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Chapter 843: I Want the Head
The Grand Judge initially had no desire to involve himself in such a tedious affair.
Yes, in the eyes of the Grand Judge, the Great War between the Celestials and the New Gods—a conflict that would likely evolve into a new, prolonged war even more tragic than the one that annihilated the Aspirants—was nothing more than an utterly boring matter.
The Celestials? The Grand Judge didn't particularly care about the other nine members of the Top Ten Celestials.
The New Gods? The Grand Judge had taken notice of troublesome beings like the One-Above-All, but considering his own terrifying backer, a mere One-Above-All was beneath his notice. After all, even the Omni-Sphere World, the Sphere of the Gods, and the like were just little trinkets that could be destroyed and reshaped with ease.
The Grand Judge, head of the Top Ten Celestials and the most mysterious of them all, had another, secret identity: OAA's adjutant.
Not the Celestial known as OAA, the leader of the Fourth Host, but the true OAA—the ultimate conceptual entity that symbolized all finality, encompassing all that is known and unknown, meaningful and meaningless in existence.
Assisting OAA was the Grand Judge's true purpose, not helping the Celestials with their childish, boring games.
An unknown flame burned atop his smokestack-like head, setting the Grand Judge apart from the other Celestials. His towering, dark-red body emerged from a churning ball of orange, flowing light. First came the flaming smokestack head, followed by a body with red patterns flowing across its surface like blood vessels. Finally, his legs emerged one after the other, stepping out of the ball of light with ease.
Even the Speed Force Wall could not stop this mysterious, supreme Celestial. His entire being was suffused with an aura that even Tony couldn't comprehend.
The Destroyer Celestial and the other Celestials seemed invigorated. They looked ready to speak—one could guess with their toes that they were about to tattle and try to pull the Grand Judge in to kill Tony.
Tony's expression flickered as he suppressed the shock in his eyes.
"The comics say this Grand Judge's duty is to pass judgment, and his identity as OAA's adjutant is only mentioned in passing, making him extremely mysterious..." Tony thought to himself, his expression turning incredibly solemn.
It was hard to say how strong a being on the cusp of Level Ten was, but in terms of their responsibilities and perspective, they were absolutely terrifying. Tony had every reason to suspect that this Grand Judge had been to the Void beyond the Source Wall and knew secrets that could shake the Sphere of the Gods to its core.
Tony's gaze deepened as he looked at the head of the Top Ten Celestials, who had effortlessly broken through the Speed Force Wall and brought it to a standstill just by standing there. He felt... eager to try?
The value of this Celestial was immense, astonishingly so!
Even Tony felt a trace of greed rise within him, though he hid it exceptionally well. If he could Animate this Celestial, he could glimpse higher levels of power and paths forward... He wouldn't be so clueless about how to achieve his next promotion.
Tony had long prepared himself mentally to be stuck at Level Eight until the end of time.
Beings like the Five Great Gods (excluding Oblivion), Darkseid, Highfather, and others had lived for countless years, yet weren't they still at Level Eight? The leap from Level Eight to Quasi-Ninth Level, and then to Level Nine, was difficult—far too difficult.
At the very least, Tony had no idea how to do it, other than brute-forcing his way up with unique Level Nine artifacts like the Heart of the Universe. And he couldn't just find something as ridiculously powerful as the Heart of the Universe. After all, a certain Doppelgänger Thanos had obtained it and managed to instantly kill the Living Tribunal in a single move—an unbelievable feat of strength.
But if he could just catch a tiny glimpse of OAA through the Grand Judge...
"Human, I can feel your burgeoning ambition. It is quite astonishing, but you lack the strength and vision to match it," the Grand Judge said. He had subdued the Speed Force Wall and paused for a moment, seemingly having reached an agreement with it in an instant.
Amidst a rumbling tremor, the Speed Force Wall fell into a temporary silence, and its collective consciousness vanished.
The Grand Judge looked down at Tony, his cold voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation as he spoke.
Tony's heart pounded, but he didn't let it show. He simply looked at the Grand Judge calmly and said nonchalantly, "Instead of 'ambition,' I prefer to call it a 'dream'."
The Grand Judge fell silent, seemingly rendered speechless by Tony's shameless remark.
After a long moment, he spoke: "This matter ends here!"
The Destroyer Celestial suddenly looked up. "Grand Judge, the existence of the New God disrupts the balance of the Multiverse! He is a virus threatening the Omni-Sphere World!"
The Grand Judge responded indifferently, "Are the New Gods gods from the Sphere of the Gods?"
The Destroyer Celestial froze.
The Grand Judge continued, "No, he is not. Therefore, he is not in violation. Furthermore, the matter of the New God is not within the Celestials' domain. That is the task of the Speed Force Wall."
