Arishem

"What’s going on?"

Old Tony’s transformation left everyone dumbfounded. Steve frowned and said, "I smell a conspiracy. The strongest Eternals seem to be nothing more than sacrifices."

"The strongest Eternals are just sacrifices?"

Everyone was stunned. Black Panther said, "That can’t be possible, can it? They’re ancient gods. Who would be so extravagant as to use ten ancient gods as sacrifices?"

"Of course their master, Arishem of the Celestial Group."

Strange said coldly, "If I’m not mistaken, He made preparations for both outcomes. Whether Thanos succeeds or fails, He can kill Iron Man."

"What a sinister Celestial Group."

Rocket cursed. At that moment, Falcon suddenly said, "Actually, this may not be a bad thing for us."

Everyone was startled. Winter Soldier said thoughtfully, "It really isn’t a bad thing. If Old Tony dies, the world will be at peace."

"Bucky! The Celestial Group is our enemy, while Old Tony is our ally."

Steve was somewhat displeased. At that moment, an enormous six-eyed phantom appeared in the sky and slowly said, "No, Tony Stark is not your ally. He is the enemy of you and this universe."

Everyone looked up at the enormous phantom. Sersi could not help crying out, "Arishem."

Steve asked solemnly, "Are you Arishem, the one who once treated us as food for juvenile Celestials?"

"I am Arishem of the Celestial Group."

Arishem said, "Treating you as food was a matter of the past. There is no need to discuss it. Let us speak only of the present. The Celestial Group has no intention of becoming enemies with you or the Blood God. We have only one goal: kill Iron Man.

"Next, so long as you do nothing and allow me to kill Iron Man, everything will end. The Celestial Group will never trouble your Earth again.

"Furthermore, I will pardon Earth’s Eternals and grant you complete freedom."

Quite a few people were tempted, especially the Eternals. They had always feared the Celestial Group, and being granted a pardon would be the best possible outcome for them.

As for Iron Man, they wished he would die. After all, Ajak and Ikaris had both died because of him.

Steve asked, "Why are you so determined to kill Old Tony?"

"Because he will endanger this universe."

Arishem answered, "As far as I know, you are dissatisfied with him as well. If I kill him, it is a win-win situation. You win, and the universe wins too."

The Super Heroes exchanged glances. Some were tempted, some hesitated, and some objected. One of them was Spider-Man, Peter Parker, who shouted, "Mr. Stark is a good man. We can’t send him to his death."

At that moment, Old Tony, still locked in a tug-of-war, shouted, "Arishem, everything I’ve done has been for this universe."

"No, everything you have done has been for Earth, not the universe."

Arishem said, "Iron Man, your plan is extremely dangerous. If it succeeds, the universe may very well be destroyed because of it. Therefore, we must kill you.

"This is not my will alone. It is the will of the universe’s highest authorities."

The universe’s highest authorities were the Living Tribunal, the Five Creator Gods, and the Celestial Group!

"I don’t know whether the universe will be destroyed because of this. I only know that no matter the price, I will make Earth escape its current fate."

Old Tony shouted angrily, "Even if you are lofty Celestials, you will never make me submit."

"I know. That is why I never intended to persuade you."

Arishem said, "I risked offending the Blood God to save Thanos because I hoped to use his hand to kill you. Even if that failed, the curse on the strongest Eternals would ensure your eternal damnation.

"Iron Man, the Infinity Stones on your body are restrained by the Death Mark. You cannot stop me."

At this point, Arishem turned his gaze back to the Super Heroes and asked, "I have said all that needs to be said. What is your answer?

"If you agree, everyone will be happy. If you do not, then we can only go to war."

Everyone looked at one another. After thinking for a moment, Falcon said, "How about we vote?"

Steve shook his head. "We can’t vote on something like this. I firmly oppose it. Old Tony may have made mistakes, but he does not deserve to die. Besides, the Celestial Group is our enemy. If we compromise, then what were all our previous battles for?"

Tony, Spider-Man, Rhodey, Dr. Banner, and the others stood with Steve, while Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Black Panther leaned more toward Arishem.

"Don’t overthink it. Leave this sort of thing to the Blood God."

Black Widow said lazily, "If he says fight, we fight. If he says don’t fight, we don’t fight."

A smart woman knew how to pass the buck!

"What you said… actually makes a lot of sense."

