Lord of the Truth

"Married? And had children? Five?!"

Robin nearly shot out of his seat, his voice booming with surprise and delight. His smile exploded across his face, stretching from ear to ear as if he had just received the best news in a century.

"Tell me everything! Every detail, every twist — I want it all!"

Theo chuckled softly, clearly enjoying his father's sudden enthusiasm.

"Honestly, there isn't much drama to it... at least not on the surface. Peon did what you'd expected. After stepping away from the battlefield, he withdrew to the Jura Mountains without saying a word."

Theo's tone became more reflective.

"For a while, he refused to see anyone. No visitors. No letters. Just him and the wind that howled across the cliffs."

Robin leaned forward, completely invested.

"Eventually," Theo continued, "he began wandering through the planets under our rule. He didn't say where he was going or why. But after years of solitude… he finally returned nd settled in a modest little town nestled in the side valleys of southern Jura."

Theo smiled to himself.

"There, of all things, he became a carpenter. He set up a workshop and began working with wood — using his Wind Law not for destruction, but for delicate carving. He would etch spirals and feathers into hard oak, sculpt animals, blades, musical instruments... even small toys."

Robin blinked, as if trying to imagine his war-born son, the Storm Wolf of the Empire, surrounded by wooden statues and shavings.

"Then," Theo said, voice lowering with intrigue, "came her. A woman. A customer. At first, she was nothing more to him than a face in the crowd."

He smiled wistfully.

"She would visit every few days to buy a figurine or two. Sometimes something practical, sometimes art. Over time… she started coming more frequently. Once every few days became daily. Then, she stopped leaving immediately after buying something. She stayed. She talked. She listened. She watched him work in silence."

Theo chuckled.

"And Peon, poor bastard, didn't even notice he was falling for her. All he could see was how she always met his eyes — never looking away, never flinching. At first, he thought she was afraid to look at the half-burned wreck that was his face. she told him later that she was trying to do just that, but not because how ugly he was, but she was trying to give him the dignity of being looked at in the eyes as a man, not a monster."

Theo leaned back with a soft sigh.

"Eventually, Peon realized her struggle. And when he did, he decided to make it easier for her. He fixed the worst of the scars — his left cheek, which had been shredded beyond recognition, was the first to go."

He paused, then continued.

"Five years passed. A quiet, beautiful sort of love. But then… one day, she stopped coming. Just like that. No explanation. No farewell."

Theo's voice hardened slightly.

"Peon searched for her. Desperately. And that's when he discovered the truth — she was from the Burton family. In fact… she was the daughter of one of your cousins, Father. And now, her father had begun preparing her for marriage to some king from a newly conquered planet — an arranged political alliance."

Robin's expression darkened with rage.

Theo nodded.

"But Peon didn't sit still. He invoked his full name, his lineage, his title. He confronted the Burton family directly and dismantled the marriage. Then and there, he claimed her as wife."

He clapped once, smiling widely.

"And so, the tale ends in a happily-ever-after — or close enough. They married. She gave birth to five beautiful children — all of them blonde, like their mother. Like you, Father. And Peon, slowly but surely, healed his remaining scars for his children, so they wouldn't be afraid of him."

He exhaled.

"And one day — I imagine after a quiet morning, a full breakfast, a kiss from his wife and a hug from one of his sons — he looked out the window and realized… he had fulfilled his vow. So he went to Zara, and the rest… you already know."

Robin didn't speak for a moment. His smile had faded into something more thoughtful, contemplative.

"…That's a bit too perfect to be random chance," he said finally, brows drawn low.

"This sounds like something pulled straight from a romance novel, not real life."

"Ha!" Theo laughed, slapping his thigh.

"You're not wrong. Peon himself asks that same question every day. He knows something is off. He feels it. He even fought me once, convinced I was behind it — that I had engineered the whole thing to manipulate him. He spent years trying to trace any sign of interference."

Theo shrugged.

"But he never found anything. Eventually, he gave up. He loved his wife. He adored his children. He had peace. And regained his position in the Empire. That was enough. He stopped questioning it."

Robin narrowed his eyes.

"Did you do it? Tell me the truth."

Theo raised both hands.

"No, Father. I swear. I would never risk my relationship with Peon like that. If he ever found out I tampered with his fate… he'd never forgive me."

He leaned forward.

"To be honest, if Richard hadn't already moved to the Middle Belt by then, I'd have thought he did it. It feels like one of his setups. Like how he kickstarted that Movement of his. Everything about it feels… orchestrated."

Theo gave a knowing smile.

"But maybe this time… it really was fate. Maybe the universe played a hand of its own."

He leaned back.

"Whatever the case, Peon is back — and stronger than ever. A real commander. Even his infamous suicide tactics have evolved into surgical strikes with special forces. He's no longer a hammer — he's a scalpel."

