The two agents behind the woman immediately raised their weapons. They were peculiar firearms, each muzzle suspended with a miniature vortex of time. Pulling the triggers, they fired two orange beams straight at Levi.
Levi didn't dodge.
He merely waved his hand lightly.
Space folded in front of him. The beams were twisted by spatial laws, veering off course and shooting into the sky. Levi could sense their true nature—these weren't physical attacks, but weaponized applications of time laws, capable of stripping a target from the current timeline and banishing them into a prison dimension known as the Void.
But this level of time manipulation was nothing before him.
"That's it?" Levi said. "No wonder you rely on the so-called Sacred Timeline to maintain order. Your own power isn't enough to control time."
For the first time, the woman's expression changed. She tightened her grip on the scepter. The clock mechanism at its tip began spinning counterclockwise, faster and faster. The air around them warped as the flow of time became chaotic.
Levi felt it.
He could see Steve's movements suddenly slow, the energy indicators on Tony's armor flickering at a reduced frequency, Natasha's finger frozen mid-trigger pull.
This was time deceleration.
The woman was trying to suppress the entire battlefield with time laws, slowing everyone except herself and her allies. It might work on ordinary people—but not on Levi.
The time laws within him activated instantly, counteracting the external slowdown. The flow of time around him returned to normal, while the woman's influence was shut out by his domain of laws.
"My turn," Levi said.
He didn't use the Dark Trident, nor did he unleash the full extent of his powers. He simply raised a hand and pointed his index finger at the scepter.
The Law of Death surged from his fingertip, forming a hair-thin black line that struck the clock mechanism precisely.
The hands of the clock stopped.
Then the entire device began to collapse from within. Gears shattered, springs snapped, and the markings on the dial vanished one by one. The scepter, stripped of its temporal power, became nothing more than an ordinary metal rod.
The woman's face changed drastically. She immediately let go of the scepter and retreated a few steps, pulling out a small communicator.
"Headquarters, this is Squad B-15 requesting reinforcements. Target possesses cosmic-level combat power. We cannot—"
Levi didn't give her the chance to finish.
He teleported in front of her, grabbed the communicator, and crushed it. It crumbled into electronic fragments that slipped through his fingers.
"Go back and tell your superiors," Levi said calmly, though every word carried undeniable pressure. "This timeline—I'm protecting it. It doesn't matter who comes. If he's not convinced, he can come find me himself."
The woman stared at Levi, true fear appearing in her eyes for the first time. She realized the man before her had surpassed the Time Variance Authority's standard response capabilities. He wasn't an ordinary time criminal, nor some small fry drunk on stolen Infinity Stones.
He was a genuine anomaly—one capable of threatening the Sacred Timeline itself.
"You'll regret this," she said. "The Eternal won't let you go."
"Then let him come," Levi replied. "I'll be waiting."
Gritting her teeth, the woman turned and opened a new Time Door. She and her two companions quickly retreated through it, disappearing from sight. As the door closed, the flow of time returned to normal.
Steve regained his mobility. He looked at Levi, then at the powerless scepter on the ground. "They're gone?"
"Gone," Levi said. "But they'll be back. And next time, it won't just be a few foot soldiers."
Tony walked over, picking up a fragment of the scepter. "So we've officially pissed off some time-controlling super organization?"
"We have," Levi said. "But it doesn't matter. Once I break through to the Cosmic Overlord level, they won't dare act lightly."
Natasha holstered her pistol. "And before you break through?"
"Before that," Levi turned to the ruins of the base, "you'll need to be ready. The Time Variance Authority won't give up easily. They'll send stronger forces, use more extreme measures. You need to hold Earth—hold this timeline."
Steve nodded. "We will."
Levi knew he meant it. The soldier from Brooklyn had never backed down when it mattered. But he also knew the TVA's power far exceeded the Avengers' imagination. If he didn't break through soon, this timeline would eventually be pruned.
Standing amidst the ruins, Levi looked at the Avengers who had just survived a life-and-death battle. Their expressions varied—fatigue, confusion, uncertainty about the future. But no one retreated. No one spoke of giving up.
That was why he had chosen to protect this planet.
Not because Earth was special. Not because humanity was extraordinary.
But because there were people here willing to fight to the very end for what they protected.
"I'll handle the Stones," Levi said. "Focus on rebuilding. Three billion people are back—the chaos ahead will be harder to manage than the war."
Tony removed his helmet, revealing his exhausted face. "When are you leaving?"
"After I deal with the Stones," Levi replied. "I need to find somewhere quiet to go into seclusion and fully digest these powers. The TVA won't give us much time."
Steve stepped forward and extended his hand. "Then… take care."
Levi grasped it. Two comrades who had once charged together on the battlefields of World War II now parted again, more than seventy years later.
"You too," Levi said. "Take care of yourself, old friend."
Steve smiled faintly and let go. Turning, he walked into the ruins to help those who had just returned to life.
Tony watched Steve's back, then looked at Levi. "You know, I've always thought you were a mystery. Since Afghanistan, you've acted like someone who knows all the answers. Now I get it—you do. Because you've seen further than any of us."
Levi didn't deny it.
Tony patted his shoulder. "Don't die out there. I'm still waiting for you to come back and see what my daughter looks like when she grows up."
"I will," Levi said.
Tony nodded and headed toward the lab. There was still much to do—armor repairs, energy upgrades, and preparations for the TVA.
Natasha, Clint, Thor, Banner—one by one, they all left. Each had their own responsibilities, their own things to protect.
In the end, only Levi and Wanda remained.
Wanda stepped out of the medical room. Pietro was still unconscious, but his vital signs were stable. She walked up to Levi and took his hand.
"When do we leave?" she asked.
"Now," Levi said.
He raised his hand and tore open a spatial rift. On the other side lay a stretch of starry void—no planets, no suns, only endless darkness and distant starlight.
The edge of the universe. A place far removed from all civilizations. There, he could cultivate in peace, without disturbance or fear of his power harming the innocent.
Wanda looked at the stars, then stepped through without hesitation.
The rift closed behind them, and silence returned to the ruins of the Avengers base.
In the distance, Steve stood atop a rise, watching where the rift had vanished. He knew Levi wouldn't return—at least not anytime soon. The comrade who had once charged beside him at Normandy had stepped onto a path beyond his understanding.
But he wasn't worried.
Because he knew—no matter where Levi went, no matter how powerful he became, he would always be someone who fought to protect.
Steve turned and walked toward the people who needed help.
The sun was rising on the horizon. A new day had begun.
And somewhere in the universe, inside the headquarters of the Time Variance Authority, a figure in a black robe stood before an enormous temporal monitoring screen. Countless timelines stretched across it—one of them flashing with a glaring red light.
"Interesting," the figure murmured, a hint of amusement in his voice. "An anomaly capable of threatening the Sacred Timeline. How will the Eternal handle this?"
He raised a hand and tapped the screen lightly.
The red timeline suddenly split into dozens of branches, each leading to a different future.
"Let's see," the figure said, "just how far you can go."
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