Lord of the Truth

"....." Merina slowly raised her head, her eyes fixed on her teacher, watching him with utter and overwhelming bewilderment...

What he had just done appeared far too easy. He had completely manipulated Vanier—the strongest, most dominant presence in the entire class—without even standing up, all while casually seated with one leg crossed over the other like it was nothing.

Turning slime into mist? Controlling sixty dragons, each attacking independently? Booby-trapping someone's blood itself?!

All of those techniques required immense control and an incredibly advanced, combat-oriented understanding of the law's deeper uses. In her entire family's recorded history, only her great-grandfather—the legendary Founder—had ever achieved such a refined level of manipulation, and it was through that level of mastery that he had succeeded in founding a planetary empire of great power and prestige.

But after his era, the bloodline began to steadily weaken. Over generations, the family's once-mighty blood became thinner and thinner.

In the past, her grandfather could transform into a replica of the Beast King and exude slime freely as if it were air. But now? The amount of slime their bodies produced had become so scarce that perhaps—at best—a single drop could be generated per week. That's why she resorted to collecting and storing her slime reserves in the tiny insects tangled in her hair, saving it diligently for emergencies.

She had been sent to this academy based on the belief that the bloodline's strength had faded, and that it was time to rely on alternative methods of warfare.

With time, she had slowly accepted that it was nearly impossible to rely on the strength of her diluted blood anymore, and she redirected her efforts toward mastering other fields—specifically, alchemy.

She tried again and again to convince herself that perhaps she could still serve and protect the empire by becoming a brilliant crafter of rare elixirs and miraculous pills... but deep inside, in the quiet corners of her heart, she knew that wouldn't be enough to defend the empire for even one more generation.

Until today...

The teacher—this mysterious, composed man—had used the exact amount of slime she had painstakingly gathered over years, and he had generated it in an instant, without hesitation. And somehow, he also seemed to possess the exact same level of awareness and comprehension as her great-grandfather once had...

How was that even possible?!

Robin, meanwhile, remained completely indifferent to her gaze. He ignored her entirely and turned away without a word.

"Psst. You there. What's the law you're using?" He pointed toward a specific young man—the same student Robin had seen fighting that gorilla with a tail during the first combat session he had witnessed.

"Me?" the young man stood up nervously. His skin had a slight greenish hue, and he had two small, stubby horns protruding from his head.

"The beast our bloodline descends from relies on its immense physical power and its agility in combat."

"Doesn't look strong or agile enough to me when I saw you get your ass beating up that day," Robin raised a single eyebrow. "Talk. What law does it use exactly?"

The young man clenched his teeth, visibly embarrassed.

"The law it uses is... weak. It's just used to detect the positions of targets through a buzzing sound that comes from the shells on its back... I know I'm not strong yet, but someday I'll reach the peak I dream of!"

"Let's put dreams aside for now. Dreams alone are completely useless if you don't have a brain to figure out how to achieve them." Robin waved his hand dismissively.

"You said buzzing, huh? So it's rooted in the Law of Vibrations. You're relying on echoes to locate targets? Hmm... Have you ever tried amplifying the buzz and directing it like a focused wave—maybe even integrating it into your attacks?"

"How could I possibly merge something like that int—AAGGHH!!"

The young man suddenly grabbed his head with both hands. His vision became hazy and distorted in an instant.

"There's no Beast King who doesn't rely on his law in battle, you idiot!" Robin glared at him with intense sharpness, pointing straight at him with his index finger. The markings on Robin's shoulder began to shift slightly, and his gaze turned piercingly intense.

"That beast may have fought physically, yes, but it was probably doing exactly what I'm doing now—disrupting the enemy mentally first. Otherwise, what's the point of having a bloodline?!"

Poff

The young man collapsed into his seat, completely unconscious—just like Vanier before him. His eyes twitched erratically, and his nerves fired involuntarily, causing spasms throughout his body.

"...."

Shaddad glanced at him, then at Vanier, then back at Robin... Even he, who was notorious for being harsh and unforgiving with students, had never done anything like that to them!

Robin exhaled, sighing with mild disappointment as he watched the boy pass out so easily. Then, he calmly scanned the room.

"Who else among you has a completely useless law that makes them have to get to close combat?"

"I do."

A girl stood up. Her skin was a deep, rich shade of red, similar to the hue of the infernal demons.

