The moment the Ancient One shifted the battlefield, she saw it all unfold.
Her expression finally showed a distinct ripple of shock.
The timeline was completely broken.
Far too many people who shouldn't be here had all entered the exact same war at the exact same point in time.
Imu also spotted the Power Stone in Hela's hand, as well as the Tesseract cradled in Loki's arms.
Her gaze grew even colder.
"So this is where the stones are."
The Five Elders saw it too.
Saturn's breathing grew heavy. "The Space Stone, the Power Stone, the Time Stone."
Ju Peter chimed in, "And there's that Mind Stone over in Wakanda."
"Doflamingo is currently holding the Reality Stone," Warcury added.
"That pink-feathered pirate certainly has some nerve," Mars sneered.
Imu looked back at the Ancient One.
"It seems you cannot protect it after all."
The Ancient One didn't answer.
She was gazing into the future.
But the future had already splintered beyond calculation.
In every single timeline, the shadows of these outsiders loomed.
Some of those shadows were so overwhelmingly powerful that not even the Time Stone could fully capture their entirety.
Whitebeard pulling the Neutron Star Ring in Nidavellir.
Shanks blasting the rules of the Soul Stone with his Conqueror's Haki on Vormir.
Akainu violently slashing Thanos on Titan.
Sengoku and Kizaru suppressing the Mind Stone in Wakanda.
Doflamingo lurking in the shadows with the Reality Stone.
These people did not belong to the universe she knew.
She didn't know why they were here.
Nor did she know who had sent them.
For the first time, a profound sense of powerlessness washed over the Ancient One.
It wasn't a fear of death.
She had long known her own end.
It was the realization that she was staring at a chessboard that had been entirely reset by an outside hand.
Imu gave her no time to think, instantly rocketing a compressed ki blast forward.
The Ancient One raised her hand, spinning the Time Stone to its maximum output.
The ki blast froze mid-air.
Imu followed close behind, throwing a punch straight at the Eye of Agamotto.
The Ancient One backpedaled.
Nusjuro struck from the flank, his blade sealing off her retreat.
Saturn's toxic gas blocked the other side.
Mars's flames rained down from above.
Warcury rammed against the spatial layers.
Ju Peter tore open the mirrored floor from beneath.
For once, the Five Elders were actually coordinating effectively.
The Ancient One spread her hands apart, throwing herself into a state of multiple astral projections.
Dozens of Ancient Ones materialized simultaneously, their magic mandalas flaring to life.
The Five Elders were forcibly separated.
But Imu simply closed her eyes.
Her ki perception expanded.
She didn't look at the illusions.
She locked onto the energy source of the Time Stone itself.
"Found it."
Imu thrust a finger forward.
A crimson beam pierced through multiple illusions, rocketing straight for the Ancient One's true body.
The Ancient One tilted her head to evade.
The beam grazed the outer casing of the Eye of Agamotto.
The metallic casing cracked.
The emerald glow of the Time Stone was completely exposed.
Everyone's movements halted for a fraction of a second.
Down in the New York battlefield, Hela violently snapped her head up.
The Power Stone resonated with the Time Stone.
The Tesseract in Loki's arms simultaneously erupted with blue light.
The three stones tugged at one another.
Space began to tear apart.
Loki's face went deathly pale. "Are you kidding me? Again!?"
Thor, desperately parrying Hela's black blades, roared, "Loki! What did you do this time!?"
"It actually wasn't me this time!" Loki snapped back.
Kaido was kicked away by Hela, crashing through half a building.
He looked up at the emerald light in the sky and burst into raucous laughter.
"More shiny new toys!?"
Shiki stood atop his floating fortress, his expression darkening.
"The Time Stone? Jihahaha, today really is my lucky day!"
Realizing that the powerhouses below had all noticed the Time Stone, the Ancient One knew that dragging this out would only make things worse.
She reached out and grasped the Eye of Agamotto.
An explosion of green light followed.
Time across the entire New York battlefield momentarily ground to a halt.
Save for those wielding Infinity Stones and a few of the monstrous outsiders, everyone else was frozen in place.
