Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2199 Critical situation

”...There are at least twenty adult space beasts among them!!”

Morganaʼs scream froze the blood within the other three almost instantly, the sheer terror carried in her voice far more convincing than any explanation could ever be.

The first to react was Blokan.

Boof

Without even a single moment of hesitation, without granting himself the luxury of thought, he violently struck the surrounding space and shot toward the corridor gate like a desperate beam of light.

There was nothing left to think about in the first place...

He was already using his power at the absolute limit merely to keep the three adult space beasts occupied. From the very beginning of the battle, every second near those creatures felt like balancing atop a blade hanging over an endless abyss. Despite all his attempts to raise the level of his Fundamental Reflection against them, despite exhausting techniques capable of crippling lesser beings instantly, he had not even managed to truly injure them. If anything, the three beasts merely appeared amused, as though they were examining a strange insect that unexpectedly resisted them for longer than anticipated.

But twenty more?

No.

Absolutely not.

He had never agreed to something this insane.

Bang

A colossal strike descended directly before him and blasted him backward like a cannon shell.

”ARGH!!” Blokan barely stabilized himself in place as space trembled around him, veins bulging along his neck while he shouted furiously, ”Youʼre in greater danger than I am, you idiot! Let me leave and escape yourself too!!”

Bang

Another strike came from the side and hurled him away once more before he could recover.

The moment the three adult beasts realized their amusing little toy was attempting to flee, they immediately began surrounding him through scattered casual blows, preventing him from escaping while never truly exerting themselves.

And for creatures whose bodies surpassed planets themselves, Blokan barely qualified as actual prey to begin with, yet he remained a living being originating from another dimension, one displaying strange power and unfamiliar laws... like a glowing firefly suspended within endless darkness, naturally attracting attention without realizing it.

Of course, those strikes were unimaginably light from their perspective.

To those monsters, the matter resembled a human lazily flicking a glowing insect to prevent it from escaping the group, something so insignificant that no effort was required whatsoever.

But for Blokan...

Every single strike represented the boundary between life and death.

”AAAAAHHH!!”

Blokan finally abandoned all thoughts of conserving power or carefully controlling his output, and with a furious roar, he allowed energy to erupt from every cell in his body before charging toward the corridor once more with desperate madness.

Bang

Again, one of the black beasts collided directly into him.

But this time...

Something changed.

Blokan continued forcing himself forward despite the impact and—

BOOOOOOM

The full force of the collision violently reflected backward and slammed directly into the adult space beast itself.

”KRAAAGH—”

”...!” Blokan coughed violently before wiping a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth.

Returning the full force of such a strike was nowhere near simple for him. In truth, the backlash alone had nearly shredded his internal organs apart, and the pain spreading through his body felt as though countless blades were tearing through his veins simultaneously, but if that was the price required to survive, then so be it.

The real problem...

Was the corridor itself.

It was far too distant.

Blokanʼs body trembled violently as he struggled against an overwhelming urge to break down entirely.

From the beginning, they had intentionally positioned the corridor far away from the gathering regions of the nascent space beasts so those creatures would not become frightened and stop entering the gate, and because of the spatial pressure in this region, he also lacked the ability to tear through space directly and teleport toward it.

Which meant...

Their path of escape would be horrifyingly long.

And in a single instant, Blokanʼs morale crashed into the abyss.

Bam

Another strike slammed into him and threw him backward once again.

The other fronts were no calmer.

”Dammit!!”

Althera completely dismissed the Repetition Ring Domain and burst forward with all her remaining strength toward the corridor gate as well, her figure becoming a crimson streak tearing through the battlefield.

At first, her path remained almost entirely unobstructed, but that fragile fortune did not last for more than moments.

The young space beasts she had imprisoned within the ring instantly turned toward her the moment they regained freedom, their accumulated rage exploding all at once as they charged from every direction.

Althera gritted her teeth fiercely and raised her voice while violently swinging her short sword in a frenzy of flashing crimson arcs, desperately carving a path of survival through the overwhelming chaos around her.

And indeed, the first wave collapsed beneath her assault immediately.

Two beasts were split apart instantly, their gigantic bodies torn open as she pierced directly through them and emerged from the other side drenched in blood, flesh, and fragments of burning organs.

But her attackers were never merely two.

The pressure around her only intensified further.

The surrounding void itself began collapsing under the sheer number of monstrous bodies rushing toward her.

”Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!!”

Asr rapidly scanned his surroundings, thoughts racing wildly.

The original plan had been simple.

Maintain the current pace for twenty-three full hours, slowly weakening the beasts while preserving enough strength for retreat, then begin a gradual withdrawal lasting another hour where they protected one anotherʼs backs until safely returning through the corridor.

A difficult plan.

A dangerous plan.

But still a possible one.

Yet now...

That entire plan had been thrown straight into hell.

Asr cast a glance toward the corridor gate.

Among all of them, he alone still retained relatively free movement. Unlike the others, he was not fully surrounded yet, and if he chose to abandon everything right now, he could likely escape safely without suffering serious injury.

But...

Asr slowly looked toward one of the distant regions while his soul sense finally began detecting the incoming waves of space beasts in full detail, and with every passing second, the numbers multiplied further while drawing closer at terrifying speed.

