WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Savage Avengers #25, on sale now from Marvel Comics.

An obscure Marvel villain has risen to become the dominant force across the Marvel Universe as Conan the Barbarian's longtime nemesis Kulan Gath has conquered the world through his powerful dark magic. After easily crushing both the Avengers and X-Men, Kulan reigns relatively unopposed with only Conan left to stop his mortal enemy and restore the Marvel Universe to what it once was. After bringing in an entire arsenal of classic Marvel weapons in a desperate bid to overthrow Gath, Conan finds the ancient sorcerer is prepared for him, with the powerful magician devouring Venom before the Last Cimmerian's eyes.

Conan had survived the disastrous battle against Gath and his forces, with the older barbarian taking control of one of Doctor Doom's old armors to fend for himself in the years following the villain's conquest. Becoming increasingly desperate and realizing his time to act is running out, Conan turned to Kang the Conqueror for help, with the time-traveling supervillain begrudgingly providing Conan access to his full arsenal of iconic weapons from across Marvel history. Among the weapons that Conan is seen wielding ahead of the showdown is the Black Knight's trusty Ebony Blade, but Savage Avengers #25 (by Gerry Duggan, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia and VC's Travis Lanham) reveals that even this is not enough to give Conan the decisive edge he needs to triumph.

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While dueling Gath in the supervillain's throne room at the end of time, Conan strikes, using the Ebony Blade and Captain America's original World War II shield. As the fighting turns to Gath's favor, Conan begins to tap into the symbiote-powered abilities of the sword, forming it into differently shaped weapons while forming it around his right hand like a gauntlet. Annoyed by Conan's persistence, Gath rips the symbiote off of Conan, with the creature quickly taking the recognizable from of a Klyntar symbiote resembling Venom. Unimpressed, Gath savagely devours the symbiote before Conan's eyes, reminding the barbarian of how merciless his opponent can be.

The Ebony Blade was revealed to be linked to the extraterrestrial symbiotes in the lead-up to the recent crossover event King in Black as partially forged from material that came to Earth on a meteorite eons ago. This material was a living extension of Knull, the dark god of symbiotes. This, coupled with the dark magic that enchanted the Ebony Blade since its forging in the Arthurian era, made the Black Knight a surprisingly effective and important figure during King in Black, capable of actually hurting Knull when the evil god invaded Earth with his monstrous army of symbiotes. The Necrosword is even older, wielded by the evil Gorr the God-Butcher, though made of similar material.

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The Necrosword, one of the most powerful, ancient weapons in the Marvel Universe, is made of extraterrestrial material directly derived from symbiotes and is endowed with their shape-shifting nature. However, even with its sister sword, Conan the Barbarian was no match for Kulan Gath, even with a bolstered arsenal provided by Kang the Conqueror.

In one fell swoop, the sorcerer has consumed the last of the Venom symbiotes without so much as blinking and has achieved his final victory over the Cimmerian warrior. With hope rapidly running out and few left to oppose him, the Savage Avengers' destruction appears to be imminent.

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