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Chapter 814: The Arrival of the Celestials: OAA
Thirteen colossal figures descended upon Earth, sparking panic across the entire planet.
Many Earthlings who had experienced the Blackest Night knew, to some extent, the terror of the Final Arbiter Lord. But now, thirteen of these strangely shaped monsters had arrived all at once!
This time, they didn't have the aid of the Lantern Rings!
The thirteen figures swiftly flew towards different parts of Earth, emitting strange rays of light from their eyes as they scanned all life on the planet, with a focus on Humans.
It wasn't just their genetic code; their examination included the civilization Humans had built—their values, worldviews, morals, laws, economy, politics—everything was subject to review.
The twenty thousand years of history since the extermination of the Deviants was now being frantically collected by the thirteen Celestials.
Numerous superheroes quickly assembled. Bracing themselves, they risked approaching these Celestials, but the Celestials seemed uninterested, ignoring them completely to focus on their activities on Earth.
"Leave this place! This is not your planet!"
"Whatever your purpose for coming to Earth, leave immediately!"
The superheroes continued their attempts to communicate, but they were utterly ignored.
Stephen watched the Celestials with a grim expression, his face ashen.
If anyone understood the Celestials best, it was Stephen. The records in Kamar-Taj chronicled the Great War between the Celestials and the various pantheons a thousand years ago. The information left behind by the Ancient One contained detailed descriptions of these off-world visitors.
"These Ancient Celestials are not necessarily benevolent. They only care whether the development of Humans aligns with their intentions," Stephen warned all the superheroes.
"Where are Hawkman and Hawkgirl? We desperately need the superheroes who wear the White Lantern Rings!"
"We can't contact them. It seems they've entered another world to carry out a mission given to them by the Life Entity."
"So we can only rely on ourselves? Will the Life Entity help us?"
"No one knows where the Life Entity has gone."
Tony immediately shared his research on the Final Arbiter Lord with everyone, revealing the powerful nature of the lifeform known as the Celestials.
"The Final Arbiter Lord is very different from the thirteen who just descended on Earth. These thirteen seem even more terrifying than the Final Arbiter Lord. The energy detector I developed can't even find an upper limit to their energy levels!"
The group of superheroes closely monitored the thirteen Celestials, preparing for the worst.
Tony had already prepared for the worst, ready at a moment's notice to activate the half-modified Final Arbiter Lord—and calling it 'half' was an overstatement. It was barely mobile. Piloting that behemoth out there now would be a suicide mission.
The thirteen Celestials roamed across Earth, their massive bodies moving without restraint, recording all information about the Earthlings and conducting a comprehensive evaluation.
As vast amounts of information converged, the thirteen Celestials communicated using their unique divine language.
"On this planet, the mutation genes have been almost completely suppressed by medication."
"There are very few mutants."
"The mutants on Earth were all taken to a new planet by the New God."
The One-Above-All was silent for a moment before speaking indifferently, "This planet holds little value, and there is nothing noteworthy about this group of Mortals. We will go to Cybertron to judge the Earthlings there."
"That will lead to war..."
"No Singular God would permit outsiders to probe their subjects at will..."
The One-Above-All interrupted, "We will not recklessly provoke a war, but anyone who attempts to challenge our authority will face the wrath of the Celestials. Even if he is a Singular God, he must show proper respect and reverence to his Creator."
In the One-Above-All's view, without them, there would be no Tony. Even though Tony was a Singular God, unique in the universe, and had long since transcended the specifications of a 'test subject' and shed all traces of the Celestials' experiments, it did not change the reality that they had created him!
Some of the Celestials voiced their objections, but it was clear they could not stop the One-Above-All and could only obey in silence.
Although the twelve of them were all high-ranking judges, they were still far from the One-Above-All's level. They had to obey the One-Above-All's commands.
The thirteen figures shot up into the sky, speeding towards the Centaurus arm, leaving the Earthlings with nothing but a shadow so powerful it was suffocating...
No one wanted to face these so-called 'gods' who held the absolute power of life and death.
...
Cybertron.
Numerous powerhouses were already prepared, waiting coldly for the Celestials' decision. They would either choose peaceful coexistence or fight a blood war to the end, until one side was completely defeated.
In a magnificent hall, the High Council convened.
