Nathaniel floated in midair, golden patterns spreading outward from the scar on his wrist. They had already covered his entire arm and were now creeping toward his chest.
Tiny cracks split open across his skin, light shining from within.
The traces left behind by temporal energy carving pathways through his body.
Levi stood three meters away.
Young Kang didn't attack.
Not because he didn't want to—
Because he couldn't.
After Levi copied Space-Time Sovereignty, Young Kang had to devote everything he had to maintaining his own existence—and that of the other two Kangs—within this universe.
The dimensional backlash was too powerful. This universe rejected them, trying every second to tear them apart.
Nathaniel was their only anchor.
As long as the boy remained alive, as long as the dimensional beacon inside him remained intact, the Council of Kangs could continue drawing stabilizing power from him.
And now Levi intended to rip that anchor out.
"Do you even know what you're doing?" Young Kang's voice rang out from the distance. "That beacon has already fused with his life. Forcefully removing it will kill him."
Levi didn't look back.
He stared at the golden patterns flowing beneath Nathaniel's skin, like parasites devouring their host.
"What do you people think he is?"
"A tool," Young Kang answered calmly. "A fool from the future. He thought he was a hero. He never realized that from the moment the beacon was implanted, he became the key to our arrival in this universe."
Pain flashed through Nathaniel's eyes.
Not physical pain.
The pain of betrayal.
"I… I didn't know…" Nathaniel whispered weakly.
"I know," Levi interrupted.
He raised his right hand. A complex array of runes appeared in his palm.
Alchemy Law.
Back in The Boys universe, he had comprehended this power through research into Compound V. Equivalent exchange. Matter reconstruction. Biological distortion.
But Levi had taken it further.
Not exchange.
Reconstruction.
Like surgically removing a tumor, he intended to separate the dimensional beacon from Nathaniel piece by piece.
"It's going to hurt," Levi said. "But you won't die."
Nathaniel looked at him, fear and hope mingling in his eyes.
"Can you really do it?"
Levi didn't answer.
He pressed his hand against Nathaniel's chest.
Alchemy Law activated.
Mental force transformed into countless golden threads that entered Nathaniel's body through Levi's palm.
The situation was worse than expected.
The dimensional beacon wasn't simply implanted—it had spread like cancer, intertwining with the boy's very life source. Every blood vessel. Every cell. Carried traces of the beacon.
Forcefully removing it really would kill him.
But Levi had no intention of tearing it out by brute force.
He was performing surgery.
Precise. Delicate. Meticulous surgery.
The golden threads traveled through Nathaniel's body. Every time they found traces of the beacon, the Alchemy Law separated it from the surrounding tissue.
Not cutting.
Reconstructing.
Untangling two fused things piece by piece.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Nathaniel let out agonized cries, his body trembling violently.
Levi's hand remained steady as stone.
Young Kang's expression changed.
He was beginning to realize that Levi might actually succeed.
This monster from the prime universe had not only copied Space-Time Sovereignty—he also possessed a power unlike anything Young Kang had ever seen.
A power capable of separating fused entities without destroying the whole.
It was absurd.
Young Kang had personally designed the dimensional beacon. Its level of integration had been calculated with perfect precision specifically to ensure no one could remove it without killing the host.
Yet Levi was doing exactly that.
Young Kang glanced toward Black-Armored Kang and Data Kang.
The two were fully occupied resisting the universe's rejection and couldn't spare any effort. And Young Kang himself wasn't much better off. After losing exclusive control of Space-Time Sovereignty, maintaining his existence had become at least three times harder.
He had to do something.
Young Kang raised a hand, firing a bolt of temporal energy at Levi.
The attack stopped three meters away, as if it had struck an invisible wall.
Levi never even looked up.
His law domain was still active. A defensive network woven from thirteen laws wasn't something Young Kang could penetrate in his current state.
Inside Nathaniel's body, the core of the beacon was finally exposed.
A fist-sized golden sphere floated near the boy's heart. Countless golden threads extended from it, connecting to every corner of his body.