"The law I inherited is Blood Rush. My body can handle sudden, high-velocity blood flow that temporarily boosts my physical strength... but it's extremely limited in use. It forces me to rely on close combat all the time. It's like a cheap stimulant that you could buy for 10 pearls. Completely useless if I want to fight with my own hand—AARRGH!!"

Poff!

The girl clutched her head for a few painful seconds, and then blood burst from her ear. She immediately fell unconscious.

"AAAH!!"

The students sitting beside her panicked and leapt away. Only her closest friend rushed to her side, checking her pulse—then screamed at Robin in fury:

"What the hell are you doing?! Are you trying to kill her?!"

"When she wakes up, make sure to tell her this: anyone who truly understands how to control the flow of blood within their own body—how to direct and redirect it with precision—can, with just a bit of focus and a decent level of mastery, also control the blood flow within others."

Robin waved his hand dismissively, not even sparing her condition a glance.

"All I did, really, was momentarily halt the flow of blood in her brain—just for a fraction of a second—using the very law she was just whining about moments ago."

Then he turned, his gaze sweeping coldly across the rest of the room.

"So? Anyone else got a nominee for what they think is the most pathetic, the most overused, or the most utterly irrelevant law in existence? Let's test just how useless your laws truly are."

"...."

The entire lecture hall fell into complete, suffocating silence. Not a single soul dared to speak. Every student had their eyes locked on the man they were supposed to call their teacher—yet now all they saw was a terrifying monster.

Robin smiled faintly and casually pointed toward a random person.

"You. Yeah, you over there. You're using a law from the wind category, aren't you?"

"M—me?" The short, nervous-looking student pointed at himself with a trembling hand, then nodded hesitantly.

"Y-yes, that's right… but… wind blades, gust attacks, and things like that… they stop being useful once the opponent gets to a certain strength threshold and—argh!!"

The boy suddenly grabbed his throat in panic, then—PFFFFT—coughed out a mouthful of blood, spraying the desk in front of him with crimson.

This time, Robin waved his hand more quickly and stopped just short of letting the boy collapse into unconsciousness.

"I simply adjusted the air pressure inside your lungs. That's literally all it takes to kill"

"So..." he said, still smiling, "Who wants to go next?"

Still grinning, Robin slowly scanned the students, letting his eyes linger threateningly on each face.

Creek Creek

All of the students immediately pushed their chairs back and staggered away from their desks.

Forget volunteering—at this point, several of them were already glancing toward the exit door, clearly debating whether to make a run for it!

"Big brother... I-I think they've gotten the message..." Shaddad said with a nervous laugh, beads of sweat clearly visible on his forehead.

These weren't just any students. They were the children of high officials, nobles, and powerful household names—making enemies out of them was the last thing Shaddad wanted Robin to do right now!

"Hmm, very well then. Let's shift the rest of this session to something a bit lighter—how about a history lesson?"

Robin crossed his arms across his chest and began speaking, his tone completely relaxed.

"Once upon a time, long ago, a great tragedy happened to me. I lost many members of my family in a brutal attack. Driven by blinding hatred, I completely lost myself for a while. I wandered the streets of my home planet for weeks—maybe months—killing anyone I thought might be a criminal… or a thief… or even someone I suspected of participating in the ambush on my planet. No proof. No trials. Just blood and rage~"

"...."

Shaddad frowned, visibly shaken by the revelation.

So there was a dark and bloody history behind the soon-to-be Great Truth Chosen…?

"After countless days of angry, senseless killing—just for the sake of seeing more blood—somehow, the researcher inside me started to claw his way back up. Not fully, of course—just enough to make me curious again."

Robin let out a bitter chuckle, amused at his own madness.

"So from that day forward, I made a little game out of it—trying a new method of killing every single day, always without ever laying a finger on my opponent. A fun challenge, if you want to call it that."

"....."

The students started glancing at one another nervously.

What on earth were they listening to now? A lecture? Or the memoirs of a serial killer?!

"After months—maybe even years—of playing that game, I finally reached one simple, undeniable conclusion..."

Robin looked upward, as though gazing at the thousands he had killed.

"There is no such thing as a 'useless' law."

"The heavenly laws—even the auxiliary ones—if pushed beyond their limits, or twisted beneath their intended use, become lethal.

We humans are pathetically weak in the face of them. We humans are so laughably insignificant when it comes to the divine laws that make up the fabric of this universe."

Then he fiddled with something in his sleeve, sighed, and looked back at the students with a disapproving stare.

"And now I come here… only to see you lot tossing aside your laws, and turning the battlefield into a glorified boxing ring? What a revolting joke."