All those whose power had reached the level of Demigod, or who held leadership positions in critical departments, had gathered here. Every time the High Council was convened, it was to make a collective decision on a major event that would affect the future of the Cybertronian Civilization.
"The Celestials have 1,256 official members. At minimum, every Celestial possesses power at the peak of Level Seven. By a conservative estimate, those with the power of a God-King like Odin or Zeus wouldn't even qualify to be ranked in their official roster."
"What we must pay most attention to are the ten super-Celestials who stand at the apex of the Multiverse. However, none of them came this time. They only dispatched the one ranked eleventh, the One-Above-All."
"The Fourth Host, which crushed the various pantheons a thousand years ago, was personally led by this very One-Above-All. But it's obvious that if we clash with them, whether the One-Above-All is killed in battle or forced to retreat, it will alarm the ten strongest Celestials."
Tony emotionlessly recounted the information he knew about the Celestials.
Tony had lifted a part of the veil of mystery surrounding the Celestials, but what he revealed was already enough to make many in the Council frown.
Just the peak Level Seven members alone numbered 1,256. All the Demigods on Cybertron combined didn't even amount to a tenth of their top-tier Level Seven beings...
And that's not even counting the Celestials not qualified to be on the official roster; their numbers would be astronomical.
Strictly speaking, the number of Celestials is immense, and they can create more cannon fodder Celestials at any time.
If the Celestials truly only had a thousand or so members, they would have been wiped out long ago. In the Multiverse, vast numbers of Celestials of all types are being killed at every moment. A mere thousand wouldn't be nearly enough to be killed; they'd be worn down and annihilated through attrition.
What made Tony even more wary were the ten at the very top: Arishem the Judge, the Sleeping Celestial, the Destroyer Celestial, and so on. Each of them started at Level Eight. Among them, Asero could reliably defeat Eternity, and the strongest, the Sleeping Celestial, was suspected to be at the Quasi-Ninth Level...
Unless absolutely necessary, Tony was unwilling to enter into an all-out conflict with the Celestials.
He didn't have the luxury of an ordinary superhero, who could kill a few Celestials for sport without the Celestials taking it seriously.
Because Tony was a Singular God and an Earthling, he was destined to be inextricably linked with the Celestials.
(end of chapter)
Thirteen colossal figures descended upon Earth, sparking panic across the entire planet.
Many Earthlings who had experienced the Blackest Night knew, to some extent, the terror of the Final Arbiter Lord. But now, thirteen of these strangely shaped monsters had arrived all at once!
This time, they didn't have the aid of the Lantern Rings!
The thirteen figures swiftly flew towards different parts of Earth, emitting strange rays of light from their eyes as they scanned all life on the planet, with a focus on Humans.
It wasn't just their genetic code; their examination included the civilization Humans had built—their values, worldviews, morals, laws, economy, politics—everything was subject to review.
The twenty thousand years of history since the extermination of the Deviants was now being frantically collected by the thirteen Celestials.
Numerous superheroes quickly assembled. Bracing themselves, they risked approaching these Celestials, but the Celestials seemed uninterested, ignoring them completely to focus on their activities on Earth.
"Leave this place! This is not your planet!"
"Whatever your purpose for coming to Earth, leave immediately!"
The superheroes continued their attempts to communicate, but they were utterly ignored.
Stephen watched the Celestials with a grim expression, his face ashen.
If anyone understood the Celestials best, it was Stephen. The records in Kamar-Taj chronicled the Great War between the Celestials and the various pantheons a thousand years ago. The information left behind by the Ancient One contained detailed descriptions of these off-world visitors.
"These Ancient Celestials are not necessarily benevolent. They only care whether the development of Humans aligns with their intentions," Stephen warned all the superheroes.
"Where are Hawkman and Hawkgirl? We desperately need the superheroes who wear the White Lantern Rings!"
"We can't contact them. It seems they've entered another world to carry out a mission given to them by the Life Entity."
"So we can only rely on ourselves? Will the Life Entity help us?"
"No one knows where the Life Entity has gone."
Tony immediately shared his research on the Final Arbiter Lord with everyone, revealing the powerful nature of the lifeform known as the Celestials.
"The Final Arbiter Lord is very different from the thirteen who just descended on Earth. These thirteen seem even more terrifying than the Final Arbiter Lord. The energy detector I developed can't even find an upper limit to their energy levels!"
