Marvel: Awakening the Universe.

Chapter 314 News from the DC Universe (First Update!)

A few days later!
St. Paul Community Church, Queens.

A black Audi A8 slowly drove into the street and then stopped on the side of the road opposite the church.

Hawke, having engaged the handbrake, glanced at the church across the street through the passenger window but did not choose to get out of the car.

Because today is Saturday.

On this day, some believers from the nearby community would come to St. Paul's Church and pray together under the guidance of Father John.

Hawke was a non-believer in God at heart.

They are even less likely to believe it when God's skin color is different from what they imagined.

but……

He respects other people's beliefs. Even if he doesn't respect Father John's father, he still respects the beliefs of ordinary people in the community.

After all, ordinary people are innocent.

However, Hawke arrived right on time.

After waiting in the car for a while, the church's collective prayer was about to end, and the community residents gradually left the church.

Hawke also got off the bus at this time.

Some of the older residents living nearby greeted Hawke warmly when they saw him.

Hawke responded with a smile.

After all, he had been a member of the St. Paul's Church choir until he was twelve years old, and he had appeared at baptisms and weddings of nearby residents.

The long-time residents were not surprised by Hawke's arrival.

Even after he turned twelve, Hawke would still come here almost every month, and sometimes he would even attend church services with the residents.

The answer is that Hawke knows how to be grateful.

The next question is whether Hawke is campaigning for votes in advance.

After Hawke greeted the residents who came out of the church one by one with a smile, he stepped into the church. By then, all the other people in the church had already gone far away.

From a distance.

Father John, with his gray hair and dressed in priest's attire, looked up at the statue of Jesus in the church, holding a wooden cross in his hand, and sat quietly in the first row.

Hawke walked over and sat down naturally next to Father John, his gaze also falling on the statue of Jesus in the church.

after awhile.

Father John held the wooden cross in his hand, staring intently at the statue of Jesus, his voice low and tinged with a hint of seeking confirmation.

"So... it is our past that shaped your past."

"Yes."

Hawke, sitting to the side, leaning back in his chair, also smiled as he looked at the Jesus statue in front of him.

“Father John, there’s something I’m curious about. Could you help me answer it?”

"……certainly."

"You saw me twenty years ago, so when you saw me grown up, didn't you ever think about killing me?"

It's worth noting that Father John came to this church after he and his sister Anya were four years old, although they had already left the church by then.

but……

Father John helped him find the part-time job in the choir. You might not notice it when he was five or six, but what about when he was seven or eight, or even eleven or twelve?

Hawke didn't believe that when Father John saw the eleven-year-old's appearance, he wouldn't recognize that he was the culprit who plucked his feathers, preventing him from ever returning to Heaven or even communicating with it.

The reason he didn't kill Father John but simply threw him in the trash can was quite simple.

That's his past.

Even if you kill them, it will only create another branch of time; it won't really change anything.

But what about Father John...?

He was a man who truly lived in the past, and Father John had both the opportunity and the ability to kill Hawke.

At that time, Hawke joined the choir on Father John's recommendation and trusted Father John quite a bit.

As Father John listened to Hawke's question, he turned his gaze away from the Jesus statue and glanced sideways at Hawke beside him.

His expression remained the same kind and peaceful one that Hawke remembered.

"Does it make sense?"

“Before you grow up, I thought I could bring you under the Lord’s throne.”

"That is indeed the case."

“Your faith is very devout, more so than anyone else in the choir.”

"You consistently rank at the top of your class in every exam."

“You can recite every word of the sacred teachings without hesitation.”

"My mission is to change your destiny so that you can grow up in the Lord's glory from childhood."

“As long as you have converted to Buddhism, and you have indeed converted, I have no reason to kill you.”

Father John spoke with a loving and ethereal tone, then shook his head and smiled before turning his attention back to the statue of Jesus.

Do you know how old I was when I realized I hadn't changed your fate?

"do not know."

"When you were twelve years old."

"To be precise, it was on your and Anya's birthday, when Anya was taken to the hospital because of a heart attack, and you were praying devoutly outside the emergency room."

"That's what you said back then."

"Almighty Lord, Buddha of all Buddhas, Jade Emperor, Odin above, Zeus, the King of Gods... I beg you to show your power and save my sister."

"It was at that moment that I realized your fate had not changed because of us."

"You prompted the Lord to want to change the future through the past, but we are merely creating your past."

