Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2496 Weight of the Word

A Random Planet in Mid Sector 90—

Conquest Behemoth Kiryan was in a strange physical and mental state, one that was difficult to describe even by his own standards after everything he had experienced throughout his long life...

His mouth hung slightly open while his eyes seemed lifeless, staring ahead without truly focusing on anything before him. The successive shocks he had received today, one coming almost immediately after another before he could properly digest the previous one, were simply indescribable.

He had learned and understood many things from Robin during their meeting on his visit to Zavaros, enough to significantly alter his understanding of several matters, but there was also much he had never heard about, matters of such magnitude that every new revelation seemed to overturn another part of what he had previously believed.

Ten thousand years... Was that truly all they had left?

In the past, a single Executioner and her Harvesters had brought ruin upon the universe, pushing everything toward a disastrous end, and everything would have ended if not for the Cosmic Elder stepping forward at that time. But this time, after everything they had already experienced and learned about those beings, an entire Executioner Brigade was coming for them?

Krsssh— Kiryan gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw visibly tightened, then turned his entire face toward the west, his previously stunned expression gradually being replaced by a blazing murderous intent that seemed to have finally found somewhere to direct itself.

He had been driven out of Mid Sector 118 by several of Qarunʼs disciples, and he had retreated without a fight. From his perspective at the time, they had already expanded at an explosive pace, swallowing territory far faster than anyone could have expected, and it was time for them to stop pushing forward, consolidate what they had gained, start fortifying themselves, and focus their attention on defending Mid Sector 90... But had he known then just how important expansion truly was, had he known that every additional Sector brought under their control could matter when that approaching disaster finally arrived, he would never have retreated a single step without fighting to the death!

”Thereʼs still time...” Kiryanʼs lips began to tremble as the murderous intent in his eyes continued to intensify. ”Iʼll make up for that disgrace myself!”

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On the other side of the starfield—

”....?!” Asteron froze in place once again, as though another invisible blow had landed directly upon him, and the hand gripping his scepter began to tremble despite the strength with which his fingers were wrapped around it.

”Ten thousand years...” Arkail sighed deeply and looked down, his expression carrying the weight of everything he had just heard. ”I wonder if this is the interpretation of the prophecy of the Falling Mountain... the fall that will cause an earthquake throughout the universe and change everything.”

Then he slowly raised his head toward his opponent, the Relativity Behemoth standing across from him, and asked, ”Do you still want to fight?”

”.....” Asteron began grinding his teeth so hard that the muscles around his jaw tightened. ”This master of yours either caused a catastrophe that has truly befallen the entire universe because of what he did, or heʼs an exceptionally skilled liar capable of making all of this sound convincing.”

”A catastrophe because he listened to the Cosmic Elderʼs request and fought the Space Beasts alone alongside his followers?” Arkail immediately became agitated, his voice rising as he struck his chest proudly. ”Even my beloved son Asir died in that battle, fighting there because of what was happening! Do you dare say my sonʼs death was a lie as well?!”

”....” Asteron raised his free hand and gripped his hair tightly, his fingers pressing against his head as if that could somehow help him arrange the flood of thoughts inside it. ”A lie... Yes, a lie...” His expression worsened even further as the words left his mouth, as though even he found them increasingly difficult to accept. ”Thatʼs easier... than believing itʼs true.”

”He who lives in dreams dies by the truth, and then his dreams die with him.” Arkail raised his head slightly, looking at Asteron with a much steadier gaze. ”Lord Robin has generously decided to wake everyone up today and reveal enough to drag them out of those dreams. I hope youʼll use your mind properly and listen to him.”

”....” Asteron slowly lowered his hand from his hair, remaining silent for a moment before speaking again. ”Suppose I do use it and believe him, suppose I accept what heʼs saying as the truth.” He then stared directly into Arkailʼs face. ”What then?”

”Youʼll listen to the Lordʼs orders and carry them out, of course. He knows best.” Arkail sighed as though the answer were obvious despite how strange the words sounded coming from his own mouth.

He had never imagined that he would say words like these at any point in his life, much less say them with such certainty about a boy who had barely turned a thousand years old today... Yet this was the effect of time, something Arkail understood all too well after everything he had witnessed throughout his existence.

Everything was destined to change eventually, regardless of how permanent it might once appear or how firmly someone believed it would remain the same.

After all... time itself was the unit by which change was measured, and without change, there would be nothing through which its passage could truly be perceived.

When change ceased in things and within souls alike, when neither the world nor those existing within it changed any longer, only then would time truly have stopped.

