-Swoosh!

Inside the uppermost layer of Sam's hideout in the Northern pole, a massive oval-shaped ripple in the fabric of space-time opened up.

The oval-shaped ripple emanated a mysterious bluish hue and looked like it was a gateway to a different world.

-Tak

-Tak

From it, two black-haired guys with similar-looking facial features stepped out. They were, of course, Samael Gracefell and Michael Rightwill.

"Sire! Sire, you're back!" Like a dog seeing his owner after a long time, Lucas came running for Sam.

Under normal circumstances, Sam would've ignored him or kicked him away, but after only being able to talk to Michael for the past 32 years, Sam was more than delighted to see Lucas' idiot looking face.

-Thud!

Almost ended up tackling him, Lucas hugged Sam like a baby. "Sire, where did you go?!"

"Ahh, Lucas! It's been 30 years!" Sam, too started patting his head with a bright smile on his face.

But Lucas was taken aback by that statement. He broke his hug and looked at Sam with a confused gaze.

"What are you talking about, Sire? It's only been like 2 hours?"

Facepalming, Sam nodded.

"Ahh, yes, we returned exactly after the moment we left. For me, it has been 30 years since I saw your face."

"Whaaa? Where did you even go?"

"Ahhh, long story. I'll tell you later."

"Good, because we don't have time for a long story right now anyways."

"What? Why?"

"Uh, because we're under attack."

"....."

"....."

"You dumbass! Start from there next time!"

"Yes, sire!"

"Sigh, so what happened?"

"It happened right after you went out. We detected some movements and later thermal activities near our vicinity. We sent out 3 of your clones, and it turns out the heroes have dispatched search parties throughout the globe."

"Ho? They are desperate. So? What's the situation currently?"

"Currently, around 50 of your clones are engaging the search party, but the main force will be arriving any moment now as a backup."

"I see. What's the situation with the dragon? Have we studied it?"

"Your remaining clones are working on it. According to them, they are almost 70% done. The dragon's biology is very similar to reptiles', with the only differences being their mutated genes."

"Okay, I'll finish studying it by myself. Lucas, go out and engage the main force. Take my remaining clones and all the remaining demons. Buy me as much time as possible."

"Yes, sire!"

As soon as Sam commanded Lucas, the latter immediately obliged his sire's orders.

He left the scene immediately in order to engage the heroes.

Meanwhile, Michael, who was still a bit disturbed by what he saw, decided to confront Sam one last time.

"Sam, please, stop this. Maybe if you stop now, you won't be executed. But if you go ahead from here, the world won't let you live! It won't end well for you!"

Sam couldn't help but find Michael's words amusing.

"Oh dear brother, when I'm done with the world, there won't be any bad endings."

…

"Heroes! Charge!"

While on the snowy surface of the north pole, heroes were engaging the Progenitor's clones in a fierce battle of survival and oppression.

They were only 50 clones fighting against thousands of heroes. Yet they were winning.

The scarlet color of blood had already painted the snow red.

It was a massacre. Well, that's to be expected since, despite being so great in numbers, these two thousand heroes were only around [D-E Rank].

In short, they were only baits to buy time till the main force arrived.

"Give your life if needed! Buy time for Starsuper to arrive! For our home! For our families! For our- khkkk!"

The hero, who was shouting at the top of his lungs to boost his comrades' morale, got his throat slashed by a hand blade.

"Khuk!"

Then he got his abdomen pierced.

"Die," Sam's clone who had killed him said. "You mongrel."

-Shing!

Right then, a metallic sound resounded throughout the area, and a bright flash followed.

Blinding everyone in the vicinity, the bright flash lasted for about a couple of seconds before dimming.

"What was that?" One of Sam's clones asked.

"Above!" The other clone shouted in reply.

Everyone present there, including Sam's clones and heroes, turned their heads upward to look at what the blinding light was.

"Heroes, you did a great job! Now, retreat!"

It was Starsuper. He had arrived along with his remaining members of the council.

…

"So, why haven't you killed me?" Michael, who was still standing by Sam's side, asked with a bitter face.

He tried using his ability, but try as he may, his body refused the command.

Every moment he spent with Sam, he realized just how scary his ability was.

Sam could control Michael's mind, and the latter would never know about it. He was completely and utterly at Sam's mercy.

But then, it begged the question, why was Sam not killing him?

His work was done. He used Michael to visit the past. What else is there that Michael could offer him?

"Wait, don't tell me. Are you going to use me as a hostage again?"

Michael hated that thought. He didn't want to hinder Starsuper's path if he couldn't help it.

Even back then, if he hadn't intervened when Starsuper was killing him, maybe this war would have already been over by now.

He let his personal feelings get ahead of him, and the whole world had to pay the price for that now.

"Use you as a hostage? Are you stupid, brother? Don't get ahead of yourself. It might've worked once, but now that the whole world is on the verge of collapsing, Starsuper would gladly sacrifice you to kill me."

He was right. Not only are the stakes higher now, but the risk is also bigger since Sam has the dragon corpse in his possession now.

And besides, Michael isn't trustworthy anymore. After all, for all they know, Sam would've already turned him into a demon by now.

"So why? Why are you not killing me?"

"Because I had no intention to kill you from the start. You would be much more useful to me alive than dead."

"...Wa-Wait…" a look of terror washed over Michael's face as he finally understood the gravity of those words. "Don't tell me…."

Sam, who was now dressed in a lab coat, slowly turned around to face Michael. With a happy smile on his face, he uttered the darkest of words.

"Yes, Michael. You wanted a brother, right? I won't lie. After seeing that timeline, I also kind of want a bond like that. So, let's do it. Let's create that bond! Let's become brothers."