Beyond the Void.
"..."
"Mm. Queen, your incarnation was defeated."
"Well? Quite shocking, wasn't it?"
"Indeed, it was shocking, Your Majesty. 'OAA,' the Living Tribunal, the Five Creator Gods, abstract entities, the gods of the multiverse... and the Titan called Thanos... truly a powerful universe."
At the end of the dense darkness, shadows of light intertwined and coiled together—sinister, cold, blazing, deathly still—strange and elusive, shifting endlessly. Within this indescribable vast painting, several curtain-like silhouettes with overwhelming presence writhed slowly, radiating silent pressure outward.
Clearly, they did not belong to this world—or rather, this reality itself. They were utterly incompatible with it.
"No wonder you stopped the Inquisition's emergency rescue response system and rejected the military's request for deployment."
As the halo faded, within it stood an old gentleman beside the edge of the multicolored realm sea that had transformed into tides and crashing waves. His white hair was meticulously combed back, and he wore a perfectly fitted black butler suit as he spoke with emotion.
"I simply do not wish to incur meaningless losses."
Selene narrowed her eyes as if dozing, exhaling a long breath while casually smoothing the wilted gray ahoge beside her. After receiving the final feedback from the collapse of her [First Firmament] incarnation, she finally spoke softly.
"The spread of resurrection within my domain should still undergo strict review."
Selene would revive every expedition member who perished within the Marvel universe, including Master Chief's Fleet 117. Therefore, it was naturally necessary to prevent the military's main forces from flooding in by astronomical numbers.
Although resurrection, reversing the future, rewinding the river of time, replacing causality, manipulating fate, and altering the reality of the omnipotent dimensional domain of Honkai were no difficulty at all for Selene now that she was rapidly ascending toward the realm of her good senior 'OAA,' she had always remained cautious regarding the widespread use of such concepts.
She was, in many ways, a rather old-fashioned person.
Resurrection, time travel, manipulating time, reversing past and future—such things could exist beneath her rule, but they absolutely could not become like the Marvel world's public toilet system or sieve-like reality, where anyone—or not even rational lifeforms—could casually alter everything and travel freely without the slightest reverence.
Selene would refrain from commenting on the laws and rules of the Marvel universe for now. That was 'OAA's matter. At present.
But her Empire would absolutely never allow such things to run rampant!
If Marvel were brought under Selene's rule, casually modifying time, reversing life and death, or twisting reality would never again be so easy!
No matter whether it was mortals, superheroes, or even gods touching those domains, she would strike with absolute force. Across every point in time and every particle in the Sea of Quanta, she had already arranged enough enhanced Honkai Beast legions, antimatter creatures, quantum lifeforms, imaginary lifeforms, Warp abominations, Xel'Naga Zerg, Forerunner Flood, atomic beasts, Tyranids... all perfectly matched to the "quantity" of what you wished to alter.
If you wanted to succeed, fine—first accept my trial. Eighty-one tribulations. The harder and more unforgettable, the better. Ever-changing. Nothing customized, yet everything customized. No upper limit.
Of course, all of that would come after the annexation target had been achieved.
"Your benevolent heart allows us to feel endless warmth and love in this cruel world."
Another voice interjected before the old gentleman could speak again, offering praise like the flattery of a court jester.
And that was indeed the case.
"Trazyn, I never expected a soulless metal shell like you to be this smooth-tongued. No wonder the Queen likes you so much." Beside Selene, Alyssa glanced sideways slightly.
As a former Necron overlord and current Necron Pharaoh—one directly subordinate to Selene's title of Supreme Pharaoh—Trazyn had recently arrived at Schönbrunn Palace to report matters regarding the Necron dynasties. Thus, he had the fortune to accompany Sebas, Alyssa, Esdeath, one of the Flügel Nine-Wing Chiefs currently on duty, the commander of the Custodes, and the Abbess of the Sisters of Silence here to observe the battle.
Oh, and there was also a radiant man clad in golden armor, with black hair and golden eyes, whose halo itself had been carved into excessively intricate complexity.
"To be precise, Lord Trazyn is no longer soulless metal."
The magnificent golden man emphasized every word with meticulous seriousness.
"My princess, this is a fascinating soul. I dare not compare myself to the former Master of Mankind."
Trazyn appeared quite satisfied and pleased with his current role. While exchanging compliments with Alyssa and the Empress, he directed those fluorescent green eyes—possessing both flesh-and-blood and living-metal qualities—toward the subordinate omniversal kingdom belonging to his Supreme Pharaoh.
Glowing green.
That was desire. Anticipation.
"No rush."
An invisible curtain suddenly descended before Selene. The sealed fissure perfectly isolated the "bottomless pit" into which she had just been pouring resources—the now fully stabilized and steadily maturing [First Firmament] subordinate omniversal universe.
Selene observed the changes occurring within Marvel's internal universal reality beyond the Void.
