CHAPTER 146

[Odin Borson, The Allfather POV]

So it has already begun. 

"I see it has started." I muttered to myself in the empty throne room. 

I was half of the mind to go down there myself and stop what that human was doing but… 

Energy flowed from me, and using my connection with the Odinforce and Yggdrasil, I erected a barrier that covered the area around the man, blocking any leakage of cosmic energy from him that was projected towards the wider universe. 

"I see you made a decision." I saw the astral form of the Sorcerer Supreme which made me scoff. 

"I still wonder if I made the right choice."

"Well, if it is any consolation then you are not alone in that thinking." She said and we both descended into silence, watching what was happening below. 

"This is something that has never been done. How do you think they would react?" She asked me.

I knew exactly who she was talking about. 

The Celestials. 

Overwatchers of the multiverse. 

They were the Judge, Jury and Executioner of every universe out there. How would they react indeed? 

"They will have their hands full." I burst out into laughter as I thought about what they would do in the ensuing chaos. 

They could and would not waste their time coming for the ignorant fool who fused with an Infinity Stone. 

I stopped my laughter because I knew that it was the same reason why the Celestials would not come for the human that I should worry about. 

Beings that even Celestials are wary of would once more roam the universe. Nowhere would be safe. 

"Why do I feel like I just made a terrible mistake?" Even with saying that, I knew there was nothing I could do unless I wanted to break through infinite space all in order to kill the human which was something I don't think I can do. 

"The time is here." 

I grunted at her reminder and looked into the wider universe and then I saw it. 

The phantom crack that was not visible to mortal eyes started appearing in different places in the universe. 

This was the result of the absence of an Infinity Stone in a universe. 

It was also the reason why I wanted to kill him in the first place. 

The process of fusing with the Space Stone, even the notion of it being ridiculous, according to what he was doing, was replacing the Space Stone as an aspect of creation in this universe. 

It meant that the Space Stone would be gone for a few minutes before it reappears as the boy. A few moments was more than enough for those dark beings to crawl back into the living universe. 

"What do you know, Yao? You would never agree to something like this, not even if you could survive your imminent death. So what is it that made you agree with him in this crazy endeavor of his?" My body blazed forth with power as I pressured her to an answer. 

She stumbled but held on before an artifact on her shone which shielded her from my pressure. 

"I guess that would be for me to know alone." And with that she was gone. 

I directed my gaze at my sons. 

I guess they felt something after all. Different from other gods from the other pantheons, they were more connected to Midgard due to being my sons but that didn't mean anything in the times that were coming. 

"I felt something. Something changed. It feels wrong." Frigga hurried into the throne room in a rare moment of discomfort. 

"Aye. The Midgardian boy did it. *Sigh* He might as well have brought an end upon us all." I scratched my beards and thought of the headache that would soon come to my doors. 

"I hope you know what you are doing, Odin. The end of an entire universe is no matter that should be discussed with mead. Be careful." She kissed my forehead and left me alone to think. 

By the fathers, she was such a blessed soul. 

"My king, Hermes of Olympus, has arrived bearing a message from Zeus."

 The trouble was already at my door post. 

"Let him in, Heimdall."

I guess another meeting of Godheads is nigh. 

… 

In a random planet in the universe trillion of light-years away from the Sol System and the Milky-way, the sky started darkening which confused the extraterrestrial inhabitants about what was happening. 

They all stood frozen as a face was made visible through the clouds. 

What could be said to be a giant that dwarfed even the planet, floated in outer space with a hand stretched towards the planet as he started to devour everything it had, down to the tiniest life forms that exist within the crevices of its core. 

Halfway from completely devouring the planet, he paused and looked in the direction of the Milky-way. 

"The universe is changing. It does not matter, all would become nutrients before me." With that he continued devouring the planet until nothing was left of it. 

After he was done, he looked back in the direction of the Milky-way before turning his head away and disappearing from there.

…

In other places in the universe, there was chaos as a galaxy disappeared without anyone even knowing. 

It all happened in less than ten minutes which made even the most advanced civilization in the universe confused as what had just happened.

Something like this had not happened for millions of years. This was just the prelude to what would befall this universe. 

It was such that everyone could feel that something had changed in the matter of an hour. 

Every sentient being capable of thought knew instinctually that the life they lived two hours ago would be vastly different than what would come down the lane of their lives. 

… 

In a floating ship in the middle of nowhere, a purple giant man sat on a throne with a thoughtful expression on his face. 

"Maw, report." His voice boomed through the halls that every one of his subjects that were already on their knees shook even more. 

