chapter 319
Chapter 319:
– Layla –
I flicked some sticky blood off my wings and let out an annoyed breath. “These guys just don’t quit,” I muttered.
Holy shit, the TVA really wanted to stop us from going any further!
They had thrown at least five hundred agents into our path. Maybe more—I’d lost count around the time my wings got covered in gore. I kicked aside the last body cluttering the corridor and conjured a rag to wipe my hands, then made another one for Sona.
[642 actually. That’s an impressive number of fatalities.]
She wiped her glasses, wincing at a stubborn smear of blood on the lens.
Sylvie shook her head as she stepped over a sprawled corpse. “No wonder no matter how many guys I kill, they always send more…”
We started down a long, dull hallway. The lights above flickered like no one had bothered replacing the bulbs in centuries. The walls and floors felt sterile, like some soulless government office, but the occasional weird piece of cosmic tech stuck out. Every so often, we passed a random desk piled with dusty forms or propaganda posters screaming slogans like “Always Choose the Sacred Timeline!” and “Prune First, Ask Questions Later!”
One corner was a cramped break area with a sad-looking coffee pot that smelled burnt and a battered vending machine that hummed loudly.
I frowned at the sight. “These guys are out here destroying entire universes, and they still make employees pay for their own snacks?”
[That's just plain diabolical!]
“Quit getting distracted, Layla,” Sona said with a pout.
“Anyone want some chips?” I asked, ignoring her expression.
Sona blinked at me. “Are you seriously—?”
Before she finished, I drew back my fist and shouted, “SMASH!” Glass sprayed in all directions as I broke straight through the vending machine’s front panel. “Seize the means of production!” I announced triumphantly, grabbing a bag of potato chips. I tore it open, ate a few, then offered the bag to Sona. She stared at me in total disbelief before grabbing a couple for herself.
She munched on them reluctantly, rolling her eyes when I smirked. Honestly, murdering a bunch of time cops worked up an appetite. I grabbed more bags and passed them around.
Sylvie eyed a chocolate bar with suspicion at first, then her face lit up once she bit into it. "I didn't know midgard had such good snacks."
I popped a few more chips in my mouth. Yeah, that was something I’d noticed about the TVA: everything looked like it came from Earth—maybe some 80s or 90s version of Earth, but definitely Earth. It was weird that an organization controlling time was apparently staffed by humans.
[They obviously didn't originate from your timeline. You would have sensed people opening portals all over the world.]
‘Exactly,’ I thought back. If they’d been hopping around my Earth, I would’ve sensed the portals, and so would the Ancient One. Maybe these guys were from the future, a time after she was gone.
It would explain their high-tech weapons, even if their office equipment looked old as fuck.
The one agent whose memories I’d read didn’t know much about the TVA, except that their goal was to protect some “Sacred Timeline” and they supposedly paid well. Not that it mattered for his dumb ass.
We finished our snacks, then got moving again.
Sylvie pointed out that this was the furthest she’d ever been inside the TVA. She wasn’t even sure if this place was a normal building or if it was more like a pocket dimension.
Sona asked if Sylvie had been captured before?
Sylvie admitted that the TVA had grabbed her a few times, but she’d always managed to escape. For some reason, they kept trying to bring her in "alive."
That pretty much confirmed my suspicion—they needed Sylvie for something. Not that it mattered, because we intended to shut down their entire operation today. We turned a few more drab corners, passing another row of identical doors, until we spotted a sign with an arrow labeled “Interrogation Rooms.”
“That’s probably where they have my variant,” Sylvie said stiffly.
“Technically, you’re his variant,” Sona pointed out with a shrug.
Sylvie huffed, looking offended. “I don’t think so. I’m obviously the original Loki!”
Sona adjusted her glasses and shot her a smug look. “Impossible. Layla’s the only Layla in the entire multiverse so far, which suggests our universe is the original Earth. Everyone else must be branching off from us! And that makes you a variant!”
[I think Sona forgot that she was originally from a branch as well…]
I giggled quietly to myself as Sylvie and Sona glared at each other.
We continued further along, stepping over bodies as we moved deeper into the complex. Every once in a while, we ran into small squads of TVA agents, but they were no match for us—Sona would drown them in a sudden onslaught of swirling water, or Sylvie would lunge and bury her daggers into their skulls with brutal efficiency, or I would simply incinerate them with a casual Lightspear.
