrational energy from the higher dimension of Hyperspace (home of the Celestials).
To me, that explains how she was able to shield herself from the Celestials and also Galactus, and even harm a Celestial. Although her human body greatly limits how much power she can hold.)
Hope was the first to fall. Without hesitation, Susan crushed her body, snuffing her out in an instant. A moment later, she brought her back as a shadow. Then, without pause, she commanded Hope to strip the others of their abilities.
At 500 times her original strength, Hope's depowering ability was absolute. Tempus, Elixir, Egg, Kevin, all of them lost their mutant abilities. No more time manipulation. No more biological mastery. No more energy control. Just four powerless humans.
Kevin didn't have a physical body—only the one he had taken over. He was unique among reality warpers, but weak in the sense that he needed to focus on his target to maintain control. The moment he was distracted, his changes would unravel. And yes, Susan's barriers blocked even his attempts to warp reality.
Before anything else, Hope used her own reality-warping ability to turn Kevin's energy-like form into a true physical body. From there, one by one, they were all killed and immediately brought back as shadows.
"Let's go kill the other reality warpers," Susan said calmly. With Franklin dead, no true reality warper remained to pose a real threat—not with Kevin now vastly stronger and Hope wielding every mutant ability at once. She was, for all intents and purposes, a god. And the more mutants she encountered, the stronger she became.
So, mutants dropped. Exodus, Apocalypse, Kid Omega, Mister M—the list went on. Even those hidden beneath the ocean, like Namor, had fallen. Now, they too stood among the shadows.
In just one day, every zombie on Earth was dead. Not a single one remained. However, Ashborn didn't have enough MP to turn them all into shadows at once. While [Shadow Extraction] no longer cost him MP when he used it himself, his shadow soldiers still relied on his MP to perform the skill. So, they had no choice but to wait for him to wake up.
So, one could imagine Ashborn's shock when he finally opened his eyes—only to see that he had reached level 100.
[Congratulations on reaching a milestone. Level 95—[Level 75 Gear] has evolved into [Shadow Monarch Gear].]
[Congratulations on reaching the max level. At level 100, the host was set to receive the full power of the Monarch. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the system is uncertain what to grant the host… Searching for an appropriate reward…]
[The host's strength has reached unprecedented heights in just 11 days and 8 hours. Although the host can no longer level up through the system, the system reward to the host will be, that the system will remain active, continuing to provide new abilities, titles, and missions to ensure further growth.]
[Congratulations on completing the mission: New York City.]
Objective: Eliminate all zombies in New York.
Time Limit: 6 months
Reward: [+5 Levels], [+10 to all stats], [A Skill]
Punishment: [Remain trapped in this universe until all zombies are eradicated.]
[Assessing the host's current strength… Initial rewards are deemed insufficient. Adjusting…]
[Updated Rewards:]
[+100,000 to all stats.]
[New Skill: Gate]
[Gate] – Grants the ability to open a portal to a different universe. This skill can only be activated once every 10 years and requires a 1-hour charge time.
[New Title: Ruler of Earth]
You have eradicated all zombies on Earth, leaving only yourself and your shadows to claim this planet as your domain. You are now Earth's undisputed ruler.
Buff: [×100 to all stats while on Earth]
"You guys worked hard…" Ashborn muttered as he sensed the vast army of shadows now under his control. With Earth as his domain, his power had increased exponentially. The MP loss from using [Shadow Extraction] was now barely a concern, allowing his shadows to revive the billions of corpses worldwide without issue.
While they worked, Ashborn turned his attention to refining his skills. He began testing his various abilities, infusing each one with the essence of shadow, pushing their potential even further…
[STATUS SCREEN]
Name: Ashburn Blackheart
Race: Human
Age: 12 days and 5 hours old
Level: 100
Title(s): [Undead Slayer], [Impossible Killer], [Touched the Void], [Weak Point Attacker], [Triumphant Over Adversity]
[STATS]
HP: 7,120,000,000/7,120,000,000
MP: 7,104,000,000/7,104,000,000
HP Regen: 237,200,000 per minute
MP Regen: 470,800,000 per minute
.
[ATTRIBUTES]
Power: 237,600,000 (100 times weaker off Earth)
Speed: 237,440,000 (100 times weaker off Earth)
Durability: 237,200,000 (100 times weaker off Earth)
Intelligence: 236,400,000 (100 times weaker off Earth)
Charm: 234,400,000 (100 times weaker off Earth)
.
[CLASS & SKILLS]
Job Class: Shadow Monarch
Skills: [Monarch Stealth], [Shadow Step], [Shadow Inventory], [Shadow Monarch Bloodlust], [Shdow Critical Attack], [Shadow Dagger Throw], [Monarch Sense], [Monarch's Will to Recover], [Shadow Mana Manipulation], [Ruler's Authority]. [Unwilling], [Umbrakinesis], [Monarch Supreme Critical Attack], [Shadow Dragon's Fear], [Weapon Overlord], [Detoxification], [Tenacity], [Longevity], [Shadow Mood], [Shadow Enhancement]
Job-Specific Skills: [Shadow Extraction], [Shadow Preservation (v3)], [Shadow Exchange], [Monarch's Domain], [Shadow Fusing v2]
"My lord, we found life on Mars," Storm reported as she floated over to Ashborn, who was jotting down notes on paper.