'This really is different,' Kyle thought. 'I can understand why jumping levels is much harder as a Transcendent.'
"This is also related to the position of Overseer," the Duchess of Twilight said.
"Oh, right, that," Kyle answered. "You told me I am supposed to take your place in exchange for letting me train, right?"
The Duchess of Twilight nodded. "In order for you to understand why it's not specifically a bad deal to become an Overseer, I have to tell you a bit more."
Kyle just nodded.
"There are not just different worlds but also worlds of different levels," she explained. "Whenever anyone in this world reaches the Fifth Realm, they ascend to a higher world."
"These worlds have more powerful Elements, more Ether, and more space. Our world is what we consider a lower world. It is of the lowest rank and can only support Transcendents."
Kyle could see where this was going. "But, as the Overseer, you are not allowed to advance, correct?"
The Duchess of Twilight nodded. "My duty is to watch over the world and ensure that beasts and humans continue to exist and thrive. Even if I wanted to, the world wouldn't allow me to advance."
"Unless you find a replacement," Kyle said.
"Correct," the Duchess of Twilight said.
Kyle raised a brow. "This sounds like a raw deal to me."
The Duchess didn't answer.
"I mean, you have to be powerful enough to defend against the Champions of Final Fate, which means you have to be quite powerful already to get the job. From what you've said, nobody else comes even close to taking your position. There are three levels between you and any other current Transcendent."
"Sounds like a position you can't resign from. Up to now, it doesn't sound like there are any benefits to the position," Kyle said.
The Duchess of Twilight looked at Kyle.
"How old do you think Emperor Winterfire is?" she asked.
"I dunno," Kyle said with a shrug. "I've never seen him. Probably a couple of centuries."
"He's a bit more than 900 years old," the Duchess said. "Transcendents of any level can only live for a bit more than a thousand years. He is quickly approaching the end of his natural lifespan."
"Now, how old do you think I am?" she asked.
Kyle furrowed his brows. "This feels like a trap. Isn't it impolite to ask a lady for her age?"
"Just entertain me," the Duchess said without any emotion, not looking at him.
"Okay," Kyle said as he scratched the back of his head. "It's not that easy to make a guess. Based on your power, you should be far older, but you said that Transcendents can only become a bit older than a thousand years."
"So… maybe… 700?" Kyle answered with uncertainty.
The Duchess of Twilight just looked out of the window.
"I've stopped counting on my 2,475th birthday," she said.
Kyle's eyes shot open.
"And that was a long time ago," she added. "If I were to guess, I would say I've been here for over 10,000 years."
Kyle just looked at the Duchess of Twilight in shock.
"But… how?" he asked.
"Your longevity pauses while you are the Overseer," she said. "You have all the time in the world to learn and grow as much as you want."
"Transcendents of the higher worlds only have a thousand years to grow as much as they can, while I, theoretically, have infinite time."
"When I became the Overseer, I wasn't very powerful. I received the offer from the previous Overseer when I was just a Standard Transcendent, and I took up the position when I was an Advanced Transcendent."
"Wait," Kyle said. "You said the Overseer is supposed to defend the world against the Cult of Final Fate. You also said that the Champions of Final Fate are so powerful that even the current you might lose. So, how could you have accepted the position when you were much weaker?"
"This is not a competition," the Duchess of Twilight said. "I do not have to let my enemy grow strong enough to rival my power."
"As the Overseer, I have the power to ask the world for information. If I so wished, I could ask the world to tell me the location of every member of the Cult of Final Fate, and then I could kill all of them without any damage to my Karma. In fact, my Karma will even rise."
"It wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes."
Kyle raised a brow. "But then…"
"Why am I not doing it?" the Duchess of Twilight asked.
Kyle nodded.
"I used to," she said as she looked out of the window again. "I did exactly that for the first 2,000 years or so."
"Then, I managed to create my first Complex Level Two Law and became a Fulfilled Transcendent."
'First?' Kyle thought.
"However, no matter how long I tried to comprehend another Complex Level Two Law, I just couldn't do it. I was stuck in the same spot in my Law Comprehension for several centuries without any progress."
Kyle could see where this was going.
"You wanted a True Battle," Kyle said.
The Duchess of Twilight nodded. "I allowed a Champion of Final Fate to rise, and during my fight with him, I managed to comprehend the Law I was searching for. It was probably the hardest fight of my life."
The Duchess sighed. "Yet, even with my second Complex Level Two Law, I couldn't rise into the ranks of Unique Transcendents."
"I am more powerful than a normal Fulfilled Transcendent, but I am not on the level of a Unique Transcendent. You could call me a Quasi-Unique Transcendent."
"Over the next millennia, I tried to finally comprehend something that would allow me to advance. I fought over ten Champions of Final Fate."
The Duchess of Twilight sighed. "But no matter what I did, I just couldn't do it."
She looked at Kyle. "And now, I've given up. In fact, I have given up over a thousand years ago."
"I've been searching for a replacement for all this time, but no fitting person has come along."
"That was until I noticed that a Nobody had been killed by two mere Mortals."
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