In one of the academy's long, echoing corridors-
"Professor Robin has arrived."
"Welco, Professor Robin, can I get you anything?"
The two gate guards straightened instantly, then bowed deeply the mont they saw Robin approaching, their movents sharp and disciplined.
The guards were completely familiar to Robin and his DAMN guards.
Step Step
Each footfall echoed softly as Robin advanced.
"Why is my son staying in the guards' quarters, exactly?!" Robin asked irritably as he passed through the gate, his voice carrying a restrained edge that made the nearby guards tense.
"In truth, Your Highness arrived at the academy four days ago," Leonid explained carefully, walking half a step behind him.
"And since he could not remain in the reception hall for such a long period, nor could he enter the academy grounds for several days without being formally registered as an official student, we took the liberty of bringing him to the guards' quarters."
"Why didn't you simply tell Althera to let him pass?" Robin snapped, irritation leaking through despite his attempt to remain composed.
He had not seen his son in nearly six hundred years-and when he finally ca to et him, this was how it ended? Confined among guards?
"Lady Althera owes us nothing," Leonid replied calmly, though a trace of bitter self-awareness crept into his tone.
"Moreover, we have no ans of contacting her directly in the first place."
There were very few people across the entirety of Mid Sector 99 whose pasts were clean-individuals with no dark records, no buried sins, no leverage that could ever be used against them.
Althera was one of those rare exceptions.
"...Alright. That's fair," Robin muttered, lifting his brows slightly.
"I always forget that my relationship with her is... personal."
After a brief pause, Leonid spoke again, lowering his voice.
"By the way, Your Majesty, there is another individual currently staying in the guards' quarters-soone who has been waiting for you for many years now. We did not wish to disturb you with his presence before you were ready. Since you are already here, this may be an appropriate opportunity for you to see him."
"Hm? Waiting for for years?" Robin raised an eyebrow, surprise flashing briefly across his face.
"And who would that be?"
"It's "Leonid began, but when his gaze landed on a specific residence ahead, he stopped himself and allowed a faint smile to form.
"We've arrived. It would be better if you discovered that for yourself."
He stepped aside respectfully, extending a hand toward the door, silently inviting Robin to open it and enter.
But Robin did not move.
He stood motionless before the door for several long seconds, his eyes unfocused, his brows drawn tightly together as if weighed down by centuries of regret.
Why had Richard co now?
After all those years after an eternity of silence and distance.
Robin already knew the answer.
Richard had endured the worst childhood imaginable-or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, the worst life imaginable. One shaped by loss, abandonnt, and relentless pain.
His suffering had begun at the age of ten and had not truly ended until around his fiftieth year. By mortal standards, that was not a child-that was a man deep into middle age.
Decades of isolation, of unanswered cries, of pain endured in silence, had forced him to rely on no one but himself. He had learned, through cruel experience, that no matter how loudly he scread, no matter how deeply he hurt, no one would co.
That was why, whenever he was given a choice, he always chose solitude.
That was what he understood.
That was what felt safe.
Robin understood why Richard did not wish to reconnect-especially since he blad him entirely for his mother's death and for everything that had followed. Even if Richard had grown wiser with ti, even if he had co to understand that fate followed its own rciless logic, and that Robin had never wished for any of it to happen... the seed of hatred had already taken root too deeply within his heart.
And Robin did not wish to tear it out.
He deserved to be hated for what had happened to them.
.....
After a brief mont of hesitation, Robin finally turned toward Leonid.
"Do you have any idea why Richard ca?"
"He attempted to breakthrough into the World Cataclysm realm," Leonid
replied gravely, his tone heavy with implication.
"And the result?" Robin asked tensely-then imdiately waved his hand.
"No. Forget that. Don't answer."
The outco was already obvious, if Planet Jura ascended they wouldn't be standing here chatting.
He inhaled sharply before asking the question that truly mattered to him, his
voice noticeably lower.
"How severe were his injuries?"
"Bad. Very bad," Leonid replied quickly, his tone carrying no room for optimism. "The Trials of competence were pushed far beyond reasonable limits. Even the Major Fla Law trial-which the inhabitants of the Mid Sector usually pass with relative ease and minimal risk-turned into sothing hellish when it descended upon Richard, as if the trial itself bore him personal malice."
He paused briefly, choosing his words carefully before continuing. "Yet even so, His Highness endured it and erged victorious. He also managed to pass the trial of the Integrated Wall of the Life-Fla Law, a test that fuses multiple principles into a single overwhelming ordeal. After that ca the Stabilizer trial -and it was an upper-tier Stabilizer at that. Given everything that happened, and the damage he sustained along the way, His Highness is a true monster in
both will and spirit."
Leonid shook his head slowly, the movent heavy with regret. "But unfortunately, he ca terrifyingly close to losing his life during the trial of Breaking the Belt Constraints. One wrong mont, one miscalculation, and we would be speaking of a corpse rather than a survivor"
Robin nodded after a short silence, his expression calm but far from relaxed. "Does this problem occur with anyone else, or is he an exception?" "Yes-every single ti, in fact," Leonid answered, nodding firmly. "General Raiden himself attempted it not too long ago. The Lightning Trial nearly split him in half; the destructive current tore through his body like a blade of pure judgnt. Still, he managed to pass it through sheer grit. But when the Stabilizer trial arrived, he personally chose to annul the operation and escaped before it could claim his life."
Leonid continued, his voice lowering slightly. "Seven years ago, one of the greatest geniuses of the new Body Weaponization Path attempted to breakthrough to World Cataclysm as well. He originated from an S-class planet -one that had not yet been transferred to Nihari. We monitored the situation closely, hoping to see whether his personal bodily breakthrough might drag his entire planet into promotion along with him. That kind of precedent would
have been... historic."
His brows knitted tightly as the mory resurfaced. "But he failed. Not because his will faltered, and not because his talent was insufficient. In the middle of the Weaponization process, a storm manifested in the sky without warning. Lightning descended directly upon him, interrupting the process at its most critical mont. Everything collapsed. The array shattered, his body was ruined, and he was gravely injured. His life was preserved by nothing short of a
miracle."
"So breaching through bodily power can indeed cause planetary promotion," Robin murmured, nodding several tis as the implications settled in. "That is valuable information."
He let out a slow sigh. "The barrier that was supposed to prevent promotion should have been the final Breaking-the-Constraints trial. Yet it seems all the trials were influenced by those sa constraints instead. Every single test becos excessively stronger, as if the system itself is resisting advancent." He waved his hand twice, decisively. "Enough. Tell Kristan to move Planet Jura into orbit. There's no need to gamble with anyone else's life over this."
"Hey, old man!!" explosive, lively, unn
familiar voice burst out from inside the room.
"I was going to let you keep rambling in front of the door for as long as you
wanted, but at this point-stop right there. Planet Jura must not be moved from
its place!"
"...?"
Robin's brows drew together sharply. Since when did Richard speak to him in that tone-so direct, so defiant?
With a faint edge of irritation, he reached out and pulled the door open with a
hint of aggression. Krrk.
But the mont he stepped inside, the tension vanished. Standing behind the
door was a young man with white spiked hair, blazing vividly with green flas that danced like living fire. He stared straight at Robin, a grin on his face-bold, provocative, and overflowing with challenge.
"Haha, what is it, old man?" the youth laughed. "Do you want to spank my butt
or sothing?"
Instead of anger, Robin's expression softened instantly, the sharpness lting away as recognition set in. "Oh... it's you."
Then, after a brief look of surprise, he added dryly, "Bring your brother. He's much easier to reason with."
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