Interlude 3

“Time. If only I had more time…” the man mumbled as he gazed at his form in the mirror.

He had already done so much. Practically conquered the world and got as many women as he wanted. He couldn’t complain in the least about how things went.

Yet time marched even for him, and the problem wasn’t one of age, either.

Not even immortality meant your life was endless.

That was the painful lesson he had to learn even after all these years.

And to think everything started because of that silly prophecy…

He sighed as he heard a knock on the door.

“Master?” came the nasal voice from the other side.

“I will be there shortly,” he called out loud, then stepped away from the mirror. He hated looking in it, but still forced himself to do it every day.

Approaching the door, he made it open with a snap of his fingers, revealing to him a nervous-looking man that instantly erupted into a heavily-pimpled, wide smile and he skittered by his side like some cockroach.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yes, Master.”

“What about Mana?”

“She’s been naughty recently, hasn’t she? Perhaps we will need to keep her somewhere safe.”

He nodded. So that plan was going well. But there were still so many things to prepare, and so little time.

“You will handle things here.”

“M-Master?”

“You’ve heard me,” he said. “Two and One have their own territories. This will be yours.”

The other man practically fell to his knees in an exaggerated bow. “Thank you so much, Master!”

He tried not showing his disgust on his face. He kept some men alive just in case, but this was definitely not one of the better specimens. His only positive trait was that he was a loyal worm. Oh, and had some decent talent in magic, while not enough to become a threat.

There was just one last thing to make sure of before his time was up.

Followed by his sniveling hanger-on, he made his way down the looping stairs of the castle and into the vast cellar—once, it was a dungeon for criminals, but nowadays it was home for things much more important.

He entered a certain room—and frowned a bit as his own figure looked back at him. He forgot this part could act like a mirror… snapping his finger, he was greeted by a red light instead.

He smiled.

The plan was ready. Mana was ready. The connection was ready.

And he… he was not ready. But he had to believe that his time here was not spent in vain.

Three was going to keep ruling this world, one way or another.