As Marcus spoke, endless light erupted from his body, transforming both sky and sea into a vast crimson ocean.
Within the turbulent blood sea, a massive humanoid creature covered in metallic plating materialized before everyone.
"It's them!" Thanos exclaimed with overwhelming excitement.
He had personally witnessed Celestial birth on Titan—a scene of universal collapse and world-ending destruction.
But now this prematurely awakened Celestial was entangled within the blood sea, suspended helplessly before them.
"This is..." Ajak stood completely stunned after seeing the newborn Celestial.
While she had harbored doubts about Celestial orders, she never expected they were actually guarding a new Celestial. "How is this possible? Is the 'judgment' actually Celestial birth?"
Her exclamation drew agreement from the others. All of them had believed the Celestials truly intended to judge planets bearing life.
But this revelation made them question everything they had maintained for millennia.
If not for Marcus dragging the Celestial into his blood sea, they would have witnessed a new Celestial's emergence.
Only then did they understand why Thanos, who shared their heritage, had chosen planetary slaughter.
Thanos wasn't destroying worlds—he was preventing Celestial births.
Countless blood-colored vortex tentacles appeared within the crimson sea, wrapping around the enormous Celestial and suspending it like a giant upon a cross.
Marcus raised his hand, making a grasping motion toward the Celestial. Countless massive thin appendages manifested in the blood sea, bombarding the cosmic being from all directions.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...
Each falling bloody hand collapsed the towering waves raised by the blood sea with tremendous impact.
Facing Marcus's assault, the holes across the Celestial's head blazed with light—blue radiance burst from those apertures that served as the cosmic being's eyes.
BUZZ!!!
The severely wounded Celestial's eyes erupted with terrifying energy. In the next moment, several beams blasted toward the blood sea, attempting to shatter the crimson prison entirely.
Witnessing the Celestial's actions, Marcus snorted coldly, his clenched fist instantly transforming into a blade-hand that chopped downward.
Within the blood sea, a massive sword formed from crimson liquid fell and struck the Celestial with devastating force.
BOOM!!!
This attack exposed the blood sea's lowest layer while sending crimson waves flying skyward.
Beyond the vortex tentacles tightly wrapped around the Celestial, all blood transformed into sharp claws and flying swords, beginning to dismember the cosmic entity under Marcus's control.
Facing Marcus's relentless attacks, this newborn Celestial was powerless to resist. The blood sea's giant blade split the cosmic being in two, while vortex tentacles tore its body into fragments.
This Celestial, originally awakened prematurely by Marcus, collapsed under a single devastating assault, possessing no power to resist.
Under the blood sea's frenzied sword storm, the Celestial's remains were rapidly consumed, becoming part of the crimson ocean.
The moment the Celestial was eliminated, the sky above the Eternals cleared—no longer covered by the blood sea as sunlight fell upon them once again.
"This... is it over?" one Eternal whispered.
Marcus's effortless battle shocked the Eternals completely. That had been a Celestial—among them, only Sersi with her matter-manipulation abilities would have any chance of victory.
As for the others, whether Gilgamesh with his tremendous strength or the now-destroyed Ikaris, none could defeat a Celestial.
After all, regarding destructive capability, Eternals found it extremely difficult to overcome a Celestial, even one that had just awakened.
Even Thanos, notorious throughout the universe, lacked the ability to easily defeat a Celestial.
But Marcus was different. Not only did he wield six Infinity Stones, he also employed upgraded armor. With this dual enhancement, he didn't even need significant effort to eliminate a newly awakened Celestial.
After the shock subsided, Ajak and the others felt endless terror.
Both Eternals and Deviants were Celestial creations—the cosmic beings were their makers.
Now one of their creators had been killed by Marcus, which would inevitably attract the Supreme Celestial Arishem's attention.
Because Supreme Celestial Arishem served as the source of all Celestials—he who created both Eternals and Deviants. A new Celestial's awakening would naturally draw the Celestials' attention, and Supreme Celestial Arishem would personally investigate.
Now the Earth's Celestial had vanished, killed by Marcus without leaving any trace.
Once Supreme Celestial Arishem discovered the Celestial's demise, he would enact punishment.
Sure enough, a massive red head bearing six enormous light apertures soon appeared above Earth. When this presence manifested outside the planet, everyone on Earth felt tremendous pressure. Many ordinary people couldn't withstand such overwhelming force and lost consciousness.
Only a small number of individuals remained awake under this terrifying pressure, staring wide-eyed at the colossal head in the sky.
"Supreme Celestial Arishem!" Ajak exclaimed.
The moment she saw the head, she trembled and placed one hand over her heart, paying ultimate respect to the Supreme Celestial.
Following her lead, other Eternals made identical gestures. Even Thanos bowed his head slightly to greet their creator.
Only Marcus ascended rapidly with countless blood blades. He could ignore Earth's Celestial, but the entity before him represented a worthy opponent.
After all, among every adversary he'd encountered so far, only this Supreme Celestial could genuinely interest him.
"Supreme Celestial Arishem? You've arrived at the perfect moment!"
With Infinity Stone power amplifying his voice, Marcus's words resonated throughout the universe. Though not loud, they reached everyone's ears, including Arishem's.
Hearing Marcus's declaration, Arishem didn't attack but observed him quietly, six massive light holes gazing down.
After studying him for some time, Arishem's apertures began flickering, the internal light wavering in a display of genuine shock.
