The upper realm.
A golden god with three faces on his head stood silently.
He was the first beneath Marvel's supreme OAA.
The Living Tribunal.
Perhaps that name sounds less majestic today.
Because in many Marvel stories and parallel universes, the Living Tribunal has been reduced to nothing more than a background prop multiple times.
Cosmic Heart Thanos defeated him!
The Beyonders killed him!
The Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos betrayed and killed him!
Even in Thanos's own series, the future Twilight Thanos defeated him!
Seemingly…
All these defeats appear to deny the omnipotence of the Living Tribunal.
But is that really so?
"The fate of the universe of the seventh life is for the universes to collide and for all things to perish."
"The fate of the universe of the eighth life will be for it to be destroyed by OBA Hulk under All-Things."
Now the seventh universe still exists.
The eyes of the Living Tribunal are already gazing upon the future destruction of the Eighth Universe.
Under All-Things, OBA will possess Hulk and destroy the Eighth Universe.
Of course, the matters of the Eighth Universe are a story for another time.
Now before us lies the Seventh Universe on the brink of death.
The Tribunal knows of the existence of the First Firmament, knows that the First Firmament will one day corrupt his right and left hands, the Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos, who will betray and kill him.
The Tribunal has seen it all.
Not "almost all."
All of it.
But faced with his own fate and the fate of the Seventh Universe, he had no intention of changing anything.
Because the Tribunal knows very well that all of this is inevitable.
The Marvel world is a world of cultural creation where story is the core.
Everything must revolve around the story.
The Living Tribunal is no exception.
"My duty is to ensure that these stories continue."
Perhaps this statement contradicts some plots.
For example, in Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet event, the Living Tribunal declared that Thanos's collection of the Infinity Stones was an error and ultimately appeared to take away their power.
Or Thanos: Heart of the Universe, or the Beyonders… and so on.
The Living Tribunal intervened.
That seems like interference in the continuity of the story.
As if it contradicts his own statement about maintaining the "story."
But it's not so.
Because the Tribunal knows very well that as long as something is drawn in a comic, written in a novel, filmed in a movie,
it thereby becomes part of the story itself.
When the story requires the Tribunal to stop something, the Tribunal appears.
When the story requires the Tribunal to be killed, the omniscient and omnipotent Tribunal will die.
Because he is the steward left by the OAA, the defender of the story.
He himself abides by the narrative structure of the Marvel story.
And demands that others do the same.
Let's put it this way: if the story requires an omnipotent being to be killed by a mortal, but that omnipotent being refuses to die properly and declines to be killed,
then the Tribunal, in order to preserve the flow of the story, will step forward to help him die properly.
And now…
The story of the Seventh Universe is nearing its end.
The Tribunal carefully observed the flow of the narrative.
In the final chapter…
The First Firmament had already reclaimed most of the fragments of his own body.
He had captured the physical embodiment of the Seventh Universe, Eternity, and was devouring him piece by piece.
And then, according to the script, the Living Tribunal would appear.
The Tribunal raised his own script.
All he needed to do…
was to summon, at the end of the story, all the physical embodiments of the Marvel Multiverse.
At that time,
the physical embodiment of the Seventh Universe — Eternity,
along with his predecessors, the second, third… and even the physical embodiment of the Sixth Universe, would wage war against the First Firmament and ultimately win.
And the Marvel world would, after destruction, welcome new life.
It would enter the Eighth Life.
"So it shall be."
That is the story the Tribunal strives to preserve.
Everything is proceeding as it should.
All that remains is to wait for the protagonist of this stage, the First Firmament, to play his part.
And then…
"!!!"
Suddenly.
The Tribunal looked up.
The three faces on the golden body opened their eyes simultaneously.
The pupils radiated outward.
"The fragments the First Firmament recovered aren't growing, they're shrinking?"
"That's not right!"
"Why is the total number of stories decreasing?"
At this moment, even the Living Tribunal could not sit still.
He knew there were some variables in the Marvel Universe.
