Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1873 Spider Web-1

”... Monarch Kaylis publicly requested support from the Behemothʼs galaxy.”

”Are you truly not planning to stop spreading these outrageous lies?!” Orion swung his arm violently, his voice rising with barely restrained fur, ”Do you think you can say what ever the hell you want?!”

”Easy now!” Hedrick lifted his hand the moment he noticed Orion preparing to move, then revealed a wide, entertained smile. ”We have just arrived at the most enjoyable part. Why in the world would you want to stop him now? Haha -go on, Theo, continue.”

”Very well.” Theo waited a brief moment, letting the tension settle. ”When Monarch Kaylis sought aid from the Cursed Behemothʼs galaxy, she demonstrated a level of strategic brilliance. She knew such a request, if made alone, would draw suspicion, so she also called for support from the closest Behemoths to her sector-the Savage Behemoth, The Sorcerer Behemoth, and the Temporal Behemoth.”

”She had real relationships with all of them, and because the Pureheart family had assisted each one of them or one of their heirs at one point or another, every single one of those great beings had a favorable word to say on her behalf. They agreed without hesitation, though their support was shallow, symbolic, and ended the moment they voiced it. They had no intention of involving themselves deeply... Meanwhile, the Cursed Behemoth devoted his entire influence to backing her and even sent his own sons to negotiate directly with the millennial empire for her sake!”

”...He promised them vast financial backing, promised them carefully-selected batches of high-tier curses, promised them invaluable future favors, and-most importantly-convinced them that this coordinated stance would save them from a colossal war in which the millennial empires would annihilate each other. He assured them that the Pureheart family would never harm them after the galaxyʼs formation.” Theo paused briefly, then continued with a faint sigh. ”And because every major force knows the peacful temperament of the Pureheart family... they agreed, choosing the safer path to avoid rivers of blood.”

”Magnificent!” Hedrick spread a smile that nearly carved itself across his entire face. ”So in the end, you were a branch-nothing more than an extension of the Cursed Behemoth inside this sector? Well, that explains the hesitation, the staggering cowardice in confronting the Cursed Behemoth, explains everything down to the smallest detail.”

”I will not allow you!!” Orionʼs composure shattered like glass. ”We may owe certain favors, may have accepted some assistance across the centuries, but we are not servants-nor followers- of anyone!” He pointed harshly at Theo, rage trembling in his voice. ”You have no idea what youʼre saying!!”

”Oh, but I do. I know exactly what Iʼm saying.” Theo responded with unnerving calm. ”And youʼre right- your people are not followers of anyone.”

”...?” Both Orion and Hedrick exchanged bewildered looks, their confusion sharpening the tension.

”The truth is that Her Majesty Kaylis never took any binding oath of allegiance to the Cursed Behemothʼs galaxy. She used this ancient familial connection to her advantage, squeezed every benefit out of it, yet refused anything that would link her directly or legally to the Cursed galaxy. Cursed Darvion even sought her hand in marriage, and she rejected him outright... One could say that, outwardly, Her Majesty Kaylis remains entirely free. Even if one of her ancestors swore a heavy oath ages ago, she is not bound by it, and the new generation stands unshackled as well.”

”But the Cursed Behemoth is not some naïve novice.” Theo allowed a barely noticeable smile to surface. ”He may not have been able to force Her Majesty into complete obedience-he does not dare risk losing her, for she is a lifeline against the soul filth consuming him. But there are countless other methods: he pressures her through her vulnerable points, threatens the family she cherishes and is desperate to protect. And this became even more effective after she ascended to Behemothhood, for her families gained enormous importance in managing vast resources and responsibilities.”

”After the Monarch refined the seed and transformed into the Pure Behemoth, Kaylis, the Cursed Behemoth came to visit or so he claimed- under the excuse that he was the closest Behemoth to the sector. He arrived offering congratulations, and at the same time he forged a series of military and training agreements with Her Majesty, agreements meant to shape her inexperienced family into what could eventually qualify as a Behemoth family. It was an arrangement that would have taken place whether anyone liked it or not, for the accursed Darvion came personally, accompanied not by ordinary followers but by his elite-his finest, the kind whose presence alone could silence any objection.”

”...The Behemoth purchased armadas for her forcefully, without so much as asking her opinion- and he brought in mercenaries to operate within the army and to manage the newly acquired armadas. He was also the one who constructed her defensive arrays from the ground up, and the one who supplied the planetary displacement artifacts required to mold the galaxy itself into a livable structure. After that, he sent individuals intimately connected to him: some to train the Pureheart family in administrative positions, others to work as teachers, law enforcers, and labor teams responsible for developing the seed into something respectable, etc etc- the list of things he involved himself in is so long and so intrusive that it cannot truly be counted.”

”In truth, one could say that the Cursed Behemoth had been suffocating the Bright Galaxy from the very first day of its existence and continues to do so until now. Those mercenaries he constantly replaces are, in reality, his own loyal followers, bound to him by oath and allegiance. He knows everything about the armadas because he was the architect behind them- and perhaps even rigged them. He knows every secret hidden within the arrays of the galaxy because he designed them. He knows the star charts and the planetary distribution maps because he personally relocated them. He knows the training level of every Pureheart descendant because he was the one who taught them, molded them, and watched them grow.”

”And this suffocating level of involvement did not diminish after the first few years; it did not fade even after the familyʼs training was supposedly complete. The mercenaries who operate the armadas never departed. The so-called teachers who had been sent to train the Pureheart family taught them mere administration skills and customer-handling etiquette. They never taught them anything related to war, conflict, or strategic command, nor did they allow them to learn such matters on their own.”

”... With tremendous effort -almost scraping her way through sheer will- Her Majesty managed to gather mercenaries from within Middle Sector 101. She bought a few additional armadas and placed her own people inside them. And after she married some random member of her own family, she began having children of her own and then sending them into different sectors with specific instructions, including orders that they must grow stronger, sharpen their combat instincts, and refine their survival skills to the absolute limits before

returning home.”

”The pure Kaylis attempted many times to escape this tightening siege using her own strategies and quiet methods, because most of her attempts -no matter how clever failed instantly. The representatives of the Cursed Behemoth would forcefully insert themselves into every new armada she built. They then adopted a new strategy with Kaylisʼ children: taking them for marriage-whether male or female, it made no difference. Whoever was chosen would be taken to the Cursed Behemothʼs galaxy after a grand and extravagant

official wedding ceremony.”

”So no, Lord Hedrick.” Theo raised his head slightly, his expression solemn. ”The pure Kaylis does not belong to anyone, and those of her children who remain unmarried hold no loyalty to anyone but their mother as well. One might say they are deeply unfortunate... hostages who spend every day and night imagining the threat of their own mercenary army, the same army that could, at any time, turn its cannons toward them. They think about the arrays that might swallow them whole should they disobey. They think about the fate of whichever sibling -brother or sister-will be taken next into the Behemothʼs galaxy as a hostage dressed in the mask of marriage. They think... endlessly... about the day when everything granted to them will be stripped away, exactly as easily as it was once bestowed.”