Lord of the Truth

Two more years passed—

"Mmm~!" Robin stretched his arms wide to both sides, a look of pure satisfaction painting his face. He had just finished completing yet another high-value order, this one worth 1.5 million pearls.

"Haah~ Alright… so, what's still left ahead of me now?"

<There is still quite a bit remaining, Lord Human. You've been here for a total of five years so far, and you've managed to complete approximately half of the task list. The remaining half still lies ahead of you. Though to be fair, this second half is considered the easier portion. Yet, even at this current pace of yours, you'd need another three years just to finish it all completely!>

The fairy fluttered in a circle around Robin, watching him with wide, almost incredulous eyes.

Now that she had witnessed his efficiency and execution speed firsthand—how swiftly and precisely he completed each task—it all seemed almost surreal, as if she were watching a dream unfold in front of her.

"Hmmm… this hall," Robin said, glancing around at the glowing walls and symbols carved into the air itself. "You mentioned it increases mental processing speed and sharpens concentration? It's truly extraordinary. Honestly, it helped me more than I expected. Without it, I probably would've needed five and a half years, maybe more."

Robin nodded approvingly, then casually waved his hand. The work table in front of him shimmered for a moment—then vanished entirely.

"But I'm done here," he declared calmly.

<Hmm? Are you planning to postpone the rest of the assignments for another time, Lord Human?>

The fairy tilted her head curiously, her wings flickering with a faint blue glow.

"I'm not postponing them," Robin said with a smirk. "I'm not doing them at all."

With a flick of his wrist, he dismissed the thought entirely.

"I've already completed all the high-tier missions—every one that paid over a million. Anything less than that is a waste of my time and energy. We'll just let the others deal with those."

He laughed lightly, then opened his control panel—and smiled.

With the delivery of that last order, his account balance had finally updated, and now—at long last—it had jumped back up above 5 billion pearls!

In a strange twist of perception, Robin had begun to feel poor any time his wealth dipped below the five-billion mark—something that would've seemed ridiculous to his past self.

After all, when he first arrived in the Middle Belt with 50 million, he had felt like the richest man in the galaxy, as though the entire universe were at his fingertips.

"Any messages for me during these past few days?"

Robin navigated into his glowing message box, expecting to see a stream of updates and notices.

Instead, all he found were a handful of pending messages from some Lords.

"That's... odd," he murmured.

Renara, Theo, and Hedrick... He sent messages to each—and that was five years ago. Since then, nothing.

No follow-ups. No new messages. No replies.

<Lord Human, perhaps it's time you caught up with the news,> the fairy suggested gently, as if remembering something important.

"The news?"

Robin squinted suspiciously, then opened his eyes wide.

"What happened?"

<Allow me to assist you. I'll gather all the relevant information and bring it to you directly.>

With a flick of her finger, the fairy snapped—snap!—and summoned a glowing rectangular panel in front of Robin.

"Hmm?"

Robin leaned forward as the screen filled with content. A long, detailed article appeared, its title bold and ominous:

"Signs of an Impending Cosmic War Brewing in Young Sector 101."

"Wait... is this about Hedrick?"

Robin narrowed his eyes slightly. That name—101—rang a bell.

He remembered it clearly from the auction days.

<Correct. Recent leaks have begun surfacing about the escalating situation there.>

The fairy hovered beside him, her voice steady but serious.

<One of the top news organizations—those that specialize in digging deep into galactic-level conflicts—has conducted an intense investigation of Young Sector 101.

They scoured the region from orbit, and after extensive surveillance, they uncovered the truth: the sector houses a disputed Galactic Seed, the core reason behind the ongoing war. They've compiled a full report based on what they witnessed.>

<…According to their sources, the battle surrounding the Galactic Seed's atmosphere is raging with terrifying intensity.

Several World Cataclysms and Nexus-State warriors are attempting to destroy the Seed from the outside.

But Lord Hedrick's elite generals are guarding it fiercely. They now practically live aboard enormous warships that orbit the Seed around the clock, night and day, without rest.>

<However, even those generals can't stop everything.

Every single day, large numbers of hostile warships descend and land on the Seed's surface.

In addition to the well-known forces under Lord Zaryon, there are troops loyal to other Lords—and even unidentified factions—all launching ground invasions against the Seed.>

"This...?"

Robin's expression tightened. His brows furrowed deeply. He tried to imagine the scale of such a war—but it was nearly impossible. The image in his mind seemed more like a legend than reality.

<If it weren't for the fact that Lord Hedrick's troops were empowered with special bloodlines, granting them access to minor laws of the Destruction Path, they would've been annihilated in less than a week.

