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Kevin stood before an ancient castle.
This was the Time Castle, the secluded dwelling of Kang, a fact Kevin was aware of.
But he remembered that he should still be holding back Alioth; how did he end up here?
Who was holding back Alioth now?
Nightcrawler and the others should be fine, right?
Without Kevin, Alioth would lose its target and surely choose to attack others, and they didn't possess Kevin's strength or physical constitution to withstand Alioth's attacks.
If caught by Alioth, their fate would likely not be good.
But now that he was in front of the castle, Kevin couldn't just turn back.
Before Loki arrived, Kevin decided to meet Kang first.
After all, his presence here proved it was at Kang's behest; otherwise, did he really think connecting with Alioth was enough to get to the Time Castle?
Everything had been arranged by Kang.
Including Sylvie, including Loki.
He was actually like Ancient One, looking for an heir, which was why he had orchestrated these events.
Wait a minute…
Mentioning Ancient One, Kevin suddenly had a bad premonition.
Ancient One had pulled Kevin in to be a scapegoat for her retirement; Kang wouldn't be trying to pull Kevin in to be a scapegoat too, would he?
With that thought, Kevin immediately lost the desire to meet Kang.
Being the Sorcerer Supreme wasn't enough; he also wanted to be tied to the Marvel Universe as the Story God?
Sorry, no way, goodbye!
Realizing he might be pulled in to sit on the throne, Kevin immediately turned and walked away.
However, as soon as he took a step forward, his body suddenly flew backward, and the surrounding scenery distorted into rays of light, flying from behind to the front.
When everything stopped, Kevin was already inside the Time Castle.
He faced the 'elevator' in front of him, with his back to the person sitting at the desk behind him.
Is it Kang?
His perception and magic were greatly weakened after entering this space; Kevin could only vaguely sense someone behind him but wasn't sure who it was.
Logically, there should be no one else here besides Kang.
But Kevin had a premonition.
The person behind him.
Probably wasn't Kang.
"Aren't you going to turn around and look?"
Indeed, the voice from behind was different from Kang's, and that voice made Kevin's heart sink, the bad premonition becoming even more apparent.
Slowly turning around, Kevin's vision went black when he saw the person sitting behind the desk.
"I. Knew. It!"
Staring at the person in front of him through gritted teeth, Kevin's mouth twitched as he spoke each word.
The person sitting behind the desk smiled, leaning back in his chair, and said with a grin:
"Surprised? Unexpected?"
"..."
Kevin remained silent, just staring at him, looking at the face identical to his own, at the indescribable playful smile on the other's face, his heart gradually sinking to the bottom.
That's right, the person sitting behind the desk was not Kang as he had imagined.
It was himself.
Or rather, it was his Kevin variant in this universe.
Kang had become He Who Remains Kevin...
Although Kevin had a premonition that the plot would become completely unrecognizable when he heard Nightcrawler and the others say they had formed the 'Kevin Council' before.
But he really didn't expect that the person who became He Who Remains would actually be changed.
This left him speechless.
"Who exactly... are you?"
After a long while, Kevin finally asked what seemed like a rather foolish question.
Who the other person was, no one should know better than him.
He Who Remains maintained his smile, crossing his feet on the desk, and replied:
"Don't you already have the answer?"
"But that's impossible! If you really are He Who Remains, why are there still..."
"So many 'us'? It's simple, because the one who created the Sacred Timeline wasn't me, it was Kang."
"...?"
Kevin was stunned.
He Who Remains said with a smile:
"Everyone's Crossing time is actually a bit different; they are actually evenly distributed at every point in time on the Sacred Timeline, and I... crossed over the earliest. I became Kang's subordinate."
He slowly began to explain his origins, telling his story:
"Yes, I crossed over before the Sacred Timeline was established, in Kang's era, and I met Kang from that era, and then... I assisted him, accompanied him, helped him establish the entire—TVA, and finally... I betrayed him."
"...What?"
"Sorry, saying it like that might cause misunderstanding, or perhaps... with his active cooperation, I usurped his position, right after he created the Sacred Timeline and everything was on track."
The He Who Remains in front of him was a ruthless character.
During his long association with Kang, he fully gained the other's trust, and then, with the other's active cooperation, he betrayed him.
Kevin's eyes widened when he heard this.
Active cooperation?
What did that mean?
Kevin was about to ask, but the other person seemed to sense what Kevin was going to ask and said directly:
"You heard right, it was active cooperation. He knew what I was going to do, and I knew he knew what I was going to do, so he didn't resist and gave me this position. Do you understand why?"
"...He wanted to retire? He wanted to retire so early?"
Kevin came up with a reasonable explanation.
Aside from Kang not wanting to continue sitting in this position, Kevin couldn't think of why Kang would actively hand the knife to the person in front of him.
