Lord of the Truth

"…From what we can gather, it truly seems that a cosmic war may soon erupt," Theo declared, his tone firm and weighted with a seriousness that made the words hang heavy in the air.

"A cosmic war?!" Robin's entire body stiffened, and his eyes narrowed until they were like slits of sharpened steel. His voice carried both disbelief and alarm. "In Mid-Sector 101? What in the heavens is happening there?!"

He had already seen with his own eyes the cosmic conflict tearing through Young Sector 101, the war over the Virillion Seed, a battle so immense that entire civilizations were being drawn into its orbit. But Mid-Sector 101? That sector was supposed to be quiet, untouchable, secured under the supreme authority of the Behemoth Kaylis. The very idea that a war could ignite there was absurd—yet Theo's tone left little room for doubt.

"This is something our agents reported after tailing the crown prince:" Theo explained slowly, measuring each word as though he weighed the gravity of the truth. "A colossal number of warships and armies have been appearing in that starfield, more than we have seen in centuries. But here is the strange part—they do not belong to Mid-Sector 101's native powers. These are outsiders, foreign forces gathering in someone else's backyard."

Robin's brows rose slightly, though his expression remained guarded. "Where exactly is this star field you're speaking of?"

Star fields were nebulous things, almost impossible to pin down with boundaries or names. They were rarely used as proper measurements. Most of space was nothing but endless black, barren and empty, where even finding a drifting stone could take years of travel. But star fields were different.

They were oases of the void, bursting with life—vast regions where stars and planets clustered closely together, forming tangled webs of gravity and light. Sometimes they contained dense star clusters, other times entire galaxies nestled within.

A single sector could hold two star fields… or a hundred, depending on their density and breadth. To say something was happening in a "starfield" was vague by nature, and Robin found it difficult to imagine the true scope of what Theo meant.

"I am speaking of the Southwestern Aurora Field," Theo finally revealed. "It lies pressed against the Barrier Wall itself, that vast curtain separating young and mid sectors. It is the place where planets rising from Young Sector 101 naturally gather as they ascend."

"Oh…" Robin let out a breath, leaning back against the throne as the tension in his shoulders eased slightly. A faint, knowing smile flickered on his lips. "That explains much. Most likely, it is simply the reinforcements on their way to annihilate the Virillion Galaxy Seed. If so, then they were only sighted because their path happened to pass through that starfield. Nothing more."

By now, the reality of the Virillion situation was no secret. Every power under Kaylis's dominion was funneling fleets, soldiers, and resources toward its eradication. Neighboring sectors too, sensing opportunity or hoping to gain favor, were dispatching support endlessly, day and night, toward Young Sector 101. Countless armies converged upon the borders of that war-torn place, hungry for glory or survival. That so many fleets had been spotted in the Aurora Field near the border between the young and mid sectors was not surprising in the least.

"Yes… on the surface, that is what it looks like," Theo agreed, though his expression only grew more troubled. His brows furrowed and his eyes darkened. "But beneath that explanation lie hidden layers. Something darker. Because of the sudden flight of Richard and the girl from that starfield, I took precautions. I planted several Shadow Swords there, to watch, to listen. I suspected we had missed something. And as it turns out, we had."

He hesitated, his words sinking like stones into the silence before continuing. "…Nearly half of the forces that enter the Aurora Field never make it as far as the Barrier Wall, nor cross into the young sector at all. They just disappear."

"Disappear?" Robin barked, his tone sharp with shock. He leaned forward, the throne creaking under his sudden motion. "What do you mean, disappear?! Are you saying someone is destroying them?"

"No," Theo replied at once, shaking his head firmly. "There is no wreckage, no battlefield debris, no signs of struggle. And these are not small fleets we are speaking of—they are vast, carrying numbers far too great for random accidents or isolated ambushes to explain away. Instead, it happens with eerie silence, a vanishing so subtle that no one notices until it is too late. Only we caught on, and only because the younger brother and his companion acted so strangely, departing that field with such abrupt urgency."

He spread his hands slightly, his voice tightening. "To put it plainly: if one hundred warships enter the Southwestern Aurora Field, we observe that perhaps sixty of them eventually reach the Barrier Wall and push on into Young Sector 101. But the remaining forty… they vanish, as though swallowed by the void. No signal, no fragments, no survivors. Nothing."

