God of Stories

"Right now, Ben is being held back by another Celestialsapiens. They could decide the outcome in an instant, or they could remain dead until the evolution of the Eighth Firmament is complete."

Contradiction was speaking in a language Loki couldn't understand.

But Loki began to realize that this was probably the moment when he would fulfill his glorious mission.

Every Asgardian believes they are born to fulfill a glorious mission. He and Thor once thought that glory was becoming the king of Asgard, but after experiencing so much, they have long realized that this was a mistake.

A mission, perhaps, means sacrifice, or accomplishing a heroic feat.

Just like now.

The fate of the Multiverse rests in his hands.

What should I do?

"Go through it and sit on that throne," Contradiction whispered.

Loki then noticed an ancient armchair hidden within the dense, spiderweb-like green Multiverse timeline.

The throne has been vacant for a long time, and now it will welcome its master. From now on, Loki will stand at the top of the Multiverse!

But Loki showed no excitement whatsoever.

Because he knew there would be a price to pay.

"As long as you're there, you can control everything in the Multiverse, freely trimming the timeline of each universe. The countless universes are like the veins of a giant tree, and you are the one pruning it."

"Just as the Time Administration Bureau manipulates your destiny, you will also write all the stories; you will become the God of Stories," Contradiction said.

"And what's the price?"

"Loneliness," he said Contradiction.

He tried to lighten his tone, making it seem like it wasn't a big deal. "You see, like me, I'm someone who exists outside of time. I'm lonely enough, but you'll be tens of thousands of times more lonely than me."

"And you will be forever removed from the real world, becoming time and the story itself."

Loki nodded.

He understood.

"I have another question,"

The Contradiction prompted him to continue.

Loki hesitated, "... Is this also part of the story?"

To become the God of Stories, to compose the beginning and end of the Multiverse —is this part of rebelling against fate, or fate itself?

After Contradiction moment's hesitation, Mao Dun spoke:

"Yes and... No."

Loki nodded and asked no more questions.

He pushed open the door that Maltruant had already opened and walked in without hesitation.

Maltruant had walked a long way, his steps were as heavy as if he were carrying several mountains, each step leaving a heavy footprint.

As he walked further and further away, the green threads wrapped around his body, each one as heavy as if it carried the weight of the entire universe, slowing his pace.

From behind, Maltruant was completely surrounded by green silk threads.

The good news is that Maltruant's Power of Time is ineffective here; his movements are slow and he tires easily, giving Loki a chance to surpass him.

Loki started walking forward.

Soon, a glowing thread landed on his shoulder, and his vision suddenly blurred for a moment as an unprecedented hallucination unfolded before his eyes.

In a daze, he seemed to have ascended to the throne of Asgard, with Odin and Frigga crowning him, Thor singing for him, and him sitting on a golden throne, while fairies played beautiful songs for him...

But he quickly regained his senses.

Because he had already obtained all of these things, and had also given them up.

He realized this was himself in another universe, but the illusion did not end there. The beautiful vision shattered, and right after Odin fell into slumber, the Frost Giant joined forces with the Nine Realms to attack Asgard and slaughter everyone.

Yet, even Lord of the Nine Realms, he lacked the power to repel the enemy.

Loki opened his eyes and continued forward, more threads falling on his body, causing his thin frame to stagger.

This is the world where Thanos after the defeat in the Battle of New York; this is the world where Loki was assassinated by Malekith during the Dark Elf' invasion; this is the world where young Loki killed Thor...

World after world passed before his eyes, Loki's steps grew slower and slower, making progress increasingly difficult.

He seemed to be carrying all of Loki's expectations as he moved forward, while countless timelines pulled him backward.

Maltruant has already found him.

But he was helpless.

He couldn't use any of his abilities here, so he had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Awakening once again through the eyes of his own universe, in a world where Loki was not abandoned by Laufey, he led the Frost Giant to retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters, froze the Nine Realms, personally killed Thor and Odin, and then executed Frigga at the gates of the Asgard temple.

This may be the only world where Loki succeeds, but he doesn't know what he did or who he killed.

Before he could even grieve for his past self in that world, Loki was already on par with Maltruant.

"You won't stop me!"

Maltruant became agitated and elbowed Loki hard with his steel arm.

Loki immediately clutched his kidneys and knelt on the ground.

Maltruant breathed a sigh of relief and laughed as he continued forward.

Very close.

The empty throne is right before us, where all of time converges; it is both authority and shackles!

Maltruant stretched out his hand with difficulty.

"Next, all we need to do is infuse all the Power of Time into the Annihilarg..."

He couldn't continue.

For at that moment, Loki's figure appeared out of thin air in front of the throne before him.

His once golden antlers were now rusted by the power of time, but he had not forgotten the pride of Asgard, and soared straight towards the sky. He rested one hand on the side of the throne, as time impacted him from every direction.

Until he is crowned and made to sit on the throne of emptiness, bearing the weight of all beings.

But when?

Maltruant was dumbfounded. He turned around abruptly and saw Loki, whom he had elbowed, still kneeling on the ground not far away. But the next second, the shadow vanished like sand.

"Phantom?"

Loki: What do you mean, the First Mage of the Nine Realms? (Looks up)

In that instant, Maltruant felt the burden on his body vanish, all the threads were pulled away from him, and billions of threads wrapped around him, surging towards Loki and completely engulfing him.

"Ah!"

Those countless violently piercing timelines now appeared to Loki as billions of colorful threads. He could clearly see the source of each thread, feel its pulse, and foresee its billions of possible future paths.

Loki remained silent.

He simply and solemnly sat down on the "throne" that was naturally formed by the convergence and intertwining of countless timelines.

The energy of the Multiverse converges here.

With his hands he supports the entire Multiverse, intertwining their destinies like a Yggdrasil.