He Who Remains smiled again:
"Yes, no one wants to stay forever in the Void where there's nothing, not even me. I've been a bit restless for a long time, but thankfully, you've arrived, or rather... you've finally arrived."
"My coming here... was it arranged by you?"
Kevin thought of what he had experienced when he arrived at the TVA.
Miss Minutes had ignored his abnormality, and Ravonna Renslayer hadn't discovered that Kevin was an outsider who had infiltrated.
At the time, Kevin had thought it was arranged by Loki, but now, it was very likely related to the He Who Remains in front of him.
What surprised Kevin was that when he heard Kevin's question, He Who Remains nodded, then shook his head:
"Yes, and no."
"Stop talking in riddles!"
"Don't rush, we have plenty of time, I can explain slowly."
He Who Remains gestured for Kevin not to rush, then organized his thoughts before continuing:
"I said yes, because your identity in the Authority was left by me, so no one would suspect you.
"And I said no, because... I don't have such powerful strength to drag you, who doesn't belong to the Marvel World, into this universe. Only one person can do that."
"Loki?"
"No, it's you."
"?"
"Or rather... the future you."
He Who Remains spoke with conviction, as if certain that the one who sent Kevin to the Sacred Timeline era was not Loki, but Kevin himself.
Kevin was confused:
"Why wouldn't it be Loki?"
Kevin had always thought Loki had sent him here.
After all, the green light he saw when he crossed over represented everything; in the Marvel World, green had become Loki's representative color.
That was the color of time.
And facing Kevin's question, He Who Remains simply posed a rhetorical question:
"Do you think Loki has such great power to keep you, who can travel through other universes, in this world? If he could really do that, then he wouldn't just be the Story God of the Marvel World."
Each world has its own power system; no matter how powerful Loki was, he was only the Story God of the Marvel World. He couldn't transcend this system and truly go to other worlds.
And even less could he forcibly keep Kevin in this world.
The origin of Kevin's skill tree was unknown, but it was certain that its technological content was higher than Marvel, DC, and The Boys world combined.
Loki most likely couldn't tamper with Kevin's skill tree, from which it could be inferred that perhaps it wasn't Loki who kept Kevin in the Marvel Universe.
But to say it was Kevin himself...
"You mean... I'll eventually become the Story God?"
Kevin put forward the most impossible conjecture.
He Who Remains countered:
"Will you become the Story God?"
"How could that be! Of course not!!"
Kevin answered without thinking.
He didn't have Loki's level of awareness; he would rather die than sit on a throne forever, unable to move.
That wasn't his personality.
He Who Remains smiled and said:
"Yes, I don't think so either, so I guess it's possible that you and Loki reached some agreement... And that, you'll have to ask Loki yourself."
"I wanted to, but I asked Loki before, and he didn't respond to me."
When Kevin first met Loki, he had probed his intentions, wanting to see if Loki would come out and talk to him.
After all, if Loki had truly become the Story God, at this point in time, he would certainly be able to use his body to chat with people.
But Loki didn't.
This proved that either Loki didn't want to chat with Kevin, or Loki was unable to interfere with this timeline after sending Kevin over.
And because of that, he couldn't come out to meet Kevin.
But no matter which it was, Kevin couldn't communicate with Loki face-to-face, let alone have a heart-to-heart chat.
"Is that so…?"
Kang pondered, as if he had a clue, and speculated:
"He might not be unwilling, but unable."
"Do you know something?"
"Although it's just my guess, I suspect Loki might not be as easily able to interfere with the past as you imagine."
Kang said, and in front of Kevin, black metallic sand coalesced into patterns.
It was divided into three sections, symbolizing the past, present, and future.
The pattern representing the past was countless irregular lines.
The pattern representing the present was a time loop forming a circle.
The pattern representing the future was a towering tree, rooted and sprouting, with lush branches and leaves.
Kevin knew what these were.
These were the three stages: before the Sacred Timeline was formed, the present with the Sacred Timeline, and Loki becoming the Story God with the timeline becoming the Time Tree.
After displaying these in front of Kevin, Kang said:
"The Marvel World's timeline actually keeps cycling. No matter what it experiences, whether the future will be destroyed, once it reaches its end, they will always start over again.
"So no matter what stage, the Marvel World will experience the same story, over and over again.
"But this is within the timeline. Outside the timeline, the Marvel World's time cannot cycle.
"For example, the 'Kang' War that happened a long time ago, and the current Sacred Timeline, and the Time Tree 'created' by Loki in the future—these critical time nodes cannot cycle.
"What happened has happened, what ended has ended. Even Loki himself can only act as he pleases within his own Time Tree. He cannot interfere with the Kang War, much less the Sacred Timeline.
"Because for Loki, these are things that have 'already' happened."
"Then, according to you, he couldn't have sent me here at all…"
"Yes, that's why I said you sent yourself here. Only an anomaly can do such a thing, and precisely because of this, Loki cannot chat with you.
