"Unbelievable." Elena breathed out, her eyes filled with shock and admiration as she watched Ana and Thera battle it out from a distance. Naturally, she didn’t dare to remain close by, especially when the chances of time being compromised were so high. Since she couldn’t help much due to her unfavorable Compatibility when paired with Thera, the best she could do was ensure she didn’t cause problems for Ana, allowing the dragon to focus on the battle single-mindedly. She managed to keep up with the esoteric encounter only because of her temporal sight which she had cultivated for more than a month, allowing her to peer into the future, which was perhaps the only way to keep up with the exchange. In any case, seeing as the fight neared its end, the temptation to get involved arose only to be quickly tossed aside. She had to trust that Ana had everything under control. But what if she didn’t? In such a scenario, Elena began to formulate a plan of action. Thera realized that something was wrong when her future sight regarding Ana suddenly ceased. Considering Ana was still alive, this couldn’t be because she was dead, leading to a different conclusion; she had taken herself out of time. It was a move she could perform as well, merging her past, present, and future beings into one person, which would then be removed from the river of time, detaching her from one of the core concepts that ruled over Eventide. Though it helped to ensure that people would not be able to predict one’s future actions, it also left one vulnerable to the Tenets of Order, which would not hesitate to expel a person without a time limit. For Ana to risk such a thing meant that whatever she was doing was her final move. Naturally, Thera couldn’t allow her to complete it, and so, she acted, first targeting the slowed time around Ana, which prevented her moves from hitting Ana. Then, she tried to collapse time around her, only for a blinding light to flash, after which a hallway made out of ethereal gold appeared, with her and Ana on opposing ends. Made aware of the person responsible for this, Thera didn’t hesitate to pull two cards simultaneously, one targeting Elena and the other targeting Ana. Neither appeared to reach their targets which confused Thera as she couldn’t figure out why. Just as she sought to try again, Ana, who had been weaving all this while, finally completed her task as she held a golden thread. Though the thread appeared simple, it was anything but as Thera felt a connection between her and the thread. She immediately tried to pull herself out of time completely, but Ana snorted as she went ahead to pull the thread apart, destroying it in an instant. A shrill cry escaped Thera’s lips as life left her body and her eyes went dark. She dropped to the ground with a dull thud, her body swiftly turning cold. Ana breathed out a sigh of relief as she approached the body in the golden hallway, quickly dissipating. The body fell once again, this time landing on the hard unfeeling ground with Ana following closely behind. Once she had her feet on the ground, Elena made an appearance, a relieved sigh escaping her lips. "That was intense." She breathed out with Ana remarking. "You took a huge risk." "I’m aware, but if I didn’t do anything, you’d have ended up dead or worse..." "Thank you," Ana remarked before inquiring. "How did you know to extend space within the hallway?" Elena replied. "After you’d told me about Tyrant, I’ve been experimenting with ways to replicate his... Abilities. It’s a great way to counter temporal manipulation." Elena said with Ana admitting the same. "Speaking of Tyrant, do you ever plan to face him again?" Caught off guard by the question, Ana hesitated before ultimately nodding. "It’s not like I have a choice." Sensing a drop in Ana’s mood, Elena decided to change the topic. "So what now?" "Well... I might have a plan but I’m not sure if it works." "Alright," Ana remarked. "While weaving her fate, I saw that she is just one of three." "She somehow managed to split herself into her past, present, and future." "Under normal circumstances, such an act would result in a temporal implosion that erases all three variants from existence. However..." "Being an Abyss Wheel Mystic exempts her from that." "Not exactly," Ana replied. "She’s still subject to the rule but for some reason, went ahead to do it. It’s basically suicide." "I won’t be surprised if she didn’t actually think of the consequences," Elena admitted. "Abyss Wheel Mystics have always been known to be insane." "True," Ana admitted. "Anyways, I also found out that this body here is her present." "So her past and future are still in the loop." "And would surely die the moment they step out of the loop," Ana added. "But for now, they are still in there." "You plan to use this body as a medium to interact with the other two bodies?" "More or less." Ana nodded. "It would be difficult, considering the corruption of the Timeless Serpent but with this, we have an anchor in the loop, one we can use to reach out to Alex and hopefully get him and Arwen out of there." "So what are we waiting for?" Elena asked. "I’m going to need your help. I’m risking major corruption so you have to help me take care of as much of the muck as you can." "You can count on me." Satisfied with the response given, Ana let out a breath before sitting beside Thera’s lifeless corpse. Then, she began to meditate while placing her hands on Thera’s stomach and forehead. As the aether began to whip up a storm, Elena immediately conjured a dimensional barrier around them to protect them while at the same time keeping an eye on Ana to ensure she wasn’t overwhelmed by the corruption of the Timeless Serpent.