The orange Time Door stabilized in the center of the meteor base's main hall.
Levi gave the seclusion base—built in just three minutes—a final glance, then turned to Wanda.
Wanda followed. A strand of crimson chaos magic curled around her fingertips, ready to strike at any moment.
B-15 glanced back at the judge. The judge looked once at Levi, said nothing, and stepped through.
Passing through the Time Door felt strange.
It wasn't like spatial teleportation—no instant shift. Nor was it like a quantum tunnel—no compression. It felt more like being peeled off the timeline itself, suspended outside of all time.
What Levi saw made him pause for half a second.
This was a massive circular hall, at least five hundred meters in diameter. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of dark golden metal, with orange temporal runes flowing across their surfaces. At the center floated a gigantic spherical device, from which countless golden strands extended outward, connecting to densely packed Time Doors lining the walls.
Each Time Door led to a different timeline.
Levi could see scenes beyond them—some showed New York streets, others the palace of Asgard, and some entirely unfamiliar planets. The images flickered rapidly, like fast-forwarded footage.
Agents in uniform moved briskly throughout the hall. Some carried files; others escorted handcuffed time criminals. No one paid Levi's group any attention—everyone was focused on their tasks.
"This is the headquarters of the Time Variance Authority," the judge said calmly as he walked ahead. "We exist outside all timelines. There is no past, no future—only an eternal present."
Levi scanned his surroundings. He could feel the peculiar nature of this space. Time here was motionless—but not entirely. More precisely, it was independent, unaffected by any timeline.
"Follow me. The purification pool is in the core sector."
They crossed the hall and entered a corridor. Transparent walls lined both sides, revealing rows upon rows of archives behind them. Countless files were neatly arranged, each labeled with timeline numbers and event codes.
Wanda asked quietly, "Are these all records of time criminals?"
B-15 glanced back. "Every anomaly the TVA has handled since its founding is recorded here."
Levi noticed one archive labeled Kang Variant Files. He memorized its location.
At the end of the corridor stood a heavy metal door. The judge stopped, took out a hexagonal badge, and pressed it into a slot.
The door slowly opened.
Inside was a circular chamber about thirty meters across. At its center lay a recessed pool, glowing faint blue. Countless tiny runes floated across its surface, moving like living things.
"This is the purification pool," the judge said. "It can eliminate all temporal anomalies and external corruption—including the void energy within you."
Levi walked to the edge, crouched, and dipped a hand into the water.
Cold.
Not physically cold—conceptually cold. As if something was trying to erase the very existence of his fingers.
He withdrew his hand. Black mist churned violently along his right arm. The void energy had sensed the threat.
"How long will it take?" Levi asked.
"That depends on the degree of corruption," the judge replied. "Ordinary anomalies take ten minutes. Void energy… may take longer."
Levi stood and removed his coat.
Wanda stepped closer. "I'll wait outside."
"No need," Levi said. "I don't know how long this will take. Go back to Earth—I'll find you when I'm done."
Wanda shook her head. "I'm staying."
Levi looked at her, then said nothing more. He handed her his coat and stepped down into the pool.
The water rose past his ankles, calves, waist—
When it reached his chest, pain struck.
The void energy resisted.
It spread from his right arm through his entire body, trying to fight off the purification. Black mist roiled beneath his skin, threatening to burst out.
Levi gritted his teeth and submerged fully.
The water closed over his head.
It flooded his mouth and nose.
He didn't need to breathe—his Kryptonian physiology allowed survival in vacuum. But this wasn't suffocation.
It was erasure.
He could feel his existence being stripped away—not physically, but conceptually. The water seemed to question him:
Why do you exist? What is your purpose? If you have no answer—then you shouldn't exist at all.
The void energy lashed out wildly.
Black mist erupted from his right arm, spreading through the pool, attempting to corrupt it. But the runes reacted instantly, like countless tiny fish devouring the mist.
Levi sat cross-legged at the bottom.
He activated the nine laws within him.