Including her subordinate omniversal universe, the entire reality framework of the Marvel universe was collapsing, being absorbed, retracting from the endless openness extending toward their respective boundaries into singular unity.
Only 'OAA' could accomplish such a thing.
"That mad Titan has already stepped onto the path of all things returning to one. Whoa... this growth rate is truly absurd." Using Selene's power to observe, Esdeath—who had absorbed the Spirit Origin remains of her Servant body and therefore understood Thanos' earlier level of strength especially clearly—could not help shaking her head.
No comparison. Absolutely no comparison.
This expansion speed far surpassed even the limits of the Big Bang and Planck time. From surface-level to planet-destroying, then stellar, galactic, multi-galactic, supergalactic, universe, multiversal, infinite multiversal...
Aside from the first few steps being slightly difficult, Thanos had crossed nearly everything else in a single stride.
"Want to experience it once?" Selene turned her head. "You can, you know. It isn't difficult."
"No thanks." Esdeath spread her hands to indicate her stance. Compared to castles in the air, she still preferred standing firmly on solid ground. Though aided by a powerful benefactor, she still needed to proceed step by step.
Selene let out a soft laugh. "Don't worry. You'll have your chance." As soon as the words fell, she shifted her gaze toward the old gentleman who was seriously observing the violent changes within the Marvel universe. "Sebas, I'll leave the 'anchor point' to you."
"Understood. I will not fail your command."
Sebas frowned slightly, his expression naturally turning solemn as he nodded seriously.
He understood this was an adventure with immense returns. It was not some desperate gamble of certain death or slim survival. His young lady was not a cornered fugitive with nothing left to lose. This was merely an all-in investment after encountering a bottleneck.
What he could do was preserve more capital for Selene and leave her a path with sufficient room for retreat.
"Well then, the new 'investment' has arrived."
Tilting her head, Selene winked playfully at the existence beyond the Void.
"Please prepare to receive it."
...
"What is a god?"
"Where do gods come from?"
"Why must we—living beings, all things—confine ourselves within certain matters or rules? Shackled, trapped within endless cycles of reincarnation, profound and filled with despair."
"They refuse to leave, refuse to let go, refuse to accept the new, refuse to change. Is the world truly meant to be this way?"
The Titan's questions received no answer. Within this blank void formed after the infinite multiverse had returned to one, no one could respond.
"No. It should not be this way."
He murmured.
Thanos still remembered what he had been before he became the madman in the eyes of the world—a naïve and romantic young Titan from a thin and ordinary world.
It was [Death] who toyed with his emotions.
It was the gods who manipulated his fate.
From the moment of his birth, misfortune, exclusion, and heresy had seemed to accompany him.
Lady Death left the first enchanting dream within his heart, and likewise cast an eternal distortion across his future.
A single thought's difference—and worlds apart.
He had seen it. His parents, his friends, those around him, even his descendants. Lady Death's love and joy... Thanos had seen it all. He had seen countless tragedies of himself.
Yes. Tragedies.
No matter whether the ending was successful or happy, in Thanos' eyes, such a life—defined and controlled—was nothingness!
At the ends of innumerable timelines, they had woven threads of every color and form upon the loom of his destiny. Thanos examined them carefully, thread by thread.
He caressed them.
Over and over, he turned them in his hands. On every surface of those successful and sweet endings were woven the words sacrifice and attachment. Lady Death's response, Lady Death's embrace, Lady Death kissing him, Lady Death about to marry him, Lady Death carrying life within her...
Was it beautiful? Was it the long-cherished dream?
Having already transcended his own line of fate, Thanos felt something was wrong no matter how he looked at it. Only after long scrutiny did he see through the gaps in the threads—every strand trembled with guidance and manipulation!
The so-called colorful destiny lines—embracing the beauty, achieving success?
Nothing more than a puppet's plaything!
Like an enlightened one who had seen through all illusion, Thanos gazed at the blank void after the return to one. Unlike his usual madness, his eyes were filled with genuine emotion—a kind of love. A sentimental, world-weary, sorrow-for-all-beings kind of great love.
"And if the ending cannot be changed, so long as 'existence' itself still exists... even if I win, I will merely replace them and become one of those narrow, self-proclaimed noble and incompetent transcendent beings I despise. It would be nothing more than a farcical drama of banners changing atop the city walls—your turn ends, mine begins."
Thanos warned himself in a low voice. "No. I cannot be assimilated..."
"I will free this world. I will save it."
If God truly existed, Thanos had never seen Him. He had once even doubted whether He existed at all. But he had always believed that some supreme existence must exist in this world—and the place he now stood was the hell one must traverse to reach that supreme existence.
He had stepped into hell.
What a supreme, sacred, untouchable existence that would be. To oppose such a being—how exhilarating... how trembling and despair-inducing it would be!
He—Thanos, son of Titan—would save all beings from the numb and indifferent "Supreme"!
