Malrick focused his will, allowing his body to fade until he existed solely as pure concept.
The massive Rege Duo Clone gradually turned transparent, dissolving into particles of light until it vanished completely from his inner realm.
In that instant, Malrick's consciousness expanded without bound.
He became one with the universe.
He sensed the movement of countless stars, observed every planet turning in its orbit.
The flow of time, the fabric of space, the subtle weave of Mind — he perceived the interplay of every universal rule with perfect clarity.
A mere thought would let him bend those rules to his will.
Even the Soul-force, still unfamiliar, lay within his reach.
This was omnipotence in conceptual form — restricted only by the confines of a single universe.
Yet Malrick felt astonished.
What he had achieved was not a one-time boost but a continuous upward climb toward ultimate awareness and power.
Others might first pursue knowledge before power.
For him, the journey had reversed: first omnipotence, then immediate access to omniscience.
Earlier, he had believed mastering the Power, Mind, and Soul laws would take years.
Now, he realized just weeks — without any artificial time acceleration — would suffice.
Within his inner world, the Time Stone still accelerated time a thousandfold.
Though only two and a half years had passed for him, those years had stretched into two thousand five hundred.
He allowed himself a silent smile.
"In just a few weeks, I will reach true immortality," he thought.
Before he could savor the thought any longer, a voice echoed from a high-dimensional plane beyond comprehension.
That voice belonged to Eternity.
"Malrick, come. I will introduce you to Death and the others."
Malrick did not hesitate.
He willed the Rege Duo Clone back into a physical form.
This time he needed no portal — a sweep of his consciousness carried him across cosmic distances to the heart of reality itself.
He took a single step, passed through layers of spiritual barriers, and stood before the presence of Eternity.
The air was unmoving, crystalline, but the crowd of beings surrounding him was far larger than last time.
Each figure was a conceptual entity.
First came the four cosmic pillars: Eternity, Infinity, Death, and Oblivion.
Then appeared Lords of balance — Lord Order and Lord Chaos — followed by the Seven Children of Eternity: Love, Abomination, and others.
None seemed stronger than Malrick.
Some even felt vulnerable under his immense conceptual power.
That was because these were mere replicas — m-bodies or avatars.
Malrick stood here in true conceptual form.
Eternity addressed him with warmth.
"Malrick Stark, your journey has outpaced every expectation. You are already stronger than this very m-body of mine."
With a hand that seemed made of starlight, Eternity introduced Malrick to each presence one by one.
The Seven Children welcomed him enthusiastically.
Oblivion, clad in a tattered robe that hid his face entirely, offered only a faint nod.
Eternity explained that Oblivion preferred silence.
Death, by contrast, spoke more freely.
She took on a hooded, skeletal shape, with green flames flickering inside empty eye sockets.
Her voice was calm and curiously musical.
She seemed female in form.
"Were you once a creature from Earth?" she asked.
"Yes." Malrick nodded.
"Earth beings are always adorable. Do you know Agatha? She's quite charming."
Death chuckled softly.
"She once drained energy from me. A few centuries ago I offered to let her take all of it, but she refused out of fear."
Malrick's brow stung.
Even the bravest soul would hesitate at stealing from Death — surely that would mean destruction.
Yet Death's tone suggested genuine fondness for Agatha.
Malrick managed a polite laugh.
"If you meet her again, will you send her to me?" Death asked.
A bead of sweat trickled down Malrick's temple.
"I will do my best."
Death nodded.
"Thank you in advance. Because it is our first meeting, I have no gift for you. But if you ever need aid, you may call on me."
Her promise stirred something deep within Malrick.
Gathering courage, he dared to ask:
"Do you have the souls of my adoptive parents and Wanda's parents?"
Death hesitated, then smiled.
"They are yours now. When you are ready for resurrection, call me."
Malrick exhaled slowly, of relief and resolve.
He thought of Tony — how overjoyed he would be.
Though Malrick had never felt deep attachment to his adoptive parents — having been too young when the accident occurred — their quiet care had shaped his destiny.
Without their love, he might have ended up lost in Hell's Kitchen or lost everything when his Kryptonian blood awakened.
He glanced around uneasily and asked quietly:
"Have many of you been observing me before this?"
Every conceptual being in the crowd turned away at once.
They busied themselves with their own affairs, avoiding his gaze.
So they had been watching.
Malrick shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
"It seems you are all curious about other worlds."
Eternity offered gentle laughter.
"We have known every secret in the universe for eons. It becomes dull and predictable. You, however, travel across worlds — that is something new."
Malrick nodded, acknowledging the truth.
With his new awareness, he could sense every hidden glance aimed at him.
Such ancient beings could no longer spy without being seen themselves.
He glanced at the treasures he still held in his spiritual grasp — relics pulled from distant worlds.
Silvery clouds, cloaks woven from unknown energies, a long saber etched with strange runes.
Their power peaked at most at a stellar-system level.
But the law-patterns they carried were alien even to cosmic beings.
One by one, he offered them to the abstract entities present.
Infinity studied a teapot shimmering with alien energy.
"When will you return to that world?" she asked.
Malrick pondered her question.
"Probably many years from now."
"In cosmic time, that's barely a breath," Infinity said with a gentle smile.
"Eternity and I might even share fragments of a newborn universe with you. You would taste the wonder of creation firsthand."
A sense of longing stirred in Malrick's mind.
Yet he did not commit.
After sharing the gifts and exchanging quiet conversation with each entity, Eternity finally lifted his hand:
"Since Malrick has joined our company, you may all go."
He turned to Malrick.
"You have become a true conceptual being. If you wish, you may condense an avatar again — a new m-body. Remember our last warning: the multiverse still holds unspoken crises. It would be wise to continue growing in strength, even in physical form."
"Is the threat really still out there after all we did?" Malrick asked, surprised.
Eternity's expression was grave.
"Yes. Do not think that aligning the TVA with Doctor Doom — or removing Kang's variants — ended everything."
With those words echoing, Malrick bowed once to Eternity, then turned and slipped away from that timeless dimension, reentering the physical world he once called home.
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