Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1208 1208: resolution

”Ghhk—!!” Robinʼs knee gave out with a violent tremble, nearly slamming him into the ground beneath him. The sheer force pressing down on his body felt like the heavens themselves had decided to squash him out of existence.

The planetʼs gift... it was a phenomenon that defied logic. It was the result of a profound soul fusion, where the soul of the owner painstakingly refined the spirit of the planet itself. And yet, even though it was crafted from soul to spirit, Robin had long understood that the gift was not powered by soul force alone.

No… this gift, scaled with the total power of the one who bore it.

For instance, take Rinara. Even if she were a Nexus who never paid much attention to nurturing her soul, the gift she wielded would still rise to match her status as a Nexus. Its strength would reflect her level of existence.

Now Robin, barely clinging to life, was in the worst possible condition. His energy reserves were almost entirely drained—his internal state, devastated. Yet still, the planetʼs gift surged with the power of a low-tier World Cataclysm, solely because his soul had reached that extraordinary level.

But even that—

Even that—

Was nothing in front of a genuine Nexus attack.

”Nooo!!” Zara screamed with raw emotion, her voice splitting the air as panic overtook her.

Richard, Caesar, and the others all dashed forward with every ounce of strength they could muster, pushing past fear and fatigue.

They werenʼt fools.

They knew what was coming.

They knew it with every heartbeat, every breath—and every ounce of their being.

And none of them intended to let him fall alone.

”Khh—kkk…!” Robin, veins bulging, arms shaking like twigs in a storm, raised his trembling hands skyward. His entire frame looked like it was seconds away from collapse.

Just for a heartbeat, his gaze flickered toward his children. There was no time for words, but his eyes… they carried a message no scream could ever match.

Then he looked up.

And screamed with everything left in his lungs—

”How about... a deal?!”

That got her attention.

High above, Helen, the dark-robed woman—so calm, so cruel—tilted her head with faint amusement. A half-smile curled on her lips, sharp and mocking.

”Oh?” she said, her voice dripping with irony. ”The man who mocked me for being impatient and foolish now wants to talk? And a deal, no less?”

She chuckled softly. ”A little late for kneeling, donʼt you think?”

Robin growled, his voice coated in defiance.

”…I kneel for no one… you arrogant, overconfident bitch!!”

”Pffh—!!” He spat a bloody wad, barely able to stand anymore. ”This is your final attack, isnʼt it? I can see it... in your gaze. I can see it in how your body is swaying. You donʼt have enough left in you to create another move like this—at least not today.”

Helenʼs lips curled downward, her expression growing darker, ”You filthy rodent! What makes you think I need another?”

But Robin wasnʼt finished. Not even close.

He spoke with urgency, voice hoarse, body trembling—yet there was clarity in his words.

”Listen to me! I donʼt think Iʼll die today. If I manage to block this attack, then I win. But if I fall… then my children will give you everything. Everything I ever made, everything I ever touched. Then theyʼll dismantle the empire and vanish from your eyesight. In return… you walk away. You forget about them. No revenge. No purge. No war. Just… leave them be. Is that a deal youʼre willing to accept?!”

”Father! What are you saying?!” Caesar cried out, voice cracking with desperation. Tears streaked down his cheeks as the pressure crushed him flat to the earth. He couldnʼt even raise his head anymore. The gravity of that spiked gray orb had turned everything around them into a hellscape of paralysis.

”Do you honestly believe this attack was meant for you alone?” Helen replied with cool indifference.

”When you die, they all die. Iʼm not going to stop it.”

She tilted her head again, studying him like an insect under glass.

”Thatʼs my burden to carry,” Robin roared, blood running from his nose now.

”Do we have a deal or not?!”

Pfffhhh—! Another mouthful of blood sprayed to the ground.

”If you say no… then I swear… everything in the True Beginning Empire will die with me today. Iʼll burn it all down. Iʼll take every last one of my innovations with me!”

”PFFFFF—!!”

That was the last straw. His body gave in.

One knee slammed to the ground with a loud, painful crack.

Silence.

Helen looked down at him.

Then slowly, she spoke—

”…What a pity.” Her voice was quieter now. Almost thoughtful.

”It wouldʼve pleased me more… if you had bent the knee for me. A real shame.”

Yet even as she mocked him, there was hesitation in her eyes. Calculation.

She was still weighing his offer.

Death was certain for him. That much she knew. But afterward… what then? Sheʼd have to face a horde of grieving, vengeful children. Unpredictable, wild, dangerous. And worst of all—emotionally driven.

That sounded like a headache.

Still...

It was better than walking away from this with nothing.

Besides, none of them could even move. The ground was swallowing them. Their faces were buried in dirt and blood. Once the attack struck, it would erase everything. Clean. Perfect.

She raised her head slightly, a cruel smirk dancing on her lips.

”Fine.” she said coldly.

