"I see," Arishem said after several moments of silence. "You are not a normal being. A creature possessing such power should not concern itself with mortal affairs."
The Celestial looked toward Earth.
"The lives of mortals are fleeting. Entire civilizations rise and fall in what amounts to a brief moment for beings such as us. To become attached to them is irrational."
Luke immediately frowned. "Yeah, I don't need that type of bullshit."
The answer came so quickly that even Arishem paused.
Luke pointed toward Earth below them. "Just understand one thing. Earth is off limits. If you want to create more Celestials, find another planet. The universe is massive. Nobody is stopping you."
His expression hardened slightly. "But if any of you decide to come back here and try another Emergence, I'll personally throw every Celestial I can find into the Dark Universe."
Arishem continued staring at him. The cosmic energy surrounding Luke hadn't diminished. If anything, the longer Arishem observed him, the more unsettling the situation became.
Every attempt to measure him failed. Every calculation returned contradictory results. One moment Luke appeared insignificant compared to a Celestial. The next the readings suggested power levels that exceeded what Arishem's senses considered reasonable.
Several seconds passed.
Then Arishem reached a conclusion. This confrontation served no purpose.
"Noted."
Luke blinked. "Wait, that's it?" He genuinely looked surprised. "You aren't going to make some dramatic speech first?"
Arishem simply looked at him.
A massive red-and-black portal opened behind the Celestial. The surrounding stars distorted as space folded inward. Luke watched it form, then looked back at Arishem.
"You know, I was expecting at least a little more resistance."
The Celestial didn't answer. A second later he stepped through. The gateway collapsed behind him.
Luke floated in space, staring at the empty area where Arishem had been.
Several moments passed.
He scratched his head. "He runs faster than I expected."
He had assumed there would be more arguing. Maybe a threat. Maybe a fight.
At the very least a Celestial-sized speech about cosmic balance. Instead Arishem performed whatever calculations Celestials performed and decided leaving was the smarter option.
Luke couldn't really blame him. If Arishem had actually chosen violence, Luke would have followed through. At his current level, dealing with Celestials wasn't particularly difficult.
Luke looked out toward the stars.
"As for creating new planets and life..."
He shook his head. The universe already contained countless civilizations, countless worlds, countless species.
Destroying one living planet to create another felt fundamentally stupid. From a Celestial perspective it might be an acceptable exchange. Luke certainly wasn't interested in accepting that logic.
As he floated above Earth, his thoughts were interrupted when he sensed something approaching the Solar System.
He looked up.
Far away, a massive planet was moving toward Earth. The moment he felt the familiar energy signature, he recognized it immediately.
Ego. The Living Planet.
Apparently Ego had learned that a Celestial had died on Earth. To someone like him, that wasn't a tragedy. It was an opportunity. If he could absorb Earth along with the corpse of a Celestial embryo, the energy he would gain would be enormous.
The giant living planet continued approaching, his voice echoing through space.
"Haha! After I devour Earth, I will become even more powerful!"
Luke looked at the incoming planet with a completely dead expression.
He had just finished dealing with Arishem. Now another Celestial-level being had immediately appeared looking for trouble. At this point it felt less like coincidence and more like the universe was deliberately testing his patience.
Luke slowly raised his hand. A small red spark appeared above one finger — insignificant compared to the size of a living planet. Ego didn't even notice it.
The red beam shot forward.
Space folded as it crossed the distance instantly. Before Ego could react, before he could defend himself, before he could even realize he was under attack — the beam pierced directly through the center of the living planet.
More specifically, through the core where Ego's consciousness existed.
The laughter stopped.
The planet froze. The countless extensions of Ego's mind spread throughout the universe lost their connection simultaneously.
His thoughts ceased. His consciousness collapsed. His brain was destroyed before he understood what happened.
For a few seconds the enormous planet continued drifting through space on momentum alone. Then it became nothing more than a lifeless world floating through the darkness.
Luke lowered his hand. The entire encounter had lasted less than a second.
He stared at the dead planet for a moment before shaking his head.
"Honestly, some people just don't know when to mind their own business."
He turned and disappeared.
The dead planet could continue drifting through space. He had lunch waiting at home.
*****
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