Chapter 262: Earthlings Used as Bait! The Appearance of the Celestials!

Sersi's illusions were incredibly intricate, but for some reason, the Deviant had managed to see through them and was now pursuing her real form with unwavering accuracy.

"It knows where we are!" Sersi didn't have time to maintain the illusion; she immediately started running.

"How could it know?" Sersi asked.

"I don't know!" Sersi took a couple of steps and was struck by one of the Deviant's tendrils, falling to the ground.

The Deviant crawled toward Sersi step by step, while she sat on the ground, slowly backing away, with a look of terror on her face.

Just as it seemed Sersi was about to meet her end, a figure suddenly dashed forward, tackling the Deviant and sending it crashing into a nearby building.

"Sersi!" Dane hurried over and helped Sersi up.

Whoosh!

Then, the three of them saw a beam of golden light hitting the Deviant, sending it flying.

The monster that had been pursuing them was now lying on the ground, badly beaten.

A man in a flowing coat leisurely walked out of the building.

"Ikaris!" Sersi's face lit up with excitement; the mightiest of the Eternals had arrived.

"Good evening, ladies," Ikaris said casually.

As soon as he spoke, the Deviant he had knocked down charged again, but he managed to throw it aside, crashing it into a nearby building.

A large truck happened to be passing by at that moment. Because of Ikaris's sudden impact, the whole truck flipped over and came hurtling towards Dane and Sersi.

Sersi rushed forward and pressed her hand against the truck, causing it to turn into a shower of red petals.

It looked quite romantic.

Amidst the roars, the Deviant charged once more.

Ikaris soared into the air, eyes emitting laser beams that wounded the Deviant.

However, a surprising scene unfolded. The Deviant actually started healing itself!

This was something that had never happened before.

"It healed itself just now?" Sprite opened her mouth in shock.

"How is that possible?" Answer Space, Sersi was also greatly surprised.

"What? These things couldn't heal before?" James Rhodes asked.

"That's right, Deviants never had the ability to heal," Sersi said, "But the one in the video managed to heal itself!"

"They mutated, which aligns with their name," Tony Stark remarked.

"The appearance of that Deviant just now definitely isn't simple," Sersi said, "For so long, we believed we wiped them all out, but they suddenly reappeared, now with new abilities!"

In the video, the Deviant, after healing itself, charged towards Ikaris again.

But it was futile; Ikaris was too powerful, and the Deviant had no chance against him. With a few swift moves, he sent it flying into the water, where it disappeared.

"This morning, an unprecedented global earthquake swept across countries, causing damage and panic. Many speculate that this is related to the snap event, and the United Nations has called for an emergency meeting..."

After the battle, several Eternals gathered together, and a television displayed news about the morning earthquake.

"That Deviant can heal itself, something it couldn't do before," Sersi said, "It's not targeting humans but coming after us. What's going on?"

"I came over because of the earthquake to check on you guys," Ikaris said as he changed clothes, "I haven't heard about this Deviant."

"Something's wrong with Earth," Sersi said, "This can't be a coincidence."

"We need to find the others of our kind," Ikaris suggested.

"Some of them we haven't seen in centuries," Sersi said.

"The change shouldn't be significant." Ikaris walked up to Sersi and paused before saying, "I'm sorry I hurt you, Sersi. But we need to unite. As long as I know you're safe, I won't bother you."

"Let's first find Ajak," Sersi said, "She will know what to do."

However, when the three of them arrived at a small cabin, they found it empty.

Ajak was dead, lying near the cabin.

"Ajak asked me to check on you, so I went to London. It turns out both of us were lonely and needed each other," Sprite said through tears, "I think Ajak has been taking care of us in her own way."

Ikaris wore a sorrowful expression.

"This is the first death among us in seven thousand years," Sprite continued, "I believe the Deviant that attacked us in London killed Ajak and absorbed her power."

"The Deviants have never done that before," Ikaris said.

"It healed itself like Ajak," Sprite said with a firm tone, "I swear, I almost heard it speak."

"Farewell, Ajak." While Sprite and Ikaris were talking inside the cabin, Sersi stood alone by Ajak's body, tears flowing.

Suddenly, all the lights in the cabin went out, and a luminous sphere flew out from Ajak's neck, entering Sersi's body.

In that instant, the surroundings changed drastically.

Sersi found herself in the vast and profound expanse of space.

Before her stood an enormous crimson giant.

The scale of the giant was beyond belief—Sersi appeared minuscule compared to him, akin to an ant in comparison.

This wasn't just a metaphor; in the presence of this giant, Sersi truly seemed like an ant before a human.

"What in the world is that thing?" Tony Stark exclaimed within the Answer Space.

"Are there creatures this massive in the universe?" Steve Rogers was equally astonished, "This is beyond enormous!"

"If this giant is an enemy, could we even stand a chance against it?" Stephen Strange said, his voice filled with awe.

"Miss Sersi, who is this giant?" Nick Fury asked.

"Arishem," Sersi said, "He's the one who sent us to Earth."

"So, he's the protector of Earth." Nick Fury sighed with relief. Arishem hadn't shown any abilities yet, but his sheer size alone discouraged any thoughts of resistance.

"Arishem." Onscreen, Sersi looked at Arishem and said, "Ajak was killed by a Deviant. We believe it absorbed her power. Something highly unusual has happened on Earth."

"This is the side effect of 'Emergence'," Arishem explained.

"Emergence?" Sersi was puzzled, this was the first time she'd heard this term.

"I think it's time for you to understand the true purpose of your mission," Arishem continued slowly, "You were sent to Earth to birth the Celestial, Tiamut."