As the supreme deity, Arishem had encountered many powerful beings, including the five cosmic abstracts who remained myths to most people. He knew clearly that they existed.
But he had never seen such a strange existence. Marcus stood before him, yet Arishem couldn't perceive him clearly. He could only see void behind Marcus, and within that nothingness seemed hidden a giant statue bearing a mocking smile.
"Unknown entity, you don't belong to this universe!" Arishem declared after discovering Marcus's nature.
While he propagated Celestial seeds, he wasn't necessarily seeking vengeance for fallen Celestials, especially when facing such an anomalous being.
As the "father" of all current Celestials, he possessed many children, but correspondingly, many Celestials had also perished.
Some Celestials had destroyed themselves, while others died in battle. He wouldn't avenge every fallen Celestial. For instance, now that Earth's Celestial was dead, he hadn't taken action.
Though he was the Supreme Celestial, he wasn't someone everyone should provoke carelessly. Moreover, he evaluated targets before avenging deceased Celestials.
Marcus obviously wasn't someone to confront casually. While Arishem was confident he wouldn't lose, why fight when he could conserve effort?
A prematurely awakened Celestial possessed limited potential even if alive. Even Ego, that self-diminished individual, might not compare favorably.
After hearing Arishem's words, Marcus laughed.
"Of course I don't belong to this universe, but I'm extremely interested in you—or rather, in the beings you know."
Arishem's strength was indeed impressive. If they fought, he could barely provide entertainment.
But this alone wasn't sufficient. While Celestials could forge stars and even create universes, such power had limitations.
Though star-forging was mighty, they couldn't perform it casually.
Universe creation was even rarer. Among Celestials, few could create universes, and most who did created pocket dimensions that couldn't compare with genuine realities.
"The beings I know?" Arishem pondered this question.
He was acquainted with numerous powerful entities, but gaining their attention proved extremely difficult.
However, for a unique existence like Marcus, securing their responses should be considerably easier.
After all, Marcus was too extraordinary, particularly the mocking statue hidden in the void behind him, which kept Arishem vigilant.
"I can tell you about those entities, but what will I receive in return?"
The dead Celestial was now meaningless—trading with Marcus held greater importance.
"Well, you're much more intelligent than I anticipated. I thought you might attack," Marcus observed.
Seeing that Arishem had no intention of fighting, he smiled and nodded. His blood-red arm instantly turned black as soul power began gathering frantically, finally condensing into a small true spirit.
"As for our exchange, what do you think of this?"
That small true spirit represented the Earth Celestial's remnant after elimination—a rather special Celestial seed.
Seeing the true spirit in Marcus's hand, Arishem nodded slightly, his light apertures flickering gently.
While he possessed countless Celestial seeds, this one in Marcus's possession was unique.
Unlike other Celestial seeds, the true spirit in Marcus's hand was alive, meaning that with appropriate resources, this essence would become a new Celestial again within a short time.
"Acceptable. I agree to your request," Arishem declared.
With this true spirit's existence, the Celestial host would gain another member, allowing them to illuminate the universe more rapidly.
However, before he could complete this thought, Marcus's voice interrupted his contemplation.
"By the way, besides adding more Celestials and accelerating universal destruction, don't you have other pursuits?"
Marcus understood Celestial work but couldn't comprehend why these beings forged stars whenever possible.
Each stellar creation accompanied the destruction of countless planets. Celestial actions naturally ignored planetary will since they were illuminating the universe.
Facing Marcus's question, Arishem fell silent. As the Supreme Celestial, he could traverse different universes, meaning any single reality held little significance.
Even if the universe were completely destroyed, it wouldn't affect him, but he acted for specific reasons.
"The Celestials fight against darkness," Arishem stated simply.
He offered no explanation—the Celestials who illuminated the universe possessed their own mission.
In his view, allowing weak life to disappear was worthwhile to complete their mission, at least enabling the universe to endure longer.
Marcus didn't refute Arishem's choice. He knew the Celestials were accomplishing something. While their actions weren't entirely beneficial to the universe, these beings didn't care.
"That's your decision, but I advise restraint in this universe. I don't want to return and find nothing here."
"Now, provide what I desire."
As soon as he finished speaking, light rays drifted from Arishem's six apertures. Those rays gathered together, condensing into a light orb before Marcus.
"This contains everything I know. Our transaction ends here," Arishem declared.
After speaking, he turned his attention to Sersi and others on Earth. These Eternals were his creations, as were the eliminated Deviants. However, after the Deviants lost control, he had completely abandoned that race.
"Are you willing to accompany me?" he asked.
He wanted to take these Eternals away but wouldn't force them. He would only choose those willing to depart with him.
After waiting extensively, no one volunteered to follow, everyone silently regarding this massive Supreme Deity.
"Great Supreme Celestial, we have lived on Earth for ages and grown accustomed to everything here, so we plan to continue residing here," Ajak finally responded.
Seeing the Eternals' rejection, Arishem made no further invitations. What he most wanted now was to regenerate the true spirit seed in his possession.
This true spirit seed was alive and required no life force nourishment. This meant Arishem needed only to locate a resource-rich planet to revive the true spirit seed into a new Celestial.
Looking down at Marcus, Arishem sank into the universe with the true spirit seed.
After seeing the Supreme Celestial depart, the Eternals collectively sighed with relief. No one could remain calm before their Creator's presence.