Some of the freed variants we’d unleashed earlier sprinted past us in small packs, hollering for revenge. A few recognized me (or at least recognized my wings) and paused to ask for directions to the nearest cell blocks so they could free more imprisoned variants. Sylvie pointed them the way, and they rushed off, determined to break as many “Sacred Timeline” rules as possible.
“Layla, do you think that crowd can handle themselves?” Sona asked after the third group ran by, leaving a trail of blood behind them.
I snorted. “They’re an angry mob of Captain Americas, Tony Starks, maybe a Thor or two, and who knows what else—definitely capable of turning the TVA inside out. We’ll let them handle the grunt work while we focus on the main quest.”
Speaking of Quest…
‘Where’s my freaking Quest, System!?’
[I gave it to you earlier, but you were too angry to notice it!]
I huffed. ‘Sure you did!’ I waved my hand and pulled up my Quest backlog. Sure enough, there was a quest listed there that I hadn't seen before, but I was still of the opinion the System just randomly made this one up to pretend it didn’t forget!
{Quest Started: Destroy the TVA and stop them from ruining more Universes and Timelines.}
{Reward: Level Up x10! The Space Stone. The attention of ?????}
Those rewards seemed a little bland, especially considering the Space Stone was already supposed to be mine, but that last one was a bit worrying. The attention of “what” exactly? Meh, that was future Layla’s problem!
…Eventually, we came upon a large metal door sealed shut, with a circular window at about head height. Inside, I caught a glimpse of a single occupant with slicked-back dark hair, leaning casually in a chair like he was on vacation.
“Loki,” I muttered.
His eyes flicked toward the window. A smile curved across his lips, and I saw him let out a dramatic sigh of relief like, “Ah, finally, my rescue squad has arrived.”
I raised my foot and easily kicked the door in.
“My dear sister-in-law,” Loki drawled, green eyes dancing with that trademark mischief, “I knew you’d come for me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. I'm only here because these assholes tried to attack my children!”
Loki looks surprised to hear that. “Ah, I apologize for that. I told them about you because I was sure you could easily handle them, but… I would never have suspected they’d go after little girls.” At least he looked remorseful when he said that.
Sylvie scoffed and crossed her arms. “They've been going after me since I was a little girl!”
Loki’s attention snapped to the girl Sona and I had brought with us. He blinked at her, then let a lazy smirk settle on his face. “Well, hello there, beautiful,” he said. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before. Is it strange that I feel some kind of connection between us? I wonder if that’s fate.”
Sona started choking on thin air, and Sylvie took an uneasy step back, looking like she might throw up. I just bent over, laughing so hard. I never thought I’d live to see the day Loki tried to flirt with anyone we brought along—let alone his own variant.
“That’s… bold of you,” I said, still trying to catch my breath. “But Loki… this is Sylvie Laufeydottir. She’s basically your female clone from another universe.”
Loki’s smug expression vanished in an instant. He looked about as sick as Sylvie now. “You’re telling me I—no, she—what? Oh, for fuck’s sake…” He closed his eyes and exhaled like he was willing the moment away. “Let’s just agree to never speak of this again.” He cleared his throat and rattled the chains around his wrists, causing the metal to scrape against the desk. “Anyway, can you get me free now?”
I narrowed my eyes at Loki and put a hand on my hip. “Not so fast, Loki. I want the Space Stone. Where are you hiding it?”
“Probably up his ass,” Sylvie remarked, not even bothering to hide her disgust.
My nose wrinkled, and I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Gross! You better not be!” I snapped at Loki. I sure as hell didn’t want to handle that thing if he’d shoved it somewhere questionable. “And if you did, don’t even think about giving it back until you’ve cleaned it thoroughly.”
Loki’s eyes went wide. “I did not shove it—anywhere! I don’t even have it,” he sputtered. “One of those TVA agents took it off me when they dragged me in here. I don’t know where the damn stone is.”
I groaned dramatically. “Ugh, come on, you’re the so-called God of Lies. Why didn’t you just give him a fake?”
He tried to shrug but winced as the chains dug into his wrists. “These cursed restraints block my magic,” he muttered. “I couldn’t conjure anything if I wanted to.”
Sona stepped forward, studying the cuffs on his arms. She pressed her palms close to the metal. Curious, I leaned in to see what she was up to. A sudden chill swept over us. A thin layer of ice spread over the chains, crackling as it took hold. Loki’s skin turned deep blue where the frozen links touched him, then the metal shattered, dropping onto the table in pieces.
I grinned at Sona, feeling a flush of pride. “Wow, I didn’t know you could control ice like that! And these were magic-disrupting chains, too. You destroyed them like it was nothing.”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she adjusted her glasses. “Yes, well… you’ll find I’m full of surprises.”
