Lord of the Truth

"....." Amon fell silent after hearing the explanation and lowered his eyes again. He had been thinking about how to keep the rest of the kings under control, and about the best ways to handle any unrest if it appeared.

One of the ideas he considered was to expel any king, together with his group, if he broke any order. A hard example like that might set a clear limit for the others and stop the blood being spilled among their followers.

Meanwhile, Sakaar was thinking much farther into the future. He was not only thinking about the act of expelling them, but also about what would follow after expulsion, or after they split from the whole. Each word he said sounded serious, and every prediction felt like a careful warning—almost like a prophecy.

Maybe that is the reason Sakaar is the Supreme General.

"..." Robin nodded a few times. This time the anger and sternness in his face softened a little, and a calmer look took their place, as if the weight of the moment shifted, but did not disappear.

Knowing that Sakaar had not lost his sharp mind and his long, forward view was a comfort. Many other problems could be carried or solved later.

In a way, Sakaar IS the Demon army. If he were lost for any reason, it would feel like losing the whole Demon race.

It is not only because of his complete loyalty or his great strength. It is because his mind goes beyond the usual limits of Demons, and because his presence forces others to obey. Sadly, Amon cannot replace him. Amon has power, presence, and loyalty, but he lacks that special kind of leadership intelligence that turns force into lasting order.

"....." But even with that calmer feeling—knowing his follower was still clear‑headed—the seriousness of the situation did not fade. The danger stayed in the room like a cold wind that would not leave.

Anyone who listens to all this might say the solution is clear: the Oath Tablets.

Sakaar and Amon could push the current kings to swear a very strict oath, with death as the punishment for breaking it. With an oath like that, everyone would be forced to hold back their instincts, even when their urges grew strong.

After that, they could also force any Demon with real talent to take the oath before giving him the Blood Atlas. This would make sure that all new kings are under Sakaar's mercy—under the mercy of written law—and that the idea of splitting away or starting an inner war would die before it could grow.

But there is a real problem here…

Demon souls are not like the souls of humans or the souls of other living beings.

At the start of his contact with the Demons, when he first met the late king Morin, he made him swear loyalty, and told King Morin to make any other king who wanted to join their cause swear loyalty as well. Many of those early kings who joined with Morin and Sakaar are still alive. Among the seventeen kings now, some of them must be from those early kings in Nihari who took the oath.

But that old oath would not work now. Over the years, through study and experience, Robin learned that Demon souls are different in kind, and the usual soul methods cannot be used on them.

This became very clear when Robin tried to absorb the souls of several dead Demons after battles. Their souls never gave him more strength. All he got was information—barely enough to craft soul creatures—and even that information slipped out of his reach by itself after a few years, as if it had never been there at all.

So it is very likely that all the soul imprints of the Demon kings have now been erased from the Tablets, just as they were erased from his soul domain.

Maybe for this exact reason there is not, and cannot be, a Demon who uses soul powers for anything more than sensing. That thing, that disease—the Plague—was not created to have a soul, or morals, or a life after death. It was made to devour, and only to devour.

After about five full minutes of steady thinking, Robin drew his brows together a little, then opened his mouth and spoke, "You said you now have three loyal followers besides Amon, correct?"

"Correct," Sakaar replied without hesitation. "Helga, Sayer, and Vairon… I can put my own name on the line to assure you, my lord, that you won't hear a single problem from them—no trouble, no unexpected moves."

"Aha…" Robin waited for a moment, letting the silence stretch on purpose so the words would sink in. "What makes their loyalty to you different from everyone else? What makes it hold when others fail?"

"It isn't loyalty as much as it is a different aim," Sakaar answered plainly. "Those three have other things to focus on besides food and the rush that comes with it. Helga loves the act of fighting itself, so she has no issue limiting herself to facing armies and organized battles. Sayer is passionate about eating only the strong and doesn't care about ordinary people at all. Vairon, on the other hand, loves power and control even more than the hunt. I provide all of that for them—and I provide extra on top when needed. Because of this, I don't see any reason for disobedience from their side."

"You're saying the problem isn't loyalty, but personality," Robin said, tilting his head to one side as if weighing the idea from a new angle and testing its edges. "…Isn't that the solution right in front of you, then?"

"….." Amon shot a quick look at Sakaar, clearly wanting to hear what this solution might be and how far Sakaar would take it.

"My lord, do you mean I should watch the personalities of potential kings and choose only the ones worth bringing in—then give him the Blood Atlas and add more high‑quality food, the corpses of World Cataclysms, which the Shadow Swords supply us?" Sakaar smiled beneath his mask, a small, controlled curve. "Do you know what this would mean for you, my lord, in real terms?"

"It means the number of potential kings will drop to at least a quarter of what it is now. If say. I would get 100 demon kings before, maybe I wouldn't get 25 now, right?" Robin said, lifting his chin slightly as if concluding a calculation. "Isn't that better than living in constant worry about what the rest might do at any moment?"

"….." Sakaar waited a few seconds, then nodded once—slow, steady, and firm. "As long as my lord will not blame me for delaying the strengthening of his army, I will begin the plan at once and keep you updated on each step."

"I understand it's like your earlier fix—something temporary that cannot be fully controlled," Robin replied with a small nod that showed agreement without giving full approval. "But follow it for now, until we find a way to shape the new kings properly and give them stable reasons to hold back."

"Like what, my lord?" Sakaar shook his head, honest and direct. "I can't gather them in a school and simply teach them how to control their thirst for blood as if it were a simple habit."

"Why not?" Robin laughed, a short, dry sound that carried a hint of challenge. "The five of you were born like the rest of the Demons, and yet each of you carries goals that distract you from extreme bloodlust and give you a reason to hold yourselves back. For you, it's the wish to keep your race alive; for the other three, there are different reasons—fight, strength, power. These goals were not born in a day. They were learned slowly along the way, piece by piece."

He gestured toward Amon beside Sakaar. "When I first met Amon, he was worse than the worst Demon you would suspect of bloodlust—blind in sight and blind in insight, knowing nothing except how to move his mouth and feed. Look at him now… his fierce loyalty and his leading nature, which wants to protect me, changed him completely and keeps him in line."

"….." Amon catching strays left him dumbstruck, he did not know whether to thank his lord or object to those words; his mouth tightened for a second, yet he kept silent and held his place.

"…" Sakaar nodded again, accepting both the point and the task. "Understood, my lord. I will try to find answers for the new generations from an early age—reasons that hold them back, aims that keep them steady." He paused a few heartbeats before continuing, choosing each word. "And I will think of ways to understand the rest of the current kings better and release them from confinement bit by bit, testing them as we go, and pulling them back if they fail."

"Then do it quickly," Robin said, and a small, knowing smile touched his face like a seal on a plan. "Because you have another major mission."

"Hmm?" Sakaar lifted his head and turned fully toward Robin, alert and focused. "A mission for me?"

Robin settled his back against the throne, making himself comfortable as if preparing for a long plan that would stretch across sectors. "The Demons have a long‑term journey ahead—to the neighboring Young Sector 101."