After the outsiders brought their junior fleet admiral back, Dirk freed himself from the armor helmet and gri Burn.

  “Haa, Your Majesty, it really is delightful to witness someoand sht in the presence of an overlord,” Dirk said, a smirk pying on his lips. “That was Mahkato, the one usually handling and gathering resources for the Alliance. She only es out when it’s really important, too.”

  Burn turo him, leaning in slightly. “Enlighten me about her, then.”

  The space merary paused, sidering that overlords were regarded as gods among men. Evehey were sometimes repced by other petent individuals, their legendary status g to them like a shadow.

  “I heard Lady Mahkato was once a merary herself before asding to her overlord status. Quite the upgrade, wouldn’t you say?” Dirk chuckled, while Burn remained as stoic as a statue.

  “All right, all right! I know what you’re itg to know. She’s quite formidable. The whispers cim she possesses an encyclopediowledge of worlds and an uny ability to adapt. It’s said her home phe Fourth Heaven, is an oppressive pce with such hefty gravity and a frighteningly close proximity to the sun,” Dirk said.

  He tinued, expining that the Fourth Heaven was such a massive p had a magic field s it practically enced its inhabitants to evolve to detect magic forces, as if that were the pinnacle of evolution.

  “You mean to say she detect magic fields?” Burn asked.

  Even in this wonderful, magical realm, some creatures had the delightful talent of sensing magic forces. They could distinguish north from south even after being knocked silly, as if it were a natural-born talent.

  Not to mention, with the presenana in this world, simple magic dete became a walk in the park. But if she had that level of capability...

  No, Burn had to brace himself for the very real possibility that she possessed some spectacur ability, courtesy of her rather illustrious title as one of the overlords. Suddenly, an old man with a metal helmet, eyes sored behind a horizontal bck bar, popped into his mind like an unwanted guest.

  “M*go?”

  “M*go!” Dirk finger-gunned him with both hands. “Maybe imagine him, but god. Wait, no. You shouldn’t oversimplify it like that. It’s just her famous power. Who knows what else she has up her sleeve that allowed her to bee an overlord.”

  “I know,” Burn said, reing on his throh a self-assured air. He then inquired, “You think I defeat her?”

  Dirk shrugged. “If you ’t, then this world’s finished. t me out, too.”

  “And you’re perfectly fih that?” Burn asked, Dirk’s apparent indifference.

  “Do I look like I have a choice?” Dirk shot back. “Despite my little dah betrayal, I be rather loyal, you know? Not that I’ve ever really been on their side—more like a relut bystander.”

  Burn sneered.

  “As soon as I get that ship to bst through that cra the sky, I’ll turn every single one of them into ifetti,” he decred, fingers digging into the armrest of his throne.

  Dirk sighed, hesitating briefly before , “You know, despite their as, not everyone in the Alliance is a heartless tyrant hell-bent on izing worlds. Some—like me—are just people caught in a vicious game, bending instead of breaking, caught between a rod a hard pce.”

  “So what?” Burn leaned sideways on his arm, his fist to his . “Do I have time to ask eae of them or vihem not to invade my world? Or let them run rampant and ensve my people without these poor people notig it?”

  “All I’m saying is, once you take a swing at one of them and maybe, just maybe, e out on top, prepare yourself. More will e knog. It’s like an endless parade, more will just line up behind,” Dirk tried to warn.

  He tinued, “Truly an unending cycle. They’ve got an unfathomably vast army amassed from tless worlds, all cozy in their millennia of quests—thousands and thousands of years’ worth of boot prints to walk all over us.”

  “That is not an excuse to back down,” Burn said. “At least not for me.”

  Dirk managed a weary smile.

  “After all, proteg this world and its people is just part of an excuse,” Burn said with feigned humility. “So, I suppose I owe you all a thank-you. Thanks fivihe reason to quer not just this world, but the entire universe.”

  Ah, the grand aspirations of a young tyrant capable of dev the rays of a dying sun like a m pastry. Truly, he showed remarkable taste iructive cravings.

  It might not be apparent, but every time Dirk was in Burn’s presehere was an uling feeling that he was sistently getting stronger, almost as if the universe itself was fueling the madness.

  And then, of course, there was that eous request: asking him to bst him with 8% of the White Dwarf’s energy on himself. Brilliant pn, truly. Just what any sane being would sider doing on a zy m.

  “I assume that you have a pn to defeat them all?” Dirk asked, an eyebrow raised, as if he expected a drawn-out map of the pn.

  “I will be returning soon anyway. I bet she’s already pnning to kill me and seize not just the White Dwarf, but the entire nd,” Burn mused, pting how wonderfully chaotic time travel could be. Perhaps her arrival here had deviated from the inal timeline.

  Burn could remember vividly that, in the inal timeline, he should still be tangled up dealing with Inkia while Veryon rang around alive; thus, the outsiders hadn’t yet felt the dire o remove Burn from the equation.

  Ah, Veryon—one of the two golden geese nurturing the outsiders. He’d been their favored puppet, wielding Edensor’s resources like a chef with a knife, providing the outsiders with unparalleled access and juisider info.

  Once Burn had executed Veryon and usurped the Luminus Kingdom, the White Dwarf desded.

  Now, much to everyone’s dismay, Burn had bee a thorn far soohan desired. Well, let’s be ho—he had always been a thorn, but after they killed Veryon, they realized he was a thorn with a particur spark of defiahey couldn’t dahe cssic carrot of power and glory before him.

  That wouldn’t work at all.

  Maybe in the inal timeline, Mahkato had visited this world but overlooked him, seeing him merely as a tyrant with grand ambitions. She would just ihe fleet, pausing only to hat everything was still exeg their master pn fwlessly before flitting away.

  After all, Burn hadn’t met or seen Mahkato iher loops. Isn’t it just delightful how fate dances? It could also be possible that she was the one who authorized the use of the White Dwarf on him in the inal timeline, after all the delightful chaos ensued.

  But this time, the situatioed quicker than a toddler throwing a tantrum in a toy store, and the fleet admirals decided to hire Dirk instead of seeking permission for the White Dwarf’s use on nd. Cssic case of shooting first and asking questions ter—so very military.

  Maybe, if he hadn’t met Man and hadn’t returo the past, he would eventually meet and face Mahkato anyway.

  The loop would eher today or tomorrow, and he was quite fident that Mahkato would hunt him down soon, and Man would die—

  “Your Majesty!” Suddenly, a servant burst into the throne room. His expression looked frightened and pale. “Her Majesty… the Empress!”