No further words were needed. Thanos’ existence was like a flickering candle in an enclosed void—small, yet in turn scorching the star-like eyes of the Celestials.

"Who says that without the Infinity Gauntlet I cannot wield the authority of the Gemstones?! Relics of a decaying age—you have been eliminated."

In an instant, Thanos pushed himself into his strongest state. His eyes turned into a vast blank white. His left arm, crystalline and threaded with flowing streams of multicolored lightning, rose high. On the back of his hand, the Infinity Stones were forcibly embedded into bone and flesh, carving and engraving an incomparably profound sigil.

Crack—crack—

Shattered, dim divine metal drifted lightly through space. Its once-golden sheen had faded, like a corpse.

The Infinity Gauntlet had broken.

Within the timeline currently disturbed and influenced by Selene, Thanos had unconsciously aligned himself with his own forbidden heavenly mandate. At the same time, the new possibilities and variables brought by the "extraterrestrial fiend" had made him increasingly unique.

Thanos had changed. His mastery over the Infinity Stones had deepened. The Stones’ recognition of him and compatibility with him had risen. Only the Infinity Gauntlet remained unchanged.

The Infinity Gauntlet had been forged by Eitri, the dwarf king of Nidavellir in the Nine Realms of Asgard, using the finest materials known in the physical universe, including Uru divine steel (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

That was why it had been able to withstand the manifestation of the Gemstones’ authority.

But now, Thanos had surpassed the limit of himself in this timeline. The Infinity Gauntlet was no longer a divine amplifier—it was a shackle.

It was too fragile.

In the original timeline, a single concentrated activation of the Gemstones had nearly rendered it scrap.

"You?! A variable!" Within this star sector dominated by malice, the Judge Arishem unleashed an energy bombardment capable of annihilating galaxies in an instant. On his crimson, six-eyed visage, something almost human surfaced—wariness, and a trace of fear.

Every gesture was a cosmic catastrophe. Dazzling brilliance, suns like those at the dawn of the Big Bang tilted downward at Arishem’s will.

Rumble—

Facing streams of light like divine retribution, even though he had already reacted, Thanos remained calm, making no move at all.

"My path to heaven—is it something you can reach?!"

Bzzzz—

Within the interwoven pattern of six flowing lights—purple, blue, red, orange, green, yellow—there lay a profound, abyssal aesthetic. Gritting his teeth, Thanos’ crystalline left arm emitted an obscure radiance.

Crimson-gold Eternal cells surged endlessly within him. Vast amounts of cosmic radiation were absorbed into his body, linking to the residual "gate" of Chaos power and the Sentry power, transforming them into part of himself.

Light. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Countless beams of light, explosions, shockwaves flooded everything. Even the insignificant fraction that leaked out was enough to engulf the allied warships that had fallen momentarily stunned by the appearance of the Celestials.

Even within the shattered new ring defending the primary world—relying on the still-operational portions of void shield arrays and airtight barriers—the super heroes, anti-heroes, and supervillains of Earth’s Conscript Army inside the "Star-Corpse Space Hulk" died in batches.

Reduced to dust in light and heat, leaving not even residue behind.

Their former fame and glorious records on Earth meant nothing before a cosmic catastrophe.

"Oh, damn it."

Facing the hellish curtain of light sweeping down from above, Wolverine Logan removed his scorched mask. He decisively retracted his steel claws and casually tossed aside his bolt rifle. From his pocket he pulled out a crumpled paper roll and lit it.

"Hoo..." He took a deep drag. "Mother—Fuck you! What a fucked-up world..."

In the next instant he was swallowed by the blazing climax. His combat suit and flesh disintegrated in moments. Even his adamantium skeleton only held out briefly before melting like liquefied iron...

"God. What a despairing word."

Leaning against broken eaves and shattered walls, Phoenix Jean Grey closed her eyes in resignation.

She had never liked fighting. She preferred quiet. Teaching was what she loved. Becoming an X-Man had been forced upon her. Now her boyfriend, Cyclops Scott Summers, had been burned to death before her eyes in the catastrophe of planetary collapse. She was utterly broken.

Even the gods of the Divine Empress Order, the great heroes of human history, and veteran heroes like Iron Man and Thor had died. She shut herself away inside.

