"The situation?"
A deep, authoritative voice echoed through the vast asteroid graveyard composed entirely of shattered celestial bodies. Every word struck like diamond, slamming heavily against the heart.
The last Titan, dark overlord of the universe, master of the Black Order, leader of the greatest terror organization in existence—the so-called Mad Titan long rumored to have lost his sanity—Thanos sat upon his Void Throne clad in blue-and-gold armor with golden pauldrons.
His far-sighted, aggressive gaze swept toward Ebony Maw below the throne—one of the Black Order, his sorcerer.
"Is it that impostor Asgardian Loki? Has he finally brought me good news? Is that old man Odin nearing his end? Or something from Kamar-Taj? Or perhaps my daughter, Gamora, has returned to Earth with that human boy? An interesting boy. He always manages to bring me something new."
Thanos remained calm and composed where he sat.
The starry expanse was deathly silent. Even the darkness here seemed to drive the stars themselves away. Sparse starlight draped like a muted black curtain over that purple-skinned, powerfully built face with its massive ridged chin.
"My lord, that is only part of it."
Ebony Maw—the gaunt alien spellcaster with a long, flattened face, no nose, and sparse straw-like hair—stood respectfully upon the steps before the Void Throne, posture humble.
"It has been confirmed that Odin, ruler of the Nine Realms and King of the Asgardians, is dead. Asgard stands leaderless. Earth—Midgard—has lost its protector. Loki and Thor are missing. Odin's sealed daughter, Hela, Goddess of Death of Asgard, has broken free and is striking back at Asgard."
As he spoke—particularly when mentioning the "Goddess of Death"—Ebony Maw never took his eyes off Thanos' face. His body leaned forward slightly.
He deliberately emphasized the word "Asgardian" before death.
Seeing that Thanos remained expressionless and unmoving, Ebony Maw continued obediently, "The Mind Stone scepter you entrusted to him has reportedly been dismantled by humans. Your daughter Gamora and the Ravager known as Star-Lord have indeed returned to Earth."
"Definite news from Kamar-Taj remains unclear. However, two of the three Sanctums have been destroyed. For reasons unknown, the gods of the Dark Dimension have chosen to retreat."
"Retreated?"
Now Thanos showed interest.
Leaning against the armrest, he stroked his chin, neither pleased nor angered. "Who was it?"
"Earth's rulers appear to have pledged allegiance to an apostolic missionary order serving a certain cosmic deity..."
"The Divine Empress Order. After their fleet arrived in Earth's planetary system at humanity's request, they purged the Skrulls and remaining Kree experimental remnants that had invaded the Solar System. After leaving behind seeds of faith, they departed Earth for the Andromeda Galaxy."
"Apostles of a cosmic god? Preaching... faith... the Divine Empress Order... 'Divine Empress.' Such boldness."
Thanos let out a cold snort, his voice filled with pressure.
A man who would kill half of his enemy upon meeting them as a gift had no interest whatsoever in surplus faith or the theatrics of gods harvesting pitiful believers.
Faith? What god do you worship? Any stray creature can jump out and call itself divine?
Marriage, love, beauty, power, wealth... pedantic. Shallow.
Only death. Only death is truth.
Death gives life meaning. It reminds life that time is short and days are few. Every beginning and every ending is built upon death. Without death, how would one ascend to heaven?
"They left after planting the seeds of faith... With the Nine Realms laid bare, has the once-glorious Asgardian dynasty finally marched toward death as well?"
Thanos tapped his fingers lightly against the cold stone armrest, as though calculating.
Whether Earth admitted it or not, in the understanding of the interstellar nations, Earth—Midgard—belonged to the Asgardians and fell within the Nine Realms.
For nearly ten thousand years, Earth had known peace without excessive alien invasions precisely because of Odin and the wars of conquest waged by successive Asgardian kings, their fame carved out blade by blade.
But as Odin aged—transforming from a hot-blooded conqueror into a benevolent elder—especially by the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries of Earth, why had more and more aliens begun to sneak in, gradually forming a scale?
Because Odin was old. He had reached the end of his life and had not appeared upon the cosmic stage for too long.