Then Theo pressed on, his voice steady but carrying an undercurrent of tension, "And that is not the end of it. Those sixty ships that cross into the young belt—they may launch an assault against Virillion, or set up encirclements around it, or sometimes even hold position at a distance as if merely observing. But when their short task is complete, they withdraw again into Mid-Sector 101, slipping back through the Barrier to reestablish themselves in the Southwestern Aurora Field. And once there… half of them vanish once again, as though swallowed whole. This cycle continues, repeating like the tides, until, across decades—perhaps even a century or two—the fleets will converge in full, little by little, until an ocean of steel and fire has been gathered in secret."

"This…?" Robin's eyes narrowed into sharp lines, his golden irises burning with suspicion. "And where, Theo, do you think they are going?"

"There is no need to think about it, Father." Theo lifted his hand in dismissal, his voice filled with certainty. "Sector 101 borders our dominion. Every tremor there reverberates against our walls, and anything tied to the making of a cosmic war is something I cannot afford to ignore. So I dispatched more Shadow Swords, doubled our spies, tripled our monitoring arrays. I left no stone unturned, until at last I reached a conclusion—clear, undeniable, absolute."

He paused, letting the weight of the revelation build, before continuing in a low, deliberate tone. "Those fleets and armies that 'disappear' are not vanishing into the void. They are regrouping, hiding on planets within the very same star field. They bury themselves inside mountain ranges, hollowing them out like dens. They burrow beneath the ground, building chambers deep under the crust. They sink into the fathomless oceans, where no ordinary eye can pierce. And year after year, century after century, these concealed hosts have multiplied, accumulating into a force whose scale is beyond measure. We lack the exact numbers, but make no mistake: after such long, patient concealment, their total is beyond imagining—vast enough to shake sectors to their core."

Theo's eyes glinted dangerously as he leaned forward. "A colossal force is being readied in silence, Father. It is drawn not only from Sector 101, but also from Sectors 100, 102, even 103 and 105. They are not fragmented; they are united—bound together in secret alliances, working in perfect silence and with precision so meticulous that not a whisper leaks. Tell me, Father… why else would such powers move with such patience and subtlety?"

"…A cosmic war," Robin breathed at last, a heavy sigh rolling from his chest. His words rang like the toll of a distant bell. "There is no mistaking it. A cosmic war is simmering on a slow burn, hidden beneath the surface, waiting to erupt."

"That is what we too have become convinced of," Theo replied, nodding gravely. "It may well be that the girl at the younger brother's side sensed this looming storm, or learned something from some hidden channel. Perhaps that is why she spirited him away so abruptly. Our investigations suggest as much. And indeed, the moment they left the Southwestern Aurora Field, they resumed their old, aimless wanderings as though nothing had happened. It was too precise to be coincidence."

"…And I suppose the target of this quiet war is plain enough, isn't it?" Robin's voice was heavy, his lips curving into a strained, almost bitter smile.

"There is no doubt in my mind," Theo said with conviction. "It is Lord Hedrick—the very man you clashed with during the auction, Father. His situation in Young Sector 101 is already precarious to the point of collapse. He could be destroyed at any moment. And now, beyond that, an enormous trap is being woven for him here in Mid-Sector 101. A trap of such magnitude he cannot possibly resist. His generals, his fleets—they are all stretched thin, scattered around the Virillion Seed, guarding it desperately. Soon, he will face an impossible choice: either defend the seed or defend his empire within Mid-Sector 101. And from all I can see, from every angle, the result will be the same… both will fall. He will lose everything."

"Heheh…" Robin let out a low chuckle, his hand rising to cover his face. At first it was a quiet sound, muffled behind his palm. But then it grew, spilling out in sharp bursts, before bursting forth as uncontrollable laughter. "Hah… hahahahaha!"

"…" Theo blinked, taken aback by the sheer rawness of the reaction. He had expected anger, or grim satisfaction perhaps, but not this manic joy. "Do you despise him so much, Father? That even hearing of his downfall fills you with such happiness? Well… it is your right as he openly stood in your way. And in the end, it makes little difference. Soon enough, he will be erased from existence altogether."

"…Haaaaahahahahahaha!!!" Robin's laughter broke into a roar, booming through the hall, unrestrained, echoing off the vaulted ceilings like the laughter of a god watching the fall of empires.