"I won't be able to escape for a while."
"Can't get away? What happened to you?" Coulson asked immediately.
"No, I just need to do some research."
"How long will it take?"
"Three to five years," Ian replied. "If you need anything, my clone can still be contacted, but if it suddenly collapses, don't mind." He will not use the soul clone, because he needs to keep his soul intact to practice. Instead, he will use a less reliable dark Shadow Clone.
"Are you sure everything is okay?"
"Yes," Ian comforted. "If there is an emergency while I am away, you can contact Council and they will decide whether to contact me."
"I understand."
"One more thing: keep an eye on Fantastic Four," Ian continued. "If you see them coming into contact with a man wearing silver armor and a green cape, or a silver man flying on a surfboard, contact me directly."
"What a strange description. Can you send me a visual projection?" Coulson asked.
"No problem."
After talking with Coulson, Ian went to see Judge Arishem, and his other Celestials members.
"Mage, why do you want to imprison us?" Arishem asked.
"I apologize for the way my companions treated you," Ian said, lifting all the seals imprisoning this dimension.
"This is unacceptable," said searcher Yinsen.
"Not necessarily," Ian said calmly. He was floating in mid-air, facing these towering Celestials. However, for some reason, he was the most frightening existence in this dimension. "What you did almost caused our timeline to be completely erased."
"We are not aware of the consequences of our actions," correspondent Tiamut - the same Celestials who was sealed on Earth - added.
"Your ignorance is the only reason why you can still breathe now," Ian said. "Let's not ask whose fault it is. What exactly caused you to open a gap in another timeline?"
"Eternals on Centaurus Galaxy Sereon launched a rebellion and set a trap for us," said Arishem. "Yinsen was sent to 'Intermediary Zone', but before he returned to our timeline, someone else summoned him to another reality. He sent the highest level distress signal, so I had no choice but to save him."
"It seems that the Eternals you created is not very reliable," Ian commented.
"It seems so," Arishem agreed.
"Mage, what do you want from us?" Tiamut asked.
"Your clan should be aware of the current situation by now. Our timeline needs as much power as possible, so I extend an invitation to you on behalf of Guardians Council."
"Guardians Council?"
"It was an alliance of powerful and intelligent individuals whose sole purpose was to protect this timeline and ensure its survival," Ian explained.
"What do you think?" Arishem asked.
"Worth considering," Tiamut replied.
"Celestials's mission is to bring life to more planets in the universe - not to add Council," Yinsen said.
"So, when this universe is erased or forcibly separated from another universe Fusion, what will happen to your mission? What will happen to you?" Ian asked in return.
"Okay, let's join you Council," Arishem said.
"But-"
"I have decided." Arishem glanced at him.
"As you wish," Yinsen sighed. Arishem is the Firstborn, the leader personally appointed by Eternal Consciousness. He oversaw the Big Bang and countless cosmic events that led to the formation of the universe.
"While I accept your offer, Celestials cannot stop our mission," Arishem continued.
"I don't want you to stop either," Ian replied. "We need as much power as possible, which is why I've provided you with a way to get Celestials away without destroying the planet."
"For this, we are grateful," Arishem nodded.
"You're welcome," Ian waved his hand. "Let me introduce you to the other members of Council." Many large screens appeared in front of Ian, showing the faces of other Council members. He introduced everyone one by one, and then shared information about Convergence.
Council held a meeting and made decisions on several major issues. Celestials's forges would operate at full capacity, creating an army of Eternalss to serve as soldiers. Of course, Ian fine-tuned their operations to ensure that these Eternalss would not start a rebellion like the previous ones.
Celestials will also act as ambassadors, using their status and reputation to help S.H.I.E.L.D. extend its tentacles to every corner of the universe and establish an organization that can collect intelligence and manage all superpowers. Asgard is also famous in the universe, and Odin also agreed to use his name and reputation to assist in this cause.
Odin is also preparing to expand the scale of Valhalla. This All-Father's idea is that anyone who dies in their timeline can be reborn as a warrior spirit in Valhalla and get a second chance to continue fighting. Odin is even preparing to recruit people from other timelines to make them part of this new version of Valhalla.
Odin is not the only one making big moves. Frigga is slowly establishing [Sisterhood of Witches], an organization of witches with the power to peer into destiny. One of the biggest problems Ian faces is the lack of prophets or Divination masters who can assist his cause, so he is happy that Frigga has this idea.
Wakanda is about to develop their first Tier 10 Black Panther Suit, and they will provide the Vibranium needed by Council. Wakanda also begins to distribute Heart-Shaped Herb to all citizens, while preparing powerful armor and technological equipment for their army.
The Ancient One has two tasks to complete. The first is to watch over Kamar-Taj. Over the years, mages have been conducting expeditions in multiple dimensions to eliminate potential threats that might suddenly erupt during a large Convergence.
They eliminated Divine Artifact who would cause trouble if they fell into the wrong hands, assassinated individuals who would grow powerful and bring disaster to the world, and even intercepted the actions and opportunities of Demon Gods or Hell lords to prevent them from becoming more threatening.
The Ancient One's task is to continue this work. But Ian also gave her the work of perfecting Lantern Corps. Yellow Lantern (Fear) Legion and Red Lantern (Wrath) Legion has been established, but recruitment has not stopped. The Ancient One needs to maintain the operation of this project and ensure that the recruited people-especially those Demons-are properly controlled.
More importantly, Ian needs someone to supervise Death Corps for him. Most of the preparation work has been completed, she only needs to complete the final integration work, and then she can start recruiting. Ian does not have much time, so he delegated this task to her.
The last thing Council did was to form a team composed of the best Tyrant from all parties to find the missing Hydra and Mephisto (Mephisto). This Lord Hell obviously had enough time to cause trouble, but he took no action. Ian was very dissatisfied with the patience and calmness shown by Mephisto. There were various signs that this bastard was preparing to make a big move.
After the meeting, Ian did not immediately start retreating. Instead, he went to visit one of his chess pieces: Kaecilius. Council's tracking team was just a cover. He captured Mephisto's real trump cards were Dark Kamar-Taj and Kaecilius. After a brief chat with the latter, Ian agreed to increase his weekly visits to four days.
After confirming that everything was fine, Ian finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to retreat in order to regain his extraordinary control over magic power.