CHAPTER 60

Rhodes easily evaded the Ancient One Mage's frantic attack.

Rhodes took a moment to leisurely admire the collapsed skyscrapers, the dense sandstorm, and the icy thorns that resembled raindrops.

Even with the physique of the Hulk, avoiding an entire building hurtling towards him wasn't straightforward.

As the building fell, Rhodes observed the breathtaking spectacle.

Rhodes nodded appreciatively.

"This mirror space is rather impressive."

The Ancient Mage realized that neither her magic nor the mirror space could harm Rhodes. This revelation left her bewildered.

She had not anticipated Rhodes possessing such formidable combat abilities, making it appear effortless to confront their magic.

The Ancient One Mage decided to alter her attack strategy.

She brought her hands together, conjuring a larger golden magic circle before her.

The appearance of this magic circle led to multiple continuous mirrors manifesting around Rhodes.

However, these were no ordinary mirrors; they served as space barriers.

These space mirrors could limit the target's movement, even folding and mirroring space. While they resembled mere reflective mirrors, they were, in fact, spatial barriers.

Once someone was enclosed within the boundaries of this mirror folding, it was akin to being trapped in an entire world-sized cage.

This allowed the Ancient One Mage to imprison Rhodes using her magic.

Rhodes remained unfazed, standing still, while the Ancient Mage summoned a multitude of mirror images around Rhodes. These mirrors were densely folded, creating a pattern resembling scales.

In the blink of an eye, the Ancient Mage successfully trapped Rhodes in the mirror fold.

Observing Rhodes's confinement by her own hand, Mage Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Her surprise was evident, recognizing the difficulty Rhodes posed as an adversary.

In that moment, Rhodes's voice sounded faintly.

"Well, impressive spatial ability."

This startlement led the Ancient One Mage to whirl around. Rhodes's voice was clearly coming from behind her. She had seen Rhodes seemingly enclosed and sealed by her mirror image space. She had complete control over this space. Only she had the power to navigate it. Yet, how did Rhodes appear from thin air behind them?

The Ancient One Mage was oblivious to Rhodes's teleportation abilities.

Rhodes extended his arms, and a powerful force surged towards the Ancient One.

Yao was taken aback, hurriedly retreating, her hands forming numerous golden magic circles, summoning layer upon layer of space mirrors in front of them. The scene resembled a kaleidoscope, with countless layers of mirror space.

The Ancient One Mage harnessed the power of numerous spaces to fend off Rhodes. This was pure energy impact, lacking any energy attribute enhancement, yet grand in its intensity.

It could directly assault any form of power, be it related to time, space, or magic, without competition. This multiverse-level energy could harm both the soul and the body directly. It made no sense to use time reversal or space portals for defense, as it could breach the core of time and space magic, rendering such attempts futile.

Thus, the Ancient One Mage could solely utilize her internal energy to battle Rhodes. Even though Yao was well-versed in time and space magic, she still paled in comparison to Rhodes regarding the sheer energy within their bodies.

Yao's resistance was short-lived. Rhodes's immense energy sent her hurtling through countless buildings, crashing through the mirrored space.

Yao's face expressed humiliation, their monk's robe covered in dust. Desperately, the Ancient Mage summoned the ground, expanding the spatial distance infinitely, but Rhodes relentlessly closed the gap.

The Ancient One Mage was shocked, realizing that if Rhodes continued pursuing in this manner, defeat was inevitable.

So the Ancient One remained still, invoking a golden magic circle with both hands.

Rhodes observed the Ancient One, who was determined to continue the battle.

...

Rhodes advised, "Yao, there is no deep enmity between us. I genuinely require the Time Gem. Why persist?"

Unbeknownst to Rhodes, the Ancient One initiated a time loop while he was distracted. Using the power of the Time Gem, she isolated the time from the moment they began the battle until the present within the mirror space, connecting it to the current moment.

As a result, Rhodes became ensnared in an eternal time loop. The Ancient One intended to trap Rhodes endlessly.

Recognizing that she couldn't overcome Rhodes with her power and that spatial magic was ineffective, the only option to subdue Rhodes was by using the Time Gem to imprison him within a temporal cage.

At this point, the Ancient Mage appearing in front of Rhodes was no longer her true self. She represented a moment in time.

The Ancient Mage's true self returned to the high mountain's tea pavilion, clutching her chest and catching her breath. Her previous battle with Rhodes had left her beaten.

Yao, on the other hand, felt as though she had been subjected to the fundamental forces of the universe. Even with her use of time and space magic for protection, she remained unable to defend herself.

Injured, she resorted to using the Time Gem to free herself from Rhodes's control.

If Rhodes were to launch another attack, the Ancient One couldn't be certain of her survival.

She used the Time Stone to heal her injuries.

The Ancient One contemplated, "What kind of monster is this? Even spatial power doesn't affect him in the slightest. If it weren't for the Time Gem, merely using mirror space could have imprisoned him."

Rhodes remained unperturbed, while the Ancient One Mage repeated her earlier words to persuade him. Ignoring her, Rhodes continued the battle against her.

