"...Are you ready to return to your youth, old man?" Robin's smile carried a faint spark of amusent as he looked at the cosmic elder. There was no mockery in his tone-only a glimr of warmth and respect, as if he truly wished to see that ancient fire burn once more.
"....." The elder released a long, weary sigh-one that seed to carry the dust of countless eras-then slowly nodded. "I am ready." His voice trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the weight of what was about to co.
"Excellent," Robin said, his tone growing firr. "I need you now to touch that pattern. Once your hand makes contact, the activation sequence will begin." He then turned toward Altheira with a calm but commanding nod. "Please, assist him wi-"
Paa Paa
Before he could even finish, the sound of unsteady steps echoed through the chamber. Robin turned, surprised, and saw the old man hopping toward the rune on one leg-his single remaining leg slamming against the ground with surprising strength. Then, with a burst of life that seed impossible for soone his age, he leapt forward, spreading his left arm wide as his laughter thundered through the hall.
"Give back my life! Hahaha!!"
Ooooooommmnnn-
The mont the elder's arm and leg wrapped around the glowing pattern, the air itself trembled.
Sothing colossal and sacred began to stir.
A wave of golden light-so pure, so blinding-erupted from the rune, flooding every corner of the chamber. The radiance was so intense that even the energy around them distorted, forcing everyone to avert their gaze.
"Ah!" Althera cried out, shielding her face.
"Hehe... the old man got a little too excited," Robin muttered with a grin. Only he, with his eyes burning in radiant focus, could still witness the event unfolding before them.
What was happening now could only be described in one phrase-
A one-sided battle of laws.
The Master Law of Balance had shackled the elder's existence for eons. Each organ of his body had been branded with sacred seals. His heart, his life vein, his very energy core-all bore the weight of those als.
His life vein in particular was wrapped with hundreds of different imprints, each one representing a mory of battle, a mont of near-death, a choice to sacrifice. They ranged from the First Stage to the Sixth, each forged in the fires of a war that tested the limits of his being.
That reckless warrior had gambled with his own existence too many tis to count-burning a quarter of his life force for a cause he believed in, then half of what remained, then half again, and again-until he was nothing but fragnts held together by sheer will.
For soone of his caliber, even a single drop of life energy in his vein could sustain him for hundreds of thousands of years... but that final drop was now on the verge of disappearing.
Wait... there are seals within his soul domain as well?! Robin's expression hardened. The sheer number of sacrifices this old man had endured was almost unbearable. He hadn't just sacrificed his body-he had carved pieces out of his very soul domain.
His true domain once spanned millions of units-but it had been suffocated by countless seals, compressed and strangled to the point where he could only access a single percent of its potential.
Perhaps, Robin thought, the elder had spent centuries training his soul, struggling to expand that suffocated domain-to push it to even 2%-only to give half of that up again for the sake of another battle. And from a being of the cosmic elder's might, even the smallest sacrifice carried the weight of a collapsing star.
Now, as the golden light surged deeper into him, those ancient seals began to resist. They shuddered, cracked, and trembled under the pressure.
But it was pointless.
Like a wall of straw against a raging flood, they could not withstand the divine tide of golden creation flowing into every vein, every nerve, every particle of his existence.
"..." Even Robin himself was caught off guard. He had prepared for resistance far stronger than this.
The rune had been designed to counter first- and second-stage seals only-it wasn't ant to challenge the upper tiers of Balance. In theory, this restoration could have lasted years, maybe decades, failing repeatedly before achieving partial success.
But the response he was witnessing now was... far smoother than expected. It was as if the universe itself wanted the elder to rise again.
"This is the first ti I've ever seen him so... alive," Altheira whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. "No-this is the first ti I've ever seen him show any emotion at all." She exhaled deeply, her gaze softening as the brilliance intensified, forcing her to turn her head away.
Unable to face the golden radiance, she turned toward Robin instead.
For a mont, she forgot the blinding light. She simply looked at him-the confident curve of his lips, the quiet determination etched in his features, and those eyes that seed to hold the ambition of a thousand worlds. "...Lord Robin," she said softly, "if this operation succeeds... if you truly bring the cosmic elder back to our side, you will have done -no, you will have done the entire universe-a service beyond asure. If you succeed, then I shall..." Her voice faltered, the words she wanted to say caught sowhere between gratitude and awe. She didn't know what to say!
