The Ancient One collapsed onto her bed, utterly exhausted, panting in ragged breaths.
Pinpointing a target and teleporting them over such an immense distance had taken a tremendous toll on her mind.
To be safe, she had gone all out to steal someone right out from under Tony's nose.
She had been terrified that if she was too slow, all she would bring back was a corpse.
There was a huge difference between stealing back someone who was breathing and someone who wasn't.
Resurrecting a creator god came at no small cost.
Thinking of Star-Lord, whom she had safely settled in, the Ancient One relaxed a little despite her crushing mental exhaustion. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Their chances of defeating the Demon King had improved a fraction.
The Ancient One felt as though she had fallen into a long, long dream. In it, she drifted through the ocean without a care, swimming and diving into the depths.
She vaguely sensed that something was off, but her conscious mind found diving exhilarating-a purely mental thrill.
After playing for a long time, the Ancient One remembered her duty to oppose the Demon King and began swimming upward.
Surfacing proved incredibly difficult, as though she had fallen into mud.
Seawater surrounded her, and the entire ocean seemed intent on dragging her into the abyss.
A flash of insight rose from the depths of her mind, and the Ancient One suddenly understood.
"Goddammit! Which bastard dared trap me in a nightmare?!"
The Ancient One opened her eyes in a fury and bolted upright, a forbidden destruction spell held ready in her hand.
Everything around her was quiet. Nothing seemed amiss.
The Ancient One frowned. "A dream?"
Had I exhausted my mind so badly that I fell into a nightmare?