The Law of Space formed a protective layer over his body. The Law of Force reinforced it. The Law of Time slowed the spread of the void energy.
But these were only temporary measures.
The essence of void energy was nonexistence. It could erase matter, energy, concepts—even laws themselves. Against such purity, even Levi's nine laws felt insufficient.
He needed to find its core.
Closing his eyes, Levi sank his consciousness inward.
He saw the black mist—coiled deep within his right arm like a miniature black hole, constantly devouring surrounding life energy. The Law of Life struggled to repair the damage, but couldn't keep up.
His consciousness approached the mist.
It reacted instantly, extending countless tendrils to seize him.
Levi didn't resist.
He let them wrap around him—and observed.
The void energy left an imprint in his mind.
A fragment of the Anti-Monitor's will.
Levi understood.
This wasn't mere energy corruption—it was a marker left behind. As long as it remained, the Anti-Monitor could track him… even descend upon him when the time came.
It had to be eradicated completely.
Levi summoned the Law of Mind, shaping it into an invisible blade, and struck at the core of the mist.
The blade cut through.
The mist exploded.
Countless images flooded his mind—
Fragments of the Anti-Monitor's memory.
An existence older than the universe itself. It had witnessed the birth and destruction of countless universes, the rise and fall of civilizations. It belonged to no timeline, no dimension—it simply was.
And the reason it targeted Levi was simple:
Because Levi was the only being who existed once and only once across all timelines.
Others—Thanos, Odin, the Ancient One—had countless variants.
Levi had none.
His existence itself defied the rules of the multiverse.
The Anti-Monitor wanted to consume him. Study him. Understand how he broke the rules.
The visions faded.
Levi opened his eyes.
The pool had turned deep blue. Runes swirled around him, forming a massive array that suppressed the void energy and slowly stripped it away.
The process was excruciating.
It felt like every cell in his right arm was being torn apart. The void energy had fused with him—removing it was like flaying him alive.
He clenched his teeth, making no sound.
The nine laws within him began to resonate.
For the first time, they acted together.
Space cut the mist.
Force crushed it.
Time froze it.
Reality redefined it.
Life repaired the damage.
Death erased its existence.
Mind attacked its will.
Soul protected Levi's essence.
True synergy.
And in that moment, Levi understood something new.
He had always sought to merge the laws into one—but that wasn't the goal.
Coordination was.
They didn't need to become one—they needed to work as one.
Like now.
Levi raised his right hand.
The nine laws flowed outward, weaving into a complex network within the pool. Each node represented a law, connected into a complete system.
An evolved domain.
Not brute suppression—but structured cooperation.
The network contracted, enclosing the void energy.
Then—all nine laws activated at once.
Space isolated.
Force crushed.
Time froze.
Reality rewrote.
Life restored.
Death erased.
Mind assaulted.
Soul shielded.
Combined with the purification pool—
The void energy collapsed.
The black mist peeled away from Levi's arm, struggled briefly in the water—then was devoured entirely by the runes.
Levi looked down at his arm.
The skin had returned to normal. The black patterns were gone. He clenched his fist—it felt lighter than ever before.
But he didn't leave immediately.
Because the nine laws within him were changing.
No longer separate—they formed a stable cycle.
Space provided the field.
Force supplied energy.
Time regulated flow.
Reality corrected deviations.
Life maintained stability.
Death removed impurities.
Mind coordinated all.
Soul protected the core.
A complete system.
Levi stepped out of the pool.
Wanda immediately handed him his coat. There was concern in her eyes—but she didn't ask.
The judge approached, examining Levi's arm. "The void energy is gone. But your law fluctuations… have strengthened."
"Side effect of the pool?" Levi asked.
"No," the judge shook his head. "You gained new insight during the process. It's rare—but not unprecedented. He Who Remains underwent something similar and emerged far stronger."
Levi didn't respond.
He only wanted answers now.
"Take me to Loki," he said.
The judge nodded.
"Follow me."
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