In his younger, violent years, one or two adventurers or research vessels could be dismissed as accidents. But an infiltration on the scale of tens of thousands—or even millions—like the Skrulls? A Kree fleet entering the system? Odin would have hurled the Gungnir long before Earth ever had to notify him.
Now such massive alien fleets openly rampaged across Earth, even ordering it to change allegiance, and Odin had not responded.
Then he must truly be dead.
Even clay has three parts temper—let alone a hegemon.
Thanos accepted Odin's death.
"Thor, Hela, Loki... Even so-called 'gods' cannot escape it. Asgard will collapse under the struggle of Odin's heirs."
He did not need to guess what was happening there.
Having been exiled from Titan, he had experienced the warmth and coldness of human hearts. Mercenary, assassin, enforcer, waiter, gladiator, cultist, teacher... he had crawled through every stratum of society, even sat in prison. With experience so abundant, Ebony Maw's description allowed him to deduce the rest.
And this, too, seemed another validation of the path he upheld.
Even gods would slaughter one another over uneven distribution of resources and power. Blood kin turning upon each other. In the end, annihilation.
At the moment of Odin's passing, his descendants fighting among themselves was no different from sons abandoning their father's corpse to wage war for the throne.
Thanos felt sorrow.
And greater resolve.
"I will prevent such tragedy. Newborn children will eat their fill beneath clear skies and live in peace and prosperity. After death awaits paradise. And when it is done, I shall lay down my armor and offer my love to Death, quietly watching a flourishing universe until I too pass, forever at Death's side."
His voice slowed, deep and murmuring.
Ebony Maw lowered his head. He had heard such visions of post-fulfillment aspiration many times before.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Thanos spoke again. "Perform retroactive divination. Investigate Kamar-Taj. Identify the existence that forced the gods of the Dark Dimension to retreat. I require information on that being—even the faintest trace."
"Yes, my lord."
Among the Black Order, the most learned and knowledgeable spellcaster opened an ancient tome densely covered in cryptic sigils and archaic markings.
His fingers slid rapidly across the yellowed pages as he chanted in a low voice. Complex hand seals shifted and intertwined. Psychic power gathered. His gaze grew focused and profound.
Then...
"..."
In the silence, Ebony Maw's face gradually turned pale. His brows knit tightly. Beads of sweat the size of rice grains rolled down his face. His breathing grew heavy. "Impossible... there is nothing."
Opening bloodshot eyes, anxiety surfaced upon his gaunt features.
"My lord—no result."
Again and again he pushed the divination backward, yet each attempt yielded nothing. His mental strength faltered. Panting, he dropped to one knee, lowering his head in trepidation.
"So, not some insignificant creature."
A grave light entered Thanos' eyes. With a gesture, the ancient tome floated slowly into the hands of the cosmic overlord.
He knew the limits of this subordinate well. A master among spellcasters. Gods like Thor could be divined with ease. Even Odin or the Sorcerer Supreme, though capable of sensing and severing such observation, should not have left absolute nothingness in response.
Thanos briefly examined the trajectory of Ebony Maw's mental flow before seamlessly taking over. Far more surging and resilient psychic force poured forth from him. Though no wind stirred, the brittle pages of the tome fluttered loudly, emitting a faint, dim glow.
This had been a spoil of war—taken after the Mad Titan annihilated a civilization of diviners and seers. Their name had vanished alongside their resistance. Because the artifact was useful and suited to Ebony Maw's talents, Thanos had granted it to him.
Now he sought to peer backward, to glimpse this so-called Divine Empress Order—to see which great deity dared claim the title of Divine Empress.
No matter how he poured in psychic force—no matter how his will pressed down like a mountain—the tome spun at high speed, nearly overloaded.
Yet there was still no response.
"Hm?!"
The purple face grew increasingly alert.
Had he sensed incorrectly? The tome had just conveyed an intent to self-destruct.
But who was Thanos?
If all living beings opposed him, he would oppose all living beings.
He continued forcing power into it.
Buzz—
Time became indistinct—perhaps a second, perhaps two. Thanos' perception grew hazy.
Like a sudden revelation, an abstract, full-figured silhouette unseen by mortal eyes appeared before him. Black hair. Black eyes. Black robes. Dark lipstick. Half of the woman's face was exquisitely beautiful. The other half was bare white bone.
