Lord of the Truth

<…Capturing the Black Wasp located on planet Mikha-8… Reward: 150,000 Pearls if captured alive, and 50,000 Pearls if brought back dead.>

Robin's brows knitted tightly, his expression turning sharp. "A mission to capture a Black Wasp? This is you they're talking about… isn't it?!"

"Correct." Latania replied in a calm, almost dismissive tone, before a smirk curved her lips. "The boys and girls have been stirring up a few… incidents across the sectors. Some forces think they can use these posters to bring us down. Let them try and see what happens!"

"This doesn't bode well…" Robin muttered under his breath, the weight of the implications already running through his mind.

"No need for concern, Your Majesty. Do you honestly believe the children in the academy could subdue an Imperial Guard? Even if they all pooled their strength together, they wouldn't stand a chance—especially not against that particular guard. He's part of the First Squad, and not even under my direct command. Still, it would be nothing short of a humiliation if he were to fall to a pack of brash youngsters." Latania shook her head, then added with a faint glint in her eyes, "The Imperial Guard stationed on planet Mikha-8 is one of Malik's own deputies. If memory serves, his current assignment is to dismantle the ruling regime of that planet as part of his ongoing duties."

"And why would he have such a task?" Robin asked, his tone carrying both curiosity and disapproval.

"No special reason—it's simply part of the Supreme Guard's advanced training regimen." Latania clarified, her voice steady. "The Imperial Guards don't engage directly in wars alongside the Three Great Armies, so we're forced to create unique challenges to hone their skills." She then gestured toward the mission sheet with deliberate emphasis. "Secondly, the data on these planets comes directly from His Highness Theo. He personally provides the Supreme Guard with a curated list of tyrannical kingdoms and corrupt empires worthy of destruction, along with precise coordinates… so that our actions do not risk earning your displeasure."

"…Perhaps the careful selection of targets is the only thing stopping the academies from adding every single Black Wasp to their wanted lists." Robin's voice was low, yet there was a clear edge to it.

For such capture orders—targeting one of the Black Wasps—to reach the heart of a Stellar Academy meant that the academies were beginning to officially acknowledge them as dangerous criminals… and that was something Robin knew must never be allowed to happen.

"Holak needs to start innovating—finding new training concepts for the guards that don't involve striking at ruling empires. That is, unless those empires provoke us first." Robin's tone hardened into a decision. "Handling despotic forces is the responsibility of the academies, not ours. If we intervene without cause, all it will do is draw the hatred and retaliation of other powers."

"As you command, Your Majesty." Latania inclined her head respectfully. "The Supreme Guard has devised nearly every form of training conceivable for our people. I can contact him directly and deliver your request to exclude such missions from the training roster going forward."

Robin gave a single approving nod, then lowered his gaze back to the mission board. "…"

Missions to defend rural villages… missions to hunt and kill dangerous beasts… missions requiring the collection of rare, hard-to-find herbs… missions to escort high-profile local figures across hostile territory…

Robin noted that the majority of these missions were designed for prodigies below the World Cataclysm Realm—assignments that ranged from moderately challenging to perilously high in difficulty for a high-level Martial Emperor. Yet for the academy-trained geniuses, many of these could undoubtedly be completed successfully… though certainly not all.

It was obvious that some of these missions had been pinned to this board for countless centuries, never claimed.

Especially those involving Beast Kings… A Beast King at the absolute peak of the Martial Emperor Realm—a creature like Devos, Durger, or Crixes— is far beyond the reach of most students. Who among them could even hope to stand before such entities and survive?

"Hmm?" While scanning the board, Robin's gaze caught on a particular notice, the words standing out like a spark in the dark:

<Deliver confirmed intelligence on the female know as the Specter Shepherd… Reward begins at 50,000 Pearls and may rise to 1 million Pearls, depending on the value and significance of the information.>

"Specter Shepherd? Just the information about her alone is worth a million Pearls?" Robin's brows furrowed deeply, his tone edged with disbelief. Even the complete eradication of a plague ravaging an entire planet barely carried a bounty of 200,000 Pearls! The gap was staggering.

"Haven't you heard of her before, Your Majesty?" Malik's voice came from behind, steady yet carrying a note of intrigue. He approached with unhurried steps, holding three gleaming cards between his fingers—licenses, the very ones Robin had instructed him to retrieve. "She is a name spoken in hushed tones in Mid Sector 99, a figure known by nearly all who dare to tread around danger."

"What manner of calamity is she," Robin asked, his curiosity sharpened, "to deserve such an extraordinary bounty?"

"A calamity of the highest order." Malik's answer came with a faint, knowing chuckle. "Perhaps His Highness Theo has already told you of Mid Sector 99—a domain steeped in endless danger. The place is overrun with specters, their presence as natural here as the air itself. The path of soul force thrives in abundance, for without it, no living being could hope to survive. Between the relentless specter race, who hunger endlessly for sustenance —the very souls of the living— and the human factions, who greedily covet the soul emeralds left behind after specters are slain… there exists something in the middle, neither wholly one nor the other. That something… is the Shepherd."

"In the middle? What do you mean by that?" Robin's gaze locked on Malik, his tone more insistent now.

Malik's eyes narrowed slightly, the weight of his next words pressing the air between them. "They say… she can command specters."

"What?!" Robin nearly rose from his seat, the shock jolting through him like a sudden strike.

Though he had never set eyes upon a specter himself, his studies in the archives painted them vividly in his mind—conscious, twisted souls driven by a single, primal desire: to consume other souls without end. Such creatures could not be reasoned with, could not be swayed. The only way to deal with them was to capture them, refine them, purify them—erasing their essence as specters entirely. But to control them? That was an impossibility. Or so he had always believed.

"That is the claim…" Malik's voice dropped lower, as if speaking of her too loudly might invite her attention. "It is said she appears only on worlds teeming with an overwhelming number of specters, and wherever she manifests… disaster follows, vast and merciless. Entire cities vanish. Entire continents grow silent." He paused, then continued with a measured tone, "The number of legends woven about her is without limit, and the secrets she carries… are beyond counting. But one truth stands above all—she is strong. Unfathomably strong."

Malik's eyes darkened as he went on. "A few years ago, Professor Barok embarked on an expedition, taking with him every single one of his personal guards. When he returned, his body bore wounds severe enough to stain his robes crimson, and not a single guard accompanied him back. Rumors say he crossed paths with the Specter Shepherd… and barely, barely, escaped with his life. But his guards—stalwart warriors who once resided in the special quarters reserved for World Cataclysm Guards—were not granted the same fortune."

"…?!" Robin's eyes widened to their fullest, the implications weighing heavily.

Though he harbored no fondness for Barok, the man was still a Royal Soul Master—an elite, and according to the archive volumes Robin had read, Barok could be ranked as at least a Two-Star Royal Soul Master. Even Althera, a Monarch herself, treated him with a degree of respect, avoiding direct orders unless absolutely necessary.

The thought that such a man could be humbled —and nearly destroyed— was a sobering one.

At that very moment, cutting through the tension like a blade, came a mocking voice from the side:

"Ohhh, look who we have here—Robin Burton, in the flesh! Ooooh, what's happened to that body of yours? Did Heaven's wrath finally crash down upon you and leave you a cripple at last?"