Like a drowning man finally escaping the grip of the deep sea, the terrifying pressure capable of crushing souls suddenly vanished.
Tony gasped for air as his armor's life-support system roared into overdrive. Supporting himself against the wall, he looked toward the meditation chamber.
Thor knelt on one knee, using Stormbreaker to brace himself. The King of Asgard's face was pale.
Doctor Strange had collapsed directly onto the floor, the Eye of Agamotto completely dimmed.
Levi stepped out from the chamber.
Black hair. Gray T-shirt. Jeans.
He looked no different from usual.
But Tony knew things were different now.
In that moment just now, the armor's sensors had detected absolutely nothing. Not zero data—rather, the very concept of sensing had become meaningless.
Levi walked over to them, stopped, and glanced around.
The vibranium doors of the chamber were gone. Not destroyed—simply erased. Cracks covered the underground base, every ceiling light had exploded, and only the emergency lights of the armors flickered in the darkness.
Tony opened his mouth to speak, only to realize he had no idea what to say.
Levi raised his right hand.
Tony blinked.
The floor beneath them restored itself instantly into pristine alloy plating. The ceiling lights turned back on. The cracks in the walls disappeared. The shattered coffee cup from earlier sat perfectly intact on the table, steam still rising from the coffee inside.
Tony reached out and touched the cup.
It was real.
Strange shot to his feet, the Eye of Agamotto spinning wildly.
But he saw nothing.
No traces of time reversal. No spatial restoration fluctuations. No magical residue whatsoever.
Matter had simply returned to normal out of thin air.
No—
Strange's expression darkened.
It hadn't been restored.
It had been redefined.
Levi simply believed the place should be intact, and so it became intact.
Thor's grip on Stormbreaker trembled.
In fifteen hundred years of life, he had witnessed Odin at the peak of his might and seen Thanos wield all six Infinity Stones.
But he had never encountered power of this level.
Because this wasn't merely power.
It was a difference in existence itself.
Levi walked over to Tony, picked up the coffee, and took a sip.
Tony unconsciously stepped back half a pace.
Levi smiled faintly and set the cup down again.
The coffee changed from black to light brown.
Tony froze, then leaned closer to sniff it.
Latte.
A second ago, it had clearly been an Americano.
Levi shrugged.
"I think you should drink less Americano. It's bad for your stomach."
Tony's mouth twitched.
This guy had casually altered the coffee's composition. Not with a magic trick—but by directly rewriting its definition.
Strange finally found his voice again.
"What exactly are you now?"
Levi thought for a moment.
Instead of answering directly, he asked:
"You all know the Infinity Stones represent six fundamental laws of the universe. But do you really think the universe only has six laws?"
He raised his palm.
No energy gathered there, yet it seemed to reflect a deep and endless starry sky.
"I'm no longer borrowing the universe's power," Levi said softly, though every word struck like a hammer against their hearts. "Every cell in my body is a miniature star. Every breath is the birth and destruction of laws. I no longer need to 'control' the universe, because I myself am a walking miniature universe."
Thor tightened his grip on Stormbreaker.
The god who had lived for fifteen centuries had witnessed Odin's divine might and faced Thanos with the completed Gauntlet.
But he had never heard anything this absurd.
"From my perspective," Levi continued, his gaze seeming to pierce through the material world itself, "time is no longer a flowing river. It's a still lake. Past, present, and future all exist simultaneously like droplets upon its surface. I can see your births… and I can also see your ends."
The words chilled the three greatest heroes on Earth to the bone.
It was the terrifying sensation of being completely seen through—of having no secrets left at all.
Thor's voice came out rough.
"What level are you now?"
"At his peak, your father Odin was roughly at the pinnacle of the Skyfather level. Thanos with all six Stones barely touched the threshold of Single-Universe level."
Levi paused.
"I'm currently Mid-Tier Single-Universe level."
Strange's lips moved, but no words came out.
Tony only managed a single syllable.
"...Fuck."
Levi spread his hands.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm still me. Just a little stronger."
"A little?!" Tony's voice cracked. "You call this a little?!"
Levi ignored the complaint and turned toward Tony's heavily damaged nanotech armor.
"To deal with the war ahead, you all need a few upgrades too."
He extended a hand.
An invisible force enveloped the armor. The burnt nanomachines began writhing and restructuring themselves. Tony could feel the material undergoing a fundamental transformation.
The molecular arrangement of the nanites was rewritten. Vibranium atoms were replaced with a denser substance altogether. The armor's color shifted from red-and-gold to a deep silver-gray, its surface gleaming faintly.
