When Kyle heard the Red Witch refer to him as Mr. Freeman, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
He was reminded of the time she had “forced” him to kill millions of people, amongst other things.
He clenched his fists for a moment but relaxed them again.
‘It’s not the right time,’ he thought, keeping his anger under control. ‘There are more important things right now.’
‘For example, what the fuck has happened and how? Also, we should probably leave.’
Yet, as Kyle looked around, he noticed that the surroundings had already changed. Apparently, the Red Witch had already moved them somewhere else.
Sebastian sighed in relief, while the Red Witch looked at Kyle with a polite smile.
“Okay, so,” Kyle started after taking a deep breath. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Mr. Freeman?” the Red Witch asked. “I saved you.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Was saving me your primary reason for killing those two?”
The Red Witch’s smile widened a bit. “Of course not,” she answered, “but I still saved you.”
Kyle tried to find a reason why the Red Witch had killed the Countess and the Chief Overseer. The Red Witch was also part of the Array of Stars. Why would she kill an Immortal from the Array of Stars?
‘Oh,’ Kyle thought as he realized something. ‘I see. Why didn’t I think of that sooner? Now that I’m actually thinking about it, it actually makes so much sense.’
‘Why is the Red Witch running her worlds like that? Why did she kill two important Immortals from two different Organizations without showing her identity? Why is she helping me while effectively offending two Peak Organizations?’
‘And most important of all, who benefits most from her actions?’
“You’re a Parasite,” Kyle transmitted.
The Red Witch just smiled. “Yes, I am a member of the Cult of Final Fate,” she said.
Kyle glanced at Sebastian with a raised brow. While Kyle had transmitted his message privately, the Red Witch had answered publicly, which meant she didn’t mind that Sebastian listened.
Sebastian didn’t seem surprised or shocked at all. It was more than clear that he already knew.
‘It makes so much sense,’ Kyle thought. ‘The way she treated me when I was the Overseer basically pushed me towards the Cult. She could have just asked me to implement more gradual changes. I wouldn’t have condensed a True Sin Aura, and I would have probably just finished my time as an Overseer until someone more suitable came along.’
‘Seekers who manage to become Overseers are also quite talented. It’s one thing to become powerful with the help of a Peak Organization, but it’s a different thing when you become powerful on your own. The Array of Stars would be interested in recruiting someone like that. It wouldn’t make sense to force them to stay as an Overseer for all of eternity.’
‘I was essentially a fish in a pot of water, and she put a fire below me. I couldn’t possibly stay in the pot, which forced me to jump into the unknown, hoping there’s more water outside of the pot.’
Kyle thought back to the deaths of the Countess and the Chief Overseer. ‘That also explains why she killed them. She wants to escalate the tensions between the Array of Stars and the Contrast Empire.’
‘Of course, the two Peak Organizations aren’t stupid. They will be 90% sure that a third party killed their two Immortals, but this remaining ten percent will still sow some doubt.’
“Alright,” Kyle said. “So, you killed these two Immortals to escalate tensions between the two Organizations, and you saved me in the process, correct?”
“That is correct, Mr. Freeman. You’ve become smarter since we last met,” she said with a smile.
“Okay, what I don’t know is how you knew we were here,” Kyle added. “I never told the Cult about my plans.”
“That’s because of me,” Sebastian said with a smile.
“Speaking of,” Kyle said, looking at Sebastian, “how and why are you here? What even happened? Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to see you again. I’m just confused.”
“No worries. I know what you mean,” Sebastian said with a chuckle. “The short version is that I was recruited by the Cult, specifically her.” Sebastian gestured to the Red Witch. “I accepted the offer, and she brought me to the Supreme World after we dealt with the Secondary World.”
“Dealt with?” Kyle asked with a raised brow.
“Same thing as you did in the Tertiary World, from what I’ve heard,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “I gave my position of Overseer to someone else.”
“Wait, you were the Overseer?” Kyle asked in surprise.
“Oh yeah, for quite a while, actually,” Sebastian added. “I was the Overseer for almost 60,000 years.”
“Wow, wow, wow, hold on,” Kyle said. “The last time we met was just 7,000 years ago or so.”
Sebastian looked at Kyle with surprise. “You don’t know about the time dilation?”
Kyle just slowly shook his head.
“The time in the Supreme World is ten times slower than the time in the other worlds,” Sebastian said. “It took me about 10,000 years to become an Overseer, and I spent about 60,000 years being one.”
“Why were you an Overseer for so long?” Kyle asked.
“Well, we were experimenting with this,” Sebastian said.
The next moment, the Lightning Elemental from earlier broke through reality, arriving beside Sebastian.
When Kyle saw the Lightning Elemental, he felt like an ant. This thing was vastly more powerful than he was.
And yet, Sebastian had control over it.
‘Even if I become a Sage right now, I would probably still be helpless in front of this thing,’ Kyle thought.
Kyle glanced at Sebastian. ‘Even if we were in the same Realm, he would be stronger than me.’
Kyle remembered the time Sebastian had learned his Law of Yin-Lightning. At that point, Sebastian had also been stronger than him while being at the same level.
‘I think Sebastian is the only one of my friends who has undoubtedly outclassed me in Battle-Strength. Sure, at some point, I became stronger again, but now, he’s overtaken me again.’
The way Kyle saw Sebastian was different from how he saw Swamp Dragon.
Kyle admired Swamp Dragon’s character and saw him as a true friend, but his Battle-Strength had never reached Kyle’s level.
Kyle also saw Sebastian as a true friend, but at the same time, he also admired Sebastian’s Battle-Strength.
As he thought about Sebastian’s Battle-Strength, Kyle felt antsy. He wasn’t nervous, scared, or envious. No, he felt antsy because he wanted to become stronger. He wanted to become stronger than Sebastian.
One friend had an admirable character.
One friend had incredible strength.
“How did you become so powerful?” Kyle asked Sebastian while looking at the Lightning Elemental.
“With her help,” Sebastian said, gesturing to the Red Witch.
Kyle looked at her, and she smiled back.
“He’s being modest,” she said. “I have simply offered him to become the test subject of a new way of growing more powerful. Many people have accepted that offer before, but he was the only one who succeeded.”
“Everyone else died.”
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