Thor and Captain Marvel nodded. "Agreed. Let the Blood God decide."

"We will obey God’s orders completely."

Sersi and the other Eternals said in unison. It was worth mentioning that the concept crystals of S Kingo and S Druig had already been stolen by Phastos, and Kingo and Druig were currently merging.

"Fine."

Everyone had great faith in the Blood God and nodded one after another. Arishem said, "Your decision does not surprise me. Whether there is war or peace, it will all be decided by the Blood God."

At that moment, Star-Lord thought of something and asked Arishem, "If we agree, what will happen to Thanos?"

Arishem said, "If you agree, Thanos will die at the hands of the Blood God."

"Celestial Group!"

In the Mind Sea, Thanos heard those words and could not help cursing. Damn Celestial Group, they had actually betrayed him—the situation on Golden Rice Star had always been visible from the Mind Sea.

"The Celestial Group has finally shown itself."

Wang Bert snorted and asked Death, "Was this your arrangement?"

"No. I have been sleeping. The universe is currently ruled by the Celestial Group."

Death shook Her head. "It is not yet time for me to appear."

Wang Bert sneered. "The Death Mark on Old Tony has something to do with you."

"That is a rule of the universe. Arishem sacrificed ten ancient gods to Death, and Death automatically granted Him a Death Mark in return."

Death answered, "Sacrificing ten ancient gods at once is unprecedented since the birth of the universe. If Old Tony did not possess the Infinity Stones, he would have long since died beyond death. Even the traces of his existence would have been erased."

"It really is quite the grand gesture."

Wang Bert nodded in agreement, then asked with a half-smile, "If I choose no, what will you do? Team up with Thanos against me?"

A light immediately flashed in Thanos’s eyes. It seemed he still had a slim chance of survival.

Death shook Her head and said, "I told you, it is not yet time for me to appear. If you refuse, I will forcibly interrupt your summoning of me and return to the depths of the universe.

"At that point, Thanos will regain his freedom. As for what happens afterward, you can settle it yourselves.

"If you agree, I will do everything in my power to help you kill Thanos and end all of this."

Thanos clenched his teeth in secret. These bastards were treating him entirely as a tool—what he did not know was that he had always been a tool.

"Release Thanos and let him tie me down. Then Arishem and the Super Heroes will go to war and forcibly kill Old Tony."

Wang Bert laughed. "You really have quite the plan."

"Blood God, Arishem was right earlier. This is a win-win situation. You came to this universe to stop Iron Man, did you not?"

Death said, "So long as Iron Man dies, everything will return to peace, and you will be able to return to your own universe."

Wang Bert asked, "You said before that you had something to tell me. This is what it was, right?"

"Yes, this universe does not welcome you."

Death nodded. "We hope you will leave and never return. This universe has its own destiny."

"You hope? A win-win situation?"

Wang Bert laughed again. "Are you trying to tell me how to do things?"

As Wang Bert laughed, the entire sea became as still as a mirror. Every creature in the Mind Sea had been frightened stiff and did not dare move.

In fact, it was not only those creatures. Even Thanos and Death felt a chill in their hearts. The Blood God’s fury was enough to terrify even them, because this was the Blood God.

Death looked at Wang Bert and said, "Blood God, this is not your universe."

"But I can destroy this universe."

Wang Bert said coldly, "You think you can threaten me? Death, get back to the depths of the universe. Once I finish dealing with this mess, my true body will descend in person and have a proper talk with you Five Creator Gods.

"In the Main Universe, I was too familiar with the Living Tribunal and the Five Creator Gods to lay hands on them. But in this universe, I will have no such reservations. In fact, I have long wanted to meet the Living Tribunal."

"Arishem truly is a fool. How could someone like you ever compromise?"

Death sighed, and Her body rapidly dissipated. She was clearly preparing to leave.

Wang Bert waved through the air, severing Death’s head from Her body. Then, vast quantities of seawater flew up from the surface and poured ceaselessly into Death’s head.

As for Death’s body, since Wang Bert did not stop it, it quickly dissipated into the air. Thanos was overjoyed at the sight and struggled frantically. The black threads around his body shattered one after another. Before long, he would regain his freedom.

Death’s head frowned deeply and asked, "Blood God, what are you trying to do?"

