0.5 seconds passed in an instant.
The chaos-like world immediately returned to normal, as though nothing had happened.
But the astonishment in the Ancient One's eyes did not calm down for a long time.
"This live broadcast has finally ended..."
Seeing that the large screen before him had completely disappeared, Mordo sighed in relief, turned his head, and was just about to say something to the Ancient One.
But when he saw her expression, he was stunned.
The Ancient One's face, which was usually calm and peaceful, had now gradually stiffened, while her gaze had become more serious than ever before!
She looked as though she had just witnessed some unimaginably shocking scene!
"Ancient One, you..."
Mordo was frightened by her expression, his entire body trembled, and a storm rose in his heart.
What had just happened?
As far as Mordo knew, as the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One had gone through countless dangers and crises during her life, and had even faced beings from other dimensions such as Dormammu!
Then what kind of event could have happened to shake her so deeply?
"Incredible..."
The Ancient One quietly muttered a few words, and the expression on her face gradually returned to normal.
But one only needed to look at her slightly widened eyes to understand that her heart was still not calm.
Faced with Mordo's question, the Ancient One did not answer. She merely grabbed the Eye of Agamotto hanging on her chest with her hand, then walked toward the interior of the hall without hesitation.
Mordo and Wong, who were standing beside her, looked at each other and saw confusion and uncertainty in each other's eyes.
Whatever had happened, if it had managed to shake the Ancient One so deeply, then it must have been an incredible event!
At the edge of universe Earth-199999, in an unknown area, there was a mysterious organization.
It was the Time Variance Authority, better known as the TVA!
The TVA managed the Sacred Timeline of the entire universe Earth-199999.
Whenever any person, event, or thing caused a Nexus Event and created a new timeline branch, the TVA would send its Minutemen to prune it and banish everything connected to that event into the Void.
Even Asgardians were no exception!
But this organization, which possessed enormous power and authority over the entire timeline, was currently in complete chaos.
"The monitoring instruments are showing a malfunction!"
"Wait! This is not a malfunction! The Sacred Timeline stopped for 0.5 seconds!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could something like that happen?"
"It must be a malfunction. There must be something wrong with the devices."
"All the instruments are showing exactly the same result! What kind of malfunction could that be?"
Countless TVA workers frantically rushed in every direction.
Because of the excessive panic, some employees carrying documents even collided with one another, scattering papers across the floor.
In the middle of that chaos, a gray-haired man stared motionlessly at the screen in the center of the hall.
It was Mobius.
He himself did not know how many years he had already worked at the TVA, and he had personally participated in pruning so many variants that he could no longer even remember them.
However, the shocking scene before him completely shattered everything he had considered possible throughout his life!
There really existed a power in this world that could stop the Sacred Timeline!
Had the Sacred Timeline not been created by the great Time-Keepers, using unimaginable power, by merging countless universes into one?
Then how could someone stop it?
The more he thought about it, the more confused Mobius became, and he felt as though his head was about to explode.
He could almost not stop himself from crying out.
At that moment, a familiar female voice sounded beside his ear.
"Mobius, what happened?"
Mobius turned around and saw Ravonna Renslayer hurriedly approaching. Cold sweat had appeared on her forehead, and her hands were even trembling slightly.
As one of the highest-ranking people in the TVA, Ravonna usually conducted trials or rested in her office, while everyday work was carried out by the people beneath her.
Mobius had known her for many years.
But this was the first time he had seen Ravonna so panicked and frightened.
Seeing her appearance, Mobius opened his mouth as though he wanted to comfort her.
But at that exact moment, an incredible thought suddenly passed through his mind.
Was it possible that the being capable of stopping the Sacred Timeline possessed greater power than the three Time-Keepers?
The moment that thought appeared, Mobius felt as though his heart had stopped beating.
He stood frozen in place. The confusion in his eyes suddenly turned into horror, and his mouth opened so wide that an egg could almost fit inside it.
He looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"Mobius, what is wrong with you?"
Seeing his strange condition, Ravonna quickly grabbed him and shook him.
Mobius recovered a little and had already begun opening his mouth to voice the suspicion that had just appeared in his mind.
