Kaden and Emina found themselves back inside the grayscale area. The ever present vortex was still spinning around them. Now with more knowledge, Kaden assumed it was perhaps some representation of time as far as his senses could understand it. It didn't matter. There was one thing that truly mattered at that point!

"We have not disintegrated yet", Kaden said to Emina. "While there isn't much to protect yet, I believe the formations shielding us also function with the mana available here."

"Lets hope it stays that way", Emina replied. "Lets get going. I'd rather not stay here any longer than neccessary."

Without saying anything Kaden ran forwards, away from the rift. During the last time, they had discovered the rift after they followed the blasts. There was no telling what they were. Perhaps the blasts were some force of time flow to direction where Kaden and Emina had to go to. Would they even occur this time? Would it repel them or lead them towards direction they needed to go?

Kaden planned to find out.

As it happens, he discovered something he didn't like. Not long after they moved a bit further from the time rift, the entire space seemed to shudder.

*crack*CrAACKKK*

A defeaning sound was heard from behind them, from around the place where the rift should have been. The space seemed to have cracked like glass. The rift was no longer visible. Perhaps it didn't exist anymore.

*CRAAAAAAKKKK*

The space shattered, but instead of exploding or anything else, it seemed to crumble on itself. Over and over, layer by layer, the fragments crashed on themselves. Eventually the crumbling ball of space became too small to see. As far as Kaden cared, everything in the area had disapeared. There was only nothingness left.

A blast seemed to hit Kaden and Emina soon after. The shield lit up and seemed to dampen some of its effects. The thing is, it seemed to come from the direction of the now collapsed space. Kaden didn't think much of it, but being able to make some conjectures, he assumed it was some form of mana flow. The time mana, that created the rift, seemed to be going away where before it was going towards the rift.

"The space is collapsing", Kaden said. "We should ride the blasts like the last time!"

Neither of them stopped to ponder anything. They for sure did not wish to be inside the time rift as it collapsed.

*CRAAcckkk*

Another sound was heard and, indeed, behind them another portion of space started to crumble down.

"It seems whatever mana that kept this place open no longer can support it", Emina said as they continued to run directly away from the collapsing space. "It would make sense. Timeline has been set in its correct order, there is no longer mana required to offset its current state. All that was needed to happen, has happened. I only hope we can survive out."

Kaden and Emina hurried forwards. Luckily the time rift was completely empty so there was nothing blocking their way. Kaden also quickly noted that none of those fake's of themselves didn't seem to appear this time. It would make sense. There would be no future where they existed, if the time rift was collapsing.

Space kept collapsing behind them. There was no going back. If they had taken the wrong path, there would be no chance to search for the exit. That is, if one even existed. Kaden at least could not remember what had happened between the moments he fell into the mist and the moment where he woke up in the rift.

Had they accidentally fallen into the entrance rather than being torn apart by the mana? Was the exit somewhere above them? Kaden at least couldn't see anything above them? Or perhaps the entire mist area was the time rift? Just dense mana and ridiculously high amount of time mana in its depths hiding the doorway to past? Would it be enough to just move out of the area?

"I recommend we seek a way up", Kaden told Emina. "Unless we see another rift that seems to lead to safe space, I believe we are in the mist at the bottom levels of the great remnant."

"I agree", Emina replied. "The space may be collapsing, but it is the ... 'time space' for lack of better term. I explored the shelter and found out that after we fell into the mist and the path we took inside it, did also lead to the storage room. We never went too far... as far as distances matter. I recall there being stairs up somewhere."

"I'm willing to bet on that", Kaden replied. He agreed with Emina's assessment.

The time rift kept collapsing part by part periodically. If they were wrong, they would die. Kaden didn't want to even imagine the actual process of their deaths, if they were to die inside the disapearing 'time space'. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. It was irrelevant.

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Instead he looked around for the surroundings. He had wandered around the shelter enough to remember it. The problem was that the time rift seemed to be a mix of the past, the original shape, and the future where the shelter had become the great remnant and was distorted.

Yet, the way up shouldn't be too far. The lower levels that they had been able to explore had seemed less distorted than the top levels.

"There!" Emina shouted. "Those are the stairs. This is the near the area where we fell down too."

Indeed, there were stairs. Yet, he still recalled when they fell down. He had looked up. There had been only darkness. As if nothing existed above them. This time there was mist above them and the stairs were going up into it.

With the cracking sounds behind them, Kaden couldn't stop to ponder it for long. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that they had not completed the required time loop yet. Perhaps the way back simply didn't exist at that time. That the time line simply did not connect back to ... anything. Not until they aligned it again.

