Krakoa.
"Homelander, Arishem has agreed."
Barely the next day, Alex received a definitive reply from Ajak.
This made Alex secretly marvel at her efficiency—he had to admit, it was impressively fast.
"Yes!"
Raven, sitting off to the side, kept her expression calm, but inwardly she was just as exhilarated as Ajak.
No one could guarantee the outcome of the negotiations, but no matter what, this was a good start—wasn't it?
"I didn't expect the Celestials to actually give me this much face."
Alex shook his head slightly, sounding mildly surprised.
"Homelander, just as I said before—you really haven't realized what you've accomplished."
Ajak was clearly in high spirits as well, smiling as she spoke to Alex.
"So what's next? How do we proceed?"
Alex didn't dwell on it and moved straight to the point.
"Of course, we set a time. If you're available, I can arrange the meeting anytime."
Ajak replied eagerly.
"I don't have anything planned these next few days. The sooner, the better."
Alex thought for a moment and made his decision.
"Please wait a moment."
Ajak paused.
In truth, her consciousness had already once again reached Arishem, confirming matters on his end.
A short while later, Ajak returned to "normal."
"How about seven days from now? I'll need these few days to prepare a communication ritual so you can meet Arishem."
Ajak asked for Alex's opinion.
"No problem."
Alex nodded.
With that, the time and place were set, and the matter was settled smoothly.
"Then, I'll see you in seven days."
After exchanging farewells, Ajak hurried off.
…
In the days that followed, Ajak immediately summoned Phastos back.
There was no other choice.
Phastos was the Eternals' "mage" and "scientist" combined—only he could construct the communication ritual.
None of the others were capable of it.
Indeed.
Meeting Arishem was no simple matter.
Let alone ordinary people—even among the Eternals, aside from Ajak, no one else could do such a thing.
"Ajak, didn't you say you wanted to gather everyone? Why not take this chance to call them all back?"
Ikaris made the suggestion.
Ajak didn't think too deeply about it.
Regardless of whether Homelander's negotiations succeeded or failed, the other Eternals needed to know the truth.
She had already intended to gather everyone anyway.
Calling one person was calling; calling everyone was the same.
So Ajak took this opportunity to notify all the Eternals.
The moment they received Ajak's message—whether it was Phastos, Sersi, Sprite, the now-famous Kingo, and the rest—
Every Eternal rushed toward Ajak at the fastest possible speed.
After all, Ajak was their leader.
About three days later—
All the Eternals had arrived.
But the very moment they did, they were struck by devastating news.
Ajak was dead.
She had survived the age when the Deviants ran rampant—
Yet died in an era after the Deviants had gone extinct.
"Ikaris, what's going on?! Why did this happen?!"
"Why is Ajak dead—who killed her?!"
"Who did this?! Who?!"
Standing before Ajak's body, the Eternals were overwhelmed with grief and fury.
Their faces were filled with murderous intent.
The Deviants had been extinct for over a thousand years—the killer could not have been one of them.
Moreover, the wounds on Ajak's body were unmistakable.
She had been killed by an intensely scorching beam-type energy, piercing straight through her heart and lungs.
"Wait!"
Phastos was the first to notice something off.
He knelt beside Ajak's wounds and measured them.
"The spacing between these two beams… this is interpupillary distance! Heat vision!"
"She was killed by heat vision!"
Phastos immediately uncovered the truth.
Heat vision!
The other Eternals' hearts skipped.
They instantly sensed where this was heading.
Across the entire world, only a handful of beings possessed heat vision.
Aside from Ikaris, there were only Homelander, king of Krakoa, and Cyclops of the X-Men.
"It was Homelander!"
Kingo snarled through clenched teeth.
Ikaris could be ruled out immediately.
Everyone knew how loyal Ikaris was to Ajak—he was the most dependable Eternal of them all.
Ikaris killing Ajak?
That was a complete joke.
That left only Cyclops and Homelander.
But Cyclops killing Ajak under Ikaris's protection was practically impossible.
He was powerful—but not that powerful.
There was no doubt.
The killer was Homelander.
"Ikaris, say it—was it Homelander who killed Ajak?!"
Makkari, unable to speak, frantically signed at Ikaris.
"Yes—it was Homelander."
Tears of grief and hatred streamed down Ikaris's face.
Of course, it wasn't entirely an act.
Even though he had killed Ajak with his own hands, Ikaris was genuinely heartbroken.
He didn't want to do it.
But he had no choice.
Because Ajak intended to betray Arishem.
And that was something Ikaris would never allow.
He would not permit anyone to disrupt the Emergence.
Ajak or Homelander—anyone who stood in the way of the Emergence would be eliminated without mercy!
That was why Ikaris had framed Homelander.
Homelander was simply too powerful—there was no guarantee Ikaris could kill him alone.
Only by uniting all the Eternals could he hope to succeed.
"Homelander wanted to deal with Arishem. He tried to use Ajak to reach him."
"When Ajak refused, he attacked her."
Without waiting for questions, Ikaris told the story he had prepared in advance.
"Why would Homelander want to go after Arishem?"
"What… he would actually do something like that?"
"Why would he do this?"
The Eternals were utterly confused.
After all, Homelander and Arishem seemed like two beings who had nothing to do with each other.
"I think I might know the reason."
Since he was lying, Ikaris naturally had every detail prepared.
"If I'm not mistaken, mutants are an experimental creation of the Celestials."
Unbeknownst to Ikaris—
His "fabrication" had accidentally hit the truth.
Only now, the connection between mutants and the Celestials had already been severed by Alex using the Infinity Stones.
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