"Goddess... Death..."
His throat seemed to tremble.
The Mad Titan—who would remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed before him—revealed naked obsession.
To ordinary beings, it would seem as though a specter had appeared.
Not to him.
A strange emotion surfaced openly across his face.
In the next instant, Death vanished.
Another vast abstract form manifested before Thanos—grand and sacred, as though it were the universe itself. Galactic veins flowed within its outline.
The god glanced at him.
And in that fleeting instant, Thanos perceived yet another abstract entity—more solid, more ancient. Its lines were finer, more graceful.
"My lord... my lord... Lord Thanos..."
At last, Ebony Maw's voice pulled him back to reality.
The peculiar sensation faded.
Before him, the ancient tome crumbled soundlessly—no wind, no flame—disintegrating as though broken down at the most fundamental atomic level.
"Eternity."
Thanos was no ignorant fool. Whether from Titan or from years of conquest across the cosmos, his knowledge ranked among the rarest few in existence.
He recognized who the Divine Empress truly was.
No wonder the title carried such weight.
Eternity could bear it.
"An incarnate apostle of Eternity..."
A bloodthirsty, exhilarated curve rose at the corner of his mouth.
"My lord... shall the Gemstone collection plan proceed?" Ebony Maw asked carefully.
"Initiate it. Why would we not? This is Death's love—and her gift to me."
Thanos bared his teeth in a mad grin.
The Mind Gem and the Time Gem were suspected to be in the hands of Eternity's apostle?
It did not matter.
Once all clues and locations of the Infinity Stones were confirmed, the plan would begin regardless.
In that case, this would become a contest between the apostle of Eternity and the apostle of Death.
So Thanos styled himself.
And it was not far from the truth.
Though Eternity stood foremost among the Five Great Abstracts, Death was no lesser power. Thanos did not fear her counterpart.
He felt only excitement.
"We begin with the Power Stone..."
As he spoke, Thanos raised his left hand—resting unmoved upon the armrest all this time.
A radiant golden gauntlet shimmered with dazzling light. Five empty sockets lay set upon its knuckles and the back of the hand.
He had never feared Odin nor the Sorcerer Supreme. He had merely waited for certainty regarding every Stone's location before acting.
Odin's natural death saved him effort.
And now that the time had come—the Sorcerer Supreme?
He never asked how many or how strong his enemies were.
Only where they were.
"The Power Stone and the Reality Stone are both in Knowhere, are they not?"
He issued orders to Ebony Maw.
"Inform Proxima Midnight. Proceed to Knowhere and retrieve the Stones."
"Inform Supergiant. I will travel to the uncharted fringes of the cosmos. Send me every coordinate of ancient cosmic sites, primordial regions, and relic worlds uncovered. If I am to contend with a greater deity's apostle, I shall do so in absolute posture—and I shall defeat and kill him."
The descendants of the Eternal race were born with the ability to absorb cosmic radiation—to draw from the boundless energies of the universe, refine them into primordial cosmic force, and elevate themselves through continuous metamorphosis.
This was the fundamental reason Thanos had grown ever stronger—becoming a hegemon whom none dared provoke.
He had never been a commoner.
The reason he had preserved those ancient sites, fissures, and relics rich in primordial cosmic energy was simple.
His goal was sustainable prosperity for the universe.
He would not drain the pond to catch fish.
In his vision, after eradicating half of all life, he would either die or retire.
Those relics would become the legacy he left for future generations.
"Order Corvus Glaive to contact the fragmented warlords of the Skrull Empire. They will not refuse my goodwill."
"Have Cull Obsidian inform the Chitauri—this is their final opportunity. No matter the method, bring Gamora back to me. She knows the location of the Soul Stone."
"Ebony Maw. Mobilize. Recall all fleets and legions of the Black Order. Temporarily cease the 'salvation' of civilizations. I require an army capable of overturning an interstellar empire."
...
After issuing every command, Thanos rose from the Void Throne.
Within the shattered planetary belt, his eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty fervor as he stared toward the Andromeda Galaxy—fixated upon the void as though gazing at the most important, perhaps final, battle of his life.
"This will be a war of apostles."
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