Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1218 1218: The reality of the mission

”...!!”

Robinʼs eyes opened slowly, like someone waking from a long, bitter dream. A new layer of realization swept through his mind like a crashing tide.

It all started making sense—finally.

If he looked at things from the All-Seeing godʼs perspective, stripped away the pride, the rage, and the pain... it was obvious.

He was just a piece. A pawn.

Not a commander, not a savior, not even a real player in the grand game. Just another disposable tool on a board he barely understood.

Whether he lived or died, whether he succeeded or failed—none of it held any weight.

The All-Seeing god had placed him carefully, precisely, in one of the hottest, most dangerous squares on a battlefield where titans moved freely.

A battlefield where queens carved through armies and rooks shattered worlds.

And Robin... was a mere foot soldier.

If, by some miracle, he managed to do the impossible—strike down a powerful enemy, disrupt the enemyʼs rhythm—that would be excellent.

But if he fell? If he was crushed underfoot?

No big loss.

The All-Seeing god would have still gained information.

He would have understood that section of the battlefield better.

And then… he would make his real move.

Robin let out a short, bitter laugh.

A smile curled across his lips—not from joy, but from bitter clarity.

”So what now?”

He raised his hands and gestured around at the suspended chaos—the world frozen in a still, fragile moment.

”Put everything back the way it was. Let the flow of time resume and allow the mission to end the way it was always meant to— with my death.”

The humanoid light didnʼt respond immediately. He simply gazed at Robin in silence, his glowing eyes unreadable.

Seconds passed like hours before he finally spoke, voice low and calm.

”If it had been someone else standing here, someone not you—I wouldnʼt hesitate.

I would snap my fingers and walk away.

And believe me, Robin... there were others. Dozens.

But you...”

He paused, something unfamiliar flashing across his face.

”...Youʼre too valuable to let die so early.

Especially not in such a meaningless way.”

Robinʼs eyes narrowed. His smile twisted into a scowl.

”Then what do you want from me?!

Whatʼs the point of all this philosophical rambling?

You want me to kneel now?

To throw away everything and swear loyalty like a mindless puppet?!”

He shouted, voice rising in frustration.

”I still remember what I said back in the cave.

And Iʼll repeat it to your face—I will never kneel to anyone!”

The Seer chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

”Hehe... Iʼm not here to argue with a wall of stone, Robin.”

He gestured casually at the frozen world around them.

”If kneeling was ever in your heart, you wouldnʼt have come this far to begin with.”

Then his expression darkened, voice heavier now.

”...And if you had that intention, I wouldʼve never returned to you again.”

”You... I... What are you even saying?!”

Robin groaned and clutched his head with both hands, staggering back a few steps like someone lost in a maze.

”What is happening anymore?!

Where are you going with all of this?!

What do you even want from me?!”

The All-Seeing godʼs voice turned sharp, like a blade.

The warmth in it vanished.

”Iʼm trying to teach you about life, Robin. To show you the consequences of your blindness. Do you even realize how many paths, how many futures youʼve lost because of your pride? Your stubbornness?”

He stepped sideways toward Rinara, then leaned down and gently grabbed her face, moving it as if she were a delicate porcelain doll.

”Like this girl, for instance. Why didnʼt you use her properly?”

Robin blinked, confused and a little angry.

”What do you mean? She appeared for the first time today.

She came with bad intentions—wanted to enslave me.

After all my efforts to calm her down, I barely got her to say a few words in my favor.

How exactly was I supposed to use her?!”

”Wrong answer.”

The All-Seeing god turned to face him directly, his expression intense and disappointed.

”Youʼve known of her since the invasion of Planet Gudah. The locals couldʼve given you her exact location. You couldʼve reached out to her, built something, manipulated her if needed.

Why didnʼt you?!”

He pointed a glowing finger straight at Robin.

”Especially after the appearance of the three Cataclysm-Sealing Cubes in Nihari.

Especially after the mutated plague, Sakaar, confirmed that they held a fragment of Helenʼs soul.

How could you not realize, in that moment, that you needed help—before this day of reckoning arrived?!”

He shook his head.

”I stopped responding to force you to grow. To make you stand on your own.

But instead, you clung to the thought of me like a coward holds onto a shadow.

You counted on me from the back of your mind—always waiting, always hoping for me to come save the day.”

Robinʼs eyes darkened, the anger freezing into something cold and sharp.

He stared at the Seer with a new clarity, a bitter truth rising in his voice.

”...So youʼve been watching everything. From the very beginning.”

There was no surprise left in him—just disappointment.

”Then you mustʼve seen it too—how she threatened me.

Tried to expose the Red Plague you praised so highly.

She saw what I had… and instantly tried to chain me, to make me her pet.”

”Another mistake!”

The All-Seeing godʼs voice boomed like thunder in a quiet temple, carrying with it the weight of disappointment and barely concealed rage.

He stormed forward, boots cracking the stillness beneath him, and without hesitation, grabbed one of Amonʼs horns, yanking it down with unsettling force.

