Lord of the Truth

The woman clad in the black dress raised her hand and pointed at the Renara'a Soul Shard, while looking at Robin.

"Do not let yourself be seduced by that woman's honeyed words," she said coldly, her voice like velvet laced with venom. "I care not for her crumbling empire. I did not choose the title Goddess of Blood and Destruction—it was my enemies who gave it to me, trembling, in the aftermath of their downfall. Do you understand? Nothing in this universe, no law, no fate, and no force, can prevent me from ending your life today... except my personal desire not to. And now, in an act of what I dare to call mercy, I have chosen to give you one—only one—path out of this nightmare you've found yourself in. I offered you generous terms in the past, and you spat on them. So listen carefully now. These new terms are not up for negotiation."

Her eyes, glowing with a supernatural intensity, narrowed like twin stars collapsing inwards.

"Instead of a mere 90%, I will now take 99% of the yearly tribute and resource output from all of your planetary holdings. That is not a request—it is the foundation of this pact. I believe that, with Nihari present by your side, even that meager 1% left to you will suffice to fuel your development. And this isn't going to be a mere gentleman's agreement—we will seal this pact with a soul contract, so you never even entertain the idea of deception or secrecy. I will know everything.

"...Secondly, I demand unrestricted access to every piece of equipment, every soldier, and every general you deployed in your war against Pythor. I will summon them when I see fit, and they will fight under my banner. They are now part of my arsenal."

"And third..." she took a step closer, her presence like a tidal wave of dark power crashing forward, "I will require permanent, unfiltered access to any progress you achieve as a Truth Chosen. Any revelation, any invention, any truth you uncover will be mine to do with as I please. You will be the innovator, yes—but I will be the one to wield your work, sell it, exploit it, or discard it, as I see fit."

She tilted her head slightly, the edge of a malicious smile creeping across her lips like a crack in stone.

"And finally... though I never once ordered Pythor to kneel before me in That way, you will do it. You will kneel before me today, and every time your eyes meet mine henceforth. That will be your substitute for death—my way of soothing the fire in my heart and pretending, if only for a moment, that your crimes never existed. Kneel, Robin. Place your nose and chin against the cold ground… and you shall live."

"...Me?" Robin stared, wide-eyed, as if struggling to process the absurdity. He placed a hand on his chest, confused. "You want me... to kneel? With my nose... and my chin… touching the ground?"

"Don't listen to her!" Renara suddenly shouted, her voice urgent, slicing through the heavy silence. "This isn't a negotiation between a conqueror and a defeated ruler—it's a contract of pure and utter enslavement! I've studied interstellar politics for cycles, and I've never heard of anyone surrendering 99% of their resources. What are you supposed to do with the 1% that remains? What's the point of having an empire at all then?! She doesn't want your cooperation, Robin—she wants to break you. To make you her puppet. A mindless zombie who toils for her for all eternity!"

"Know your place, girl!" the woman in black snapped, her voice suddenly thunderous. She turned sharply and pointed a glowing finger at Renara's soul shard. "The only reason I haven't obliterated that soul shard of yours yet is because I still grant you a sliver of respect for your standing in the Middle Belt. But don't let that delude you—do not presume you have the right to meddle in matters far beyond you. Hold your tongue and watch in silence. This is not your fight—it is his and mine alone!"

"How can I stay silent when this is nothing short of daylight robbery?!" Renara's fury now boiled over. She raised her arm and pointed toward the sky, her whole form trembling. "You are not just stripping him of his rights—you're trampling over the dignity of every symbol of honor in Sector 100 of the Middle Belt! This is a stain on all of us! A disgrace to the codes we hold dear!"

She knew she was losing. Knew that if Robin Burton agreed, she would be left with nothing. She'd never get access to the Galactic Seed's coordinates, never uncover the mysteries in this place. All of her plans, her dreams, would collapse in an instant.

Her mind raced. If that fool truly submitted, then this treasure trove of opportunity would be sealed away from her forever. Her only chance would be to form a genuine alliance with the Ghassan Empire, a gamble in itself, and try to pressure the woman in black within the political power plays of the Middle Belt. But how could she do that while in an all-out war with the Twilight Spectrum Empire? How could she pull this off when every path seemed barred?