And this isn't even the full extent of their strength—Lord Hedrick has been supporting and cultivating this army for over 200,000 years.

The result is a Millennial Planetary Empire, a force of staggering size with countless warriors.>

<The news report estimates that millions die every single day on both sides—but the reinforcements keep coming, without end.

This Planetary Empire under Lord Hedrick's command has lost no less than 200 million soldiers since the beginning of the conflict, centuries ago—including almost all of its original elite troops.

At this point, they are fighting purely based on their overwhelming numbers. It's a war of attrition—on a cosmic scale.>

The fairy continued, her voice quieter now, tinged with concern:

She floated beside Robin, her wings shimmering faintly.

<Lord Zaryon's followers—and the vast coalition backing him—have begun launching full-scale attacks directly into the very core territories of the Millennial Empire. The intention is clear: to scatter Hedrick's forces and draw their attention away from defending the Galactic Seed. And it's working. They're seizing planetary strongholds left and right—planet after planet falling like dominoes. If this continues, the numerical advantage that Lord Hedrick's forces have enjoyed for so long may collapse. Soon, he might not even be able to replace his losses fast enough.>

<And in the midst of this chaos, Lord Hedrick is reportedly losing his temper. He's furious. He has already issued threats—loud, public ones. He warned that if certain enemies within the central regions of the Middle Belt continue pressuring him, he will personally retaliate and strike them down in their own domains.>

The fairy paused briefly, then added with a tinge of irony:

<But so far, those threats seem to be falling on deaf ears. Everyone knows the truth behind the curtain—Lord Hedrick stands utterly alone, without a single reliable ally to support him in this war.>

"..."

Robin's expression remained unreadable for a moment. Then he slowly nodded a few times and exhaled deeply.

"It seems the article title wasn't exaggerated at all," he finally muttered.

"These really are the signs of a full-scale cosmic war.

If that Galactic Seed is ever destroyed… Hedrick won't hesitate to unleash hell on everyone he blames.

From what I saw during the auction, the seed wasn't just a treasure to him—it was a dream, a lifelong obsession, something he poured his soul into. He'll burn galaxies before letting go of it."

<Perhaps his reaction is just around the corner,> the fairy responded, her voice dropping slightly.

<According to that same major news organization, the current warfront won't be sustainable for more than another 200 years at most. If nothing drastically changes—no reinforcements, no unexpected miracles—the conflict will end with the Galactic Seed's annihilation.>

<This isn't just speculation, either. It's the general consensus among major analysts, Lords, and news circles. Two centuries is more than enough to drain the coffers, exhaust the spirit, and crush the manpower of even a Millennial Empire. Especially now, when the war isn't confined to one battlefront—every planet under their control is under siege, not just the Seed.>

"Hah… then maybe I won't need to lend him that Planetary Displacement Gear after all."

Robin let out a chuckle, half amusement, half relief.

This war was happening light-years away, in another sector entirely. It had nothing to do with him, and that's exactly how he wanted it to stay.

After a moment, Robin's expression shifted.

"Any updates on Theo?" he asked casually.

The fairy thought for a moment, then shook her head slowly.

<Hmm… unfortunately, no. We don't have anything concrete about him in the Soul Society's records.>

<What we do know is this: the one referred to as Sword-Theo2 is suspected to be one of the upper-tier leaders of the mysterious Shadow Sword Guild. And there's the matter of your financial connection to him—you transferred 20 billion pearls. Beyond that, however… he's a complete ghost.>

<He doesn't appear in public forums. He doesn't interfere directly in any known incidents. He behaves exactly like the rest of the Shadow Swords Guild—always hidden, always lurking just beyond reach.>

<Even now, he hasn't implanted a soul seed in his domain. He continues to access the realm through local access centers, using a different location each time, like he's deliberately avoiding all forms of tracking.>

"Good."

Robin clapped his hands once, firmly. That was exactly the kind of report he wanted.

If Theo's movements had become public knowledge, it would've caused severe complications—especially given the scale of their shared dealings.

Now, at least, he could breathe a little easier.

Just as he was about to close his control panel and move on, a thought struck him.

"Wait… any news about the Empire of the Nine Paths?"

Pop.

"Oh?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "There's a report?"

A floating square window appeared in front of him, displaying a headline. Curious, he leaned forward to read—

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

"What in the actual...!?"

Robin's eyes flew open in disbelief as a flood of dialog boxes began popping up one after another—dozens, hundreds of them, layering over each other rapidly, until they had surrounded him completely on all sides!

It was as if the system had been waiting for this moment—and it had a lot to say about the Empire of the Nine Paths.