The Destroyer Celestial said angrily, "He has the Allspark! He can control the Celestials!"
Tony smirked mockingly. "The Monitors have a supreme god who could create countless deities capable of destroying the Celestials by pulling out a single thigh hair. The Watchers have a powerful artifact that a mortal could use to slaughter you into dust. The Sphere of the Gods has the Miracle Wishing Machine, which could wipe out the entire host of Celestials with a single sentence... These are all far more dangerous. Go on, hurry up and get rid of them. The Speed Force Wall is also in your way, so go destroy the Speed Force while you're at it."
"Greed isn't a sin, but being greedy while shamelessly denying it is just disgusting."
Tony's voice dripped with sarcasm, and he sneered relentlessly.
The Destroyer Celestial shot him a look filled with killing intent before turning to the Grand Judge and speaking rapidly, "The duty of the Celestials is to judge whether the life they created is worthy of continued existence... I judge that the New God is not worthy! Tony is not worthy of living any longer!"
"I also judge that the Destroyer Celestial is no longer worthy of living. It would be better for him to become my toy and make a greater contribution to maintaining peace in the Multiverse," Tony said with a straight face.
The Beyonder, The Controller, and The Seeker all fell silent, awaiting the Grand Judge's verdict.
"I have already said, this matter ends here!"
"Your conflict has caused instability throughout the Multiverse. Billions of lives have died because of you, and countless universes have been destroyed."
"Everything will be restored to its original state. Destroyer, The Beyonder, The Controller, The Seeker, Collector, I sentence you..."
"Not the Collector. He is my spoil of war!" Tony interrupted coldly.
The Destroyer Celestial and the others glared at him, their killing intent surging.
"The Celestials attacked me without provocation, starting this long war between us. That is the original sin!" Tony snorted.
The Grand Judge said, "The Collector is a high-ranking member of the Celestials. He cannot die."
"I won't kill him, nor will I continue to reshape his will. But you can forget about taking his head. I'm going to hang it on my planet for a million years! Did you really think I was an easy target?!"
Tony's sharp gaze swept over the Destroyer Celestial and the others before finally landing on the Grand Judge.
"The Celestials were the ones who declared war. Now that you've been defeated, you're the ones demanding a truce. Where in the world can you find such a good deal? Wouldn't you agree, Your Excellency, the Grand Judge?" Tony said with a savage grin.
(end of chapter)
The Grand Judge initially had no desire to involve himself in such a tedious affair.
Yes, in the eyes of the Grand Judge, the Great War between the Celestials and the New Gods—a conflict that would likely evolve into a new, prolonged war even more tragic than the one that annihilated the Aspirants—was nothing more than an utterly boring matter.
The Celestials? The Grand Judge didn't particularly care about the other nine members of the Top Ten Celestials.
The New Gods? The Grand Judge had taken notice of troublesome beings like the One-Above-All, but considering his own terrifying backer, a mere One-Above-All was beneath his notice. After all, even the Omni-Sphere World, the Sphere of the Gods, and the like were just little trinkets that could be destroyed and reshaped with ease.
The Grand Judge, head of the Top Ten Celestials and the most mysterious of them all, had another, secret identity: OAA's adjutant.
Not the Celestial known as OAA, the leader of the Fourth Host, but the true OAA—the ultimate conceptual entity that symbolized all finality, encompassing all that is known and unknown, meaningful and meaningless in existence.
Assisting OAA was the Grand Judge's true purpose, not helping the Celestials with their childish, boring games.
An unknown flame burned atop his smokestack-like head, setting the Grand Judge apart from the other Celestials. His towering, dark-red body emerged from a churning ball of orange, flowing light. First came the flaming smokestack head, followed by a body with red patterns flowing across its surface like blood vessels. Finally, his legs emerged one after the other, stepping out of the ball of light with ease.
Even the Speed Force Wall could not stop this mysterious, supreme Celestial. His entire being was suffused with an aura that even Tony couldn't comprehend.
The Destroyer Celestial and the other Celestials seemed invigorated. They looked ready to speak—one could guess with their toes that they were about to tattle and try to pull the Grand Judge in to kill Tony.
Tony's expression flickered as he suppressed the shock in his eyes.
"The comics say this Grand Judge's duty is to pass judgment, and his identity as OAA's adjutant is only mentioned in passing, making him extremely mysterious..." Tony thought to himself, his expression turning incredibly solemn.
It was hard to say how strong a being on the cusp of Level Ten was, but in terms of their responsibilities and perspective, they were absolutely terrifying. Tony had every reason to suspect that this Grand Judge had been to the Void beyond the Source Wall and knew secrets that could shake the Sphere of the Gods to its core.