That is, many variables.
But those variables were too weak to affect the overall flow of the story.
And those powerful ones, like Lucifer Morningstar or Yog-Sothoth, those beings knew very well what they could and could not do in another's world.
That's why the Tribunal always turned a blind eye to these two categories.
But this time was different…
Because true variables had arrived.
…
Outside the black cage where Eternity was imprisoned.
The First Firmament and Eternity inside the cage faced each other.
"What did you do?"
"What did you do?"
At that moment, grandfather, father, and grandson, all doubted each other simultaneously.
"Why can't I sense the existence of those universes?"
"Even if they're destroyed, I should still feel them!"
Inside the cage.
For the first time, Eternity showed the emotion of anger.
His body was already in pieces.
Because as the embodiment of the Marvel Multiverse, the collisions and destructions of the multiverse meant that his body was shattering.
"No!"
"I should be the one asking you that question!"
"Don't forget that you're just a piece that fell off me!"
"And you are merely part of me!"
"And you should return!"
"To make me whole again!"
The First Firmament was angry too.
Because he wasn't just omnipotent, but also omniscient.
He was the source of all material things in the Marvel Universe.
All things came from Him.
Therefore, He should be all-knowing.
But now…
Omniscience was blocked.
Even the First Firmament could no longer discern what had happened to the fragments.
The only thing He knew was that they had separated from Him.
And from Eternity.
The origins of those universes no longer belonged to either of them!
"Someone stole them!"
The First Firmament finally realized.
He didn't hide, there was no point in hiding.
Because He discovered that the Origins of the universes had completely severed their connection to Him.
As if they were no longer part of His body.
And that meant…
The First Firmament's plan to make himself whole again had completely failed.
"Thief!!"
In his fury.
The primal roar of the First Firmament echoed through all remaining Marvel universes.
But that roar changed nothing.
On the contrary, even more universe origins began leaving him.
The thief even sped up and shoved more fragments into his sack.
"Thief!!"
The First Firmament continued to roar.
Until a lazy voice came from beside Him.
"What are you yelling for?"
"I'll sue you for slander, believe it or not?"
Aron suddenly appeared next to the First Firmament.
In his left hand he held a sack made of snakeskin, and in his right a plastic garbage picker.
Before the First Firmament's eyes,
he picked up the origin from a cosmic wreck and stuffed it into the sack.
"See, I picked it up off the floor."
"Who stole anything from you?"
As soon as Aron finished, the sack and picker vanished instantly.
And this time…
Aron had devoured all the universes that had already been destroyed.
At least one-third of Eternity, or one-third of the fragments of the First Firmament, ended up in that bag.
"Hey, ding, cleanup complete."
Since there was no longer a system,
Aron had to provide his own voice.
But the good news was that the result was the same.
Those absorbed Origin powers were purified the instant they passed through Aron's hands.
They no longer had any connection to either the First Firmament or Eternity.
Instead, they became the purest power.
"You…"
The First Firmament watched as another fragment was completely cut off from him.
He was just about to explode with rage,
when he saw a white light flare beside Aron.
"Comrade Devil, I advise you to think twice before acting."
The moment Aron's words fell,
the First Firmament felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
The word "Devil" worked like something stronger than omnipotence.
At the moment Aron spoke,
the First Firmament saw a thousand possible ways he could die.
And one of the most common was, the person before him eating him!
And not just the fragments he hadn't yet reclaimed.
Even his only remaining Origin would be devoured by this person!
"…"
The First Firmament fell silent.
Even Eternity in the cage fell silent.
And what he saw was another scene: after Aron ate the First Firmament, he turned toward him, saying, "What are you looking at?"
"Gotta say, your energy looks tasty."
In that silence, Aron smiled.
He stretched out his palm.
From his hand appeared a new world, called… Teyvat.
"Hahaha, Genshin Impact!"
By Aron's will,
the universe in his palm constantly changed according to his desires.
