"I was born before this universe—before the current universe, to be precise. I have felt the power of a true Creation God… an unmatched force of absolute law. It was this very force that brought about the birth of the present universe."
Knull sighed deeply, his expression solemn.
"Otherwise, how could they be called Creation Gods merely by being powerful? It is because they created this universe—and most of the multiverse—that they hold such a title."
Silver Surfer remained silent for a long moment before speaking.
"I have never heard of any of this."
"Wait… does that mean my father is just an avatar? Then what about me?" Galacta, the daughter of Galactus, asked in confusion. "Am I also an avatar? Or am I some kind of mutated rule of this universe?"
Knull's eyes flickered with surprise. He scrutinized Galacta, sensing a familiar energy in her.
"You're… Galactus' child?"
"Yes," Galacta confirmed. "So? Do you have any more information you can share?"
Knull hesitated. "Not really. I've spent eons hiding and growing in strength. I don't actually know much about the outside world, nor do I understand the deeper secrets of the universe."
Despite his previous arrogance, Knull was being unusually cooperative. After being swiftly defeated by both Robert and Clark, he saw no point in hiding information.
"So how much do you know about what lies beyond our universe?" Tony Stark pressed. "Are we surrounded by parallel universes, or are there entirely foreign, unrelated ones?"
"I'm not sure. I think neighboring universes are usually parallel, but I never paid much attention. I was too focused on this universe to care about others," Knull replied with a shrug.
Tony's eyes briefly flashed with disappointment, but he quickly masked it.
"We should take this discussion back to the base."
Clark nodded, understanding Tony's reasoning. With that, the group stepped forward, and in a ripple of energy, they disappeared.
—
Upon arriving at the Avengers' base, Clark sent a private telepathic message to Knull.
"Can you locate the Celestial hidden on Earth?"
Knull's eyes narrowed.
"What's so special about that one?"
"This Celestial isn't like the others," Clark explained. "It has absorbed part of Earth's dimensional power. Its physical form is weak in the material realm, but in the Earth dimension, it has considerable influence."
"Dimensional power?" Knull's expression changed.
If a Celestial had truly merged with a planetary dimension, then hunting it down would be much more difficult. No wonder Robert hadn't dealt with it before leaving.
"If it had a physical form, Robert could've erased it instantly," Clark continued. "But since it exists in another form, it's been able to stay hidden."
Knull's face grew serious. "I haven't searched for it yet, but I'll try."
"Be discreet," Clark warned. "It's very likely watching us even now."
Knull frowned. "It can spy on us, but we can't detect it?"
"If it exists as a fundamental part of the Earth dimension, then it's like… air. Always there, but invisible to us," Clark explained.
"That's a problem," Knull admitted. "I'll try to locate it, but I can't guarantee success."
Clark acknowledged the response, satisfied for now.
—
Just then—
"God?!"
A startled voice interrupted the discussion.
Everyone turned.
On Peter Parker's shoulder, a familiar black form wriggled into sight.
Venom.
The moment Venom emerged, Kara and the others remembered Knull's title—God of the Symbiotes.
But to their surprise, Venom wasn't looking at Knull.
He was staring directly at the Black Death Sword in Sentry's hand.
Despite Knull's return, the sword had remained in Sentry's grasp without struggle. It no longer trembled or attempted to escape—perhaps because Knull, humbled by his defeat, didn't dare reclaim it forcefully.
Yet Venom…
Venom's eyes burned with feverish intensity.
With a gurgling hiss, he suddenly detached from Peter's body and lunged toward the sword.
WHAM!
A pulse of black energy erupted from the sword.
Venom, mid-leap, instantly collapsed into a shapeless puddle, his body liquefying on the spot.
Though immobilized, his glowing white eyes still blazed with obsessive longing for the sword.
—
"What the—?"
Knull raised an eyebrow at Venom's reaction.
"You've evolved to this level already? It looks like you've overcome heat and sound weaknesses."
"You know him?" Peter Parker asked, stepping closer with concern.
"Not personally," Knull admitted, "but I made all symbiotes. This one's progress is… unexpected."
"So what just happened to him?" Peter pressed. "Why is he paralyzed?"
"Nothing major," Knull replied nonchalantly. "Just a little safeguard I built into all symbiotes."
"Wait, you designed this flaw?" Kara asked, surprised.
"It's not a flaw—it's a control mechanism," Knull corrected. "Unlike heat and sound, this one can't be overcome. It's a built-in failsafe."
He chuckled. "I created the symbiotes to be powerful, but I also knew they might rebel. So I made sure to leave myself a way to shut them down."
"You don't understand symbiotes," he added with a smirk. "They don't respect hierarchy. They'll rebel against their creators, their leaders—hell, even their own 'fathers.'"
"You mean… you?" Tony guessed.
Knull nodded. "Exactly. So, of course, I put in a safeguard. Otherwise, one day, they'd probably try to kill me."
Venom, still flattened on the floor, suddenly twitched.
"Wait a minute… you're our god?"
"Yes!" Knull snapped. "Who else would it be?!"
Venom hesitated.
"Honestly… I thought it was the sword."
"…Excuse me?" Knull's eye twitched.
"Well, we're not human-shaped," Venom reasoned. "So our god being a sword kinda made sense."
Knull stared.
Then facepalmed.
—
"So you did create symbiotes to challenge the Celestials?" Tony asked, steering the conversation back on track.
Knull nodded.
"I wanted a race that could evolve on its own. That way, they'd grow stronger over time and eventually wear Celestial armor themselves."
His eyes gleamed. "Imagine it—an army of symbiote-powered Celestials, tearing each other apart!"
Knull's voice practically dripped with excitement.
But Tony's enthusiasm quickly faded.
"So… you don't have a way to combine symbiotes and Celestial armor?"
"Nope. The plan was always to steal the armor," Knull admitted. "I never figured out a method to merge them."
Tony sighed. "That's disappointing."
For now, the Avengers had more pressing concerns—namely, gathering information on the universe beyond.
As Knull secretly extended his senses, searching for the hidden Celestial, he found himself intrigued by Earth's dimension.
Planets typically existed within dimensions; they didn't usually have their own.
Yet here Earth was, an exception.
—
Meanwhile, Lorna approached Kara and Diana, speaking in hushed tones.
"Something else happened while you were gone."
Kara frowned. "What is it?"
"You remember Black Adam's emergence from the ocean?" Lorna asked. "There was a massive storm, but Atlantis didn't react at all."
"I did wonder about that," Clark said.
"Well," Lorna explained, "Atlantis had its own problems. The underwater storm caused a swarm of deep-sea monsters to go berserk. The Atlanteans were too busy fighting them off to deal with surface issues."
"Queen Mera had to use the Trident of Poseidon to restore order."
Kara exchanged a glance with Diana.
Now that she thought about it—Poseidon was also missing from Indigel.
Just like the rest of Olympus.
Would they return now that the crisis had passed?
And if they did…
How would they face the other gods they had abandoned?
Kara suspected it wouldn't matter.
The gods of Indigel had already proven one thing—
They had no problem pretending the past never happened.
______
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