But at the moment he was about to speak, he suddenly regained complete clarity and immediately closed his mouth.
"I am fine."
Mobius swallowed and slowly spoke those words.
His heart was beating so violently at that moment that he felt as though it would jump out of his chest.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
And he would have spoken his doubt about the Time-Keepers aloud.
Mobius was almost completely certain that if he said such words in front of Ravonna, he would be pruned in the very next second.
Seeing Mobius's pale face, a trace of caution suddenly flashed in Ravonna's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
"It is good if you are fine."
Ravonna took a deep breath and tried to look normal again.
"Continue monitoring the timeline. I will immediately submit a report to the Time-Keepers."
After saying that, Ravonna turned around and headed toward the golden elevator.
Looking at her back, Mobius's expression suddenly darkened.
The look in his eyes also became extremely complicated.
A seed called doubt began to sprout in his heart.
At the end of the Sacred Timeline there was a strange space.
There, the Sacred Timeline existed in the form of an enormous circle.
Inside that ring floated a mysterious Citadel.
That ancient Citadel was Kang's headquarters.
As the man who had shaped the Sacred Timeline with his own hands and isolated universe Earth-199999 from the rest of the multiverse with his own power, this incredibly advanced man from the future was now also in a state of extreme shock.
"What just happened? Why? Why did the Sacred Timeline stop for 0.5 seconds?"
Kang frantically adjusted the time-control device in his hands, trying to discover the cause, but found nothing.
And what pushed him closest to the edge of collapse was that not only could he not understand why time had stopped just now, he could not even locate the source of the event!
It was as though fog covered his eyes.
"Impossible... How is this possible? In this Citadel, I should know everything."
The usual relaxed smile completely disappeared from He Who Remains's face.
Only extreme confusion and a trace of panic remained.
Everything that had just happened had almost completely shattered his understanding of reality.
As the creator of the Sacred Timeline, as long as He Who Remains remained in the Citadel at the End of Time, he could access all information across the entire timeline.
Simply put, if he wanted to know what was happening anywhere in this universe, he could find out.
But immediately after the moment in which "the entire universe stopped," He Who Remains discovered that he could no longer clearly see the future.
A terrifying thought instantly appeared in his mind.
An icy chill immediately passed through his entire body.
"Is it possible that they found me?"
As soon as that thought appeared, his face turned pale.
The reason he had hidden in this universe and established the Sacred Timeline was precisely to escape from his terrifying evil variants.
And something so incredible that it could affect the Sacred Timeline and interfere with his access to information about the future might only be something the evil Kangs could do.
The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.
He Who Remains felt the hairs on his back stand up.
"What should I do? Leave this universe and find another shelter?"
"No. I have worked here for so long. It would be too wasteful to simply abandon everything."
He suddenly took a deep breath and slowly calmed down at last.
"If they had truly done something, the Sacred Timeline would already have started branching."
"Since the multiverse has not yet reappeared, that means I still have room to act."
The light in his eyes flickered several times.
He Who Remains shook his head slightly, then lowered his gaze and began adjusting his time-control device.
"Perhaps I should begin looking for a successor as soon as possible."
Asgard.
After time began flowing again, Loki smiled slightly.
"It really was 0.5 seconds!"
"Although it sounds strange to talk about 0.5 seconds in a world where time was stopped, I truly spent exactly 0.5 seconds in that chaotic space!"
In the state where everything had completely stopped, Loki briefly felt incredible confidence.
If he could maintain that state indefinitely, he was certain that he could even personally kill Thanos!
Unfortunately, it lasted only 0.5 seconds.
Just as Loki felt regret inwardly, a cold voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
[You have used the time-stopping ability for the first time. The Stand "The World" experiences growth.]
[The duration of the "Time Stop" ability has increased by 0.5 seconds.]
[The time of the next advancement is unknown.]
"No way. It increased by 0.5 seconds after only one use?"
Loki's eyes immediately widened.
An enormous wave of joy flooded his entire body and almost made him burst into laughter.
From the beginning, he had known that this Stand was somewhat special and possessed S-rank development potential.
But even this rate of progress far exceeded Loki's expectations.