"You shall what? Give yourself in marriage?" Robin burst out laughing, his tone playfully arrogant as a faint glimr of mischief danced in his eyes. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. How about one of my sons instead? They're younger, handsor, and far less troubleso than .""
"....". Altheira didn't flinch or even blink. His teasing words passed through her like a breeze through the void. Her face remained perfectly calm, her eyes reflecting the golden light from the ritual chamber. "If you succeed," she said quietly, "I won't pressure you about Morgana ever again."
"I was going to take her anyway," Robin replied smoothly, lifting his shoulders in a half-shrug, half-grin. "But co now-why not think of a better reward than that?"
"Isn't the cosmic elder's promise to share part of his treasures enough for you?" Altheira asked, her brows furrowing slightly in disbelief.
"That's different," Robin said, his tone turning lighter but sharper. "What's between him and is a deal-an exchange bound by law and will. But you..." he gestured lazily toward her, "...I'm expecting a good tip from you." Then he chuckled, low and confident. "I'll leave it to your taste to decide what my great sacrifices are worth."
Altheira studied him for a long mont, as though trying to read sothing behind that careless smirk. Then she let out a soft sigh.
"...Sotis you speak with such grandeur and arrogance, it feels like you believe the whole universe lies beneath your feet," she murmured. "And other tis, you remind of the dock supervisors at the student hangars back in the academy-loud, reckless, and irritatingly smug"
"....." Robin said nothing, though the edge of his mouth twitched, sowhere between offense and amusent.
"No matter," Altheira said finally, crossing her arms over her chest with a small, composed smile. "Let's wait for the results first. Then we'll talk about your 'tip' afterward."
If she had gained anything from that bizarre, half-serious exchange, it was the overwhelming sense of Robin's confidence-a confidence so absolute it felt as though doubt itself dared not approach him. And that alone was enough to settle her restless thoughts.
---A few hours later---
Crack Crack
The soft firelight shimred gently in the dark, the small campfire hissing as its flas licked the sides of the fish stretched over it. The faint aroma of roasted scales and salt filled the night air.
Whoosh Whoosh
As Shaddad fanned the fish carefully with a broad palm leaf, his gaze drifted toward the distant horizon where the last remnants of the golden glow still flickered faintly. But the mont he tried to focus on it, his eyes twitched, and he let out a defeated groan. "Ughhh... this is too much. Why did we co today? It's... self-esteem shattering"
"At least now you've seen just how magnificent our master truly is," Jabba replied, fanning beside him, his grin wide despite the exhaustion in his eyes. "He's the type who hides most of his strength-so it's good you got to witness it firsthand today. But honestly?" He lowered his voice, leaning closer. "I'm certain he's still hiding even more cards up his sleeve!"
"... Your master," Shaddad muttered bitterly, "not mine." He sighed, his voice trembling between humor and despair. "Didn't you hear what he said back there? It doesn't sound like he'll ever accept as a disciple." His shoulders slumped as he looked away, blinking fast to hide the tears that threatened to spill. "It's fine, really... I'm not sad at all..."
"...." Jabba stared into the fire, the flickering light dancing over his face. "I think... I might have caused that," he said at last, his voice softer now. "He probably developed a disciple complex because of what I did to him in the past." He leaned forward slightly, the flas reflecting in his eyes. "That's the only reason he would reject you. You're better than in every way...
The fire crackled, and for a mont, only the soft hum of burning wood filled the silence. Then Jabba lifted his head and gave Shaddad a faint, reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'm the one who caused that problem... and I'll be the one to fix it."
"... What did you do to him, exactly?" Shaddad asked, glancing back with cautious curiosity.
"...". Jabba said nothing. His lips pressed together, and the only answer was the low roar of the fire and the faint night wind.
Ooooooomnnnnn-
A sudden hum filled the air, deep and resonant, shaking the ground beneath them.
"There's sothing happening!" Althera's voice ca sharp and urgent from the distance as she turned toward the fading source of golden light.
The brilliance that had blanketed the land for hours was finally dimming, the endless waves of light collapsing inward toward a single point. Then- Paa!
A heavy impact echoed through the night, the unmistakable sound of sothing heavy striking the ground. Dust and light scattered together.
"This... what is that?" Altheira whispered, her eyes wide as the last of the glow began to fade.
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