Loki stood up and rubbed his wrists, then rolled his shoulders. “As adorable as this little tsundere love skit is, maybe we should get moving before the TVA swarms us.”
Sona shot him a heated glare. “I am not a tsundere,” she grumbled. She flicked her hand, and a wave of water splashed over Loki’s feet, making him jump back and curse under his breath.
Sylvie crossed her arms and sighed. “The male versions of me can never seem to keep their mouths shut.” She turned to me with a more serious look, her posture stiffening. “If you really want to destroy the TVA, it’s time to cut the head off the snake. We need to take out whoever’s running this place.”
“Fine,” I said, folding my arms. “Where do we find him?”
Sylvie opened her mouth to reply, but never got the chance. A split-second later, the floor shuddered beneath us. A bright golden light erupted, spiraling in a ring around our feet. In an instant, reality warped. The interrogation room dissolved into a swirl of gold and black.
“Layla!” she cried, but before I could answer, gravity reversed on us.
We dropped onto a polished marble floor in a jumbled heap—me, Sona, Sylvie, and Loki landing in a tangle of limbs. I sprang up first, wings flared out to keep my balance, refusing to look flustered or embarrassed!
Sona quickly scrambled to her feet, water already swirling protectively around her hands.
Sylvie crouched low, daggers in each fist.
Loki stood with that theatrical flourish he always used. “That was rude.”
We were in some massive chamber, nothing like the TVA’s dreary corridors. Ornate pillars of shimmering stone rose on all sides, etched with cosmic patterns I didn’t recognize. Above us, a high, domed ceiling displayed swirling star constellations, but they matched none I’d seen before. At the far end of the room, perched on an overly extravagant throne, was a man in purple and gold robes—with an Infinity Gauntlet clasped on his left hand.
Sylvie tensed. “He Who Remains…” She looked terrified, but I refused to be intimidated.
I sized him up: tall, composed, exuding a sense of agelessness. His left hand flexed around the Gauntlet, each Infinity Stone glowing its own color.
[He has all six… That’s going to be annoying.]
‘He's still just a human though, he can't channel all that power without killing himself.’
There was no way he would be able to channel even close to enough power to try and snap me of all people out of existence. Instead I noticed that he threw up an incredibly powerful barrier around himself, a barrier I doubted even the strongest celestials would have been able to break anytime soon.
Too bad for him I was even stronger!
He stood and glared. “You all,” he snarled, pointing at us, “have caused quite a mess. Entire wings of my headquarters destroyed, countless lines of the Sacred Timeline undone. You’ve unleashed vicious variants—”
I raised my eyebrows. “Almost destroyed everything you’ve built?” I said, letting my wings unfurl behind me in a show of power. “There’s no ‘almost’ about it. I’m erasing the TVA from existence.”
His face twitched with anger. “Insolent wretch.”
I shrugged. “Wretch? You realize you’re talking to a literal goddess here, right? Champion of Lady Death, ring a bell?”
He let out a harsh laugh. “I am older than any of your petty titles! I remain when all else falls.”
A crackling hum pulsed through the chamber as He Who Remains raised the Gauntlet. I sensed space and time bending under the might of the Stones.
I’d need to channel enough cosmic and divine power to overcome his Infinity Gauntlet. Unluckily for him I had plenty of power to spare.
[Layla of the Fallen]
[Title: Sixteen Winged Angel, High Goddess of Angels, Death’s Favored, Soul Queen.]
[Supreme Goddess 4 / 8: Merged with Mind Stone, Power Stone, Reality Stone, Time Stone]
[Level: 133]
[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Infinity]
[HP: 12,464,200]
[MP: 1,450,005,000]
[Faith Energy: 10,897,584,459]
[Vigor: 1,246,420]
[Strength: 3,083,899]
[Intelligence: 145,000,500]
[Luck: 245,788]
[Available Free Stat Points: ]
He swiped his hand, summoning portals. Shimmering golden doorways began appearing along the walls. In seconds, twisted figures stepped out.
A bloodstained Captain America variant with sharpened teeth. A Thor in obsidian armor wielding a hammer that crackled with black lightning. An Iron Man with a dark, spiked suit throbbing with red energy. A Wanda with chaos magic twisting around her in the form of shrieking red shapes. A four-armed, demonic Spider-Man. A molten Hulk variant fused with raging lava. And more horrifying distortions of familiar heroes. They kept coming, an army of monstrous or corrupted variants from across the multiverse.
