Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1102 1102: Pure contempt

Oooooommmm...

A series of shimmering silver soul gates began to open around Robin.

”Raaaargh--!!” ”Foooooooo~” ”Hisssss~”

A large number of silver-colored martial emperors and beastly warriors emerged from the portals. If Pythor or any Imperial Guard had been present, they would have recognized them instantly.

Marshal Lunta and Marshal Snite, the three-horned, twin-tailed mammoth, the saber-fanged tiger, and many more of Robinʼs soul creatures had arrived.

In the battle that had just concluded moments ago, Robin had completely exhausted his soul units through two primary means. The first was summoning his soul creatures—each of them required a significant number of units to manifest in the material realm. The second was sustaining and healing these creatures during combat.

During the battle, Robin had expended over seventy thousand soul units to summon all his creatures. Then, he used every last reserve he had to maintain their forms, ensuring they did not perish prematurely in combat against Pythor. Near the end of the fight, his supply had run dry, which led to the disappearance of many soul creatures. Initially, he had summoned 103 creatures, including the marshals and the Treefather. But by the time the dome had been sealed, their numbers had dwindled to barely forty.

Before sealing the dome, Robin had directed his remaining soul creatures to carve a path for the demon army. They had remained by the armyʼs side, defending the control zone alongside Richard, until the dome was finally shut.

And what had happened to those forty remaining soul creatures after the dome was sealed and the subsequent chain of explosions erupted outside? Every last one of them had reverted into pure soul force, which immediately returned to Robinʼs soul domain. In a sudden surge, he received a replenishment of twenty-seven thousand soul units.

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However, he had decided to hold onto them, treating them as a final trump card in case his plan against Pythor failed, and he was indeed planning to summon them to struck Pythor before Holak showed up!

Now, he had summoned his most powerful soul creatures—except for Hovenheim. That one was simply too large a target, too easy to strike down.

With newfound determination, Robin called out to Helen, ”Lady of Blood and Destruction, what you are doing defies both reason and wisdom. No one will emerge victorious this way. Turn back and leave! I do not wish for our enmity to deepen any further!”

KATCHAAAA!

Helen flicked her hand, releasing five gray beams that obliterated another storm cloud. Then, she turned to look at Robin and his summoned beasts with a peculiar expression, ”.....”

”Thereʼs no need to look so surprised,” Robin spoke with unwavering confidence after seeing her reaction. ”I am, after all, a powerful Soul Master. Please, calm yourself, and let us talk. Perhaps there is a future where we both exist under the same sky without conflict!”

”Heh~” A half-smile tugged at Helenʼs lips. ”I truly am surprised. Surprised that you would speak of deepening hatred between us... What was your name again?!”

Then, without waiting for a response, she turned her gaze downward and destroyed another wave of magma chains climbing up her shadowy form.

Without hesitation, she flicked her wrist once more.

Shoooo!

Another devastating crescent-shaped beam of destruction shot toward the northern region.

”...!!” Rage and embarrassment found their way onto Robinʼs face as his expression contorted with frustration. ”I am the one you are fighting against a Planet Spirit to reach! I am the one you would rather sacrifice a fragment of your own soul to stop than let me claim victory! You would rather destroy planet Nihari than let it fall into my hands! Remember me this time, I am Robin Burton!!”

”Hmm? Are you still going on about that?” Helen shot him a glance filled with disdain, her voice dripping with condescension. ”I am not fighting the Planetʼs Spirit for your sake, nor out of some noble cause. I am simply exhausting it before my new followers arrive. My minor destruction of the planetʼs surface serves the same purpose. If I truly wanted to destroy this world, I would have aimed downward instead of playing around.”

”As for you,” she continued, pointing a finger at him with casual arrogance, ”I only want to kill you to make things easier for the rest of my forces then they come. That way, they can come and collect the resources directly without having to engage in another pointless battle. I have no interest in waiting for the results of more insignificant skirmishes here.”

Her lips curled into a smirk. ”So stop thinking of yourself as something significant. You simply donʼt understand how I perceive you, do you?”

Robin clenched his fists but spoke with unwavering confidence. ”Whether you acknowledge it or not, I have already thwarted your plans in the mid-planetary belt. That alone proves I have enough weight to matter!”