Rhodes deftly avoided the Ancient One Mage's magical assaults, targeting her spatial constructs. The Ancient One was flung through numerous buildings, launched away.

Rhodes pursued her without relenting.

...

After repeating the same sequence of events twice, Rhodes realized that he was trapped in a time loop.

Rhodes patiently waited to confirm that the loop was indeed repeating the same sequence. It was clear to him that the Ancient One had orchestrated this infinite time loop to bind him to a specific moment.

This real-time experience helped Rhodes recognize the time loop's repetitive nature.

"Tsk tsk, you're the wielder of the Time Gem, aren't you? You're attempting to detain me indefinitely at a fixed point in time using the Time Gem's power? You can't sustain it for much longer. Brace for my second attack."

"So, you're essentially keeping me ensnared in an endless loop of the past few minutes. Even if you can't eliminate me, you can keep me trapped in this specific moment. Is that your plan?"

"Yao, you're clever, but if you think that time's power can keep me captive here, you're sorely mistaken."

Rhodes quickly detected the connection point of this time loop while evading the Ancient One Mage's onslaught in this particular moment. This point was the very moment he pursued the Ancient One Mage, when she stood up to summon her magic circle.

This was the node in time that enabled the endless loop.

Rhodes activated his Silver Superman gene.

"Ding, the host [Rhodes] comprehends [Time Break], allowing you to escape infinite time loops."

A silver glow appeared in Rhodes's hand.

"Break it."

Rhodes's hand executed a simple movement. Everything around him froze, including the "Ancient One" in front of him. This mage wasn't the true Ancient One; she was a construct of the time loop.

Rhodes sensed a shattering within the time loop, disbanding it.

The "Ancient One" in front of him vanished, and the surroundings reverted to the mirror space created by the Ancient Mage. It was simultaneously silent and endlessly real.

Rhodes no longer experienced the passage of time, affirming that he had terminated the time loop.

"It appears I've successfully broken free from the time loop and returned to the mirror space of Master Ancient One."

"If that's the case, the battle is over."

Atop the high mountain, in the tea pavilion, Ancient One appeared disheveled, her monk's robe in tatters. She held an Infinity Gem in her hand, the very one Rhodes had sought.

Using the Time Gem, the Ancient One Mage began healing her injuries.

But suddenly, she was ensnared by an invisible restraint, rendering her immobile and powerless to wield magic. She couldn't access the powers of time and space, forced to sit cross-legged like an ordinary person.

Rhodes teleported in front of the Ancient One.

Rhodes nodded towards her.

"Thank you, Yao, for teaching me the intricacies of time loops."

Rhodes offered a smile, extended his hand, and the Time Gem in the Ancient One's possession fell into his grasp.

Yao's face turned ashen, her expression marked by shock. She remained speechless for an extended period.

The Ancient One observed Rhodes acquiring the Time Gem, sighing resignedly.

"Fate, this is fate. Even if I exert myself, I can't retain this Time Gem. It was destined to be this way. That's life."

"Rhodes, my only hope is that you use the Time Gem's power judiciously."

The Ancient One acknowledged her inability to oppose Rhodes further, willingly surrendering the Time Gem.

Rhodes remarked, "Yao, you're compelled to act out of your unwavering love."

Rhodes glanced at the Ancient One before teleporting away. The confinement holding the Ancient One released instantly. Her injuries were healed, reverting to their prior state.

The Ancient One remained bewildered for a moment but soon resumed her expressionless demeanor. She stood up and gazed into the distance from atop the mountain, maintaining her statue-like stillness.

...

Rhodes reappeared in Asgard after securing the Time Gem from the Ancient One.

Rhodes examined the Time Gem, its brilliance captivating him.

"The power to manipulate time is profoundly mysterious and captivating. I can hardly contain my excitement."

If not for his Silver Superman gene's formidable strength, Rhodes might not have escaped the Ancient One's time loop so effortlessly. Time loop power was extraordinarily elusive and unable to be easily disrupted by sheer force.

Time power rendered spatial power powerless.

Rhodes delved into the Gem, beginning to draw upon the Time Gem's energy. A surge of emerald energy flowed into Rhodes's body.

This time, Rhodes didn't merely absorb the immense power contained within the Infinity Gem. The Time Gem possessed a profound understanding of time's mysteries.

As he absorbed the Time Gem's energy, Rhodes's body began unraveling the enigmatic aspects of time.

When an abundance of Time Gem energy flowed into Rhodes's body, the Silver Superman gene began to comprehend the intricacies of time.

"Ding, the host [Rhodes] grasps the concept of time, unlocking [Time Shuttle]."

Rhodes's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Time travel will allow me to transcend the influence of time's passage within the universe. I can traverse the entire timeline at will, whether going back a second in the past or propelling myself into the future. It's as if I possess an infinite power."

With the Time Gem in his possession, Rhodes had obtained a potent tool that enabled him to rewrite the past and shape the future, free from temporal constraints.