Chapter 422: Ethan the Godslayer
"Got it. Understood."
"Mm, I'm a bit busy over here. Be careful, all of you. I'll head back once I'm done."
Deep in the boundless universe, stars lay scattered like dust, light and darkness woven into a magnificent tapestry.
A man stood facing a Celestial. The Celestial had a strange shape, wore a halo, and was clad in elaborate white robes.
The Celestial's face was twisted with rage, fire burning in its eyes. It was clearly shocked and furious at the man's provocation and power.
The man, though, obviously didn't take the Celestial seriously. He was muttering something under his breath, as if talking to someone over a comm.
"Godslayer, your arrogance and insolence have gone too far! Not only do you trample our dignity at will, you belittle me even in battle. Such arrogance!" The Celestial's voice echoed through the cosmos with irresistible authority.
That's right. The man was Ethan, who had been out roaming the cosmos for half a year, just two years shy of the legendary two and a half.
Ethan's lips curled into a faint smile, his eyes full of amusement and disdain. "Oh? Belittling you? Maybe. But that's because I know a truly strong man doesn't need to talk. Strength speaks for itself.
"As for why you're hunting me, I'm sure you know perfectly well yourselves. Why bother asking?"
With that, Ethan moved. He slipped between the stars like a ghost, and every punch and kick landed with a deafening boom, driving the Celestial back step by step until it was on its last breath and collapsed.
Ethan walked slowly forward and planted his foot on the Celestial's head. Tremendous power surged inside him, as if he could erase the Celestial completely at any moment.
At last the Celestial began to feel fear.
"Aren't you afraid Arishem will kill you? Aren't you afraid the great god will annihilate you?"
The Arishem this Celestial spoke of was the ruler of the Celestials, a being second only to the One Above All.
"You're the ones hunting me, and you've got the nerve to say that? As for the One Above All, I'll settle accounts with him someday." With Ethan's cold laugh, the Celestial's head burst apart, scattering into specks of light that faded into the cosmos. Only a ball of pure white light drifted slowly down into Ethan's palm: the Authority of Machinery the Celestial had left behind.
"Ironic. An Authority this powerful, and in your hands it was so feeble." Ethan sighed softly and stowed it away.
Just as Ethan was about to leave, a sense of danger like nothing before flooded over him. He frowned and quickly scanned his surroundings.
The stars seemed unusually bright in that moment, yet carried an ominous air.
Damn it. This power... a titled Celestial? he thought, his expression turning grave.
"The old masters really knew their stuff. Enemy advances, we retreat. Enemy retreats, we pursue. I'm out of here!" Ethan decided quickly. He knew this wasn't the time for a head-on fight.
He took a deep breath and summoned all his energy. His body instantly became a blazing streak of light, like a comet tearing across the night sky, shooting between the stars and vanishing at the edge of the vast universe.
The moment he left, two enormous figures appeared where he'd been: Arishem the Judge, and two of the titled Celestials under him, Hargen the Measurer and Eson the Searcher.
They were covered in jet-black armor, massive in build, like beasts stepping out of the abyss.
Arishem closed his eyes and sensed the area. Then anger rose on his face. He knew this was the fourth Celestial to die recently.
"Eson, you must hunt him down. This godslayer cannot be allowed to remain at large. Hargen, go with him. Make certain nothing goes wrong."
Arishem's voice was low and forceful, with an authority that brooked no argument.
Then his form flickered and he vanished, off to handle more pressing matters. The great Lord of All Things, the One Above All, had ordered him to track down the rebel Chen Ye and kill him.
Compared to the rebel Chen Ye, this godslayer ranked lower on the danger list.
What the Judge didn't know was that the man he was looking for was the godslayer.
Meanwhile, after a long flight, Ethan finally found a desolate but hidden planet to serve as a temporary refuge.
He landed in a secluded valley, using the natural barriers around him to hide his trail.
"Exhausting. These Celestials are walking loot drops, one after another. But it looks like the Judge won't send any more weaklings. Next it'll probably be titled Celestials," Ethan muttered.
"Still, leaving Hell's Kitchen really was the right call." Ethan looked up at the sky.
Six months ago, Ethan had left Hell's Kitchen for other universes of the multiverse. He'd just arrived in a new universe.
He hadn't even started enjoying himself before he was interrupted.
He'd crossed over into the ancient era when the Eternals and the Inhumans were at war.
Ethan was dragged into the fight through no fault of his own.
In that battle, Ethan casually wiped out both the Inhumans and the Eternals, and ran into a Celestial that was about to be born.
Ethan stopped the Celestial's birth.
That naturally drew the Celestials' attention. They saw him as a threat and launched a relentless six-month manhunt.
At first, Ethan hadn't yet reached the demigod realm. Every fight with the Celestials put him in grave danger, each battle a walk along the edge between life and death.
But it was exactly these endless challenges and trials that fully unleashed the potential within him. Finally, at a moment of life and death, he broke through the demigod barrier and slew a Celestial with the force of a thunderbolt.
That victory didn't just give Ethan's power a qualitative leap. It taught him the Celestials' secret: every Celestial holds a unique Authority, a deep understanding and command of one of the Marvel Universe's laws.
And in that battle, Ethan unexpectedly awakened an Authority of his own: Myriad. This Authority granted him the power to encompass all things.
It was also an ability he'd come to understand through the System. Of course, Ethan had only just grasped the Myriad Authority. He'd probably mastered less than ten percent of it.
That battle was also what made the Judge send more Celestials to hunt Ethan down.
Ethan discovered that absorbing the Authorities of the Celestials he killed made his Myriad Authority grow quickly.
And the Celestials' Authorities didn't disappear. So far, Ethan's Authority had reached twenty-five percent.
Ethan had a feeling that when his Authority reached a hundred percent, he would ascend to become a True God.
For now, all Ethan could do was hunt more Celestials.
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