The true dimensional beacon.
Levi narrowed his eyes.
Now came the hardest part.
He activated the Law of Souls, extending his perception to a deeper layer of existence.
There, he saw the beacon's connection points to Nathaniel's soul.
Not one.
Seven.
Seven golden chains anchored the beacon firmly to the boy's soul.
Levi inhaled slowly.
Time Law activated.
Inside Nathaniel's body, he created a miniature temporal bubble, slowing the flow of time around the seven chains to near-complete stillness.
Then he began undoing them.
One by one.
When the seventh chain snapped, Nathaniel released a bloodcurdling scream.
The golden sphere was ripped out from his chest, trembling violently in the air.
Levi didn't hesitate.
All thirteen laws erupted simultaneously, wrapping around the sphere before crushing it in his hand.
The dimensional beacon shattered into countless golden fragments that scattered into the wind.
The bodies of the three Kangs shook violently at the same time.
Cracks spread across Black-Armored Kang's armor.
Data Kang flickered wildly.
Young Kang turned deathly pale, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The anchor was gone.
Their connection to this universe had been severed completely.
The dimensional backlash surged more than tenfold, like countless invisible hands tearing viciously at their bodies.
Levi looked up at the three miserable figures, a cold smile forming on his lips.
Space-Time Sovereignty.
The authority he had copied from Young Kang.
Absolute dominion over time and space.
Before, he had merely used it to manipulate dimensional backlash.
Now, he intended to do something simpler.
Expulsion.
Levi spread his arms. Thirteen laws intertwined with Space-Time Sovereignty, forming a massive array that covered the entire battlefield.
His voice echoed across heaven and earth.
"As the master of this universe, I declare—"
"You are illegal intruders."
"Get out."
The instant the words fell, the entire universe responded.
Dimensional power transformed into a terrifying storm, surging from all directions toward the three Kangs and the floating Chronopolis.
Black-Armored Kang roared as pitch-black light exploded from his body.
The Death Concept.
His final trump card.
"If I'm going to die, then we die together!"
Black waves rushed toward Levi. Wherever they passed, space decayed and time withered.
Levi stood motionless.
He didn't dodge.
Greed flashed within his eyes.
"Death?"
"I'll take it."
He opened his mouth in a devouring motion.
The black Death Concept halted three meters away—
Then reversed direction, pouring frantically into Levi's body.
Black-Armored Kang's eyes widened.
He could feel his power draining away. His origin being stripped from him. His very existence devoured.
"No… impossible… how can you—"
Levi didn't answer.
He simply stood there as the power of death flooded into him, broken down, absorbed, and transformed by the Concept of Greed.
Three seconds later, Black-Armored Kang's body began collapsing.
His armor shattered.
His flesh dissolved.
His soul was torn into fragments.
Everything became nourishment, merging into Levi.
A cosmic-overlord-level existence…
Devoured.
Seeing this, Data Kang turned and fled.
His body transformed into streams of data, shooting toward Earth. As long as he could enter the planet's networks, he could hide and rise again someday.
But he underestimated Levi.
Levi raised a hand. Reality Distortion Law activated.
"Data? In this universe, there is no logic permitting your existence."
Data Kang froze midair.
He felt his code being rewritten.
His existence denied.
His logic erased.
"No… I am Kang… master of time… impossible…"
His voice grew fainter and fainter.
His body became increasingly transparent.
Then he vanished into nothingness.
Two cosmic-overlord Kangs—
Erased by Levi in under ten seconds.
Young Kang watched everything unfold, and finally, his expression changed.
He knew he was no match for Levi.
He never had been.
He turned toward the places where Black-Armored Kang and Data Kang had disappeared.
Their origin energies still lingered faintly there.
Weak—
But enough.
"Greedy One… we will meet again."
He raised a hand and detonated the remaining energies.
BOOM!
The explosion tore through space, creating an unstable temporal rift.
Young Kang's body began dissolving as his consciousness shot toward the crack.
