Beyond.
Within the blank void left behind during the process of cosmic reboot and reunification beyond the heavens beyond the heavens.
"In truth, I do not quite understand your way of thinking—your mode of operation, so to speak. Why would you, the Supreme, insist on creating something capable of destroying yourself..."
Selene held the Heart of the Universe—the manifested divine artifact that embodied the complete set of laws of the now-open Marvel universe—with casual ease as she stood before "OAA."
Like the Marvel Reality Controller, the Heart of the Universe was a multiversal super-artifact born from that sacred timeline of all things returning to one—the Jim Starlin cosmology—both incomplete fragments of "OAA."
The difference was that the former had been acknowledged. It survived the pruning of "OAA"'s destiny and remained by fortunate chance, becoming the highest known artifact of the current universe. The latter, however, had been deemed taboo—a forbidden trajectory—completely sealed and erased in the common understanding of all existence.
If not for Selene's unique nature—her knowledge, her understanding, her strength and influence enabling her to locate the critical node—Thanos—and then, at immense cost and with infinite patience, guide him step by step, unconsciously advancing toward a fate that should have been cleanly excised, unknown to anyone within the Marvel world, including Eternity and the other Five Creator Gods, even the Living Tribunal—who knew nothing due to the erasure of the related concept—
The Marvel Reality Controller would never have reappeared in this world.
"Of the ninety-nine evolutions of Heaven, one escapes."
"OAA"—no, more precisely, the Marvel God who had already accelerated toward transformation into "AAO"—remained calm. His voice was distant and grand, countless apocalyptic harmonies flowing within it, a power capable of granting sudden enlightenment and ascension to mortals who listened.
"To seize all by force can never endure. When all power returns to oneself, you must understand—excess is as bad as deficiency."
The divine murmur echoed hollowly. He looked upon Selene—whose beauty would be peerless whether judged as deity, abstract concept, or mortal. Across the glowing, kindly face of an old man flickered dissatisfaction, reminiscence, rebuke, anger, warning, serenity, void...
"Advice from a 'senior'? Perhaps..." Selene merely smiled, noncommittal.
What did He mean?
The Marvel God was speaking of Selene's authority structure. Yes, the light upon her was bright and warm—but foxes of a thousand years do not play at ghost stories. A demon dressed in angelic garb—that was the implication Selene sensed.
It was the truth.
Selene's hands were stained with blood.
No matter how fair they appeared, the stench of that filthy blood could not be washed away.
As for this talk of all power returning to oneself being unwise? And telling her to learn from Him? Did He truly think she would believe such nonsense?
To divide one's own strength, to create weaknesses within oneself that could one day bring about one's own destruction? Such thinking only made sense for those who still clung to concern for lesser sentient beings.
At their level, what value did endless lives—or even endless universes—truly possess? Better for infinite worlds to perish than for they themselves to be diminished. So what was this hypocrisy He preached? Had eternity made Him senile?
Setting that aside, Selene did recognize a flaw of her own—she was not magnanimous enough, too rigid and rule-bound. Look at Him: those who saw Him, who heard His divine voice, were without exception blessed with immense fortune, many soaring in a single leap. As for Selene—her granting of individual ascension seemed far too rare.
She emphasized steady steps, one footprint at a time. The Sacred Selene Empire's advancement system was comprehensive and sound—but compared with Marvel... it was undeniably suppressive.
The Heart of the Universe, the Infinity Stones, the Cosmic Cube...
Beyond the Honkai-domain super-artifacts bound intimately to Selene herself—Herrscher Cores, pseudo-Cores, Astartes Chapter Master Cubes—artifacts that emphasized affinity, rank, and authority—she truly needed to mass-produce more universal artifacts.
As for the Empire now...
Its military-industrial system, precision forging systems, high-end customized Honkai-forged imperial arms and ministerial weapons—none were lacking. The Empire's accumulation of arcane-magitech development was no joke. Weapons forged upon vast industrial world assembly lines from Honkai soulsteel, enchantments, and black technology were in no way inferior to most naturally born spiritual artifacts of single universes.
And yet... something felt missing.
So Selene thought.
As for creating a Honkai Reality Controller within her own omnipotent domain—she was not that interesting in courting death.
Just look at the state of her good "senior" now. Even an infinite multiversal entity could see it—imperfection.
Simply put, a flaw.
Selene knew its cause: Thanos—and the Marvel Reality Controller he had absorbed, now fused into him.
