In the Flickering Realm, the Creator's one-sided beating of Set had already concluded.
The Creator stood before one of Set's scarred snake heads and chuckled. "Set, are you willing to do something for me now?"
Set barely opened his snake eyes and asked weakly, "What is it?"
"Hunt for me..."
Whoosh!
Before the Creator could finish speaking, Set suddenly erupted. His snake head closest to the Creator shot out fiercely, biting towards the Creator.
"Heh."
The Creator chuckled lightly, raising a hand without haste. Amidst twinkling starlight, his arm suddenly swelled and enlarged, easily grasping Set's snake head.
"Set, you're still so fond of petty tricks. But they are useless against me. The gap between us is a chasm you cannot comprehend."
As the Creator spoke, he tightened his grip.
Set cried out in pain, but this snake head couldn't roar. Only the remaining six snake heads roared as they bit towards the Creator.
In this desperate situation, Set chose to follow his wild instincts, fighting for his life in the most primitive way.
Although he hadn't studied mathematics carefully, the principle that seven is greater than two didn't need to be taught. He had seven snake heads, the Creator only had two arms. In close-quarters combat, the advantage was his.
But soon, Set's intelligence reasserted itself over his wild instincts and gained the upper hand.
For beings of divine level...
Arms?
They can have as many as they want.
Starlight twinkled behind the Creator, and tentacles grew from his back, coiling around Set's other six snake heads. Before long, all six of Set's heads were tightly bound, unable to move.
"Father, please spare Set this once."
Beside them, Chthon had quietly stood up at some point and spoke softly to the Creator.
Starlight flickered in the Creator's eyes. He knew that Chthon was ostensibly pleading but was in fact threatening.
Chthon was certain that the Creator genuinely needed his and Set's help for something. But if the Creator were to kill Set, Chthon would not stand idly by, fearing that he would be next.
Therefore, the Creator gradually loosened his grip.
He looked at Set and asked again, "Set, are you willing to do something for me now?"
At the same time, Chthon's gaze also fell on Set, with a cold glint in his eyes.
Set read Chthon's threatening intent from it. He knew that if he didn't agree to the Creator's request for help, it would be impolite.
Chthon wanted to know a way to escape the Flickering Realm and regain freedom without losing his power. If Set refused, it would indirectly harm his interests. At that point, it would be hard to say if Chthon would still stand by Set.
Helpless, Set could only nod in agreement.
He asked again, weakly, "What is it?"
"Hunt the Celestials for me."
"Who?!" X2
Two exclamations rang out.
Set and Chthon looked at the Creator with shocked expressions.
Seeing this, the Creator repeated, "The Celestials."
"Why?"
Before Set could react, Chthon preemptively questioned.
He was very keen on the method to escape the Flickering Realm and regain freedom, and therefore equally keen on what the Creator needed him to do.
Facing Chthon's question, the Creator did not respond directly. He merely said calmly, "You need not worry about the dangers of hunting the Celestials once exposed. For some time now, a force from outside the Multiverse has been hunting the Celestials. You only need to disguise yourselves as them and muddy the waters."
Chthon asked again, "Someone is hunting the Celestials? Who?"
This time, the Creator answered him, "The Dark Celestials, also known as the Aspirants."
"The Dark Celestials? What are those?"
Creator said, "Innumerable ages ago, before the Multiverse existed, there was only one Universe in this world, the First Firmament."
"The First Firmament, out of loneliness, created the Celestials. Among them, the part without color was called the Dark Celestials. The part with color are the Celestials you know."
"Later, due to differing ideologies, the Celestials betrayed the First Firmament and launched a rebellion. In that war, the Celestials achieved final victory."
"The Celestial War destroyed the First Firmament. His fragments formed the Second Universe, and the evolution of the Multiverse began from there."
— — —
"Since we defeated the First Firmament, the Universe has iterated seven times, and countless parallel Universes have been born. In this process, the Universe has evolved. Countless civilizations and species have evolved. The entire Universe is thriving."
"These fully demonstrate that our governance of the Universe is correct."
Deep within the Multiverse rift, a group of humanoid beings, resembling giant armor, were gathered. They were the Celestials, renowned throughout the Multiverse.
