If I didn't have a divinity shard, I really wouldn't have noticed this thing.
Leon paused to think and more or less pieced it together.
This had to be the Celestials from Eternals.
Sacrifice a planet to birth a Celestial.
Millions of years ago, Arishem the Judge created the Deviants to help bring forth Celestials, but when the Deviants went out of control, he made the Eternals to counter them and sent the Eternals to Earth to ensure Tiamut's emergence.
For thousands of years, the Eternals kept their heads down.
Until the Celestial was ready to be born.
With a divinity shard in him, Leon instantly sensed another shard—right in Earth's core—the slumbering Celestial that would be born by sacrificing every intelligent lifeform on the planet: Tiamut.
On paper, sure, this thing counts as a "proper" god.
But in Leon's eyes? You call that a "proper" god?
In the movie, the Eternals ultimately betray the Celestials and stop Tiamut from being born.
But the whole movie's kinda abstract.
He didn't even watch it—just watched breakdowns.
What he remembered was a bald guy who, after giving humanity advanced tech, dropped to his knees sobbing when a nuclear bomb fell on the island nation, blaming himself for the loss of life caused by that tech.
Like, seriously—what an idiot.
If it were Leon, he'd at least set off fireworks for a few years.
What can he say—some bootlicking types really are hopeless.
Oh, and that guy's LGBTQ+, found himself a husband, and he's the "bottom."
The Ancient One didn't have a divinity shard, so she couldn't sense what Leon was talking about—yet when she spun up her magic, she too noticed the Celestial sleeping under the Pacific.
Once that thing appears, it sacrifices all intelligent life on Earth.
That genuinely threatens the planet.
The Ancient One's face darkened.
"Within ten years, I'd say he'll be out. His power isn't fully formed yet," Leon watched Tiamut sleeping in the crust and smiled. "I'm pretty sure I can eat him."
Right now Tiamut's power level was only around ten million.
With Leon at four million, swallowing a ten-million Celestial wouldn't be a big problem.
After that, his power level would hit fourteen million.
Why grind yourself to death training?
Just eat the other guy and spike your power. Way more fun.
Once Tiamut fully awakens, his power level won't be ten million anymore. It could break a hundred million—maybe way higher.
So…
While he's still weak and asleep, Leon should devour him.
That's the gap between high gods and low gods.
Look at Tiamut—sacrifice all the intelligent life on Earth and he jumps straight to over a hundred million in power.
Meanwhile Gor of Planet Pura? Even after gorging on five or six billion lives, he barely hit a little over a million.
Pathetic…
The Ancient One nodded firmly. "You're right."
"Master Ancient One!" Leon said. "I can sense that on this Earth, there are people whose job is to ensure that Celestial's birth. We need to find them."
"How will you find them?" the Ancient One asked.
"The answer's simple!" Leon grinned. "This is the era of technology. Of course I'm using tech. What, you expect me to rely on magic?"
Fwoop!
As he spoke, Leon sketched a portal. "Well then, Master Ancient One, we'll talk later."
He stepped through the portal.
He stepped out just as Tony was about to make out with Pepper.
"Sorry, did I interrupt?" Leon's voice made Tony jump.
"God, Leon—could you announce yourself before you pop in?" Tony grumbled, handing Leon a glass of whiskey. "What's up?"
Even while Leon was training at Kamar-Taj, then out devouring Gor the Demon, he'd spent plenty of time in New York.
Designing a gravity chamber. Prototyping a new reactor.
He and Tony saw each other often enough.
"I need you to help me find eleven people," Leon said with a smile. "The Earth's in danger."
Tony froze. "Come again—danger?"
Leon quickly laid out the Celestials situation, and Tony felt like he was listening to a myth. After a long beat, he couldn't help asking, "You sure you're not telling me a fairy tale?"
"Do you think I need to tell you a fairy tale?"
Leon spoke evenly. "There's a race on Earth called the Eternals. Their goal is to revive the Celestials. Tony, I need the U.S. government to dig up their true identities."
"And then?" Tony asked.
"And then?" Leon's face turned serious. "I will protect the Earth."
"Emmm." Tony was disarmed by Leon's dead-serious expression. After a moment, he chuckled. "If the Earth's in your hands, I can sleep at night."
Right away, Tony reached out to the U.S. President in Leon's name.
And then the entire American state machine roared to life.
S.H.I.E.L.D., the CIA, S.P.E.A.R., S.W.O.R.D.—all started moving, combing the globe for people.
Every U.S. agency followed Leon's orders.
They had no choice—his power was burned into their memories; they still remembered how the Seventh Fleet vanished.
If Leon said Earth was in crisis, then Earth was in crisis.
One man like him could throw the planet into peril all by himself.
(End of Chapter)
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