"You come when you want and leave when you want. Do you think this is an amusement park? Stay put. I’ll still need you later."

Wang Bert sneered. "Besides, I promised Thanos that I would let you witness his death. I, Bert Wang, never break my word."

Death sighed helplessly but said nothing more, because there was no point. This Blood God from the Main Universe was exceptionally reckless.

As Thanos shattered the threads around his body, he remained wary of Wang Bert’s attacks. Yet to his surprise, Wang Bert showed no intention of attacking at all and continued evolving his Little Universe.

Before he finishes evolving it, I will definitely regain my freedom. What exactly is he doing?

Thanos frowned in deep thought. Everything the Blood God did surely carried hidden meaning. If he could not see through it, he would fall into the Blood God’s trap again, just as before.

Anyone who underestimated the Blood God would pay the price.

On Golden Rice Star, Arishem sighed and said, "The Blood God has chosen resistance. In that case, we can only go to war."

"It was to be expected. That man became a Creator God in only a few years. The word compromise does not exist in his dictionary."

Tony said matter-of-factly, "By the way, anyone who threatens him has never ended well."

"You never know unless you try."

Arishem shook His head and waved a hand. Dense armies appeared across the ground—Eternal armies.

That was right, Eternal armies. They were arranged in ten formations. The far-left formation was filled entirely with Ikarises, the second from the left entirely with Makkaris, and so on. The far-right formation was filled with Kingos. Furthermore, each formation contained at least ten thousand people.

It was worth mentioning that these Eternals wore vacant expressions. One look was enough to tell they were being controlled.

Tony complained, "That many Eternals? Aren’t Eternals a little too cheap?"

"I feel the same way."

Tina mocked herself, "I once thought I was unique. Now I know there are at least tens of thousands of me."

Star-Lord said, "That’s a good thing. It means you have plenty of relatives. Though I have no idea how you’ll divide the inheritance."

"There are indeed many Eternals, but only we are ancient god-level Eternals now."

Phastos walked over with the others. Eight ancient god-level Eternals stood face-to-face with an army of hundreds of thousands of Eternals—among Earth’s Eternals, Ikaris and Ajak had died in battle, leaving only eight. In addition, with the Lokis’ help, Gilgamesh had already successfully dealt with S Gilgamesh.

"Iron Man, the Blood God asked me to turn Ikaris into an ancient god-level crystal and give it to you. You decide what to do with it."

Sersi remembered something and transmitted her voice to Tony by vibrating the air. Tony was overjoyed when he heard this. "You should have said so earlier. This was the only material I was missing."

After saying that, Tony flew before Ikaris’s crystal and fused a mass of golden liquid into it. The crystal rapidly changed, and Tony’s eyes shone brightly. His Anti-Iron Man Armor was finally about to take shape.

This Anti-Iron Man Armor would be ancient god-level armor. Haha, Tony Stark was about to become an ancient god-level existence. Once he returned to the Main Universe, who would dare say he was not the smartest person in the universe? "Tony, whatever you’re doing, hurry up."

Steve took a deep breath, raised his shield, and shouted, "Avengers, assemble! The objective of this battle is to defeat Arishem of the Celestial Group!"

"Although I don’t like Old Tony, I’m very interested in defeating the Celestial Group."

Thor laughed as he returned to his peak, burly form. At this point, there was no need to keep pretending.

"You look much better like that."

Captain Marvel glanced at Thor, then said, "Let me see what is so remarkable about the Celestial Group. They do not get to decide the universe’s fate."

Rocket shouted excitedly, "Fighting the Celestial Group? This is enough for me to brag about for the rest of my life."

The others were equally filled with fighting spirit. Earth’s Super Heroes had never feared any enemy, not even the Celestial Group.

Old Tony was somewhat moved by the sight, but he did not regret what he had done, because he was right. The age of Super Heroes had to end. Only then could Earth and the universe return to peace.

"Earth truly is blessed with outstanding people."

Looking at the Super Heroes standing ready for battle, Arishem shook His head. His true body stepped onto Golden Rice Star, and His enormous form blocked out even the sunlight. The Farmers trembled in fear and did not dare look at Arishem.

Arishem lowered His head to look at the eight Earth Eternals and said, "Your memories are very interesting. Once I defeat you, I will reclaim them."

Happy Lantern Festival, everyone. Also, it turns out laziness really is addictive.