Robin's face shifted. A slow grin spread across it, not of joy, but something deeper.

"Fate, huh?"

He chuckled.

"There's only one person I know who can script a tragedy, twist it into a love story, and sell it to the universe as destiny..."

He tapped the table.

"I'll owe Kristan a proper thanks when he returns. Maybe a statue this time."

He exhaled slowly, then straightened.

"With this new surge of strength, Peon's power is closing in on Caesar's. I was considering sending Aro and the Third Army into the Middle Belt, but now it seems unnecessary — at least for Mid-Sector 100."

He pointed firmly at Theo.

"Tell Peon to prepare. He is to move into the Middle Belt with the full elite of the First Army. All those beneath Martial Emperor Realm should remain — stationed across planetary zones as defenders and support units for our other legions."

"Understood," Theo nodded firmly, his voice steady but his heart beginning to race.

He could already see it.

Once the new batch of elite slaves were acquired — handpicked with precision — and once Peon arrived with his handpicked reinforcements, the worries about the four planets in Mid-Sector 100 would vanish like morning mist under the sun.

No…

This wasn't just a defensive maneuver.

With this kind of buildup, this kind of momentum, they were no longer just defending territory —

They were building a civilization.

Robin tapped the table, breaking Theo's thoughts.

"Now then, we can talk about how you'll spend the other five billion Pearls."

He pointed directly at Theo, voice calm, but sharp as a blade.

"I want you to start acquiring high-grade Internal Core Stabilizers. Quality ones. And lots of them."

Theo blinked, the word catching him slightly off guard.

"Stabilizers? You mean the kind you need to become a World Cataclysm? Why?"

His brows furrowed.

"The high-grade ones are rare. And expensive beyond belief."

He leaned back slightly in his chair, deep in thought.

To call them "expensive" was putting it mildly. High-grade stabilizers — planetary cores and the like.

They were not items bought casually, nor were they commonly traded. Entire factions went to war for such resources.

World Cataclysms who cultivated with these stabilizers were notorious for being much stronger, more stable, more focused — and far more dangerous than their counterparts. They have a higher chance of breaking into Nexus as well.

And that was what terrified most up-and-coming powers:

The gap.

The monstrous, soul-crushing gap between ancient factions with access to such resources, and newly rising forces clawing their way up without them.

It was a chasm so deep that few ever crossed it.

"To forge our own World Cataclysms, of course," Robin said, giving a wolf's smile.

Then, his tone shifted — slow, deliberate, calculating.

"Even now, while we're speaking, six World Cataclysms are debating whether or not to align themselves with us. They're from the Maizer family. Heard of them?"

Theo's eyes widened instantly.

"The human Maizers? From Planet Seramon?!"

He sat forward, disbelief washing over his face.

"They've stayed neutral for millennia! How did you even reach them?!"

Robin chuckled softly, lifting his shoulders with mock modesty.

"Fate," he said. Then he leaned forward, voice low and heavy.

"I'm convinced they'll reach out to Caesar soon — to test the waters. When they do… they'll find what they've been missing: momentum. Purpose. Strength. The Maizer family has six, maybe seven members who've been stuck just shy of World Cataclysms breakthrough for decades. If we provide them the right stabilizers, I believe they'll take that final step."

He paused, then added,

"And we won't stop there. Once they rise, we'll make them our banner — give them a planet of their own, parade them as the new nobility. And when other families see what we did for them… they'll follow. No threat. No war. Just ambition, envy, and inevitability."

Robin's gaze turned razor-sharp.

"I don't want it to stop with them. I want a cascade — one success story turning into ten, then fifty, then a hundred. We won't buy World Cataclysms anymore. We need to generate them."

He narrowed his eyes, and Theo felt a chill.

"Even if no one else joins us, I refuse to believe we don't already possess hidden talents — candidates of our own in those four planets, and the new ones we will acquire. You told me earlier you could buy slaves with specific traits. High affinity. Bloodline purity. Rare mutations. Soul resilience."

Theo nodded slowly, his mind already racing.

"Then do it," Robin said coldly.

"Use part of the five billion to acquire a select handful — ten, twenty, maybe fifty. Focus on Laws we have techniques for. Once the stabilizers arrive, we'll give them what no one else will: a path. The resources to forge their legend. They will reach reach World Cataclysm Realm under our banner."

A long silence followed.

Theo sat frozen — not from doubt, but from the weight of what had just been laid before him.

This wasn't just strategy.

This was doctrine.

His father wasn't preparing for a war.

He was preparing for a renaissance.

Theo felt a strange thrill crawl down his spine.

To draw families in.

To forge World Cataclysms.

To change the hierarchy of power — not by storming the gates, but by replacing them entirely.

He whispered to himself,

"We won't rise… we'll redefine what rising even means."

And for the first time in centuries …

Theo was afraid of just how far his father wants to go.