If there was one good thing that was coming out from the changes made to the current loop, it had to be Arwen’s fate.
Alex had no idea what had happened to her in previous loops, only that even until the end, she was nowhere to be found and so, he blamed himself for whatever was done to her.
However, in this loop, she was safe and sound with the reason behind her disappearance no longer a problem to worry about.
Of course, he decided to think of the good that came with the current loop instead of the bad which outweighed the former.
After a few seconds had passed, Alex finally managed to pull Arwen away from him, with the latter coughing awkwardly while looking away, realizing she might have been too emotional.
Amused by her reaction, Alex chose not to tease her and instead shifted his attention to Thera’s corpse on the ground.
He’d hoped she’d be of more use, but at the end of the day, ensuring Arwen’s safety was more important, so he was left no choice but to end her life earlier than he intended.
Now, changes had to be made to the previous plan since he hadn’t anticipated such an outcome.
"What now?" Arwen asked, jolting him from his thoughts.
"Well, initially, I planned on having Thera here lead us to the second party but now that she’s dead, there’s an urgent need to adjust that plan."
Arwen’s expression fell. "I’m so sorry, I ruined your plan."
"Don’t overthink it. Truthfully, the plan had its risks." Alex admitted, aware that within the plan, there was a high chance he would have ended up being faced with two foes instead of one.
Exceedingly unideal given the circumstances at hand.
"Could you reanimate her?" Alex asked with Arwen shaking her head in response.
"I see." Alex nodded with pursed lips.
They needed an alternative means to track down the Serpent and fast.
Just then, there was a crack above, signalling to them that the threat of the Abyss had not been completely dealt with.
"More people are dying," Alex muttered softly.
"We have to help them," Arwen said. "We can’t let them die."
"It’s pointless if we don’t stop the loop. As long as the loop remains active, we are stuck reliving this nightmare over and over again."
"So we find the source."
"And therein lies the problem," Alex remarked, taking a moment to once again regard the emerging Incursion above them.
Pursing his lips, he added. "There has to be something we are missing."
Just then, an acute pain surged through his body causing him to pause as he was reminded of the fact that he was running out of time.
"Are you alright?" Arwen asked, quickly noticing his pained expression.
"Yes, I’m..." he trailed off, his expression making a dramatic shift.
"Why aren’t you corrupted?" Alex asked, causing Arwen to frown.
"You are a part of the loop, so you should be getting corrupted by the Timeless Serpent."
"I don’t understand," Arwen said.
"Don’t you feel anything?... Like pain, anything unusual?"
"How about visually?... Have you seen anything?... Perhaps your hand decayed and then quickly recovered?"
Arwen shook her head causing Alex to pause.
"You aren’t corrupted..." Then, trailing off, he happened upon a bigger realization. "No one is corrupted. That means the loop isn’t the source of the corruption."
"Alex, I don’t understand, what are you talking about?"
"Douglas, that’s why he turned aggressive." Alex breathed out, his expression practically glowing like he’d happened upon a major discovery. "He was also suffering from the corruption of the Serpent."
Then, he turned to face Arwen who was clearly still confused. "He isn’t here."
"The source of the loop, it’s not here," Alex repeated, a brilliant smile adorning his lips.
"What are you talking about?... Where is here and why won’t it be here?"
"This loop isn’t our original timeline, it’s an alternate timeline with a duration of four days. If I were to guess, in our original timeline, only I, Douglas, and the source of the time loop are in the vicinity of the Timeless Serpent, which is why we are being corrupted."
"So what are you saying?... Is this a dream?"
"Not exactly, it shares some mechanics but differs quite a bit as well. The source of the loop created it for some reason, though I’m not quite sure yet. If I were to guess though, it might be to escape the fate of being corrupted."
"If I tell you that I understand a word you just said, then I’m lying."
"Don’t worry, you’ll understand everything in a bit."
Still perplexed, Arwen asked. "So what do we do?"
"Nothing." Alex calmly breathed out. "We let the loop take its course."
"But that would mean letting everyone die."
Alex hesitated, taking a moment to regard Arwen who was clearly baffled by his thinking.
"I don’t believe this," Arwen remarked. "You can’t be serious." Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs ɴovelfire.net
"Arwen, nothing we do here matters. This timeline is doomed."
Arwen went silent before ultimately turning and taking her leave.
Alex watched her leave and after a while, let out a sigh.
There was no point in trying to save the people of Sklaviunt.
If what he had in mind was correct, then that meant they were already dead in the original timeline.
He took a seat on the ground next to a pillar and waited, his gaze fixated on the expanding portal.
Do you really not plan to act, Master?
Charlotte asked with Alex replying.
"There’s no point. All we can do now is wait."
And so, Charlotte returned to his shadow, leaving him to wait in silence.
Roughly ten minutes later, an audible crack echoed above him as the sky fractured and the Timeless Serpent made its entry into Sklaviunt.
Alex didn’t bother looking at it, merely closing his eyes as he waited for the inevitable and just as in previous loops, the Authorities of the Serpent swept across all Sklaviunt like a wave, destroying everything in its wake.