It was the first cry of panic and despair that started it all.
…
A squadron of multicolored beings, very scant in numbers, stared at the blackened planet of Klyntar that oozed with pure malice and deranged laughter that sent phantom feeling of chills down the spines of the present Celestials.
Of the gathered panel, four Celestials stood at the forefront of the others and brimmed with more power than any other gathered Celestial.
Standing in the middle of the void, with all of his focus on the small planet before him, was a Celestial covered entirely with dark red armor and golden blazing eyes that radiated his power and the coldness with which he showed it forth – Arishem the Judge.
Standing at his right and emitting resplendent gold stood a Celestial that most had not been aware of except for few that were aware of his conception. Unlike Arishem whose just his eyes radiated unshakeable might, the eye sockets of this Celestial glowed a dim golden – The Dreaming Celestial, Tiamut the Communicator. Unlike the other Celestials gathered here that had an enmity with the almost-freed-but-still-imprisoned demon of black that predated the universe, Tiamut was driven by the will and belief that all life was precious and while the loss of life was a necessity for the universe to continue, condemning one to the malice and madness of a Dark God didn't sit right with him. He was passionate, but naïve.
On the other side of Arishem, different from the two previously mentioned Celestials, this one's body, or what they considered their armor, was multicolored in black and gold. If Arishem could be described as strict and unfeeling, and Tiamut as compassionate but resolute, he stood without showing any intent. He didn't pulsate with power nor did his eyes glow with hatred or any other strong emotion, no. He just stared at Klyntar, completely unfeeling to anything around him. To him, there was only one thought that occupied his thought processes – Exitar the Executioner – the annihilation, or the reimprisonment of Knull was all that mattered and until it was done or he died, he fancied nothing else.
The last Celestial stood to the side of the Executioner. Donned in dark green cosmic armor with brown accents. His entire face was covered but his presence could be felt everywhere, even among this small group of powerful Celestials. Hargen the Measurer.
The four of them stood watch for the past cycles since it became apparent that they was nothing they could do to stop his re-emergence.
It could be seen how serious the Celestials took the case of Knull's rising but, though it was a valid cause of panic for the cosmic race, it wasn't the reason why they gathered like this.
The fact that Exitar, Arishem and the newly born Tiamut, stood at the forefront could be seen as a precaution against something more than Knull.
Knull was just the first step to the ensuing nightmares that the multiverse was about to wake up to.
"Kekekekekekeke!" His deranged laugh resonated against the cosmic armors of the Celestials and from it they felt his mockery and bone deep hatred for them and everything they birthed.
"Did you miss me? Kekekeke." Black writhing miasma spewed out in thick amounts that covered the tiny lights of the faraway stars. "I can feel it from these wretched shackles of mine. Brimming with life and cosmic energy. I wonder how it will feel to kill one of you again after so long?... I will savor every moment of it – that much I know."
His voice got louder and the intent it carried was strong enough that it caused the bright lights of the stars to dim considerably. There was nothing Knull hated more than the race of pioneers that had disturbed his once eternal reign in darkness.
"Trapped in my exile and with nothing to do, did I ponder: how will I finally get rid of you bright colored vermin? Eons passed!" Liquid black started floating out from the deep and wide crevice of the planet, each tendril carrying Knull's purest, or rather most corrupted, will.
"Eons uncountable passed, but not once did my pondering cease. It was my own past hubris that caused my downfall, but then I finally came across the spark of realization I slight when light seeped through the first crack. So you want to know what solution I arrived at? No?" Another bout of psychotic laughs screeched out, causing a few of the weak Celestials to tremble.
"How about I just show you?" Klyntar shattered at that instant as it was bombarded with a wave of cosmic energy the moment the seal finally cracked open.
"Heed my words, Celestials: He is currently weakened but do not let that naïve preconception lower the caution you should feel to the calamity he represents. He feeds off of the dark concepts and every of our deaths at his hands will only empower him." Arishem's crisp words echoed in the ears of all present Celestials with a tone of authority. He had judged the darkness again, and like every phenomenon that had heard his utterance of judgment, it would be so.
For Celestials, the epithet they were known by was not just a name that they could take upon themselves. The cognomen they each possessed was something assigned to them even before their conception by their creator. Sometimes the name could something simple while at most times it could be obscure in its meaning.
A prime example would be the four Celestials that heralded the few behind them:
Arishem – The Judge.
Exitar – The Executioner.
Hargen – The Measure.
Dreaming Celestial Tiamut – The Communicator.
To all Celestials, even to those who have been corrupted, it was widely known that Arishem's decisions were what propelled the direction they as a race should go. Arishem's judgement spread both to the near and far ends, to every unturned stone, of the multiverse. He was synonymous with their law.
