Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2280 candidate

”...That day in the cave!” Robin raised his voice, the realization striking him with increasing force the more he examined the memories in his mind. ”The All-seeing god placed me inside a sphere of golden light as well, in a manner almost identical to what happened to Althera!”

Robinʼs eyes widened as the scene resurfaced vividly in his memory, details that had remained buried for centuries suddenly becoming far more important than they had ever seemed before.

When Robin emerged from that sphere back then, he had returned to being a child. The All-seeing god had told him that he had used the Fundamental Laws of Time and Life to rebuild his body, and as far as Robin had understood at the time, that had been the entire explanation.

The matter had appeared simple.

Almost too simple.

In fact, the All-seeing god had even asked him to rebuild Caesarʼs body as well, speaking about the process with such casual ease that Robin had never seriously questioned it afterward.

At the time it had sounded reasonable.

Now it sounded suspicious.

Could it be that something else had been happening during that moment?

Something hidden behind the restoration of his body?

Something that had escaped his notice entirely because he had been too young to understand what was happening around him?

Thinking about it more carefully...

The All-seeing god had returned Helen to her bedroom across sectors and belts with nothing more than a casual wave of his hand, effortlessly moving a Nexus State cultivator across astronomical distances that should have been difficult even for the greatest powers.

Did he really need to wrap Robin inside a sphere of golden light for several minutes merely to apply the Laws of Time and Life?

Why hadnʼt he done it with a simple gesture as well?

Restoring the body of a mortal was incomparably easier than transporting a Nexus State cultivator across belts.

The difference wasnʼt even worth comparing.

Secondly, when he transported Helen, he hadnʼt consumed energy from her body at all.

He had done everything himself.

The burden had clearly fallen on him.

So why had he consumed all of Robinʼs solid levels merely to activate Time and Life?

Why had Robin been reduced to such a miserable state afterward?

Especially considering that Robinʼs foundations and even his Soul Domain had been lawless at the time and required no cleansing whatsoever.

There had been nothing to repair beyond the body itself.

Nothing that should have justified such a dramatic process.

But that only created more questions rather than answers.

If the All-seeing god had done that to him, then how had Robin managed to do something similar to Althera?

He certainly wasnʼt capable of wielding Time and Life at the All-seeing godʼs level.

Nor had he consciously attempted to replicate whatever process the All-seeing god had used.

Yet the similarities were becoming impossible to ignore.

Robin raised both hands and pressed them firmly against his head.

Something was missing.

A crucial piece.

A piece large enough to connect everything.

Something he should have noticed already.

Something sitting directly in front of him.

Something that made every answer feel incomplete.

While trapped in that nearly hysterical state of thought, Glatheon suddenly spoke: ”Allow me to stop you here, Lord Robin. Thereʼs a small contradiction in your reasoning.”

”A contradiction?” Robin turned toward him in surprise.

”We concluded only moments ago that Lady Althera had already reached zero restrictions before she left the house and had already obtained that terrifying amount of power. Only afterward did she enter the golden sphere and lose everything.” Glatheon pointed toward Robin. ”What youʼre describing, however, is the event involving the golden sphere itself, something that should have happened after the removal of restrictions according to the sequence weʼve established, or at the very least something separate from it.”

”...” Faced with his own conclusion reflected back at him, Robin nodded reluctantly before beginning to pace back and forth slowly.

The movement was almost unconscious.

His mind was running much faster than his body.

”But I canʼt remember anything unusual in my life before the All-seeing god appeared. There isnʼt a single moment I can point to and say, ʼThat was it.ʼ Do you understand? No strange phenomenon. No sudden transformation. No overwhelming realization. Certainly that moment of mental clarity beside Rita wasnʼt it...”

”...?” Althera narrowed her eyes.

Who was Rita?!

The name had appeared out of nowhere.

Yet before she could ask, Robin suddenly stopped walking.

His expression froze.

Then his brows slowly tightened.

”No... there is one.”

”What is it?!” Glatheon asked immediately, feeling as though he was participating in the unraveling of a cosmic mystery whose implications might reach far beyond a single person.

”A fraction of a second before the All-seeing god appeared.” Robin narrowed his eyes. ”When I discovered the Fundamental Law of Death... and with it, the First Grade of the master Law of Truth.”

”Do you think that was the moment you obtained the removal of restrictions?” Glatheon asked.

”...Iʼm not sure.” Robin shook his head. ”At that exact moment, the All-seeing god stopped time before I had the chance to feel anything. Everything happened too quickly. Time didnʼt begin moving again until after he disappeared and I emerged from the golden sphere.”

Then he nodded several times while replaying the sequence in his memory again and again.

”I canʼt think of anything else.”

