Chương 81: Chapter 81: He Who Remains 

Alioth, having missed out on its grand, multi-course feast (the illusion of Asgard), immediately locked its glowing eyes onto the crunchy little appetizers sprinting away across the wasteland. It roared and charged after the five Lokis. 

"I don't think we can outrun it!" Loki yelled, pushing himself to the limit. Among the five, he was currently in the best physical shape—second only to Boastful Loki—and easily caught up to the rest of the group. 

"Well, what else do you suggest we do?! You can't exactly punch a cloud!" Kid Loki yelled back. Because he had the shortest legs, he had to take three strides for every one of theirs. He was easily the most exhausted of the group. 

As for Alligator Loki, the creature's reptilian speed was surprisingly fast, easily outpacing the massive Boastful Loki. Truly worthy of the name Loki. 

Nod. 

Loki sprinted up beside Classic Loki. "Can't you just throw up a few more illusions to distract it?!" 

Classic Loki panted heavily, his face pale. "Do you have any idea how much magical energy it takes to conjure a perfect, physical illusion of an entire city?! I'm completely out of mana!" 

With Alioth rapidly closing the distance, Loki was forced to act. He quickly cast several simple illusions of himself, sending them sprinting off in different directions. 

Alioth paused, seemingly confused as the single group suddenly split into three. However, the momentary confusion didn't last. The massive cloud-monster decided to completely ignore the illusions and continued chasing the group that hadn't changed direction. 

"Why is a giant cloud suddenly so smart?!" Loki yelled, his composure rapidly crumbling. 

"It seems your mastery of illusions is quite lacking," a smooth, unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed directly among the running group. 

"Who goes there?!" Boastful Loki roared instinctively, wildly swinging his golden hammer toward the source of the voice. 

"Whoa!" 

Luke casually reached out and caught the head of the hammer bare-handed. "I thought this was supposed to be Mjolnir. Guess it's just a cheap knock-off." Luke casually snatched the hammer out of Boastful Loki's grip and examined it briefly. 

"Uncle!" Loki was absolutely overjoyed. He immediately dove behind Luke, pointing frantically at the rapidly approaching Alioth. 

"This teenager is your Uncle? He certainly doesn't look Asgardian," Classic Loki remarked, slowing to a halt and eyeing Luke suspiciously. 

"Are you absolutely certain you can defeat that thing? If not, we really need to keep running," Classic Loki warned, glancing nervously at the terrifying storm-monster bearing down on them. 

"Don't worry about it. It's just a slightly overgrown guard dog," Luke said casually, scanning Alioth with his senses. The creature was composed of a significant amount of ambient energy, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. 

"By the way, your illusion magic is genuinely incredible. Are you an Asgardian? How did you manage to perfectly replicate the entire royal palace?" Luke asked curiously. The older man's illusion had genuinely surprised him; conjuring an entire city out of thin air was no small feat. 

"Uh... actually, he is also Loki. They are all Loki," Loki explained cautiously from behind Luke. 

The faint, relaxed smile on Luke's face instantly vanished. He slowly looked up and down at the cynical older man, the massive brute, the small child... and specifically stared at the alligator wearing a horned helmet. 

Oh hell no. I am absolutely not accepting a reptile as my nephew. 

"I think I need to significantly raise the minimum requirements for being acknowledged as my nephew," Luke muttered, shooting Loki a highly annoyed look. 

"What?" Loki didn't understand the comment. 

Before he could ask for clarification, Alioth had almost reached them, its massive maw opening wide to consume them all. 

"Watch out!" Boastful Loki, completely ignoring the fact that Luke had stolen his hammer, heroically dove to the side. 

The group braced for the terrifying impact, but the crushing storm never arrived. 

Boastful Loki cautiously opened his eyes and looked up, only to witness a sight that literally took his breath away. 

The perpetually gloomy, swirling sky of the Void was suddenly completely blotted out by a suffocating, hyper-dense blanket of absolute, pitch-black dark energy. The 'sky' itself seemed to physically descend, aggressively pressing down on Alioth from above. 

Simultaneously, Luke casually raised a single hand. 

