Russell noticed Apocalypse's deference, though he didn't care much for appearances.
The Ancient One and Mephisto had yet to call on him to deal with Dormammu, so Russell decided to handle the new "resident" imprisoned in his Divine Kingdom first.
After a little thought, he had come up with several ways to deal with Oblivion Ancient God.
With a thought, he vanished from the black reef at Krakoa's northern tip. The next instant, he appeared in the deepest part of his Divine Kingdom, where its core held the prisoner captive.
The Divine Kingdom had changed beyond recognition since he first created it. Its area alone had grown from a few square kilometers to hundreds of thousands.
Everything within it held his followers' Faith Power. Here, he truly was no different from God.
Oblivion Ancient God was imprisoned in a space entirely separate from all outside Dimensions. Flowing walls of golden primordial light surrounded it on every side, like a giant cocoon wrapped in radiance.
At the center, countless golden chains descended from the void and wound around a mass of dark-purple energy. Every chain bore Russell's personal Divine Kingdom seal and radiated an unyielding suppressive force.
The mass of dark-purple energy had shrunk by nearly a third since its time in Hell.
Russell strolled over with his hands in his pockets. He stopped about ten paces from the chains, tilted his head back, and studied the motionless energy.
"Still alive?"
The dark-purple mass shuddered, like a beast startled awake after a long sleep.
Oblivion Ancient God's will struggled out from deep within the chains. His voice was hoarse and dry, as though it had been crushed and pieced back together:
"...You. You finally decided to come see me."
"That's right." Russell nodded, sounding as casual as if he were greeting