"Because the person who sent you here wasn't him; he cannot interfere with matters within the Sacred Timeline."
Kang stated his guess.
Simply put, it was one sentence: The Story God Loki cannot enter the Sacred Timeline period, because for him, the Sacred Timeline simply does not exist.
That's why Kevin couldn't talk to Loki.
After all, if he couldn't even see this side, how could he chat with him?
"Then there's no way now. Without being able to chat with Loki, I have no idea what agreement Loki reached with my future self, so I can't answer your question."
Kevin spread his hands, looking helpless.
He knew Kang wanted to seek answers to certain questions from him, but unfortunately, Kevin didn't know, and he couldn't know now.
"It's alright, I didn't call you here to seek answers to questions."
Kang said very casually about this. He sat up straight and smiled at Kevin:
"I just wanted to see you, that's all."
"What's so special about me to see?"
"After all, you are theoretically the source. According to the setting, we are all considered your avatars, and even the nourishment that can make you 'god'."
Kang said unceremoniously.
Thinking of the scene where the Hulk variant died, Kevin was speechless, only silence.
Because from the energy and skill points he absorbed, what Kang said was not an exaggeration.
"So what? You've seen me, what do you plan to do? Eliminate me, this… source?"
Although Kevin didn't think 'he' would inexplicably harbor murderous intent towards others, he was, after all, a threat to everyone here.
Especially the Kang in front of him.
He was powerful and had lived for countless years. Both his mindset and personality were vastly different from Kevin's before he transmigrated.
If the other party had the idea of killing Kevin, Kevin wouldn't be surprised at all.
But Kevin was also prepared.
He didn't have the habit of just giving up. If this guy in front of him wanted to lay a hand on Kevin, then he had to be prepared for a fight with Kevin.
Although Kevin didn't think he could defeat Kang, who controlled time.
But fortunately, Kang didn't seem to have any intention of dealing with Kevin.
He shook his head at Kevin, his gaze slightly complex:
"I have no such intention, and… I'm afraid we can't kill you either."
"…Why do you say that?"
"Because we are just 'nourishment'. How can nourishment… kill the thing it needs to cultivate?"
Kang's words seemed to have a deeper meaning.
Before Kevin could figure it out, Kang raised his hand, signaling Kevin to leave:
"Alright, you can go now. Loki and they have already arrived. I still have to continue the plot."
"Are you planning to stay here and be killed by them?"
Although Kevin knew that Kang had to die here for the plot of "Loki" to continue, Kevin didn't believe he would be someone who just waited for death.
At least Kevin couldn't accept simply dying according to his predetermined fate.
But Kang quickly replied:
"This is my destiny, and besides, I really don't want to stay here anymore. I need an heir."
"Then…"
"Our conversation is over, Kevin, goodbye."
Kevin was about to ask again, but Kang had no intention of continuing the conversation.
He waved at Kevin, and Kevin's body automatically flew up, just as he had arrived, flying back to where he came from.
And before finally leaving the Time Citadel, Kevin saw Kang turn some device on his wrist, transforming himself into the appearance of Kang.
Then Loki and Sylvie walked in, and Kang, in the guise of Kang, began to converse with them.
This was the last image reflected in Kevin's pupils.
Immediately after… his vision was once again filled with dazzling green.
…
Iron Man and Nightcrawler stood side by side, looking at the completely motionless Alioth in front of them, exchanging glances without speaking.
They were waiting for something, and the people around them were also waiting for something.
Finally, as if receiving some signal, Nightcrawler and Iron Man moved simultaneously.
Iron Man instantly raised the hand cannon on his arm, aiming at Nightcrawler, and a laser shot out.
And Nightcrawler teleported away at the same time, giving Iron Man no chance to hit him.
Iron Man's magic suppression device had been destroyed by Cassie, and he couldn't stop Nightcrawler from leaving now, but it didn't matter, Iron Man never expected to eliminate Nightcrawler with one blow.
Forcing Nightcrawler to leave his side, Iron Man's faceplate closed again and he retreated.
He said to the super-soldiers watching nearby:
"It's time! Open the portal! Let them come over!!"
Nightcrawler also said to Cassie at the same time:
"Time's up, contact the tricksters, let them all come over!!"
The super-soldier and Cassie did not hesitate, both using their own methods to transmit messages to the outside world.
Immediately after, in just two seconds, behind Iron Man, more than a dozen spaceships suddenly appeared, having arrived here by spatial jump.
And behind Nightcrawler, circle after circle of portal rings appeared on the ground, and dozens of Kevins, along with their companions, walked out of the light rings.
Just at that moment, they all knew one thing.
Loki had killed Kang, and the Sacred Timeline's restriction on time was no more; they no longer had to worry about the TVA.
So…
The first 'Kevin Multiverse War' thus began, with the Kevin Prime as the fuse and the Void as the battlefield.
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