Sometimes there were heavenly high peaks of giant gods and the endless Shurima desert stretching for thousands of miles, sometimes a cyber night city with dazzling lights and colorful mechanical dolls in twisted alleys, khm, cross that last one out.
"What if I eat all the remaining power you two have?"
Aron suddenly folded the world in his palm and tilted his head, looking at the First Firmament.
"Don't!"
A voice suddenly sounded.
It was the Living Tribunal.
"Aron, you've fulfilled your wish."
"The universe you're in will suffer no harm."
"Now I ask you to return the power you took and put the story back on its rails."
The Living Tribunal came before Aron.
At that moment, even the Tribunal himself wasn't sure in what capacity he was speaking.
Whether as the maintainer of the story or as a participant in it.
"Excuse me?"
"Once more?"
"Does that word even exist in the world?"
"Never heard of it, can you spell it for me?"
Seeing the Living Tribunal, Aron showed no surprise.
In a sense, his actions were undermining the very foundations of the Marvel universe.
It would have been strange if the Tribunal hadn't come to intervene.
But what good would the intervention do?
"Tribunal, you have someone above you, but I have no one above me."
"Think about it."
"Think carefully before you decide whether to stop me."
Aron said, pulling out a medallion and tossing it to the Tribunal.
On the medallion was written: Strongest Demon Certified.
"?"
At that moment.
The Living Tribunal was speechless.
As if he finally understood what the First Firmament feared.
"The First Firmament is at your disposal."
"But I'll take Eternity with me, is that alright?"
For the first time, besides OAA, the Living Tribunal spoke in a questioning tone to someone.
In the end, Aron agreed to the Living Tribunal's request.
And the condition was very simple.
"Alright, but I have one small request."
"No problem."
In this way, the First Firmament didn't even get the chance to display his power.
His fate ended quietly in the agreement between Aron and the Living Tribunal.
Thus ended this crisis of the multiverse collision.
The universes that survived rejoiced.
Happy to have survived this apocalypse.
And those universes that were destroyed.
Those completely annihilated, whose very Origins had been devoured by Aron.
How were they doing?
…
"Above, above the summit, the rule of this world is to play!"
"What, you ask, who sets the rules?"
"Of course, that's me, personally!"
In an entirely new world.
All beings who had destroyed their universes were gathered into one complete world.
Its surface was larger than the sum of a thousand universes.
And this was part of the deal between Aron and the Living Tribunal.
Aron had obtained half of Marvel's parallel universes; he didn't just take the Origin.
He took the lives of those worlds too.
At the same time.
In the heart of that world.
There was a 5v5 map the size of a galaxy.
Top, mid, and bottom lanes.
The map was scattered with multiple waypoints and defensive matrices.
The map's texture was infinitely harder than anything known.
Sturdy enough to withstand existences at the multiversal or even Almighty level.
To let them rampage as much as they wanted.
Whatever was needed, it was built for one purpose.
"Eternity!"
"Next week we're playing a friendly match against those saints from the Desolate World!"
"This is your chance to shine! Nine times out of ten, you'll lose again in the friendly!"
"Then I'll be the one embarrassed again!"
"Do you know what people outside say about me?"
"They say I'm the biggest feeder in gaming history!"
On the 5v5 stage of the New World.
Aron was chasing Lucifer Morningstar from the other side and beating him up while throwing colorful words at his teammates.
And on the stands beyond the map.
Women led by Wanda waved flags and cheered.
"Gwen, what's the score?"
As soon as Wanda's question fell,
the answer came from all directions.
"3:18, our 3…"
Countless Gwens from parallel universes answered in unison.
"…"
Wanda couldn't help but cover her face.
Just how many Gwens had this big carrot managed to gather?
"Who ordered pizza?"
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the stands on a web of spider silk.
That's right, it was Bully Maguire.
"Wanda 12138?"
"…"
Hearing that voice, Wanda fell silent again.
Alright, not just Gwen, it seemed Wanda had multiple copies too…
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