The one speaking in the center was the One Above All, the leader of the Celestials.
Of course, this One Above All was not that One Above All. The two just happened to share the same name.
The Celestial leader One Above All had convened many Celestials to discuss a major event that had recently occurred.
A major event that would determine the survival of the Celestials and the Marvel world.
"He's back, the First Firmament is back. He's back with the Dark Celestials."
The Above All's gaze swept over the many Celestials as he slowly revealed the latest news he had received.
As the One Above All finished speaking, some Celestials couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"When did this happen?"
"The First Firmament is back, are Eternity and the others doing nothing?"
However, some Celestials appeared as usual. Evidently, these Celestials had already known this news.
After the many Celestials had processed the news, the One Above All dropped another bombshell.
"As of today, hundreds of our kin are suspected to have been ambushed and killed by the Dark Celestials."
Saying this, the One Above All listed the Celestials who had died unexpectedly recently.
The five Celestials killed by Lucas, manipulating the Infinity Stones' power forced out of Atum, were prominently on the list.
Originally, the Celestials were absolutely certain that this tragedy was Lucas's doing, and had been gathering strength to settle accounts with him during this time.
But the subsequent continuous attacks on the Celestials and the Dark Celestials revealing their tracks made the Celestials begin to waver.
Lucas was still on the Celestials' list of prime suspects. But at this moment, they had a more urgent enemy to confront and no time to deal with Lucas.
"Ziran, you are responsible for leading a small team to find the hiding place of the Dark Celestials. Once found, notify Exitar and have him act."
"If necessary, you can also ask the sleeping Celestial for help."
"Arishem the Judge, be careful when you work recently, bring more people, and pay attention to hiding your tracks so as not to be attacked by the Dark Celestials. Eson, the same goes for you."
— — —
On the other side, in the Flickering Realm, the Creator also introduced the grievances between the Celestials and the Dark Celestials to Chthon and Set, and informed Chthon and Set of the current general situation.
As long as they disguised themselves as Dark Celestials and attacked the Celestials without being discovered, they could avoid the Celestials' retaliation.
However, despite this, Chthon and Set still disagreed. They did not understand why the Creator wanted to actively offend this overlord.
Seeing Chthon and Set hesitate, the Creator pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "I can reveal a piece of information to you. If the Celestials are eliminated, your authority will be greatly strengthened."
"This isn't about authority."
Seeing that Chthon and Set were tempted but still hesitant, the Creator posed another question.
"The Elder Gods have long been a thorn in the Celestials' side. Set, don't you want to know why the primordial energy of your kin suddenly became a sweet elixir that could boost your energy, and at the same time, a poison that could corrupt you?"
Then he answered his own question, "Four billion years ago, a Celestial visited Earth, and this Celestial died on Earth. His death changed Earth's ecosystem."
The Creator's words stopped abruptly but Chthon and Set both heard his implied meaning.
Upon hearing this, Set's face was grim, and he remained silent for a long time.
Chthon asked, "Father, are you saying that the mutual devouring effect among the Elder Gods is the work of the Celestial?"
"I don't know."
The Creator slowly shook his head, then added, "However, when I created you, I did not bestow upon you the characteristic of becoming stronger by devouring each other."
Just as the Celestials could pinpoint Lucas without evidence, and still strongly suspected Lucas even after the Dark Celestials unexpectedly interfered, the Creator likewise blamed the Celestials without needing evidence.
"Why? The Celestials, so renowned in the Multiverse, why would they target the Elder Gods?" Set was puzzled.
At that time, the Elder Gods had slowly begun to move out of Earth-616, venturing into the stars, into the Multiverse, and leaving their footprints in the Multiverse. But compared to the Celestials, the two races still had a very significant difference in scale.
Why would the Celestials target a nascent race in such a way?
Creator replied, "Because of me. I have an agreement with this generation of Eternity, and somehow, the Celestials found out about this agreement."
Set asked, "What agreement?"
Creator said in a deep voice, "As long as I create a race to replace the Celestials' function, this generation of Eternity will agree to join forces with me to jointly expel them."
His tone was calm, but it was like a thunderclap in Set and Chthon's ears.