Karl had fought the Celestials before.
He had even killed quite a few of them and plotted against many more.
The hatred between Karl and the Celestials ran extraordinarily deep.
Because of that, he had deliberately researched these enemies.
No one understood you better than your enemy.
Karl was one of the people who understood the Celestials best in the entire world.
Although it might seem as though he had casually killed several Celestials, that did not mean other people could do the same.
The Illuminati had underestimated the Celestials.
If they truly fought against them, they would probably suffer devastating losses.
"Although I don't want to discourage you, I believe you have seriously misunderstood the Celestials' strength."
"Have any of you ever seen a Celestial?"
Karl raised his head and asked the question.
The Illuminati's heroes exchanged embarrassed smiles.
"Ahem."
"If you mean beings like the Celestials, then no."
"We've never actually seen one."
Doctor Strange answered with an awkward expression.
"Then it's hardly surprising that you're so confident."
"You need to understand that even Dormammu, the so-called Dimensional Demon you've fought for so many years, would be completely incapable of resisting a Celestial."
"And that only applies to ordinary Celestials."
"The Celestials dispatched by the First Firmament would be even stronger."
"They are among the earliest ancient gods, possessing power ordinary beings could never hope to match."
Karl spoke with a solemn expression.
"You're making them sound almost unbelievably powerful. Just how strong are these Celestials?"
"Could they really leave us completely incapable of fighting back?"
Tony Stark asked.
The Tony Stark of the Main Universe was nothing like the one from Karl's universe.
That version had been pushed to his limits by a single Thanos.
The Main Universe had far more extraordinary individuals, and its technology was considerably more advanced.
Tony had never suffered a genuine setback.
Furthermore, because of this universe's timeline, its Tony Stark appeared to be only around thirty years old.
He was still the fearless and arrogant playboy who believed nothing in the world could threaten him.
Naturally, he refused to accept Karl's assessment.
Karl merely raised the corner of his mouth.
"In a sense, they could."
"If you weren't in the Main Universe, they would have thousands upon thousands of ways to kill you outright."
"Even within the Main Universe, you would probably still be unable to defeat them."
Karl sat cross-legged in his chair, smiling as he looked at them.
"Really?"
"Are they truly as unbelievable as you claim?"
Tony Stark remained unconvinced.
"No amount of explanation can compare to experiencing it yourselves."
"It may also prevent you from suffering catastrophic losses when you eventually face the Celestials for real."
Karl smiled as he spoke.
"How do you plan to let us experience it?"
Mister Fantastic asked curiously.
"Simple."
Snap!
Karl snapped his fingers.
The surrounding space changed abruptly.
In the next instant, they appeared in outer space.
"This is an uninhabited galaxy approximately four billion light-years from Earth."
"You can try attacking me here."
"If you can break through my defenses and land a hit on me, it will prove that you at least possess the basic qualifications needed to confront the Celestials."
Karl spoke calmly.
The members of the Illuminati were dumbfounded.
They looked around at the empty darkness and were left utterly stunned.
"This is outer space?"
"How is that possible?"
"How can we speak in space? Why is there air here?"
Tony Stark stared at him with wide eyes.
"This is merely an insignificant trick."
"It's nothing worth mentioning."
"If something this minor is enough to astonish you, then you have absolutely no chance of defeating the Celestials."
"They are beings capable of altering the rules of reality with ease."
"According to your framework of physics, they could effortlessly change the physical constants within a particular region."
Karl's words made Tony immediately object.
"That's impossible."
"It might seem impossible."
"Why don't you measure the speed of light here?"
"I have temporarily altered the speed of light within this region."
Karl smiled at Tony Stark.
Tony tapped his chest.
His clothing transformed as the nanotech suit instantly spread across his entire body.
The sensors within his armor began operating at maximum capacity.
"What?"
"That's impossible!"
The face hidden beneath Tony Stark's helmet was filled with horror.
He felt as though the entire scientific framework he had spent years constructing was being challenged.
The speed of light within this region was drastically different from its normal value.
How could that possibly be true?
If something like this happened on Earth, it would send shockwaves through the entire physics community.
Changing a physical constant?
How could such power possibly exist?
How was anyone supposed to fight against something like that?
If the physical constants changed, his entire suit of armor would become useless.
He would have to recalculate everything before the suit could adapt to its environment.
And Karl had only changed the speed of light.
What would happen if he altered other physical constants?
Even Tony's arc reactor would be unable to withstand the consequences.
It might explode before the battle even began.
How could he possibly fight under such conditions?
Were the Celestials really that powerful?
After thinking it over carefully, Tony spoke again.
"I still think something is wrong."
"You didn't actually alter the physical constants here."
"You merely made me experience an illusion, didn't you?"
Tony Stark's eyes lit up as he offered his explanation.
"Is there a difference?"
Karl asked in return.
Tony Stark immediately fell silent.
There truly was no meaningful difference.
After spending so much time around Professor X and Doctor Strange, he had learned that magic could not be judged through conventional reasoning.
If someone could force them to experience illusions, then taking their lives would be effortless.
More terrifyingly, magic could do far more than simply kill them.
It could deceive their minds and make them attack their own allies.
Karl was right.
Whether it was the power to alter physical constants or magic capable of controlling their minds, neither was something they could resist.
"Are the Celestials really that powerful?"
"And are you really this powerful?"
Tony Stark could not stop himself from asking.
Karl did not answer directly. He merely shook his head.
"I am not particularly powerful."
"Some beings among the Celestials possess strength far beyond my own."
"My abilities are only barely adequate."
"Do you believe you could deal with beings like that?"
Karl asked.
Tony Stark fell silent for a long moment.
The other members of the Illuminati also fell silent.
They could not deal with them.
Even Karl's strength alone had already surpassed the limits of what they were capable of confronting.
It was a fundamental difference between their levels of existence.
It was like comparing ants to humans.
Even the greatest genius ever born among ants would amount to nothing more than a joke in the eyes of humanity.
(End of Chapter)
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