Just as he was preparing to stop time once more to see whether it could advance again, Odin's voice suddenly sounded.
"Loki, what did you just do?"
Odin stared at Loki, and his pupils narrowed slightly.
As the King of the Gods, Odin could of course see the Stand "The World" that Loki had just summoned.
But after that, he had only felt an indescribable sense of unnaturalness.
As though for an instant he had been thrown into some unknown place and then immediately returned to the normal world.
Odin had never experienced such a strange feeling even once during the thousands of years of his life!
At that moment, Odin truly felt an inexplicable sense of horror that almost made his heart skip a beat!
Seeing the rare surprise on his father's face as he sat on the throne, Loki felt a strange joy inwardly.
"Father, do not worry. I was only testing the ability I just obtained."
Loki elegantly bowed to Odin.
"I will leave now. Entering the live broadcast room still consumed quite a lot of my energy."
Watching his adopted son leave the hall with light steps, Odin opened his mouth as though he wanted to stop him, but in the end said nothing.
"Your Majesty, Loki... what is happening between the two of you?"
Realizing that there was clearly some tension between her husband and adopted son, Queen Frigga asked worriedly.
"Nothing. Everything is fine."
Odin answered casually, but his forehead soon furrowed again.
He had already guessed that the ability Loki had just displayed was probably something he had obtained in the live broadcast room.
But what was the nature of that power?
Why could even he, the King of the Gods of the Nine Realms, not see through what had just happened?
While Odin frowned in thought, his gaze suddenly sharpened.
He looked toward the middle of the hall.
A golden circular portal suddenly appeared there, and then a bald woman in sorcerer robes stepped through it.
The Ancient One calmly said:
"Your Majesty Odin, it has been a long time."
After leaving Odin's main hall, Loki felt extremely good and simply wandered around Asgard without any particular destination.
After experiencing stopped time through "The World," even the Infinity Stones and Mjolnir no longer attracted him as much!
With a single thought, he could control time.
What terrifying power!
Besides the unfathomable He Who Remains, probably no one in the TVA possessed such an ability!
If this power continued growing, why would Loki need to fear being pruned in the future?
Why would he fear any Minuteman?
Just as Loki became somewhat intoxicated with his own strength, he suddenly saw several familiar figures.
"Are those Sif and the Warriors Three?"
Seeing the four of them, Loki's expression immediately became cold, and the corner of his lips rose into his distinctive mocking smile.
Immediately afterward, he walked directly toward Sif and the others.
"Eh! That is Loki! What does he want here?"
"Odin should banish that necromancer from Asgard."
"Psst! Quiet!"
Seeing Loki walking toward them, a commotion immediately broke out among the Warriors Three, and even Sif frowned.
Earlier in Muspelheim, Loki had displayed terrifying necromantic magic before them!
Although that scene had truly shocked them deeply, it had also made them despise Loki even more.
Turning the bodies of the dead into his own subordinates?
To them, that was an act worthy of a demon!
Loki walked all the way up to Sif and looked at the woman before him toward whom he felt a strong aversion.
He immediately remembered a scene from the earlier recording.
In that endless time loop, Sif had repeatedly beaten and humiliated him over and over again, causing him to suffer serious consequences both physically and psychologically.
Remembering this, Loki quietly laughed several times, looked at Sif, and said:
"Speaking of which, last time in Muspelheim I saved your lives."
"For such a life-saving favor, should you not think about how you will repay me?"
Seeing Loki approach her closer and closer and remembering the scenes in which he had previously been surrounded by undead skeletons, Sif felt all the hairs on her body stand up.
She instinctively thrust out her hands, trying to push Loki away.
"You! Do not come any closer to me!"
But the very moment she extended her hands, Sif suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Immediately afterward, she clearly looked around and could almost not believe her own eyes.
She did not even know when it had happened, but she had already stepped several steps backward, as though she herself had willingly made a path for Loki!
"Oh? I did not expect you to be so polite to me, Sif. You even made room for me yourself?"
Looking at Sif, who stared at him with wide eyes and a face full of disbelief, the cunning smile on Loki's lips became increasingly pronounced.
"Or are you so afraid of my power that you instinctively stepped back?"
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