Start in Terra, immortal

As he watched the spirit world grow ever stronger, Rosso's face showed satisfaction. He had only devoured a few small universes, yet the spirit world had grown to the level of a small universe itself.

"What a miserable life I had back then!" Rosso sighed, recalling the days when he was timid and hesitant in several large universes. "It's so much better to live in a large universe like this, with so many smaller, subordinate universes!"

"I remember that the neighboring universe system seems to have quite a few similar, dormant subsidiary universes? Should we go take a look?" He pondered this while his hands continued working without stopping.

As the spirit world itself became more complete, his construction and deployment of the "spirit world vortex" became increasingly skillful and efficient.

Just as Rosso finished releasing the Spirit World Vortex and was preparing to break through the cosmic barrier to move on to the next microcosm, a green energy interrupted his attempt to break through the barrier.

"Hmm? This power?" Rosso frowned as he looked at the familiar green energy before him, but still said, "These universes are dead. Keeping them around will only increase your workload. I might as well cut them for you!"

Seeing that it looked familiar and had the ability to stop him, Rosso already knew who was behind this green energy.

As soon as he finished speaking, green energy began to surge and gradually condense into a figure—wearing a golden horned helmet, a green cloak, a green and gold battle suit, and holding a scepter.

"Hello, Rosso, my name is Loki."

Once the green energy had fully solidified into a physical form, Loki immediately spoke, bowing slightly in a manner that was almost formulaic.

"Although those universes no longer have life, I think you should understand that the microcosm itself can also play a framework role in the entire macrocosm, supporting the entire multiverse system. Just like the origin of the concept of the 'World Tree'."

The demise of a small universe may not seem like a big deal, but if that universe is located at a branching point of the tree, its disappearance will cause all the universes connected to it to break away from the 'World Tree' and become uncontrollable. Therefore…”

Loki didn't say anything more, and instead waited for Rosso's reaction.

Rosso looked at Loki in front of him again and again, and the more he looked, the stranger he became.

"Have you noticed," Rosso said bluntly, "that your avatar has a rather strange demeanor? Why don't you let your real self come out and talk to me in person?"

Upon hearing this, a strange look suddenly appeared on Loki's previously calm face. Then, his tone abruptly changed, carrying a genuine weariness and self-deprecation: "I wanted to too... but who could have imagined that once I sat on this 'throne,' I'd never be able to get off..."

"Sigh, never mind." Rosso shook his head, somewhat speechless at Loki's "heroic" self-sacrifice. "I'll come find you myself."

Having seized Loki's avatar, Rosso quickly located Loki's true form. With a flick of his hand through the air, a portal to the end of time appeared, and Rosso stepped through it with the avatar.

There is no concept of space, no flow of time, only endless nothingness. At the center of this nothingness, the phantom of a "World Tree" woven from countless timelines appears and disappears, its roots reaching into the past, its branches piercing through the present, and its canopy extending into the future.

At the intersection of the World Tree's "trunk" and "branches," a figure sits on a "throne" formed from the very laws of time.

That was Loki's true form.

But unlike the god of mischief in Rosso's memory, Loki at this moment exuded a heavy and sacred aura.

His green and gold battle suit shimmered with countless timelines, and beneath his golden, curved helmet, his eyes were as deep as an abyss of time, containing all the stories that had happened and reflecting all the possible futures.

What is most striking is the "throne" beneath him, woven from countless timelines.

Each timeline is like a strong thread, extending from nothingness and eventually converging at the place where Loki sits.

These threads are both his support and his constraint. They continuously transmit time information from the entire multiverse to this place, and Loki must constantly maintain their stability to prevent any timeline from breaking.

Rosso could clearly sense that Loki was not "sitting" on the throne, but rather "fixed" there by the throne.

Those timelines, like the strongest chains, firmly bind him to the time structure of the entire multiverse.

He cannot leave, because his departure would mean the collapse of the time structure; he cannot even relax for a moment, because any slight negligence could cause the time flow of countless universes to fall into chaos.

"Welcome to the end of time, Rosso." Loki's voice came from the throne, calm but with an undisguised weariness. "As you can see, I... am not able to rise to greet you for the time being."

Rosso approached slowly, and the energy avatar he brought merged into his main body the moment it got close, replenishing a negligible amount of power.

He carefully examined the deity imprisoned by time, and the throne that could be described as the most unique "toilet" in the universe.

"So, this is the path you've chosen?" Rosso's tone was ambiguous, neither praising nor regretting. "Alone, sitting at the end of time, using yourself as the pivot to maintain the stability of the entire multiverse's timeline?"

Loki gave a bitter smile: "A choice? Perhaps. But more often than not, it's inevitable."

When Kang's threat was eliminated, the chaotic timeline needed to be sorted out; when the crisis of Infinite Ultron was resolved, the disrupted cosmic timeline needed to be repaired; when Strange nearly destroyed the cause and effect of a universe for the sake of his beloved... someone had to ensure that time didn't completely spiral out of control.

He raised a hand, his fingertips gently tracing a timeline extending from the void. The line trembled slightly before settling down.

"I have witnessed too many tragedies caused by disordered timelines, and I have personally caused quite a few myself. Now, this is my way of atoneing, and it is also the responsibility I must bear."

Rosso was silent for a moment. The power was immense enough to influence the flow of time throughout the multiverse, yet it was also fragile enough to be imprisoned by the power itself. He was a prisoner of time.

"You stopped me from devouring those dead universes just now because they were located at 'branch points' in the timeline?" Rosso asked.

Loki nodded, then gestured with his other hand in the air. A dazzlingly complex diagram of the World Tree, composed of green light, appeared before them. In the diagram, countless points of light represented different universes, and lines represented connections between timelines.

"Look here," Loki pointed to a node in the structure diagram, where dozens of branch lines connected, "the universe you were just about to devour is located at such a crucial node."

Although it is dead, its "existence" is crucial to maintaining the stability of the timelines of the multiple universes behind it.

Once it disappears, the timelines of these universes will lose their anchor, potentially detaching from the main timeline and becoming unpredictable "time islands," or even triggering a chain reaction of time collapse.

He paused, then looked at Rosso: "I know you need energy to expand your world. But as the guardian of time, I must ensure the integrity of the multiverse's time structure."

This isn't directed at you, Rosso. Even without you, I will stop any action that could cause the timeline to collapse.