Chapter 329: Chapter 329: The Ivory King
A golden rift tore open in the center of the Void Fortress’s command chamber.
The instant Levi stepped out of it, the energy readings throughout the room shot completely off the charts.
Tony’s armor immediately erupted with shrill warning alarms, flashing red lights frantically across its surface.
Instinctively, he took two steps back. The nanotech faceplate unfolded automatically, forming a translucent protective barrier in front of him.
He could clearly see an extremely unstable white aura radiating from Levi’s body.
Tiny golden lightning bolts crackled within that glow. Every arc that passed through the air left behind blackened scorch marks in space itself.
Every holographic display suspended throughout the command chamber exploded at once.
Countless glowing particles scattered through the room like a storm of luminous rain.
The machines monitoring multiversal activity began spewing smoke. Their intricate internal components curled and warped under sudden bursts of flame.
Even the support beams forged from Uru-vibranium alloy within the walls groaned and creaked, as though they might collapse at any moment.
Nathaniel Richards’ eyes widened.
The temporal coordinate device in his hand vibrated violently as its readings descended into complete chaos.
Universe designations flashed rapidly across the screen, as if some incomprehensible interference were disrupting reality itself.
He could feel the temporal perception inherited from the Council of Kangs screaming warnings through every fiber of his being.
Something terrifying stood before them.
Doctor Strange reacted instantly, raising the Shield of the Vishanti.
Golden runes assembled into layers upon layers of defensive magic circles.
Yet the moment Levi’s white aura brushed against the edge of the formations, the runes began to melt like wax before a raging fire.
The Eye of Agamotto on Strange’s forehead snapped open.
He tried to discern what exactly was clinging to Levi’s body.
But after only a single glance, agonizing pain stabbed deep into his consciousness, as though countless spikes were tearing at his soul.
Clark stood silently in a corner.
With his enhanced vision, he could see Levi’s ever-expanding inner universe spinning at a furious pace.
Countless Void Walkers moved through it, greedily devouring some incomprehensible form of energy.
That energy was too pure.
Pure enough to make even a Kryptonian feel instinctive fear.
Levi stood at the center of the chamber and slowly raised his right hand.
A white sphere the size of a fist pulsed violently within his palm.
Every beat distorted the surrounding space.
Golden runes flowed across its surface, constantly rearranging themselves as though struggling to suppress the violent force contained within.
"Everyone back away."
His voice was calm.
Yet every person present heard the unquestionable authority within it.
Tony wanted to say something.
The words reached his lips before dying there.
He had seen Levi fight countless times—from the battles at the Avengers Compound to the construction of the Void Fortress.
Every time, Levi had displayed power beyond common sense.
But this was different.
The faint pressure emanating from him made even Iron Man feel as though he could barely breathe.
Levi closed his eyes.
The greed buried deep within him awakened completely.
A black vortex ten meters wide unfolded beneath his feet.
Excited screeches echoed from its depths as countless Void Walkers gathered below.
The creatures that had once wandered throughout his inner universe now crowded around the entrance, opening enormous mouths lined with razor-sharp teeth as they awaited the coming feast.
The white sphere began moving toward the vortex.
The process was anything but smooth.
The Beyonder energy possessed an incredibly powerful will of its own.
Sensing danger, it fought back violently.
Runes shattered one after another across the sphere’s surface.
Golden lightning exploded in every direction, blasting charred craters into the chamber walls.
Strange clenched his teeth and maintained the Shield of the Vishanti.
He could see that the energy contained within those lightning arcs far surpassed even the Infinity Stones.
A mere stray fragment would be enough to grievously wound a typical Skyfather-level being.
Clark instinctively stepped in front of Nathaniel.
A silver-white conceptual barrier formed around his body.
He knew that if Levi lost control, the entire Void Fortress would be erased instantly.
At that moment, Wanda rushed into the chamber from the medical wing.
She held Adam tightly in her arms.
The child was crying uncontrollably.
Strange fluctuations of energy accompanied every sob.
Wanda’s face was pale as paper.
She could feel the Void Origin inside her son resonating with the power radiating from Levi.
A thought suddenly formed in Levi’s mind.
"Levi!"
Wanda’s voice carried unmistakable panic.
Levi opened his eyes.
His irises, woven from crimson gold and silver-white light, locked onto Adam.
He saw a faint white glow within the child’s eyes.
The unmistakable hallmark of Beyonder energy.
What concerned him even more was the distortion forming around Adam.
Tiny vortices appeared spontaneously in the surrounding space.
And those vortices were actively absorbing the excess energy leaking from Levi.
Levi frowned.
Something wasn’t right.
Adam’s Void Origin came from both him and Wanda.
Under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t react so strongly to Beyonder energy.
Unless—
Adam suddenly moved.
His speed was utterly unbelievable.
Before Wanda could react, the child had already hurled himself into the massive black vortex beneath Levi.
Wanda screamed.
Dark crimson Chaos Magic erupted from her body, forming multiple tendrils that shot toward her son.
The instant those tendrils touched the edge of the vortex, however, an invisible force blasted them away.
Levi had no time to think.