Massive torrents of dark energy erupted from the ground beneath Alioth, violently twisting and braiding together to form a colossal, ethereal black hand that ruthlessly clamped down on the storm-monster. 

"Good boy," Luke smiled softly. He slowly clenched his raised hand into a fist. 

The dark energy hand violently compressed, forcefully condensing Alioth's massive, sprawling form. As Luke tightened his grip, the overwhelming pressure completely crushed Alioth's gaseous body, forcefully condensing the temporal storm into a perfectly spherical, solid black crystal ball the size of a baseball. 

Luke simply extended his hand, and the heavy crystal ball flew smoothly into his palm. 

Looking closely, Luke could see the tiny, furious form of Alioth still swirling desperately inside the crystal. The creature had been forcefully compressed from a gaseous state into a nearly solid state. 

Luke casually tossed the ball up and down like a baseball just as the Ancient One, Tony, and Sylvie leisurely strolled over to join them. 

Luke casually tossed the crystal ball directly to the Ancient One. 

The Ancient One caught it, examining the furiously swirling 'guard dog' inside with mild amusement. She gracefully flicked the crystal with a single finger. 

A sharp pulse of localized temporal magic pierced the crystal, striking Alioth directly. The tiny storm-monster trembled violently, a small portion of its body instantly being permanently erased from existence. 

"Alright, so the guard dog is dealt with. How exactly do we find the mastermind hiding behind it? Is there a door around here?" Luke asked, looking around the desolate wasteland. He didn't see anything resembling a portal or a doorway. 

"The gateway is right here," the Ancient One replied smoothly. Her focus had been entirely locked onto the internal structure of the crystal ball, as if she had discovered something incredibly fascinating. 

With a graceful wave of her hand, she extracted a complex, glowing runic sequence directly from the crystal and cast it into the air. The runes rapidly expanded and interlocked, forming a glowing, stable portal. 

"You know, that specific runic sequence looks incredibly familiar," Luke remarked, scratching his head. He knew he had seen it before, but couldn't quite place it. 

"When we return, I suggest you re-copy the runes from Chapter 3, Section 4 of the Book of Cagliostro," the Ancient One smiled knowingly at Luke. 

"Ah... well then," Luke shook his head helplessly. "How exactly did the creator of that cloud-monster gain access to highly classified Kamar-Taj spells?" 

"I have a working theory," the Ancient One replied cryptically, refusing to elaborate further as she gracefully stepped through the portal. 

Classic Sorcerer Supreme. Always speaking in riddles. 

Luke sighed heavily, motioning for Tony and Sylvie to follow him through the portal. 

As for Loki? Luke was currently actively reconsidering whether to officially revoke his 'Nephew' privileges. 

Loki glanced back at the four Variants, shrugged apologetically, and hurried after Luke into the portal. 

"Should we follow them?" Boastful Loki asked, picking up his discarded hammer and nervously polishing some dirt off it. 

"Uh, it might be worth investigating?" Classic Loki suggested hesitantly. 

"I think we should—" Kid Loki began to speak, but Alligator Loki had already scuttled forward and waddled through the glowing portal. 

"Well, alright then. Let's go," Kid Loki sighed in exasperation, following his reptilian counterpart. 

Stepping through the portal, the group arrived on a solitary, floating asteroid suspended in the middle of a swirling, cosmic void. Luke looked around and noticed an incredibly bright, solid ring of light completely encircling the asteroid in the distance. 

"What is that glowing ring?" Luke asked, turning his head. 

"That is a physical manifestation of a timeline," the Ancient One explained smoothly. "However, it appears that every single natural, divergent branch that attempted to spawn from this specific timeline has been violently severed, leaving only this solitary, isolated loop. Had the timeline been allowed to grow naturally, you would be witnessing a truly magnificent, infinitely branching cosmic tapestry." 

The Ancient One clearly didn't care for the sterile, heavily pruned timeline; to her, it was a grotesque, artificially stunted reality. 

She turned her gaze toward the imposing, dark gothic citadel constructed on the asteroid. "It appears our so-called 'Time-Keepers' reside within." 

