Reality parted as a new person appeared in front of Sebastian and Kyle.
When Kyle saw the person, his eyes widened.
'The Chief Overseer?' Kyle thought in surprise. 'Why is he here? I didn't tell the Array of Stars about my plan.'
The Chief Overseer looked at the Countess for a moment before looking at Kyle. A moment later, he sighed helplessly. "I'm not sure if I should feel grateful or frustrated," he transmitted. "You're the most outstanding Disciple I have ever had in my branch, but also the one who causes the most trouble for me."
"How did you know that I was here?" Kyle asked.
"Star Genesis told me that you would most likely flee to the Hell Dimension. She watched from a distance and noticed that someone managed to escape. Sadly, she wasn't strong enough to confront this person, which was why she contacted me," the Chief Overseer explained.
Kyle's eyes widened. 'Star Genesis? She knew that I would flee to the Hell Dimension? I mean, yeah, I made a comment about that at some point, but I never told her when, where, and if I would use that method to escape.'
As Kyle thought about Star Genesis, he sighed. 'She's still looking out for me.'
Then, he glanced at Sebastian. 'Is that also why he's here?'
A moment later, the Chief Overseer glanced at Sebastian, who looked back. Based on what Kyle could see, the two of them were conversing via voice transmissions.
"As expected," the Countess spoke slowly. "You're here, Chief Overseer."
The Chief Overseer looked at the Countess and sighed. "I believed you might arrive, but I had hoped that you wouldn't."
The Countess looked at the Chief Overseer with a cold expression before wordlessly throwing Sebastian's token back to him. Since the Chief Overseer had already arrived in person, there was no point in keeping the token.
Sebastian caught the token and looked at it for a moment. In the end, he pocketed it again.
"Descending Mountain is a criminal," the Countess spoke. "Does the Array of Stars intend to help a criminal?"
"His criminal status was revoked," the Chief Overseer said.
"When a person, wrongfully accused of theft, steals something during an investigation, they are still a thief," the Countess said. "While Descending Mountain's initial actions bordered on unlawful, his following actions clearly passed that border."
"What actions specifically?" the Chief Overseer asked.
The Countess lifted her right hand and created an image in the air.
The image depicted Kyle destroying reception halls and Teleportation Formation Arrays. Then, another image appeared, depicting Kyle killing several Crushers.
When the Chief Overseer saw the images, he took a deep breath.
He hadn't been briefed on the details. Star Genesis had told him that Kyle might flee to the Hell Dimension.
The Chief Overseer didn't know what had happened on the Planet with the Teleportation Formation Array.
"Someone destroyed the Teleportation Formation Array I was using!" Kyle shouted. "I blocked his attacks and told everyone to stop him! He was breaking YOUR rules!"
The Countess just looked at Kyle with a neutral expression. "The Teleportation Formation Arrays are owned by the Contrast Empire. The person you are speaking of was ordered by us to destroy the Teleportation Formation Array. How we treat our Teleportation Formation Arrays is not your concern."
Kyle's fists clenched in anger, frustration, and hatred.
'She's not even denying it anymore!'
The Chief Overseer glanced at Kyle helplessly.
"What was I supposed to do?" Kyle asked via voice transmission. "If I hadn't done anything, I would've been taken away by the Contrast Empire. They would've just killed me in some other way."
The Chief Overseer sighed again. "I'm not frustrated with you," he transmitted. "The Countess is many times older and stronger than you. There was nothing you could've done."
However, as Kyle heard his words, he disagreed. "I could've directly escaped to the Hell Dimension," he transmitted.
"Do you believe the Countess just got here?" the Chief Overseer asked.
Kyle looked with surprise at the Chief Overseer. "Wait, she didn't? Then…"
"She probably came here as soon as their team of Unique Crushers set out to kill you," the Chief Overseer answered.
Kyle just shook his head in disbelief. 'She's a fucking Immortal! Yes, I am talented. Yes, I am disruptive. Yes, we have beef, but come on! I'm a Crusher! She's a fucking Immortal!'
"But she didn't know that I was part of the Array of Stars," Kyle said.
"She doesn't need to," the Chief Overseer answered. "There was a chance that you belonged to someone. Staying here for a couple of hours isn't a big investment. Additionally, you have to remember one thing."
"She's not here because of you. You're not the target. At least, not the primary one. The fisher doesn't hunt the baby whale because of its meat. They hunt it because they might draw out an adult whale. "
"She's here because of me. She's here because of the Array of Stars as a whole or whatever Organization backed you."
"I'm frustrated because she outplayed me," the Chief Overseer transmitted with annoyance and helplessness. "The situation has become inescapable. No matter what we do, the Contrast Empire will benefit more."
"If I help you, the Contrast Empire can claim that the entire branch is corrupt since I represent the branch as a whole. This would force my superiors to make a decision."
"Assuming they say I worked alone, they will be forced to kill me, which means losing an Immortal. Additionally, the Contrast Empire will accuse them of shifting the blame, which gives them a reasonable cause for escalating tensions."
"Assuming they agree that the entire branch is corrupt, either the Array of Stars loses an entire branch, or they have to grant the Contrast Empire access to the branch."
"Assuming they back me up, the Contrast Empire can officially declare the Array of Stars a rebellious Organization. This forces us to do one of three things. One, leave the Contrast Empire's territories. Two, stay and lose all legal protection while acting as an illegal business. Three, declare the Array of Stars a political power."
"In all cases, the Contrast Empire will get something they want," the Chief Overseer explained.
When Kyle heard that, his heart shook. It was not hard to find out which possibility was the most likely one.
Most likely, the Array of Stars would abandon the Chief Overseer, execute him, and tell the Contrast Empire that he was a rogue agent.
In truth, Kyle had often felt frustrated about the Chief Overseer's passiveness. As their Disciple, Kyle was in trouble, and instead of helping him, he had been abandoned.
Yet, when he heard the Chief Overseer's explanation, he realized something.
'If the roles were reversed, what would I do?' he thought. 'A talented Peak Mortal or Transcendent needs my help. Would I sacrifice my life for them?'
Kyle sighed. 'If I knew them very well, I might be willing to risk my life, but I wouldn't sacrifice myself.'
Kyle gritted his teeth. 'I'm just a pawn. The Array of Stars wants to get me to the end of the board so that I may turn into a valuable piece. The Contrast Empire sees this and threatens me. If they protect the pawn, they will lose a knight or a rook without anything in return. If they abandon the pawn, they will lose a pawn.'
'There's no way out.'.
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