”Listen to him?” Asteron pointed toward Robin, his expression twisting again as he rejected the direction Arkail was trying to push him toward. ”Why? Heʼs the reason for this catastrophe because he couldnʼt kill the Executioner!”

”And can you?!” Arkail raised his voice sharply, his expression hardening as he stared straight at Asteron. ”Have you lost your mind from all the information being thrown at you and forgotten what an Ancestor of the Space Beasts actually is—the very thing you once saw with your own eyes?!”

”.....” Asteron began to sweat, the confidence in his expression wavering slightly at that direct reminder.

He and Arkail had both been among the army that followed the Cosmic Elder in that era, back when he was still only a fifth-degree Balance user. Of course, the two of them had personally lived through that age rather than merely hearing stories about it, and they had seen with their own eyes the Space Beasts feeding upon entire planets as casually as ordinary beasts gnawed on fruit.

They had also experienced the power of that thing, that Ancestor, and had sensed its presence once or twice during the wars, enough to understand the terrifying difference between it and the other Space Beasts around it, but it had considered killing them with its own hands beneath it.

Merely sensing it back then, without even being personally targeted by it, had been enough to imprint that memory deeply into their minds until this very day, and perhaps forever, making it impossible for either of them to truly forget what that existence had felt like.

”I may not be able to defeat one of them, and thatʼs actually one of the biggest reasons driving me to doubt the words of this so-called Robin more and more.” Asteron raised his head slightly, regaining some of his composure as he spoke. ”But I know who can... We have two people in this universe with strength comparable to the Cosmic Elder, and one of them is someone weʼre certain has actually killed one before.”

Then he smiled slightly, as though he had finally found a solid point to stand upon amid everything he had just heard. ”And coincidentally, Iʼm working with one of them at this very moment.”

”Youʼre entrusting your life to Sevar... Seevaaaar...?” Arkail deliberately dragged out the name with obvious mockery, as if merely hearing that conclusion amused him. ”Good luck with that!”

”...Heʼs someone whose strength we know very well, both individually and in terms of the followers and forces under him. If anyone has a genuine chance of defending the universe when that time comes, itʼs undoubtedly Sevar...” Asteron then knitted his brows tightly, his expression becoming more serious. ”And of course, the Ruler of Chaos, Athena... Iʼm certain sheʼll appear to fix what that child Robin Burton has ruined!”

”...?” Arkail narrowed his eyes at his opponent for a moment, studying his expression before understanding what was truly happening. ”So thatʼs how it is... You believed Lord Robin.” Then he smiled, as if Asteronʼs own words had exposed something the Relativity Behemoth himself had not noticed. ”You believe there are external entities other than the Seer. You believe Sevar, Antares, and the others are aware of all this. You believe the date of the universeʼs end, and you even believed the date of the early catastrophe... but despite accepting all of that, you still donʼt believe heʼs strong enough for you to board his ship and bet on him.”

”An extremely shallow analysis.” Asteron raised his head slightly, refusing to be shaken merely because Arkail had arranged his thoughts into that form. ”But letʼs say youʼre right and that this is indeed what Iʼm doing. Whatʼs wrong with that?” He then pointed toward Robin on the broadcast. ”He said himself that the Executioner escaped from him and that he suffered injuries while fighting her. Assuming heʼs telling the truth about everything he said, what exactly is he going to do when an entire Executioner Brigade arrives?”

”.....” Arkail sighed, but there was no hesitation in his expression as he answered. ”Someone who fought an Executioner within the first thousand years of his life and managed to force her to flee... I trust that heʼll be able to take another step forward and protect us after another ten thousand years.”

”What a reckless gamble.” Asteron gritted his teeth, clearly finding Arkailʼs confidence difficult to understand.

”Betting that Sevar, one of the most notorious clients of the Necrofortress Galaxy, will suddenly decide to save you at the decisive moment is an even greater gamble in my opinion.” Arkail then raised both palms slightly, no longer bothering to push the argument any further. ”But... time will tell between us, and whoever wins the bet will live to bury the otherʼs shame.”

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Not far from them—inside a Rapid Intervention Vessel.

”Hehehe...” Holak stared fixedly at the broadcast with a crazed expression, his eyes carrying none of the fear or hesitation that had spread among countless others after hearing what Robin had revealed.

”Hahahahahahaha!!” His laughter suddenly grew louder and more unrestrained as the meaning of those ten thousand years seemed to settle completely in his mind.

Then he struck his left hand over his eye, his entire expression twisting further with wild excitement rather than dread.

”Khaaaaahahahaha! You can have the passage, you stinking imps! Itʼs only ten thousand years, just ten thousand years, and Iʼll see glory with my own eyes! Hahaha! Finally, after all of this, a battle worthy of the name!!”