No... her only real hope was that Robin refused. That he would see through the trap, resist, and somehow... somehow share the coordinates with her. If—just if—she could smuggle him out, convince him to escape… having a Truth chosen at her side would change everything. It would be the edge she desperately needed.

With sudden urgency, she turned to him.

"Listen to me, Robin—if you choose to become her slave, I will not sit quietly! The moment I leave this place, I will expose the presence of the Red Plague on this planet to the entire sector!"

"You dare?!" the woman in black roared, her voice shaking the very air. She knew of course. She knew the Plague existed—even within Nihari itself. If the secret were to spread, the repercussions would be catastrophic.

"...Me... Robin Burton... to kneel, with my chin and nose touching the ground? Hehe..."

Robin's voice was soft now. He looked down... and then began to laugh. Quietly at first, but it grew.

He stopped hearing everything after that point.

"Of course I dare! And why wouldn't I?" Renara roared, her voice thunderous as it echoed upward like a shockwave crashing against the heavens. Her white hair flared behind her like a banner of war.

"Did you honestly believe you could hoard this celestial feast for yourself, like a greedy beast guarding a treasure it doesn't even understand? If I walk away from here without a deal that satisfies me—without even a crumb of what's rightfully mine—then mark my words: by dawn, the Academy's finest agents will descend upon this planet. They will swarm this place like vultures to a carcass!"

"A deal? What deal? What part do you think you play in all this, really?" the woman in the black dress snapped, her tone turning venomous, her eyes glowing like molten rubies.

"My followers and I have waged war against that festering parasite for years. We have a history soaked in blood. And you—what are you to this story? A passing footnote? An opportunist with ambition and no invitation? What deluded fantasy makes you think you deserve a seat at this table?"

Renara's voice crackled with iron resolve as she shot back, "The past is dust! It's the present and the future that matter now. And in this moment, I demand to be a stakeholder. I will not walk away while you devour everything and leave the bones. I refuse to vanish into the shadows while you feast!"

Her finger jabbed downward like a thunderbolt. "Drop a soul shard here and now, and let's negotiate like decent rulers. Because if you don't… then neither of us will gain anything!"

A long pause followed, heavy with rising tension.

"...I've already taken on one debt," Helen murmured darkly, her voice low, slow, and filled with a quiet, terrible promise. Her gaze sharpened like a predator locking eyes with its prey.

"And I suppose… one more wouldn't kill me."

Her lips curled into a wicked smile. "The Empire of the Nine Paths? Perhaps it's outlived its usefulness."

"Hehehehe..." Robin's laugh started to get higher.

"Keep dreaming!" Renara snapped, her eyes ablaze. She flung her arm outward in defiance, as though casting Helen's threats into the void. Then, swiftly, she turned back to Robin, desperation gripping her words like a vice.

"Robin, listen to me. Don't do this. Don't give in to her. I can take you right now—this very instant—to my planet through one of those portals. With it, we can escape, we can regroup, we can— we can…?"

Her words faltered.

Robin was trembling.

But not from fear.

Not from sadness.

His hands covered his face. His shoulders were shaking, but it wasn't the trembling of grief. No… it was something far more unhinged.

"…Heheheh… me? Me… put my nose to the ground? Hahaha… AHAHAHAHA!"

Robin suddenly peeled his hands away from his face, and what emerged was not the face of a man broken by despair—but one possessed by a manic, untamed energy. His grin stretched too wide, his eyes gleamed with the eerie light of someone teetering on the brink of madness.

"AHAHAHA! What a day! What an absurd, twisted, unforgettable day!"

"In a single day two whores crawled out just to ask me to kneel, one without a shred of reason—and the other without a shred of shame!"

He took a step forward, arms wide like a deranged performer on a cosmic stage.

"Well guess what? Here's my answer to both your offers..."

His voice dropped an octave, raw and cold.

"To hell with both of you."

Then his eyes flickered sideways toward Richard, the bravado melting just for a heartbeat. A faint, sincere smile crossed his lips, a final whisper of humanity breaking through the chaos.

He leaned in slightly, his voice barely more than breath:

"I'm sorry."

And then—

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM