Lord of the Truth

Bang!

Malik sprang backward with blinding speed, his cloak billowing as he narrowly evaded the incoming strike. His staff carved a glowing arc through the air as he shouted, "Prison of Time!!"

From its tip, a condensed sphere of temporal chains erupted forth, shimmering with strands of silver light, hurtling toward his foe.

This foe was no ordinary creature—an armored specter, its frame twisted and massive, ghostly plates clinging to its incorporeal flesh. From its helmet-like head sprouted several writhing tendrils that lashed about violently, while in its hand gleamed a warped, spectral sword.

"…?!" The specter swung its blade down on the glowing orb, expecting to shatter it. Yet the prison was relentless—it cut through the strike and phased directly into its chest, embedding itself within.

" Tsk!" Malik cursed and waved again in annoyance. He had prepared his attack for several long, tense seconds, but the moment it landed he found himself beset on all sides. Shadows upon shadows closed in—thousands of specters, crowding the battlefield like a living tide, their hollow howls shaking the air. "Flow of the River of Time!!"

A ripple coursed outward, and suddenly Malik himself seemed to step free of his own body. His phantom image walked calmly among the endless swarm as though on a peaceful stroll through a field. The specters screeched, reaching for him, but to their horror their movements slowed, their claws dragging through the air too sluggishly to touch him.

Yet despite his composure, "...." Malik's breathing grew heavier. His brow furrowed in strain, a sheen of sweat forming. To invoke the fourth-stage techniques of the Major Law of Time was not something even he could sustain lightly. To do so again and again without rest was draining his core essence; if this continued, exhaustion would devour him long before the enemy did. The three great arrays he carried were his only lifeline.

But… would he even survive long enough to activate the Triad Array?

"Shhhhaaaaaaaaaahhh—///" The tendril-headed specter let out a guttural, ear-splitting shriek. The prison inside its body whirled, accelerating the passage of time within its shell, forcing it to burn through unit after unit of soul force at a terrifying pace. If left unchecked, it would soon consume everything it had and simply… vanish.

Bam!

With a violent motion, the specter thrust its clawed hand into its own chest, seizing the sphere and crushing it with a roar. The orb detonated in a burst of shattered light, ripping the creature apart into countless scraps of ghostly matter.

Its body fell away like torn rags scattered by the wind. But specters were not bound by flesh—it coalesced again within moments, reforming with rage burning hotter than before. Its hollow eyes locked on Malik once more, and it lunged, its distorted voice booming: "Death… death to you!!"

"Heeh~ so this is how it's going to be… a long, long day." Malik exhaled, his brows drawn tight.

Facing thousands of specters was already a calamity that demanded retreat. But now, with this armored, tendril-headed monstrosity thrown into the fray, the danger had multiplied beyond reckoning. Worst of all, it had just crushed the most potent weapon in his arsenal against them.

--------------------

Elsewhere, another battle raged—

A specter descended like a falling star, its asymmetrical twin horns jutting upward as it plummeted. Over five meters tall, its shadow swallowed the ground. In its hands it gripped a colossal sword, so immense it dwarfed even its giant frame.

"Come!!" Wade's laughter boomed like thunder. He raised his dagger in his right hand, while his left pressed firmly against its hilt to anchor it. His voice dropped into a low growl, almost inaudible: "Dimensional Displacement Shield!!"

Baaaaaaaaam!

The moment the gargantuan sword descended, the ground beneath Wade erupted in a cataclysmic blast. The spatial shield diverted most of the attack's force downward into the earth, splitting stone and soil in a violent quake. Shockwaves tore outward, blasting dozens of specters into the air like weightless leaves. For a heartbeat, the battlefield cleared entirely around them.

But Wade was no unscathed hero. He spat a mouthful of crimson, blood sizzling against the ground, proof of the internal wounds left by the clash. Gritting his teeth, he shoved his dagger forward, breaking the lock. His entire frame trembled with defiance as he roared and swung wildly, "Hoooorryaaaahhh!!!"

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Each strike rang out like thunder, yet the horned specter stood its ground. That immense blade, impossibly heavy, swept with such control that it deflected every one of Wade's dagger slashes—even though each strike was enhanced by the blistering speed of the Major Law of Space.

Bang! Wade stomped down, skidding back several paces. His lungs burned, his muscles screamed, and yet his eyes gleamed with fiery determination. To cross blades directly with a being equal to a mid-tier World Cataclysm was no simple feat—not even for him. And this was but a specter.

Then, before his gaze, the very fabric of space itself began to tremble. The air warped, trembling waves rippling outward. His pupils glowed, shifting colors as power surged. "Eyes of Dimensions!!"

