After admiral Red and advisor Porasak confirmed that Tyren wasn't the thief they were looking for, they continued to search. They spent ten consecutive loops searching but found close to nothing.

Eventually, they went to LA and sought a meeting with The Master.

A welcome party consisting of three temporary loopers took them to a large private room. After waiting for an hour, a young woman entered the room. She went ahead and sat in The Master's seat.

"Nostalgia," Porasak said with a frown. "What's the meaning of this? We're waiting for the Master."

"You mean The Master, yes?"

Porasak frowned. "Call him whatever the hell you want to call him. Where's he?"

"Be patient," said Nostalgia in a rough, male voice. "My dad is in the middle of something. He doesn't want to keep you waiting for too long. That's why he sent me. Whatever you want to tell him, you can tell me."

Admiral Red looked at Nostalgia with an indifferent face. A girl who was no more than twenty years old with a beautiful face and unnaturally long black hair that touched the ground whenever she sat. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and white pants that seemed too informal for a meeting with a Qatalan.

"We want you to interrupt the world essence of this city for an hour," said the admiral.

"Eh?" Nostalgia frowned for the first time. "Why should we do that?"

"Because we said so," the admiral said.

Nostalgia silently watched him for a few seconds before she shook her head. "Only The Master can do that, and we both know he won't do it unless he hears a reason."

"Do you want to defy the first world?" Admiral Red said calmly.

"Girl," Porasak said with disdain. "Everything you are proud of has been given to you by the first world. If you turn your back on us we will turn our backs on you."

Nostalgia burst out laughing. "Advisor Porasak of the Old World, please stop saying that. If someone hears, they would think you are serious. The Master alone built his empire; you didn't help him."

Porasak clenched her fist, her face red with anger.

Having had enough of the conversation, the admiral stood up and headed for the door. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he turned to look at Nostalgia.

"I will stay in town until tomorrow. If you change your mind you know where to find me." With that, he turned and left. Porasak followed him behind after a short staring contest between the old and the young women.

After they left, Nostalgia's face changed. She got up from her chair and paced back and forth in the office.

"Asal?" She called her assistant who was at the door waiting for her.

A girl under the age of ten came in.

"Long may you live, your highness, what can I do?" said the girl.

"Please, invite the ranks of XM9990 up to XM9999. Tell them there is an urgent meeting in my office."

"I will, your highness." Asal turned to leave but Nostalgia stopped her.

"Do we have anything important this week?"

"There is a visit to the spirit realm for the initiates in five days," Asal said.

"Cancel it," said Nostalgia. "Which of the teachers will be leading the outing?"

"Badwin," Asal said.

"Hmm." Nostalgia sighed. "That man is difficult to deal with. Look, if he complains, tell him there is a security problem but I will give him a chance in twenty days if everything is okay."

"I will, your highness," Asal said. "Anything else I can do?"

"Stop any schedule I have for the next two weeks," said Nostalgia. "I'm going into town to make sure everything is okay. Anything that will make the Qatalans come is not a good sign, let alone ask us to stop the world essence for the entire city. They don't want us to know what's going on, which makes it even more suspicious." She fell silent for a while before she added, "the observers should be told to keep an eye on any change in town. They are to tell me everything directly."

"Yes, your highness."

***

On the first world

Several loops later...

"Red," Porasak said, standing in front of his office. "I'm here."

"Come in," the admiral said. He was no longer resting his legs on the table as he used to, an indication of how serious the situation was.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

After she was seated, the admiral looked at her with a grave expression. "I would like you to do something for me, Por. I think our enemies are getting clever."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"Yes," the admiral insisted. "They are. We do have an understanding with LA, don't we? That they will stop their people from getting out of Fydeba in the evening."

"Yes..." She answered hesitantly. "We do. But they also refused our recent request to shut down the city. Did something happened?"

"Check it out for me, will you?" He said. "Let me know if you find any clever attempt from them."

"I will," she said. "Red, regarding the matter of the Rewind... What should we do now? We can't keep hiding it from the others."

"We do know our enemy is in Fydeba, don't we?" He said. "Well, I have informed the King about it. The crown wants to settle it in their way."

She trembled at the mention of the crown. "The crown? But..."

He nodded. "Of course they will find and eliminate whoever is using the Rewind first, but the crown wants to remind our enemies whose era this is. In the meantime, we are asked to focus on the sentinels. If they are being diverted then we have to do something about it before the judgment."

"The... judgment? Did the crown call it that?"

"Yes," he nodded, "the crown used that same line to describe it. The MIA has been complaining about how we allow our enemies to get so strong. They will be in the city shortly. It's going to be just like in the Old World - swift and complete. There will be no one left to complain."

"The wrath of the first world..." She murmured, breathing heavily.

The admiral shrugged. "We let them have Fydeba. They established LA and we let them. But the Rewind is off-limits. We warned them several times about it. But they refused to listen. The crown feels obligated to do this." He then looked at her with concern. "I'll allow you to save one person. I know your brother lives in the city. Make sure you do it before the judgment comes."