Luke nodded. "Should I just completely uproot the castle and shake it out? That way we don't have to deal with any hidden traps inside." 

"That would be incredibly impolite. In a manner of speaking, we are guests here," the Ancient One reprimanded him gently. 

She handed the Alioth crystal back to Luke. Channeling a terrifying amount of Eldritch magic, complex, pitch-black magical arrays began rapidly expanding through the air around the Citadel. 

Once the intricate arrays were fully constructed, the Ancient One raised her hand and smoothly twisted her wrist. 

The entire colossal gothic citadel violently shifted and segmented, perfectly disassembling itself piece by piece, like a complex puzzle box being opened, instantly exposing the entire interior of the castle to the void! 

"I honestly think this is significantly more impolite," Luke commented dryly, watching the ancient stonework and priceless antique furniture float harmlessly in the void. 

The Ancient One ignored him, gracefully manipulating the floating segments. She quickly isolated a specific room and smoothly floated it directly over to them. 

Sitting in the center of the exposed room, wrapped comfortably in a cozy blanket, was an ordinary-looking man. 

"So, you're the all-powerful Time-Keeper?" Luke asked, walking up to the man. 

"If you absolutely must label me, you may refer to me as 'He Who Remains'." The man wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, deeply engrossed in a stack of printed papers in his hand. 

"Why is it that I still cannot observe your presence through the flow of time? You are literally standing right in front of me," He Who Remains muttered in profound confusion, staring at the paper and frowning. 

"What's that?" Luke snatched the paper from the man's hand. He glanced at the text and blinked in surprise. 

"May I see that?" Tony and Sylvie asked simultaneously. 

Tony blinked. "Why are you copying me?" he asked Sylvie simultaneously. 

Seeing Tony's expression grow increasingly bizarre, Luke simply handed him the paper. 

"It appears... this document is literally a script of exactly what I am going to say next?" Tony read the dialogue rapidly, realizing it perfectly detailed everyone's upcoming lines. 

"Is this generated by one of those weird dot-matrix printers they have back at the TVA?" Loki asked, frowning as he peered over Tony's shoulder. "Those machines can literally print out transcripts of everything a person has ever said in their entire life. I assume this is a highly upgraded version?" 

Tony shot Loki a strange look and handed him the paper. Loki immediately noticed that the very last line printed on the page was the exact sentence he had just spoken. 

"So... he perfectly predicted everything we were going to say?" Loki looked at He Who Remains in absolute, horrified disbelief. 

"Uh, actually, my script only details what you three are going to say. I have absolutely no data regarding those two," He Who Remains sighed, pointing at Luke and the Ancient One. 

Luke glanced at the Ancient One. 

"As I stated previously, your dark energy possesses a higher conceptual tier than his temporal manipulation. He can no longer utilize the timeline to accurately observe or predict our actions," the Ancient One explained casually. 

"Now, I believe it is time we discuss the fundamental issues at hand, 'He Who Remains'," the Ancient One said, stepping forward to address the remarkably relaxed man. 

"You originate from the distant future, correct?" The Ancient One's ancient, piercing eyes locked onto him. 

"Spot on! Was it really that easy to guess?" He Who Remains smiled, feigning pleasant surprise. 

"The fundamental temporal technology you employ appears to be highly derived from theories originally postulated by parallel-universe variants of Tony Stark. Furthermore, the runic array you utilized to control that temporal beast was merely a slightly upgraded, highly recognizable variation of standard Kamar-Taj spellcraft," the Ancient One stated smoothly. 

Now that she understood the man's origins and methods, the 'mystery' of the TVA was completely shattered. He wasn't a god; he was just a very smart, very paranoid human from the future. 

"Looks like technology in the distant future actually regressed instead of advancing," Luke commented, recalling the Minutemen's pathetic gear. "They didn't even have standard firearms. That's a massive downgrade." 

"It couldn't be avoided. The Multiversal War resulted in the complete, permanent erasure of vast segments of our technological history. The resulting temporal paradoxes caused a catastrophic technological dark age. Even attempting to travel back in time to relearn the lost sciences proved futile; the sheer chaos of the damaged timelines was too overwhelming," He Who Remains explained, offering a nonchalant shrug. 

