Ian walked along the river of time, its waters flowing beneath his feet, fast—so fast the scenery on both banks blurred into bands of light. The figures of the Four Abstract Entities could no longer be seen. He had walked for a very long time, long enough for the waters of the river of time to shift from dark to bright, from bright to dark, alternating countless times.
The universe was evolving, growing from an infant into a youth, from a youth into a young adult.
He saw the birth of the Celestials. They had not emerged from the void; they had been "manufactured." Eternity stretched out a hand, drawing matter and energy from the foundation of the universe to shape the first batch of Celestials. They were huge, so huge that planets looked like marbles beneath their feet.
They wore armor, their helmets covering their faces and revealing only two glowing eyes.
They did not speak and had no expressions. They simply stood there, like a row of manufactured tools. The task Eternity gave them was: observe, evaluate, judge.
Observe every civilization in the universe, evaluate their worth, and judge whether they lived or died.
"This should count as the second generation of Celestials. They're very different from the Celestials of the First Firmament era, which I couldn't reach. I'd guess Eternity just used them as a reference." Ian walked past them, and they did not notice. Their eyes glowed, but they could not see him on the river of time.
Immediately after that.
He witnessed the war of the cosmic gods. It was not a confrontation between two armies, but a clash between two philosophies. The Celestials believed the universe needed order, rules, and control. The other faction—those ancient beings who had not been accepted by the Celestials—believed