Chapter 443: Tiamut the Celestial
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on?"
"Is this some kind of cosplay thing?"
"What's the point of cosplaying Spider-Man? If you're gonna cosplay, you gotta go Iron Man!"
Ethan's return with a huge crowd of Spider-People caused a stir among Hell's Kitchen's residents.
It didn't draw too much attention, though. Hell's Kitchen had a lot of superheroes, after all.
Ethan quickly gathered all of Hell's Kitchen's superheroes at Fisk Tower for a war council on the Reincarnators. There were simply too many people to fit in the Lucky Dragon.
And while Ethan and the others were hurriedly drawing up their battle plans, another storm was quietly brewing.
The Eternals, the mysterious race that had always hidden behind the human world, were embroiled in an unprecedented argument.
At its center was the truth they had just learned from their leader, Ajak: the truth about their creation and their mission.
In the vast and boundless universe, once every billion-year cycle, a cosmic Celestial makes its awe-inspiring debut. They are the most exalted beings in the universe.
Arishem, the supreme Celestial, had used his limitless power to sow Celestial seeds into every corner of the universe. And Earth, this blue planet, had the honor of becoming the cradle of the Celestial Tiamut.
A Celestial's growth didn't come easily. It needed vast amounts of intelligent life energy to nourish it.
So from the very beginning, Arishem had carefully arranged three races to maintain this delicate balance.
The first race was the Deviants, who preyed on humans. Their existence was a huge threat to human development, and indirectly stood in the way of the Celestial's birth.
To correct that error, Arishem created the Eternals, gave them great power and wisdom, and sent them to Earth to eliminate the Deviant threat.
The third race was ordinary humans whose energy had not yet been activated. Today they were called mutants, holding limitless potential and the unknown within them.
When Earth's population reached a critical point, the Celestial Tiamut would begin absorbing the energy of every intelligent life form on the planet to complete its gestation and birth.
But that process would bring the planet's destruction and rebirth. It was an irreversible cycle under the Celestials' law.
In the Celestials' eyes, the end of one life was often the prelude to the birth of another. The new Celestial would have the power to create endless galaxies. The universe itself was a never-ending feast of energy exchange.
They could even reshape the sun, giving the world new light and warmth. This was what the world called the Emergence.
The Eternals, as key players in this cosmic drama, had one mission: to help the new Celestial complete this sacred task.
But after every Emergence, their memories were completely wiped and reset, as if nothing had ever happened, leaving only a deep emptiness and confusion behind.
"So we're not guardians at all. We don't exist to protect Earth, and we're not here to fight the so-called Deviants either." Gilgamesh, the one-punch man with Don Lee's face, spoke with anger and resentment. He slammed his fist into the hard ground. Dust flew, as if the earth itself were trembling, answering the fury in his heart.
"Watch your words, Gilgamesh!" Thena, the weapons master, spoke coldly, her voice like ice. She glared at Gilgamesh, her sharp eyes seeming to see straight into his heart. "We are carrying out our god's mission. This is our glory and our duty!"
Her words were full of unshakable conviction.
Gilgamesh normally did whatever Thena said, but right now his heart was full of doubt and discontent. Under her stern gaze, though, he could only lower his head in silence and say nothing more.
To put it bluntly, Gilgamesh was Thena's simp.
"Whatever. If Earth gets destroyed, it gets destroyed." Ikaris, whose arm Ethan had cut off, spoke with resentment and finality.
In his heart, destroying Earth didn't just mean ending everything. It meant getting rid of his enemy, Ethan. To him, that would be a release.
"How can you say that?" Sersi, the matter manipulator, sounded disappointed and angry. She had always loved living among humans and had long thought of Earth as her home.
Hearing Ikaris speak so coldly filled her with heartbreak and confusion. "We've built good lives here. This is our home too. How can you say something so heartless?"
The two of them had once been in love. Sersi had never imagined Ikaris could be so cold and heartless.
Sersi's eyes were full of disappointment in Ikaris. She had always been on guard against her people harming humans, and now that she knew the truth, she was desperate to stop the coming catastrophe.
"You care too much about these insects, Sersi," Ikaris sneered, his voice full of contempt and mockery.
"Besides, once Earth is gone, the Celestial will create a new universe and new life. Isn't that a rebirth for us too?"
The more Ikaris said, the more worked up he got. A mad light shone in his eyes, as if he could already see Earth destroyed and a new universe born.
Just then, Makkari, the speedster, saw the tension between the two and quickly stepped in to stop them.
But she was deaf and mute and couldn't put it into words. All she could do was sign frantically, hoping they'd calm down and not come to blows.
Druig, who had feelings for Makkari, hurried to help hold Ikaris back.
"Druig, you agree with me, don't you? Humans are nothing but insects." Ikaris looked at Druig. He figured this longtime radical among the Eternals would surely back him.
But this time Druig didn't speak. He didn't agree with Ikaris right away.
He just looked at Makkari tenderly.
He didn't care much about the deaths of humans or of Earth. But the memory reset was something he resisted with every fiber of his being.
He couldn't accept having his memories altered or erased at someone else's whim, especially his memories of Makkari.
Then the Eternals' resident brat, Sprite, joined the discussion.
He analyzed the situation in a calm, rational tone. "Whatever we choose, helping the Celestial be born is a responsibility we have to bear.
"Only when the Celestial truly awakens can the universe return to balance. If necessary, we'll even have to sacrifice this planet. After all, stopping the Celestial's rebirth would only cause a bigger catastrophe. Besides, do we even have the power to stop it?"
Sprite's words immediately drew fierce reactions from the Eternals present.
On one side, those in favor of the Celestial's rebirth, led by Sprite and Ikaris, were convinced it was necessary to preserve cosmic order.
On the other side, those against it, led by Sersi and Phastos, were convinced human lives were just as precious and shouldn't be sacrificed for the Celestial's rebirth.
The rest, like Gilgamesh, Thena and Druig, stayed neutral and silent.
Each side held its ground, and neither could convince the other. The whole scene was deadlocked, the atmosphere extremely tense.
Just then, Kingo, the heart of the Eternals, spoke up, and everyone stopped arguing.
"Everyone... why don't we hear what Ajak has to say?"
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