Knull was no fool. Though practically unkillable, he wasn't by no means infallible. His imprisonment was a testimony to that grim fact.
He had had eons to ponder on every scenario he could come up with if he was ever to break out. He knew there was no way he wouldn't run into the boorish multicolored slave race if he were to emerge as he would take it upon himself to seek them out to settle pending scores if they didn't come for him first.
Besieged by Celestials? That had been the default setting ever since they made themselves ill acquainted.
Though they were many other darkly thought out scenarios he had expected, he was glad that the one he was met with was one that brought him a sense of nostalgia to his nonexistent heart.
And what other way of expressing this sentiment than enacting a scene they were all familiar with?
Unfortunately, he had to keep his patience running on fumes as he counted the infinitesimal units of time till he could actualize his plans.
Though he loathed to admit it, he was in no way near strong enough to take on this entourage of Celestials without facing an even more premature defeat than last time. So he bid his time.
He couldn't act rashly in the face of Arishem and Exitar, oh he definitely knew those two. There was no way he would forget their particular color scheme. Since his weakness was plain for all to see, all he had to do was give into that weakness and strive to survive under the steady barrage of attacks.
If he had acted by pretending to be weak, it would have been seen through by the Celestials in front of him so all he had to do was fight back as much as he could to keep his unlife from being taken… until he felt it.
His first ever creation.
His most trusted partner who never forsook him.
It was a blade that was drenched in everything he was and forged with the death of a Celestial. The ultimate weapon of darkness for the Lord of the Abyss.
A blade blacker than the void of night with sharp pristine edges that could cleave through the most sturdiest of armors. One that was a bane to every being, both living and nonliving, Gods and demons.
The blade that ends all.
All-Black the Necrosword.
What no one, not even the Celestials, knew was that rather than just a devious blade, All-Black was an extension of Knull himself. The blade was just as undying as he was, if not more. With the blade in his hands, he was resolved to finish the war they started.
All for his revenge, he didn't focus on running away from the Celestials even when it was very dangerous for him. He had felt the joyous thrumming of his blade after he had broken out of his seal so what he needed to do was buy enough time to draw the blade back to him.
He had been badly injured in this short bout, mainly by Arishem and Exitar, because different from the rest, while they understood first hand how dangerous he was, they had assurance in their strength to face him without much caution especially since he was in his weakened state. He wanted badly to drink the blood of a Celestial to rouse his dulled instincts and strength, thankfully that time came sooner before he was completely cornered.
Even though they were separated by quite the distance, the blade had come within a distance he could reach that he could even feel the phantom texture of the hilt he hadn't held since forever.
'Not yet.'
He pushed down the exhilaration that was bubbling inside him as the blade fully entered his senses. He wanted to capitalize on the most profitable opening, and like always the dark fates seemed to favor him.
He summoned a large legion of his stronger symbiotes and set them upon the Celestials with his red eyes squinting into dots as he watched everything for the most opportune moment.
From the way Arishem had his eyes on him, he wouldn't be surprised if the red one had figured him out, so he flashed him one of his best smiles.
'Thankfully, you haven't changed at all.'
The blade that had melded into the darkness screeched with renewed bloodlust as it finally laid its hilt in the cursed hands of its creator – the personification of the Abyss.
Knull's fingers wrapped around the hilt with a ferocious strength that would shatter any celestial body. Ignoring the exhilaration he felt at being finally reconnected with his treasured blade, his focused eyes pinned on a Celestial who had dodged and countered the attack of the symbiotes, giving Knull the moment he had been waiting for.
The moment his presence left the Celestial's senses for the duration of the tiniest split unit of time, with the violently thrumming and most bloodlusting blade in existence, he moved imperceptibly through the darkness and drove the entirety of the blade into the back of the Celestial.
Finally tasting the blood it had thirsted and craved for since time immemorial, its bloodlust froze the Celestial but didn't stop the slightly muffled groan of pain and fear he released as it greedily drank all it could from the dead Celestial.
Not losing himself yet in the euphoria, he twisted the blade and picked his next target. The unsurmountable feeling of pleasure he got from the fear that a particular Celestial doused himself with was all Knull needed to pick and confirm his next victim.
Exitar and Tiamut had already sprang into action the moment they saw the tip of the blade piercing the back of the first Celestial, alas, as like a starving wild beast, Knull had no intention of pulling out his fangs until he had ripped out flesh.
The Celestial in question had attacked the moment he felt Knull's vile focus on him with a galaxy-shattering blast in hopes of stopping the inebriated Void God who had finally gotten a taste of his most hated enemy's blood.