"My lord, three galaxies have been lost. There was a sighting of him devouring a planet near the lost galaxy but we don't think he was the one who did it."

"Hmm, it seems like we have to push our plans forward." The purple titan said. 

"My liege, forgive my impugn self for asking, but why now?" The one identified as Maw asked with reverence seeping through his voice. 

"Something just changed. The universe has grown darker and we can no longer afford to delay. Scour the galaxies, my children, and bring me words of the stones." 

The kneeling subjects stood up at attention, bowing once more again, before they left the sitting titan on the throne. 

Resting against the titans throne was a staff that emitted a soft blue glow as the titan caressed it. 

"Very soon. Balance will once again come to the universe because it craves it so, and I will deliver it." 

The staff flashed for a few seconds before dimming which made the titan's expression change for a moment before it was back to its rigidity. 

"So someone else has an Infinity Stone, I see."

….

[Draul St. Cross POV] 

I might have underestimated the amount of energy in my body by a huge margin because after what felt like hours had passed, I still wasn't anywhere near fully draining it. 

I guess I was finally becoming endless after all. 

Fusing with the stone and being the stone were two entirely different things. 

For all intent and purposes, I was the one that encompassed the space of this universe. I was nigh-endless. 

I don't even know what I would be when the evolution was complete. Right now my senses of the outside world were cut off and the only thing I felt was the endless space around me that threatened to pull me in. 

Could I even be killed?

I wasn't entirely sure. 

Trying to destroy me would be akin to trying to destroy an Infinity Stone that could fight back. And besides there were very few things in the universe that could destroy an Infinity Stone. 

Would I even get injured? 

I don't know anything anymore. I guess I would have to find out after I was done evolving. 

It was at that moment that I felt it.

It was as if a sledgehammer struck my brain. 

Before I could reorient myself, I felt information being pushed straight into my brain, bypassing my mental shields with ease. 

Locations, areas, hidden spaces, coordinates, resonance, structure, distance, space-time flow and a whole lot of information were directly embedded into my brain. 

Becoming one with space, especially one that covered an entire universe, meant having space as an extra limb. I knew how to work it, how to fix it, how to make it and how to travel through it and to it. 

It also didn't help my now calm mind when I started seeing flashes of different locations in this universe, some caught my attention, some I remembered, and some I vowed never to go near unless I evolved again. And let's not forget about the guy who looked back at me as if he could see through infinite space. 

"Just another day in Marvel."

I started processing the coordinates in my mind, sorting them out rather than leaving them all jumbled together. 

One of the coordinates that was imprinted on my mind was the location of Morag, where the Power Stone was kept. 

Looks like my next stop has already been decided. I kept the knowledge at the back of my mind and proceeded with multitasking. I would check them later when I was finished with the main task at hand. 

And so I continued mixing all my energy with that of the Space Stone while at the same time sorting the new library of information that I had. 

… 

[Outside Draul's mind] 

The three sorcerers kept watch since the spell they had erected for Draul's fusion was autonomous for the most part. 

"You know, I still don't know what you were thinking when you decided that we should go along with whatever Draul thinks he's doing." Strange said, staring directly at the Ancient One. 

"I agree with Strange, Ancient One. I think this is beyond the realms of recklessness. It could very much end reality as we know it, and also extends to the multiverse. This is pure and utter madness." It was rare for Wong to show so much emotion or even talk like this, but it just goes to show how this situation affected him. 

The target of the questions and reprimand continued staring at the matrices of spells that were covering Draul and ensured that his fusion was successful. "Do you know that no being has ever fused with an Infinity Stone. It is frankly impossible." She started. 

"Oh great! So we just helped him commit cosmic suicide?" Strange asked sarcastically. 

"No. We just helped him destroy what was once considered an impossibility." She said without missing a beat. 

"And in doing that, we might as well have doomed every living being! This is madness." 

They out of everyone else understood the significance of what they had helped make a possibility. 

"Strange, Wong. Dark times are coming. One so dark that even the blackest of nights would be a beacon of light compared to what will come. What we have done today is the greatest bargain or the greatest taboo that had ever been committed since this universe came to being. All we can do now is hope." She spoke softly. 

Strange looked pensive, thinking about what Dormammu had told him, not that he could ever forget. 

He didn't know which course the universe was moving in, all he knew was that he was on that course and if he was to believe the Ancient One, then what had happened today was something that would be likened to a necessary evil. 

"Time will tell, I guess." He muttered to no one, but he got a reply he wasn't expecting. 

"Time won't. Not even it knows where we are heading." He saw the Ancient One looking at him with a small, almost depressed, smile. 

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