The group of superheroes closely monitored the thirteen Celestials, preparing for the worst.
Tony had already prepared for the worst, ready at a moment's notice to activate the half-modified Final Arbiter Lord—and calling it 'half' was an overstatement. It was barely mobile. Piloting that behemoth out there now would be a suicide mission.
The thirteen Celestials roamed across Earth, their massive bodies moving without restraint, recording all information about the Earthlings and conducting a comprehensive evaluation.
As vast amounts of information converged, the thirteen Celestials communicated using their unique divine language.
"On this planet, the mutation genes have been almost completely suppressed by medication."
"There are very few mutants."
"The mutants on Earth were all taken to a new planet by the New God."
The One-Above-All was silent for a moment before speaking indifferently, "This planet holds little value, and there is nothing noteworthy about this group of Mortals. We will go to Cybertron to judge the Earthlings there."
"That will lead to war..."
"No Singular God would permit outsiders to probe their subjects at will..."
The One-Above-All interrupted, "We will not recklessly provoke a war, but anyone who attempts to challenge our authority will face the wrath of the Celestials. Even if he is a Singular God, he must show proper respect and reverence to his Creator."
In the One-Above-All's view, without them, there would be no Tony. Even though Tony was a Singular God, unique in the universe, and had long since transcended the specifications of a 'test subject' and shed all traces of the Celestials' experiments, it did not change the reality that they had created him!
Some of the Celestials voiced their objections, but it was clear they could not stop the One-Above-All and could only obey in silence.
Although the twelve of them were all high-ranking judges, they were still far from the One-Above-All's level. They had to obey the One-Above-All's commands.
The thirteen figures shot up into the sky, speeding towards the Centaurus arm, leaving the Earthlings with nothing but a shadow so powerful it was suffocating...
No one wanted to face these so-called 'gods' who held the absolute power of life and death.
...
Cybertron.
Numerous powerhouses were already prepared, waiting coldly for the Celestials' decision. They would either choose peaceful coexistence or fight a blood war to the end, until one side was completely defeated.
In a magnificent hall, the High Council convened.
All those whose power had reached the level of Demigod, or who held leadership positions in critical departments, had gathered here. Every time the High Council was convened, it was to make a collective decision on a major event that would affect the future of the Cybertronian Civilization.
"The Celestials have 1,256 official members. At minimum, every Celestial possesses power at the peak of Level Seven. By a conservative estimate, those with the power of a God-King like Odin or Zeus wouldn't even qualify to be ranked in their official roster."
"What we must pay most attention to are the ten super-Celestials who stand at the apex of the Multiverse. However, none of them came this time. They only dispatched the one ranked eleventh, the One-Above-All."
"The Fourth Host, which crushed the various pantheons a thousand years ago, was personally led by this very One-Above-All. But it's obvious that if we clash with them, whether the One-Above-All is killed in battle or forced to retreat, it will alarm the ten strongest Celestials."
Tony emotionlessly recounted the information he knew about the Celestials.
Tony had lifted a part of the veil of mystery surrounding the Celestials, but what he revealed was already enough to make many in the Council frown.
Just the peak Level Seven members alone numbered 1,256. All the Demigods on Cybertron combined didn't even amount to a tenth of their top-tier Level Seven beings...
And that's not even counting the Celestials not qualified to be on the official roster; their numbers would be astronomical.
Strictly speaking, the number of Celestials is immense, and they can create more cannon fodder Celestials at any time.
If the Celestials truly only had a thousand or so members, they would have been wiped out long ago. In the Multiverse, vast numbers of Celestials of all types are being killed at every moment. A mere thousand wouldn't be nearly enough to be killed; they'd be worn down and annihilated through attrition.
What made Tony even more wary were the ten at the very top: Arishem the Judge, the Sleeping Celestial, the Destroyer Celestial, and so on. Each of them started at Level Eight. Among them, Asero could reliably defeat Eternity, and the strongest, the Sleeping Celestial, was suspected to be at the Quasi-Ninth Level...
Unless absolutely necessary, Tony was unwilling to enter into an all-out conflict with the Celestials.
He didn't have the luxury of an ordinary superhero, who could kill a few Celestials for sport without the Celestials taking it seriously.
Because Tony was a Singular God and an Earthling, he was destined to be inextricably linked with the Celestials.
(end of chapter)