Almost at the same moment, as Thanos' supreme will spread, whether it was the woven world of [Earth—001], or the Secret Wars ongoing in the main universe [Earth—616] and the Ultimate Universe [Earth—1610], or even the destroyed-and-rebooted [All-New, All-Different Marvel] multiverse...
All things perished!
From the New York invasion repeating across other timelines, to the Avengers Civil War, to the Infinity War; from the symbiote crisis, zombie plague, Annihilation insect war, Doom God's reconstruction of Battleworld, the Galactic Storm assault, the Onslaught event, the Age of Infinite Ultron, the multiversal Kang Dynasty, the Time Loom, the One Who Remains...
Everything ceased. All events returned to one.
The Reality Controller, along with the converging immense power, gradually transformed and devoured Thanos' body.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLEEEE...
Proclaiming it.
The surging power of supreme reality alteration swelled like rolling golden waves brewing within storm clouds. In the blink of an eye, lightning flashed, accompanied by muffled thunder and rising golden shadows, filling every timeline of every multiverse and every being within them with an incomparable sense of oppression.
"Differences in existence only breed division. Every species seeks superiority over its peers. The concept of loyalty is merely a tool of determination. And now, having embraced the 'Supreme Power' that awaited its chosen bearer, I bear the responsibility to end all of this. Striving for improvement is a futile exercise. People wait for inevitable outcomes. Absolute void is the true perfection."
He spoke to himself.
Within Thanos' field of vision, abstract entities one after another emerged, dissolving into golden mist.
After [Death], [Infinity], [Oblivion], and [Eternity]—abstract entities bearing the status of the universe's creator gods—were almost simultaneously forced into unity by Thanos, now fused with the Marvel Reality Controller.
There was the God of Hatred, clad in shattered armor, muscles bulging, hair wild like a barbarian; the God of Love, manifesting as a blonde beauty draped in gauze, graceful in posture; the Goddess of Vengeance, purple-skinned in white garments, features twisted as though forever consumed by rage; as well as the Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos...
As for the last among the Five Creator Gods, Galactus did not even struggle more than a few moments before being annihilated alongside the multiversal-level gods summoned by the Living Tribunal, reduced to the purest primordial cosmic energy and fragments of the concepts of all reality, devoured by Thanos.
"I will never become you."
With disdain in his eyes, Thanos swore.
From the fear and dread emanating from those once-lofty gods he had once looked up to, he perceived his own terror.
At last, Thanos turned his gaze toward the only two—no, more precisely, one and a half—remaining abstract entities that still retained consciousness.
The Living Tribunal he automatically ignored. He had not the slightest intention of communicating. Thanos particularly despised him. As the god of judgment and arbitration, he had watched as the world collapsed beneath accumulating errors, doing nothing but balancing, adding new elements, annihilating and restarting—never solving the true problem. Inaction. Incompetence!
And then there was [First Firmament].
Hair gleaming like a galaxy, red eyes radiant. Beneath flowing golden robes, the abstract entity curled up asleep, hugging her knees.
Thanos' gaze deepened, pausing briefly when he saw Selene.
"Hmph. Newborn though you are, at least you are trying to solve problems."
That was the truth.
In this period, Selene's efforts to develop and stabilize her subordinate omniversal universe had been substantial. Compared to other multiversal abstract entities who remained secluded, Selene had truly been diligent—stabilizing the newborn universe, consolidating the lives within it, allocating resources from unknown sources, continuously investing on a grand scale.
Judge by deeds, not intent. In terms of efficiency and work ethic alone, the 'Most Diligent and Responsible Creator God Award' of this current epoch would undoubtedly belong to her.
Absorbing and unifying [First Firmament] and the newborn omnipotent universe it represented, Thanos perceived this "Gorgon's" responsibility toward her divine office. Setting aside the grudges with her apostles, compared to those negligent and derelict beings, he appreciated her.
Only slightly.
When it came to the dispute of principle, Thanos would never allow personal preference to override action.
"Your breakthrough power—I will take it. All beings will thank you."
Placing his left hand over his chest, he felt within himself an infinite fullness, immense power surging. He bared his teeth in a smile.
The subordinate omnipotent universe singularity symbolized by [First Firmament] continued to erupt endlessly!
The greatest respect for an enemy was to destroy what they protected. To use Selene's own power to shatter the order she symbolized—this was his respect.
Perhaps there were other details and hidden secrets worth examining. But he lacked both the energy and the time...
"Since You have appeared, why not show Yourself to me!"
Thanos' furious roar rang out like thunder across each dying, collapsing universe.
In the next instant—light.
Incomparable golden radiance flooded everything, extending endlessly in all directions.
"Sigh..."
A faint, lingering sigh.
"Is this what you desire? My 'junior.' Even at this stage you continue to 'invest,' like pouring firewood upon flames. Are you not afraid of burning yourself?"
"Afraid—but aren't you burning first, my dear 'senior'?"
—
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