Porasak looked at the ground in silence. After a while, she inhaled deeply and shook her head. "I won't save him, or anyone. That will be undermining the crown. Let the Rewind thief burn, let everyone die with him, and the crown comes out victorious."

The admiral stared at her for a long moment. He sighed softly. "The MIA will get them, I'm sure of it."

She nodded and left.

After she left, the admiral opened the diary in his hands and began writing.

The end has finally come... our victory is certain, but even I don't know how long our enemies will last. It's hard to say since they have grown quite a bit in the last few centuries. But if all our enemies are gone, will the crown requires our services then? Of course, the Qatalans will remain but what about the others? The empire has become so big that only the crown seems to know how far it extends. Hmm. We'll see about it after the judgment.

The present day

Somewhere in Fydeba....

Nadin

Tyren sat in a parlor. Next to him was his assistant, Nadin. She sat there in silence, continuously stroking her red hair. In front of them were three women dancing. They all had dark-red hair that was unnaturally long and bright. One of them had eyebrows and eyelashes that were both red. There was no music in the background but these women danced rhythmically and with great expertise. They must have been carefully selected for the role.

For the next hour, Tyren enjoyed himself. He didn't smile or show it in any way, but Nadin could see it. Whenever he was happy, his eyebrows would knit slightly and his pupils would be dilated. For a man that didn't usually smile, that was the usual way to ascertain his mood.

After another hour, Tyren waved his hand dismissively. The women that had been dancing turned and left the room.

Nadin got up from her chair. She slowly stepped forward and stood in front of him. In her hand was a long piece of paper with a handwritten note.

"My lord," Nadin said respectfully. "I congratulate you on your victory. First, The Master kicked us out of the Academy. He thought we had no luck or future. But we won over him. Then we met Gaus, the man who had the opportunity to put us back in the loop, but he refused to do so. Instead, he ran to the Academy thinking he was safe from us.

"But, my lord, that does not discourage you. You soulbond him despite the dangers associated with the process. At that time, even I, your most trusted advisor, was shaken. I saw no success. But you overcame it. You won.

"Instead of Gaus to accept his fate and submit, he asked for help. He went to the marines, but you turned the tides against him and won. Then he went to Minorita, the eldest she-devil of this era, but still, you won.

"Now your success is not restricted to the twenty-four-hour loop. No, your success gives you a week-long loop, which can now be extended to a month or two.

"This is not luck, my lord, it is not because of prayer, and it is not a coincidence. Your success comes from your strength. You deserve it and that's why you have it.

"I am asking for forgiveness for my previous statements against soulbond. I made the mistake of not believing in you. In the future, I will be obedient and accept whatever you say."

She knelt on the floor.

Seeing her submission, Tyren smiled. Everything she had said was true. He won the battle. Nothing could change his success now. Now he had the opportunity to do whatever he wants in the loop. And even The Master couldn't kill him.

"Get up, Nadin," he said.

Nadin stood up and faced him.

"Of course this is my victory, but you have made a significant contribution. I will reward you for it."

He got up from his chair and came forward. He held her hand in his. Gradually, they danced and turned around in rhythm. They had defeated their opponent. It was now time to celebrate.

For hours, the celebration went on.

"My lord," Nadin said. "We have confirmed that Gaus is using the same Rewind as the marines. The young man has surprised us in many ways, and maybe he's an ace up his sleeve, but what about the marines? Aren't they coming for it? I'm still surprised that the marines don't know about the second time loop since it's the same skill they are using."

"There are still things we don't understand," Tyren admitted. "But I think I know why the marines aren't aware of the second loop. It could be one of the two: either whatever Gaus is using to send us back in time for the second loop doesn't rewind time, not in the same way as the Rewind, or it's the same Rewind but a specialization skill that the marines doesn't have."

"I suspect the latter," Nadin said in thought. "For it's easier to believe that Gaus and whoever has the other Rewind among the marines will not choose the same specialization skills every time they specialize. Besides, the former option will indicate that Gaus is strong enough to create his form of time travel, which I don't think so."

Tyren frowned at her last statement. "You should know better than to underestimate him by now."

Nadin didn't underestimate Gaus. She just felt that time traveling was beyond the scope of a normal human. Once maybe, but several times was just above her threshold.

"I understand, my lord," she said. "By the way, what will be the schedule for this loop if Mr. Lake behaves?"

"That will depend on whether the marines are serious about taking the Rewind from us," he said.

"Us?" Nadin asked, confused. They might be using Gaus but the Rewind still belonged to him.

"Of course," Tyren said. "The Rewind now belongs to both Gaus and me. Do you think our little second loop will be possible without it? My dear Nadin, I have many contingencies to stay alive. A closed loop, for example, is something that not even The Creator can defeat."