In the comics, Alioth is an extremely powerful character. He can exist at any time and, after absorbing a point in time, can directly travel to all the parallel worlds associated with it.
However, in this movie world, it seems that Alioth's character is somewhat different.
At first, Alioth was running away into the distance, and he began cutting off the parts of his body that were on fire.
However, Qin Xiao's speed was simply too fast, and the flames spread too quickly through the clouds, so in the end, they simply stopped struggling.
Once the struggle stopped, things became much easier. Qin Xiao immediately used an internal and external circulation technique, and in less than an hour, he had completely burned the entire Alioth to the ground.
It went from being larger than a city to being roughly the size of a large building.
Just when Qin Xiao thought the flames would burn the clouds to ashes, a shockwave swept out from the remaining clouds in all directions, creating ripples in the air as the ripples swept across the flames.
The Eternal Flame, which was said to never be extinguished, vanished into nothingness.
"There really is something hidden here!"
Qin Xiao whistled through the air, tracing a semicircle before landing steadily beside Groot and Mandela.
"You two seem to know each other quite well already. Did I miss something? You're from Earth, right?"
Qin Xiao stared intently at the clouds, but his words were meant for Mandela to hear.
"Yes, I am a human from Earth, Mandela. I've heard that people who come here may come from different times and dimensions. If you are from Earth in the second half of the 20th century, then I believe you should have heard of my name."
"What?"
Qin Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "You should have died in the last month of 2013, and you look very young. What era are you from?"
"It seems we're not from a parallel universe. I'm from the 1980s, currently in prison, and was brought here. Looks like I had a pretty long lifespan in your universe, though I wonder what happened to South Africa later..."
Mandela had only spoken half a sentence when the remaining red clouds already reacted.
The remaining red clouds slowly dispersed, revealing the vague outline of a castle inside, and a voice came from within the castle.
" The Eternal Flame, the only thing Alioth fears. How did I end up with such a creature? And you've arrived here by accident. This seems rather interesting. Come in, guests. You are the second wave of guests I've welcomed in the endless years."
The crimson clouds dissipated completely, retreating into a watchtower atop the castle, revealing the entire castle. The main gate creaked open slowly.
Qin Xiao looked around at the man and the tree, placed Groot on his shoulder, and gestured an invitation to Mandela.
"Let's go in and take a look!"
In the 1980s, Mandela had been imprisoned for more than twenty years. He had long since become indifferent to life and death, and calmly followed Qin Xiao inside.
"Welcome to the great Time-Keepers..."
"Bang!"
As soon as I stepped into the castle, a cartoon alarm clock popped up and spoke.
Before Qin Xiao transmigrated, he watched many analysis videos of Loki's trailers and knew that this was the so-called Miss Minutes from the Time Variance Authority, equivalent to JARVIS's role in the Avengers.
In reality, it was just one of the tools used by the masterminds behind the scenes to monitor the Time Variance Authority.
Qin Xiao was too lazy to waste words with an artificial intelligence that was being manipulated. Regardless of what kind of energy she was made of, Qin Xiao simply smashed her to pieces with a single punch.
"If you're sincere, come pick us up yourself. Why send such a chattering little guy to bother me?"
Qin Xiao's seemingly reckless behavior was actually a test.
To test the strength of the castle's owner and to gauge his attitude.
The castle owner must be no ordinary person to have made such a grand spectacle. His ability to use his Eternal Flame to counter Alioth was an unexpected bonus; who knows what other tricks he might have up his sleeve?
Now that we've just entered the castle, it's a good time to test the waters and see if this mysterious person is hiding because they lack combat power, or if they can only act within a certain range for some reason.
If it's the second scenario, Qin Xiao still has time to escape with Groot while they've just entered the castle.
With this in mind, Qin Xiao directly attacked and dispersed the so-called Miss Minutes.
Miss Minutes shattered with a crash, but after flashes of orange light, it pieced itself back together in its original form.
A pair of small hands wearing white gloves stood with their hands on their hips, about to say something to Qin Xiao angrily.
A voice interrupted her.
"It was my rudeness, you know. I haven't had any contact with anyone for far too long. And the two guests who came here last time, they wanted to kill me, or rather, one of them wanted to kill me. In fact, she succeeded; she successfully killed me."
Accompanied by the sound, a man with dark skin, just like Mandela, appeared, dressed in clothes that resembled a medieval robe, and walked towards Qin Xiao and the others with a smile.
" The Time-Keepers?"
Qin Xiao asked tentatively.
" Time-Keepers? Haha, that's just a name I made up on the spot. My name is Kang, and I haven't used my surname in a long time. People in my universe call me the the Conqueror because I've conquered all of time!"
Kang the Conqueror smiled like a big, simple-minded man from a small village, and walked up to Qin Xiao and his companions, giving them a once-over.
It circled the three of them like a big monkey, and finally stood in front of Qin Xiao, Qin Xiao its right hand to him.
"I have no interest in shaking your hand. Given the current situation, we're probably not friends!"
Qin Xiao spoke seemingly casually, but inwardly he was extremely vigilant.
Kang the the Conqueror was a character Qin Xiao had learned about from the comics before. He was a mad scientist from the 31st century who ruled the entire universe in that era. Later, in order to satisfy his desire for conquest, he created a machine that could travel through time and unified the entire timeline.
Qin Xiao hadn't read the comics much and didn't know much about the character; moreover, the movie's portrayal might not be the same as the comics.
However, for someone who can control the timeline of the universe and created the Time Variance Authority, no amount of caution is excessive.
On the contrary, Mandela, as an ordinary person, generously extended his right hand.
" Mandela!"
"I know, I know, in fact I know the origins of each of you. I even read your biography when I was a child, as someone with the same black skin, from Earth in the 31st century."