"Multiversal War?" Luke asked, intrigued. 

"There are records of it in the TVA archives," Loki chimed in. "Essentially, the timeline naturally branched into countless variations. The different universes eventually discovered each other, and they immediately went to war." 

"Sounds incredibly destructive," Luke nodded. "So, let me guess. You were the ultimate victor of that war? And you created the TVA to actively prune any new branches to safeguard your victory and maintain absolute control?" 

"More or less. But my primary motivation was simply to prevent another Multiversal War from ever erupting again. If that conflict had continued, it would have resulted in the absolute annihilation of all existence across every timeline," He Who Remains took a crisp bite out of a green apple. 

"So that's your excuse for kidnapping us?! For destroying our homes?!" Sylvie yelled, her voice trembling with barely suppressed rage. 

"I had no choice. Your very existence created temporal branches. To maintain the purity of the Sacred Timeline and prevent further branching, I had to bring you here," He Who Remains patted his hair, looking entirely unbothered by her fury. 

"LIAR!" 

Sylvie drew her dagger and lunged violently at He Who Remains. 

"Wait! Sylvie, stop!" Loki yelled, desperately trying to intercept her. 

"What?! Do you actually believe his pathetic lies?!" Sylvie glared furiously at Loki. 

"Uh... I just think we need to carefully consider our options before doing anything rash," Loki attempted to grab her wrist to disarm her, but Sylvie ruthlessly kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling. 

"Hold on a second, Sylvie." 

Luke casually waved his hand. A solid wall of razor-sharp, pitch-black spikes instantly erupted from the floor between Sylvie and He Who Remains, completely blocking her path. 

"You literally just said the timeline isn't unique! This 'Sacred Timeline' nonsense is clearly just his delusional justification!" Sylvie yelled at Luke, completely unable to understand why he was protecting the monster who ruined her life. 

"I never said I wasn't going to let you kill him. The timeline obviously isn't unique, and neither is the universe. We all know that," Luke said calmly, turning his gaze back to He Who Remains. "I simply want to know why this guy specifically maneuvered events to bring us here." 

He Who Remains fell completely silent. He stopped chewing his apple. 

"Why... why do you so confidently state that the timeline is not unique?" 

Luke looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Do you genuinely believe there is only one timeline? Do you honestly think every other timeline is merely a deviated branch stemming from this specific one?" 

"Is it not?" He Who Remains slowly stood up from his chair. The arrogant, playful smile vanished from his face, replaced by genuine bewilderment and rising panic. 

"Wow. It seems you clearly haven't properly studied the fundamental cosmological relationship between time and space," Luke sighed heavily. 

"Every single universe within the Multiverse possesses its own completely unique, independent timeline. The sheer existence of multiple universes fundamentally guarantees the existence of multiple, independent timelines. You didn't honestly believe an infinite Multiverse operated on a single, shared temporal axis, did you?" 

He Who Remains stared at Luke, pointing a trembling finger at the glowing ring of light encircling the Citadel. "But... but regardless of which universe a Time Variant originates from, their actions always manifest as a branch upon this singular, unified timeline!" 

"That is simply because the temporal axes of overlapping universes can naturally influence and intersect with one another," Luke explained patiently. "It appears you never actually discovered or observed the other, independent timelines. You simply assumed this specific one was the only one that existed, and pruned anything that intersected with it." 

"How can you possibly be so absolutely certain of this?!" He Who Remains dropped his apple. The man who had controlled the destiny of the universe for eons was currently staring at a teenager with absolute, reality-shattering shock. 

"Because..." Luke paused thoughtfully. "The Old Man told me." 

"The... Old Man?" 

"Yeah. Just a lovely old guy who really enjoys taking leisurely strolls across the Multiverse to make random cameo appearances," Luke offered a highly meaningful, cheeky smile. 

The Ancient One shook her head helplessly. This boy is absolutely shameless. Whenever his own theoretical knowledge falls short, he effortlessly shifts the blame onto completely fabricated entities. 1