"This better work", Kaden muttered as he rushed towards the stairs. The sounds of the space collapsing was too close for comfort.

At the time Kaden and Emina were ascending the stairs towards the mist above them, at the bottom space started to collapse. Soon there was no such thing left anymore as 'floor'. Whatever remained of the bottom of the stairs, was hanging above nothigness.

Kaden rushed into the mist and Emina right behind him.

For a moment he could not see anything, but he could hear the sounds when battle armor stepped down on the stairs. He didn't slow down, but continued to run up the stairs, even if he didn't see where he was going.

"I am still alive", Kaden thought to himself. "I did not step into some void nor have I been torn apart by some chaotic forces that must surround this space."

Kaden then saw light. Colors too. He was out of the rift! Then right after crushing force assaulted from all directions, even inside of his body. Emina appeared next to him and seemed to suffer similar effects.

"The ... remnant... is closing!" Emina mumbled. "Mana is ... growing dense!"

Once the great remnant closed, not even Archmagus could enter it. What kind of forces would exist inside it? Enough to annihilate Kaden and Emina without question.

At that time the mist almost groaned. Some lights flickered inside the mist. Then it seemed release a pulse of mana. Not a blast of force like the ones inside, just a release of mana. It washed over Kaden and Emina and suddenly the presure went away. Not only that, the surrounding area seemed to shimmer and flicker, changing slightly. Whatever signs of combat was left, dust, fragments and so on, seemed to turn transparent as everything seemed to overlap with another version of the area.

"Move!" Kaden told Emina and rushed out. He knew the area now that he had the time to look around. He knew where the emergency exit was. "The rift is still collapsing. We might not be in it, but its spewing out time mana! It seems to reduce the presure of mana here. Without it, we will likely die in minute or two as it is!"

Both of them rushed through now empty corridors. Presure returned soon, but before it got too strong, another wave of mana was released. It seemed the time rift wasn't even nearly done with its death throes.

There was still one thing they briefly ran into as they were able to move again. The skeletal creature floated towards them from somewhere. For a moment Kaden felt despair. He would not be able to run from it. It did not seem to be affected by any of the effects. Perhaps due to it being part of the great remnant.

Yet, it stopped merely for a moment next to Kaden and Emina. It didn't even do anything. Not even release its usual aura of terror. It didn't even really look at them. Then it floated away.

"That thing makes no sense", Kaden thought to himself. He had no time to think why it left them alone as he rushed into the stairways of the emergency exit.

"Lets hope the way isn't blocked", Emina said to Kaden as they started making their way up. "If it isn't the usual entrance when the remnant opens up, there must be a reason it isn't used. If its not usable, we will have to take the long way out. I'm not sure if that is possible."

Kaden didn't reply. He knew that too. Despite that the great remnant was not completely done closing and the process would still take a while, the presure inside was already too much. Only reason Kaden and Emina had got as far as they had was due to the repeated pulses of mana washing away some of the remnant's mana for a moment. There was no telling how long that would keep happening.

The good part was that, the closer to surface they got, the less presure there was. It was still deadly, but perhaps on the top levels it would be possible to still survive.

"... did it ... we ... it". A whisper.

Kaden wasn't surprised to hear them. They had been there on the way down. No reason to think they wouldn't be there on the way up.

"..ule ... we can ... with it".

"... guide ... we can ...".

Kaden wondered for a moment what they were. Due to the fact that he had actually met the ancients that used to live in the remnant, or shelter at that time. The whispers were difficult to listen and he wasn't sure if these were their voices imprinted in the local mana for some reason or something else entirely. It could even be whispers of the people that apparently disapeared.

Kaden decided to ignore the whispers once more. They were too fragmented.

If he had more time, now with having heard the ancients speak and thus remember their voices and also having context for what the whispers could be talking about, he might have attempted listen for them a bit longer. He had after all been back in their time and he wanted to know what his involvement might have caused, even if it was something that needed to happen.

At top of the stairs Kaden and Emina found the rather simple reason why no one used that way. As it happens, it was closed. The exit that way had some heavy doors that worked manually. Kaden himself had opened them in the past. He had not actually paid attention how or if they could be opened from the outside, but it probably wasn't something readily available.

As for breaking through, the doors were part of the remnant and thus probably even Archmagus would have trouble doing anything to it.

"How amusing", Kaden muttered as he started to open the mechanism. "All that death and destruction at the main entrance and the fighting inside. Then there is a door here that would lead everyone right away to any level, but it is simply closed. And no one seems to have found access to codes before we did. Or did, but this way has been closed each time."

"I'm not going to complain", Emina replied.

The door was easily opened and also the second a bit further. With that last door opened, Kaden could finally after all see actual sunlight.