Star Genesis looked at the letter in front of her with mixed emotions. She felt relieved when she realized that Kyle was still alive, but she also felt pain and loss when she realized how he had managed to survive.
The incident from several years ago had shocked a huge part of the Supreme World. Immortals frequently died in the Immortal and Hell Dimensions, but those were Immortals who voluntarily entered battle. Immortals like the Countess or the local Chief Overseer were not supposed to enter battle. It was not common for these kinds of Immortals to die.
The counties and branches of the Array of Stars and the Contrast Empire were stable precisely because their Immortals didn't die. They were supposed to stay in safe places.
That was precisely why it was so shocking that two of them died at the same time.
The Array of Stars and the Contrast Empire had immediately called for all of their local Disciples to return and to wait for orders. The Secondary Sectors had been frozen with their current borders, and their subservient powers had been put on alert.
Of course, large unplanned movements during a war often left openings. There was a good reason why military bases and personnel were in these places.
The point of pulling all the Disciples back was to protect them from further attacks, but it came at a cost.
Risk.
Risk was the cost.
The two Peak Organizations immediately agreed that the Cult had killed their Immortals, and they decided to ally for a short moment. In front of the Cult, even these two Organizations could work together.
However, the question was, how were they supposed to fill the gap the previous Immortals had left behind? How many people would they need to send? Where did they need to go?
In the end, they each put three Immortals in charge of the headless territories. It was better to send too many than too few. Communications were immediately deactivated to prevent a leak of information. Additionally, all Immortals were required to constantly submit their current location.
Yet, an information leak happened anyway.
The Immortals had to come from somewhere, and while their previous positions had been kept secret, the Cult still somehow found out where they had come from.
At least, when it came to the Contrast Empire.
Mere hours after the Immortals had arrived, a small military outpost in the Immortal Dimension was attacked. The military outpost belonged to the Contrast Empire. The Cult attacked with just enough Immortals to make the battle almost unwinnable for the small outpost. Because of that, the outpost was forced to activate its defensive Formation Arrays.
For just a couple of seconds, the Cult attacked the outpost before retreating.
Nobody died.
However, the outpost had lost 70% of its stored Energy Stones. This storage had to be refilled, which cost the Contrast Empire an insane number of high-grade Energy Stones.
If the two Immortals from that specific outpost hadn't left, they could have fought the Cult evenly until reinforcements arrived. At that point, both sides would have lost resources.
Sadly, as it stood right now, only the Contrast Empire lost resources, while the Cult lost nothing.
Surprisingly, while the Contrast Empire had to defend against an attack, the Array of Stars didn't experience any attacks.
During meetings between the two parties, they agreed that this was just the Cult, trying to sow discord.
And yet, while they agreed that this was all the doing of the Cult, did they truly, wholeheartedly believe that to be true?
The Energy Stones the Contrast Empire had to reinvest slowed their expansion in other parts, buying the Array of Stars a bit more time. Additionally, while the Array of Stars said that their Chief Overseer had also died, was that truly the case? After all, the only people who saw the Chief Overseer dying were members of the Array of Stars. Sure, they swore oaths, but with enough insights into the Laws of Karmic Luck, those could also be circumvented.
The tensions didn't escalate, but both parties became a slight bit more suspicious of each other. Maybe, in the future, these slight suspicions would change some decisions.
But for now, everyone agreed that this was a planned action from the Cult. They agreed that Descending Mountain had been an agent sent by the Cult. He was supposed to become valuable in the eyes of the Array of Stars while antagonizing the Contrast Empire. Descending Mountain was supposed to lure members of both Organizations to the Hell Dimension so that they could be assassinated easily.
If one only looked at the numbers, this seemed to be the most likely explanation.
However, Star Genesis had been there herself. She knew Kyle, and she had seen how everything had developed. Even if Kyle were a member of the Cult, he hadn't planned this entire thing.
She knew that it was the two Organizations that had planned everything, primarily the Contrast Empire. Additionally, she didn't believe that Kyle was actually a member of the Cult.
That was until she read Kyle's message.
His first words were that he didn't intend for any of this to happen. He just wanted to become a Legendary Crusher, go back to the Array of Stars, and continue growing stronger.
Sadly, according to his words, the Array of Stars had abandoned him. They had not protected him in front of the Contrast Empire multiple times, and in the end, they had even revoked his status as a member.
Luckily, while the Array of Stars had failed to protect him, somebody else hadn't.
Naturally, Kyle didn't describe that other party, but it was clear which Organization he meant.
In his letter, Kyle stated several times that he didn't want to destroy the Array of Stars. He even said that he believed that the Chief Overseer had done as much as he was allowed to do to help him. His issue was solely with the upper management of the Array of Stars and the Contrast Empire.
He also didn't want to destroy the world or anything like that. He just wanted to have agency. In his letter, he said that everyone around him had used him as a chess piece. Even his mysterious backer had apparently messed with him.
While Star Genesis didn't know this, Kyle was referring to the time the Red Witch had covertly pushed Kyle to join the Cult. In his opinion, ever since he had joined the Cult, it had treated him very well. It was just the way in which they got him to join that irked him.
In his letter, Kyle said that he only wanted two things.
First, he wanted agency. He sought the ability to make decisions without constantly being pushed around by people and Organizations more powerful than him.
And second, he wanted more color in his life. He didn't only want to stay in his little cave, comprehending Laws. He also wanted to spend more time with the people close to him.
The next part of the letter spoke about his plans to enter an Unknown Primary World.
The last part of the letter was simply an invitation.
"I made a mistake rejecting you all these years ago. If you're willing, we can try, but honestly, I'm not sure how you feel about all of this. If you want, you can join me in my adventure. I also invited the others. No worries, you won't have to do anything for my backer. The trip comes with no strings attached."
"I hope you agree, but if you're not willing, that's also fine."
"Maybe, we'll see each other again. No matter what Organizations or sides we belong to, we are still friends. While not everyone feels like this, I don't value a country or a job more than my friends."
"No matter what you choose, I want you to choose whatever you want to choose. I don't see a rejection as a betrayal."
"I wish you all the best."
Star Genesis put the letter to the side.
Then, she just aimlessly looked at the sky.
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