Perhaps on Earth she would have had time and friends to guide and comfort her. But here, what arrived in an instant was the aftermath of divine war. As it swallowed her, the Phoenix’s flame of rebirth went out.

"Bitch!" Some members of Earth’s Conscript Army who had once been street villains raised their middle fingers at the luminous Celestial shadows in the void.

Some even tore off their pants and thrust their groins skyward—this was the last furious emotion they could express.

...

The scent of death and hatred filled the universe.

Thanos paid no attention whatsoever to the human performance art of those who had survived the Snap’s selection. He had already ascended.

Clatter—

Countless strange patterns twisted through space. Even spacetime itself suffered extreme turbulence.

"Impossible. Even if an Eternal ascends to godhood, it should not be possible to control the Infinity Stones simultaneously without external assistance. What have you done... Celestials, obey. Eradicate the uncontrollable cancer of the universe."

"Hahahaha... feeble. Feeble!"

Whether the Celestials originated from the first [Eternity], from fragments of the First Firmament erased by God "OAA," or were disciples acting in accordance with the will of the great Eternity—it was well known that they regarded themselves as the gardeners of the universe.

"Servants of Eternity, who call yourselves gardeners interfering in the cosmos, who treat all living beings as weeds—is this all you amount to?"

Facing light capable of scorching through dimensions and shockwaves that could erase all organic matter in the present world, Thanos waved his hand and turned them into bubbles.

Literal, physical bubbles.

Multicolored spheres popped one after another, like a trick used to amuse children.

Under the clash of those two immense forces.

Even the boundless void trembled.

Thanos raised his hands high, intoxicated and reveling as he bathed in the Celestials’ storm of attacks. The six primordial singularities—the sources of the universe’s original power—together with the cosmic energy unleashed by the Celestials, were absorbed by him without end.

Even the other-universe "gate" he had obtained during the battle with Gorgon, the power of Chaos magic, and a fragment of the Phoenix Force were assimilated by the immense conversion power within his body.

Starlight poured across his mirror-like, flowing form, reflecting brilliant silver-white radiance.

"What cannot defeat me only makes me stronger," he muttered to himself, gazing obsessively toward the Immaterium above illusion.

"Fate only loves those who know that fate will stir waves and still resist. Lady Death is very pleased with my choice today!"

Once more, he saw the "gate." Ignoring the blazing gaze of [Phoenix], ignoring the indifferent or rejecting stares—and the most distant, most intense, faint yet unpleasant scrutiny.

None of that concerned him. Reflected across the endless river of multiversal worlds, rushing straight toward his target, he stared fixedly in that direction without moving.

My beloved!

Within a palace beneath a bottomless abyss, he saw the graceful figure seated high upon the Throne of Death—a slender woman draped in pure black robes.

This was the first time Thanos had actively seen Lady Death.

He could feel it.

His consciousness had become infinitely close to infinity—and eternity.

His gaze had surpassed the abstract reality of the Celestials.

...

Like a poor fool visiting a goddess’ home for the first time, Thanos smiled from the bottom of his heart—smiling brilliantly, his purple face blooming like a chrysanthemum.

Snap!

Another snap of his fingers.

Flesh—no, more precisely, flesh formed from abstract energy—rubbed together.

Bzzzzzz—

"No!" Countless Celestials roared. As lifeforms born directly from the universe, they could keenly sense that within this spacetime tremor, the most primordial cosmic particle structures that composed them had begun to disintegrate!

One blue Celestial, unleashing continuous attacks like a rain of supernovae, found all its assaults reduced to dust in the flow of realization the next instant. Its majestic living-metal body burst like a bubble. As its divine form fell, it released a dazzling mist of radiant blood.

Without question—it was absorbed by Thanos.

"Hahaha..."

Letting out a bold, thunderous laugh, one Celestial after another was forced to fall beneath the usurping will that wielded the universe’s primordial authority. Vast nourishment of original cosmic energy poured into him. Already brimming with vitality, Thanos grew another fifty percent more ferocious in an instant.

As Thanos, bearing glorious achievements and self-satisfaction, advanced toward the veil of the Immaterium—seeking to meet Lady Death in truth—

"Halt, Thanos. This is not a place thou shouldst come."

Thanos’ smile froze.

Among the resounding proclamations, he recognized only the one that belonged to Lady Death.

—

—

34 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven