Majestic (Majestic Vol. 2 #17)

"The End of the Beginning"

Majestic's death and the destruction of Earth are revealed to be an illusion created by Desmond to send Imperator into a comatose state. He is sent to his ship, and Zealot is moved to a Halo Medilab in Los Angeles. Savant goes with her but makes sure Majestic will talk to her about her parentage once they are finished. The Pantheon forces leave Earth, as Desmond and Majestic talk. Majestic reveals that he knows Helspont managed to posses Desmond just before he died and there's no point in hiding it. Helspont admits that he plans to use the Planet Engine to wipe out the Kherubim and liberate the Daemonites once and for all.

Majestic rewrites the authorization code temporarily stopping him, but Helspont just resets it. They continue this for the next two and a half months, neither tiring or willing to give in. Meanwhile, Savant is worried about what happened to him and she, Hadrian, and Zealot agree to leave and find out what has caused his disappearance. Back inside the Planet Engine, Majestic's genetic condition has grown worse as he shifts between an elderly and young form as a result of the Temporal Wasting destroying his body. Soon he won't be able to stop Helspont from activating the Planet Shaper. Spartan, Zealot, and Savant prepare to enter the Planet Engine, but are momentarily stopped. Helspont finds the Planet Engine shutting down, but doesn't understand why. All human life on Earth has disappeared, and Majestic reveals that the disappearance is the cause of the shut-down. Helspont slowly dies as Majestic rips Desmond's body out of the Planet-Shaper, killing him and the AI Seed, once and for all.

The reason for the disappearance is that the Alien Ark has arrived and abducted the planet's population. Majestic heads to a New York City park and allows his body to waste away, content that the Earth is now safe. Seconds later, Majestic, Superman, and the Eradicator arrive in New York and find that all life on Earth has disappeared.