"Arrgghhh!!" The horned specter bellowed. Instinctively, it raised its arm, its entire body tensing as if to shield itself. But the effort was meaningless—the Eyes of Dimensions radiated vibrations that penetrated its entire incorporeal form, distorting every fragment of its essence.

But unlike the countless specters that had been annihilated by this devastating art, this one did not crumble. Instead, it grew wilder, more frenzied than before. Its roar was primal, savage. "Kill!!" it shrieked, brandishing its massive sword once again, slamming it down with murderous intent.

Whooosh!

A vast surge of soul force, fused with overwhelming impact energy, erupted from the phantom's colossal blade. The wave carved through the battlefield like a heavenly guillotine, splitting the earth itself in two as it roared toward Wade, leaving behind a trail of shattered stone and scorched ether.

"Damn it!" Wade cursed, his eyes flashing with urgency. In an instant he invoked the fourth grade of the Major Law of Space, his body flickering sideways like a shadow torn from reality.

Space folded for him in that single step, but fate showed no mercy—in the blink of an eye, he found himself materializing in the midst of a knot of specters. Dozens of twisted claws and ghostly weapons were already upon him, their incorporeal edges thirsting for his head.

"Damn iiiiit!!" Wade roared, slashing out, desperate. His dagger glinted, leaving streaks of distorted space in its wake as it clashed against claw, fang, and blade. Shadows burst apart around him, yet his gaze remained fixed on His Majesty.

Yes… he could save himself. He could retreat this very instant, break through the circle and vanish into the safety of warped space. But if he left—every last one of these cursed specters would flood toward His Majesty instead.

His Majesty, who was already standing beneath the crushing, suffocating presence of the Specters' King, his body pressured by a tide strong enough to tear worlds apart.

No—he could not abandon him. He had to hold, endure, and wait.

------------------

"Soul Execution Domain!!"

Robin growled through clenched teeth. His body shuddered from exertion as he invoked the technique once again. Having just subdued the lion specter moments ago, he now found himself drowned in a suffocating ocean of enemies.

Wooooom!

This time, unlike before, he didn't direct the domain outward in a narrow arc. He detonated it from within, as if unleashing a bomb with himself at the epicenter. The Soul Execution Domain, already engineered to sweep across wide ranges, expanded in all directions with a cataclysmic boom.

"Shaaaahhh///" Hundreds of specters twisted unnaturally, their spectral bodies buckling and warping as if crushed by invisible pressure.

Their forms contorted into grotesque shapes before exploding into fragments, their death-screams tearing the air. In their place, countless emerald crystals erupted outward, cascading like a storm of green meteors, showering the battlefield in glittering rain.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Robin's soul force flared again, extending invisible tendrils through the air. The emeralds were swept up mid-flight, gathered by unseen currents and hurled directly into his spatial ring. In less than a single heartbeat, not a shard touched the ground—they all vanished into his possession.

The next waves of specters fared better; the blast shoved them back in droves but left them intact. The reach of the domain, devastating as it was, could not extinguish those outside its radius. Robin hadn't expected it to. His goal was space—precious breathing room—and it had delivered.

For the first time in long moments, his form was visible again, no longer buried in an endless wall of enemies. His blade gleamed, his chest rose and fell, and the ground around him was littered with silence where moments ago chaos reigned.

But…

"...." Frustration darkened his face, deep and heavy. This so-called victory rang hollow in his heart. The Soul Execution Domain he had unleashed against the phantom lion earlier had cost him fifty thousand units of soul force, sacrificed without hesitation just to bind the beast long enough to bring it down.

And now? Another ten thousand units burned away to blast apart this encirclement. True—he had gained roughly forty thousand back in emerald form—but what good were they now?

He had no time to absorb them.

In a battle like this, every heartbeat counted, and standing still to cultivate meant certain death.

When he had first crossed paths with the Shepherd, his reserves had brimmed with a staggering seven hundred seventy-seven thousand units, a number that made him near unstoppable. But days of relentless pursuit, endless herds, and ceaseless combat had ground those reserves down.

Now, barely six hundred thousand remained—and dropping with every clash.

Step Step

The sound echoed like hammers upon the soul. Robin lifted his gaze toward it, his chest tightening as the weight in the air grew unbearable.

There he was.

The Specter King descended right in front of him.

His colossal form walked upon empty air as if it were solid earth, and yet each footfall resounded louder than thunder, a sound that reverberated not only in the ears but in the heart itself. The oppressive pressure made even the void tremble.

His abyssal eyes locked onto Robin's, peering directly into his soul. His voice rumbled, low and cavernous, "…That Soul technique… impressive."

Then, slowly, he raised his colossal scepter. Its tip burned with abyssal power as he pointed it directly at Robin. "I want him alive!"

"Shaaaaaaaaahhh///"