The Ancient One looked at Imu.
"If you want the stone, come and take it."
She opened a portal and vanished.
Imu instantly dashed into the portal.
The Five Elders followed right on her heels.
The next second, the portal snapped shut.
The mirrored New York resumed its temporal flow.
Hela glared at the vanishing green light, her complexion terrible.
"Who dares steal authority from right in front of me?"
Kaido climbed out of the rubble.
"Hey, woman! Your opponent is me!"
Hela turned her head.
Purple-black blades materialized once more.
"Then you'll be the first to die."
The Ancient One had transferred the battlefield to the edge of the Dark Dimension.
There was no sky here.
No earth.
Only distorted space, floating debris, and surging waves of dark energy.
Imu chased her out of the portal.
The moment her foot touched down, she sensed something was wrong.
The energy here carried a violently corrosive taint.
The Five Elders materialized one after another.
Saturn surveyed his surroundings, his expression grim. "Where is this place?"
The Ancient One stood in the distance.
The Time Stone resting on her chest had returned to a steady glow.
"A place unsuitable for a long stay."
Ju Peter eyed the surrounding dark energy, his massive body instinctively shrinking back.
"This stuff is eating away at my regeneration."
"Cut the chatter," Mars said coldly.
Warcury looked to Imu. "Lady Imu, shall we continue?"
Imu didn't answer immediately.
She was sensing the dimension.
This place had a master.
And that master was currently watching them.
From the depths of the darkness, a colossal will slowly approached.
The Ancient One looked up.
"Dormammu."
The Five Elders simultaneously turned toward the endless dark.
A gigantic, purplish-black face manifested at the very edge of the dimension.
The face had no physical form, yet it filled their entire field of vision.
"Ancient One."
Dormammu's voice echoed through the void.
"You have brought me new sacrifices."
"Sacrifices?" Saturn snarled in outrage.
"The natives of this place sure have a big mouth," Ju Peter muttered.
Nusjuro said nothing, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade.
He could sense it; this Dormammu was no ordinary enemy.
This wasn't a lifeform that could be hacked to death with a blade or crushed with a fist.
He felt more like the dimension itself.
"They want the Time Stone," the Ancient One said.
Dormammu chuckled.
"Then let them stay."
Dark energy flooded in from all directions.
The Five Elders transformed instantly.
Saturn's toxic gas erupted, his Gyuki body forcibly weathering the dark corrosion.
Mars's flames swept outward, trying to burn a path through.
Warcury rammed against the shards of darkness.
Ju Peter burrowed between the dimensional fragments.
Nusjuro drew his blade, unleashing a chilling arc of light.
But this was the Dark Dimension.
Whatever they shattered quickly reformed in the distance.
Saturn was entangled by tentacles of darkness, the sizzling sound of corrosion echoing loudly.
He roared as he tore the tentacles apart, but his wounds were healing noticeably slower than usual.
"This hellhole suppresses us!"
The Ancient One stood far away, making no move to land a killing blow.
Her goal wasn't to kill the Five Elders.
It was to stall them.
As long as the Time Stone didn't fall into the hands of the alien overlord faction, that was enough.
Imu looked at Dormammu and suddenly spoke.
"Do you desire the worlds outside this dimension?"
Dormammu's colossal face turned toward her.
"Outsider, you wish to strike a deal with me?"
The Ancient One's gaze sharpened.
"Don't do it."
Imu glanced at her.
"Are you afraid of him getting out?"
"He will devour the physical dimension," the Ancient One warned.
Imu replied calmly, "What does that have to do with me?"
The Five Elders shared a single, chilling thought. Lady Imu intends to use Dormammu to do her dirty work.
Dormammu stared at Imu.
"What can you offer me?"
Imu raised her hand, a sphere of ki manifesting in her palm.
It wasn't an attack.
It was a mass of energy containing her biological data and cosmic signature.
"I come from another world. A world with no Sorcerer Supreme, no Vishanti, and no Time Stone guarding the door."
The Ancient One's eyes grew frigid.
Imu continued, "If you help me seize the Time Stone, I can give you the coordinates before this dungeon ends."
───
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