Whoosh...
The howling wind swept up dust from the ground, the sound echoing in their ears. The black fog in the distance had completely engulfed the land, merging with it into a single, terrifying mass. An aura of dread shrouded the entirety of the Void. The closer they got to the black fog, the more they could feel a sharp, knife-like pressure.
As they got closer, they finally saw the true form of the black fog. Countless purple lightning bolts were streaking and roaring within it, their faint glow illuminating the black mass. But what shocked them the most was that this was no mere black fog; it was a black storm.
Boom!
The black storm, a maelstrom of light and noise, let out a continuous roar. The storm was constantly shifting and swirling. Three red dots emerged within it, and a closer look revealed a pair of scarlet eyes and a terrifying, blood-red mouth.
"Are you sure the Time-Keepers are in a place like that?" Sylvie said, a hint of fear in her voice as she looked at the black storm. Just looking at it made her hairs stand on end, and she felt an urge to run away.
The sheer presence of this thing was too terrifying. Standing beneath it, it felt as though she was looking at a boundless wall. Even more frightening was that the black storm seemed to be alive.
The continuous roars sounded as if it wanted to devour any living thing that approached it. From the aura it radiated, she knew that if she went in, she would be pulverized by the storm.
"Stop with the nonsense. If you want to go, then follow me." Cassius calmly looked at the black storm, his face stoic as the wind whipped at him. There was no fear in his eyes, only a strange, indescribable emotion.
He had a deep impression of this black storm, but he never expected to see it here. This thing existed outside of time; even if he actively searched for it, it would be difficult to find.
"This black storm... it looks like it's alive," Sylvie said, her voice trembling. She had seen the eyes moving within it. She had never seen anything so strange. What's more, if this was just a black storm, why would it make her feel so terrified?
"It is alive. After all, it's the Alioth that Ravonna was talking about," Cassius said with a faint smile, turning to look at Sylvie. "Alioth will devour everything in the Void." He was starting to admire this girl. She had no idea what she was getting into and still had the courage to follow him in.
"What?!" Sylvie instantly remembered the files on Alioth. She never thought she would encounter such a monster. She finally understood why Ravonna hadn't stopped her. She was intentionally sending her to her death. To make matters worse, there was no turning back now, as the portal had already closed.
Boom! Crash!
Just then, the intimidating black storm quickly approached them. While it looked far away, when it started moving, its speed was incredible. A small hill in the distance was flattened the moment it touched the black storm, as if a giant bulldozer was pushing it. In the blink of an eye, the hill disintegrated, with even the rocks flying into the air. When the rocks and dirt were pushed away, only a thin layer of powder remained.
"Damn you, Ravonna!" Sylvie's face became twisted in rage. She never thought that the bitch would set her up like this. She couldn't even put up a fight against this thing.
While she had always considered herself strong, she wasn't strong enough to flatten a small mountain. And as Alioth got closer, the terrifying pressure made it hard for her to breathe.
"Sylvie, you're quite interesting. You've spent all these years and still know nothing about the TVA," Cassius said, nodding toward her. Only Sylvie would be so reckless. She charged in without even knowing what was going on. He had sensed her presence in the TVA office. At first, he thought it was just an employee eavesdropping.
"You're acting like you know everything about me!" Sylvie snapped back, hands on her hips, staring at Cassius.
She felt that this man named Cassius was very strange. After all, most people who came to the TVA were timid and obedient. And those who weren't were usually dealt with. But not only was he incredibly powerful, but he also made Ravonna and Mobius bow and scrape before him.
Most importantly, even after seeing a terrifying being like Alioth, he still looked completely unfazed.
"I really do know you." Cassius looked Sylvie up and down with a smirk. He had to admit that this female version of Loki was far more interesting than the one who got stabbed.
"Then tell me what you know!" Sylvie said, looking up at Cassius with a look of disdain. Although Cassius had called out her name earlier, she wasn't surprised. She was Sylvie; it was normal for people to know her name.
"When you were a child, the TVA took you away from Asgard. However, you managed to escape and have been hiding in apocalypse events ever since, all alone and far from home. You've tried to overthrow the TVA's brutal rule and reclaim your freedom and dignity, but you've been forced to live as a fugitive, hunted everywhere you go..." Cassius told her every detail of her life. He had to admit that the Sylvie in front of him was quite pitiful.
"You... you must have gotten that from the TVA files!" Sylvie was stunned for a moment, and then she said without hesitation. She really didn't expect Cassius to know so many details. But she assumed that Cassius had seen her file when he was going on a rampage in the TVA.
"Not necessarily. I don't know everything, but I'm pretty familiar with most things." Cassius wasn't joking. He had watched the MCU, and he had a deep impression of the major plot points and events.
"Hmph!" Sylvie crossed her arms, muttering, "What good is that? Unless you can deal with Alioth, neither of us is getting past it!" Besides, Alioth was getting closer and closer. She was already mentally preparing to run away and find another way to deal with the Time-Keepers.
....
Time Variance Authority Headquarters.
Ravonna sat alone in her office, a disdainful smile on her lips. She stared at the screen, which showed Cassius and Sylvie.
"They're so foolish. They're willingly walking to their deaths!" Ravonna sneered. She had been thinking about how to deal with this trouble after sending him back, but he had offered to go to the Void himself.
