Ah—what?!
All the Eternals froze, completely caught off guard by Ikaris.
No matter how they thought about it, they never expected this to be the reason.
"I also got another piece of information from Ajak."
Ikaris knew that suddenly throwing out a brand-new "setting" would be hard for everyone to accept.
So he went all in on his verbal manipulation, pulling out every trick he had to deceive the Eternals.
"Everyone—do you know how the Deviants came into existence?"
Ikaris swept his gaze across the group and asked solemnly.
The Eternals were stunned once again.
Although they were the Deviants' natural enemies and had hunted them for tens of thousands of years, the truth was that they had no idea at all where the Deviants came from.
Not even the slightest clue.
Throughout their long "hunting career," the Eternals had investigated the origin of the Deviants more than once—
But every attempt ended in failure.
In fact, the more they investigated, the more confused they became.
Because all the evidence they gathered pointed to one bizarre conclusion:
The Deviants seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
They completely violated the laws of biological evolution.
No matter how hard they searched, they found nothing.
"Ikaris, stop beating around the bush. Where did the Deviants come from?"
Sprite urged impatiently. "And what does this have to do with Homelander?"
"Sprite." Sersi gestured, signaling her not to interrupt.
"The Deviants were created by the Celestials!"
Ikaris dropped this bombshell.
"What?!"
"That's impossible!"
"Ikaris, what are you talking about?!"
The Eternals were deeply shaken, utterly unable to accept this revelation.
After all, they had spent their entire existence exterminating Deviants on Arishem's behalf.
"I understand how you feel. I reacted the same way when I first learned the truth."
"But this is the truth. The Deviants were indeed created by the Celestials."
"Perhaps they were meant to combat powerful enemies, or for some other purpose—Ajak didn't have time to tell me the details."
"But later, the Deviants went out of control and became demons that had to be eliminated."
"That's what we've been doing all along."
Seeing the sincerity on Ikaris's face, after the initial shock, the Eternals gradually began to believe him.
After all, Ikaris had no reason to lie to them.
What's more—
Ajak had already chosen Sersi as her successor. Sooner or later, Sersi would communicate with Arishem herself.
When that happened, the truth would be clear at a glance.
This kind of thing couldn't be faked.
And because of that—
The earlier claim that mutants were also experimental creations of the Celestials slowly started to sound believable.
If the Celestials could create the Deviants,
Then creating another group of beings with special abilities wasn't exactly a stretch.
Seeing their reactions, Ikaris finally let out a quiet breath of relief.
The story he had fabricated had a complete causal chain and solid internal logic—it was highly convincing.
There were no obvious holes.
Clearly, the Eternals believed him.
Which was exactly as expected.
At this point in time, Ikaris was still the comrade and warrior they trusted the most.
Naturally, no one questioned his words.
Combined with Ajak's wounds—clear, undeniable evidence—
And the fact that she had been frequently visiting Krakoa recently—
With both physical evidence and testimony in place, how could it be false?
Very quickly—
The Eternals united in shared hatred, swearing to kill Homelander and avenge Ajak.
"Homelander doesn't know that Ajak is already dead."
"He'll definitely come again!"
"And we must be prepared for that."
"Phastos—we need the Uni-Mind."
Ikaris declared firmly.
…
Meanwhile, Alex knew absolutely nothing about what was happening on the Eternals' side.
He continued living his relaxed, leisurely life in Krakoa.
Until four days later.
"It's time."
Alex stood up, stepped onto his transparent surfboard, and whoosh—shot out of Krakoa.
"Alex… please succeed."
Watching his departing figure, Raven silently prayed from the bottom of her heart.
This was a matter of Earth's very survival.
Although Krakoa had already made preparations, she still didn't want things to come to that.
Now, all hope rested on Alex.
What neither Raven nor Alex realized was that this trip would be far more turbulent than expected.
Whoosh!
Alex streaked through the sky and quickly arrived at a remote, desolate mountain region.
This was exactly the place Ajak had agreed upon.
When they made the appointment, Ajak had explained that a special ritual needed to be prepared, so the location had to be somewhere completely isolated.
Alex didn't find that strange.
At most, he felt a faint sense of unease.
Because the person waiting for him here… wasn't Ajak.
It was Ikaris.
Could it be—
That Ajak had asked Ikaris to preside over the ritual?
That was possible.
Still, since Ajak hadn't told him in advance, Alex needed to confirm.
"It's you? Where's Ajak?"
Alex glanced at Ikaris and asked casually.
"Homelander!"
"As long as I'm here today, don't even think about meeting Arishem!"
Ikaris stared at Alex with an unquestionable tone.
Alex's brow immediately furrowed.
What the hell was going on?
"That's not what Ajak said last time."
Alex's voice sank.
Ikaris's words were deliberately suggestive.
This brief exchange perfectly reinforced the lie that Homelander was trying to reach Arishem through Ajak.
Hidden in the shadows, the other Eternals became even more convinced.
"You still dare mention Ajak—die!"
Fearing that more words would lead to mistakes, Ikaris didn't give Alex any chance to continue.
With a roar, he launched his attack.
Chi—!
From his eyes, two searing beams of heat vision blasted straight toward Alex.
"Heat vision?"
"What a joke—showing off in front of an expert."
Alex snorted coldly.
With a thought, two beams of heat vision fired back in response.
Although he had no idea what game Ikaris was playing—
Since the man had attacked him outright, Alex had no intention of holding back.
Chi—!
Chi—!
The next instant, the two sets of heat vision slammed violently into each other.
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