Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2448 The seerʼs past-3

”Oh...” Robinʼs mouth opened slightly as he stared ahead, momentarily caught off guard by the sheer scale of what Helmor had just described.

The entire universe had been destroyed and knocked completely out of the competition in only a million years? That must have been an extremely difficult feeling to endure, especially since it hadnʼt been some ordinary universe sitting near the bottom of the rankings, but a Class-A universe, and one that had actually ranked among the top three in that classification at that.

”During his first cycle, the Seer was inexperienced and had no real plan for dealing with what was happening. He played using the most basic methods available to him, merely watching from the sidelines and perhaps paving the way for a few geniuses from afar without ever revealing himself directly to them and losing any of his precious golden momentum in the process. He wanted to preserve every last drop of that golden momentum so he could accelerate the process of Transcendence as much as possible, and according to the established rules, thatʼs exactly how things are supposed to be done.”

”...But who was going to simply let him play according to the rules? His approach ended with the universe being destroyed and shattered, causing him to suffer such an overwhelming defeat that he was forced to surrender six Seals at once because of its sheer severity, while the universe itself plummeted thirty-seven ranks in a single leap, an enormous fall that hadnʼt occurred even once throughout hundreds of previous cycles.”

”...?” Robinʼs brows furrowed deeply as he immediately focused on the number Helmor had just mentioned.

A devastating defeat on a scale the game hadnʼt witnessed in hundreds of cycles, one that had destroyed an entire universeʼs position and sent it falling thirty-seven ranks at once, and yet despite all of that, the Seer had surrendered only six Seals?

”...During the cycle that followed, the Seer was in considerably better shape and had become far more vigilant after what happened to him the first time.” Helmor continued, ”The Seer had finally begun to understand how the others actually played this game and realized that if he continued trying to preserve his golden momentum while merely standing back and watching everything unfold from afar, he would never succeed. So this time, instead of sitting idly by and simply waiting for the cycle to end, he began devising complicated plans and preparing an exceptionally powerful Candidate whom he personally took responsibility for raising. He gave that Candidate Causality and provided him with enough advice, guidance, and direction to rapidly become one of the elites of the entire universe, but even after doing all of that, there was still one small problem.”

Then Helmor added, ”During that cycle, the Seer wagered that his planning and the extensive support he provided to his Candidate would be enough to make the decisive difference and ultimately bring him victory, and indeed, he performed quite well. That cycle lasted for an extremely long time compared to the previous one, eventually reaching thirty million years thanks to his direct intervention and the continuous support he provided to that Candidate, but there was still one small problem that he couldnʼt simply ignore... the other patrons werenʼt idiots either, nor were they incapable of planning ahead and providing support to their own people!”

”...The Seerʼs decision to directly challenge them bought him a few million additional years and allowed the struggle to continue for considerably longer, but in the end, he still failed, and this time his failure came in an even harsher manner. His Candidate was eventually killed by several of his opponents working against him, while the enormous empire that Candidate had managed to assemble was dismantled afterward and divided among them. The Seer tried to recover from the situation by raising another powerful Candidate, but by that point it was already far too late; the followers of the other patrons had become extremely powerful and extremely vigilant after everything that had happened. They found his next Candidate and killed him before the cycle could reach its end... And so the second cycle concluded with yet another defeat for the Seer, although this one was considerably less devastating than the previous loss. His universe fell only to rank B-14 this time, and as a consequence of that defeat, he was forced to surrender three Seals.”

”What a fall.” Robin muttered as he mentally gathered together the information Helmor had given him about the Seerʼs accumulated wealth. ”The Seer has the Seals he originally possessed, the Seals he stole from the Custodian, and the additional Seals he obtained after advancing one of his Laws, according to everything youʼve told me so far, and despite all of that, heʼs already lost nine of them over the course of only two cycles?”

”...Is that supposed to be a lot or a little to you?” Helmor looked genuinely surprised by Robinʼs reaction, as though he hadnʼt expected him to speak about nine Seals in such a manner. ”All the sources of Seals you just mentioned couldnʼt possibly amount to more than thirty Seals in total, and the only reason the number could even reach that level is because the Seer managed to take the Custodianʼs large share from the wager placed on his victory during that cycle. In other words, after losing nine Seals across those two cycles, the Seer currently possesses only twenty-one Seals, perhaps even fewer than that by now. Heʼs steadily declining, and heʼs doing so at an extremely rapid pace, drawing closer and closer to joining the rest of the Scrappers.”