Tony's gaze deepened as he looked at the head of the Top Ten Celestials, who had effortlessly broken through the Speed Force Wall and brought it to a standstill just by standing there. He felt... eager to try?
The value of this Celestial was immense, astonishingly so!
Even Tony felt a trace of greed rise within him, though he hid it exceptionally well. If he could Animate this Celestial, he could glimpse higher levels of power and paths forward... He wouldn't be so clueless about how to achieve his next promotion.
Tony had long prepared himself mentally to be stuck at Level Eight until the end of time.
Beings like the Five Great Gods (excluding Oblivion), Darkseid, Highfather, and others had lived for countless years, yet weren't they still at Level Eight? The leap from Level Eight to Quasi-Ninth Level, and then to Level Nine, was difficult—far too difficult.
At the very least, Tony had no idea how to do it, other than brute-forcing his way up with unique Level Nine artifacts like the Heart of the Universe. And he couldn't just find something as ridiculously powerful as the Heart of the Universe. After all, a certain Doppelgänger Thanos had obtained it and managed to instantly kill the Living Tribunal in a single move—an unbelievable feat of strength.
But if he could just catch a tiny glimpse of OAA through the Grand Judge...
"Human, I can feel your burgeoning ambition. It is quite astonishing, but you lack the strength and vision to match it," the Grand Judge said. He had subdued the Speed Force Wall and paused for a moment, seemingly having reached an agreement with it in an instant.
Amidst a rumbling tremor, the Speed Force Wall fell into a temporary silence, and its collective consciousness vanished.
The Grand Judge looked down at Tony, his cold voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation as he spoke.
Tony's heart pounded, but he didn't let it show. He simply looked at the Grand Judge calmly and said nonchalantly, "Instead of 'ambition,' I prefer to call it a 'dream'."
The Grand Judge fell silent, seemingly rendered speechless by Tony's shameless remark.
After a long moment, he spoke: "This matter ends here!"
The Destroyer Celestial suddenly looked up. "Grand Judge, the existence of the New God disrupts the balance of the Multiverse! He is a virus threatening the Omni-Sphere World!"
The Grand Judge responded indifferently, "Are the New Gods gods from the Sphere of the Gods?"
The Destroyer Celestial froze.
The Grand Judge continued, "No, he is not. Therefore, he is not in violation. Furthermore, the matter of the New God is not within the Celestials' domain. That is the task of the Speed Force Wall."
The Destroyer Celestial said angrily, "He has the Allspark! He can control the Celestials!"
Tony smirked mockingly. "The Monitors have a supreme god who could create countless deities capable of destroying the Celestials by pulling out a single thigh hair. The Watchers have a powerful artifact that a mortal could use to slaughter you into dust. The Sphere of the Gods has the Miracle Wishing Machine, which could wipe out the entire host of Celestials with a single sentence... These are all far more dangerous. Go on, hurry up and get rid of them. The Speed Force Wall is also in your way, so go destroy the Speed Force while you're at it."
"Greed isn't a sin, but being greedy while shamelessly denying it is just disgusting."
Tony's voice dripped with sarcasm, and he sneered relentlessly.
The Destroyer Celestial shot him a look filled with killing intent before turning to the Grand Judge and speaking rapidly, "The duty of the Celestials is to judge whether the life they created is worthy of continued existence... I judge that the New God is not worthy! Tony is not worthy of living any longer!"
"I also judge that the Destroyer Celestial is no longer worthy of living. It would be better for him to become my toy and make a greater contribution to maintaining peace in the Multiverse," Tony said with a straight face.
The Beyonder, The Controller, and The Seeker all fell silent, awaiting the Grand Judge's verdict.
"I have already said, this matter ends here!"
"Your conflict has caused instability throughout the Multiverse. Billions of lives have died because of you, and countless universes have been destroyed."
"Everything will be restored to its original state. Destroyer, The Beyonder, The Controller, The Seeker, Collector, I sentence you..."
"Not the Collector. He is my spoil of war!" Tony interrupted coldly.
The Destroyer Celestial and the others glared at him, their killing intent surging.
"The Celestials attacked me without provocation, starting this long war between us. That is the original sin!" Tony snorted.
The Grand Judge said, "The Collector is a high-ranking member of the Celestials. He cannot die."
"I won't kill him, nor will I continue to reshape his will. But you can forget about taking his head. I'm going to hang it on my planet for a million years! Did you really think I was an easy target?!"
Tony's sharp gaze swept over the Destroyer Celestial and the others before finally landing on the Grand Judge.
"The Celestials were the ones who declared war. Now that you've been defeated, you're the ones demanding a truce. Where in the world can you find such a good deal? Wouldn't you agree, Your Excellency, the Grand Judge?" Tony said with a savage grin.
(end of chapter)