"..."

As Father John recounted the story, Hawke's thoughts drifted back to his twelfth birthday.

My younger sister is seriously ill.

At the entrance of the emergency room, he clasped his hands together and prayed to all the gods and Buddhas in the sky.

Well known.

He believed in God only to make money. After all, he knew from a young age that once he and his sister turned eighteen, they would be kicked out of the welfare system. He had to save money from a young age so that he and his sister wouldn't end up homeless and homeless.

Here, once you become homeless, your lifespan is effectively on a countdown.

In short.

He believed in God to convince Father John that he was truly devout, but when his sister was seriously ill, his true faith came to the fore.

That is, a belief in pragmatism.

result……

Hawke's thoughts raced, recalling the time he prayed outside the emergency room, with Father John standing nearby. He smiled and met Father John's gaze. "Since you know, why don't you try to kill me?"

"You'll have your chance then too."

"You know, I trusted you the most back then. With a glass of spiked juice, you could kill me without me even knowing."

But Father John did not choose to kill him.

Father John smiled and nodded as he heard Hawke's words.

"Yes, back then, I could have killed you."

"But you didn't."

"Yes."

"why?"

"Maybe……"

Father John met Hawke's gaze, his smile still kind, and opened his hands, which were holding the wooden cross.

Hawke's gaze shifted downwards.

into the eye.

As Father John's palm was outstretched, a wisp of darkness appeared, and then a cross made entirely of darkness appeared in his palm.

but……

This is not a cross.

Instead, it is an inverted cross.

Hawke raised his eyebrows.

Father John's words were somber.

"My faith is not as unbreakable as I imagined."

“Once an angel loses its wings, it can never return to heaven.”

"Moreover, after living on Earth for so many years, I am no longer the angel Apollon, but the human John."

"My divinity is gradually being replaced by humanity, and my thoughts and ideas are no different from those of humans."

"Everyone is afraid of death."

"But I'm even more afraid."

"so……"

Father John rubbed his right hand against the dark inverted cross in his left palm, which was currently providing him with energy, and then looked at Hawke: "Samael helped me."

Samael?
Upon hearing this, Hawke had a flash of inspiration.

"Lucifer?"

"Yes."

Father John nodded and looked at Hawke: "The Lord lost an archangel because of Samael's departure, and you are the second Samael that the Lord hoped for."

Hawke frowned.

Is Lucifer also in this universe?

"No."

Father John shook his head: "But Samael's power is from the same source as Heaven, which is why I have been able to survive until now by borrowing Samael's power. However, it is time for me to go."

Hawke laughed and looked at Father John: "I haven't decided whether or not to kill you, Father John."

Father John shook his head.

"Even if you don't kill me, I'm leaving."

"Where?"

“Samaelna”.

Father John gave a wry smile: “Samael said he wanted to take a leave of absence and asked me to manage Hell for a while. I agreed, but I knew you would come looking for me, so I made an agreement with Samael that I would go to him after you came to me.”

Hawke's mind raced upon hearing this.

Lucifer.

take a vacation?

Where to get it fixed, Los Angeles? And then Pluto, who was perfectly fine, would give up his job to go and investigate a case with a female detective?

By the way——

This is a DC Universe thing, isn't it?

Hawke thought to himself, then snapped back to reality and looked at Father John, who was rising from his seat.

There was a bang.

Four wings unfolded behind Father John.

But it's black.

The pure black kind.

Father John, his expression still kind and smiling, met Hawke's gaze.

"You can choose to kill me now, or let me go."

"Ah."

Hawke looked at Father John before him, thought for a moment, and shook his head with a smile: "You didn't kill me when I was twelve, and I won't kill you now."

While talking.

Hawke also rose from his seat, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at Father John, whose expression was more like God than that of the Black God, with a smile on his face.

"Have a safe journey, Father."

"Thank you."

Father John listened to Hawke's farewell, his expression seemingly relieved. After saying thank you, he slowly closed his eyes.

next moment.

Black flames engulfed his entire body, and in the blink of an eye, Father John, covered in black flames, seemed to twist into a black dot, and then with a whoosh, disappeared from Hawke's sight.

Wait until the black spots disappear.

Father John has also disappeared.

Hawke stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the Jesus statue in front of him.

at this time.

The phone rings.

Sharon's.

“Hawk, Amy Crowley has been located.”

"..."

(End of this chapter)