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Chapter 150 Facing Reality
Chapter 150 Facing Reality
After closing the hologram, the Holy Lord said calmly, "Eleven hours is too slow."
The Holy Lord raised his hand, and the blue light of the Space Stone shone from his fingertip, completely enveloping the surrounding space.
Olympia Star.
When Icarus returned, the entire city's elves had already sensed something was amiss. Aristem's death wasn't news; it was as if a thread connecting every elf's nerve endings had been severed. That emptiness had begun three days prior, initially a vague unease, which later transformed into a definite loss.
But no one knew exactly what happened until Icarus landed in the central square.
His armor showed signs of damage—not from an external attack, but from an internal energy failure that caused it to explode. The dents at his knees were clearly visible to everyone present.
The Eternals' councils don't follow the human procedures; there's no need for appointments, scheduling, or notifications. When news of Icarus's return spread, within five minutes, all the Eternals present on Olympia gathered in the council chamber beneath the World Engine.
Fourteen people.
Selsi stood at the front; she was one of the few Eternals who frequently traveled to and from Earth, and her understanding of the human world was far deeper than the others. She was the first to notice that Icarus was not in a good condition.
"You've seen the man who killed Arithm."
It is not a question.
Icarus stood in the center of the council chamber, taking ten seconds to organize his thoughts. This was a long time for him; he wasn't one to habitually organize his words.
"That person has the Tiger Tally."
There was a two-second silence in the council chamber. Faustos was the first to react; he was the one among the Eternals closest to a scientist, and also the one with the deepest understanding of Celestial technology.
"Tiger Talisman? The original version?"
"The original," Icarus replied.
Phastos's expression changed. Of everyone present, he was the only one who had thoroughly studied the Celestials' principles of creation. He had traced the origins of the Eternals' ability to manipulate cosmic energy within their bodies for three thousand years, finally finding a vague answer in the Celestials' archives—the "Primal Projection Template."
But he never made this discovery public.
Icarus recounted the events without embellishment or omitting the part about kneeling. Lying is taboo among the Eternals, and the marks on his armor were undeniable; there was no point in concealing them.
After the speech, the atmosphere in the council chamber split into two distinct layers.
Jingge stepped forward. He was the largest warrior in the Eternal Clan, capable of materializing a mountain into a marble. His response was direct: "One person. Even if he has the Tiger Talisman, it's still just one person. We have fourteen here, and at least thirty more scattered outside that we can recall. This battle isn't unwinnable."
"You didn't understand," Icarus said.
"I understand. He controlled your energy and made you kneel." Jingle's tone wasn't provocative, but it also showed no sign of backing down: "In a one-on-one situation."
"It's not a difference between one-on-one and one-on-fourteen," Icarus shook his head. "It's a difference in levels. He only released a wisp of his aura, and all my power was already out of my control. This isn't a matter of combat strength; it's that what he holds is the source of our power. What are you going to use to fight him? Use what he gave you to fight him?"
Jingle did not immediately retort.
Cerci spoke up: "What are his demands?"
"I don't know," Icarus said bluntly. "He didn't mention it. I asked him what right he had to kill Aristem, and he asked me what right I had to stand there and talk to him."
"So he's just here to cause trouble?"
"It doesn't seem like it." Icarus thought for a moment. "There were other people with him. Thanos was on his ship. There was also a human woman with red energy, whose strength was unknown. Before he attacked me, none of them showed any signs of nervousness, as if they knew the outcome from the beginning."
Fastos remained silent. He walked to the control panel in the center of the council chamber, brought up the energy spectrum of the World Engine, and swiped his finger across the data stream a few times.
"Icarus is right," Faustos said calmly. "If the Tiger Talisman is truly the source template of our energy, then for the holder, suppressing our power doesn't require any fighting. He only needs to tamper with the source, and we're nothing but scrap metal."
Jingle: "You mean to surrender?"
"What I mean is, facing reality and surrendering are two different things."
"It's about the same for me."
That's your problem.
The atmosphere became tense.
Druger remained leaning against the pillar, motionless. She was the youngest of the Eternals, and her mind control abilities, along with Icarus's cosmic energy, were considered two of the Eternals' core combat strengths. She spoke only after observing everyone's expressions.
"What's the point of arguing all this time?"
The council chamber fell silent. Drug's words were never pleasant, but they often hit the nail on the head.
"There's only one question—what is he going to do? Without knowing that, there's no point in discussing whether to fight or not."
If he wanted to wipe out the Eternals, Icarus wouldn't have been able to return. Releasing him shows there's room for maneuver.
Jingge countered, "It could also be a demonstration."
"There's a lot of room between protest and genocide," Druger said, spreading his hands. "I tend to figure out the other side's intentions before making a decision."
Celsi agreed with Druger's assessment. Icarus remained silent. Faustos began calculating the theoretical defensive efficiency of the World Engine Shield against the Tiger Talisman, and after three minutes, he turned off the holographic projection.
"I can't figure it out. There are too many variables, and my understanding of the Tiger Talisman is limited to fragments in the Celestial Group's database."
The discussion in the council chamber lasted for about forty minutes.
No conclusion has been reached.
The pro-war faction, led by King, believed that the Eternals had existed for tens of thousands of years and their dignity should not be abandoned because of one person or one thing. The pro-peace faction, centered around Phantos and Druger, believed that rashly starting a war without sufficient information was the most foolish choice. Selcy wavered between the two sides. Icarus never clearly took sides from beginning to end; as a firsthand witness, the feeling of having his power shut off from within prevented him from responding with a simple "fight" or "don't fight."
Forty-first minute.
The alarm for the world engine has sounded.
This wasn't an intrusion alert—intrusion alerts have specific threat levels and directional indicators. This time, a notification popped up that none of the Eternals had ever seen before: the energy source template detected a raw signal.
Fastos rushed to the control panel, where the data on the holographic screen was jumping around wildly. He read it for three seconds, and his expression completely changed.
"He's here."
The dome of the council chamber was transparent, and everyone looked up at the same time.
A blue crack appeared in the sky above Olympia.
The tunnel torn open by the Space Stone stretched across the sky, its edges still slowly expanding, and a person emerged from the rift.
A red-haired woman followed half a step away from him, red energy flowing around her, not in an offensive posture, but more like a habitual defense.
Wanda stood half a step behind the Lord, looking down at the city below. The entire city of Olympia was spread out before her, a circular structure with white buildings and light dancing at the top of the central tower.