A green projection solidified at the center of the altar, and Rabum Alal emerged from a vortex of twisted energy.
He made no move to attack. Instead, he studied Chu Hang with interest, his gaze through the slits of his metal mask cool and appraising.
Clark and Wanda had moved beside the cross, ready to rescue Molecule Man, whose body was riddled with tubes, but Chu Hang raised a hand to stop them.
The air around the altar grew thick, as if an invisible will were pressing down on the entire space.
Doctor Doom spoke slowly, his voice deep and commanding.
"You're more interesting than I expected."
"You infiltrated the Beyonders' network from within and devoured the fragments of Yabbat's memories. That puts you beyond an ordinary Multiversal-level being."
He paused, a hint of admiration in his voice.
"You've seen the beginnings of Battleworld. You should understand what I'm doing."
"All Things Die cannot be stopped. The Beyonders' purge has begun, and every universe will be wiped clean within six months."
"Rather than wait to die, we should strike first and use fragments of universes already doomed to build a new order."
Chu Hang said nothing. His eyes, interwoven with gold-red and silver-white, stayed locked on the projection.
He could feel Doctor Doom testing his limits. Every word seemed like a carefully laid trap meant to draw him into Doom's way of thinking.
Molecule Man let out a faint groan on the cross. The extraction device was draining the Beyonders' energy from his body bit by bit, and his life was running out.
Chaos Magic danced at Wanda's fingertips, ready to strike, but Chu Hang still gave no signal.
"I know what you're thinking," Doctor Doom continued, sounding almost sincere. "You think I'm slaughtering innocents. Playing executioner."
"But you're wrong."