As a Judge, it was completely in Arishem's power to give a verdict to anything that went against their designed agenda, and reminiscent to the judge he was, there was also a Celestial that, although not present, was tasked with the role of the Jury. With the name of Ashema he carried the epithet of the Listener.
It was also common for Celestials to have similar roles as even though Ashema was the Listener, Celestials like Oneg the Prober who was sent to Tiamut, and Ea The Wise, also absent, also had the similar roles as that of the Listener.
And then there was Exitar.
Bearing the appellation of the Executioner, he was one of the oldest and strongest Celestials in existence. If it could be said that Arishem represented the authority of the Celestials, Exitar would be said to represent their strength.
His only duty today was the put the Forgotten God back inside the abyss he crawled out from.
The other Celestials distanced themselves from the four Celestials who stood a few kilometers from the cursed firmament of what used to be Klyntar.
"Tiamut, this will be your first duty as a Celestial. I expect nothing but the resolve for your given duty." Arishem said without facing the shiniest beacon of light among them.
"Worry not, Arishem. I fully understand. His continued existence is a threat to the very order that holds the cosmos together." At the end of the day, Tiamut was as much as Celestial as any ever was. It was a very rare occurrence where a Celestial went against their assigned directives so even though he and Arishem weren't the most amicable sort towards each other, Tiamut wouldn't disobey Arishem's orders without a strong enough reason which in all honesty was a very hard thing to do as Arishem's decisions were mostly made with the most effective result in mind.
SHKREEEEEEL!
An ear-grating wail resounded from the rubble of Klyntar which was followed by the frenzied stampede of symbiotes that crawled out from Knull's shadow.
The symbiotes were erased the moment they came within a certain distance from the Celestials who had ignored their unsightly guise to focus all their attention on the slugging mass of black that reproduced Knull's form.
"Kekekekekeke. I've almost forgotten the sensation of how prickly pain was. I guess that's the prize I must pay for the banquet you all took the time to prepare for me. Kekekekekeke!" The first Celestial to engage was none other than the Executioner who immediately set himself upon the weary king.
Even in his inebriated and hungry form, Knull showed his eternal experience in combat by spewing huge mass of darkness that threatened to bind Exitar.
…
"Pitiful." Exitar smashed through the dense congregation of darkness that would have made a normal Celestial falter, showing Knull how different he was from the rest of the Celestials he'd killed, not that the Sleeping Lord of the Abyss needed the reminder.
Exitar's fists that were overflowing with cosmic energy erased every symbiote that tried to latch onto him as it smashed into Knull, sending him careening through the infinite black of space.
There shall be no rest for the wicked.
Knull groaned at the rather heavy hand of Exitar but the smile on his face didn't recede but widened to the disproportionate ends of his face.
His tall gigantic, pale and scrawny figure, alongside his maniacal smile and the pure malice that oozed out of him was enough to make this corner of the universe shrink back in submission. His very existence was the most fearful nightmare of every living being.
He looked up just in time for a planet-sized cosmic blast from all the other Celestials to impact him head-on, further sending this tiny unknown location into trembling from the cosmic might of the attackers.
A few Celestials couldn't help but subconsciously tremble in fright as even his dark blood formed symbiotes' abominations. He laughed more at their attempt to kill him while feeding on the sparse amount of fear some of them reeked.
His shadow stretched through immaterial space and birthed hordes of symbiotes vastly from the ones that had leaked from him at the start of the confrontation.
Though he was at a disadvantage, the full teeth mocking smile never left his face as he bid his time for the upheaval.
Unfortunately for him, the Celestials in front of him were not in the mood to find out whatever it was that amused him to no end as they pressed forth their attack, unrelenting.
The Celestials were cautious of Knull's abilities, rightly so, so it was agreed that only the four strongest present would endeavor to directly engage him in combat while the others were required to stop the slightest of his movements when he was not in range with f the attacking Celestials.
It was clearly visible to Arishem that Knull was very weakened but even that weakness was fading fast with every attack he gave and received. That was why Knull had kept a reasonable attacking distance than simply attacking in rabid frenzy like Arishem vividly remembered of him from the time of the first clash between the King in Black and the Celestials.
Even at a huge disadvantage, Knull didn't make any attempt at escaping them and only focused on dodging their attacks, which he was failing at.
'He's laying in wait.' Arishem's nigh-incomprehensible intellect and memory noticed something about Knull that was different than the first time they faced each other. Eons ago when the conception of the Seventh Cosmos birthed the multiversal space, the Celestials were tasked with the duty of creation and permeating the multiverse with sentience. During their initial clash with Knull at that time, Knull had once retreated when he was besieged by a vengeful group of Celestial, only to return when he was sure he could take them on with that accursed sword in hand.
!!
"KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE! NOW THE TRUE FUN IS ABOUT TO START."
…
A Celestial had fallen.