Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2270: Free

"....."

Robin continued staring at the small board before him with open, glowing eyes.

His concentration was extraordinarily deep, and all of his senses had been shut away. He could see nothing except what he wished to see, and feel nothing except what he wished to feel. The outside world had long since faded into insignificance compared to the thoughts occupying his mind, and even the disturbances shaking the planet seemed no more important than distant background noise.

Meanwhile, the contents of the board were moving...

The four circles shifted slightly to the side and compressed their positions, making room for a fifth circle that was barely beginning to emerge between Balance and Creation, appearing first as a faint outline before gradually becoming clearer.

Until at last it rose completely and fused itself into the Circle of Truth, planting its roots there just as the other four had done before it, becoming part of the structure rather than an outsider attached to it...

And exactly like them, it began revolving around Truth in quiet harmony, moving with a steady rhythm that suggested it had always belonged there.

"Balance... is the dividing point between chaos and order, evil and good, existence and nonexistence," Robin began muttering as his gaze followed the paths traced across the board. "Creation... is the tool that takes whatever already exists and shapes it into the desired result."

Then he stared at the drawing.

"Primordial Chaos... the raw material from which everything was made, the first and final source of energy. Yet without Creation it would have been useless, and without Balance, Creation could never have begun working upon it in the first place... its role always lies between the two."

"...Yet from what I can see, the Law reveals methods for manipulating Primordial Chaos and subjugating both it and its derivatives, but not producing it." He furrowed a brow slightly while following several lines converging at a single point. "...Then where did it come from?"

Afterward, he smiled.

"Hehe, it doesn’t matter for now. I’ll take my time exploring it later. I never imagined today would end with a gain like this. Hehe."

That circle which had appeared was the key to the Master Primordial Chaos Law.

It had emerged on its own after he felt his understanding of the other Laws rise, particularly Creation and Balance, as though the increase in comprehension had naturally illuminated a path that had been hidden from him until now.

And he was not about to waste such an opportunity.

He had drawn the circle with his own hand and examined it thoroughly using the Eye of Truth, which revealed everything he needed to know about the First Grade, or at least everything he needed to investigate and learn more about later, providing clues, directions, and fragments of understanding that would save him countless years of blind exploration...

Naturally, that small circle did not literally contain all of that information.

Craaack

Robin felt a strange sensation around him.

All the events that had shaken the planet had failed to attract his attention, but when the lock and shackles appeared and began breaking apart, something inside Robin found itself unable to ignore them, as though a deeply buried instinct had suddenly awakened.

Immediately, Robin broke the concentration he had maintained for so long and raised his gaze slightly.

Toward the lock and shackles that were cracking and collapsing.

"Hmmm?" Robin revealed a puzzled smile.

He could not feel anything happening to his body or soul.

He felt no pain.

No threat.

Bang

The lock and shackles shattered and disappeared, dissolving into countless fragments of golden light that scattered into the surroundings before fading completely.

"Hmm, that was strange." Robin scratched his hair with Seraphim.

Something inside him insisted that the lock belonged to him, yet he could not feel that anything concerning him had changed.

He felt no physical pain, no spiritual pain, and no existential threat, as though what had just happened had nothing to do with him at all, despite the unmistakable sense that it had been connected to him somehow.

Yet slowly, he furrowed his brows slightly.

Then he began cracking his neck from side to side.

No...

Something was different.

Right now, he felt...

Alone.

An incredibly strange sensation.

A sensation he had never even realized he possessed in the first place, yet now that it was gone, its absence felt impossible to ignore. The feeling was subtle, but also profound enough that he could not simply dismiss it.

Compared to now, it could be said that he had always felt as though someone was accompanying him, as though he lived beneath an unseen gaze, as though he were a puppet held in the hands of something he could never see.

He had often exploded in anger during difficult situations because of that feeling.

He had always tried to rid himself of it, yet never succeeded.

He had always assumed it was caused by weakness, by pressure, by responsibilities, or by the expectations placed upon him.

Robin raised one eyebrow.

Could it be that the mental burden had vanished simply because he had become stronger?

"Hmmm..." Robin tapped Seraphim lightly against the table, producing a soft rhythmic sound while he considered the possibility. "Perhaps I should investigate it more later."