Overwhelming numbers.

A monstrous tide.

Even the void itself seemed to vibrate beneath their approach.

After another long moment of hesitation, while the terrifying waves of approaching beasts continued drawing closer with every passing second, Asr finally clenched his teeth so hard that blood nearly seeped from between them before shouting at the top of his lungs:

”Dammit!!”

The curse escaped him like a final surrender against reality itself.

Then, without allowing himself another instant to think, he shot directly toward Althera.

Bang

Althera split apart another exhausted space beast directly across the chest, consuming nearly a quarter of the tiny amount of energy she still possessed, and although the strike failed to kill the creature outright, the massive wound carved through its body was deep enough to stop it from immediately pursuing her.

The moment her blade completed its arc, she abruptly turned toward the incoming streak of light rushing toward her position.

”Asr!!” she shouted in shock, her voice carrying genuine disbelief despite the chaos swallowing the battlefield around them, ”What are you doing?!”

”It was an honor fighting as your deputy for tens of thousands of years,” Asr declared while pulling out his bow, his voice strangely calm despite the madness surrounding them, ”and today it will be an honor to die side by side with you.”

Even before finishing his sentence, he had already raised the bow and aimed toward the nearest beasts assaulting Althera from every direction.

”...”

Altheraʼs large eyes trembled faintly.

For a brief moment, a dangerous thought crossed her mind.

A part of her truly wanted to accept his decision.

Wanted to stop resisting reality and simply stand beside him while devising one final desperate plan together, one final impossible struggle against death before the universe swallowed them whole.

After all...

She was exhausted.

They all were.

And deep inside, she knew survival had already become nearly impossible.

But the moment her gaze drifted toward Morganaʼs position, every selfish thought vanished completely from her mind.

The cowardly nascent space beasts fighting Morgana had finally sensed the incoming nest, and once they realized something far more terrifying was approaching, they immediately stopped exchanging attacks and chaotically swimming through the battlefield.

Instead, panic overtook them.

Pure animalistic terror.

They began fleeing desperately in the opposite direction of the approaching swarm.

Toward the corridor gate.

Toward salvation.

Toward the universe behind them.

And Morgana...

Morgana was now using power far beyond her natural limits just to stop that tidal wave of beasts from reaching the corridor.

The corridor itself had intentionally been left wide open so Holak could continuously allow the desired numbers through without difficulty, meaning that if those terrified beasts managed to reach it all at once...

Then thousands would pour through before Lord Robin could properly close the passage.

Two thousand.

Perhaps three thousand.

Perhaps even more.

And if that happened...

The consequences would spread beyond this battlefield entirely.

Morgana herself stood closest to the gate.

Retreating would have been easy for her.

Compared to the others, she still possessed enough freedom to preserve her own life and escape safely if she wished.

But she had understood the danger immediately.

Understood exactly what would happen if even a fraction of those beasts crossed over.

And despite that...

She remained where she was anyway.

Risking her entire life to stop them.

”...”

A strange smile slowly appeared on Altheraʼs face.

It was not a smile of happiness.

Nor despair.

It was the smile of someone who had already accepted the direction fate was forcing her toward.

Then she looked directly at Asr.

”It was an honor fighting alongside you.”

Before he could react, she suddenly pulled her left hand backward before violently thrusting it toward him.

”Do not resist.”

”No—” Asr abruptly froze after sensing the terrifying fluctuation gathering around her arm, realization instantly spreading across his face, ”What are you planning to do?!”

”Tell the Lord to close the gate and summon the Cosmic Elderʼs soul shard,” Althera said while pushing her hand forward even harder, ”the universe must not fall while we are here.”

HOOOOOM

The surrounding void exploded with waves of force.

Asr instantly felt overwhelming currents crashing into him like endless tsunamis, one after another, violently launching him toward the corridor gate while his speed multiplied at a horrifying rate with every new impact.

Althera had activated the Fundamental Repetition Law on him directly.

Each burst repeated the previous acceleration.

Then repeated it again.

And again.

And again.

Until the force pushing Asr forward became monstrous.

At the same time, Althera herself began attacking every young space beast attempting to approach him during his forced flight, swinging her short sword wildly while intercepting the incoming monsters one after another.

”Dammit...” Asr muttered while being pushed farther and farther away at terrifying speed.

He could still stop this.

He possessed the Path of Time.

If he truly wished, he could forcibly halt his body or break free from the current dragging him away.

But he did not.

Because deep down...

He understood exactly what Althera was trying to do.

And because a part of him knew she was right.

Thus, with painful yet resolute eyes, Asr activated the Path of Time not to resist the momentum carrying him away...

But to accelerate himself even further.

His figure blurred violently.

And in less than a blink, he appeared beside Morgana.

Yet despite seeing the desperate state she had fallen into, he did not waste time looking at her with pity, and Morgana herself also did not attempt to stop him.

No unnecessary words were exchanged.

No hesitation remained between them anymore.

Instead, Morgana directly tore open a path for him through the fleeing beasts.

A path leading straight toward the glowing corridor gate.

WOOOSH

Asr shot through the other side like a projectile fleeing the end of the world itself.