Spacetime collapsed, stars trembled.
Matter surged like a furious tide, constantly annihilating and collapsing into nothingness.
This was without question the most terrifying and shocking scene Sean had ever witnessed. Five colossal figures stood in the void, blocking the ever-expanding rift. They symbolized the fundamental laws of this universe; the supreme primordial cosmic entities.
However, against the newly arrived Beyonders, the five omnipotent entities gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. The white beings known as the Ivory Kings represented the rules of an extradimensional universe, the Beyond Space, and were beyond the control of the cosmic entities.
Every clash between them shook the very foundation of reality. Time and space were ripped away, becoming isolated fragments that served as the battlefield for this multiversal confrontation.
Sean did his utmost to remain an observer. The golden torrent within him poured ceaselessly into the Infinity Gauntlet, which blazed with dazzling light.
In his eyes, the five cosmic entities and the Beyonders stood opposed, locked in fierce struggle like the light of creation against the primordial darkness of the universe, an irreconcilable conflict.
Within the shockwaves of their collisions, countless parallel universes collapsed like sandcastles washed away by a single wave.
This apex battle at the multiversal level even affected the boundless, endless river of spacetime. The fabric of space shattered like broken mirrors, and infinite timelines contracted and condensed.
Sean's vantage point had become chaotic as boiling water. Past and future overlapped, countless parallel universes decaying and collapsing at tremendous speed.
As Thanos had said, today was the end of the universe.
This extreme beyond measure mad Titan had learned from the Grandmaster the truth of how the Beyonders had slaughtered the Celestials. He then recruited the Molecule Man, Owen Reece, and unleashed mass slaughter, shattering the cosmic order and drawing the attention of the five primordial entities.
It was a carefully laid trap, meant to kill the supreme cosmic entities.
'But what benefit would summoning the Beyonders bring Thanos? Or does this lunatic really wish to see the multiverse destroyed?' Sean raised his right hand.
A barrier of iridescent light supported him as the clash between the five entities and the Beyonders grew ever fiercer.
Among the Beyonders, the three perfect white beings known as the Ivory Kings were not bound by time, space, energy, or any law of causality. They were new lifeforms from Beyond Space.
They had slaughtered the entire Celestial race, traveled across countless dimensions, and treated the multiverse as their laboratory, seeking to verify the ultimate mysteries of creation and destruction.
The chaotic, overlapping timelines tangled into a knot, blurring Sean's vision. He saw the same battle playing out in every universe hurtling toward destruction. He saw the Ivory Kings single-handedly killing Celestials. Those towering, armored beings fell one after another.
In one vision, an Ivory King decapitated a Celestial, whose enormous corpse drifted through the cold void before being carried away by the Beyonders.
This was the truth behind the disappearance of the Celestials...
He also saw the deep connection between the Beyonders and Owen Reece, the lucky survivor of a particle generator explosion. He was a colossal bomb designed to destroy the multiversal.
Across countless parallel universes, the Molecule Man had been constructed as a constant spanning time and space. He was the product of the Beyonders' grand experiment.
As Sean immersed himself in the dense, chaotic temporal visions, the collapse of the multiverse continued unabated.
Galactus fell first, brutally slain by an Ivory King.
Next came Death, the ultimate goddess who had once guided Thanos. In the collision with the Beyonders, her black robes tore apart, and countless shadowy fragments shattered. Every death symbol from every mythology: the Grim Reaper, Yama, Hell... were all erased in that instant.
Three of the five cosmic entities remained, but they did not last much longer. After numerous parallel universes collapsed and contracted, Infinity was also obliterated, and space across the multiverse vanished.
Sean watched the Infinity Stones dimming on his hand and felt a sense of dread. This meant the fundamental laws of the universe were being stripped away, like the pillars and beams of a sturdy house being pulled out one by one.
Collapse was imminent...
He stood in the boundless void, witnessing this terrifying confrontation from beginning to end, overwhelmed by the spectacle.
The last to fall was Eternity. The conceptual body that encompassed the stars shattered in an instant into countless fragments, plunging into the heavy darkness.
The three Ivory Kings stood within the great vortex. The rift continued to expand, and an even more intense light poured forth.
The five cosmic entities had fallen one after another. The laws they symbolized had been erased, as though they had never existed. The apocalypse of the multiverse seemed to be reaching its end.
"Stars fall! Gods perish!"
"We transcend all things, seeking the truth of existence!"
"The end of all things–"
*BOOM!*
A towering golden figure descended abruptly.