”I was the one who advised you to keep the Red Plague close—tied to your wrist like a loyal hound, I gave you the coordinates to Orphanʼs Blood Planet, a place of isolation and secrecy, where they could flourish unseen, beyond interference.

A sanctuary!

But did you do...? You unleashed them into the open.

You let them roam freely like merchants in a bazaar, basking in the public eye, surrounded by your followers as if they were no more dangerous than traveling poets!”

He let go of the horn, stepping back with a disgusted scoff.

”Even when signs appeared, Warnings of what they were. What they represented. What they could become, you ignored everything!”

His hand waved in the air, painting the possibilities he saw in his mind.

”Had you simply left them on Orphanʼs Blood, had you kept them in the shadows, this entire narrative could have taken a drastically different turn.

You could have brokered a deal with the Empire of the Nine Paths.

Sent an envoy bearing a magnificent creation of yours.

You could have shaped history with a single gesture of diplomacy!”

His gaze narrowed, now sharp like a blade pressed to the throat.

”How would Rinara have known about the Red Plague then?

Her whole gambit, her only leverage over you, hinged on that single detail!

Without it, she would have had no power, no standing, no weapon to wield against you.

She wouldʼve been forced to deal with you on equal terms… perhaps even with a touch of respect.

At the very least, she might have handed you a tool to ensure your survival against Helen.”

Then he leaned in, speaking with heavy intensity.

”And more than that...

If you had dared to look deeper, to study the Empire of the Nine Paths and its spirit—if you had offered them aid, insight, true value than only they would appreciate—

She would have crossed light-years to reach you herself.

Not this projection. Not this shade. But her true body to protect you.

But you failed, and even made her know about The Galactic seed, and about you Supreme Law, Space-Time.”

He turned sharply, thrusting a finger toward Rinaraʼs frozen image, his voice dripping with cold fury.

”Look at her now! Her eyes donʼt see a man. They see a meal.

A rare, shimmering delicacy.

If I were to offer her half of her empireʼs planets in exchange for handing you over…

She would say yes without hesitation.”

Robin stood frozen, teeth clenched, fists trembling—not from fear alone, but from the crushing weight of regret beginning to settle like chains around his chest.

”You damn fool!”

The All-Seeing godʼs voice cracked like a whip through the air, resonating with power and disappointment.

”You missed a singular move—a golden opportunity that would have shattered the cosmic stalemate and rewritten the balance of power.

With one strategic act, you couldʼve forced a cataclysmic collision between the Empire of the Nine Paths and the Empire of the Destruction Pit!

Helen... that insufferable storm of arrogance… would have been attacked on all fronts.

She would have been cornered.

She would have had no choice but to crawl to her father, Helmor the Destroyer, begging for a loan massive enough to obliterate her enemies—not merely defend herself.”

He drew a slow breath, voice trembling with the sheer scope of what could have been.

”But of course… Zavaros the Savage, would never allow the Nine Paths Empire—the empire he once helped breathe into existence—to be turned to dust.

He would intervene. He must intervene.

And thus… the true war would begin.

A war unlike any the stars had ever witnessed.”

He paused, letting silence press on Robinʼs chest like the gravity of a dying star.

”All of that... all of it... could have started from you.

A single, calculated move. But nooo.

You stumbled. You hesitated. You thought like a survivor, not a strategist.

So here we are.”

Robinʼs voice cracked under the strain of rising horror.

”Zavaros the Savage… Helmor the Destroyer…

Who even are these people?! Why are there wars has to do with me?!”

”Oh, you might know Helmor the Destroyer with another name, The Father of The Destra Family, rings a bill?” The All-Seeing god smiled

”Ahhh!!” Robin quickly took a few steps back until he bumped into a massive pillar, his eyes flashing with hidden panic, ”The Destra family? I-- I was just sitting in a small cave observing a minor law here and there, but you put me on a chessboard between you and the Galactic Destra family? What the hell were you thinking?!”His legs nearly gave out as the realization twisted in his gut like a blade.

The All-Seeing god raised a brow, half-amused, half-annoyed.

”What? No, why would I clash with the Destraʼs?

No… this is between Zavaros the Savage and the Destra family.

Why would I get involved in a mess like that?”

He sighed deeply, and for a moment, the fury melted into the still air.

”Ohh~ If that cosmic war had broken out… it would have reshaped the universe itself.”

Then he turned and pointed again at Rinara, voice cold and final.

”But look at her now. She has no more plays.

No aces left in her hand. She knows it. Helen knows it.

Whether you die today or somehow cheat death again, Rinara will no longer care.

There will be no bond between you.

No reason for her to avenge you.

...This chessboard is clossed now”

Robinʼs voice was low, hollowed out.

”From the beginning... everything... I should have known when I found out you were lying about their army being ready in fifty years... They said they found the planet by accident because of the wormhole--”

Then a sudden flash of clarity struck him.

”The wormhole!”