The rumbling echoed as I silently stared at Dean Ding before me. His body was fracturing bit by bit, crimson cracks spreading from within, his Ghost Aura rapidly dissipating, leaving him in utter chaos. Standing behind Dean Ding, John Chou watched me with a faint smile.
My battle with Dean Ding had reached a stalemate, but at the height of our clash, John Chou suddenly attacked Dean Ding. The temporally duplicated Dean Ding began to collapse, fragmenting piece by piece.
This was my first time witnessing the use of Bloodbane Power. With a single strike, Bloodbane Power invaded Dean Ding's strength like a poison, preventing him from gathering his power and forcing it to collapse. It ultimately penetrated his ghost soul, leading to its self-destruction within Dean Ding's body.
A cracking sound rang out as Dean Ding split apart, gradually turning to ash. John Chou quickly grabbed my hand and, in an instant, pulled me back to the surface of the lake.
"Hey, hey, John Chou, why did you suddenly make a move? Seriously, how could you ambush me from behind like that?"
Dean Ding, ever the chatterbox, came over looking disgruntled. What puzzled me was how John Chou could execute a perfect kill so precisely. The only explanation was that the duplicate was inferior to the original Dean Ding. What frustrated me most was my inability to break through Dean Ding's Ghost Aura.
"Dean Ding, keep it down. If we keep fighting and the Shadow Realm cracks, things will get much worse."
Allen Zhang muttered from the side, while Dean Ding continued to glare at John Chou in dissatisfaction. At that moment, the cracks in the sky began to close, but that eye still stared at us relentlessly.
"We're safe for now."
Loraine Locke's icy voice came from behind us. We had returned to the pavilion, and now the eye in the sky slowly closed.
"Tell us, what happens next?"
I asked, and after a moment's hesitation, Loraine Locke became the focus of everyone's attention. We were completely in the dark—only she understood the situation. Loraine Locke raised her hand, pointing toward the Octagon Tower.
"It's already begun in there."
"I see. I think I understand what you're planning, Loraine Locke. You want Rachel Lan to travel to the past and disrupt his connection with Past Ethan Justice, so that he won't die because of knowing Past Ethan Justice."
As soon as John Chou finished speaking, I turned to look at Loraine Locke.
"What exactly does that mean?"
"It's a pretty unreliable solution, honestly. Isn't this a terrible thing for that girl?"
For a moment, Redhair glared angrily at Loraine Locke, while Yvonne May seemed to understand everything. Seeing Loraine Locke remain silent, she approached and spoke.
"As for the girl's situation, you don't need to worry. Her timeline has already been corrected once, and the price was extremely steep. The Eye of Time won't do anything to her now. Just to be safe, though, it's better if Rachel Lan erases all memories of the girl's meetings with Past Ethan Justice."
Rufina Howard's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Loraine Locke and Yvonne May.
"If we do this, won't Past Ethan Justice disappear from my memory..."
"He will vanish. For those of you who are still alive, forgetting Ethan Zhang is the best choice. As for the dead, it doesn't matter to them."
As Loraine Locke spoke, tears welled in Rufina Howard's eyes. John Chou sneered and said:
"Do you really think things will go as you wish?"
As he spoke, John Chou looked at Yvonne May, disappointment flickering in his eyes. I noticed it too—no matter the situation, she always seemed like a puppet controlled by time, never changing on her own. Yuna Ji surely understood this as well.
I knew about Yuna Ji and Yvonne May—their relationship was good when they were alive, but now things have soured because of Yvonne May's attitude toward herself.
The most crucial person now is the woman before us, Loraine Locke. It seems everything was planned before she arrived, and even Yvonne May and Juchen Successor's attitude toward her says as much.
"No matter how much that little girl struggles, everything is already set. It may be cruel for her, but all of this is for..."
"Don't speak too soon, Loraine Locke. I know that girl's temperament—asking her to forget Past Ethan Justice is more painful than death. Don't be sad, kid, it'll be alright."
Redhair placed a hand on Rufina Howard's head. By now, the sky had returned to normal, and the eye had temporarily vanished.
"Can someone explain why that menacing thing from earlier has suddenly vanished?"
Jerry Li, leaning against a pillar, asked—a question we all wanted answered.
"The only possibility is that an anomaly appeared in another timeline. The Eye of Time has gone there to deal with it, temporarily abandoning its purge here. But if it returns to this time, it will use even greater force."
For a while, no one spoke. We all drifted off in our own directions. I walked to the shore, frustrated with Loraine Locke and the others. I couldn't return to the past or travel to the future—otherwise, I'd try to go back and maybe prevent some things from happening.
"We'll just have to see what those two do."
John Chou's voice sounded in my ear. I turned, and a cluster of blood-red particles bloomed beside me—John Chou stood there, smiling.
"What do you mean?"
"Rachel Lan isn't stupid—she's clever, so she's hiding something. The things Past Ethan Justice said to her about the past and future, I don't know the details, but it's probably related to his ability to return to this world. Those two versions of Past Ethan Justice won't just stand by and watch the current one disappear."
I stared in shock, but after a moment's thought, I understood and slapped my forehead.
"You're right, now that you mention it—if the current Ethan Zhang really disappears, the past and future endpoints where those two versions exist would collapse too. They wouldn't just let it happen, so they'll do everything to ensure Ethan Zhang survives in this world."