One of the Beyonders shattered instantly, crushed to dust under that solemn, immense gaze of judgment.
A being greater than the five primordial cosmic entities had appeared.
"The Living Tribunal?" Sean narrowed his eyes, staring at the colossal golden figure.
It had three faces, each symbolizing a different aspect: Equity, Necessity, and Vengeance.
The half-covered face of Vengeance was turned toward the Beyonders, its piercing gaze seeming capable of tearing through the universe and piercing all things.
Without further words, the Living Tribunal grasped a star in its hand like a pebble and hurled it down with thunderous force.
The Beyonders were not to be outdone, and the two sides began a new round of terrifying battle!
The boundless void filled with intense light, which were the sparks thrown off by each collision of fundamental laws.
In Sean's eyes, those sparks were like the blinding flash of a universe's birth, an endless cycle of matter being born and destroyed. The concept of time had grown hazy.
He stopped watching the terrifying battle that shook the multiverse, as though afraid the searing light might burn his eyes.
No one knew how long passed. When only a single Ivory King remained behind the expanding rift, the aftershocks of the battle gradually subsided, and the thunderous explosions faded into silence.
Sean opened his eyes.
The intense light converged and dispersed, the Living Tribunal's colossal golden form gradually grew clear and solid... then dimmed, drifting lifeless through the darkness.
The supreme being of the multiverse, the omniscient and omnipotent entity with authority over all things, had fallen before the Beyonders.
The stars wept in silent grief, like a funeral bell tolling, filling all with despair.
And at that moment, the destruction of the multiverse reached its end.
Countless parallel universes had been erased, leaving only one...
"All resistance, all struggle... are nothing but futile delusions." The white being known as the Ivory King murmured, yet his voice shook the multiverse.
He gazed coldly at Thanos, a hint of confusion in his eyes, as though he did not understand why the other had done this.
The Beyonders would not grant him mercy simply for playing the role of guide. In their understanding, the countless billions of lives in this universe were all sacrificial offerings for that grand experiment.
"Everything I have done was to kill you." Thanos said honestly, his voice carrying a power it had never held before.
His answer was shocking, but the Ivory King, one of the Beyonders, remained expressionless, not even bothering to sneer.
The mightiest beings of this universe had already been destroyed by them. From the Celestials to the five cosmic entities, and finally the Living Tribunal... one after another they had fallen, never to exist again.
What right did a lowly creature like Thanos have to speak such words?
"A insignificant insect, a mayfly trying to shake a mighty tree." The Ivory King's assessment was flat and dismissive.
Behind him, through the ever-expanding rift, more Beyonders emerged. If they could erase this final universe, their experiment would yield results.
From the birth of a multiverse to its destruction... the Beyonders had waited far too long.
Thanos said nothing. The intact Sanctuary II suddenly activated. The flagship of the Black Order charged at the Beyonders like a dying beast.
"I will take your power and claim it as my own... That is my purpose." Thanos stared at the expanding rift, his voice firm and resolute, "You killed the five cosmic entities and the Living Tribunal. You destroyed countless parallel universes, burning down that dark forest. Now I will kill you. I will create a completely new universe!"
Sanctuary II blazed with searing light.
The Ivory King standing within the rift paid it no heed. If even the concept-based collisions of the cosmic entities and the Living Tribunal could not harm him, this small explosion was nothing more than a spark, insignificant.
As the explosion's energy leaked out, however, the Ivory King's expression changed dramatically.
The Beyonders emerging behind him let out enraged roars, "You despicable life form! How dare you toy with us! Curse your actions..."
The lofty Beyonders hurled every vile curse at Thanos, but the energy of Sanctuary II's detonation sealed the rift. Then came a magnificent, splendid conflagration.
A continuous tide of blinding light poured into the now-stationary rift, an unimaginable force of destruction flooding inside.
Thanos watched this overwhelming wave of annihilation, his purple face cold and impassive. He had fulfilled his promise. He had killed the extradimensional Beyonders.
When the aftermath faded, and before Sean could recover from his shock, he met Thanos's cold gaze.
"I told you... You should have killed me sooner," said the mad Titan.
The void rippled, and Owen Reece, the Molecule Man, who had remained hidden, now materialized. The scarred man gently plucked the strings of matter.
Sean turned in surprise, only to have his body suddenly tore apart. Flesh and blood disintegrated, collapsing and annihilating at the molecular level, turning to dust.
"This is the end, Sean."
His fading consciousness heard Thanos's cold declaration, as if putting a final period on everything...