"Every billion years, a new Celestial must be born," as Arishem explained, the screen displayed scenes for demonstration: a glittering crystal transformed into numerous crystals, and one of them flew towards Earth, "I spread the seeds of the Celestials across various creation planets in the universe. Earth was chosen to birth Tiamut, the Creation Planet."

"For Tiamut to grow, it requires a substantial amount of energy from sentient lifeforms," the crystal penetrated deep into the Earth's core, followed by scenes of bustling human activity on the surface, "Deviants feasting on humans hindered this process until the Eternals eradicated them."

"Now, the planet's population has reached the required number, and it's time for the Emergence." A massive hand emerged from the earth's crust, reminiscent of a chick hatching from its shell. Then the entire Earth exploded, birthing a new Celestial.

"What? Earth is going to explode one day!"

"So, Earth was merely a 'nest' for birthing Celestials?"

"They're treating all of humanity as nourishment! This is unbelievable!"

As this video played out, no one remained calm.

So, these humans were merely nourishment for cultivating new Celestials!

This planet they lived on was essentially an incubator for birthing new Celestials!

This revelation was incredibly shocking, far more impactful than anything related to Thanos's snap.

After all, even if Thanos snapped his fingers, only half of humanity was wiped out, and Earth still remained.

However, Arishem was planning to literally explode Earth, treating all humans as fodder for birthing his offspring!

"So, is this our true mission?" Sersi was also astonished, "But how is this even possible? How can this be?"

"Miss Sersi, inform the other Eternals and leave Earth quickly!" Tony Stark advised Sersi, "Earth isn't welcoming you!"

"Tony, calm down for a moment," Steve Rogers stepped forward and asked Sersi with a serious expression, "Would you follow this command?"

"Is this video really from the future?" Sersi felt her head spinning, "How can you prove this? It's just too absurd!"

"This video is indeed from the future," Thor finally spoke, "You arrived late, so you didn't witness the future unfolding. But the rest of us did. Or if you're still skeptical about my words, after we're done with this Answer Session, I can have my father talk to you."

"I believe your words," Sersi nodded.

In fact, she had only expressed doubt earlier, but she had already believed in most of it. After all, she had witnessed Peter Parker receiving the rewards after answering questions, and she saw it with her own eyes.

"So, please tell us, if one day that giant actually tells you all of this, would you choose to obey the command?" Tony Stark asked.

"No, I wouldn't," Sersi shook her head, "If birthing the new Celestial means the extinction of Earth's inhabitants, I won't let that happen."

The plot on the screen confirmed Sersi's stance.

"But then, every person on Earth will die," Sersi said to Arishem.

"Sersi, the end of one life marks the beginning of another," lines of white light emerged from Arishem's palm, forming a sphere of light that gradually shaped into a galaxy, "Our universe is an endless exchange of energy, an infinite cycle of creation and destruction."

"The Celestials utilize the energy of Creation Planets to create suns, generating gravity, heat, and light to form new galaxies." Scenes of Celestials creating galaxies appeared in space, "Without us, our universe would plunge into darkness, and all life would perish."

"Did Ajak know the truth?" Sersi asked.

"For millions of years, she assisted in the emergence of many Celestials," Arishem said, "Just as you have."

"But Earth was my first assignment," Sersi said, "I originally lived in my homeland, Olympia."

"There is no Olympia." As the words fell, a jellyfish-like apparatus appeared before Sersi, and Arishem said, "This is your true homeland, Sersi—the Forge. I designed and created the Eternals here."

Sersi entered the Forge and saw a humanoid figure in progress, half-finished like a robot. It had half a face, but Sersi could still recognize it—it was her face.

It wasn't just one unfinished creation here; rows upon rows of them lined up like an assembly line in a factory.

"Everything except us will die because we've never truly lived," Sersi muttered softly while gazing at those half-finished creations, "Why don't I remember any of this?"

"Your memories are wiped and reset after each emergence," those half-finished creations vanished, replaced by a wall with numerous holes, "They are stored here."

"Why keep them?" Sersi asked.

"I kept them for studying the Deviants," Arishem disclosed another astonishing fact, "I created the Deviants as well, Sersi. My purpose in creating them is the same as creating you."

"The Deviants were also created by Arishem?" Inside the Answer Space, Sersi was surprised once again.

Arishem had sent them to eradicate the Deviants, and now, after all these battles, they found out that the Deviants were also creations of Arishem!

"Each Celestial's Creation Planet has its own predators. Initially, I dispatched the Deviants to eliminate them, allowing intelligent life to thrive." Arishem's voice continued in the video, accompanied by scenes of Deviants hunting dinosaurs.

"However, there were flaws in their design. They gradually evolved into predators themselves, and I lost control over them." The video showed Deviants hunting intelligent life.

"I designed and created you, the Eternals, to be immutable synthetics, correcting my mistake." The scenes of the Deviants vanished, replaced by the cosmic void, "Sersi, Ajak chose you to succeed her as the leader of the Eternals. Don't disappoint me."

Arishem disappeared, and Sersi returned to Earth.

She immediately shared this information with her fellow Eternals.

"Are you saying we're basically fancy robots?" Gilgamesh exclaimed incredulously, "Our past memories are stored somewhere in space?"

"Arishem also created the Deviants," Sersi said.

"I'm sorry, Thena," Gilgamesh apologized to Thena, who had a habit of slapping people, "You tried to warn us."

"Something must have gone wrong when Arishem reset your memories last time," Sprite said to Thena.

"What do you mean?" Gilgamesh asked.

"This is essentially Eternal Amnesia, right?" Sprite said, "Thena has always remembered us being dispatched to different planets, and everyone dying in the Emergence."

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[END OF CHAPTER]