”....?!” Robinʼs eyes opened as wide as they possibly could, his expression changing completely upon hearing the actual number Helmor had just revealed.

”Hmph, so he really didnʼt tell you anything.” Helmor was visibly pleased by that realization, as it confirmed that there were still many important details the Seer had apparently chosen to keep from Robin. ”A person becomes a Transcendent when they successfully bring together six Master Laws and harmonize them with one another, but the number of Seals they initially receive upon completing that process depends on two main things: the first is the personʼs age at the time, and the second is the degrees those six Laws have reached at the exact moment of harmonization. In most cases, the overwhelming majority of Transcendents receive only one or two Seals at the moment they complete their Transcendence.”

Then he continued, elaborating on the most extreme example he knew, ”The most exceptional Transcendent Iʼve ever heard of reached the stage of harmonization when he was only 1.86 million years old, and at that time, he already possessed three Laws that had reached the fifth degree. That genius, the person who is currently considered one of the true great Seal whales among the Transcendents... received six Seals all at once simply by successfully passing through the process of Transcendence!”

”...Six?” Robinʼs expression immediately froze when he heard that number, his reaction far more pronounced than before.

”Yes.” Helmor gazed into the distance with obvious longing as he spoke about that enormous difference. ”Even Transcendents who consistently achieve good rankings in the results of the cycles may have to wait through several entire cycles just to accumulate a total of six Seals; they might lose one cycle, gain two Seals from the next, then gain another one afterward, and continue like that over and over~ Through the legitimate methods of exchange, it might take a Transcendent as many as ten cycles, which is nearly a billion years by our reckoning, merely to accumulate six Seals!”

Then his eyes gleamed with a trace of resentment as he thought about the comparison heʼd just made. ”But that whale received all six of them at once merely upon completing his advancement, without having to spend cycle after cycle gathering them individually. Itʼs truly something worthy of envy.”

”...” Robin lowered his gaze for a moment and remained like that briefly before raising one hand and beginning to rub the bridge of his nose, while the pounding of his heart grew increasingly forceful as he processed everything Helmor was telling him. ”...You said that this is the legitimate method of exchange, which means there must be other methods as well. Are there?”

”The lifespans of those people are immense beyond ordinary comprehension, and they possess more than enough time and power to continuously innovate, experiment, and search for different methods. Of course there are other ways to obtain Seals, but the exact details of those methods arenʼt completely known to people like me...” Helmor then smiled slightly before continuing, ”But thereʼs absolutely no doubt that such methods exist, provided youʼre capable of operating with enough secrecy and speed to remain hidden from watching eyes while carrying them out. After all, the whales donʼt like seeing their numbers increase by even a single additional member, and not one of them wants to see another whale rise above him.”

Then he continued, ”The simplest known method among those alternatives is rearing, where a Transcendent deliberately creates and raises other Transcendents for the purpose of seizing their Seals immediately after they successfully complete the process of Transcendence. But itʼs an extremely long process that requires tremendous amounts of effort from beginning to end, and carrying it through successfully is essentially a form of playing with fire. After all, anyone capable of bringing together six Master Laws and harmonizing them successfully isnʼt an ordinary person in any sense, even if youʼre the one standing behind them and helping them reach that point.”

He continued, ”Through the process of rearing, youʼre personally raising and strengthening someone who may eventually become your opponent or even your killer. You spend tens of millions of years supporting a single person, giving them your Laws, your resources, your support, and your explanations while guiding them toward Transcendence, only to potentially fail at extracting the Seals from them after all of that effort, and even if everything goes according to plan and you actually succeed, youʼll usually obtain only one or two Seals... The entire process simply isnʼt worth that much trouble for most Transcendents when compared to the enormous investment and danger involved, although some of the Scrappers might still be willing to do it.” Helmor then waved his hand lightly as he moved on. ”There are other methods as well, such as the process of harvesting newly ascended Transcendents who possess no universes of their own, but I donʼt know anything detailed about how those methods actually work... and I have no desire to know.”

”....” Robin nodded several times as he silently absorbed the information Helmor had given him, feeling as though an entirely new world he had known almost nothing about until now was gradually opening before him. ”...What about the Seerʼs current situation?”