Pharaoh Kang hadn't even finished speaking.
Levi raised a hand, palm aimed directly at the golden mask.
"Done talking?"
Pharaoh Kang's pupils shrank.
The next second, his body began to disappear. Starting from his feet, his armor, flesh, bones—even the temporal energy within him—dissolved into strands of light and streamed into Levi's palm.
"N-no… impossible! I am Kang! I am the master of time!"
Levi remained expressionless.
"What was it you said earlier? Pruning?"
The Law of Devouring activated at full power.
Three seconds later, Pharaoh Kang vanished completely. Behind him, the vanguard fleet collapsed as well. Thousands of warships twisted and shattered, dragged into an invisible abyss.
Above them, space-time itself trembled violently.
Tony's mouth hung open for a long while before he finally managed to close it. He had seen Levi fight before, but never like this—
A cosmic overlord erased alongside his entire fleet?
Steve's grip on his shield trembled.
Reflected in Wanda's eyes was the fading light of disintegration. She could sense the aura around Levi. It wasn't mere power.
It was something on a higher level.
A concept.
The Concept of Greed.
"Alright." Levi lowered his hand and looked toward the three figures standing deep within Chronopolis.
Black-Armored Kang. Data Kang. Young Kang.
From the beginning of the battle until now, those three had remained at the rear.
Now, they moved.
Black-Armored Kang raised his right hand.
Pitch-black energy poured from his palm—not an attack, but a conceptual projection.
Death.
Absolute death.
The black wave spread toward the Avengers. Air froze. Light vanished. Even time itself came to a standstill.
Tony's armor alarms screamed:
"Sir, vital signs are being forcibly reduced to zero! Immediate retreat recommended!"
Steve felt a bone-piercing chill rise from his feet. His body stiffened, his consciousness blurred.
Wanda's eyes widened as scarlet energy surged wildly—but she couldn't stop the black wave.
"A Death Concept?" Strange's face changed drastically. "He's directly defining our deaths!"
Levi stepped forward, placing himself in front of everyone.
Two laws erupted simultaneously.
Death.
Abyss.
An equally black power surged outward, colliding head-on with Black-Armored Kang's Death Concept.
BOOM!
Concept clashed against concept. Death against death. Void against void.
Black-Armored Kang's voice echoed from within his helmet, ancient and deep.
"You also wield the Law of Death? And the power of the Abyss… a creation of Knull?"
Levi didn't answer. All his focus was on resisting the collision.
Black-Armored Kang's Death Concept was stronger than expected. This wasn't merely law manipulation—it was something higher.
Levi's Law of Death came from Hela and the Black Necrospear. Powerful, yes, but ultimately acquired later.
But the death within Black-Armored Kang felt primordial.
This man had immersed himself in the conceptual level for countless years.
"You're strong," Levi said at last. "But you have one problem."
"What problem?"
Levi pointed beneath Black-Armored Kang's feet.
Space was shattering.
Not just beneath Black-Armored Kang—beneath Data Kang and Young Kang as well. It was as though countless invisible hands were tearing at their bodies.
Dimensional backlash.
This universe was rejecting them.
Three cosmic-overlord-level beings forcibly crossing multiversal barriers was already a severe violation of this universe's laws. The stronger they became, the stronger the rejection they suffered.
"How long can you stay here?" Levi asked. "Ten minutes? Five?"
Black-Armored Kang didn't answer, but his attacks visibly weakened. He had no choice but to divert power toward resisting the universe's rejection.
Data Kang's body flickered like an unstable hologram.
Streams of data swirled around him frantically, trying to stabilize his existence.
"Anchor required," his voice crackled with electronic distortion. "Initiating stabilization protocol."
Young Kang finally moved.
His gaze passed through Avengers Base and landed on someone.
Nathaniel.
The boy from the future stood at the entrance of the base, pale and trembling. The scar on his wrist glowed intensely, and some invisible force pulled him uncontrollably toward the three Kangs.
"I see." Levi narrowed his eyes. "He's not just a beacon. He's your stabilizer."
Young Kang glanced at him, lips curling upward.
"You're clever, Greedy One."
He raised a hand. Invisible force dragged Nathaniel to his side. Golden light erupted from the boy's body, resonating with the collapsing space around the three Kangs and repairing the fractures.
The dimensional backlash was suppressed.
The auras of the three Kangs stabilized—and even began rising again.
"Now," Black-Armored Kang said, "we can fight seriously."
Levi watched the scene, his mind racing.
Nathaniel was the anchor. The stabilizer. As long as he remained here, the three Kangs could continue existing in this universe.
But that also meant one thing.
Young Kang definitely possessed some ability related to stabilizing space-time.
Levi's gaze fixed on Young Kang, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"What are you smiling at?" Young Kang asked.
"Nothing," Levi replied. "Just thought of a good idea."
He vanished in an instant, appearing before the young man and throwing a punch.
"You're underestimating me!" Young Kang crossed his arms to block the strike.
Superpower Copier.
Target locked: Young Kang.
Analyzing abilities…
Concept-level ability detected: [Space-Time Sovereignty].
Copy?
Copy.
An unfamiliar power flooded into Levi's body. It wasn't energy. It wasn't law.
It was something beyond them.
Like authority. Like ownership over the very definition of this universe.
Space-Time Sovereignty.
Absolute authority over time and space. Whoever possessed it became the ruler of this continuum.
Young Kang's expression changed.
