Russell?
Who was that?
Loki looked utterly confused. The man was staring straight at him, yet called him by another name.
Was this just another trick to mess with his head?
Then, a faint chuckle echoed deep in his mind.
The next moment, green light burst from Loki's eyes. In the blink of an eye, it swirled and condensed into a humanoid figure.
Loki froze. Buried memories surged to the surface of his mind.
His eyes went wide as he shouted in shock:
"You! You're the one who appeared after I teleported—what did you do to me?!"
He Who Remains laughed softly.
"He's just… hiding in your heart."
He stopped paying attention to Loki's disbelief and turned his gaze toward Russell, letting out a quiet sigh.
"We finally meet."
"In truth, you don't have to be so cautious. Once Alioth is under control, then you can invade the mind. The TVA's magic suppression field won't affect you."
Russell eyed the man who had bested all his variants, curiosity flickering across his face.
"Interesting… so you really were waiting for me."
He narrowed his eyes, changing the subject with a clear threat.
"Tell me—are you not afraid of me? Or do you think that little watch of yours, the one that manipulates hidden temporal energy, will actually work on me?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the air filled with chaotic, wandering streams of energy.
Loki's eyelids twitched. He instinctively took a step back, his scalp prickling.
The destructive pressure was overwhelming—just a single touch of that energy could erase him without a trace.
He knew this feeling all too well.
He was just a pawn in a game played by powers far greater than himself, and pawns could be crushed at any moment.
He Who Remains looked at the swirling power surrounding Russell and tapped a finger on his watch.
Temporal force surged invisibly—yet when it struck Russell, a dazzling green light flared, rendering it useless.
Russell opened his palm to reveal the Time Stone, glowing faintly.
He glanced at He Who Remains and said evenly,
"Infinite Ultron wouldn't be trapped by the Time Stone—and neither can you."
Loki's eyes widened in sudden realization.
The reason the stone he'd found at the TVA was useless… wasn't that it was fake. He'd simply been too weak to override the TVA's suppression field and activate it.
But Russell could.
He Who Remains didn't look rattled.
He casually adjusted the watch on his wrist, smiling faintly.
"It's useless… But tell me—what is this Infinite Ultron you speak of? And when exactly did you see the future?"
His voice grew sharper.
"I knew you'd eventually find your way to the End of Time… but forcing a time branch into existence?" He shook his head.
"That was a mistake. It let me know you were coming."
At that moment, He Who Remains (the surviving Kang) wasn't afraid at all—on the contrary, he looked almost relieved, as if victory was already his.
He began to explain:
"In truth, ever since you restored half the universe's life in the Sacred Timeline, I've had to use the Time Loom to hold the timeline together with all my strength. So no matter what changes you make, there will be no new branches."
"And Loki's escape? That was part of the script I wrote—though it happened without me directing it. Hah… that's what makes it so entertaining."
Kang's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Mr. Russell, tell me—have you seen my future? In the original script, did I succeed in the end?"
Russell's expression darkened with emotion.
A being powerful enough to defeat all his variants… there was no way he could be anyone's pawn.
He certainly wasn't going to share his secret. Instead, he countered:
"Since you're so calm, then…
Dormammu is here!"
The moment his voice fell, the wandering energy in the air twisted into multicolored spikes, each one deadly enough to kill a god-tier entity, and they shot toward Kang!
But the next instant, they froze in midair, hanging motionless in front of him.
A ripple of pitch-black energy spread out from the void, instantly corroding all the spikes into nothing.
A cold, rasping voice followed:
"Heh… Kang, your talent for calculation is beyond mortal limits. With your help, all worlds will be mine. Those pathetic Sorcerer Supremes won't be able to stop me."
He Who Remains stopped laughing and stood from his chair with an uncharacteristically humble posture.
The black energy gathered into a humanoid figure—draped in a black robe, with a head made entirely of writhing flames.
At the same time, a massive vortex appeared out of thin air. Beyond it lay a realm of countless imprisoned planets.
More black energy flowed from the vortex, merging into the flame-headed figure. Its aura swelled rapidly, reaching the peak of a single-entity cosmic being in mere seconds.
Loki's voice broke in shock:
"You… You're Dormammu, Lord of the Dark Dimension! Remnant, are you insane?!"
Asgardian records told of this being. The fiery skull, the suffocating dark energy—there was no mistaking him. Loki now understood the cryptic words Kang had spoken earlier… and fear gripped his heart.
The vortex snapped shut.
Dormammu tilted his flaming head toward Loki and sneered:
"Garbage should be thrown away after use."
Black flames suddenly erupted on Loki and Maria Hill, threatening to consume not only their bodies but their very souls.
But then—a sharp, cold snort cut through the air.
The black flames blazed white, shattering instantly. Both Loki and Hill collapsed to the ground, gasping.
Russell shot a piercing glance at He Who Remains before turning to Dormammu.
"Playing with fire in front of the God of Fire? Even you are overstepping."
Dormammu's burning visage twisted into an exaggerated grin.
"Overstepping? No, no, no. Even though this place lies outside of time, it still exists in reality. That means I'm heavily suppressed here… which is why I brought nearly all my strength with me this time."
Like Mephisto, Dormammu's strength relied heavily on his own dimension—leaving it diminished his power. The peak of a single-entity being was his limit here.
Still, he seemed more than confident against an Asgardian who had only recently reached that same level. There was a gulf even between equals.
Russell suddenly understood why He Who Remains had dared to "borrow the tiger's skin" and treat him as a pawn.
He gave Kang a withering look.
"So, this is your plan? You're confident in this?"
The smile on He Who Remains' face turned sharp, all pretense of humility gone.
"Confident? Hah. This isn't arrogance—this is precise calculation.
Mr. Russell… you realized it far too late."
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