"This is…" Tony's voice trembled.
"Uru metal," Levi said. "The material Asgard uses to forge divine weapons. I made a few adjustments to the molecular structure so it could integrate with your nanotech system."
Tony understood instantly what that meant.
Uru.
The material used to forge Mjolnir and Stormbreaker.
One of the hardest substances in the universe—capable of bearing divine power itself.
And Levi had transformed it casually with a wave of his hand.
"And you," Levi said, turning toward Thor. "Give me the axe."
Thor hesitated briefly before handing over Stormbreaker.
Levi accepted it and gently brushed the blade with his fingers. The six Infinity Stones softened, their violent brilliance calming instantly.
"This weapon hasn't reached its full potential yet," Levi said. "It's missing a core concept."
He closed his eyes.
Crimson-gold flames flowed from his palm, spreading across the haft and throughout the entire axe.
Phoenix fire.
The fire of life and rebirth.
The flames burned for three seconds before fading away.
Stormbreaker's appearance remained unchanged, but Thor could immediately sense the difference.
"I infused it with the concept of Eternal Flame," Levi said, handing the weapon back. "From now on, it can repair itself and evolve on its own. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes."
Thor gripped the axe tightly, feeling the new power flowing within it.
Then Levi's expression suddenly changed.
He raised his head.
His gaze seemed to pierce through every barrier, every layer of spacetime and dimensionality, toward the oldest and deepest edge of the universe.
There—
Four ancient consciousnesses were watching him.
Those gazes came from before the birth of the universe itself.
Levi's consciousness separated from his physical body.
Or rather, from the moment he stepped into the Single-Universe level, the boundary between body and consciousness had already become blurred.
He found himself standing in an endless void.
No earth beneath his feet. No stars overhead.
Only four existences so immense they defied all measurement, watching him from the four corners of existence itself.
Eternity.
Death.
Infinity.
Oblivion.
The four cosmic creator gods of the Marvel Universe.
Levi neither avoided their gaze nor feared it.
He simply looked back calmly and projected a thought into the spiritual plane.
"I have no intention of offending you, nor of competing with you. I only wish to protect the people I care about."
Silence lasted for three seconds.
Then all four gazes withdrew simultaneously, disappearing back into the depths of the cosmos.
Levi returned his awareness and smiled faintly.
"Handled."
Tony looked utterly confused.
"It's nothing," Levi shrugged. "Just exchanged greetings with a few senior predecessors. Let them know I'm not here to steal territory."
He said it casually.
But everyone present understood exactly how unbelievable that had been.
He had communicated with creator gods—
And reached a mutual understanding.
Levi had officially stepped into the highest echelon of existence in the Marvel Universe.
Deep within him, the fully merged Phoenix Force trembled slightly.
Not violently.
Not out of control.
But with longing.
Levi frowned faintly and directed his awareness inward.
The Phoenix Force rested quietly at his core, its crimson-gold flames calm and obedient. Yet deep within those flames was a faint ripple stretching toward some distant place.
That direction did not exist within this universe.
Nor within any parallel universe.
It lay somewhere farther.
Deeper.
Higher.
Levi withdrew his perception.
He understood the nature of the Phoenix Force.
It was the ultimate embodiment of life and emotion in the multiverse—one of the oldest powers in existence.
Yet even such a force was yearning for something now.
And whatever that "something" was, it clearly existed on a level beyond his current reach.
"What's wrong?" Tony noticed his expression.
Levi shook his head without explaining.
Some things were pointless to talk about right now.
He turned toward the window.
Night had fallen, stars glittering against the darkness.
But in his eyes, those stars were no longer mere points of light. They were functioning stellar systems, each carrying countless forms of life.
He could see the spiral arms of the Milky Way turning.
He could see the Andromeda Galaxy approaching at hundreds of kilometers per second.
He could see nebulae being born and dying at the edges of the cosmos.
But beyond that sea of stars—
He could also see something far greater.
The multiverse.
Infinite parallel worlds. Infinite possibilities.
And above even the multiverse existed higher realms still.
The Living Tribunal.
The First Firmament.
The Fulcrum.
The true beings standing at the summit of everything.
Levi withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly.
He was already incredibly powerful now—powerful enough to dominate this single universe without restraint.
But he also understood clearly:
He was still far from truly invincible.
Fortunately, he had plenty of time.
"Alright," Levi said, turning back toward the others. "Everything that needed preparation is ready. Now we just wait for the main forces of the Council of Kangs to arrive."
His tone was relaxed.
But everyone present knew:
A war capable of reshaping the entire multiverse was about to begin.
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