Helen chuckled, her voice filled with amusement, ”Oh? Hehe~ Let me put it in a way you might understand, just so you stop your endless prattling… Imagine I was watching a beetle fight. I placed my bets on a particular beetle—letʼs call it Pythor. But somehow, you, an unknown, insignificant beetle, managed to win the fight instead. That loss was an inconvenience to me —an annoyance, even— but thatʼs all it was.”

She leaned forward slightly, her mocking gaze pinning him in place. ”Now imagine me, slightly annoyed, wondering why my chosen beetle lost and what I can do to win my next bet. Suddenly, the beetle that won the fight starts buzzing around my head, making irritating victory noises, thinking itʼs somehow punishing me for betting on the other beetle. If you were in my position, wouldnʼt you be baffled? Wouldnʼt you question what that tiny creature thinks itʼs trying to achieve?”

Helen shook her head in amusement before delivering her final blow. ”And what do you think I would do to such an annoying, delusional beetle? I might laugh at its absurdity and leave it be. Or perhaps, Iʼd swat it out of existence with a flick of my finger and move on with my day. Or, if I were in an exceptionally good mood, I might pretend I never even saw it in the first place and continue planning my next bet.”

She let out a short, mocking laugh. ”And then, hereʼs what you just did. You, a mere beetle, just summoned a swarm of gnats to fight me. If I hadnʼt just lost my previous bet, I might have burst out laughing! Now, do you finally understand how I see you? …Ah, I seem to have forgotten your name again.”

”————————”

Robinʼs pupils trembled wildly, his mind reeling from Helenʼs words. Her cruel analogy slammed into him like a physical blow, shaking his perception of himself and the battle entirely.

KACHA—! KACHA—!

Bolts of lightning of various colors rained down from the forming storm, their presence making the very sky tremble. The planet spirit voice, thunderous and enraged, roared across the battlefield.

”Shut up! Iʼd bet that when you were at his level, you werenʼt even half as remarkable as he is!!”

”Hmph,” Helen scoffed, her expression unbothered despite the devastation around her. ”I understand that Planetary Spirits seek ideal hosts and will go to great lengths to protect them if they deem them worthy… but this? This is just pathetic.”

With a flick of her hand, Helenʼs shadow cleaved through half of the lightning bolts as if they were nothing. The remaining bolts struck the shadow directly, obliterating large portions of it, yet she did not seem fazed. Instead, she let out an irritated sigh. ”Tch~ No matter. Letʼs see how much longer you can hold on.”

Her annoyance was clear, Helen turned her focus back toward the planetʼs surface and resumed her assault.

Though her shadow had grown smaller and was now riddled with gaping holes, the resistance from Nihariʼs Planetary Spirit had also weakened considerably. The once overwhelming storm of lightning and energy chains had lost much of its strength, their numbers thinning rapidly. If things continued in this direction, Helen would eventually succeed in her plan—to push the Planetary Spirit into a deep slumber or even destroy its consciousness entirely!

Amidst the chaotic battlefield, Robin remained still, his eyes shaking, not from fear, but from the weight of everything he had just heard. Then, a voice —calm yet resolute— reached him.

”Do not despair. I do not know what pit she crawled out of, but your achievements are unprecedented for someone who has yet to step into the realm of a Martial Emperor. Do not let her shake your confidence.”

A few more seconds passed before Robin processed the words and finally reacted. He lifted his head slightly, a question forming in his mind.

”...Spirit of Nihari… why are you speaking to me directly? Isnʼt that forbidden before you have a recognized master?”

”Yes, I am the Planetʼs Spirit, Neri,” the voice replied, calm yet firm. ”But every law has its exceptions. You have seen me interact with the shadow and heard my voice before. Clinging to the law of non-communication in a situation like this would be meaningless.”

Robinʼs eyes flickered with realization. ”So you can do that? Neri… I wonder if you can ignore another law as well?”

There was a pause before Neri responded, her voice carrying a hint of curiosity.

”Which one are you referring to?”

Robinʼs gaze locked onto Helenʼs shadow, but unlike before, there was no hesitation, no uncertainty— only something new, something dark. Hatred. Killing intent.

”...The law that prevents me from using more than a thousand units at a time.”