Reality could have only one master. Above All could have only one will. There could not be two suns in the sky. Thanos had siphoned off a portion of Marvel God's status. Even the slightest fraction was enough—"OAA" (One Above All) had completely transformed into "AAO" (Above-All-Other).
Like a unified dynasty: there could be only one emperor under heaven. The existence of a second sovereign meant contention. It meant illegitimacy. Even if one seized the title, at heart it remained a divided regime.
Of course, though "AAO" had fallen from perfection, He was still supreme above all Marvel existence—the creator of the omnipotent Marvel world, the master of the Living Tribunal, the omniscient and omnipotent Lord of Creation, the God of all things.
Entering the omniscient domain of "OAA" would have been walking into a trap. Entering that of "AAO"—not necessarily.
Selene's investments were not so easily taken.
"Rather than discussing my structural nature, 'senior,' perhaps you should consider how to clean up this mess."
"And who created this mess?"
"You did. I had already prepared for a tug-of-war lasting tens of billions of epochs." Selene spread her hands.
Mm. After His fall from perfection, she could afford to speak boldly.
"Tens of billions of epochs?"
His voice had not changed—only grown more weary.
"I must admit, your arrival introduced many new variables to my world. That is both good and bad. Look—the gray, lifeless Tree of Time. Because of you alone, the birth of new omnipotent universes stabilized, endless timelines branched and multiplied, and the expansion of my world surpassed the total from the Sixth to the Eighth Era combined."
"AAO" did not regret it. It had been His choice. After all, Selene was far too fragrant, far too nourishing, far too tempting.
If only that tug-of-war of billions of epochs had truly happened.
The only doubt lingering in His existence was this—Selene had never deduced the forbidden timeline within the Marvel world, nor attempted to excavate it. All her observations of past and future had been open. How had she known of the erased Reality Controller?
Even in His complete state—let alone this imperfect one—any attempt by Selene to deduce something He had erased would have alerted Him. Yet there had been no sign.
Unless—"You knew from the very beginning. How did you know?"
He asked.
Selene stroked her chin and smiled radiantly.
"There are things I know that I know. There are things I know I ought to know. I also know there are things I do not know. That means I know there are things I don't know. But there are also things I don't know that I don't know—and those, I simply don't know."
"AAO": "..."
"He has arrived." Unwilling to pursue that topic further, Selene and "AAO" had been sparring since the beginning of this conversation.
Undermining foundations was one move. Earth-199999—the cinematic universe—had already been dragged more than halfway out of its complete conceptual line amid the chaos.
Beyond resisting the pull of Marvel's innumerable grand multiverses during reunification, Selene was continuously injecting capital into the now-void Marvel cosmos.
See—her true investment target was calling.
"Since you have appeared, why not show yourself to me!"
It was Thanos.
Controller Thanos, after unifying the gods.
...
"That is—!?"
When he beheld the source of all cosmic laws—the true primordial god seated within shadow—
Thanos froze. Even the circulating "Infinity Power" faltered.
Light. Yet not light.
No—that was not light. It was visible darkness. Light annihilated by pitch blackness. That was not light at all—it was manifested void.
But why were there two?
Two figures, clearly distinct.
Thanos looked up.
An ebony sun hung within the pale blank void.
It radiated extreme darkness, devouring all—yet with dazzling brilliance it washed the chaotic nothingness, bringing forth new existence.
How could such contradiction exist?
Within the dim void, bearing questions, Thanos absorbed the incomparable radiance emanating from the source of all cosmic law and advanced. He could sense it—those distorted ripples that felt strangely familiar spiraled across the waters of time, fate, and reality again and again.
Until—
Those eyes hidden within shadow. Crimson radiance ignited his perception in an instant.
Too familiar.
Especially their conversation.
Playing with fire. Fire—who was the flame?
Thanos saw another existence reminiscent of the First Firmament standing at the far end of the cosmos, confronting the supreme God he sought to defeat.
"Again!" Rage burst from his soul as if his hair stood on end.
In that instant, Thanos understood.
How laughable—that he had exhausted every method to evade fate. How laughable—his earlier boasting like a clown... The strings of destiny had never shifted because of him.
The so-called freedom beyond all bonds—the future he had been most proud of after losing love—the salvation of all as destiny—had merely been another move in the gods' game?
He... was still a plaything!
"God!" Thanos roared.
"Arrogant gods!!"
"You will regret this!!!"
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