Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1984 The Silent Farewell

It didnʼt matter whether it was Aro, Ranther and his group, or even the followers of Guardian Silas... all of them opened their eyes to their widest limits, terror carved plainly into their expressions, their chests tightening painfully. It was like a five-year-old child wandering through dense wilderness, laughing and playing-only to suddenly come face to face with a tiger at armʼs length.

No, this wasnʼt because Lord Hedrick had killed Guardian Silas with such terrifying ease. Lord Hedrick was infamous as a slayer of Dominators; his name alone carried centuries of dread. The battle had been decided the very moment he appeared, and Silasʼs extreme exhaustion had merely shortened what was already inevitable.

No-the terror came from something far deeper.

Something far worse.

Silence.

Every sound on the planet vanished in an instant.

The roars of terrified beasts were cut off mid-cry.

The thunder of artillery and exploding shells ceased as if erased.

The wind itself disappeared, no longer brushing against skin or armor.

Even the faint rustling of leaves and the gentle sway of grass came to a complete stop... and now, even if someone screamed at the top of their lungs, they would not be able to hear their own voice.

Life on the planet nearly froze, as if everything except souls had been painted into a vast, unmoving mural-perfectly still, utterly mute, stripped of all sensation.

And this phenomenon was not confined to the planet alone-

It spread across the entirety of Mid Sector 99.

The Capital of the Millennial Empire of Continuous Chaos-

”Did you feel that?” one Guardian slowly rose from his seat, his movements cautious, his body stiff as if resisting an unseen pressure.

”Who could it be?” the second Guardian furrowed his brows deeply. Unease crawled across his face, a sharp instinctive sense of danger tightening his chest. ”...” the first Guardian slowly turned to look at him, his voice low and heavy. ”Thereʼs no one currently at war... except the boy, Silas.”

”!!”

At that moment, even the second Guardian stood up slowly, his breath hitching as the implication sank in.

Stellar Dawnlight Academy-

”..!!”

Altheraʼs hand froze mid-stroke. She stopped writing and opened her eyes wide, her heart jolting violently within her chest. She turned her gaze toward the east. Unlike Aro and the others-unlike her terrified students screaming in the academyʼs streets-she was able to force her lips apart and speak:

”...A Law Dominator has been killed?”

Her voice was low, disbelieving, yet heavy with certainty.

Inside one of the academy buildings-

”...?”

Robin, who had been calmly using the Seraphim quill to inscribe runes onto a wooden board, froze completely-as if his body had turned into a lifeless statue.

But it didnʼt last long.

Whoosh-

His eyes ignited with golden light, and a translucent golden layer spread across his entire body like armor. Only then was he able to straighten his posture and look toward the east.

”This feeling...” he murmured softly. ”So the Silent Farewell Phenomenon is real after all?”

A smile slowly formed on his lips. He casually twirled his pen twice around his finger, utterly composed, then returned to writing as if nothing extraordinary had happened.

”It seems the plan is proceeding just fine~”

”!!!!”

Aroʼs eyes trembled violently with fear. He didnʼt know why-he couldnʼt explain it but something ancient and primal screamed within his soul.

This bizarre phenomenon lasted for roughly three seconds, yet in those three seconds, the entire sector was plunged into absolute paralysis. The number of disasters caused by that brief stillness was impossible to count, and the number of creatures that died-whether from sheer terror or from secondary accidents-was beyond any attempt at calculation.

And then-

Bam.

The sound of a thunderous cannon shot echoed simultaneously inside minds and chests.

Everyone without distinction between strong or weak, ruler or peon-heard that cannon shot, and nothing else. All of them felt their hearts violently shaken; terror and sorrow flooded them at the same time, raw and unavoidable.

Then, finally, the echo of the shot settled....

Poof.

Poof Poof Poof

”Haaah... haaah!!”

Aro and everyone around him-no, trillions upon trillions of living beings across the entire sector-collapsed to their knees. Lungs burned as air rushed back in.

At last, they could breathe again.

At last, sound returned to the world.

At last, motion followed.

