"...I demand eight hundred billion pearls," Althera said coldly as she extended her hand toward him, her tone leaving no room for negotiation. "And I will require an equivalent paynt every single century from now on."
"Have you completely lost your goddamn mind, woman?!" Robin shouted, his voice rising despite himself.
Althera's eyes flew open to their widest extent, blazing with authority. "Robin Burton!!"
"Sorry-sorry" Robin waved his hands hurriedly in surrender. "Have you lost a little bit of your mind, Your Highness?!" Then his expression shifted as he knitted his brows together. "Eight hundred billion pearls every century? I honestly don't even know if all my profits since I arrived in the Middle Sector have reached two hundred billion pearls in total!"
"That is not my concern." Althera lifted her head slightly, her posture rigid and unyielding. "Every problem in this sector traces back to you-no, not just the sector, but the entire universe. Whether you like it or not, you must contribute to repairing the damage."
"What exactly did I do wrong?!" Robin sprang to his feet in agitation. "Was I the one who told everyone to curse the Cosmic Elder and provoke his anger? Was I the one who lit fires inside the heads of every Behemoth out there? Was I the one who caused most of the Stellar Academies to abandon their principles just because the Cosmic Elder stopped appearing? Do you all want to eat the cheese and then hang the cat!?"
He waved his hand repeatedly, growing more animated. "No, no, no. Go bla the Behemoths for being corrupt, violent, and greedy. Go bla the academies for shalessly shirking their responsibilities. Go bla the Syndicate for the blood that stains their hands year after year. You leave all of them alone and co here to bully this poor, weak, helpless Robin instead? Where is the logic in that, tell !"
"You...!!" Althera faltered, her words catching in her throat for a brief mont. "Didn't you hear him with your own ears? He changed his entire life creed because of you!"
"Since you heard him, then you must also have heard that the Cosmic Elder was supposed to be dead ever since the day we found him drifting aimlessly at sea," Robin replied sharply, then pointed a thumb at his own chest. "I used my limitless genius to save his life. And thanks to the condition I placed on him, I erased the threat of Mature Space Beasts, Ancestor Space Beasts, and any new alliances like the Abyss of Doom. By all rights, every living being in the universe should be kneeling down and kissing my feet day and night!"
"...." Althera stared at Robin for several long seconds, her expression unreadable. Finally, she turned away and sat back down at her desk, her shoulders subtly slumping. "Then what are you trying to say? That you won't contribute anything to protecting the universe? If that's the case... what am I supposed to do now?!"
Robin released a slow, heavy breath as he looked at her in this state. It was the first ti he had ever seen Althera display such vulnerability, such open exhaustion. And yet, he couldn't truly bla her.
If she were left alone bearing this burden, then only two outcos awaited her: either the academy would be destroyed, and all its accumulated reserves would collapse entirely within a few decades-or she would be forced to evade responsibility, just as the Radiant Vanguard Stellar Academy and the Deep Mist Stellar Academy had already done.
"Heh~" Robin sighed weakly. He stepped closer, moved to Althera's side, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. At last, he spoke, his expression filled with weary sympathy and reluctant solidarity. "Good luck."
Then he turned and began walking toward the door.
"What exactly do you an by good luck?!" Althera snapped, her composure cracking again. "Is that seriously all you have to say?!"
"Umm..." Robin paused, thinking for a mont, then raised his thumb with an awkward grin. "You can do it!"
"Burton!!" Althera grabbed one of the broken pens from her desk and hurled it at him with all her strength.
Bam.
"Damn it!!" Robin shouted as he leapt outside the apartnt in a flash. "Is this really my reward for trying to encourage you?!" He then leaned back in, only his face visible through the doorway. "I know your nerves are completely worn out. Take as much ti as you need here to rest and think things through. As for I'll go et the rest of my guests downstairs."
Bam.
Althera threw sothing else.
"Shii-!" Robin narrowly saved his head, ducking just in ti. He then descended the stairs with an irritated expression, muttering under his breath in a voice only he could hear, "Robin, I demand this. Robin, do that. Am I your employee
or what? Ugh."
"Your Majesty."
The mont Robin reached the bottom of the stairs, the imperial guards and the Shadow Swords imdiately bowed deeply. Even the Shadow Sword Harper-the sa one who had once requested that Robin enter the Soul Society-was still among them for so reason.
Leosar also bowed slightly, lowering his head. "Faithful servant."
"Alright... what do we have here?" Robin asked while rubbing the space between his eyes. The day had already burdened him with an absurd amount of bad news and catastrophic problems-a day that felt as though it would never truly end. "And what exactly brings Leosar here?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty," one of the Shadow Swords replied. "The demon Leosar attacked Marshal Sakaar from behind with a soul strike and killed tens of demons in the underground city"
"Hm?" Robin lowered his hand and stared straight at Leosar. "You attacked
Sakaar?!"
"I- I..." Leosar took a step back, his voice trembling. "I don't know what I was thinking! It was a mont of anger-just a mont of anger!"
"Why isn't he dead already?" Robin ignored him entirely and turned his question to the Shadow Sword.
"The Marshal stated that he could not bring himself to decide on executing him," the Shadow Sword answered calmly. "Leosar possesses certain talents that Your Majesty may find useful. Therefore, he was sent to you for personal evaluation. If you deem him worthless, you may order his eradication, and the matter will be handled efficiently."
"No, no, I'm useful! I'm very useful!!"
Leosar's body began to tremble violently in panic, his single eye widening in
terror.
".."
Robin slightly furrowed his brows as he observed Leosar's reaction. It was... oddly human. Far more human-like than what he was used to seeing from
demons.
Then-whoooom.
Robin's eye ignited with a dense golden radiance. Activating the Eye of Truth at one hundred percent caused the entire area to flicker and tremble. The intense brilliance forced Leosar's powerful eye to snap shut under the overwhelming
glare.
And almost instantly, Robin's expression shifted into one of astonishnt.
The internal structure of the Plague had always fascinated him. They were living beings with a asurable degree of intelligence, yet every type of Plague possessed an entirely different composition.
Take the Crimson Plague, for example. They lacked a centralized energy core
or a defined soul domain like most creatures. They could easily shape bodies out of blood and even create artificial environnts like this one in an attempt to imitate other lifeforms-but they would inevitably fail and be forced to
return to their true origins.
And what were those origins?
They possessed a initial soul-one that neither grew nor diminished. Amorphous, lacking any fixed form, it would disintegrate re minutes after death, never lingering for decades or centuries like the souls of most beings.
As for energy and power systems, they had no interest in natural energy, soul force, or even primordial chaos. Instead, they tore what they needed directly from the blood of other creatures-devouring energy and particles straight from the blood itself, storing them within their own blood rather than in any specific organ or core.
The Black and Blue Plagues followed a similar frawork. The difference was that the Black Plague replaced blood with tals, extracting energy by consuming them regardless of hardness or density, while the Blue Plague drew
its power directly from stars and planetary cores.
But Leosar... Leosar was completely different.
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