Loki whistled. “Well, this looks fun.”
Is this how all your dates turn out, Layla?” Sona asked me.
“Kind of… Although I hadn’t really considered this to be one,” I admitted.
Sylvie grimaced. “He must have stored these pruned variants as weapons.”
He Who Remains raised a hand. “Kill them all!”
They all charged or flew at us.
I smirked. “Sona, Sylvie—keep these rejects off me while I gather power to bypass his gauntlet. Loki, you too, unless you’d prefer to die. And maybe I won't feel like resurrecting you.”
“Fine,” Loki said, summoning illusions of himself.
Sona stepped up, water swirling at her command, while Sylvie brandished her daggers and dashed toward the onslaught.
The first to attack was a savage Captain America. Sona flicked her wrist, slamming a wave of water into him. He roared, hurling the shield forward in a shockwave. She twisted aside, water splitting in midair. Sylvie lunged at the demonic Spider-Man trying to entangle us in black-web electricity, severing the webs with swift slashes.
Above, the Wanda variant cackled in a language I couldn’t place. Whatever it was, it felt like I was listening to pure evil. She flung a swirling hex at me—scarlet energy forming a flock of screeching crows.
I swatted the illusions away with a flick of my wings. “Cute. Try harder,” I muttered.
She hissed something hateful at me that I didn’t understand, but then let out a squawk as a torrent of water slammed into her side and sent her hurdling away from me. I gave Sona a playful wink for that one.
I turned my gaze back up at He Who Remains, he was gritting his teeth in anger at the fact that none of us were dead yet, or something dramatic like that.
An obsidian hammer nearly clipped my head while I was looking away. The Thor variant was on me, hiss weapon crackling with black lightning.
I twisted, letting it crash harmlessly into the floor, then threw a teasing smile his way. “You missed. That all you got?”
He snarled, hurling the hammer again. I ducked it easily, feeling the shockwave ruffle my feathers.
“Let me show you a real hit,” I told him. I lunged, cosmic energy crackling around my fist. He raised the hammer to block, but he was slow compared to me. My punch connected, releasing a thunderous crack that scorched the marble around us. When I pulled my fist back, his body had completely disintegrated from the force of the blow.
Somewhere behind me, Sona battled a werewolf-like Captain America. She’d pinned his shield with watery tendrils, but he snapped at her with freakishly long fangs. I casually conjured a Lightspear and hurled it. The spear impaled his skull with a sizzling wet crunch.
Sona shoved his lifeless body aside, panting.
“You good?”
She nodded, a flush on her cheeks. “Yeah, thanks.”
Above us, Loki and Sylvie dealt with the Wanda and Spider-Man variants. Wanda’s illusions filled the air with swirling horrors. Loki’s illusions twisted among hers, green tangling with red. Meanwhile, Sylvie pinned the four-armed Spider-Man to a pillar, daggers glinting with enchantment. He hissed, spraying webs. She slashed them away with a fearless grin.
I shot upward, ignoring the illusions. My senses homed in on Wanda’s real form behind the conjured crows. She tried to fling another chaotic bolt. I powered through, grabbing her mid-air.
We wrestled for a second, her eyes flaring red. “You can’t kill chaos!” she screeched. This time she was finally speaking in english.
“Watch me!” I placed my hands on both sides of her head and squeezed. Arguably one of the grossest ways I've ever killed anyone, and probably won't be doing it again, but it worked. The illusions vanished, leaving the air clear as her corpse dropped.
Below, Loki used a glowing sword conjuration to finish off the wounded Spider-Man variant, slicing him neatly from shoulder to hip.
Another wave of variants stormed in as more portals opened. A black armored Ironman soared above, launching crackling repulsor beams, while a hulking beast of living rock slammed the floor, sending tremors through the chamber.
“This is getting old,” I snarled.
Sona slid to my side. “We need to kill him,” she said, pointing at He Who Remains, still hiding behind a shimmering barrier.
“I have an infinite number of variants to throw at you all! You will all fall before the sacred timeline!”
I moved in his direction. “Your little force field won’t save you forever,” I warned.
He sneered. “I know every step you’ll take, every action you’ll try.”
More monstrous variants rushed us. A black Ironman zoomed overhead, raining mini missiles. Sona shielded us with a torrent of water that burst into steam under the explosions. Loki conjured illusions to divert a cackling War Machine variant. Sylvie darted behind a pillar, hurling knives at a distant archer.