With hauntingly red eyes, Knull ran straight into the blast, his eyes only focused on his frightened prey as everything else became inconsequential. He growled at the incoming obstruction and without even thinking of the disadvantages his actions could bring him, he threw the writhing blackened blade that was constantly screaming for more death in his ears at the beam and followed the path it cleaved through and found himself smiling more and more as he came face to face with the Celestial.
'More.' He didn't know which of them was screaming for more, he or the blade, as the only thing truly important was killing this Celestial.
SHLICK!
It smoothly passed through the neck of the Celestial as it was beheaded with ruthless ease, another death that only strengthened the now laughing demon.
"KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE! NOW THE TRUE FUN IS ABOUT TO START."
They were finally at a stalemate with the Celestials staring at Knull while he grinned at them.
Darkness billowed and wailed behind him before it formed the head of a symbiote, one that felt infinitely more dangerous than any of hinsother symbiotes. It wrapped around his form and coated his body in the darkest shade of apparel it could form.
Knull felt himself being invigorated as strength flowed into him. Though he was still at a disadvantage, it was nothing he couldn't cleave his way through.
All it had taken were a few moments in time for Knull to hold the Necrosword in his hands and fell two Celestials. So fast he was that Exitar and Tiamut who had seen the prelude to the first death still couldn't stop the second one despite reacting before the first deed was fully done.
Arishem had made a mistake, though not one that was fully his fault.
Knull's blade had evaded all their senses making them aware of it after he held it. None of them had sensed it coming.
It would only get progressively more dangerous from here on out as he had devoured two Celestials at once and although Arishem would prefer it if only a few of them attacked Knull, the demon was too much for any single Celestial to face. If it was just the four of them against Knull, it would only get more harder than it currently is once Knull killed one of them.
The four of them present were one of the strongest Celestials in existence and Knuil devouring one of them was a faster disaster waiting to happen so he had opted to face him with a small enough lineup so they could take the burden off the other if they became too pressed, and Knull just killed two of them in an instant.
'And it's not just Knull.'
Hargen shared a look with Arishem and together, the four of them rushed at him at once while the remaining Celestials gave them a wide berth and attacked Knull at every convenience they got.
Seeing them rushing at him like they did all those eons ago made Knull's smile grow sadistic as he finally shared his nostalgia and sentiments with them.
With his Necrosword in hand, death and darkness in each step, he lunged at the nearest Celestial, which just happened to be Arishem, and reenacted the chaos that once was the origin of this universe.
Wielding cosmic energy with the same familiarity as Knull wielded his darkness, Arishem's clash with Knull's sword sent a reverberation that made the space around them turbulent.
Hargen blindsided Knull who was already engaged with Arishem only for his advancement to slow down as a wide mouth with fangs that threatened to devour everything, even darkness itself, grew from Knull's back and butted heads with him.
Exitar and Tiamut were only a few steps behind and used their gigantic cosmic armored fist and punched at Knull who could only snarl in irritation as he found himself boxed in by the four Celestials.
He disengaged from Arishem but not before smashing Hargen father into space before dodging the combined fists. If he had woken up and had only found these four Celestials, he would have retreated since he knew for a fact that he wasn't a match for them, doubly so when he was in his weakened state.
But they had brought a small number of Celestials with them, making Knull improvise since he knew just how crucial it was that he quickly fed and regained his strength.
It was the best alternative he came up with since he knew that even when weakened, he still had a few tricks hat would injure one of them and secure his escape. It was a win-win outcome for him. And besides he shared the same sentiments as the Celestials as they would immediately try to kill the other every time their path crossed. What was wrong with him exercising his atrophied muscles and also killing some Celestials in the process?
His interval reverie was put to an abrupt stop as he found himself repeatedly bombarded with cosmic blasts that erased his symbiotes and darkness only for him to once more find himself in the rhythm of his four assailants.
He cackled even more madly as his shadow started stretching and spewing symbiotes through the perpetual darkness into the universe.
With his blade in hand, he struck out with deranged fervor causing the nearer Celestials to back away from his as even a nick from his blade could prove progressively fatal to them.
"Why do you resist so much, rebel of light? Everything will eventually return to darkness – its rightful place – so why try to fight futility? Why struggle in vain against perpetuity? It's only right I take back all what you've stolen form the void. Stolen from me!" Darkness threatened to engulf Tiamut but Exitar appeared and shielded the golden Celestial, giving him a chance to strike back at Knull.
Which he did.