The reason she had stopped him was simply for the sake of the act. The more you stop a powerful person, the more determined they will be. She had used reverse psychology to get Cassius to walk into the portal.
As for defeating Alioth? That was a fool's dream. No one in the universe could escape Alioth! Even beings who transcended the universe had their strengths and weaknesses, and what was this unknown man named Cassius?
"Stay there and be devoured by Alioth!" Ravonna couldn't wait to see Cassius and Sylvie get devoured. Thinking about it, her smile grew even wider.
....
The Void.
The black storm was getting closer and closer to Cassius and Sylvie. The gusting winds from its movement were sweeping up dust and blowing it far away. The entire sky was now a hazy gray. As Alioth moved, it let out a terrifying roar that echoed throughout the Void.
"We're finished! It's coming for us!" Sylvie's face was filled with panic as she saw Alioth getting closer. "Let's run!" If they didn't get away, they would surely be devoured. The thought of it made her shiver with fear.
"Get behind me!" Cassius moved his body, his expression indifferent as he looked at the approaching Alioth. A dark red glow appeared in his eyes, and a slight smirk appeared on his lips.
"You're not actually going to fight that thing, are you?!" Sylvie was completely confused. She couldn't believe this man named Cassius was so reckless.
This was Alioth! They were no match for it! What was the difference between fighting it and willingly going to their deaths?!
"Have you ever heard of Absolute Zero?" Cassius's voice was filled with a strange kind of joy. He opened his hands, his eyes glowing with excitement.
When he was on Earth, he didn't dare to use his power recklessly. Even the simplest elemental power was too strong, and if he used it, it would cause serious consequences. That's why he had never really used his powers to their fullest.
Although he had fought Dormammu, that guy was immortal in the Dark Dimension. So he couldn't be bothered to go out of his way to defeat him.
But Alioth was different, and this was the Void. He could finally use some of his more interesting powers.
"Absolute Zero?" A look of confusion appeared in Sylvie's eyes. She had never heard of such a spell. Just then, her eyes widened.
The temperature around them began to drop rapidly, and white snowflakes inexplicably began to fall from the sky. Cassius was surrounded by a cold mist. Even his long eyelashes were covered with a thin layer of frost.
"Since you haven't seen it, let me show you!"
The next second, Cassius raised his hands. In an instant, the world turned into a frozen wasteland. At the same time, the gusting winds stopped, as if they had encountered an unstoppable force. Even the dark clouds in the sky were motionless. It was as if the entire world had been frozen in time.
Sylvie could even hear the air freezing, making a cracking sound.
An endless cold aura surrounded everything as far as the eye could see and quickly spread toward Alioth. The icy air even overpowered the black storm and completely encased it.
ROAR!!!
Alioth let out a terrifying roar as it felt the presence of an intruder. It immediately sped up, charging toward Cassius. The swirling black fog was like a terrifying dark cloud coming for them. The scarlet eyes floated within the black fog as it charged toward them. Its massive body looked like an unbreakable fortress.
But just then, the cold aura intensified, and white crystals formed inside the fog. From a distance, they looked like a silver-white dragon in the sky. Not only that, the snowflakes slowly falling from the sky now became giant ice crystals. As they flew, they turned into a terrifying blizzard.
In the blink of an eye, everything except the area around Cassius was covered in a blanket of white snow. Even with all of this, the temperature continued to drop, and the snowflakes in the sky fell slower and slower. Then, they turned into fist-sized ice crystals.
"Go!" Cassius pointed his finger at Alioth in the distance.
The countless ice crystals were like little sprites that understood Cassius's command. They quickly rushed toward Alioth, and wherever they passed, even the air itself was frozen and shattered.
The black storm was visibly freezing at a rapid pace!
Cassius wasn't just freezing the air; he was freezing space itself.
"How is he doing that?!" Ravonna, who was watching the monitor in her office, her eyes wide with disbelief, had no idea how Cassius was doing this!
This was Alioth!
A being that even time could not control.
Even more terrifying was that she noticed that time itself was starting to freeze because of this Absolute Zero. This meant that Cassius could even freeze time!
She never thought that Cassius would have such terrifying power. Even the Time-Keepers couldn't do this.
At the same time, the black storm could not move another inch. The terrifying Absolute Zero not only froze its body but also the lightning within it.
Alioth opened its mouth, trying to roar, but under Absolute Zero, it was struggling to move even a little. The only thing it could feel was its body gradually cracking. Under Absolute Zero, it couldn't even put up a fight.
"Stop right now!" Just then, a figure appeared in front of them. It was a black man in a purple robe.
"The Time-Keeper!" When Ravonna saw this, her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She never thought that the sacred Time-Keepers would actually show up. But even with the Time-Keeper's command, Cassius didn't stop. In fact, he made the freezing process go even faster.
"Sir, please stop!"
"Whatever you want, you can tell me!" He Who Remains bent over and spoke in a sincere and humble tone. Because if this continued, it wasn't just Alioth that would be frozen, but the Void itself.
"The Time-Keeper is begging?! How is that possible?!" Ravonna couldn't believe what she was hearing!
This was the sacred Time-Keeper!
What kind of power did Cassius have to make the sacred Time-Keeper do this?!
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