The Chief Overseer summoned some chairs and a table, which kept floating in the sky.
Kyle sat down in his assigned chair and looked at the Chief Overseer. "Alright, so, who's my opponent?"
The Chief Overseer looked with a serious expression at Kyle. "Whatever I am going to say to you must be kept secret. The identities of these Seekers are valuable. The only reason we know your opponent is that they have fought us several times."
"They've known that we would be accepting the challenge for centuries, since we didn't reject the challenge outright. For now, I don't think anyone knows of your identity. Most likely, they believe that we are attempting to send an Inner or Core Disciple to fight them when they are unlocking their eleventh Cluster. They don't know that you exist, and we want to keep it that way."
Kyle nodded. "Sure, I understand. I'm not going to tell anyone."
The Chief Overseer also nodded. "The challenge originates from the Contrast Empire, which is a Higher Supreme Organization. Do you know about the Contrast Empire?"
Kyle scratched the back of his head. "I think I've heard of it before, but I don't really know anything about it."
"The Contrast Empire is an active political entity," the Chief Overseer said. "Do you know what that means?"
Kyle nodded. "They are not technically an Organization but a country or state. They are not after profits directly but after an expansion of control. They get their resources from their people and taxes. It's like a kingdom."
The Chief Overseer nodded. "The Array of Stars is a passive political party, which means we are an Organization. Do you know how we earn our resources?"
"Partially?" Kyle answered, uncertain.
"We offer services," the Chief Overseer said. "We are unaffiliated with any kind of power that wants to unify the Supreme World. In exchange for money, we offer different kinds of services. For example, we lend powerful Seekers to active political parties in important battles. We also offer equipment forging, Karmic Luck increases, Formation Array creation and management. We also sometimes simply trade resources."
"It's important to note that any Planet System, Domain, Sector, and so on can be owned by two powers at once. One government entity, which is an active political party, and an Organization, which is a passive political party."
Kyle nodded. 'Just like in the Tertiary World. Fighter Guilds had territories, but they were not exactly real borders since everything was owned by the Skysand Kingdom.'
"We share a lot of our territories with the Contrast Empire," the Chief Overseer continued, "and that's precisely the issue."
"We both have different ways in which we operate, and our policies often clash. The Contrast Empire is more conservative and unified since they desire stability, while we are bolder for the sake of profits."
"On the surface, we are legally allies, but nothing could be further from the truth."
"The Array of Stars is too big and powerful for the Contrast Empire to ignore. Even though we do not desire political supremacy, they still view us as a threat. They see how our presence has a significant effect on their Empire. They have an image in their mind about what their Empire is supposed to look like, and how we operate does not fit into that image."
"Their policies have become increasingly oppressive towards us over the many years. Naturally, we retaliated. A lot of sabotage, espionage, and subterfuge happened, which further cemented our hostile relationship."
"While we are not legally at war, we are essentially in a constant battle of supremacy with them. A big part of our Expanse legally belongs to the Contrast Empire, but we are actually making the rules and enforcing them in these parts."
"Do you understand the reason for the conflict?" the Chief Overseer asked.
"Yep," Kyle answered. "You don't want to be an active political party, but the Contrast Empire treats you like one."
Of course, Kyle didn't believe everything the Chief Overseer said.
There was probably more to the situation.
This sounded too much like a typical protagonist-antagonist situation.
'Same as the Cosmos and the Cult of Final Fate,' Kyle thought.
The Chief Overseer took out his Communicator, and a moment later, an image of two Planet Systems appeared in front of Kyle.
"This is the stake," the Chief Overseer said. "The left one belongs to us. The other one belongs to them. The winner takes both."
As Kyle saw the image, he took a deep breath.
He could tell that these were not normal Planet Systems.
Both of them had a Metal Moon!
A Metal Moon was worth a lot of money!
Even more, this entire Planet System was probably designed around the Metal Moons.
This was an interplanetary mining town!
Kyle had expected that the stakes were significant, but he hadn't thought the stakes were this high!
"I see what's at stake," Kyle answered. The Chief Overseer nodded. "Now, for your opponent," he said as an image of Kyle's opponent appeared.
"Your opponent is a female Seeker who uses ethereal Laws in the Primal Realm. She mainly uses Light and Darkness to shift Energies from one attack to another. She-"
"Wait a second," Kyle said as he looked at the image with a shocked expression. "I know her!"
The Chief Overseer raised an eyebrow. "You know her?"
The woman in the image had long black hair and wore a long but simple black dress.
"That's the Duchess of Twilight!" Kyle shouted.
"Duchess of Twilight?" the Chief Overseer asked. "There is a Duchess of Twilight, but she's an Immortal."
"No, that was her title in the Tertiary World!" Kyle said. "She was in the same Tertiary World as me! She was the Overseer I replaced!"
The Chief Overseer's eyes narrowed. "There was someone from the Contrast Empire in your Tertiary World?"
"Yeah," Kyle said. "According to her, she was the Overseer for thousands or tens of thousands of years. She said she wanted to become a Unique Transcendent but never managed it due to a lack of True Battles. I think she tried to create an Essence Fusion out of Light, Yin-Light, Darkness, and Yin-Darkness."
As Kyle looked at the image, he remembered how they had said their goodbyes.
The Duchess of Twilight had even cried in relief.
"I guess she got the True Battles she wanted," Kyle commented. "Funny, she failed to become a Unique Transcendent for so long, and when she finally came back, she became a Legendary Transcendent."
Kyle did some quick calculations.
The timeline fit.
The Duchess of Twilight became a Primal earlier than Kyle, but she had taken longer to advance.
'Did she say that she came from the Contrast Empire? I'm not sure. I heard it from somewhere.'
"That's bad," the Chief Overseer said. "That means she knows you as well."
Kyle nodded. "Yep. We talked quite a bit."
'Crazy coincidence,' Kyle thought. 'I wondered if I would ever see her again.'
'Turns out, I will see her again, but not for long.'
'These battles are to the death. One of us will die.'
Kyle sighed.
'Yeah, well. Whatcha gonna do?'
'Just gotta kill another person I know from the Tertiary World.'
'I think that only leaves Horatio and Sebastian.'
'I hope I don't have to kill those two as well in the future.'
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