The immediate priority was suppressing the unstable Beyonder energy before it spiraled out of control.
Taking a deep breath, he mobilized every law within his body and forcibly drove the white sphere deeper into the vortex.
The Void Walkers surged forward in a frenzy.
Countless fangs tore into the sphere’s surface.
The once-rampaging energy shrieked like a living creature encountering its natural predator.
But the Void Walkers gave it no chance to escape.
Layer upon layer, they piled on top of it, using their own Void Origin to imprison the energy completely.
The pressure filling the command chamber gradually weakened.
The white aura was steadily pulled into the vortex.
Even the alarms in Tony’s armor subsided from piercing screams to low warning tones.
Yet no one relaxed.
Because everyone could feel it.
The true danger was still brewing within Levi.
Fine beads of sweat formed across his forehead.
The Beyonder energy was unimaginably heavy.
Even after being torn into fragments by the Void Walkers, each fragment still contained enough power to erase an entire galaxy.
He had to convert every last piece.
Otherwise, those fragments would remain inside his inner universe as ticking bombs.
Then Adam suddenly broke free from Wanda’s grasp.
One fragment of Beyonder energy seemed to find its destined home and instantly merged into his palm.
The remaining fragments reacted as if receiving a command.
They all flew toward him.
A glow spread across the child’s body.
Not brilliant white light.
Instead, it was a gray-silver radiance oscillating between existence and nonexistence.
Clark moved instantly.
A silver-white blur flashed across the command chamber.
He reached out to grab Adam.
A powerful wave of void energy erupted from the child and knocked him half a meter backward.
Levi’s eyes narrowed.
He could see Adam’s eyes completely consumed by white light.
The Void Origin within him was resonating with the Beyonder energy in a way that defied description.
This wasn’t mere attraction.
It was something deeper.
Like two rivers from the same source desperately seeking to merge into one.
Levi did not stop it.
Instead, he removed the protective barrier surrounding the vortex.
Wanda let out a cry of despair.
But Levi raised his left hand.
Golden light instantly formed a complex shield of laws around Adam.
The barrier was woven from the Laws of Space, Time, and Life.
It would protect Adam from the energy’s destructive force while allowing him to safely interact with the Beyonder fragments.
The moment Adam descended into the vortex, the Void Walkers erupted into excited shrieks.
Yet none of them touched him.
Instead, they retreated to both sides as though welcoming a king.
A pathway opened before him.
Adam descended along it.
Eventually, he landed directly within the center of the shattered white energy fragments.
Stretching out his chubby little hand, he gently touched one of them.
Levi motioned for everyone present to sit down.
He handed Adam back to Wanda and walked alone to the center of the command chamber.
There were important matters he needed to explain.
Matters concerning the Beyonders.
The catastrophe known as Everything Dies.
And the entity manipulating everything from behind the scenes—
The Ivory King.
Levi watched Adam intently.
The Source of Dominion within him operated at full power, ready to intervene at any moment.
He could sense that Adam was processing the Beyonder energy in a highly unusual way.
This wasn’t simple absorption or conversion.
It was a deeper form of fusion.
As though he were reclaiming something that had belonged to him from the very beginning.
Wanda gripped Levi’s arm tightly.
Her fingernails nearly dug into his skin.
She could feel tremendous changes occurring within her son.
Those changes filled her with both relief and fear.
Relief because Adam’s life force was steadily growing stronger.
Fear because she had no idea what her son would eventually become.
Five minutes later, every fragment of white energy vanished from the vortex.
Adam slowly floated upward.
The gray-silver aura surrounding him gradually receded.
When he opened his eyes, the innocent gaze of a child now carried a depth far beyond his years.
Looking at Levi, he smiled.
A clear, cheerful laugh escaped his lips.
Levi caught his son and carefully examined the energy within him.
Every trace of Beyonder energy had been absorbed.
There was not the slightest sign of instability.
It had reached a mysterious equilibrium with the Void Origin.
A balance so stable that even Levi found it difficult to believe.
He looked up at everyone present.
Tony.
Strange.
Clark.
Nathaniel.
Every face reflected shock and confusion.
Levi knew it was finally time to share the information he had obtained from the Cartographer.
The lights in the command chamber dimmed automatically.
A massive holographic projection unfolded before the group.
Data stolen from the Cartographer’s core filled the air.
Countless universe coordinates spread through the room like a vast star map.
And beside every coordinate was a horrifying countdown timer.
Tony stared at the numbers.
His face gradually turned pale.
As one of Earth’s greatest scientific minds, he immediately understood what he was seeing.
This wasn’t an invasion.
Nor was it a war.
It was a systematic purge of the entire Multiverse.
"This," Levi said, his voice echoing through the silent chamber, "is the result of the Beyonders’ experiment."
"They turned Molecule Men into living bombs and implanted one into every universe."
"The moment a Molecule Man dies, the corresponding universe is erased at the conceptual level."
"And the Cartographer’s job..."
His gaze swept across the endless countdowns.
"...is to clean up the wreckage left behind after those universes explode."
"And while doing so, mark the next batch of targets."
