Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2482 Forcing Robin!

Planet Donara—Above the Mountain Peak Overlooking the Passage

There were normally only a very few people atop that mountain peak, and even with those few people present, it was extremely rare to hear so much as a sound from any of them. Everyone who stayed there was always careful about every movement they made and every sound they produced, afraid that even some minor unnecessary noise might disturb Robin...

And today in particular, there were only two people there, so by every reasonable expectation, the mountain peak should have been even quieter and more peaceful than usual.

And yet, the place was nowhere even close to that.

Clamor Clamor

Althera was standing near the cliff, pacing rapidly back and forth along the same stretch of ground while keeping one hand pressed against her head in obvious frustration.

With every step she took, she deliberately scraped her foot hard against the ground instead of simply walking normally, intentionally making as much noise as she reasonably could and stirring up some dust beneath her feet, huffing loudly in annoyance from time to time and occasionally even letting out a small growl.

Then, after pacing for a while, she would turn her head and look in a certain direction... toward Robin's back as he sat in front of his Glass House, deliberately making a little more noise while watching him for any response whatsoever, before turning around and resuming her pacing in exactly the same manner.

Only two hours earlier, she had been doing the exact same thing directly in front of Robin himself, making her irritation as obvious as she possibly could, but he had simply told her to go and continue somewhere else atop the mountain, so she had done exactly as she was told and moved away. Now, all she could see of him from where she was standing was his golden hair peeking over the top of his small chair, yet she was still trying her absolute best to make enough noise for her voice and movements to reach him, hoping that if she kept this up long enough, she might finally provoke any other reaction from him!

Before the war in Mid Sector 90 began, Holak and Asir had left the mountain peak to participate in it, while Theo and the rest of the high-ranking Shadow Swords had stopped coming here as well because of everything happening outside. Glatheon and other great figures had also gone to participate, even those who had never held any combat roles before and normally had nothing to do with fighting directly.

And yet, out of everyone, she had been directly ordered by Robin himself to remain here!!

He said that she held a special status as a Candidate, and that he didn't know what exactly would happen to his momentum if she were to die in the war while still in her current state. At the very least, regardless of anything else, he didn't want her identity as a Candidate to be exposed because she was forced to use the first level of Balance before she had fully matured and reached the proper point to reveal it.

That was convincing and all, and Althera could understand the reasoning behind his decision no matter how much she disliked it... but why did absolutely everyone get to go to war except her?!

Even that little bastard Betso went!!

But fine... Robin's reason was sufficient to forbid her from going, and whether she personally accepted it or not, it was still an actual reason that she could understand, so there was little she could say about that particular matter.

But why was he maintaining his silence?!

"You could ease some of the pressure on your followers over there with just a few words, you know!!" Althera shouted loudly in Robin's direction, making absolutely no attempt to hide the frustration filling her voice.

...But just as had happened every other time, she received no response whatsoever from him.

Years had already passed since Qarun's recording spread throughout the universe and brought all those disasters down upon them one after another, whether through the loss of territory, the loss of trade, or the loss of the sources from which they could gather the resources they needed... and throughout all of it, Robin remained silent.

The Cosmic Academies project that they had worked on had nearly ground to a halt, the plague had spread heavily throughout every Sector, and no one was willing anymore to accept the position of Academy Director and place themselves in that position... and despite all of those consequences continuing to accumulate, Robin remained silent.

The Council of Thrones had implicitly declared war by sending the Relativity Behemoth reinforcements consisting of both equipment and Dominators, while the Tyrant Antares had seized the situation as an opportunity to send considerable support of his own as well, and had even shut them out of most travel through the Major Space Gates... and despite that escalation from both sides, Robin remained silent.

The Syndicate was no longer considered the number-one enemy, and the public pressure that had once been directed against them and against every movement they made had gradually transformed into support. They had actually become heroes in the eyes of many because they were now the ones bearing the full pressure of the battle against Robin's forces... and through even this complete reversal of their public position, he was still silent!

All of this, every problem that had accumulated around Robin and his forces over the past few years, had happened because of just two words from Qarun, so why didn't he simply speak as well and respond with a few words of his own?!

If the Council, the Syndicate, and Antares were all using this excuse as a convenient justification to strangle him from every direction while the herd blindly followed behind them, then why didn't he destroy that excuse himself, or at the very least find some kind of solution to the countless problems and consequences it had already caused?!

Bzzzt—

At that moment, an Instant Gate suddenly opened beside Althera, causing her to stop what she was doing and turn toward it calmly, already expecting another Shadow Sword to emerge carrying some new report about the war or the situation outside.

But instead, an unfamiliar person emerged from the Instant Gate, causing her expression to change slightly. "...?"

It was a man wearing white armor, with a large white cape fluttering freely behind him as he stepped through the gate, while a radiant sun symbol decorated his chest, and upon his face rested a faint smile mixed strangely with a noticeably tense look.

"Hmm? Hello." The newcomer smiled toward Althera as soon as he saw her, then introduced himself without hesitation. "I'm Billy, Robin's friend, and you're Lady Althera, I'm guessing?"

"...Robin's friend? That person actually has friends?" Althera stared at Billy with her eyes widened in genuine surprise, as though the simple introduction itself had given her something unexpected to process, before asking, "What are you doing here?"

"I can't leave him alone at a time like this, even if he warned everyone not to come..." Billy immediately spotted Robin's golden hair in the distance and released a sigh upon confirming that he was still there. "That person and socializing simply don't mix."

"...?" Althera furrowed her feather-like brows even further at that answer, still failing to understand what could possibly make this particular day important enough for Billy to ignore Robin's warning. "What exactly is so special about today?"

"It's his thousandth birthday." Billy laughed as he gave her the answer as though that alone explained why he had come despite everything happening outside. "Even though he doesn't acknowledge things like that, I'm not going to let today pass like any ordinary day!"

"...?!" Althera quickly turned her head toward Robin again, staring in his direction with a mixture of conflicting emotions that appeared on her face almost immediately.

There was surprise at how incredibly young he actually was despite everything surrounding his name and everything she knew about him, along with a degree of regret as she remembered that she had been deliberately bothering him and making noise around him since morning.

12:15

"Anyway..." Billy took a step forward in Robin's direction, clearly intending to continue on his way now that he had explained himself. "I'm going to spend some time with him before he decides to kick me out. Please try to stop anyone from approaching and ruining it."

"Mhm." Althera nodded twice in agreement, but before allowing him to continue, she reached out and placed a hand on Billy's shoulder. "...Urge him to do something, anything at all... please."

Then she lowered her gaze toward the ground, and the frustration that had filled her movements moments earlier became noticeably heavier as she continued, "I only joined this empire recently, man... He can't let it disappear this easily after everything... This war is inevitably lost no matter how long the truce lasts... no matter how cohesive and stable we might appear right now."

"...." Billy stopped where he was after hearing her words, and for a moment, a strange gleam appeared within his eyes, a spiritual gleam that clearly had nothing whatsoever to do with the reflection of the surrounding light.

Then he slowly nodded, as though making his decision. "...I'll force him." And with that, he continued walking toward Robin with outward confidence in every step he took, while the fear he was trying to conceal still made his feet tremble beneath him.