”Whoever survives… Iʼll spare them. But only if they give me everything youʼve ever created—every idea you planted, every path you paved. Now go on, rodent. Show me how you plan to save this wretched city of yours.”

”Hah… Haaah… Hhhhuuuu~”

Robin, panting heavily, leaned on one knee.

A second.

Two.

He closed his eyes—

Recentered.

Focused.

”Rrrrrgghhhhhh—!”

With a roar, he rose again.

He forced his body up, one shaking leg at a time, blood dripping down his lips, chest heaving.

”You better not... go back... on your word.”

DSSSSHHHHHH—!

The two colossal pillars that held the very sky aloft—manifestations of pure soul force erected by Robin to halt Helenʼs monstrous descent—collapsed rapidly, crumbling like fragile tufts of wool in a violent storm. With Helenʼs oath that no further attack would follow, there remained no reason to keep the constructs in place.

”HAAAAAAA!!”

Robin let out a thunderous cry,

Woom! Woom!

The blue sun shivered at his command, trembling as if alive. The celestial carpet that had been angled for strategic deflection now fully straightened, turning its entire force skyward, its flat face aimed squarely at the heavens.

”AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

The shift in angle came with a terrifying price—the crushing weight of resistance doubled, tripled, then surged even higher. Robinʼs body groaned beneath it.

From his golden eye, thick streams of blood burst forth, painting his cheek like warpaint.

But his agony didnʼt last forever.

BAAAAAAAAAAM!

In a titanic surge, Robinʼs entire remaining soul force coalesced into a singular pillar—a single, monumental construct of soul force—two hundred thousand units strong. All of it focused, compacted, and anchored beneath the trembling carpet.

Krrrkk! Krrrkk!

The descent of the gray spiked sphere, now bathed in its own apocalyptic glow, slowed ever so slightly. But it was still falling.

Its mass bore down on the world, and with every heartbeat, it drove the soul force pillar deeper into the earth, like a nail pounded into the planetʼs beating heart.

Fwoooooosh!

Behind Robin, a silver gateway burst open—his last connection to the depths of his soul. From it, he poured out the final remnants of his soul force, the last thirty thousand precious units. They surged toward the pillar.

When it was done, the gate closed on its own. There was nothing left in him. Not a single unit remained.

Shuuuu… Shuuuuu…

”Wha—?!”

Rinaraʼs breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

The chains that had bound her suddenly unlatched—sucked away from her and drawn toward the towering soul construct. Her bindings fused into it, swelling its total power to a jaw-dropping quarter of a million soul units.

Robin didnʼt even glance her way.

His mind focused on only one thing: stopping the unrelenting descent of Helenʼs final attack and fulfilling the wager.

If he had just thirty more seconds, he wouldʼve shattered his soul domain into shards and created an entire web of soul anchors—but time was a luxury the world had burned away.

And to the astonishment of all…

The orb slowed even further.

”...!!!”

Rinara forced herself upright, her strength barely holding. She opened her eyes wide, drinking in the sight before her—one that defied logic.

In all her years—across centuries, through galaxies, in realms untouched by mortals—she had never witnessed anything like this.

Even Helen, the woman clad in obsidian robes, found her arrogant smile faltering. Her lips tightened. Her brows furrowed deeply.

That blue carpet—it wasnʼt merely a platform of force. It was a paradox, a gravitational conduit, a membrane that projected overwhelming pressure while acting as a shield, ensuring the orb never made contact.

Even now, the orb floated just above it—close, but never touching.

If it ever did… the blue carpet would vanish.

”So… this is the gift of a Galactic Seed,” she whispered, her voice laced with tension. Her fingers clenched instinctively, and she held them for a moment before forcing them open again.

But none of that mattered.

This slowing… changed nothing.

”DAMN IT!!”

Robin coughed up another violent splatter of blood, his body shaking as he stared up at the orb, now just meters away.

It was falling.

Slower than before.

But it was still falling.

Silence took the battlefield.

All watched, frozen in terror.

The final moment had come.

Then—suddenly—Robin moved.

He did something no one expected. Something no one dared to imagine.

”…Neri. Thank you. Your duty ends here.”

With a flick of his hand, he dismissed the sun.

The blue sun vanished.

”WHAT?!”

Both Rinara and Helen screamed in unison.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The absence of gravitational support meant the full impact of the destructive sphere now crashed down—right into the soul pillar.

The pillar jolted, violently repelled upward, but not before serving its final purpose:

To ensure the attack was not redirected downward.

Robin stood below.

Straight. Unbroken. Silent.

His eyes drifted closed.

Then, smiling softly, he let his gaze travel across the city—to the faces he knew, the ones heʼd loved, protected, and laughed with. The faces of his legacy.

”It was a good journey... a good journey.”

Then he looked upward once more.

His body shimmered with green.

And with a final breath, he whispered:

”Evergreen… your turn has come.”