Then he leaned forward to continue contemplating the board with a small smile, intending to return immediately to the far more interesting subject occupying his attention.

"....?"

That smile turned into a puzzled expression.

Why was everything so incredibly golden?!

Robin lifted his eyes slightly and looked around...

Six colossal symbols.

A sky that looked like liquid gold stretching endlessly in every direction, its surface rippling with faint radiance as though the heavens themselves had transformed into an ocean of molten sunlight.

"Huh?" Robin frowned in surprise, then looked ahead, finally allowing his attention to drift away from the board and toward the surrounding world.

Pistu and another familiar person beside him were lying flat on their stomachs with their arms stretched forward, their poses so exaggerated that they almost appeared to be worshipping something.

Beside them was a man who looked as though he had been carved from ice itself, kneeling in midair while staring at him with a mixture of shock and fear, his expression so stiff that Robin briefly wondered whether he had somehow missed an important event.

"...?" Robin calmly raised one eyebrow.

Then he stood up and began walking toward the edge of the cliff. Maintaining the same expression, he examined everything happening below, all those kneeling individuals and the beasts trembling across the battlefield, his gaze moving from one group to another as he attempted to piece together what had happened while his attention had been elsewhere.

"Heh~" Robin sighed, then placed a hand beside his mouth and shouted toward Holak, "Sorry."

Afterward, he began waving toward the sky.

"Sho, shoo..."

Disturbance. Disturbance.

The formation slowly ascended and merged into the golden sky like stones gently sinking into water, disappearing without resistance as though it were returning to a place where it naturally belonged.

Then the sky itself began rotating in the form of a vortex for several seconds, and with each rotation the golden color gradually faded until it disappeared completely, taking with it the overwhelming majesty that had blanketed the entire region.

What remained was a clear sky without a single cloud.

"Boss!!"

Holak’s voice rose from below.

"Next time, warn us when you want to put on a show!"

The division leaders around Holak finally began standing once more, and the looks they directed toward Robin became extremely complicated, containing equal measures of admiration, disbelief, confusion, and resignation.

Were they really supposed to be the guards of that person?!

The remaining guards who had managed to retain consciousness also rose to their feet, many of them still looking somewhat pale from the experience.

Some stared toward Robin with awe and respect.

Others looked toward the ground, silently lamenting the difference in power.

A few simply stood there for several moments, trying to convince themselves that what they had witnessed had actually happened.

Even the Royal Soul Masters of the Burton Family finally stood, gazing toward Robin with solemn expressions.

Fear and pride at the same time.

Fear because they had personally witnessed how terrifying he had become.

Pride because that terrifying individual belonged to their family.

"Not intentional!" Robin laughed in response to Holak, then raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "I’ll pay all of you ten years of salary as compensation for this mistake, guys. Come on, get up and carry on."

"Yes!!" Holak raised both hands and shouted enthusiastically before beginning to clap and look around. "Ten years’ bonus, my little bastards! Did you hear that? Move that ass!"

To Holak, money held little value, but it was a good opportunity to move past what had happened and return everyone’s attention to what actually mattered. If they remained focused on the phenomenon for much longer, half the guards would probably spend the rest of the day staring at the mountain instead of doing their jobs.

And indeed, with the assistance of the five squad leaders, who recovered their senses remarkably quickly thanks to years of discipline and battlefield experience, the guards returned to slaughtering the motionless beasts and dealing with newly arriving ones as though nothing had happened.

The battlefield soon filled once more with the sounds of combat, commands, movement, and dying monsters, while the brief interruption rapidly faded into the background.

Robin watched the scene for a few moments with a broad smile until he heard:

"...You have a respectable army. Any other force would have collapsed mentally and psychologically, and I say this despite having seen the armies of several Behemoths before. Yet your guards stood up and returned to work immediately and at full capacity as though nothing had happened... that is impressive, and frightening."

Robin cast a sideways glance toward Glacion, who had already risen to his feet, then displayed a diplomatic smile.

"I would have expected nothing less. It’s only natural considering the investment that was poured into them, the Laws they wield, and the training they received. The entire treasury of your Empire couldn’t raise fifty of these."