I inhaled and started focusing all of my power. “Keep them busy,” I barked. “I’m about to blow this place apart.” I still needed more power to match the Infinity Stones. They encircled me protectively while I gathered more power than I had channeled in a while, letting it spark across my wings and surge through my arms. The air tingled with static. I felt the floor start to disintegrate beneath me.
Variants swarmed closer, but Sona and Sylvie fought like hell to hold them back. Sona used razor-edged waves to slice through a demonic Black Panther. Sylvie threw enchantments, forcing a feral Hawkeye to turn his own arrows against himself. Loki’s illusions confused a monstrous War Machine, leading it into a watery trap that Sona solidified into ice.
A quake rumbled. The rock-Hulk pounded forward, unstoppable. He battered Loki’s illusions aside and roared, seizing a chunk of marble to throw right at me. Sylvie blurred behind him, daggers stabbing into the backs of his knees. He dropped with a furious howl. Sona seized the chance to drown his head in swirling water, cutting off his breath until he stilled.
My Cosmic and Faith energy reached a peak, forming a star-like orb between my palms. The pressure was intense, but I was exhilarated just holding it.
“Get clear!” I shouted.
Sona, Sylvie, and Loki ducked behind me!
With a fierce grin, I hurled the orb across the chamber. It expanded in a white-hot explosion, swallowing the monstrous variants in a single blinding flash. The floor shattered, pillars crumbled, and a chunk of the domed ceiling collapsed in glittering shards. The shockwave thundered outward, demolishing the entire array of twisted foes.
I kept my wings angled to protect my allies from the worst of the blast. When the brilliance faded, the chamber was half-ruined: a gaping hole in the floor revealed a cosmic void beneath. Broken columns jutted out at odd angles. Of the monstrous variants, not a single one remained standing—only ash and rubble.
Sona stepped up behind me, eyes wide. “Wow.”
“They asked for it,” I grinned.
Loki surveyed the destruction nervously. “I’ll try not to annoy you too much in the future.”
Sylvie pointed across the ruined chamber. He Who Remains still stood behind a golden barrier, but it was on the verge of collapse and he was sweating hard. Surviving that blast almost drained him.
“You dare—” he snarled, voice trembling. “You’d risk the entire multiverse for your petty grudge?”
I raised my chin. “Petty grudge? You tried to prune my fucking kids!”
He jabbed a finger in my direction, Infinity Stones flashing. “I’m preventing a cosmic war! Kill me, and a thousand Kangs rise to replace me. You don't understand! I am the best of them. The only one preventing total anarchy!”
Sylvie snarled at him. "You're no hero.”
A swirling green energy gathered around him as he tried something new. I felt time distort.
Sona’s arms froze mid-motion. Sylvie took half a step and stopped.
“Time is under my control!” he roared.
“What a coincidence! It’s under my control too!” I smirked at him as a green aura shot out of my body, smashed through his cracked barrier and struck him, freezing him in place.
Before he could free himself, I rapidly flew forwards and ripped the gauntlet off of his wrist. I could sense that none of the stones on it belonged to my Universe so I decided to feed them all to my Orb of Anywhere right in front of his eyes.
“YAY!!!! NUM NUMS!”
My Sacred Gear was very appreciative for the snacks.
“My stones!” he hissed at me! “No matter, I have access to thousands more where those came from!”
“And you’ll never get to use them again.”
“Kill me, and the variants come—each one worse. A war of infinite Kangs! Do you want that?”
I stepped forward, looking him in the eyes. “I don’t fear your family reunion. If you are the best of them, then I've got nothing to worry about.”
He opened his mouth, but I silenced him by snapping his neck.
Sylvie apparently wanted to make sure he was dead, because she lunged in to bury a dagger in his heart, ensuring there was no chance he’d rise again.
He Who Remains lay still, eyes vacant. The Infinity Gauntlet’s stones dimmed as his life slipped away.
Sylvie trembled for a moment, then pulled her dagger free. “We did it,” she breathed. “He’s dead.”
“Good work everyone!” I shook out my wings. “Now we finish off the TVA. We still have a few tasks: free any prisoners, destroy what’s left of this place, and—”
“The Space Stone,” Sona reminded me.
“Right, let's go and find that!”
XXX
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Here is the list of Current Advanced Chapters:
The Fallen Gamer ch 320-324
The Titan 28
The Fox Hole 60
Thunder and Black Wings 11
The Blood Queen 36
The Fox Hole 59
The Titan 27
The Fox Hole 58
The Blood Queen 35
The Fox Hole 57
Thunder and Black Wings 10
The Fox Hole 56