Levi frowned and raised a hand to stop him.
But Young Kang was too fast.
Just before the rift closed, his consciousness slipped into it and vanished into the gaps between the multiverse.
He escaped.
Levi lowered his hand and didn't pursue.
At Young Kang's current state, even if he survived escape, he would be half-dead.
And the gaps between universes were among the most dangerous places in existence. Whether he could emerge alive at all was another question.
Levi looked up toward the collapsing Chronopolis.
The temporal storm still raged. The colossal city that had once blocked out the sky was now slowly shattering apart.
Countless ships fell from the heavens.
Countless Kang variants turned to ash within the storm.
The invasion…
Was over.
Levi slowly descended onto the lawn of Avengers Base.
His body still glowed faintly—the aftereffects of devouring Black-Armored Kang's Death Origin. This new power was currently being broken down and assimilated into his existing law system by the Concept of Greed.
A fragment of Black-Armored Kang's Death Origin.
Only a fragment—
But enough to deepen Levi's understanding of the Law of Death even further.
Tony was the first to approach him, his armor already retracted into nano-particle form.
He looked at Levi, opened his mouth, then finally managed only three words:
"You okay?"
"I'm fine." Levi nodded.
Steve stepped beside him, his gaze complicated.
He had seen Levi fight before.
But never anything like this.
This battle had already surpassed the limits of human comprehension.
"The one who escaped…" Steve began.
"He fled into the gaps between the multiverse. In his current condition, surviving at all will be difficult," Levi interrupted.
"But he still escaped," Natasha said from behind.
Levi glanced at her. "You want me to chase him?"
Natasha didn't answer.
"The multiversal gaps aren't a pleasant place," Levi explained. "There's no time, no space—only chaos. Even if I pursued him, there's no guarantee I'd find him. Besides…"
He paused.
"He's not the greatest threat."
Tony frowned. "There's something worse than the Council of Kangs?"
Levi didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked up at the sky. It had already returned to blue, the remains of Chronopolis long since gone.
But Levi knew.
Far deeper beyond, within the Void layer of the multiverse—
Something was awakening.
The Anti-Monitor.
A being formed from erased timelines and annihilated lives fused together.
Young Kang escaping into the multiversal gaps would very likely draw that thing's attention. Whether he would be devoured or used…
Was impossible to say.
"Deal with the immediate problems first," Levi said, lowering his gaze. "How's Nathaniel?"
Wanda stepped forward, traces of scarlet energy still lingering around her hands.
"He passed out, but his vitals are stable," she said. "You left something inside him."
Levi nodded. "Residual Alchemy Law. The dimensional beacon had fused too deeply with his life source, so I couldn't remove everything completely. But that isn't necessarily bad. The remnants will slowly be absorbed by his body. They might even grant him some… unexpected benefits."
"You mean he could gain powers?" Tony asked.
"Possibly," Levi said. "After all, he's a Kang variant. Richards blood runs through his veins. Add my Alchemy Law as a catalyst… who knows what might happen."
He looked toward Nathaniel as medics carried the boy toward the infirmary, a thoughtful gleam flashing in his eyes.
This future-born boy had originally been a pawn of the Council of Kangs.
But now…
He might become a completely new variable.
Iron Lad.
Levi remembered that name. In certain timelines, Nathaniel Richards would become a member of the Young Avengers and even form his own hero team.
But that was the original timeline.
Now—
Everything was different.
"Alright, break it up," Levi waved a hand. "Fix the base if it needs fixing. Rest if you need rest. The Council of Kangs won't be back anytime soon. They'll need time to lick their wounds."
The others gradually dispersed, but Tony remained behind.
"You said there's a bigger threat than the Council of Kangs." Tony stared at him. "What is it?"
Levi was silent for a few seconds.
"You really want to know?"
"Of course."
Levi looked at him, the corner of his mouth curling into a meaningful smile.
"When you're ready…"
"I'll tell you."
He turned and walked toward the base, leaving Tony standing there alone, brows tightly furrowed.
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