Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2319 Strengths

”...hmm?”

In Marlikʼs pov, Robinʼs face and the irritation covering it, vanished.

In its place...

...was the sole of a boot covered in mud and dung, descending so abruptly that for the briefest instant it seemed completely detached from logic itself.

For a single instant, Marlik felt as though the entire universe had come to a halt. His countless years of combat experience, his overwhelming battle instincts, and his extraordinary connection with the Laws all awakened simultaneously, granting him something akin to the ability to stop time itself. His perception accelerated to a horrifying degree, his reactions sharpened beyond imagination, allowing him to process countless possibilities within an instant. It was the same terrifying state that had allowed him to survive millions of years of slaughter, giving him the speed to evade anything...

...and kill anything.

Without the slightest hesitation, Marlik relied upon the speed that had never failed him before, shifting sideways with flawless precision to identify exactly what was happening before deciding upon his next move.

But for some reason...

The frozen instant he had always trusted, the seemingly suspended moment upon which he had depended countless times before, was suddenly no longer enough.

He simply wasnʼt fast enough.

The sole of Robinʼs boot planted itself squarely across the center of his face, stretching from his forehead all the way to his chin before he could complete his movement.

Hoooom.

An overwhelming force exploded behind the kick, driving his head violently backward with such horrifying momentum that even Marlikʼs reinforced body could not completely disperse the impact.

The next instant—

BAAAAAAAAAANG!

Marlik shot backward like a cannon shell fired at point-blank range.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His body smashed the sofa beneath him into thousands of splinters before continuing onward without losing momentum, tearing through several ancient trees standing behind it as though they were nothing more than brittle sticks.

”AAAAAAAkkkkHHHHHH!!”

This time, Zavaros and Kiryan joined Glatheon in sucking in cold air.

Even their own faces gradually turned pale, just like Glatheonʼs, as though the blood flowing through their veins had frozen solid. Their minds struggled to reconcile what their eyes had just witnessed with everything they believed they knew about Marlik the Butcher.

”Didnʼt I tell you two to stop him?!” Glatheon shouted in a suppressed voice, desperately trying not to let his panic explode into a scream. ”Look what your half-hearted attitude accomplished! You only provoked him even further!!”

”Me?!” Zavaros pointed at himself in complete disbelief.

”I thought you wanted me to—”

Then he pointed toward Robin...

Then back toward himself again.

”What in the world—?!”

”Tsk.” Robin looked down regretfully at the shattered remains of the sofa scattered across the ground.

For some reason, the annoyance on his face slowly transformed into genuine anger, his gaze lingering upon the ruined furniture as though its destruction offended him more than anything Marlik himself had done.

Hoooom.

The golden symbols across his body began changing before a Balance materialized beside him.

Ding.

The Balance caused something to disappear from Robinʼs soul.

Then Robin himself vanished from where he stood.

”...?!”

Glatheon, Zavaros, and Kiryan all instinctively retreated several steps as they watched Robin become submerged beneath an endless torrent of natural energy and soul force. Boundless streams poured into his body with unbelievable ease, as though the surrounding world itself were willingly feeding him, like a mighty river suddenly bursting across a barren desert that had remained dry for countless years.

”Look what youʼve done to my sofa, you stray animal.”

Robin slowly raised his head.

The anger upon his face accumulated little by little, steadily becoming heavier with every passing heartbeat.

Hoooom.

An eye the size of Robinʼs head materialized and rose high into the sky, making it appear as though it were silently watching the entire planet from above, its existence alone filling the surroundings with invisible pressure.

Then Robin lifted his head even higher.

Golden radiance blazed brilliantly from his eyes.

”A dog whose master never taught it whom it may bite...”

”...and before whom it should wag its tail...”

”...deserves to be put down.”

”And when that happens...”

”...the responsibility belongs to the owner for failing to train it properly.”

”.....!”

Glatheon slapped his forehead with enough force to produce an audible sound.

He already knew.

There was absolutely no chance today would end peacefully anymore.

BAAAAAAAAAAM!

The area where Marlik had landed erupted violently.

Every shattered tree...

Every standing tree...

...was erased without exception.

Every beast exploded apart.

For one brief instant, the once-living forest became nothing more than an empty stretch of muddy earth, stripped clean as though life itself had been wiped away.

Zavaros wanted to let out a cry filled with anguish.

Instead, every word became lodged in his throat when he saw the scene before him.

There...

Amidst the destruction...

Amidst the settling dust...

Marlik remained kneeling upon both knees.

Not because he had been injured.

Not because he had surrendered.