He could feel his authority being invaded.
The power of Space-Time Sovereignty now flowed within Levi. He could feel his connection to this universe becoming incomparably intimate.
Every inch of space. Every moment of time.
All of it transmitted information to him.
And he sensed something else as well.
Dimensional backlash.
The force tearing apart the three Kangs now became crystal clear in his perception.
It wasn't some mysterious power.
It was the universe's immune system.
Any existence that didn't belong here would be rejected, expelled, annihilated.
And now, Levi possessed authority over that force.
"You want to stay in this universe so badly?" Levi raised a hand. Thirteen laws intertwined with Space-Time Sovereignty, forming a complex array of runes. "Then let me show you what it means to be unwelcome."
He waved his hand.
The dimensional backlash exploded in intensity.
Originally, space had only been slowly crumbling beneath the three Kangs' feet. Now, it spread across their bodies like wildfire.
Cracks appeared in Black-Armored Kang's armor.
Data Kang flickered even more violently.
Even the space around Young Kang twisted and warped.
"Damn it!" Black-Armored Kang roared. He withdrew his attacks and focused entirely on resisting the universe's rejection.
Data Kang's voice crackled harshly. "Stabilization protocol failing. Anchor energy insufficient. Additional input required."
Young Kang looked toward Nathaniel.
The boy's entire body glowed now, trembling as if being torn apart by invisible forces. The scar on his wrist no longer merely shone—it spread outward, golden patterns crawling up his entire arm.
"N-no… stop…" Nathaniel whimpered in agony. "I don't want…"
"You have no choice," Young Kang said calmly. "From the moment the beacon was implanted, you became part of us."
Watching this, Levi finally understood.
Nathaniel wasn't merely a beacon. Nor merely a stabilizer.
He was a living conduit through which the Council of Kangs descended into this universe.
Those golden patterns were pathways forcibly carved into his body by temporal energy.
As long as he remained alive, the Council of Kangs could endlessly channel power into this universe through him.
"So from the very beginning," Levi said, "you never intended to remain here through your own power. You needed a native as a medium."
Young Kang smiled. "Very smart, Greedy One. But what good does that do? We only need to hold on a little longer."
His gaze passed beyond Levi, toward Chronopolis in the distance.
The floating city was slowly descending, drawing ever closer to Earth.
"When Chronopolis fully arrives, the laws of this universe will be rewritten. At that point, we won't adapt to this universe."
"This universe will adapt to us."
Levi narrowed his eyes.
He looked at Nathaniel, then at the descending city.
Space-Time Sovereignty had granted him control over dimensional backlash. But to completely sever the Council of Kangs' connection to this universe, increasing rejection alone wasn't enough.
He needed to destroy the living conduit.
But Nathaniel was just a child.
A child being used against his will.
"Tony," Levi said, transmitting his voice through psychic force.
"What?" Tony replied tiredly.
"That boy—Nathaniel." Levi's eyes rested on the glowing child. "He's the Council of Kangs' living conduit. As long as he exists, those three can continuously draw stabilizing power through him."
Tony was silent for a second.
"You want me to kill him?"
"No." Levi shook his head. "I want you to save him."
Everyone froze.
"Save him?" Steve's voice rang out. "How?"
"Cut his connection to the Council of Kangs," Levi said. "The beacon inside him was forcibly implanted. It wasn't voluntary. If we can extract it, he'll stop being a conduit. And those three will lose their foothold in this universe."
Young Kang's smile faded slightly.
"You think it's that simple?" he mocked. "That beacon has fused with the source of his life. Forcefully removing it will kill him."
"Then I won't remove it by force." Levi looked directly at him. "I possess over a dozen laws and countless abilities. Do you really think I can't do it?"
Young Kang's expression shifted.
Not anger. Not fear.
Something more complicated.
As though he were looking at a chess piece finally arriving at its destined position.
"Interesting," he murmured. "You really did choose this path."
Alarm bells rang in Levi's mind.
Young Kang's reactions were far too strange. From the smile when Levi copied his ability, to his expression now upon hearing Levi wanted to save Nathaniel—
Everything about him felt wrong.
What was he planning?
But Levi had no time to think.
Nathaniel's body was beginning to collapse.
The golden patterns no longer merely spread—they leaked energy outward. Cracks appeared across his skin, like a container overfilled with water, ready to explode at any second.
"N-no… please…" Nathaniel whimpered, eyes filled with terror. "I don't want to die… I just wanted to stop them…"
Levi took a deep breath.
He looked back at the Avengers—Tony, Steve, Wanda, Thor.
"Hold the line," he said. "I'm going to save that kid."
"Wait!" Wanda shouted anxiously. "What about those three? If you leave, who's going to stop them?"
Levi smiled.
"Don't worry. I left them a little present."
He raised his hand. Thirteen laws intertwined with Space-Time Sovereignty once more.
This time, he didn't attack.
Instead, he constructed a massive formation around them.
A trap.
A prison woven from dimensional backlash.
If the three Kangs crossed that boundary, the universe's rejection force would tear them to pieces.
"How long will it hold?" Tony asked.
"Ten minutes," Levi replied. "Within ten minutes, I'll solve the problem with that kid."
His figure blurred, appearing beside Nathaniel.
Young Kang made no move to stop him.
From the moment Levi activated Space-Time Sovereignty, Young Kang had already been forced to focus entirely on maintaining the Council of Kangs' stability within this universe.
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