One second before it happened, no one could have imagined such an outcome.
Ikaris, the God of War who had always cherished the bonds of the Eternals, regarded everyone as brothers and sisters, and had sworn to protect them with his life, had one day turned his blade against his own people.
However, what Sprite found even harder to understand was...
How could Ikaris so ruthlessly strike down Sersi, the woman he had once deeply loved?
"Ikaris... have you gone mad?" Sprite coughed up another mouthful of blood and knelt weakly on the ground, glaring at the man with wide eyes, trying to find an answer from that cold, emotionless face.
Golden Eternal blood flowed from their chests, yet it was all absorbed by the withered vine-like tentacles.
Streams of golden source energy flowed through the withered vines into Ikaris' body, causing him to let out a comfortable moan.
"Y-You're... absorbing our power?!" Sprite was even more horrified. "Ikaris... have you really... fallen and become a Deviant?"
"Cough... cough..."
Sersi's face grew increasingly pale. She could only collapse onto the ground, stubbornly raising her head to look at the man she had once loved, and painfully asked, "Ikaris... tell me... why?"
"I need your power, Sersi."
Faced with the questioning of his former lover, Ikaris finally broke his silence and said, "Actually, your power is far stronger than you realize. Not only can it alter the fundamental structure of matter, but it can also control the weakened Celestial Tiamut."
"Y-You... want to control the Celestial Tiamut?!" Sprite was shocked by this terrifying plan.
"N-No... that's impossible!" Sersi's entire body turned cold as she said in horror, "My ability can only alter the molecular structure of matter. It's absolutely impossible for me to control the Celestial Tiamut. You've gone insane!"
"Nothing is impossible, Sersi."
A trace of indescribable madness was mixed within Ikaris' calm eyes. "Before I fused with the Deviant leader, all of this really was impossible. But after fusing with the Deviant's power, as long as I can alter Tiamut's molecular structure and erase Its consciousness, I can control... even devour It and become a new Celestial myself!"
Fuse with the Deviant leader...
The instant they heard those words, Sprite's and Sersi's expressions changed drastically. They finally understood why Ikaris had gone mad.
"But I don't understand... Ikaris." Sersi felt herself growing weaker and weaker. Even the strength to speak was almost being drained away by the tentacle, forcing her to quicken her speech. "Why... did you fuse with a Deviant?"
"The reason is simple."
Ikaris slowly crouched down, his expression blank, his emotionless eyes staring straight at them.
"I want revenge against Haschwalth. I want to reclaim everything I lost in Siberia seventy years ago."
"Ajak, Kingo, Makkari, Gilgamesh, Phastos..."
"Because of one mistake I made, they lost their lives forever and were buried beneath that frozen wasteland, while I could only flee like a stray dog, wandering across Earth and hiding from the Wandenreich's pursuit."
"But now... I can finally have my revenge."
"As long as I can control and devour the Celestial Tiamut, I'll possess the power to take revenge against Haschwalth!"
"For the sake of revenge, what does it matter if I fuse with a Deviant? What does it matter if I lose the last person I love?"
By the time he finished speaking, Ikaris' face had become twisted, like an evil ghost from hell.
"So that's why..." Sersi lost the last of her faith. Like a walking corpse, she said with lifeless eyes, "For revenge... you're willing to kill your own people with your own hands. Is this... really the outcome you wanted?"
"That's right!"
Ikaris said coldly, "Even if I have to sacrifice everyone, I will have my revenge against him!"
"Haha... hahaha... I understand now..." Sprite's skin withered as though she had become a shriveled corpse. Staring at him with hollow eyes, she suddenly bared her teeth in a miserable smile. "So this is the truth... how ridiculous... it's simply too ridiculous!"
"It's alright. You don't need to worry."
Ikaris reached out and brushed aside Sersi's hair before slowly saying, "Even if you die, you'll be resurrected very soon."
Sprite and Sersi were both stunned.
"Resurrected?"
"Since you're both about to die anyway, I might as well tell you the truth."
At this point, Ikaris no longer intended to keep it hidden.
"The Eternals and the Deviants were actually nothing more than 'caretakers' created by Arishem to nurture new Celestials. They simply broke free from Arishem's control."
"And we Eternals... are actually a race of mechanical creations."
"Every time we complete the task of nurturing a new Celestial, the entire planet is destroyed, our memories are completely erased, and when we're needed again, those memories are extracted and implanted into new bodies so that we can continue repeating the same mission."
"Thena's Mahd Wy'ry is actually the result of memories that weren't completely erased—memories left behind from previous cycles."
"Guess how many times we've carried out this mission?"
Sprite's and Sersi's minds went completely blank. They simply couldn't accept this truth.
The Eternals were actually... nothing more than "caretakers" created by Arishem to nurture Celestials?
Even their bodies and memories had been reshaped countless times, making them exist like machines!
"No... I don't believe it!" The dying Sprite let out an enraged roar at Ikaris.
"So... we're machines." Sersi's eyes became empty as the last line of defense in her heart collapsed, abandoning all remaining resistance.
The Eternals they had always taken pride in were actually inferior even to humans on Earth.
At least humanity on Earth was free. They were not manipulated, nor were their memories altered. They were not treated like tools, carrying out the same unchanging plan of destruction for thousands or even hundreds of millions of years.
"I don't want to be controlled anymore, Sersi."
Ikaris gently stroked Sersi as he said, "Like a puppet or a doll, manipulated by Arishem however He pleases. So I'm going to break all of this, and this is my only chance, so... I'm sorry."
In almost the blink of an eye, before Sprite and Sersi could even let out a scream, they became two shriveled corpses.
The golden source energy within their bodies had already been completely absorbed by him.
"Urghhhhhh——!"
Ikaris threw back his head and roared. Intricate new patterns emerged across the surface of his golden armor.
Having already fused with the Deviant leader, and now adding the source energy of two Eternals, Ikaris could clearly feel his power surge several times over. An unprecedented desire for absolute control spread and grew within him.
"It's a pity Thena isn't here..."
Ikaris flexed his fingers, sounding somewhat regretful. "If I could devour her energy as well, I'd become even stronger."
He even... conceived a thought.
If he had fused with the Deviant's power earlier and devoured every Eternal, just how powerful would he have become?
Rumble——
Immersed in his newfound power, Ikaris was suddenly awakened by a piercing roar cutting through the sky.
A fighter jet bearing the eagle emblem of S.H.I.E.L.D. tore through the heavens like the ruler of the skies, dragging behind it an explosive sonic boom as it dived straight toward his location.
"Heh... so it's just a bunch of ants."
Ikaris slowly floated into the air, his golden eyes gleaming with cold indifference.
"Before I settle the score with Haschwalth, I'll use all of you to test this new power I've obtained."