He slowly raised his right hand and calmly wiped away the mud covering his face with a single finger, almost mechanically, before lowering his hand again.

Then...

He stared at that finger.

Madness slowly filled his eyes.

”.....!!!!”

Everyoneʼs hearts began pounding violently inside their chests.

The Butcher Marlikʼs eyes now truly resembled the legends spoken about them throughout the countless sectors.

His pupils darted wildly in every direction while slowly widening farther and farther.

A completely deranged expression gradually consumed his face—

The expression of a demon who simply could not believe...

...that the world might one day come to its end at someone elseʼs hands rather than his own.

Hooooom.

At that very moment, pink veins began surfacing across every inch of Marlikʼs body, spreading through his skin before extending into his already deranged eyes. His aura erupted upward at an astonishing rate, growing heavier and more violent with every passing heartbeat until even the surrounding air seemed incapable of bearing its weight.

Rumble.

The entire planet began trembling beneath his knees, as though the world itself were instinctively responding to the monstrous pressure leaking from his body.

Then, wearing an expression that had become completely rigid, Marlik slowly raised his head. He looked toward Robin with utter disbelief, complete incomprehension, and a silence far more unsettling than any scream could ever be.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

The three swords scattered around Robin suddenly shot through the air toward Marlik before coming to a stop behind him. Their blades pointed toward the earth while their sheaths remained upright, each sword trembling violently as though possessed by a will of its own. Every one of them seemed capable of sensing their masterʼs fury, every one of them resonated with his murderous intent, and every one of them longed to taste blood.

Slowly and with perfect composure, Marlik rose to his feet.

Then he calmly extended one hand, drew a single sword, and assumed an incredibly simple fighting stance, so simple that it almost appeared careless, yet somehow carried an indescribable sense of danger.

The terrifying power coursing through every part of his body—the same overwhelming force that instinctively drove both Kiryan and Zavaros several more steps backward without either of them realizing it—made one fact painfully obvious.

He was finally about to use it.

”Heh~”

Robin smiled as he carefully examined Marlik from head to toe with unconcealed curiosity, almost as though he had discovered an interesting specimen rather than an enemy.

”What wonderfully insane eyes you have.”

”So... What are you using them for right now?”

”Calculating the perfect sequence of events needed to kill me without ever figuring out why I stepped on your face like an ant?”

He chuckled softly.

”If I were you Iʼd investigate the reason behind it before anything else instead of pretending it never happened.”

”Whatever that answer is, Itʼs important enough to completely destroy every plan youʼve painstakingly prepared.”

”Shhh...”

Marlik answered with nothing more than a quiet sound escaping between his lips.

”Donʼt speak... thereʼs no need for words.”

”That only makes me want to keep talking even more. Hehe.” Robin tilted his head slightly. ”Go ahead, Study every one of my strengths with that special ability of yours however you like. Try figuring out exactly how I managed to step on your nose if youʼre capable of it.”

”....But while youʼre doing that, Iʼll be doing exactly the same thing. Your name is Marlik, right? They say you possess the Seventh Stage of a Law derived from a causality technique. I honestly donʼt understand how thatʼs possible.”

”Your own master—the one who actually created and uses those techniques—is supposedly still confined to the Sixth Stage Casuality; So...why donʼt you explain it to me?”

”...”

Marlikʼs eyes, opened as wide as they possibly could, continued darting frantically across every inch of Robinʼs body before repeatedly sweeping over the surrounding area, refusing to overlook even the smallest detail.

”Hmm... Youʼre not very cooperative. I suppose Iʼll explain it myself.”

Robin pursed his lips thoughtfully.

”Either your master has already reached an unimaginably profound understanding of the Seventh Degree, enough to temporarily reproduce that technique without actually breaking through... even if what heʼs using is only an imitation, Or... someone simply handed it to him.”

”...?” For the very first time since the battle began, Marlikʼs eyes stopped moving.

”What else do you have?” Robin began inspecting him from head to toe with growing interest. ”Whateverʼs embedded inside your body doesnʼt look unfamiliar to me... Is that the crystal of an adult space beast? And the blood flowing through your veins... thatʼs the blood of that very same adult space beast youʼre using its crystal.”

”My... How delightful, Hehe. Those three identical swords donʼt resemble planetary weapons either. And theyʼre certainly not epic weapons. So where exactly did you obtain them?”

Robinʼs smile slowly widened.

”Did you happen to dig them out while rummaging through the sands of the Lost Barren Age? Tsk... tsk... Youʼre full of surprises, Mr. Butcher. No wonder youʼve managed to terrify our adorable Behemoths so thoroughly all these years.”

”.....?!?!!????”