Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2079 The old Supreme Council

Mid Sector 99 - Planet Donara

”...The Cosmic Elder did not choose him.”

”...?!”

The indifferent smile on Robinʼs face vanished instantly. He turned toward Leonid in visible surprise.

”What do you mean the Cosmic Elder did not choose him? Isnʼt the Supreme Council of the Academies under the Cosmic Elderʼs authority? Wasnʼt he the one who founded it in the first place?”

”That is true,” Leonid replied calmly, trying to maintain a polite expression, ”but there is a small gap in Your Majestyʼs information, because these details are not available to the public. Perhaps the reason is that you never cared to research this matter deeply, so you never asked us about it.”

He continued, ”In truth, yes, the Cosmic Elder founded the Council and appointed the leaders of the human power factions, those who fought relentlessly against the Plague and the space beasts before his emergence.”

”...In his eyes at that time, anyone who raised the banner of battle against those creatures, even if they were only fighting to protect their citizens and their families, was a hero worthy of honor. And indeed, they were appointed. The Cosmic Elder filled their treasuries with vast amounts of treasures he had gathered throughout his long journey until he obtained that overwhelming power...”

Leonidʼs voice grew heavier.

”... Those thirteen heroes were the ones who later laid the plans for spreading the Star Academies. They used the Cosmic Elderʼs treasures to fund them until the system stood firmly on its feet. After that, they limited themselves to

coordination among the new Star Academies and put to trial those who failed in their duties. They are the foundation of everything”

”Thatʼs exactly what I said!” Robin raised an eyebrow.

Leonid exhaled slowly.

”Your Majesty, Qarun had not even been born when the Cosmic Elder founded the Supreme Council of the Academies. In fact, not a single member of the current Council belongs to the original Supreme Council.”

”...?”

Robin frowned slightly.

Leonid continued, ”The original Council remained in its position for hundreds of thousands of years without major issues. Every sector had an academy, even the sectors under the direct protection of Interas and Morpheus themselves. The primary purpose was protection, and the second was sharing the knowledge they had received from the Cosmic Elder with the younger generations. That is why they were called academies.”

”...But later, strange things began to happen.”

Leonidʼs brow tightened.

”In one of the academies, a genius student appeared. That student later became a professor in the same academy, then quickly rose through the ranks until he became the deputy in a very short time. Eventually, an incident happened to the head of the academy, and naturally, the deputy took over his duties... That young manʼs name was Qarun.”

”...Qarun immediately began changing the system of his academy. He closed off a large section of the library and demanded a heavy price for entry. He stopped paying the professors and forced students to pay extra fees for every professor they wanted. Then he started taking taxes from the teachersʼ profits. He stopped spending the academyʼs income on maintaining a strong, organized peacekeeping army, and instead began openly recruiting the public for a price of fifty pearls per person -if survived-... Of course, this was an enormous amount for ordinary people.”

”...Almost anything you can imagine happening in academies these days, Qarun invented and implemented first during his rule as an academy head. At that time, he became the focus of attention for all the other academy heads, especially the focus of the Supreme Council of the Academies...”

Leonid paused briefly.

”...They summoned him and removed him from his position after they had seen enough.”

Robin nodded slowly. According to the description Leonid gave of the Council, it was only natural for them to dismiss him.

”And what happened after that?”

”They imprisoned him for a period of time for tarnishing the image of the Star Academies, but after a few years he pleaded for mercy, submitting repeated petitions and personal requests. He claimed that he had only wanted to maximize the academyʼs resources for the benefit of the academy itself, insisting that his intentions were never corrupt, only misguided. He said he deeply regretted not consulting the Supreme Council first, and openly admitted that acting alone had been a grave mistake. He declared that he wished to work directly under the authority of the Supreme Council of the Academies so he could learn from them, be guided by their wisdom, and correct his path...” ”And because of his power, his extraordinary competence, and his sharp, calculating intelligence, and because he had technically not violated any written law, the Supreme Council allowed him to be released, but only under several strict and humiliating conditions...

First, they made him shave his head completely, wear the robes of a monk, and publicly apologize in the presence of several academy heads, standing before them and openly saying: I was wrong.

Then he was sentenced to spend the next one hundred thousand years working in Mid Sector 250, in direct service to the headquarters of the Supreme Council, performing duties of obedience, discipline, and submission, with no authority of his own.”

”What happened after that?”

Robin raised his eyebrows slightly, his expression shifting with curiosity. The story was becoming increasingly intriguing, darker and more complex than he

had expected.

”What happened,” Leonid answered honestly, ”is that he gained status very quickly. He followed the *righteous path* used his sharp intellect to restructure and develop the organization of the Supreme Council itself. He contributed to increasing the number of academies across multiple sectors and expanding their funding through fully legitimate methods that satisfied the Councilʼs standards and laws. Because of that, he began to rise gradually, step by step. He was eventually permitted to regrow his hair and wear whatever he pleased again, and he continued ascending through the ranks until he reached a position directly beneath the Council members themselves, standing just one step away from absolute authority.”

”Then, in a very strange and sudden way, one of the Council members was

killed...”

Leonid frowned deeply, his tone growing heavier.

”A young space beast suddenly appeared in front of the planet that Council member had refined. It took a massive bite out of it, tearing through its

structure, causing the atmosphere to vanish and the planet to be catastrophically destroyed before the Council member could do anything to stop it. He died shortly afterward due to the horrific backlash from the sudden, catastrophic explosion and the violent spatial collapse that followed.”

”Of course, it was a massive event at the time. That planet had been hidden inside a spatial pocket, unreachable even through space portals. It was like a pearl preserved inside its own private box, sealed away from the universe itself. No one knew how the space beast found it, how it reached such a hidden

location, or why it went there in the first place.”

Leonid continued in a low, controlled voice,

”But what happened had happened. One of the Thirteen had fallen, and the balance of power shifted forever.”

”And naturally” Robin let out a strange, quiet laugh, his eyes narrowing, ”the

next person in the hierarchy of status was Qarun.”

”Exactly.”

Leonid nodded slowly.

”The Supreme Council opened an intense, exhaustive investigation into the

death of their long-time companion. But when they found no evidence of conspiracy, and instead uncovered indications pointing to the location of the space beast and even possible reasons behind its arrival, such as abnormal spatial distortions and unstable cosmic phenomena, they concluded that he had died a natural death... and his seat was officially handed to Qarun.”

He tilted his head slightly as he continued,

”The period that followed his ascension to one of the seats passed peacefully

and without open conflict. He presented several remarkable ideas along the path of righteousness, and he discovered, trained, and cultivated a number of young individuals he considered promising. Indeed, all of them quickly proved their competence, displayed exceptional abilities, and soon they all assumed extremely high positions.”