The Inquisitor, Arishem's recognizable symbol, had six eyes on his head.
Within them, a magnificent golden light radiated, dazzling and terrifying at the same time.
Aron's first thought when he saw Arishem was how surreal the sight was. He even laughed inwardly, because it seemed to him as if the Celestials had arranged their eyes as if they were playing some kind of cosmic game, not mahjong, but the fate of entire worlds.
But now was not the time for jokes.
The negotiations between Aron and Arishem went surprisingly smoothly.
Arishem's departure had nothing to do with Quaggs, but with something Aron had done.
He used what he was best at, persuasion. His power and presence, combined with words that pierced to the very core of being, forced even the Judge of the Universe to withdraw.
The truth, however, was that Arishem's power was enormous, almost equal to Aron's.
Or, more precisely, it should be admitted that it was even greater.
Among the ranks of the Celestials, Arishem was one of the most powerful and ancient.
His judgment meant death or salvation of planets, and his appearance brought fear and reverence.
Yet, theory and reality sometimes do not align.
Arishem hesitated, even if only for a moment.
Because before him, he saw something that could shake even him, the All-Black Death Sword.
When Aron drew the black sword, space distorted, and darkness began to spread like a living being.
Even the light in Arishem's eyes flickered.
"Earth must exist."
Those were Aron's words.
Short, but spoken with a power that echoed through the vacuum of space.
Arishem fell silent for a moment. Then, almost instantly, he made his judgment:
"Earth is worthy of existence. Worthy even of the sacrifice of a Celestial."
Such a reversal would be unimaginable to anyone who knew the Celestials.
But the Sword of Black Death, a weapon capable of killing gods, is not something to be ignored.
Even godless beings, when faced with that weapon, would feel primitive fear.
In Universe 616, Gorr cut down gods like grass with that sword.
And now that weapon was in the hands of someone even more dangerous, Aron.
Arishem, known for his cold and relentless nature, suddenly became "reasonable."
If Tiamut did not wish to be born, then let him remain in slumber.
If Earth was meant to exist, so be it.
And simply, without conflict, he left the Solar System.
Thus ended the crisis that could have destroyed everything.
For Aron, it didn't even seem like a crisis, more like a game of power that he had successfully concluded.
The only pity was that he didn't have the opportunity to test his blade on a Celestial.
The God-Slayer Blade remained in its sheath.
Deep inside, Aron felt curiosity, what would it be like to cut down such a being?
He looked toward the infinity of space and smiled.
"I wonder," he said quietly, "if their bodies could serve as material for new stars?"
Then he set down the Sword of Black Death, and his gaze fell toward Titan's star.
...
On Titan.
The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, dozens of warriors, surrounded Corvus Glaive and his wife Proxima Midnight. The battle had been fierce, but now both were on the brink of death.
At the moment Aron teleported to Titan, all eyes turned toward him.
"Aron, why are you here?" asked Tony, still breathless from battle.
But behind his voice lay suspicion. When he heard that Thanos had disappeared, and that Aron might have known in advance, those doubts only grew.
"Aron... did you know Thanos was already gone? Is that why you said to leave him to you, and that we should take care of the others?" Tony's gaze was sharp and distrustful.
Based on what he knew about Aron, there was a 99% chance that it was true, and 1% chance that he simply didn't feel like dealing with it.
"Slander! You spread lies about me!" Aron replied with a theatrical expression, then stepped toward the wounded Corvus Glaive.
"Couldn't you have taken it slow? People came to you from the other side of the galaxy, and this is how you welcome them? If this spreads, they'll think Earthlings don't know what hospitality is!"
He looked at Corvus Glaive, who lay on the ground, tortured and bloody, and simply shook his head.
"Pathetic."
Then he kicked him twice.
"Don't pretend to be dead. I want to ask you something."
Corvus opened his swollen eyes, confused and terrified. He wasn't pretending, he was barely breathing.
"Tell me everything you know about Thanos."
Aron crouched beside him, holding Corvus's long combat blade in his hand, spinning it as if playing with it.
"Don't..." croaked Corvus hoarsely, but it was too late.
In the next moment, crack!
The blade broke in half.
Silence filled the space.
"Hm. Not very high quality, is it?" said Aron indifferently, observing the blade that crumbled in his fingers.
Immediately afterward, Corvus's body began to lose its color. The wounds that had been closing on their own now began bleeding again. He had lost the ability to regenerate.
Tony watched in astonishment. "That's why we beat him for so long and he didn't die... His strength was tied to that blade?"
"Seems so," answered Aron, not taking his eyes off Corvus.
Panicked, Corvus finally spoke.
"No… don't kill me. I'll tell you everything. Everything we know about Thanos's disappearance."
It was the first time he had opened his mouth since the battle began. He spoke quickly, fearing that every pause could be his last.
He told everything, how he and the rest of the Black Order learned that Thanos had disappeared, how they found his abandoned cabin, and what they discovered inside.
When he finished, Aron tilted his head. "Five members of the Black Order?"
"Yes… the five of us. Me, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, and Supergiant."
"Supergiant?" Aron raised an eyebrow. "I thought there were only four of you."
"Supergiant was in charge of searching for the Mind Stone," explained Corvus, struggling to breathe through the pain. "The rest of us were tasked with finding the remaining Infinity Stones."
Aron leaned back and looked at Tony, who stood a few steps behind him.
"Interesting, isn't it?"
Then he turned back to Corvus. "And the Power Stone? I heard you destroyed Xandar for it."
Corvus nodded, barely forming words.
"Thanos had it... but when he disappeared, the Stone disappeared with him."
Silence. Only silence and the sound of cosmic wind rustling through Titan's ruins.