”Thatʼs it then.” Glatheon pointed directly toward Robin. ”That was your ticket to the removal of restrictions.”

”...?” Robin furrowed his brows, clearly unconvinced by the direction Glatheonʼs reasoning was taking. ”Are you saying the All-seeing god had nothing to do with it? That everything that happened to me occurred naturally and he merely happened to be present?”

Glatheon pointed toward Althera without hesitation.

”Did he have anything to do with what happened to Lady Althera?”

”But my Master Laws are what affected her.” Robin frowned more deeply. ”Without them, she would have continued her breakthrough exactly as planned without anything unusual happening. She wouldʼve advanced, received her Heavenly Law support, and the matter wouldʼve ended there.”

”And at that time, you broke through to become a genuine Chosen of Truth, not one of those clowns who merely use the title while barely understanding what it means.” Glatheon replied immediately, refusing to let Robin dismiss the possibility so easily. ”That has to count for something! A lot of something, in fact.” Then he continued, growing increasingly confident in his theory. ”What if obtaining the First Grade of a Master Law automatically removes all restrictions imposed by cosmic powers? What if thatʼs one of the hidden effects of stepping beyond ordinary laws? That would make perfect sense. How could ordinary cosmic laws continue affecting a Master Law user? How could rules created beneath Master Laws continue binding someone who has already stepped into that level?”

Then he quickly added before Robin could interrupt.

”And this becomes even more reasonable when we consider that Lady Althera was affected by your successive breakthroughs. Perhaps the Heavenly Laws themselves became confused and hurriedly cleared the area for exactly that reason! Perhaps they recognized something beyond their authority and simply retreated.”

”Now that I think about it...” Althera spoke up slowly while recalling the details of that moment. ”The threads were trembling in fear. Not resisting. Not hesitating. They were genuinely afraid. And they stopped several times before finally making that movement and rushing toward me.”

”See?!” Glatheon exclaimed happily as though he had just received proof supporting his argument. ”Those few pauses match the few breakthroughs. Believe me! Every time a new Master Symbol appeared, they hesitated again before finally giving up altogether.”

”...I donʼt know.” Robin resumed pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. ”I think this line of reasoning has drifted off course. Building conclusions entirely upon assumptions isnʼt my style. The more extraordinary a conclusion is, the more evidence it should require.”

”Then what if we treat it as a hypothesis and nothing more?” Glatheon spread both hands. ”No conclusions. No declarations. Just an assumption for the sake of continuing the analysis. Letʼs assume you obtained the removal of restrictions the moment you acquired the Master Law of Truth, and that Lady Althera obtained hers because of your breakthroughs today, and according to Your Majesty, that was where the story ended.”

”....” Robin nodded after a brief pause.

”Go on.”

For Robin, this wasnʼt merely a waste of time or an exercise in satisfying curiosity.

The number of potential applications that could arise if these theories proved correct was simply enormous.

If restrictions could truly be removed.

If the process could be replicated.

If it could be understood and controlled.

Then the implications extended far beyond Althera.

Far beyond a single universe, perhaps.

”Now we come to the second part.” Glatheon spoke quickly, noticing Robinʼs willingness to listen. ”The All-seeing god placed you inside a golden sphere and returned you to zero. Meanwhile, you placed Lady Althera inside a golden sphere and returned her to zero.”

”...A golden lock and shackles appeared above your head and shattered without you feeling a thing. Meanwhile, a golden lock appeared above Lady Altheraʼs head, and she didnʼt feel anything either. Neither of you sensed the process itself while it was happening.”

”And aside from that similarity, there are two variables.” Glatheon raised two fingers. ”The first is that the incident involving Your Majestyʼs lock breaking and Lady Altheraʼs lock appearing occurred at the exact same time the Sixth Symbol appeared. Not before it. Not after it. At the same moment.”

He lowered one finger.

”The second is that youʼre the only one capable of seeing Lady Altheraʼs lock.”

Then he lowered the second finger as well.

Afterward, he closed his mouth and stared directly into Robinʼs eyes with a measured expression, clearly waiting for him to connect the final pieces himself.

”...?” Althera furrowed her brow, trying to understand where he was going with this, before turning toward Robin. ”Do you understand something?”

”....” Robin continued staring at Glatheon for several long seconds, his eyes opened wider than usual as the implications unfolded one after another inside his mind.

The similarities.

The timing.

The lock.

The sphere.

The return to zero.

The inability of anyone else to perceive the phenomenon.

Everything pointed toward a single answer.

Then he turned back toward Althera with a faint smile.

”If Iʼve understood correctly, then in the simplest possible terms...”

He pointed toward himself.

”I was the All-seeing godʼs candidate.”

Then he pointed toward Althera.

”And now youʼre mine.”