”What was that... what was that?!” Ranther whispered in raw fear. In that single instant, he completely forgot the scattered wounds covering his body, and even his simmering hostility toward Aro vanished as if it had never existed.

”The Silent Farewell Phenomenon,” Hedrick spoke calmly, his voice carrying clearly to everyone present. ”It is the Heavenly Lawsʼ way of granting an honorable death to those who once held dominion over them. The duration of that silence grows or shortens depending on how deeply the individual mastered their Law-and on how significant that Heavenly Law is in the grand structure of the universe.” A faint, almost mocking smile appeared on his lips. ”Three seconds... pitiful. Even the bastard I killed from the Savage Galaxy was granted a silent farewell that lasted eight full seconds-only then were two bullets fired to finish it.”

”The Silent Farewell Phenomenon... it truly exists...” Aro murmured quietly, his gaze still fixed on the ground beneath his feet, as if afraid to look up. After a moment, he smiled with helpless resignation and slowly shook his head.

So the universe favors the strong-even in death. How unfair. How cruel. After

witnessing such an honored end, how could he ever bring himself to call him ʼSilas the dogʼ again?!

”My work here is done!” Hedrick said indifferently. He cast Silasʼs lifeless body downward, and it tore through the planetʼs atmosphere like a blazing meteor. He brushed the dust from his hands, turned away without a second glance, and then punched space itself in a precise direction-Kraaaash. A narrow, tubular spatial channel ripped open before him, already beginning to collapse in on itself.

”Wait!!” Aro jolted upright from the ground and shouted at the top of his lungs. ”Arenʼt you going to help suppress the remaining Nexus States and World

Cataclysms here?!”

Hedrick pretended not to hear a single word. He calmly took one step forward -Whoosh-and vanished instantly, the spatial channel sealing shut behind him as if it had never existed.

”Ugh... that arrogant bastard...” Aro ground his teeth together, veins bulging along his jaw. He then swept his gaze across the battlefield-dozens of World Cataclysms and Nexus States from both sides, each tending to their injuries, each still trying to process and understand what they had just witnessed. Then-Crack-he snapped his fingers sharply. Lightning crackled violently within his eyes, and fierce winds began spiraling around his body. ”...Alright. Looks like weʼre doing this the hard way.”

He extended his soul perception into the interstellar communication ring and

spoke in a clear, commanding voice:

”Alright. Have you rested enough? You can all return now!”

Just before ending the transmission, he added hastily, his tone turning cold, ”And by the way-anyone who got carried away and insulted my mother while retreating should start preparing for punishment.”

Somewhere in Mid Sector 99-

Kraash-space itself fractured without warning. From behind the rupture,

Hedrick emerged in complete calm, his hands clasped neatly behind his back.

His gaze moved slowly as he surveyed his surroundings.

He had descended directly onto the surface of a planet-one with no oceans, no forests, not even deserts. The entire world was paved with glowing marble floors that stretched endlessly in every direction. Space gates dominated the landscape-no fewer than a thousand of them-alongside massive commercial districts filled with enormous stores specializing in every imaginable type of space equipment. Military barracks were also scattered throughout the planet, housing thousands upon thousands of soldiers in constant readiness. Straight ahead, only a few hundred meters away, loomed a truly colossal

structure.

A gigantic space gate stood there, shaped like a hollow metallic triangle and

towering to nearly a thousand meters in height. It was built atop an elevated platform and surrounded by elite guards personally dispatched from the galaxy of the Tyrant Antiras himself. This was the Great Space Gate used for inter-sector travel-and this planet served as the official headquarters of Tyrant Antiras within Mid Sector 99.

”Lord Hedrick,” Theo stepped forward quietly from the side, his posture

respectful. ”The Silent Farewell Phenomenon confirms that the service has concluded. Thank you for your efforts.” He extended both hands, presenting a glowing metallic card engraved with complex and unfamiliar sigils. ”Please accept this-your ticket to Mid Sector 101.

”...” Hedrick accepted the ticket, a single item valued at one hundred thousand Pearls. His expression remained unreadable as he asked calmly, ”Does this service at least cover the last loan I got from you?”